[CU Boulder]

Yeah, seems like this notification will be quite late, but UW is taking their sweet time too. I don't know. I'll have done a couple campus visits and been in touch with people at other programs for quite a while by the time we here. Certainly makes it easy to get biased for other programs with late notice.

You're a Renaissance/Early Modern, right? I'm a Shakespearean, and CU's program really appealed to me on that basis. Hopefully if you get the offer, you'll have the time to visit, and take the opportunity to!

[CU Boulder]

And by that time it will have been around a month since many other offers were made. People will have spoken with multiple contacts at those institutions before CU even notifies admits...

Maybe the so-called timeline was just one of those overestimates that one typically finds on a website.

In CU's defense, it seems to be operating on a slightly different schedule than last year. I was accepted into the Ph.D. program last year, was notified in mid-February and did my campus visit a week into March. So they must have gotten A LOT of applications this year, or other extentuating circumstances have slowed down the committee's progress.

Unfortunately, I'm not there now because a health crisis forced me to suspend my Ph.D. plans. So sad, because I fell in love with CU and the department during my visit

[American University]

Thanks so much for the inside info on AU's program, Bardolater! I apologize if I sounded like I thought AU wasn't a great program because of its unranked status; I just feel like on Grad Cafe, most of the people tend to be pretty focused on the rankings and perhaps then less likely to apply to AU. That being said, I've applied to AU exactly for the reasons you've mentioned: the amazing resources available to grad students because of AU's proximity to D.C., the excellent interdisciplinary approach to literature that the department seems to take, and the friendly response I had when I contacted the DGS. I'm hopeful I'll get an acceptance there, as it's definitely among my top choices! And in that regard, it's terrific to hear a current student there extol the virtues of the program; it's hard to get a real sense of a department "from the outside looking in," so your testimony that AU is, in fact, all it seems to be and more just makes me more excited about potentially attending there. Now let's get those acceptances coming, shall we?

As a side note, and of course, if and only if you don't mind sharing, did you manage to secure a funded MA from American, or are you going on your own dime? I couldn't quite deduce from the Web site how likely funding is, but I'm hoping that this year's economic woes haven't put financial packages for potentially incoming MAs out of the picture!

All the best,

artist_lily

I got a fellowship (tuition waiver + stipend) and a part-time job as assistant to the program director (the one who contacted you; I totally love her ). I know other students here who are on "their own dime," though, but who really love the program. A lot of the other students work in the writing center and/or, in their second years, teaching composition. I have no idea how the funding looks for this fall's class, though.

Please feel free to ask any other questions.

[American University]

Hi bluellie -- I'm hoping that we're both still allowed to hope a bit, as I received this same informational e-mail from the CAS at American U last week. I'm not sure what the e-mail means; I looked on CAS's Web site, and I couldn't deduce from the published material whether this is an invite-only day (i.e., we must have been accepted) or a day open to all prospective graduate students. I fear it's the latter, though, and that decisions either still haven't been made or are yet to go out. Perhaps we can join our forces and find a way to stealthily contact the graduate department in the hopes of getting some information regarding when notifications will be sent? I don't know about you, but I applied around January 1, having heard it was rolling admissions, and now here it is, 2 months later, and I'm still yet to hear anything! *Rolling* admissions, hmph

As a side note, do you happen to be from the DC area as well? I feel like there are likely not TOO many applicants to AU lingering on this board, as it's an unranked/not-always-funded program, and accordingly was curious if you were from DC or the suburbs and had gotten wind of it that way (as I had ). PM me if you'd like to and we can chat!

I'm a current AU grad student, and good luck to both of you! I wouldn't judge AU on its ranking or lack thereof, as the fac is wonderful and very supportive. This program has really prepared me for Ph.D. studies, and its location in D.C. offers so many more extra resources, such as the consortium. I've been accepted to two Ph.D. programs so far, with full funding packages from both, so if you do well at AU, you'll be in a good position when applying to doctoral programs!

[George Washington U?]

I saw there was a GWU acceptance the other day. Anyone here willing to claim it? This is a really interesting program for me as a Renaissance guy, though I know they have funding woes and I wasn't sure how many people they'd be accepting this year.

I'm the GWU acceptee. The DGS e-mailed me directly with the offer. I don't know if they're done notifying yet, though, or how many they're taking.

I heard such good things about GWU's EM/Renaissance fac from friends in the program, and GWU certainly is working to raise its profile in the EM field with its MEMSI — only a couple of many reasons I applied. I'm also taking a class there this semester through the consortium in D.C., and studied with a couple GWU EMs at the Folger last year, which may or may not have given me an edge. I'm an EM-er myself, specializing in Shakespeare, queer and disability studies.

[PhDs.org]

I would really like to know, too! Because, coincidentally, I've been accepted to CU-Boulder. So the "abysmal" numbers thing worries me, because CU was leading the pack of acceptances at the moment ... Now it's all up in the air again!

[Purdue and Indiana]

My stats: 4.0 cumulative, 700V/abysmal math, 710 subject,

Um, okay

multiple TA positions,

irrelevant--no one cares about your ability to "TA," especially not as an undergrad

multiple poetry publications,

For PhD in English programs, no one cares

three articles under review for publication,

But not accepted? Ouch.

and I won every writing award at my undergraduate university.

No one will look closely at your CV to even know.

I've also already presented at a conference,

Whoopee. So has everyone else.

where my paper was selected as Best Critical Paper out of two dozen universities presenting.

Oh, was this an undergrad conference? Then it didn't matter.

I'm fluent in French and speak passable Hellenic.

???

Yet, I am still unsure that I'll be accepted anywhere. Looking at the acceptances coming in on this website is terrifying.

I'm sure you'll get in somewhere.

Why so harsh?

[Northwestern Acceptances]

I echo mfr009. Would you acceptees and wait-listers mind sharing your stats. I applied to Northwestern and haven't heard a peep

[Rhetoric at UC Berkeley]

There's certainly the possibility of a short list of alternates, but I'd assume rejection at this point if you haven't heard anything. Applicants were notified last Thursday by phone.

Is this just for Rhetoric? What about English?