squankabonk

Thanks all! The encouragement really helps. It looks like I'll be headed to Case Western. It isn't my dream school, I'll admit. But I need to remind myself that I had good reasons for applying in the first place, and I should be very grateful that I got in. There are some awesome scholars there with whom I look forward to working, and the community of grad students seems really supportive and great. And Cleveland might be a cool town? Or at least have its points. We're all at the time of the season where it's easy to spend a lot of energy thinking about what might have happened or what we should have done to get where we dreamed of going. Trying to focus on the great things ahead and not get too hung up on all that jazz. So if I start to get too wistful (Two roads diverged &c &c) somebody pinch me or something.

Didn't get into BC. Pretty bummed.

*scours thread, hoping against hope to see that someone is planning to turn down offer from Boston College* Oh, hey guys. I took myself off the waitlist at University of Rochester if anyone's into that kind of thing?

At Boston College there is one last offer out, and I am next on the waitlist. The school's my top choice. It's a coin flip. I spend my days willing this one person to not accept. Hey person. Go someplace else. If you've spent this long thinking about it it clearly isn't a slam dunk decision for you. It would be a slam dunk for me. Those are the kinds of things I say to them inside my brain.

One of the schools where I'm waitlisted said that they were supposed to hear back from one of their offers on April first. Also they said that I'm next in line for a spot off the waitlist. (STARES INTENTLY AT PHONE WILLING IT TO RING)

Have a funny visit story for one of my waitlist schools. Was only able to be in town for a few hours today, so I was scheduled to meet with DGS, chat with a grad student, and attend class with one of my POIs (the other two are on leave, so I couldn't meet them). Meetings went well enough, but when I showed up to the class (which I had arranged to visit in advance), the classroom was empty. I waited a few minutes. Nobody showed up. I made sure I was in the right room, then the right building (after all, I'm not familiar with the campus). I was. The class just...wasn't happening. I went to the office of the DGS, but she had gone home for the day. She was my only point-person. Actually it isn't that funny of a story. I am now at the airport. I came to town specifically to visit campus, and I didn't get to meet a single faculty member in my area. Writing this was cathartic, though. I'm sure it was just a mixup, but it was pretty annoying.

I'm an Americanist MA student at Mizzou, you can PM me if you'd like more info.

Hooray for visiting places while still on the waitlist! (Awkward high five like a golfer with his caddy after a putt.) I feel like if nothing else it shows real interest in the program, which maybe could work out for us? Anyhow, I"m in the exact same boat with Rochester. Hopefully will get some answers next week when visiting.

I'm working thru The Wild Palms [if I Forget Thee, Jerusalem] for the first time right now! Loving it.

I think this is one of those situations where it's pretty much impossible to read the tea leaves. Who knows who makes the changes on that website? My guess would be that it's an admin person for the grad school that has little knowledge of the decision-making process of individual departments. At many schools I've heard from (waitlist and otherwise) my status on the website never actually changed one way or the other, changed way late, etc. If you've already heard from them, your "Decision Made" moment happened a while ago, and I very much doubt that you' should assume the worst just cuz they have to mail notifications to a wave of rejected folks who were never on the list in the first place.

I think this is one of those situations where it's pretty much impossible to read the tea leaves. Who knows who makes the changes on that website? My guess would be that it's an admin person for the grad school that has little knowledge of the decision-making process of individual departments. At many schools I've heard from (waitlist and otherwise) my status on the website never actually changed one way or the other, changed way late, etc. If you've already heard from them, your "Decision Made" moment happened a while ago, and I very much doubt that you' should assume the worst just cuz they have to mail notifications to a wave of rejected folks who were never on the list in the first place.

I've set up visits at both schools that I'm wait listed at. Actually, both DGSs seemed quite eager, or at least willing, to have me come. The rationale from my POV being, if I were to be accepted by either of them around April 15, I would need to have that visit under my belt in order to make my final decision. Which I suppose is true. But it still feels kind of awkward showing up and going through the motions of a visit and not being sure if this place will ever even be a legitimate option for me. Especially since by the time I get there (my spring break is in two weeks) they'll probably have a pretty decent idea of whether I'm gonna get off the wait list. This could either go really well or really poorly, I guess is what I'm saying.

I'm hoping to! I'm on the waitlist for their PhD, so we'll see how that goes..

Currently writing my MA thesis on Faulkner and film. In theory, I'm finishing a chapter on Sanctuary this week. My mind is getting to be quite warped. More generally, I like reading book reviews, probably too much. My research focuses on how novels/films get discussed in popular discourses. Super interested in how both novelists and popular reviewers negotiated the advent of film. This thread is cool and good.

Don't worry, Ashley828. I came thisclose to applying to Vanderbilt, not realizing that the prof I wanted to work with had left last year. These things happen!

From all the advice I've ever gotten, if they're that close fit should win the day. But others may disagree?

At what point do we think Florida will be done calling acceptees? I'm (clears throat) I'm asking for a friend.

Is there a possibility of visiting either school that has waitlisted you (Esp BU, since you'll probably be in the area at some point to look into Tufts)? I'm on a couple of waitlists, and they've been really nice about accommodating a visit from me, making me feel very welcome and showing me the program so that I can think more clearly about my options. It's possible that you could solidify your thoughts about a school without waiting to see if you're off the list first.

I'm so bummed about this bs, arbitrary deadline. Hope one of your top choices comes through!

Bless you. I hope this also. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that it I hope it goes to me.

Ditto to this. I find myself wanting people to turn down offers so that AYE can get into more schools and take MY time to muddle though my decision. Which, you know. Isn't really all that much better, since then I'll be sitting on spots that somebody else wants. I need to remind myself: in the end we'll all have plenty of time to figure it out.

My Chicago went from implied to official today...

Honestly, I've been avoiding this thread like the plague because of the title ("I'm getting rejections and complaining to my friends, why would I want to go and read a thread where people are complaining and feeling equally bad?" I stupidly asked myself). Of course I should have given GC more credit, as everyone on here is being really supportive and awesome. I guess I have two things to add: First, on the "getting into grad school is a major crap-shoot" side of things. I am in the second year of an MA. This means that I've seen three app cycles at my school (my cohort, this year's, and next fall's). My school has a couple of prominent faculty who are contemporary Americanists, and we always get a ton of apps in that field. Now, the cohort before mine, through the vagaries of the wait list, ended up with like 6 people from that field. A couple of more got in my year. That meant that last year, people applying in that field had little to no chance of getting in -- the faculty advisers in those fields were just swamped. We admitted a bunch of medieval people to sort of balance out the department. OF COURSE these new students are awesome and deserved to get in, but equally deserving contemporaryists probably got snubbed. But how could you possibly account for this if you're a comtemporaryist applicant? Answer: you couldn't, and it's unlikely that your letter of rejection would explain the situation. You'd feel equally bad, even though you may have been considered a shoo-in if you'd have just applied a year earlier or later. Second, on the "doing an MA and feeling like you're treading water" side of things. I applied to a school's PhD out of undergrad and got waitlisted. Applied again this year in the final semester of an MA (even with a shiny new publication in a big-kid journal!) -- same result. It's tempting to look at those facts side-by-side and feel like I haven't made any real progress, but of course that isn't true. My research interests are so much more specific than they were before, and having excelled in my program for two years I am 100% confident in my ability to complete a PhD. I've taught my own comp class and written a syllabus. I'm not terrified of students any more. I simply couldn't have said these things two years ago. I guess this is getting a little sappy, but I guess I wanted to say that you can end up in a situation that wasn't your top choice, kill it, and end up with something worthwhile to show for it. That's always on the table, if you work for it.

1) I have been lurking forums for weeks (mostly the acceptances thread), but the wizard people reference forced my hand and so now I have an account. 2) I'm apparently #2 on BC's waitlist. Wanna help a friend out, Lycidas? 3) Glad to be among homies, and newly converted homies.