Abyss21

Congrats on the McGill acceptance (as well as the Carleton one). I'm still waiting to hear from McGill and Alberta, so no word on Alberta yet. Also, congrats @Sunsy on the Berkeley acceptance! Way to go! I'm hoping they'll still be sending out some acceptances tomorrow so that I get one too haha.

Haha we totally should.

Yes, a huge congrats to both of you! You are very lucky, and I can definitely second Yanaka's statement about the eyes wide open with envy thing.

Happy hour would be really great right about now.

Oh I just saw it. I also saw the McGill acceptance. Freaking out because I haven't heard from either of them yet but trying to remind myself that it's early in the day (especially in California).

How do you know this? I haven't heard back from them or seen anything in the results section of the grad cafe.

Don't lose hope in your PhD applications or in your ability to get into an American graduate school just yet. I'm Canadian and have my MA from a Canadian institution but there was one person in my class who was from the Philippines, had received his entire education there, and is now doing his PhD at a Canadian institution. His research interests are largely in Filipino and other postcolonial literature and he did not have a strong background in Western or specifically North American literature before getting accepted into his Canadian MA and PhD. I'm not sure whether the US is similarly as open to someone from a different culture and educational background, but you could always apply to a Canadian program, which I'm sure will gladly take you! By the way, the Comparative Literature program at the University of Toronto is indeed fantastic! I participated in their conference last year and met several students and professors from the program, who were all incredible. I highly recommend it, especially since having a strong background in French is especially valuable in Canada.

Same. I had a feeling it would be bad news after seeing the acceptance on Saturday.

Literally same thing happened to me. Woke up, checked my phone. Rejection from Duke. Great start to a Monday.

Yup that's what it is. I won't lose hope just yet but things are looking pretty grim at this point.

Nope but I applied to Berkeley's English program, which doesn't seem to have sent out any responses. Did you hear from them?

It appears that someone got accepted to Duke Lit already. There goes my dream program.

Just saw that someone was accepted to Duke Lit following an interview and now I'm freaking out that I haven't heard anything from them yet. Ugh

At this point, hearing about peoples' post-interview acceptances for the University of Chicago English program makes me think that a rejection is definitely implied here. I'll still keep a tiny ounce of hope but I doubt that I'll be hearing any good news from them at this point.

I know - I'm just trying to grasp onto some sort of certainty or concreteness as I still haven't heard back from anyone. My question is more just me venting my frustration at all of these universities for taking so long to notify us. Oh, well that might explain it. From what I've heard, these situations aren't too uncommon at Berkeley.

Anybody else wondering what is taking Berkeley so long? Assuming we're referring to the English and not the Comp Lit program, aren't they supposed to get back to us today at the latest?

Congrats to whoever got the Berkeley acceptance along with the email from Judith Butler! You are one lucky person!

Congrats on your acceptance and thanks for the reassurance! I guess I can't really say it's over until I actually see the word, "rejection." I'll try to stay hopeful but my lack of patience is really getting to me. It's good to know that there's still a chance though!

I think they finally admit that they've made a mistake once his policies start negatively impacting them too. I've seen a bunch of articles and social media posts of this happening already. People who needed Obamacare or who have spouses that are now affected by the Muslim ban are really regretting their decision. It's frustrating to see this happening because anybody could've predicted that Trump's policies would impact the poor white population negatively too (except for themselves).

Trudeau clarified that Canadians would not be affected by these restrictions. However, this doesn't stop the restrictions to be completely ridiculous and unconstitutional. Iranian + Canadian people should be fine, but I have no idea if someone who is Iranian + French or Iranian + British would be allowed in the US for example. I don't even think that a lot of Trump's electors predicted him to be this level of horrible... and it's only the beginning. Who knows what's going to happen next?

I guess you're right. The bigger worry for me is really just whether I feel comfortable living in a country that has a Muslim ban (among the many other ridiculous policies in this horrific political climate) for the duration of a PhD.

Congrats on the acceptance to a Canadian school! Which one was it (if you don't mind me asking)? Yeah, I mean if Trump's America includes border services going through people's social media accounts and asking them whether they are Trump supporters before letting them into the country, then I doubt I (and many other Canadians) would be allowed through. You should never have to self-police to be allowed in a country. What kind of world do we live in if people can't even disagree with the US president's opinions?

I'm a Canadian who applied to a bunch of American schools (and some Canadian ones). I finished my applications and paid for all of them mere days before Trump won the US election. I was thoroughly convinced that it was impossible for him to win. I had more faith in humanity than I perhaps should have had. Anyways, I couldn't withdraw my American applications, but I'm really torn on whether or not I should even consider accepting an offer to an American school if I do end up getting into one. Also, seeing the new immigration conditions has me worried about my chances of even being able to obtain a visa. Making matters even worse, my partner was going to come with me and he is racialized so that's not looking too good. Please Americans, get him impeached ASAP!

Hi, Quelq'un, Thanks for your reply! I've been thinking the same thing. I know that if I don't hear by this week from the University of Chicago and their interview process happens around this week, it's probably not a good sign. Good luck to you too! Fingers crossed we both end up hearing back from our respective universities soon.

That's literally me too. It's definitely better than wallowing in self-pity while I wait and letting my anxiety and self-doubt destroy my self-esteem and my nails.