Abyss21

Rejected with 15.2, committee 1. I know someone who got it in the same committee with 15.54

Congrats on your decision! It was great meeting you during UofT's Visitors' Day! I'm so happy that we'll be in the same cohort this upcoming fall, and I look forward to getting to know you better. Also, I'm always available to answer any Toronto-related questions that you may have over the upcoming months.

As a Canadian who did an MA at a Canadian university, I can safely say that it was a great decision on my part. I really didn't know much of what I wanted to do for my research while I was in my undergrad, but the MA (especially the thesis at the end of it) really helped me develop my research and strengthen my application significantly. I was able to get in to a top program this year for my PhD, and I highly doubt that I would have been able to do that without the MA and the insight that it gave me into my research interests. So, in short, I would go for it! Plus, BC is beautiful.

From what I've heard, all Canadian universities (even the highest ranked ones) are typically considered second-tier in comparison with the top American universities. What this means is that places like NYU and Duke, even though they are ranked lower than University of Toronto, are still considered more prestigious. That being said, going to one of the top 4 Canadian universities (UofT, McGill, UBC, or University of Alberta) is still considered competitive for post-grad jobs. For instance, even though it is not an American university, UofT has about a 50% placement rate, which is still quite strong. McGill's placement rate is likely similar and UBC and University of Alberta might be a bit lower, but it's still not bad.

No problem! And thanks for the congratulations! Yeah, I was pretty bummed about some of the other rejections earlier on in the application process, but when I saw how many people applied to those places (especially Yale), it became difficult to take them personally.

Since we're having this discussion, I posted this in the Venting Threat but I'll post it here too. This is what my rejection letter from Yale said: Thank you very much for applying to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Yale University. I regret to inform you that we are unable to offer you admission. As you know, the very high number of extraordinary candidates among our more than 10,700 applicants far exceeds the number of places we have in each program, so we are not able to admit many excellent candidates. Take from it what you will.

Hopefully I can clarify some things. This is what my rejection letter from Yale said: Thank you very much for applying to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Yale University. I regret to inform you that we are unable to offer you admission. As you know, the very high number of extraordinary candidates among our more than 10,700 applicants far exceeds the number of places we have in each program, so we are not able to admit many excellent candidates.

Thanks! I'm so excited and relieved now that I've finally made a decision! And of course - any GCer is welcome to be my friend! I very much look forward to meeting you too! Haha and no problem! I look forward to the pestering about Toronto Don't worry, I'm definitely not one of those fans of the Maple Leafs or any other Toronto sports team for that matter. It's very easy to spot them here though - they congregate like flocks of peacocks during their respective seasons and flash around their memorabilia, honking their cars and cheering loudly whenever there's a goal. It's actually the Blue Jay fans that are more exhausting probably because they fill up the streets during summertime. But don't let that discourage you - there's a lot more to Toronto than crazy sports fans!

I've already posted this on another thread, but I've also made up my mind even though I'm waiting for one more program - University of Toronto! I can't be more excited!

That's fantastic to hear! I just mailed them my acceptance confirmation form today so it's official - I'll be going to UofT this fall! I look forward to seeing you on visitor's day. Also, I currently live in Toronto and have lived in the area most of my life, so if you have any questions about the city, feel free to PM me.

Yeah, I just reported it all as spam so hopefully it gets cleaned up quickly too.

Ok so has anyone else been noticing that someone has been spamming the results page with questions and comments about the U of T English PhD program? I don't think they've figured out the forum option of this website and I therefore doubt they'll see this but it has to stop. I would tell them on the results page but I don't want to contribute to the spam by replying constantly. I'm not sure if this really qualifies as venting but it just keeps popping up when I check the results page and it's been increasingly getting on my nerves.

Same here (although I'm also waiting on UBC at this point). Are you leaning more towards UofT? I know I am!

GREs do matter. That's what I learned. I was applying to mostly top 10 US schools with a verbal GRE score in the 150s when they expect 165+. Having gotten into Canadian schools but no US ones, I feel like that indicates that GREs do indeed matter.

WHOA. Congrats! That's incredible!!!

Don't worry! I'm sure they'll get back to you with the answer soon, and who knows - it could be a waitlist or even an acceptance that just comes a day later. Even if it isn't, you've been accepted to OSU and waitlisted at Colorado, which are both fantastic schools! Rejection definitely sucks (trust me, with 7 rejections I understand the feels), but you'll feel so relieved once the rest of the places get back to you and you finally make a decision. Good luck!

Thanks! I look forwarding to meeting you too! I also do post-1945 stuff (yay! same subfield!), and my research is primarily focused on media representations of gender and race (and postmodern texts on this topic)! Congrats on the waitlist at Boston University as well!

Congrats! I also went through a painful number of rejections before hearing back from UofT so I know exactly how you feel. Yes! I have to take the day off from work but I will try my best to make it to the Visitor's Day! Can't wait to meet you and the rest of the prospective students!

Thanks @Wyatt's Terps! I literally had to pinch myself when I found out the results because I couldn't believe it! It probably didn't help that I got the email right when I woke up so I thought I was actually dreaming haha

I got into the University of Toronto!!! It was my first choice Canadian school so I am sooo excited!

Congrats on the acceptance! That's fantastic!

Congrats! I know people who are doing MAs in each of those universities (one in Music and one in History) and they both love it! You have two great options to choose from!

Same! I'm now curious about which universities you guys are talking about haha. Mine's pretty obvious based on my signature.

Here's a funny story that my professor told me during my MA. She said that her colleague, another professor at the university, was struggling to find a job in academia after she finished her PhD at a prestigious university. She couldn't figure out what was wrong - she kept having interviews that seemed to go well but she would never get that final offer. She normally wore makeup, had long hair, and was very fashionable. However, one day, just to test out whether or not it was her appearance that was the problem, she decided to wear an oversized knit sweater, thick-rimmed glasses (she doesn't normally wear glasses), no makeup, and hair in a tight bun. And guess what happened? She got the job... right away. Here's a perfect example for you about the way academia views female professors. While a fancy corporate job requires women to wear heals and makeup, academia requires the exact opposite of them.

I'm also going to echo what many people have said so far - go for the MA. A friend of mine was in a similar position; they earned a science degree but got poor marks towards the end of it because of a health crisis and then did very well in their second degree, which was English. However, the low grades from the first (science) degree were a concern when my friend applied for an MA and later a PhD. In Canada, it's customary to get your MA before getting your PhD so that wasn't really a question. However, the key thing that my friend did to make sure that the grades from the first didn't negatively affect their chances of getting in to the programs is emailing the program directors of each program to which they applied to clarify the grade issue. There were mixed opinions on whether or not that was a good idea in the first place but it actually proved to be a very wise decision because contacting the program directors allowed my friend to explain themselves and gain empathy from the individual who is probably the most crucial in the decision-making process of the graduate committee. So, if there's any advice I can give you, it would be to email the grad program director of the programs you want to get into and introduce yourself as well as explain your situation. It will give them a valid explanation for those grades and will humanize you in their eyes, allowing them to vouch for you during the grad committee meetings.