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tortola23

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Posts posted by tortola23

  1. I'm lucky enough to be starting my English PhD program this fall at the same school where my s.o. is in the physics PhD program. I'm certainly expecting it to be difficult just because we'll both be very busy, but I actually think it will be easier than this past year has been, when he was in grad school and I was working a boring full-time job. When we're both busy with the same types of things, it should be easier to understand about time constraints, schedule conflicts, and stress.

  2. I want to say thanks, as well. GradCafe has helped me through two extremely stressful rounds of applications now!

    Last year, as a college fourth-year completing my thesis project, I applied to eight schools and was roundly rejected by every single one. I was so confident that I'd get multiple admits, but once the last rejection letter rolled in, I realized that I had had no idea what I was doing and my confidence was beyond crushed. My professors had little time to help me with application materials because they were also teaching me classes and helping me with my thesis, and I had little time to commit to the applications for the same reasons. I used pretty much the same statement of purpose for every school. I harped on the irregularities in my transcripts (I attended three different undergrad institutions). I used papers from my second year as writing samples. I chose schools I liked the sound of without doing nearly enough research into their strengths, their faculty, and the types of students they admit. I applied to UPenn (one of the most competitive in the country!) and SUNY Buffalo (where my interests were a terrible fit!), and several other places that just CLEARLY wouldn't have worked. I felt like an idiot, and no one had the time to bother telling me what I was doing wrong.

    So I decided to figure it out for myself. This year, I was out of school and working a full-time job four days per week. Luckily, the job didn't follow me home (it's retail), and I was able to commit A LOT (seriously, A LOT) of time to my applications. I carefully researched many, many schools and selected eleven that were strong in my fields of interest. I contacted several faculty members, particularly at my top choice school, and even met with a faculty member at my top choice. I wasn't shy with any potential or former professors: I told them exactly what my goals were and straight-up asked for advice about what should go in my personal statement. All of them were remarkably helpful and none of them were put off by my boldness. I created a hanging file system for my applications, as well as a checklist for each one, and methodically completed them in the order that they were due. I wrote a completely new statement of purpose for each program. I carefully edited my best thesis chapter and used it as a writing sample.

    Disaster struck when, as the due-date for my first (and top choice) application neared on December 1st, I realized that one of my recommendation writers might not come through. She stopped responding to my emails about ten days prior, and never acknowleged receiving the packet of carefully printed, stamped, and organized materials I had mailed to her. I tried to have some faith, but decided that I HAD to err on the side of caution. I contacted another former professor and asked him to overnight me a set of letters for all of my schools. Eight letters. In less than two days. I felt like an absolute asshole. But he came through, and I got my first-choice application mailed the morning of December 1st. The materials from my first recommender never arrived, and I haven't had any emails or letters from her since.

    To my complete surprise, I ended up getting in to five schools, and was wait-listed at a sixth where I later withdrew myself from consideration to accept an offer from my #1 choice. I could barely believe it when I got my first admit, much less the subsequent ones, and I practically fainted both when I was wait-listed and when I was taken off the wait-list at my top choice. In one year, I went from nothing but form-letter rejections to mostly eager acceptances at awesome schools.

    Most importantly, do not give up if grad school is really what you want to do. And in the application process, never be timid or shy about asking for what you need; just ask for it straightforwardly and then thank everyone profusely.

    Congrats to everyone and GOOD LUCK!

  3. Just wanted to say CONGRATS to the eleventh-hour waitlist admit! I applied to Buffalo last year and was so disappointed to be rejected, but this year I know what it feels like to get the dream admit off of the wait-list!

    CONGRATULATIONS! I love how good it feels to be happy for fellow GradCafe-ers!

  4. Where did you hear/read that? I think acceptances get informed via telephone. But I could definitely be mistaken there.

    I think the results page indicates that a couple more people have been recently rejected via email.

    And good luck at Austin!

    I just saw that there was a postal acceptance, but looking again I think they may have mis-clicked the drop-down menu? Hard to tell!

    Thanks, and good luck to you too!

  5. I'll be declining

    • an MA in Professional Writing offer from Carnegie Mellon University with about 50% tuition funding,
    • an MA in English offer from Claremont Graduate University with a 25% tuition fellowship,
    • an MA in English offer from Georgetown University with as-yet-unsettled funding, and
    • an MA/PhD offer from the University of Washington in Seattle with no first-year funding but with (very probable) full funding after the first year.

    I hope those spots go to people who would love to have them! Particularly UW; they are an amazing program with some excellent professors and I know that a lot of students would be very happy there.

  6. Haha . . . I worked in a bike shop. Seriously. In fact, I'm at work there right now.

    However, when I applied last year I was in the middle of my fourth year of college writing my thesis; when I applied this year, I already held my BA and I used my thesis as a writing sample. I think the biggest difference was doing a LOT of research and applying to schools particularly strong in my field, with a lot of effort put into the personal statements. I wrote a totally different, personalized one for each program.

  7. Thank you! I had to read the email a few times before I could believe it.

    Good luck to everyone. I feel like a living reminder that perseverance and hard work really can pay off! I had such a terrible application season last year, and such an excellent one this year. Don't give up if you really want it.

  8. After visiting Carnegie Mellon this week, UW has become my definite back-up school. UT is my first choice, and if they don't come thrrough, I will most likely be moving to Seattle this fall despite the lack of first-year funding.

    I did like Carnegie Mellon, but the MA isn't the right program for me when I have the option of a PhD.

    Rhet Man, good to hear that the department feels good. I've seen the school before as an undergraduate so I'm not visiting, but obviously I haven't spent time in the English department.

  9. Just got my rejection from the Higher Ed. Admin. program.

    I'm still wait-listed at UT's English PhD program, and all of my other admits and rejections are for English programs.

  10. That's exactly what I've heard, too, so hopefully it's true? I was a little surprised that UT wasn't more forthcoming about the financial situation for their wait-listers; UF told me everything in their first email.

    It isn't much money from UT, but it's more than you'd get from a lot of schools currently, and as someone living in Austin, I can say it's definitely doable on 14k if not super-comfortable.

  11. Hmmm, good to know you both, tortola and emichelle, are having communication issues in that it isn't just a reification of my paranoid construction that he's ignoring me to make me go away. I'm pretty close to just accepting one of my other offers at this point, though, so if you're an early modernist, that may decrease competition for you! Tortola, when you say you don't think many first-round offers will decline, are you saying that because you met with a lot of them who said they were going to UTA or because based on the quality of the program you think people will take UTA? I was just wondering. Best of luck to you both!

    I'm thinking along the lines of how bad funding is this year. UW is about equal to UT as far as prestige goes (it's probably better in my particular field) and they can't fund their first-year students. A lot of English departments are having serious budget issues, including UF. So I think that UT stands out with it's full funding and it's department that hasn't been much rattled by budget issues (so I've been told my disinterested profs).

    Also, it seems that all of the first-round admits attended the visit weekend and are waiting until after it to make their decisions. Not that that means none of them will decline! But I'd guess it means they're all very seriously considering UT.

    I'm still waiting it out; no reason not to, really.

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