solomonski

I'm certain of nothing, of course, but they did send me a waitlist notification several weeks back. Maybe they just do everything in waves? By the by, I also got admitted to U Michigan Ann Arbor today! Yay!~ (And rejected from Brown! Booooo!)

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, letting others move in off the waitlist is also a major factor of this whole thing. So, when you say that it might be prudent to let School A know I have the School B offer, do you think that's the kind of thing that would be well-conveyed by an email saying something like "hey, I'm very impressed, but I've got this offer from School B and want to be fair to them, so I'm waiting until after I visit them to make anything official," or better handled in some other way?

Hi all. I'm hoping to get a little bit of insight into the process of accepting offers from grad schools. My main question is: is it normal to keep a school waiting for another two weeks or so after visiting? I've got a visit to my top choice school shortly (School A) and if everything goes well there, I'd love to accept right away. However, I had already bought tickets to visit School B - also a very good school and a program I want to give a fair shot - about two weeks later. If (assuming the visit works out) I delay accepting at School A for those two weeks, is that a normal thing? I don't want to give School A the impression I'm not into them. If it turns out I do want to accept at School A, would it be useful to send them an email saying "I'm very interested, will likely accept, but I want to be fair to this other program," or is that just a total faux pas somehow? Also, is there any RISK that is associated with waiting like that? For instance, an offer changing because of a bunch of other people accepting or whatever? Just want a little insight to see me through this.

Nah, I totally get that. Get away from brooding/dwelling on the situation for a bit by distracting yourself with something totally unrelated and it should help; works for me, anyway.

I think you have nothing to worry about. From the way you described that conversation to me, it just sounded like he was trying to convey that he's committed to helping you, regardless of what other obligations he has. It really does, honestly, come across like a conversation one would have with a prof with whom one has a good relationship. I get the worry - I only feel like a stammering fool when I have meetings with professors I really respect but I sincerely think - from what you described - there's no occasion for worry.

What are those interests, if you don't mind me asking? This whole process really confirms for me that FIT truly is the most important thing. I've got good scores, solid application, great recs as well, and it seems what has made the difference is that my acceptances have come from places that are interested in doing the kind of projects I mentioned, and the rejections have come from places where they didn't feel that would be very well supported.

Damn, man! So what is that now -- Duke Lit, UChicago, Vanderbilt, now Brown?? You must have had one hell of an application!

Whoa, looks like some Brown English results are starting to come in! For anyone who has applied to Brown, did you ever get a link to some kind of application status checking site? Or are you just checking the "status" on ApplyWeb? I got emails saying they received my application, but never any kind of link to anywhere to check a status, so I've just been using ApplyWeb.

I got notified today about being recommended to their MA program. Not an outright rejection, far from an acceptance!

Seconding the opinion that you try to find out what some of the current threads of scholarship are in your area of interest. It'll get you up to speed on the ongoing "conversations" and also help you think about where you can jump into that conversation. Though of course there's also something to be said for reading for nothing but pleasure; I barely have time for it as an undergrad and I imagine that's only going to get worse in grad school. Maybe take advantage of your comparatively free time while you can!

As I mentioned in another thread, I'm just finishing undergrad there myself and have strong relationships with a number of professors. While I don't know the ins and outs of the grad school experience (of course), I'm also willing to answer general questions about the department if need be (in addition to whatever info silenus can provide).

I'm finishing up undergrad in the English Honors program at UT Austin and have a pretty good relationship with a number of faculty if anyone wants to shoot me some questions about the program!

Hrmm. I would always say hold out hope til that hope is officially squashed. I can tell you, however, they've already made arrangements to bring people in for the visiting weekend, and that it's happening rather soon. Note this is for the English department; not sure about Literature.

That was me! I'm not sure what questions I have beyond the typical ones, but I'd love to hear your overall thoughts on the place!

Also congrats to whoever got the WUSTL acceptance!