woolfie

What's going on with this?

Hey thanks everybody; these are all really helpful suggestions. I know the writing sample is the key. But how do I know if it's good enough? I have two writing samples that I'm deciding between and I go back and forth between which one is better and sometimes think neither of them are good enough and sometimes think they're stellar. I just don't know how to judge my own abilities or get a feel for how others will. And it's important because money is really really tight and I can't waste my time or money on applications that are just going to get thrown out.

Yes, I was thinking top 20. Mostly UPenn, Brown, Duke, Cornell are four schools, esp Cornell, that I really like, but I'm considering just abandoning any hope for based on my record and the fact that its so competitive. I imagine the next "tier" is from 21-40, then 41-63, then everyone else.

I'm doing some of that too. I'm waiting today to hear back from Ohio State, and if I get rejected, which I'm expecting, I'm going to enroll in a grad class for spring quarter and try to get a better writing sample, or at least establish a professorial relationship. And I am already gearing up to retake the GREs and take the subject test, like you said. And the personal statement needs to be redone, and I'm really going to try and do a good job of personalizing them and doing better research on the schools. I guess my problem is, when researching schools, I find things I like about a great number of them. There are a few schools I'm just not interested in, but usually I find areas I like. I just can't narrow it down. But that's my goal for now, but I really think I should limit the number of top tier schools just because I need as much time as possible and don't want to waste it.

I was under the impression that they offered acceptences to fellowship recipients and not the TAships. When I emailed the secretary a couple weeks ago, she said that we won't know until late March, early April. Now, that could be when all the rejections go out, but still, I'm pretty confident they are not done making offers.

I'm formulating my list of schools to apply to next year and am shooting for about 10 schools, give or take. And I'm thinking that, while Cornell and Duke and Virginia have programs I'd like... I wonder if it is a waste of my energy and time and if focusing on mid-tier applications might be more economical. I'm seeing people on here who are 0/15 schools when they applied to only places like Princeton, Yale, Brown, Berkeley, etc. FYI my gpa is 3.7 GRE verbal 640 writing 5.0 and I have a writing sample from a senior thesis that I think is good, but could have been better (I'm working on that for next year, too). English gpa is 3.6, Comp Lit gpa 3.7. I think my stats are okay and will get me through a first round of cuts (meeting basic requirements...sometimes), but I'm thinking they aren't good enough, that I should just save my money as they will keep me out of Berkeley, etc. Right now, I think the only top tier school I will be applying to is Michigan, and stick with places like Pitt and SUNY Buffalo, which are hard enough to get in as it is. What do you think? Have you been surprised by an acceptance? Or if you could do it over again, would you just exclude those top ten schools?

Ah yes, you are probably Comp Lit then. I was thinking English. I just wish I'd at least get a rejection so I can move on with my life, this past month has been madness.

Oh really? When did you get that? Did you get a letter or an email? I don't see any rejections in results... I am confused by their website, as when you click on 'check my status' it says "as of January 1 we have recieved your application. Please contact this list to find your department if you have questions on the completeness or status of your app." I guess that means they won't update the website?

Thank you so much. I heard a rumor that committees meet on Thursdays and people usually hear by Friday the result. But I also heard that all decisions have been made, so I wasn't sure what to believe. I think I'm going to believe the former, as an MFA at OSU told me that.

I think you are right; there are less people but there are also going to be less spots available. I'm sorry that you are sitting on so many rejections. Looking at your schools though, you really applied to the most competitive schools there are. I would not be down on your applications, these schools are getting crazy amounts of applicants, like in the 600+ range. And I think you are at the mercy of faculty tastes. I keep going back and forth if I should even waste my time of the super competitive schools. Good luck with your remaining schools! I went to Indiana for undergrad and am from Bloomington, and I love the place. I hope you get in there.

Oh, yeah, I agree. I didn't mean to imply that I was switching for that reason. I have always had 18th c on my list of interests... I've just been trying to rethink my applications and I realized that my interests have been too all over the place and that I need to buckle down and really delve out a niche in my PS and CV in one interest to make my app more cohesive. I realized that it was too much this year, I was trying to go for contemporary cultural studies, internet and science studies, critical theory, language and linguistics, AND 18th cent. I mostly just wanted to get a feel for the field since I was applying to theory heavy schools and have not thought about 18th c exclusively. But I appreciate the advice! I wholehartedly agree that you shouldn't let things like that affect your research interests. I was just wondering if it would be a nice bonus.

Ooo, well U of Delaware also funds every single terminal MA. They were already on my maybe, so thanks!

I realize this is a lazy way of doing research, but I am readying a whole new slew of applications for next year and am reconsidering my focus and pool of schools. I hear that 18th c is not very competitive, most grad students do not enter in that field. What have you heard about that? Are you an 18th c/colonialist? What are some schools that are strong in this area? Right now my list consists of only UVA as far as this specific area.

I am not in history (English) but I think it's the same across the board. I have a lot of friends who complain about never getting assigned papers that are long enough for publication. I think that is a big turn off for my top school, Ohio State, which is getting rid of quarters but not for another two years.

HOW LONG IS THE VERY NEAR FUTURE??? Just kidding. Not really, though. This school is my top choice and I already live in Columbus and know people in the program so I am just being so impatient about this decision. I really need some distraction, cept Scrabble doesn't work on my work computer

Also, guys, there is an entry for last year for March 20th, an acceptance with a note saying he/she thought he/she was out of the running and completely surprised. And since their apps were up by something like 25%, I think I'm choosing to believe that we still have a chance.

Hmm, do you think that Rhet comp might be different then the literature program? I heard from an internal phd that he thought they still had non-fellowships to get back to... but I'm not sure if he was sure.

I don't think I've seen a single thing on Penn State since then. I check pretty obsessively too

Yeah, I wondered about that too, but I ask because that's the only one that's not internal that I've seen, aside from the wave of fellowship recipients in February. And surely there would be more than just the one? I just don't know and I'm impatient!

Have any external, non-fellowship applicants recieved acceptances?

Yes definitely! I've learned that you can never, never do enough research. And since I only applied to two schools and just waiting for some rejections, I'll almost be okay with being rejected so I can apply to a whole new realm of possibilities.

Hey thanks for the info. I didn't mean to imply that my stats are necessarily bad, I just gathered from what English department sites have been saying about the difference from their averages and their requirements, as well as some friends in the program I'm applying to. It seems like 3.85+ and 700+ is about the average from those sources. And yeah, my choices were mostly location, but OSU English is actually a pretty good fit, in my opinion. But I'm already trying to work on my polishing certain aspects of my application for next year.

I see some OSU people are getting admitted. Are you all internal applicants? Should I be afraid?

Hey all, I was talking to a friend the other day about my grad app and she thought that, despite my stats of 640V 3.7 gpa being less than stellar, that I was a competitive candidate based on my sr. thesis and double major in English and Comparative Literature. She was trying to make me believe most people don't do senior theses and I don't know if I agree with her. I've been thinking that most people do that apply to grad school. So do you have one?

Ah, well I'm 640V and 3.71 gpa from an honors program. I'm hoping to get in on my writing sample, but I won't be surprised if I don't make the cut this year. I'm considering trying to retake the general test to try and break 700 but test anxiety usually gets the better of me.