woolfie

Safferz,

Yes, my initial post was insensitive and ridiculous, hence I took it down. I do agree that I shouldn't have posted it in the first place. My main question should have been how to balance being an incoming PhD and teaching the first year--I should not have been comparing myself to other incoming students who will not have to teach because of a fellowship. Again, I apologize and will definitely think before posting...and pick up some self-esteem while I'm at it.

Thanks again fall-11. To everyone, I know my post was f***** up and I am very sorry for posting such a silly sob story. I didn't ask the right questions. Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I will try to focus on how to make this situation work out and count my blessings. Everyone who is still waiting for an acceptance, please forgive me, seriously.

I appreciate your help straight shooter. They only reason why I felt bad because another student I talked to suggested that they must not have thought my application was strong if I didn't get a fellowship...although I thought it was silly, it really did bother me and made me feel kind of low. Thanks for taking the time to show how silly I was being. Decided to take the question down since I'm bothering so many people with it...and rightfully slow. I will remember to think before I post next time.

Last year, it seems, UNC notified admits via email the last week of January, though there's also an outlier 11 Feb 2010 notification posted. Who knows. Maybe it wasn't as bureaucratically efficient (yes, I know, oxymoron) this year. Also noteworthy is that only 6 admits (counting those accepted off the wait list) posted results for the 2010 cycle.

Sorry for the lateness of this reply--I just stumbled onto this board and registered etc.... I was one of the accepted posters and I was extremely surprised to hear from UIUC so early! I did get the letter via postal mail, it was slim and I thought they were missing something from my application or was rejected or something awful and was pleasantly surprised to say the least. Speaking with just a little information on the subject, it looks like they accept a couple students in January (I saw another acceptance posted a couple days after mine) in order to nominate them for a Graduate College Fellowship. I am assuming that there will be another round of acceptances that will offer TAships and/or other forms of funding. Unfortunately this is mostly speculation and surmise, though, I am sorry I cannot be more helpful or give you a definitive answer. I wish you all the best of luck and if I learn anything during my correspondences with the department about future offers of admission I will let you know!

About the MA/PhD discussion--I have a MA already and was offered 5 years of funding (they did say that they would offer BA candidates more years of funding). I did see on the website that they prefer to have students get MAs there, so I thought it would count against me when I applied, but apparently you can be admitted with an MA from another institution.

Again, I wish you all the best of luck!

*bump*

Just a reminder that this thread, and not the results board, is the place to discuss Stanford-related matters.

They used to have a terminal master's program, and now they only have PhD track. I think it was last year that they got rid of the master's program. Like all universities these days, they have having a lot of problems. Plus they are switching from quarters to semesters and that is causing problems with teaching loads, and the word round town is that they are going to double up the load.

Hi, everyone!

My friend (who isn't a member of Grad Cafe) posted the Madison admission--she received e-mail notification back in January of acceptance and scholarship nomination. I asked her if she would be willing to share information on the results feed so the poor, anxious folks contributing to this thread would have some sort of news. I'm so, so sorry I threw you all into cardiac arrest! I really and truly wanted to help. As one who applied last year and received straight rejections, I certainly can empathize with the waiting game anxiety issues. (I've mostly done lurking this season, but might start posting more frequently now.)

Anyway, my sincerest apologies again for causing extra stress. From what I can gather, Madison still has many an offer to make, so keep the faith!

Yeah I agree, although I admit I'd also probably (read: definitely) be obsessing over this if I hadn't received the email. If you are really concerned, I don't know whether this is the best idea, but you could call Robyn Shanahan, the sender of the emails and an incredibly warm and helpful person. I spoke with her on the phone for about 20 minutes awhile back because of a problem with one of my recommendations, and she was extraordinarily helpful and seemed to really understand the neuroticism that this process creates in applicants.

Darn! Well, it was worth a shot. Thanks!

I know how you guys feel. Last year, I applied to 6 PhDs, got four rejections in a row, and was resigned to it being an unsuccessful application round. (I even got so frantic after receiving one notification email that I accidentally clicked on the wrong embedded link and was led to some generic "welcome to grad school" site that, for half a minute of euphoric delusion, I thought meant I had been accepted. File this under "Top Ten Ways to Start Your Morning Crying a Little.")

Then, on the last day of February, I got The Happy Call from one of my remaining schools. A week later, I got a call from my second school, and suddenly everything changed. I went from feeling hopeless and helpless to the enviable dilemma of having a choice in the matter, all after I had pretty much given up.

Bottom line, it's still really early in the admissions game, even though it doesn't feel that way when you're the one waiting. There are lots more acceptances to be given out before the Admittance Fairy flies away 'til next year, and we're all rooting for you

If it was because of a bureaucratic requirement, that's one thing. And the person of contact could have said as much. But the way s/he said it the way you have quoted, that is just over the top rude. Any decent human being could say it nicer, explain the graduate requirement, instead of putting it that way. It seems so spiteful.

Honestly, if an adcom can't see that this is an incredible candidate despite her slightly-less-than-3.0 GPA from 14 years ago, that's really not a school she should go to anyway. As far as I can see, it's the school that's missing out on someone who would have done them proud.

That was from the department DGS. The applicant in question had been assured prior by the director of the graduate school of Arts & Sciences that since her undergrad GPA was so old, the newer MA GPA would count more (she was smart enough to check that out before shelling over application fees). The POI in the department never saw the application at all, which she found out later when she ran into said person at a conference and was asked why she had not applied. POI was somewhat surprised and didn't think the undergraduate GPA should have been a factor. In the end, it was probably simply a matter of too many applicants, not enough slots.

(To pre-empt: She chose not to make a stink about the discrepancy between what the graduate school director/ POI and the department graduate studies director told her about the undergraduate GPA because - what good would that do, at that point? Instead, she did what she could to strengthen her application further and re-applied to several programs this year.)

The department DGS who wrote that response is no longer the DGS at that department, however, so hopefully no one else will have to go through a similar situation.

The moral of the story, however, and to come back to the original question posed, is - If you are going to ask it, make sure you are prepared for whatever they tell you by way of responding to "can you tell me why I didn't get in? I'd like to strengthen my application."

If they tell you "Well, there's nothing you can do about the problem with your application" - what will you do in that case?

It's just an example, from experience, by way of suggesting caution in proceeding.

If it was because of a bureaucratic requirement, that's one thing. And the person of contact could have said as much. But the way s/he said it the way you have quoted, that is just over the top rude. Any decent human being could say it nicer, explain the graduate requirement, instead of putting it that way. It seems so spiteful.

I am inclined to believe that this might reference a graduate school requirement that was unmet, and isn't a teller of her abilities at the graduate level. The protocol for most schools, of course, is to have an undergrad GPA above a certain level for admission, and if it doesn't meet that, then you can't be considered, regardless. Simple gatekeeping mechanism, I hope? If not, then yikes. Yikes is the word I choose.

As someone pointed out to me in another thread, the Comp program is entirely separate from the Lit one. Perhaps you're waiting to hear from the comp program, but I'm holding my breath for the lit one. I was told we'd hear before the 14th and UW is my top choice. I've been going crazy wondering all weekend...

I've been trying not to get my hopes up for schools like UW, Michigan, UT, etc. These programs seem to get even more apps than Ivies, 400+, and then accept 10 people or so. So I'm trying to have low expectations .

I wonder if it would be easier or harder for a Brit (I'm assuming you're British, forgive me if I'm wrong) to get a teaching job in the US. I mean, if you were doing American lit, I'd think you would not have an advantage. But my guess, based on absolutely nothing, is that if you are doing British literature, it might be easier for you. Maybe it's different in different regions of the US, but I think there is a kind of reverence or respect especially in regards to literature towards the 'mother country.' That's just what I see in terms of attitudes around here, not saying it's right or wrong. On second thought, it might only be on the level of student respect- you would be seen as more authoritative I think. But it might not matter on the level of hiring committees.


Thoughts?

I wonder if it would be easier or harder for a Brit (I'm assuming you're British, forgive me if I'm wrong) to get a teaching job in the US. I mean, if you were doing American lit, I'd think you would not have an advantage. But my guess, based on absolutely nothing, is that if you are doing British literature, it might be easier for you. Maybe it's different in different regions of the US, but I think there is a kind of reverence or respect especially in regards to literature towards the 'mother country.' That's just what I see in terms of attitudes around here, not saying it's right or wrong. On second thought, it might only be on the level of student respect- you would be seen as more authoritative I think. But it might not matter on the level of hiring committees.


Thoughts?

I know this wasn't your question, but on the topic of relationships and graduate schools... I think that if significant others are unwilling to make sacrifices for each other (equally, it must be balanced) then you should choose school over your SO. It shouldn't have to come down to that. For instance, I met my SO in undergrad. Upon graduating he applied to MFA programs and we moved to another state while I got a job for the three years he did his degree. Now he's graduating and it's my turn- I'm going to go to an MA program in the fall and he'll move with me and take two years off. Then we'll either apply for PhD programs together, or jobs together. It's tough, but we're making compromises for each other. If only one person were making compromises, that would be trouble.

If I may make an objection to your comments, I'm not sure that I agree that the advantages are "reasonable." They are unquestionably privileges--and privileges that make a big difference in a person's application. I come from a lower-income, working class family (I can explain what that means, if necessary), and I did not have the privilege of having a part-time job or living with my parents to save what little money I make. While I would never fault anyone who did have these privileges (I have to admit, I am jealous!), it's unreasonable to assume that this is the baseline for all applicants to perform at. During the application process, I had to work a full-time job with a one-hour-each-way commute, I moved, and I had other commitments, which only left one or two hours per day for studying for the GREs, completing applications, or revising my writing sample. I made the conscious decision to begin the process in June of 2009, but--again--one cannot assume that everyone has these luxuries. And to expect every applicant to perform at the level of someone who had twice the amount of time to devote to their applications is unreasonable. While I don't believe that a mediocre applicant can suddenly best an exceptional applicant through the sheer application of time, it is too problematic to judge all applicants based on the luxuries of a select few.

Furthermore, you say "you obviously proved yourself deserving by devoting yourself to your application"--does this mean that anybody who did not have the privileges to devote themselves is somehow less deserving? I don't mean to sound aggressive and I understand what you were trying to say, but that doesn't erase some of the class-based assumptions that you are making. I clearly did not devote as much time to my applications as some (and not because I didn't want to!), but that does not mean I was less deserving of my accomplishments. Again, I think it's important to understand that the democratization (or meritocrization??) of the discipline does not begin with the leveling of the playing field post-doctorate, but also prior to enrollment. We cannot judge all applicants by the standards set by the privileged few.

Going back to the question about hostility toward the ivies, I think that is a product of how the institutions see themselves, rather than anything innate to the various Departments or scholars that work at those institutions (or the students that attend them). But when an institution begins to capitalize on their image and legacy (as Harvard did when they developed their own line of clothing), it sends a very clear message: "Our name is all we or you ever need to succeed." Again, this has nothing to do with the scholars that work at these institutions, but such a message is problematic. (Quite anecdotally, I have a friend that attends Harvard Law. She said that the only way Harvard Law is able to maintain a 100% placement rate is by creating fellowships for those individuals that do not manage to land a position after graduation.)

I haven't heard anything from any schools yet either.

I would just like to point out, however, that judging yourself on the basis of your peers can backfire. (I know, you're too stressed to take anecdotal advice from a stranger, but...) I psychologically beat myself raw that a friend of mine from the same school got snapped up for a PhD program right out of undergrad while I only managed to get into an MA program by my fingernails. My friend, however, quickly found him/herself way over their head, depressed and angry and completely out of place, and s/he is cutting and running with a terminal MA from the program, never to return to this subject. I truly wish that things had worked out for him/her, of course, but it just goes to show you that comparing yourself to your peers during the application process can be misleading and a waste of valuable head space.

I don't understand which parts of this are sarcastic, which parts are serious, or what the overall point is.

I posted one of the MA acceptances. I think that MAs are notified separately than PhDs. I remember hearing something about that, but I apologize that I can't recall exactly.