Caien

Best of luck to @loganondorf, @Sunsy, @Mippipopolous and everyone else off to Notre Dame tomorrow!

Major congrats @Empyreal, @and,vaster and @Sunsy!!!

There's a whole pile of things to consider here. While I've only got a BA, I got it in Ireland where we have the same system as the UK, so I thought a lot about the differences when deciding to apply to the states and discussed it with my professors who had experienced both systems. I don't think you could say that a US MA is better or worse than a UK, they're just different due to the different education structures. In the UK, the students will for the most part have chosen English as their course before entering uni. The concentration of English courses they'll have taken will vary from uni to uni, but generally the UK students will have taken many more English courses at undergrad level that US students, as here we don't have general education requirements to fulfill. This causes a bit of an acceleration along the path to PhD. The Masters are then specialised (Victorian, Early Modern etc), so if you consider the students have a broader grounding in English studies than a US English major, the one year Masters is sort of more equivalent to the second year of the two-year US MA or even the first two years of a straight to PhD US program. Most Masters programs over here will want you to have your thesis locked in before entry (you'll be allowed to change it if you want of course, but as you'll be often matched to a supervisor early on to help you based on your proposal, this is much rarer than in the US, often changes are minimal) - its the main part of the personal statement in the application. In the more competitive programs like Oxbridge, if you're intending to go on to PhD you'll be expected to mention this in your Masters application, and be ready to hit the ground running when you enter the program in order to progress with your thesis. The time frame is tight yes, but it is the norm to go from the Masters to the PhD straight away. The application deadlines are a bit later for most unis in the UK than the US - spring rather than December - but you're definitely under pressure. This is why its more ideal to have you're Master's thesis progressing healthily in the first term of your Masters, as generally people will be proposing some extension of that as your PhD. As another poster mentioned, the PhD application here is centred on the research proposal. You'll be advised to get in touch with potential supervisors in advance of submitting the application - its more like the sciences in this way, as often you'll be admitted to work with a specific professor based on you research proposal. The other things that might be considered in a US statement of purpose - undergrad courses, personal motivations, more general interests - are not emphasised at all. It would certainly be easier to take a year out in between the Masters and PhD, but that depends on whether you would personally be okay with that. I can tell you that its not the norm, so you won't be really disadvantaged in being rushed. It generally accepted over here that Masters years are a mad dash of insanity in 9 months, and all the other PhD applicants will be dealing with much the same thing. I applied to a Masters in the UK this year and had some of the same concerns as you, and when I asked my professors if it would be better to do a two year research masters rather than a one year taught masters to prepare for the PhD, they were universal in their recommendation of the one year taught program. As far as going from a UK master to a US PhD, I went through many top-tier US programs current grad student list to investigate this, and almost every program had someone with a Masters from the UK or Ireland. Predictably, Oxford and Cambridge were the most common, but Edinburgh did crop up a few times. Their department is excellent. As someone who had to navigate the US application system by myself, I would also say that in a US MA you would have the advantage of professors who know the US app system and how demanding it is. On the other hand as the Masters here are specialised, you'll have the advantage of knowing your subfield in depth, and if you're focusing on British, Scottish or Irish lit studying over here might also be considered a plus in the adcomm's eyes. There's also the cultural differences to consider. The writing style over here is more formal (some would say old-fashioned), and many of the more prestigious unis in the UK don't place a lot of emphasis on theory. Historicism is the norm. There's also less emphasis on professionalisation. While you may get to attend a conference or two, you likely won't have an opportunity to teach.

In that case its quite possible the Columbia interview requests from last week were also English. Congrats on the interview!

Congratulations @Sunsy and @piers_plowman!! That's fantastic news!

I really thought we'd hear from NYU today or yesterday.

Loving the family frustration here guys. The only question my father has ever asked about my life/school/career is 'How much do you expect to be earning in 10 years time?' HOW COULD I POSSIBLY KNOW THAT!!??!!

Accepted to Notre Dame today right after my interview They said the rest of the offers won't go out until after the campus interview day though, so I'm not going to put it on the boards, I don't want to freak anyone out!

When I got my first acceptance I thought I'd relax; at least I'd be going somewhere y'know? Whats actually happened is its like now I'm hooked on offers and waiting for my next fix. I want more... nomnomnomoffers Edit: And cake, also hooked on the celebratory cake.

Congrats!!!

Thanks so much everyone! I tried to give you all an upvote but I ran out

Thanks everyone! And cliche or no @Wyatt's Terps, a big reason I wanted to apply to Boston programs was that my uncle and his family live there (as it happens, my little cousin is attending BC High on an academic scholarship!), and as you say, the city in general has good resources in Irish studies and they have the Boston consortium. Argh, still in shock. The email said to get in touch with questions and I'm like SO MANY QUESTIONS BRAIN CANNOT COMPUTE.

Guys, I've just been accepted to BC I'm completely in shock, I knew they only accept like 4-5 people so I applied assuming I'd be considered for the MA! Email said I'm accepted to the PhD in English 'with a concentration in Irish studies', which I didn't know existed at the PhD level, but after looking at their website it looks likes its more to do with the fellowship than the program.

Looking back over the boards it doesn't look like they've interviewed for Comp Lit either in the past

Aren't English and Comp Lit the same program at Columbia? Also freaked out...

Hahaha.... he I'm more terrified than excited at this point. Looking back over some old threads it looks like those who go to campus get more than one meeting with fewer professors, so I guess they're just combining them all at once for the skype interviews for logistical reasons. What are you doing to prepare?

I did, but my score was 650. My thinking was that if I didn't send it to the non-mandatory programs they would subconsciously assume it was terrible! Additionally I'm a BA applicant, and I know people have speculated on the relationship between having an MA and the importance of the subject score, if that might have an influence on your decision.

@Sunsy and @loganondorf, I have just been informed that I will be interviewed by no fewer than SIX professors at once!

My God

Can't believe it's still only January...

My status changed to a rejection a few hours ago and I'm a BA, whatever that may mean for you...

... oops But seriously, I completely missed this. Tbh I'm in the UK/Ire system where we study our subject exclusively, and while I'm a joint honours (double major) student my transcript is still almost entirely English courses, so I think if my carelessness means anything it will be to reveal my apparent inability to follow basic instructions. The funny thing is that I included an abstract of courses with all my other applications on your very suggestion @Wyatt's Terps, but it was too late to add it to OSU... Update 10 mins later: Rejected by OSU. Oh well.

Idle speculation here, but is it possible that the OSU offers that went out yesterday were for the candidates who already have MAs? I remember someone commenting that they try to have a 50/50 MA/BA mix...

Thanks Sunsy! You mean similar theoretical interests? Or are you an Irish medievalist?

Its the info that shows up beneath our comments, some people have tallies on acceptances/rejections etc. You can add one in accounts settings. I think there's also an option to hide/show signatures.