Warelin

I believe this is correct. The April 15th resolution only applies to funded offers from universities. From what you've described above as a Policy analyst who focuses on security and conflict, it sounds like Missouri State's Defense & Strategic Studies in the Department of Defense & Strategic Studies in Washington D.C. sounds the most beneficial.

There are too many variable factors if you've been waitlisted. Sometimes, schools have their entire cohort filled before March. Sometimes, the same school is trying to fill the cohort after April 15th as more people make their final decisions. Every day after April 15th makes it that much harder to fill the cohort.

I'd e-mail the graduate coordinator. I don't think they'd penalize you for something like this. As a sidenote, try not to think of schools as "reaches" or "safeties". People have been rejected from schools with higher acceptance rates while being accepted to schools with lower acceptance rates. We never know what causes a school to accept or reject a certain applicant. It really depends on the professor. Some professors might be willing to submit to more schools. Others might not be as willing to write more recommendations. I think it's always important to remember that everyone is balancing out a lot of things during the end of the year. I imagine most would be more than happy too as long as they knew to check their e-mails for additional requests.

I would try to not stress too much over this. There are so many factors that determine an acceptance. It's unlikely one will ever know which factor will result in anything and a lot of these factors are outside of one's control. As for other applications, I'd ensure the following before submitting anywhere else: 1) Did your professor and you agree on a number of applications they'd be willing to write for? Are they open to writing more? 2) Are the additional universities in places you could see yourself living for 5 years or more? 3) Are there additional professors at these universities that you could see yourself working with? 4) Does the school provide enough funding to live without working an additional job?

Schools are curious to see what their peers are and see if they can get a better understanding of why applicants are rejecting their offers to improve their acceptance rate. Are they losing applicants to schools that offer better funding based on the cost of living? Is the applicant only applying to top 10 programs? Is the applicant only applying to schools that have the most name recognition? Is the applicant applying to schools only within a certain demographic region? Are they losing people due to certain placement rates/lack of placement results? It's likely that a lot of reasons might not be something schools can do something about but consistently losing people due to funding might help them build a case to build their base offer in the future. However, most schools are just curious and it's unlikely to have any impact on your application.

Hi @Alyson, While higher grades exist more commonly (partly because the demographics are different) in grad school, it is untrue that everyone in grad school has a 4.0 GPA. Different professors have different styles. Some professors might limit the amount of A's in each class. Others might not have any limits. Grades aren't by any means the most important part in the humanities. The reason you get rejected from a program is highly unlikely to do with someone outscoring you by a 10th of a percentage point. If your GPA was below a B+ average (or littered with C's), there might be more reason to worry but a B in a class (especially in a field/topic outside of your own) isn't going to hurt you. I think there would be more effective ways to spend your time though than trying to get your grade changed. Getting a better understanding of your fit within a program, presenting at conferences (to make connections), submitting to journals, spending additional time on your SOP/Writing Sample, and engaging with your professors in conversations to strengthen your recommendation letter based on your CV are all ways in which might help to strengthen your application. None of these are guaranteed though and one can excel in all of these and still not be admitted. What committees are looking for one year might differ from year to year depending on who's serving on the committee, how they're trying to balance a cohort, and so many other factors. I think it's important to remember that rejection is not personal. You are more than your application to grad school.

GradCafe is usually most active from November-April. This is usually around the time where people are finishing up their applications and waiting for results.

PHD "rankings" do not extend to MA programs. MA programs are essentially all unranked. It sounds like you'll be happier at school B. Having good experiences and accessible instructors will only result in a stronger grad app for future programs.

Congratulations!

Feel free to shoot me a PM if you'd like any help on narrowing your schools/want a look over your SOP.

Best of luck to you next cycle! Traditionally, someone creates the next cycle board between April 16 (the day after funded offers must be responded to) and September. You'll likely find the periods between April and October will be likely less busy than the periods between October and April! What are your research interests?

Congratulations Cassidy! What wonderful news!

Very few schools cover relocation. Most schools require you to pay a certain percentage of health insurance and some require you to pay additional fees. I'd inquire within the university to see if they offer health insurance and to clarify if it's included as part of your package. Are they providing a stipend? If they aren't, there's a higher chance that the above won't be included. I'd also inquire with your current professors to see if they know of any professional organizations who might be able to provide additional funding and what the requirements would be to apply for said funding. Best of luck to you!

@KJC2105- There are so many ways to look into this subject and each discipline might have a different way of looking at it. Have you considered if there's a certain discipline that you might prefer? It's quite possible that a lot of places might not have a PHD specifically in Gender or Sexuality Studies but they might have a graduate certificate which might fulfill what you're looking after and would greatly expand the programs available to you in the Midwest.

In the past, they have mentioned accepting 1 of every 7 applicants or so. They do have a Dashboard though which can be found here. If you click on LAS, you can click on ENG. Clicking on F2020, it looks like 92 people applied, 23 were accepted, and 12 enrolled in their masters/phd program. For their straight to PHD program, it looks like 43 people applied, 15 were admitted, and 6 enrolled. It might be worth mentioning that many factors can determine how many people apply in any given year. Years ago, UIUC made news because the university threatened to take away tuition waivers. The English Department also hosts two other departments so they might internally fight for allocation of spots which might cause further divides. There might be additional things that universities offer that might cause students to apply elsewhere which might also determine rank down the line. (I remember UCD making some major changes years ago which seems to have paid off in attracting more applicants to take notice of their program which might've also caused other programs to pay more attention to their program. Ultimately, ranking by USNews is determined by the few administrators who give feedback and other programs and publicity of a program is often key to getting ranked more favorably. USNews doesn't take into account how many people apply to a program but changing the structure of a program might lead to an increase of applications from students which might lead to other programs paying attention to what your program is doing. We also know that some schools are outperforming other schools that are ranked "better" than them which might also determine ultimately of who applies where. Funding, practices and location might also be a deterrent of who can apply where.

Have things in Nashville improved since January?

It might be worthwhile to e-mail Toronto and explain that you've also applied to schools within the USA and haven't had a chance to attend their open house. The worse they can say is no. However, different schools in different countries have offered extensions in the past.

I think it might be worth noting here that very few (if any) programs allow students to transfer in. In most cases, programs will place your application along with everyone else's. If accepted, there's a high probability that you'll be starting from scratch. If you pursue this option, you'll also have to explain why (academically) you're seeking admission to a new program. Programs can get really hesitant about people transferring because they fear the same reasons would repeat with the student at their institution. All reasons for a program you select are valid. All programs might have their own reasons for their majors. Some colleges might not have an MFA but they could offer classes in creative writing. They might also have special opportunities that students can participate such as internships or writing creatively as an option for part or all of a requirement. They might also offer other practicum-based majors. Whether it's a creative or writing community you seek, I think you'll be able to find it no matter where you go. 24k and 31k can be a lot or a little depending on the city. I'd see if you can find out how much the difference is by using a "Cost of Living Calculator". The numbers will only be able to provide a base. From there, I'd consider thinking about your living arrangements. You mention having a friend if you go to SMU. Are you comfortable living that far away from the University? Would you feel comfortable living that far away from the other university? It might be worth looking into the average price of rent based on how close (or far) you'd like to live with the understanding that rent tends to be pricier the closer it is to the university (especially in college towns). I agree; I think both of these simplify things way too much. Interests can change; a university can go broke at anytime. Do you know if Wisconsin regained its tenure system? Would you feel comfortable if Creative Writing or Rhetoric/Comp overtook a decision which impacted the English Department at Wisconsin? Placement is never guaranteed. Would you feel comfortable being placed in Texas or a nearby region if you chose SMU? Inversely, would you be okay with living in a colder climate if you chose Wisconsin? Would you prefer to teach at an undergraduate-focused institution or is your goal R1? Are there graduate certificates at either you would be interested in pursuing? How big are the classes? How close does the cohort appear to be? What happens if graduation takes longer than your funding offer? Do people generally get to work with the professor they want to work with?

Is it crucial that you enroll in a Master's program for the upcoming year? There might be alternatives that enhance your application which would make it get into funded Master's programs after this cycle. I'd like to stress that prestige at the Master's level really does not exist. It might sound impressive to the general public but ultimately the general public isn't the one making decisions on admissions. If you must enroll in one of them, look at their classes and what their requirements are. See if there's one which you find more appealing in that manner. Consider location as well. Consider how much you'll pay for rent, transportation and how easily accessible things like restaurants, parks, and grocery stores might be. Also consider that it's highly likely that you'll be unable to make much of a dent in payments if you decide to apply to PHD programs. Otherwise, consider where you'd like to live for 2 years. Find universities in those locations; there's a good chance that places without a PHD program fund their students. Not having to stress about loans or working a second job will probably help you develop a stronger writing sample.

See you there! I'll be presenting as well.

It is also possible that the school might have a primary/secondary invisible waitlist.

At the PHD level, I can honestly say that no professors I've talked to say that they care where someone went to for their Master's. One person expressed slight interest because they previously taught there and was curious on who was still there. At the applying to jobs level, professors are more interested in who you are a student of. Certain programs might also be better known for subfields which are not reflective of overall ranking. As a result, some programs might have a better understanding of terminology within a certain subfield. I'd second the advice to never pay for a Master's degree in the humanities. I think this is the first full year that Georgetown has offered no funding.

Congratulations!

You and I are agreeing on a lot of things and disagreeing on others. However, it's dangerous to say that a program's PHD ranking (which is really just the opinion of the approximately 28 people who bother filling out that survey) transfers over to the MA side of things. University of Chicago has the top ranked English PHD program. However, their MAPH program is often regarded as among the lowest of MA programs. While often a 1 year program, many people do choose to take 2 years at MAPH. I agree with you that a 2 year program allows you to build more opportunities and I'd argue that there is no such thing as a one year program. One year programs might exist in theory that you'll only be taking classes for a year but there's almost no way that you'd be able to build relationships to have them ready by the time applications roll around. Because of when applications are due, you'd likely only have about a month or two to ask for letters and not enough time to build a substantial improvement of new material for your writing sample. As a result, most people in one year programs often don't apply until year 2. Even well-known scholars aren't guaranteed to get you in anywhere and I'd argue that the job market has done a much better job of ensuring that they're just about everywhere these days. The problem with well-known scholars is that universities know their style. If the scholar has a habit of saying that every applicant is among the best of their class, their letter starts having less weight. Often in times, a letter can carry a lot of weight if the admissions committee personally knows the letter writer because they're friends, they met at a conference, or they attended school together. Those lines are only getting blurrier as time goes on. I'd argue that funding opportunity is the most important resource as an MA student. I'd avoid accepting an offer to any school which does not offer you a tuition waiver at least. I'd also seriously look into how busy a professor at a school offering both an MA and a PHD as a terminal degree may be. While students might be indistinguishable in class, it might not be the case outside of class. Multiple dissertations can take a large time commitment that can often result in rejecting other people if they're trying to balance that, service to the institution, research and classes. Professors are human too and as a result, it's often easier to get a stronger letter from institutions that don't offer a PHD in your field because they'll don't have to juggle multiple dissertations on top of their courseload.