Warelin

When people refer to rank, they generally mean how they rank according to USNews.

In previous years, people have mentioned that UVA maintains both a shortlist and a long waitlist. I think the survey page also makes mention of it.

I think far too many people think going to a certain school alone is enough to grant them to certain positions. And it might to an extent. But I think it's because highly motivated individuals might apply to a certain subset of schools. However, I've realized those who choose not to apply or accept their offers at certain schools and really take the time to develop themselves within the profession are able to do quite well for themselves. I've seen it happen multiple times that individuals not from the ivy league are given a job offer over the individual from the ivy league. I think a lot of time it does come down to previous accomplishments, "fit" (even when you're done applying to grad school), and letters of recommendation. Motivated people tend to do well regardless of where they obtain their degree from and I think being happy with where you're at plays a major factor in your work-quality level and reduces the chance that you'll drop out.

This might even be simplifying it too much. There are some subfields even within some departments that are well-known beyond what its rank would imply. For initial placements into certain R1 schools, ranking might matter. However, most openings are at undergraduate-focused teaching colleges and they care more about your teaching ability and record than they do about your publications. As you move on throughout your career, (past your post-doc/first placement), the name of where you obtained your PHD matters less and less.

April 15 is not the deadline for unfunded offers. The April 15 Resolution states the following: "Acceptance of an offer of financial support* (such as a graduate scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, or assistantship) for the next academic year by a prospective or enrolled graduate student completes an agreement that both student and graduate school expect to honor. In that context, the conditions affecting such offers and their acceptance must be defined carefully and understood by all parties. Students are under no obligation to respond to offers of financial support prior to April 15; earlier deadlines for acceptance of such offers violate the intent of this Resolution. *Please Note: This Resolution applies to offers of financial support only, not offers of admission." Current CGS members can be found here.

I think it's important to note that a "top 20" program can look very different depending on who's applying. Some programs are known well for very specific fields even if they're ranked "lower". Fit is often considered important because happiness will allow you to produce much stronger work.

Let's just hope that teaching-focused colleges are as kind to me! This forum is great. We get a bunch of incredible people each year. I just wished more of them stayed after their application season. There is so much we could learn from each other and form really strong CVs together! The potential for joint scholarship and friendships are so powerful on this forum.

And I told you that Harvard and Brown were just deciding who gets him!

Just called UVA and asked because I remember the process. Really nice staff and faculty! Here's what I was told: The first round of offers have gone out at UVA. If you haven't heard by now, it's probable that you're on a waitlist and UVA is still waiting to hear back from their first round offers. It's also possible that your file is in the middle and they haven't quite determined what to do with it. The majority of rejections have gone out but not all of them have gone out.

I think that sounds correct. You're doing service in exchange for income and as such, the university sees you as an employee and has to tax you as such. Fellowships are not considered wages by the IRS and hence do not create an employer-employee relationship. They do, however, create a payroll record.

If I remember correctly, Fellowships and Teaching are seen in different ways by the university. When your husband starts TAing/Teaching, they might tax his stipend since he'll be seen as an employee. I think he'd still be exempt from FICA taxes though but I'm not 100 percent certain. Including the summer stipend: I think Harvard's total amount comes to around $33,120? For the purposes of this example, we're going to act as if the individual were single and they had no previous jobs. The first $9,525 would be taxed at 10 percent. This would equate to $952.50. Anything from $9,526 to $38,700 would be taxed at 12 percent. $33,120 - $9,525= $23,595 $23,595 * .12= 2,831 + 952.50= $3,783.50 $3,783.50/ 4 = $945.88 per quarter. Missed quarterly payments can be made up the following quarter. However, the above would assume a flat rate with no exemptions or deductions. In 2018, the standard deduction for single filers is $12,000. Let's see how this impacts a few things. A standard deduction of $12,000 would make your taxable income $21,120, The first $9,525 would be taxed at 10 percent. This would equate to $952.50. Anything from $9,526 to $38,700 would be taxed at 12 percent. $21,120 - $9,525= 11,595 $11,595*.12=1391.4+952.50= $2,342.90 2343.9/4 = $585.98 per quarter. Missed quarterly payments can be made up the following quarter. The above is not tax advice and one should always consult a lawyer in cases like these. These numbers could be slightly higher or lower depending on maritial status, filing status, deductions taken and previous employment within the year.

Congrats! Another case that rejections from other schools are no indication of standing at any other university.

You are great; don't forget it. I've recently have seen a lot of negativity on these boards. You are worth so much more than rejections.

Part of me has always hoped that universities delay rejections because they receive so many qualified applicants and are hoping that you receive your good news before the bad news.

I think this is a very important thing to bring up. Some schools have fellowships and extra contests in surprising places. The library here even has up to 10k in travel funding you can apply for. The library also host essay contests on books. My program also has dozens of awards that you could apply to. I noticed that there are certain schools that require you to apply to outside funding opportunities before they give you funding for your final year. Part of me is curious as to how many awardees are applicants from schools that require you to apply for funding vs schools that don't require you to apply. I'd be curious to see what those numbers look like. I'm with you on this one. There are so many great professors working at many different schools and different schools have different strengths. And the main professor that could best advise you isn't neccessarily the most "famous" professor. Someone who gets you and your project will help you more than someone who may not be as invested or interested in the wor you're doing. On a sidenote, I also think it's important to note that there isn't a single school which could guarantee you an interview at every school. Some things that might be considered positive at one school might be considered a negative at another school. As such, I think it's incredibly important that you feel supported in the research you do and valued by the department. The program I'm a part of is in the midst of hiring a new professor; the finalists they've brought in have degrees from 3 very different universities. All 3 have a very strong CV. On a side note, @impasta: You (and anyone else that may be reading this) are great:

I'd like to make a few notes here: 1) There are some programs which haven't made adjustments based on the recent inflations within their cities. 2) There are programs outside the top 20 that could offer you a more flexibility in being able to afford more types of living arrangements. 3) There are programs inside the top 20 which might require you to live with roommates to make sure your stipend is enough. 4) The same amount of money stretches in different ways in different cities. 5) Bigger programs might have more opportunities but competition for those opportunities might be stronger depending on the number of awards available. 6) There are so many great programs and it could be very challenging to say which would be able to make you feel the most supported due to the variety of funding opportunities available. Side note: I find that Ice Cream is a good way of coping with both rejections and acceptances.

Congratulations!

So, I just have one question in this regard: Is Los Angeles County or is Los Angeles - Long Beach - Anaheim metro a smaller area? (In these cases, I always tried to go with a smaller area or one that had closer costs to their area? Otherwise, either the $29,864 or the living wage multiplied by 2080 hours would be acceptable and updates would be appreciated!

For spreadsheet purposes, the spreadsheet only accounts for one individual. A score of 1 equates to MIT's living wage * 40 hours * 52 weeks (or 2080 hours). This is usually the same as MIT's listed "Required annual income before taxes". However, there have been times that the number is slightly different. It is possible that cities that have seen inflation in living (Nashville, Boston, Austin) or cover really huge areas (Philadelphia, NYC, Houston) might present a less accurate number depending on how recently MIT updates their data. It is possible that MIT has updated some numbers, but not all of them. It is possible that some of the numbers might need updating within the spreadsheet as well. The Living Wage Index is based on the school's stipend divided by MIT's hourly living wage multiplied by 2080 hours.

There were considerably fewer applicants many years ago. A lot of the "top" programs have a long history and admitted bigger cohorts than they currently do. Part of this is some of the reason why it appears that certain professors graduated from the same schools. One of my professors told me that he only applied to 3 schools and was admitted to all of them. While they may not have faced rejection to as many schools as current applicants are applying to, I do believe a lot of them do fear what will happen to the profession as a whole.

Not true. Brown English maintains an invisible waitlist. You're still in the game if you haven't received a rejection from Brown. We discovered that last year when some of us asked why we hadn't been notified and the coordinator told us about a waitlist.

I've never heard of any school reimbursing you for the amount of money you spent on the GRE. I would advise against asking for reimbursement as this is not something that is typically seen as eligible for reimbursement purposes.

You mention that staying in NYC is an important factor and you mentioned 3 colleges that have caught your attention. Hunter has a Graduate Student tuition rate of $10,770 per year for New York State residents. (Effective 2018) CCNY has a Graduate Student tuition rate of $5,385 per semester/10,770 per year for New York State residents. (Effective 2018) Hunter has a Graduate Student tuition rate of $5385 per year/10,770 per year for New York State residents. (Effective 2018) All 3 colleges have the same cost of attendance. The final number may or may not change depending on if you are awarded an assistantship or a fellowship. However, it is likely that they may not offer any fellowships. As such, you'll have to ask yourself (if no funding is available), are you comfortable paying out of pocket for this degree? If you are, I'd take a look at courses offered recently, how accessible each university is to you, and how safe you feel at each location? It might be difficult for people to pinpoint good poetics professors because everyone will have a different idea what good means depending on their specific interests. It tends to get very specific at the Ph.D. level. However, at the Master's level, I wouldn't worry about this as much as long as the professors have an interest in Poetics. For individuals hoping to pursue a Ph.D., the MA tends to be a time to develop more specific interests. If I recall correctly, I think the CUNY system had a nice selection of courses from in terms of night-classes. As such, I don't think you could go wrong at any of the 3 colleges you've selected but would urge you to take a look at previous offerings as well as making sure that you feel comfortable with where each campus is located in NYC.

I think it's important to remember a few things here: 1) English MA programs are not ranked by USNews. USNews only ranks Ph.D. programs. 2) USNews rankings for English are determined by 14 percent of respondents who were department heads or directors of graduate studies. There is no possible way that such a low number of replies could accurately represent more than 100 programs. Furthermore, each department will have different strengths which may not accurately be represented in rankings. 3) The Graduate Center of the City University of New York is what is being ranked.

Fixed. It seems like someone did some resorting and unclicked California in the settings. I've undone those settings and schools in California are now listed again!