Warelin

UMB as in UM-Boston? If so, GRE scores aren't required. "GREs are encouraged, but not required."

Thanks to all the contributors thus far and to all the future contributors.

Congrats! Good things are still happening!

Well this is an attractive crowd.

At your current rate, I wouldn't be surprised to see you go 8/8! Looks like you've mastered the fit strategy. =)

I need to steal you for my final selection of schools. (On a side note: congrats on the Strode waitlist. That is certainly nothing to sneeze at.) On a side note: This further proves that you shouldn't pay too much attention to rank to determine your chances of acceptance. You may get rejected by a school that accepts 10/100 applicants and may get accepted by one that rejects 300-500 applicants.

Congrats

Seems to be fixed now.

15k per year is still a lot of money to pay in addition to living expenses. At minimim, you're probably looking at a job that pays 35k while living with multiple roommates with a schedule that probably isn't agreeable with a university schedule. Depending on NYU's terms, you may or may not even be able to gain practical academic experience. Working a job that isn't a stipend also means you're paying into FICA so there goes another 8 percent of your check plus nyc's city and state income tax and federal taxes. I think this totals to about 22 percent of your wages gone each pay period.

I'd also like to add that these numbers would be nearly impossible to find because not everyone obtaining a Master's is interested in obtaining a PHD. People from my university have received offers from Princeton, Harvard, Pennsylvania, and Maryland among other programs. However, in my current cohort of 15 people, only 3 of us are interested in obtaining a PHD in English. I'd imagine that this is more common than uncommon. The rest of my cohort is interested in becoming an editor, writer, or teacher.

This answer will depend largely on the amount given, the city of residence, and your living style. 15k in NYC won't go far and you'll need roommates since the average cost of rent is more than 3000 per month; 15k in Lexington, KY will allow you to pay the average rent of $740, have a $250 monthly budget for good, a $150 monthly budget for utilities and still have some money left over. Different programs fund at different rates though and it is unsafe to assume that they've adjusted for cost of living.

That's exciting! Congratulations!

I'd love to answer this with a no, but: someone last year got an acceptance on a Saturday.

Thanks to everyone that has contributed information thus far.

Congrats! You'll have some great choices to make.

If I recall correctly, M.A. dates are done later at most institutions. Programs like to notify their PHD acceptances first than look through their applicants to see who they'd like to take on as MA students depending on funding.

It's generally considered bad form to contact programs at the time when they're the busiest.

I'm into Hopkins as well! Congrats Sunsy!! I can't believe it, I've rechecked the email like ten times Congats to all 3 of you! It is a really great program and one I have my eye on for next year.

While casting a wide net can be important, it doesn't make sense if you wouldn't be happy at the school. It is a 5-6-7-10 year process for most people depending on the program's requirements. Not being excited would mean that you'd be more likely to drop out and not complete what you came for. In the end, it's better to have 1 really good school that you're excited about rather than 5 schools that you'd rather not attend.

The majority of schools haven't made their decisions yet. But there are some MA programs that haven't reached their deadlines yet. A few of them don't have it until March.

...or the "which school did you decide on going to" prior to submitting any applications. As if applying to a school meant an automatic acceptance. Don't get me wrong. Optimism can be a good thing but I'd rather prepare for the worst and be pleasantly surprised by the outcomes instead of thinking I'd get in everywhere and be rejected everywhere. I think an understanding community is a crucial part of the application process to save the tiniest bits of sanity we have remaining. (Also, there could be people you meet that you might just be interested in collaborating with on a research project in the future.)

It really depends on the school. Some schools do notify in waves. They start with those they'd like to offer high-end fellowships first, then move on to regular admits, then waitlists. Some schools like Emory, Notre Dame, and Chicago do interviews. Not getting an interview usually means an implied rejection. If a school has gone 1 week since its last acceptance, it might be an implied rejection or it might be a secret waitlist. There are programs that don't officially notify people of their waitlist status as they wait to see if their first choice for that genre accepts the offer. It's a game that I don't look forward to replaying next year after earning my master's in English. I do look forward to a stronger application and understanding the process better. I have some terrific professors that will be of great support.

Congrats on the acceptance!

Someone here heard from Emory about an interview request on Jan 17. (Emory is one of the few schools that do interviews)

For what it's worth, I think English MA programs consider scores less heavily than some Ph.D. Programs would. I think that you stand a good chance of admission into any funded MA program as long as you can demonstrate how your interests fit within the department and how you can grow as a scholar with the resources they have. I think most programs are interested in seeing you grow as you continue your research.