Warelin

Many of us may not have the privilege to partake in protest, but I've found that has helped me cope with anxieties I feel around the Trump administration. Also a good way to pass the time, meet some people, and wait for decisions.

I think the actual acceptance letter was in black font but the envelope had green ink!

I think the actual acceptance letter was in black font but the envelope had green ink!

First off, it's great that you're considering all your options. I think becoming a professor is the end goal for many of us here and we've been forewarned about how bad the job market is. As disheartening as it is, many (most) of us will not end up with a tenure track position.

I'm not sure if you know this or not but:
-Adjuncts and other nontenured faculty now make up three-quarters of college and university teachers.
-In many fields, from the humanities to the sciences, universities are accepting far more Ph.D. students than there are tenure-track openings.
-https://chroniclevitae.com/news/1438-so-you-think-you-want-a-tenure-track-job
-https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/01/08/economist-offers-critique-job-market-phds-english

While there are a number of MA programs with no funding, there are some that do pay with a stipend. However, this stipend is low compared to the amount of income a full-time job has the potential to make. (Things to consider: Each year of working is less money saved up for retirement)
My goal here isn't to scare you away from becoming a professor but rather to inform you that getting a PHD does not guarantee you a position in Academia. If you find that your passion is still there after reading this, by all means, continue.
I currently teach at 2 colleges (while applying to Ph.D. programs) and my teaching experiences have taught me that there is nothing I'd rather do in life. I realize that there may not be a teaching job at the end of the tunnel and I'm okay with that but I'm going to give it my all.)

Congrats! Boston College is a great school for irish lit.

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.

Today, I found myself extremely bored. As a result, I complied a list of when schools typically notify for first-round acceptances using data from the results page. After, I rearranged things in order by  when programs typically notify.

Michigan State-Dec 10? (Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures)
OSU-Jan 25
Wisconsin- Jan 28
Duke- Jan 29
WashU- Jan 31-Feb 2
Northwestern-Jan 31-Feb 2
Berkeley- Jan 31-Feb 2
Chicago- Feb 1/2
Minnesota-Feb 2
Vanderbilt - Feb 2/3
Texas- Feb 3/4
Indiana-Feb 3/4
Purdue-Feb 3-5
UCLA- Feb 4/5
Johns Hopkins- Feb 5
Davis-Feb 5/6
Penn State- Feb 5/6
Pittsburgh-Feb 5/6
Nebraska-Feb 5-7
NYU-Feb 6/7
Maryland-Feb 7-9
Rochester-Feb 8/9
Emory- Feb 8-9
Irvine-Feb 8-9
Illinois- Feb 9-12
Brown-Feb 10-12
LSU-Feb 11
Rice- Feb 12
Buffalo-Feb 12
Missouri- Feb 12-14
Delaware-Feb 12-14
Kansas-Feb 14
Carnegie Mellon- Feb 14/15
Alabama-Feb 14-16
Cornell- Feb 15/16
Miami University-Feb 15/16
Michigan-Feb 16
Connecticut-Feb 16
CUNY-Feb 16/17
Santa Barbara-Feb 17-19
Stanford- Feb 17-Feb 20
Princeton-Feb 17-20
UVA- Feb 19/20
Rutgers-Feb 19/20
Harvard- Feb 20-Feb 22
Columbia- Feb 20-22
Penn- Feb 20-22
Utah-Feb 22
Notre Dame-Feb 23
Yale- Feb 24/25
Washington-Feb 25
Syracuse-Feb 26
Chapel Hill-Feb 26/27
Oregon-Feb 27-28
Iowa-March 2-5
Florida State-March 4-7
Mississippi- March 5-7

I think most colleges have campus listings of people who are looking for roommates. Craigslist is also a popular roommate service. Oftentimes, people use more than one listing service to find potential roommates. The less restrictions you have, the easier it will be for you to find a suitable apartment.

I'm not convinced GRE scores make a big difference in the grand scheme of things. I think the Writing Sample, your fit within a program, and your SOP make a major difference. I ended up doing a lot of tailoring to ensure that the program understood why I was interested in them specifically.

First off, it's great that you're considering all your options. I think becoming a professor is the end goal for many of us here and we've been forewarned about how bad the job market is. As disheartening as it is, many (most) of us will not end up with a tenure track position.

I'm not sure if you know this or not but:
-Adjuncts and other nontenured faculty now make up three-quarters of college and university teachers.
-In many fields, from the humanities to the sciences, universities are accepting far more Ph.D. students than there are tenure-track openings.
-https://chroniclevitae.com/news/1438-so-you-think-you-want-a-tenure-track-job
-https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/01/08/economist-offers-critique-job-market-phds-english

While there are a number of MA programs with no funding, there are some that do pay with a stipend. However, this stipend is low compared to the amount of income a full-time job has the potential to make. (Things to consider: Each year of working is less money saved up for retirement)
My goal here isn't to scare you away from becoming a professor but rather to inform you that getting a PHD does not guarantee you a position in Academia. If you find that your passion is still there after reading this, by all means, continue.
I currently teach at 2 colleges (while applying to Ph.D. programs) and my teaching experiences have taught me that there is nothing I'd rather do in life. I realize that there may not be a teaching job at the end of the tunnel and I'm okay with that but I'm going to give it my all.)

First, I think it's a little presumptuous to go around telling strangers to not worry about X. We don't know every aspect of other people's lives and what they have to worry about. So, why don't we let each person decide for themselves what to worry about?
Second, I do feel like I have my guard up around all Trump voters. Trump ran a campaign based on hatred and represented the antithesis of many ideals that are important to me. I recognize that Trump's campaign has some aspects that are not terrible that might appeal to some people. However, from my point of view, the people who voted for him only for these issues and claim to not support his racist/sexist/homophobic/anti-science/etc. stance are basically saying that they care more about their own issues than the basic human rights of other people in this country and on this planet. 
To me, people with this mindset scare me because if they are willing to put their own concerns ahead of other humans like this, even though they are not currently targeting me and my identity (Asian male) right now, why wouldn't they do so in the future? And while I may not fear for my own safety this instant, I care about my friends and loved ones who do identify as groups targeted by Trump's policies.

First off, it's great that you're considering all your options. I think becoming a professor is the end goal for many of us here and we've been forewarned about how bad the job market is. As disheartening as it is, many (most) of us will not end up with a tenure track position.

I'm not sure if you know this or not but:
-Adjuncts and other nontenured faculty now make up three-quarters of college and university teachers.
-In many fields, from the humanities to the sciences, universities are accepting far more Ph.D. students than there are tenure-track openings.
-https://chroniclevitae.com/news/1438-so-you-think-you-want-a-tenure-track-job
-https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/01/08/economist-offers-critique-job-market-phds-english

While there are a number of MA programs with no funding, there are some that do pay with a stipend. However, this stipend is low compared to the amount of income a full-time job has the potential to make. (Things to consider: Each year of working is less money saved up for retirement)
My goal here isn't to scare you away from becoming a professor but rather to inform you that getting a PHD does not guarantee you a position in Academia. If you find that your passion is still there after reading this, by all means, continue.
I currently teach at 2 colleges (while applying to Ph.D. programs) and my teaching experiences have taught me that there is nothing I'd rather do in life. I realize that there may not be a teaching job at the end of the tunnel and I'm okay with that but I'm going to give it my all.)

Congrats on the Minnesota waitlist. 

First off, it's great that you're considering all your options. I think becoming a professor is the end goal for many of us here and we've been forewarned about how bad the job market is. As disheartening as it is, many (most) of us will not end up with a tenure track position.

I'm not sure if you know this or not but:
-Adjuncts and other nontenured faculty now make up three-quarters of college and university teachers.
-In many fields, from the humanities to the sciences, universities are accepting far more Ph.D. students than there are tenure-track openings.
-https://chroniclevitae.com/news/1438-so-you-think-you-want-a-tenure-track-job
-https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/01/08/economist-offers-critique-job-market-phds-english

While there are a number of MA programs with no funding, there are some that do pay with a stipend. However, this stipend is low compared to the amount of income a full-time job has the potential to make. (Things to consider: Each year of working is less money saved up for retirement)
My goal here isn't to scare you away from becoming a professor but rather to inform you that getting a PHD does not guarantee you a position in Academia. If you find that your passion is still there after reading this, by all means, continue.
I currently teach at 2 colleges (while applying to Ph.D. programs) and my teaching experiences have taught me that there is nothing I'd rather do in life. I realize that there may not be a teaching job at the end of the tunnel and I'm okay with that but I'm going to give it my all.)

FWIW: A few years ago, there was a candidate that got rejected from all schools (including those outside the top 50). They were accepted into one program: Berkeley.

First off, it's great that you're considering all your options. I think becoming a professor is the end goal for many of us here and we've been forewarned about how bad the job market is. As disheartening as it is, many (most) of us will not end up with a tenure track position.

I'm not sure if you know this or not but:
-Adjuncts and other nontenured faculty now make up three-quarters of college and university teachers.
-In many fields, from the humanities to the sciences, universities are accepting far more Ph.D. students than there are tenure-track openings.
-https://chroniclevitae.com/news/1438-so-you-think-you-want-a-tenure-track-job
-https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/01/08/economist-offers-critique-job-market-phds-english

While there are a number of MA programs with no funding, there are some that do pay with a stipend. However, this stipend is low compared to the amount of income a full-time job has the potential to make. (Things to consider: Each year of working is less money saved up for retirement)
My goal here isn't to scare you away from becoming a professor but rather to inform you that getting a PHD does not guarantee you a position in Academia. If you find that your passion is still there after reading this, by all means, continue.
I currently teach at 2 colleges (while applying to Ph.D. programs) and my teaching experiences have taught me that there is nothing I'd rather do in life. I realize that there may not be a teaching job at the end of the tunnel and I'm okay with that but I'm going to give it my all.)

First off, it's great that you're considering all your options. I think becoming a professor is the end goal for many of us here and we've been forewarned about how bad the job market is. As disheartening as it is, many (most) of us will not end up with a tenure track position.

I'm not sure if you know this or not but:
-Adjuncts and other nontenured faculty now make up three-quarters of college and university teachers.
-In many fields, from the humanities to the sciences, universities are accepting far more Ph.D. students than there are tenure-track openings.
-https://chroniclevitae.com/news/1438-so-you-think-you-want-a-tenure-track-job
-https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/01/08/economist-offers-critique-job-market-phds-english

While there are a number of MA programs with no funding, there are some that do pay with a stipend. However, this stipend is low compared to the amount of income a full-time job has the potential to make. (Things to consider: Each year of working is less money saved up for retirement)
My goal here isn't to scare you away from becoming a professor but rather to inform you that getting a PHD does not guarantee you a position in Academia. If you find that your passion is still there after reading this, by all means, continue.
I currently teach at 2 colleges (while applying to Ph.D. programs) and my teaching experiences have taught me that there is nothing I'd rather do in life. I realize that there may not be a teaching job at the end of the tunnel and I'm okay with that but I'm going to give it my all.)

Last year, an individual here made a document to try to paint a picture on grad committees.
 
Updating this document with your own information might be able to help people better understand their chances of fit and determining what they are after. The document can be found here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LpH5dOHh39c2UyyCJbviQRvXCXvy__QPZjs4bG9ZDp0/edit#gid=0
 
The following document talks about funding at different schools. Some of the information may be outdated but could provide future cohorts of what to expect:
 
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1H7d9iuwSL8ZWE-DmFo2013lpF2cL7hDidWcDt4mic0Q/edit#gid=0
Congrats to all those who have been accepted. =)


 

FWIW: A few years ago, there was a candidate that got rejected from all schools (including those outside the top 50). They were accepted into one program: Berkeley.

FWIW: A few years ago, there was a candidate that got rejected from all schools (including those outside the top 50). They were accepted into one program: Berkeley.

FWIW: A few years ago, there was a candidate that got rejected from all schools (including those outside the top 50). They were accepted into one program: Berkeley.

FWIW: A few years ago, there was a candidate that got rejected from all schools (including those outside the top 50). They were accepted into one program: Berkeley.

FWIW: A few years ago, there was a candidate that got rejected from all schools (including those outside the top 50). They were accepted into one program: Berkeley.

I'm not going to say "don't worry!", because that's ridiculous advice when it comes to this process...but just remember that so much of an application is about the interplay between your SOP / WS and the adcom. You could have a positively perfect application on its own merits, but if it doesn't mesh with what particular adcom members in your field are looking for, then you might get passed over. Very few candidates get a clean sweep of acceptances to all of their programs (I remember the amazing Hypervodka went 7/7 a couple of years ago, but that was a true exception), but not many GCers get shut out either. That's the great thing about applying to a number of programs: all things being equal (they're not, but stick with me here), the odds eventually work out. Mediocre applications are rarely going to get in anywhere, and good applications may not get in anywhere, but great applications will usually get in somewhere. And hey, it's just January. Keep your chin up for a few more weeks at least.

FWIW: A few years ago, there was a candidate that got rejected from all schools (including those outside the top 50). They were accepted into one program: Berkeley.