WildeThing

Anyone else? English PhD here for anyone wanting to connect.

I think departments expect your interests to change, and it’s fine if the happened before you applied. Just provide an apt explanation and show how the scholarship you have done leads to the scholarship you are doing and intend to do. The only thing I would be wary of is appearing as if you just like one period more rather than believe there are interesting things for you to investigate. For instance, I love Beckett and 20th century theatre but I have no new ideas to contribute to those fields, so I didn’t mention them at all in my application. Frame it as “the next step in my scholarship is X”. So long as you prove to be knowledgeable in the field you want to work in, I think you should be fine.

Thanks! Do you have any recommendations for areas to focus on when looking for housing?

Looking forward to it!

I withdrew from the GW waitlist. Good luck to everyone!

Officially going to UVA! Thanks to everyone who has helped with advice, information, and just generally making this community the supportive place it is. I've been here for 3 years now and I'm glad to be moving on to the next stage finally.

It was really hard but I officially turned down UConn. I'm pretty sure they'll be offering the spot to someone else on the waitlist, best of luck to everyone!

Can anyone shed any light on what the housing market is like and whether a car is necessary in Charlottesvile?

Accepted off the waitlist at UVA! I can hardly believe it, I was sure it wasn't going to happen. If there any people who went to the visit, or who are current or ex students, please DM me! I'd like to ask some questions about the area and there's not really a lot of time to wait for responses through the regular channels.

Congratulations!

Thanks for the heads up!

Do you know if you were on the shortlist or longlist? Thanks for letting us know!

What makes you think this? I would love if this were true but I’m not particularly hopeful of hearing back before Monday.

I just realized the 15th is a Monday. This means the expected top movement days will be on a weekend so who knows if offers will circulate quickly. I would really just like some closure at this point.

Contact the person.

May I ask what your specialty is?

Seems like there’s quite a few of us, what’s your area?

Got the official grad school email informing me of my waitlist placement at UVA. Nearly died when I saw the email but I guess nothing has really changed.

Congrats! I really hope the funding swings your way, you totally deserve it!

Accept the offer. If you have a PhD offer that covers the basics (funding) take it. No guarantees you will do better the following year.

Same. Not sure what to expect either. UVA’s visits ended yesterday so does this mean there will be movement this week? I just want to know for sure and move on with my life.

Seems like they think you have not done enough work in advanced literature study. Perhaps an MA in English would bridge the gap. I didn’t know some schools did this, I would have really appreciated this response in the past, even if it seems like the answer are vague.

NYU finally came through with the rejection so I have no more unknowns. Just gotta wait for GW and Virginia to say something. I think the UVA visits are today so perhaps some things will move this week but have not heard of a single GW acceptance so not sure what to expect there.

I think funding and the fact that it is 3 years instead of 2 would push me towards another program, unless this one was significantly better at placing students in PhD programs. Never heard of a 3 year MA actually. Fit is important but it is less important at the MA level where you are doing coursework mostly, so will depend on what is being offered. I think the point of the MA is to expose you to different things within a graduate-level context and by the time you finish your interests will be different.

I’m finding schools to be less informative this cycle. I’m a bit miffed at Emory since I emailed the department a while ago and they never emailed back, even though they were among the first to have their visit and decisions. I only got the Grad School email yesterday and I don’t appreciate going through the whole process only for someone to say “I don’t have to respond to this person, someone will get to it sooner or later”.