eyeshadow

At this point I've declined offers from UC Davis, UC Irvine, UNC Chapel Hill, Johns Hopkins, and Michigan - hope someone here benefits!

I think, aside from the absurdity of the methodologies used in these rankings, that all the prestige and ranking in the world won't help anyone who isn't willing to work hard and demonstrate their viability as a researcher and educator. To be clear, that's very much a general statement, by the way, and not aimed at anyone in particular--certainly not in this forum. However, the amount of anxiety I see over rankings and post-doc job prospects, and the relationship between these two things, is very troubling to me. If I can venture a guess, I would say that attending a top 20 program likely affords you connections and opportunities that others may not, but there are other ways to make a path for yourself.
In 2014, I attended and presented at a conference in Australia at which one of the top-ranking Early Modernists in the world, from a top 10 program, was also in attendance. At the social gathering following the conference, he approached me and said he was impressed with my work. He asked me what doctoral programs I was applying to, and offered to put in a good word for me. At the time, I wasn't 100% sure I was going to go for a PhD, which I told him. I did my MA at a program that isn't even ranked, and I completed my BA at a university I affectionately/begrudgingly call a glorified community college. 
The point is: talent will out if you show it, and it will be recognized. This anxiety over rankings implies that the only way to job security is to get into a highly ranking program. I simply don't agree with that, and I think to have any anxiety over rankings developed from methodologies as shoddy as these is also unfair to yourselves. Any disadvantage, for lack of a better term, you might perceive you have because you're attending a low-ranked program can be compensated for. 
Anyway, that's my word as an Ancient One. I just hate to see anyone biting their nails off, thinking they're going to be unemployed and destitute because they didn't get into UPENN.  

@Silabus that is so very sweet and kind of you <3 Thank you! 
I actually did get a response tho. I'm on a waitlist
If the same email came to me like a month ago, I might have been more excited to hear that I am on a waitlist. But after all the weeks of waiting desperately, I'm not sure what to feel about it now. I do have an acceptance from another school so I guess I'll figure things out. 
Fingers crossed for @LurkyLurker ! 

I haven't heard from Brandeis.. i've seen many rejections on the results board last week + two acceptances (via Phone). I'm an international so I'm guessing I won't be receiving phone calls, but should I be guessing that I'm somehow rejected but not notified yet? I am tired of waiting and seriously want to move on from all of this. Anyone in a similar situation? 

Hope this helps people out: I've been accepted into Columbia's Ph.D. program in English and Comparative Literature. Received an email from the DGS this morning, and my acceptance letter appears on the application website. I was not interviewed, so this was totally unexpected. The email says over 540 people applied and they hope to admit on average 16 students. Not sure how that translates into number of people accepted. 
Best of luck to the rest of you still waiting! 

So does the person who just posted this on the Results page...




...think he or she is being funny? Because that's not funny in the least.

Goes to show that it doesn't take much for the seeming legitimacy of the Results board to be compromised.

Joining this a little late, but I actually reached out to Penn just to inquire about the general timeline. I expected them to tell me that I was rejected immediately, but, instead, they said the department was reviewing decisions currently and we should all know by March 1. So, maybe there is still hope?Also asking cautiously yet optimistically
Either way, good luck to everyone on here!

Shoutout to the other international students counting down to 9am EST every day...
 

My impression is that he hasn't forgotten, he will hopefully submit it on time for you--it just seems like one of the inertias that professors have, doing whatever that is not on the top of their list in the last minute. This is obviously a very annoying situation for all of us grad students. I also reminded one of my professors today the deadline for LOR (one of the deadlines is day after tomorrow for me as well and he had not submitted yet) and he was really pissed off about it, rolling his eyes and going "I know. It's not like I forgot."  I was kind of taken aback by this since I did talk to him in a friendly tone, and regretted mentioning it for a while, but now I'm thinking whatever. I mean, he isn't going to be responsible for all the time + money I spent and most importantly, my future. Although possibility exists that some schools may wait for late LORs, it is indeed case-by-case, as some others may shut down everything after the deadline. So my advice for you is just go for it, call him and do everything to make sure he doesn't miss it. I'd rather just have an uncomfortable moment of confrontation than spend few days waiting in anxiety + have my future plans possibly torn apart. 

My impression is that he hasn't forgotten, he will hopefully submit it on time for you--it just seems like one of the inertias that professors have, doing whatever that is not on the top of their list in the last minute. This is obviously a very annoying situation for all of us grad students. I also reminded one of my professors today the deadline for LOR (one of the deadlines is day after tomorrow for me as well and he had not submitted yet) and he was really pissed off about it, rolling his eyes and going "I know. It's not like I forgot."  I was kind of taken aback by this since I did talk to him in a friendly tone, and regretted mentioning it for a while, but now I'm thinking whatever. I mean, he isn't going to be responsible for all the time + money I spent and most importantly, my future. Although possibility exists that some schools may wait for late LORs, it is indeed case-by-case, as some others may shut down everything after the deadline. So my advice for you is just go for it, call him and do everything to make sure he doesn't miss it. I'd rather just have an uncomfortable moment of confrontation than spend few days waiting in anxiety + have my future plans possibly torn apart. 

My impression is that he hasn't forgotten, he will hopefully submit it on time for you--it just seems like one of the inertias that professors have, doing whatever that is not on the top of their list in the last minute. This is obviously a very annoying situation for all of us grad students. I also reminded one of my professors today the deadline for LOR (one of the deadlines is day after tomorrow for me as well and he had not submitted yet) and he was really pissed off about it, rolling his eyes and going "I know. It's not like I forgot."  I was kind of taken aback by this since I did talk to him in a friendly tone, and regretted mentioning it for a while, but now I'm thinking whatever. I mean, he isn't going to be responsible for all the time + money I spent and most importantly, my future. Although possibility exists that some schools may wait for late LORs, it is indeed case-by-case, as some others may shut down everything after the deadline. So my advice for you is just go for it, call him and do everything to make sure he doesn't miss it. I'd rather just have an uncomfortable moment of confrontation than spend few days waiting in anxiety + have my future plans possibly torn apart. 

I think it varies from program to program, really. Some programs integrate digital stuff nowadays, as you've mentioned. UCSB has separate Film and Media Ph.D. track, but their emphasis is quite central to criticism and literary stuff than technical/ practical skills. If you're really into practical learnings, then you could check out media/communications departments in some schools that offer field experiences--but they may require previous backgrounds from the field, or an MFA to the least. You could check out for programs like Yale where English and Film studies coordinate pretty well. What I would simply do is just list out programs to programs and make applications rather flexibly. Every program has different focus, even if they are labelled the same. I don't think you need to be concerned about switching, since that itself is a big decision! 

I think it's fine too. Maybe tone down a little bit by taking off '!' marks. Just a suggestion.