aob981

What is the thinking on trying to get a more highly ranked school to increase its offer based on one the offer of a lower ranked school? I've been offered admission and a pretty good funding package by a top 20 R1 that's in an expensive city. A top 50 private school has offered me more. It would be ideal if the higher ranked school could match that but not sure if they would consider that being that they could be considered more prestigious.

Thanks, there's still hope! fingers crossed!!

Yes you're right! I'm trying to decide where to visit but it's hard when I'm still waiting on a few and have limited vacation days. Crossing my fingers for UNC, has always been a top choice!

Has anyone heard anything about UNC? Are we thinking implied rejection if we haven't heard yet as they'd notified by this time last year?

I actually ended up emailing Michelle Baliff and she gave me the details, so you might do the same. The information she gave me was just standard information about TA-ship listed on their website. Apparently they don't officially offer you funding in form of TA-ship until after you accept. I also asked about visiting, which was helpful.

Ok, great, thank you. The first acceptance I received was from UT and it had all of the information about funding and visiting laid out very clearly, which was great. But makes sense that different programs would do things differently. Appreciate your help!

This weekend, I received nice, brief emails from professor/DGS at UGA and U of South Carolina saying that I had been accepted, welcoming me into the program and offering to answer any questions that I have, but without any kind of letter or more information about funding, visiting, etc. Is this something that might come later in a more formal communication or is it up to me to read what's on the website and ask them to go over this with me/answer specific questions I have? Any insight is appreciated, thanks!

I just posted UT Austin acceptance that I received today via email, very excited and quite shocked!

@jeremywrites -- I'm in a similar situation. Demanding full-time job, so I like to do most of my applications in the morning. This isn't totally on topic, but I was wondering if anyone has suggestions for how best to re-ask professors for LORs. Last year, I went and met with my professors and asked them to write LORs. Then a few months later, in October, I decided that I wanted to wait another year before applying based on the lack of time that I had to work on applications, so I emailed them to let them know that things had changed and I would not be applying that year. Is it ok to go back to them and ask again this year? If so, would an email suffice or should I give them a call? Not the way we've normally communicated, so wasn't sure if it would be nicer or intrusive?

@Wyatt's Terps @echo449 @erosanddust @Warelin Thank you all so much for such helpful information! I appreciate it. The issue of the writing sample has been a concern for me. Before writing it and since, I asked the supervising professor if it would be a problem for grad school apps as it analyzed film and she assured me a couple of times that since the first 10 or so pages of the paper are about literary theory and as I am interested in interdisciplinary approaches (including film), that it should not be a problem as it's not totally out of left-field. I do however, see where you're all coming from. Thanks for the suggestion to tailor it to departments that do have professors working in those areas. Do you think it might be worth explaining in my SOP that though the work reflected in my writing sample applies the theory I'm interested in to film, moving forward, I'd like to apply it to x,y,z authors/texts? @Wyatt's Terps I appreciate the advice about applying for an MA. Last year, I would not have wanted to consider it, but this year, I have actually come to see it as a good, possibly better option for me. My concern would be paying full-tuition out of pocket. And @echo449, your point about American Studies and placement definitely makes sense. My list is below. If you have any other suggestions of places to include or get rid of, please let me know. These are based on having professors, courses and special resources/curriculum related to my interests. @erosanddust Thank you for OSU site! I've seen the Duke page, but the OSU information is very helpful as well. @Warelin Good to know about the straight from BA programs. And I really like Pittsburgh's program! I have not looked into Nebraska, but I'll do that--thanks! Again thanks so much for all of your help, I appreciate it. Now to figure out what to do about my writing sample... School Ranking Program Yale 2 Phd American Studies Brown 9 Phd American Studies UCLA 10 PhD english UVA 10 English UNC 16 PhD English UNC PhD American Studies Indiana 22 PhD English Emory 26 PhD english Vanderbilt 26 PhD english USC 36 PhD English UC-Santa Cruz 39 PhD English University of Pittsburgh 39 PhD Literature Boston University 44 PhD English and American Lit U Mass Amherst 50 PhD English University of Maryland 52 PhD English University of Maryland PhD American Studies University of Florida 52 PhD English University of South Carolina 77 PhD English MA Programs U Mass Boston MA American Studies University of Mississippi MA Southern Studies Georgetown MA English Wake Forest MA English

After several years of hardcore lurking now, I am actually posting here. After finishing undergrad in 2013, I'm planning to apply to English MA and PhD programs and a few American Studies MA and PhD programs this cycle. I started application process (took lit. GRE, worked on personal statement, and writing sample, reached out to undergrad. professors) last cycle, but had too much going on at work to give time needed to applications. I'm interested in working with 19th and 20th Century American Literature, particularly Southern Literature, and situating it in a global/transnational context. I see myself fitting in best in a program that embraces and provides ample opportunity for interdisciplinary work. I did well (3.8GPA) at the small, not so well known liberal arts college I attended; based on practice tests, I hope to score 167+ on verbal GRE (155+ on math); got a 590 on literature subject test; assume my recommendations will be good; my writing sample is in my area of interest, but focused on film; have been working on my SOP for a while. Participated in summer research fellowship program during undergrad.; recently presented at ACLS conference. A few questions: -Should I be applying to mainly PhD programs or more focused on MA? I do want to get PhD eventually, but based on how competitive those programs are, should I be more focused on MA? Currently, my list (which changes daily!) consists of 15 English PhD programs (ranking from 10-82), 4 American Studies PhD and 2 American Studies MA Programs. -If I should be more focused on MA programs, is there a comprehensive list of funded MA programs anywhere? I don't plan to pay out of pocket for MA program, but also think that there may be opportunities that I'm not aware of to get funding? It seems like very few programs offer funded MAs, but that can't be correct based on some of the posts that I've seen here. -Is it a problem that I have been out of school for 3 years now? -Is it a problem that my recommenders aren't well-known in their field? -How important is it to contact POIs? -Would it be a problem to apply to English program and American Studies at the same school? I really like both English and American Studies programs and UNC and Maryland. -What resources did you use to help with writing SOP apart from people reviewing them? Are there good samples online anywhere or any books that are helpful? Sorry for all questions about me--these have been weighing on my mind for a while now, and it's always nice to talk to others who are navigating a similar situation. Thanks!