JessicaLange

Thank you @Warelin! This is super helpful ?? Question though, do schools typically send out their rejections and waitlists on the same day that they send out their first round of acceptances? Or does that come out sooner/later?

Ah thank you! That's really helpful. It was a form letter. And I definitely intend to tell them if I get a viable PhD offer.

So, I just recieved my first acceptance. It's from a Master's program and I definitely like the school, but it's a Plan B because I'd rather go to a PhD program. I'm still waiting to hear back from 8 programs and that might take until April. What should I say to the MA program? Thank them? Just ignore them until I come to my decision? Or what?

Also, it's just sort of a fact that most Comp lit programs are shrinking. My school, if I remember correctly has fewer than 50 undergraduate comp lit majors. Our English program is also shrinking, but it's still somewhere around 400 majors. If there is not a lot of interest in it for undergraduates, then I think it's fair to say that people won't be as interested in graduate study. Not to mention, if the school does not have many majors, then they will let go of faculty. The job market is incredibly uncertain for comp lit graduate students.

I was wondering if anyone had found websites that say how many students programs generally take. I know that it varies from year to year and application pools are always changing, but Columbia says something like they get 700 applications for 8-10 positions. I haven't really seen that sort of information broadcasted by any other programs so I was wondering if anyone else had.

Ohh. You addressed the Russian studies part. Sorry, I should have read more carefully, but I stand by the first part of my statement.

I would not go into the MAT if it isn't something you're super interested in. In fact, I wouldn't do any degree you're not interested in because....debt. A lot of MA programs will allow you to apply for spring semesters where PhDs won't. So, if you are interested in the MA but just feel as though you've missed the deadline, consider applying for the spring. If none of the schools you are interested in offer a spring application, then I don't think there is any harm in taking a year off and applying for 2018. Just try to get an internship or a job that you can use to bolster your application. Also, do you intend to use Russian at all in your studies? I think it's really cool that you are fluent, but if it doesn't help with the material you're studying, then I'm not sure it's a huge selling point to adcoms. Of course, the experience of studying in Russia definitely looks good and will make them take a second look, I think at least.

I would say that your GRE scores are a little low, like @Warelin mentioned, GRE scores aren't enough to get you into a program, but they definitely can keep you out of a program, and since you're going for the top schools, they are going to want you to be in the top percentiles as far as those scores are concerned. BUT! Who knows? I'm sure that they'll take into account that you are a foreign student, so maybe your TOEFL scores will outweigh the GRE? (I'm not really sure how that works). I suppose time will tell. If you applied for this cycle, then you'll know by the end of spring if not sooner.

22. Google search "What do I do if I don't get into grad school?" a dozen times 23. Get a tattoo 24. Plan out how expensive a dog would be and if you can afford it on a stipend 25. Make an Amazon wishlist of all the books you might need in Grad School 26. Watch clips from the Wendy Williams show 27. Drink 28. Pick up drawing, realize you can't draw, draw anyway 29. Change your Grad Cafe profile ever so slightly 30. Consider doing work for next semester, but ultimately blow it off 31. Google admission statistics even though they're pretty unreliable indicators 32. Learn Nicki Minaj's verse in Monster 33. Bake your friends something 34. Did I already say drink? 35. Buy a planner 36. Test all of your highlighters and pens and throw out the ones that have dried up

So I really just meant that the school is just one singular building in Midtown. I guess any university in a city won't have much of a campus, but you know, NYU is several different buildings. CUNY just looks like an office building, and all of your classes are there. If you teach, it'll be someplace else, but other than that, you're headed to the same place every single day and I just really hated the feel of it. Plus, it's in a very busy and expensive part of the city, it's something like 7 blocks north and three blocks over from Times Square. I don't know, but as soon as I got there I knew that it wasn't the place for me, which is unusual, because I liked their program more than some other places, just hated the actual physical setup..

Well, if you're looking for critiques, I would say that your quantitative score is low, but I don't know how important that is for your program (I think it is important?). Apart from that, I would say your chances are somewhere between 0 and 100%. It's really hard to say, because programs are really selective and subjective and you just never really know what they are looking for in a specific year. Graduate school applications are so strange, because it isn't really like the undergraduate process where you can figure out their acceptance patterns and place your probability. A representative from a program I went to told me that writing samples and letters of recommendation are the most important, which is good to know, but that's only from one person's perspective in one field in one school, you know? Your experience seems like a good leg up and it's certainly noble and needed work, but hard to say if that's what will be impressing the adcoms this year. Good luck to you!

Most applications just ask you for your overall GPA. A few will ask for both your overall and major, and for those, you would put in the statistics GPA rather than the engineering one. They will, of course, receive your transcript, but I don't think this is really an issue. In fact, you could address the disparity in your statement of purpose and use it to your advantage to say something like, "I was passionate about both statistics and engineering so I pursued majors in both, but as my studies progressed I found myself drawn to statistics for x, y, and z reasons."

Ahh. That's a really scary prospect. I have one application left (which I'll finish tomorrow), but the apprehension is really starting to set in.

I can't speak to KU specifically, but as far as I understand it's sort of a crapshoot. Generally speaking, most English programs seem to send out decisions between mid-February and early April. Sorry, this is super unhelpful, but it's not an exact science.

I don't want to be a downer or insulting, but if you get accepted into CUNY, I would highly recommend visiting (if you are able) before you accept. They have an extremely unusual setup, and they are in a space that is really hard to find housing near especially for poor grad students. They told me that student housing is available, but they also said to me, "you won't get in the housing, because of the long wait list, so figure something out." I don't want to discourage anyone or tell anyone that the school is bad, but my visit was enough to make me scrap my application. So, if you like the program and the facilities, good! Just make sure you look into it.

Same! I'm too nervous to do it. I'm sort of saying c'est la vie to the whole thing. I want to think that if I don't get in, it's something on their end and they desperately wanted me, but couldn't fit me in. I don't want it to be because of a spelling error. You have to create your own reality sometimes.

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this, but I'm sort of worried about the limitations of most PhD programs. 19th century British literature is definitely what I want to study, but there are so many other authors that I love that don't quite fit in this time frame. For example, I would love to be able to teach a class in early 20th century American literature, but I'm afraid that my focus will sort of pigeonhole me for the rest of my career.

I completely agree with you. I had two applications due on the first and one of my recommenders filled out one of them and not the other. I have no idea why, but I re-sent the request and then I got an email from the school telling me that it needs to be in by the 15th or they won't accept it. I tried contacting her almost every day for 6 days. I sent several increasingly desperate emails. I left a voicemail on her office phone. I went to her office, but she wasn't there. I don't know why she stopped contacting me and doing what she promised, but I was so apprehensive. That's $100 and hours of work down the drain, not to mention I have two more happening tomorrow. Is she out of the country? Could she have told me two months ago that she would be hard to contact during this time? No clue, but I'm sure she must be checking her email because it's finals week. I feel very disrespected. I had to contact another professor and beg her to write me one with less than 24 hours to spare. Luckily she came through, but I'm still pissed off at my original recommender and I find it really unprofessional to make a commitment that could have been handled in two hours with two months to spare and then not follow through. Alright sorry. I needed to vent.

And a thrilling conclusion! My recommender did not get back to me. I emailed her, I left a voicemail. I re-sent the request through the application at least four times. Finally, I called the program and asked for an extension. They said there was wiggle room, but they couldn't give me an official extension. So, they told me to see if I could get another recommender. Daunting, right? Well, luckily I have a lot of great people in my corner and my thesis advisor is going to write me a recommendation before tomorrow's deadline.

I've said this to people before, but there are way too many factors to really pinpoint how competitive it will be. It has a lot more to do with your letters of recommendation, writing sample, and transcript. Your GPA and GRE are important, but they aren't the only things that determine whether you'll be admitted. Also, maybe your area of interest doesn't allign with the school's research specialties. Or maybe the professor that would normally take you on is visiting elsewhere. I have no idea what a 2100 translates to as far as the GRE goes, but I wouldn't depend on the SAT as a good marker. I did significantly better on the GRE than I did on the SATs and I know people that bombed the GRE but had near perfect SATs (that's not usually the case, but it can happen if you don't study properly). To answer your question, the top schools will be very competitive. I know for Columbia's English program they receive about 700 applications for 12 or so spots. However, your GPA is good and graduating magna cum laude is certainly impressive, so definitely apply. Just make sure you apply to a minimum of 6 programs and have a few backup plans in case things don't work out. Really do your research. Read the articles that say not to go to grad school and look at the terrible job statistics and figure out exactly what is going to be asked of you. Go to department websites. Make a choice between Sociology and PolySci or don't and apply to both programs. Contact alumni and faculty. Read success stories and watch youtube videos of people getting their acceptance letters and picture yourself at each school. Go on campus visits if you can afford it. It's a terribly stressful process, but it's fascinating. Good luck!

I know that this isn't what you want to hear, but we can't tell you. You might get in and you might not. The program might not be accepting as many people the year you apply. They might think that your Statement of Purpose doesn't really fall in line with their research specialties. Your writing sample, if you have to have one, might not be well received. There are way too many factors and nobody on here can give you a guarantee. But! I don't see anything in what you've said here that completely puts you out of the running. I absolutely think that you should go for it and c'est la vie, you know? One word of caution: I was consistently getting 162s on my GRE practice tests and then the day of the test I tensed up and got a 157, which is fine, but it was so far below what I wanted. I retook the test and was able to do even better than my practice scores, but I was only able to do that because I had enough time to. I don't know when your applications are due, but I'm assuming March? Maybe? I would take the test sooner and give yourself cushion time in case you need to retake it. Of course, if it's already too late, then just really make sure you don't psych yourself out during the test. Deep breaths and calming thoughts and all of that. Good Luck!

I had two applications due on December 1st. One of my recommenders submitted one of her letters and didn't submit for the other one. I figured that she would get it done in a few days and I didn't really worry about it, because the program said that was fine. So, I just sent her a reminder through the application itself. Well, the program messaged me and said they needed it by the 15th or they wouldn't accept my application. I emailed her to tell her this on the 9th. She still hasn't responded or uploaded her letter and I have two more applications do that day, so I'm really apprehensive that it won't get done. What should I do?

I didn't have this exact issue, but the formatting on my CV got messed up. I think it's good that you contacted the program. They'll probably allow you to submit it through email if the issue exists on their side as well.

So, I didn't really go out of my way to read too much of their work, because I agree with other folks that the SOP is about me, and I'm not going to devote more than 5 sentences to POIs. However, there were a few schools where I had already read their faculty's works and one professor who is currently on my reading list for my thesis. I just mentioned this and said under what circumstances I had read them and how I admired their work and so forth. There are a few schools that I know nothing about their professors, so I went to JSTOR and similar sites to look up the ones that had interests in my fields. If I found nothing in their work, I left out POIs altogether and just talked about the program specifically. Is it going to work? No idea! But this whole application process is sort of trial and error for all of us.

I'm honestly just curious to know. I've seen a few people saying they're applying to 15 programs, which is so brave, because that's such an undertaking. And I've seen people saying they're only applying to two, which is equally brave. I'm applying to 8 PhDs and 1 MA. So, how many are you applying to?