Narrative Nancy

Longtime lurker, first time posting...
Accepted to University of Louisville (English--Rhetoric and Composition)! I was absolutely not expecting to hear from them so early, so the email took me completely by surprise.  I'm very pleased though!  Now back to being on pins and needles until OSU starts sending offers...

When I was comparing stipends, I didn't find the COL numbers very useful for direct comparisons. They are good for big picture comparisons between cities but I wouldn't use them in a numerical calculation because I find that grad student expenses don't always scale with COL indicators (at least for me).
My method was to determine the major variable costs of each school/city. The first one is rent. I find that actually taking a look at rent costs in the areas you want to live in for each city works better than just scaling with the COL number. (i.e. a small town with little transit options might have a low COL but there may still be high rents near campus). 
The second major variable cost, from my experience, is health insurance because the coverages vary a lot from school to school. At some places, I would only pay a few hundred dollars per year for my premiums but at others, I would pay at least $3000! 
The third major variable cost may be things like vehicle maintenance and insurance, if you plan on having a vehicle. (Or maybe you'll need a car in some places and not others so this is a big cost in some places and not others).
The last major variable cost, for me, was travel costs to visit home. A school on the other side of the country likely means it will cost a lot more if you plan on visiting home fairly often. 
Once I determined these major variable costs, I subtract them from the take-home stipend and see what's left over. I compared these numbers directly to determine the "value" of each stipend offer. In my experience, the cost for things like food is fairly uniform across the US/Canada, except for really remote places. Yes, food does cost more in some places, but I figure I spend around $50/week on groceries, so something like a 10% difference is only a few hundred dollars. This variation is a lot smaller than the major categories above.
Finally, I think the non-adjusted cost of living numbers are also important because I'm interested in saving the money. The stipends in my field generally will cover all living expenses and my goal in making comparisons is to determine how much I'd be able to save each year. Putting $1000 (or whatever value) per year into your bank account is still $1000 no matter if it's a high COL or low COL city. 

Hi, so I received an Acceptance email on Tuesday. I actually didn't want to open it, because the email just said Admission Decision. Very ominous. But I figured I would open it and then go to whateber online portal later and, to my surprise, it said Congratulations!
 
It's DePaul University. It's the only MA program I applied to so it's kind of Plan B, but I really like the program, so as far as backup plans go, it's definitely one I'm happy about. And it's so much pressure off of me to know that I can get 8 rejections and still be going somewhere in the fall.
 
Feel free to post your acceptances here. And maybe Rejections and Waitlists as well if you feel comfortable with that (unless you want to start a separate thread).

53. Go to the National Gallery of Art and revel in the mastery of bygone geniuses
54. Go to the National Museum of African American History and Culture and realize that the struggles of current or aspiring grad students aren't really struggles at all...




Seriously, I did both yesterday, and after the NMAAHC I was simultaneously heartened by the resilience after oppression, and nauseated by the inescapable sensation of history repeating... The exhibit ends with the inauguration of Obama, and like I said to the friend I was with, they might as well have just had an open pit to throw ourselves into afterward, rather than a traditional exit...

It sounded to me like the suggestion was that her "colleagues who were the direct-admits" to PhD programs with only a BA were better prepared (at time of application) than those who applied with BAs and were admitted to the MA rather than the PhD, and that's the reason those direct admits were admitted to the PhD while others weren't. I could be wrong about what was intended and won't dive further into the questions of interpretation that Yanaka and angel_kaye have been discussing, but I can weigh in a bit on the difference between applicants with a BA who are admitted to an MA vs "directly admitted" to a PhD program, at least in terms of perceived difference in qualification. As far as differentiation within a PhD program between those who enter with a BA vs an MA, it's basically just a difference of requirements, depending on the program. I had to take more classes than my cohort mates with MAs, and took my qualifying exam about a semester later than their average, but there's no distinction within the program between those who entered with BA or MA, and people often forget who came in with what.
Regarding differences in application quality or preparedness, the answer isn't a clearcut one by any means: I was admitted with a BA directly to a PhD program, but I don't feel that I was significantly more prepared than others who were admitted to the MA. There are so many factors at work in determining who is admitted where. I did write a BA Honor's Thesis and was able to sketch out a direction of research and state who I wanted to work with, and the person I identified as my primary POI at my eventual program is my director now, but there was so, so much I didn't know at the time as well. Perhaps my interests were more defined than some students who were admitted to the master's program, who went on to switch their research fields, but there are also PhD students at my university who entered with MAs and went on to switch research fields during PhD coursework. I do think that having two more years to develop your interests, particularly in the context of graduate coursework, is a huge advantage for those applying with an MA (and angel_kaye makes a great point that students who complete the MA can then choose which PhD programs to apply to with a more developed understanding of their research interests). But I've known students who were accepted into an MA who had more thoroughly defined research interests (and were certainly more well read) than me, and PhD students who entered with MAs who still felt they were starting from scratch with their research interests. It's a mixed bag. Angel_kaye seemed to suggest that her initial application was clearly only suitable for MA acceptance, but I could say the same thing about the straight-from-BA application that did end up getting me into a PhD program. My writing sample and SoP had plenty of problems, revealed massive ignorance about what constitutes a research field, and were outdated and canonical in focus. The problems with my writing sample and stated interests were problems that I wouldn't have even been able to identify until I completed my first year or two of grad school. Many of the straight to PhD applicants whose posts I read on GradCafé seem far more in touch with current conversations and trends in their fields than I was when I applied. Yet, I got into a PhD program, and plenty of students with extremely developed research interests (some of them formed over breaks between BA and graduate work) begin in the MA program instead. It's a complex process, and I don't think it's very easy to label any application as "only MA material," because there are so many factors at work. Certainly, if I hadn't gotten into a PhD program during my cycle, I probably would have said that my application was clearly not suitable for PhD entry. Regardless of the results of a particular application cycle (which I hope are positive for both of you!), in addition to the qualities we can analyze in our own work, applications have less definable strengths and weaknesses that are specific to the programs, the people looking at them, and the moment. I suppose the moral I'm going for is that, given the fairly strong base qualifications common to most applicants (GPA, GRE, sophisticated writing), there's no hard and fast way to count anyone out. I can't say exactly why I was accepted into my program — I'm very happy that I was — but I think my application could have just as easily, and not necessarily inaccurately, been labeled as "not quite at PhD level yet."

naïveté. Man, I love it when French words creep into other languages.  

Update: everything is working out. My 4th letter writer came through for me and he's been uploading recs for me. He's heaven sent, honestly . 
 
Anyways, all my of my applications have been submitted! 

Hi @kaiphi and @Yanaka - so, long story short, I was a commuter student at BC, while working part time back at home in New Jersey.  Here are a couple quick points that I thought may be of interest, but let me know if you want anything more specific:
When I applied to BC, I actually applied for an MFA.  But, in viewing my application, they thought I would be better suited for an MA program and offered me a spot in said program.  It has always impressed me that they looked so carefully at my materials and, in a way, saw something in me that I didn't see in myself at the time. I chose to finish the program in 2 years (which I found very doable), but I know there are some others who decided to take a bit longer.  Of the dome, I think you have a max of 3 years to finish, but you should double check me on that. I was pleased by the caliber of the faculty.  I did my undergraduate work at Cornell and I didn't feel that the professors were lacking compared to what I had already experienced.  (For example, I think my thesis advisor was just great.  He works in animal studies, post-humanism, and medieval studies, if that's of any interest to you.)  There are also a wide range of expertise in the program, so if the MA is acting as a bit of a stepping stone, it's a good place to stretch your wings and try out new realms of study.  It's where I discovered comic studies, after all, and now that's just taken over my life, haha.  I paid for the program (no funding on my end), but in the grand scheme of things, it was not the most expensive, especially if you plan on becoming a New York resident.  All in all, I had a very good experience, minus my 2 hour commute one way.  (I got a lot of reading done, haha).  It's right off the 2-train, so it's accessible, and the campus is nice to be on if you need to kill time. 
I hope this helps, but do let me know if you have any other questions