GreenEyedTrombonist

The problem may be the difference between ethnographic and anecdotal evidence. Your professors may be trying to help students make the shift to thinking as qualitative researchers. I've had someone in my anthro MA who used anecdotal evidence to make broad generalizations that really weren't applicable. This student ultimately ended up dropping from the program after a semester because they didn't take qualitative (or quantitative) data that contradicted their anecdotal evidence seriously (leading to issues with faculty and low grades on papers from not properly supporting their arguments). 

1. Speak to your adviser and professors often. 
2. Don't just focus on classes when you get in. In my MA, one of the largest problems with previous students was that they took all their courses and still hadn't started their research (or even knew what they wanted to do). You don't need to know exactly what you're doing your first semester, but you do need to start working on ideas early. 
3. Once you are in the research, analysis, and writing phases make sure to create a schedule and stick to it. This may mean making a daily schedule for yourself or working out a status update schedule with your adviser. Whatever you do, make sure it is a schedule you can and will stick to so you actually make progress even if you don't necessarily need to come into a lab every day. 
4. Actually, make a schedule early for yourself so you know what you should be doing each semester (classes, what you should be working on for research, any conference submissions you need to work on, school paperwork, etc).
5. If the profs let you, use class assignments to work on your research. Plenty of research essays can help form the foundation of your literary analysis and is a structured way to get you started on your research. 
6. Allow yourself a destressing activity. You'll burn yourself out if you don't have an outlet. 
7. When you make your schedule for writing (and also the analysis stage) assume it will take at least twice as long as you think it should. 
8. Summer and Winter breaks are a great time to work on stages of your research without having to worry about classes. Use this time to write rough (or final) drafts of chapters or, if it's early in the project, use this time to write the proposal/IRB/misc drafts so that you can get them to your adviser earlier in the semester or work on reading for your lit review. 
9. Make friends in and out of your cohort. It's great to have people going through the same classes and at the same stage of their career. It's also nice to make friends with students further in the program who can offer advice (and make sure to repay the favor when the new cohorts come in).
10. Because I feel like it should be a solid 10 and it can't be said enough, communicate! Speak to the DGS, your profs, your adviser, the department chair, or whoever is appropriate about your progress and ways to keep yourself on track. 
 
 

1. Speak to your adviser and professors often. 
2. Don't just focus on classes when you get in. In my MA, one of the largest problems with previous students was that they took all their courses and still hadn't started their research (or even knew what they wanted to do). You don't need to know exactly what you're doing your first semester, but you do need to start working on ideas early. 
3. Once you are in the research, analysis, and writing phases make sure to create a schedule and stick to it. This may mean making a daily schedule for yourself or working out a status update schedule with your adviser. Whatever you do, make sure it is a schedule you can and will stick to so you actually make progress even if you don't necessarily need to come into a lab every day. 
4. Actually, make a schedule early for yourself so you know what you should be doing each semester (classes, what you should be working on for research, any conference submissions you need to work on, school paperwork, etc).
5. If the profs let you, use class assignments to work on your research. Plenty of research essays can help form the foundation of your literary analysis and is a structured way to get you started on your research. 
6. Allow yourself a destressing activity. You'll burn yourself out if you don't have an outlet. 
7. When you make your schedule for writing (and also the analysis stage) assume it will take at least twice as long as you think it should. 
8. Summer and Winter breaks are a great time to work on stages of your research without having to worry about classes. Use this time to write rough (or final) drafts of chapters or, if it's early in the project, use this time to write the proposal/IRB/misc drafts so that you can get them to your adviser earlier in the semester or work on reading for your lit review. 
9. Make friends in and out of your cohort. It's great to have people going through the same classes and at the same stage of their career. It's also nice to make friends with students further in the program who can offer advice (and make sure to repay the favor when the new cohorts come in).
10. Because I feel like it should be a solid 10 and it can't be said enough, communicate! Speak to the DGS, your profs, your adviser, the department chair, or whoever is appropriate about your progress and ways to keep yourself on track. 
 
 

I know how you feel @ShewantsthePhD101 . I got my first acceptance less than 3 weeks after their deadline way back in December. I've had one interview for another program so far, but I shouldn't hear back about admissions from my remaining 6 programs until February. Although I should be in that relieved state that I'm going (and the school I got into is amazing- visiting them later this month), I'm still freaked out waiting for the remaining decisions. x]

If you don't want to go there, why apply? It might look weird to these programs if you're accepted one year, choose not to attend, but reapply the next. 
On a different front, I'm not really a fan of applying to safety schools. I think you should apply to programs that are a good fit for your research interests and be open to attending any of them pending funding and culture fit. For me, my "safety school" was a program I'd love to attend, but it doesn't offer funding to most admitted first years. That was my, apply and see if 1. I don't get in anywhere else. If that happens, I'll work out loans or 2. on the offchance I'm one of the two first years they choose to fund. Fit wise, I'd very happily attend. 
Have you visited school A before and therefore know for sure that it is the best fit for you in terms of research and culture (culture of program, department, school, surrounding city, etc)? If not, I'd be cautious of labeling any school a dream school before you've gone in to check it out (with eyes wide open). Unfortunately, there are stories on this forum of people miserable in their programs, several of which have stated they did not do their due diligence researching the culture of their department. If you have done the research and visited the institution, congratulations on finding a perfect program for you!
People keep trying to make me say which program would be my top choice if I get in. Truth is, I can't answer that question because I have yet to visit any of the programs to get a first-hand account of what it would be like there. I usually just tell people I'm waiting to decide that until all admissions decisions are in and I've had a chance to visit each campus to which I've been admitted. 
TLDR: Yes, this depends on the program, but there is a chance that getting accepted one year, declining without a specific change in circumstances, and then reapplying the next year could impact your admission. I don't like the idea of only applying to one program so maybe still apply to the others and either take your chances reapplying the next year or find some other programs (that would be a good fit for you) to apply to that round. Of course, none of this matters if you get into school A, haha.

This is what I did.
I was coming home from getting my blood drawn when I got an email notification that my status had changed and to check the website. I proceeded to spend the entire drive home (only about 10 minutes) freaking out and coming up with every rejection scenario possible. Once I got home, I checked the status, still freaked out it would be a rejection. I couldn't believe it when I read Congratulations. I just sat there in shock for a few minutes and then my anxiety turned to elation. I was filled with restless energy and may have done a few laps around the house. As soon as my parents were awake I went to their room and said, "Guess who's going to grad school."
My father got a confused look on his face and said, "Why?" -__- He meant, "what brought you saying this on" but still. Anyways, I let them know I received an acceptance, high fived them both, then proceeded to text everyone I know, haha. I also printed out the acceptance and made them read it (partly because yay acceptance and partly to make sure I wasn't hallucinating). I also emailed all of my letter writers and thanked them. I then randomly said, "I got into grad school" at both of my parents for the next couple of days, multiple times a day.
I have yet to post about it on social media because I'm trying to get a job, but most people who know me know about it, haha. 

This is what I did.
I was coming home from getting my blood drawn when I got an email notification that my status had changed and to check the website. I proceeded to spend the entire drive home (only about 10 minutes) freaking out and coming up with every rejection scenario possible. Once I got home, I checked the status, still freaked out it would be a rejection. I couldn't believe it when I read Congratulations. I just sat there in shock for a few minutes and then my anxiety turned to elation. I was filled with restless energy and may have done a few laps around the house. As soon as my parents were awake I went to their room and said, "Guess who's going to grad school."
My father got a confused look on his face and said, "Why?" -__- He meant, "what brought you saying this on" but still. Anyways, I let them know I received an acceptance, high fived them both, then proceeded to text everyone I know, haha. I also printed out the acceptance and made them read it (partly because yay acceptance and partly to make sure I wasn't hallucinating). I also emailed all of my letter writers and thanked them. I then randomly said, "I got into grad school" at both of my parents for the next couple of days, multiple times a day.
I have yet to post about it on social media because I'm trying to get a job, but most people who know me know about it, haha. 

*hugs* @surprise_quiche  That sucks, but I'm glad he was helpful. Are the 4 spots for your specific track? 

Just finished an interview. I think it went well, but you never know. Time to decompress, haha.

Guys! OMG I got into Uconn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
After all rejects last year, starting with an acceptance makes me so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Also just getting accepted, ah!)

lol @surprise_quiche Congrats and also I'm sorry?
I stayed home from rehearsal yesterday (I'm in a musical), but I plan to go tonight after my chiropractic visit.

I applied to 7 and one of my writers said that was a lot. One of the things I did was create a document with each school listed along with their deadline (and organized by deadline), which professors I was interested working with there, the name of the degree and department, a paragraph about how I was a good fit for the program, and any other pertinent details I thought could help. 

I'm also interested in online community and communication though I'm looking to do a project about digital political campaigning. Since our interests are similar, I'm pretty sure your likely PoIs happen to be those that tend to email later in the month.

So, this isn't my program, but I thought I'd weigh in. I was rejected from all my potential programs last year and it hurt. A lot. But, one of the things I did was immediately begin analyzing my application and critically thinking of what I could improve for the next round.
One of the things that I did was focus even harder on fit this time. That meant, in my case, applying outside of my previous field. I also decided my previous SoP was crap and spent a lot of time editing that section this time around. I also asked multiple friends (many of whom are currently in the programs I applied to) to review my SoP to help me make it even better. Between my first round and second, I finished my MA so I used my project report from that as the basis of my writing sample this time (submitting the entire report when asked, a chapter or two when a smaller sample was requested). I also presented my research at conferences and other mediums when possible. My GPA was basically the same (I think it went from 3.96 to 3.97 by the time I graduated) and I did not retake the GRE. 
Although not directly part of my application, I also reached out to either a PoI or DGS at each program (that didn't say something against doing that) and asked questions to better understand how I would fit there. In some cases, this communication actually convinced me to not apply and, in others, it made me confident in my choice to submit an app. I learned quite a bit of information about the programs, campuses, surrounding town/city, and ways I could contribute to the program (in addition to the basics of earning the degree). Personally, I think this went a long way in making me a stronger applicant this round. I've been accepted to one school already and admissions decisions for my other programs aren't expected to go out until February (two of the programs do send out interview invites later in January though).

If this is directed at me, I'd like to point out that you are assuming a lot about my eating and exercise habits. I've never stated here what my medical conditions are, so you have no knowledge if my conditions are caused by my "lifestyle", genetics, or a mix of the two. Whether you meant it as such or not, this comment comes off as highly condescending, dismissive, and judgmental as a result. 

I don't know the exact nutritional needs of anyone here so I won't make generalities. I can tell you that, for my body, eating more than 50-100 grams of carbs a day is unhealthy and causes unpleasant side effects. Usually, nutritionists suggest I eat 50 or less grams of carbs a day because of my body's needs. This means I can eat low-carb and trace-carb veggies, but I shouldn't eat any breads, pastas, rices, processed foods, baked goods, etc. That's the way my body works. It sucks and I often miss a step (right now I don't buy the groceries so regulating my diet isn't working that great), but I feel much better when I cut all big carb items from my life. 
Because my body's needs are unique to me, I get extremely annoyed by others trying to tell me what I should do to maintain a healthy diet and, therefore, won't tell others what they should or shouldn't put in their bodies.

I didn't get in anywhere last cycle. It hurt and was disheartening, but I planned to reapply. I actually ended up applying to programs outside of my previous field because my research interests were a better fit there. This change, in addition to all the rejection last year, made me really nervous about my chances. I found out this week that I got into one of the top programs I was interested in and they sent an email saying I was a top applicant. 
The point is, my GRE, GPA, background, and LoRs didn't change between the app cycles. This year I made sure to apply to programs where I knew I was a great fit, talked extensively to profs that I wanted to work with, and polished my SoP until the damn thing was shining bright like a diamond. Ultimately, this proves to me what we (and the programs) always say: it's not so much about the numbers. It's about goodness of fit and your ability to articulate that fit. Don't worry so much about the acceptance rates and published stats (unless the program explicitly states cut-offs or something). 

Thanks @surprise_quiche !

And there is no shame in it taking a bit longer. I ended up graduating in August instead of Spring because my writing took longer. Now, I was also in classes in the spring, but most of that time was due to edits and rewrites requested by my advisor and committee. 

Realistic expectation is to plan out your timeline and, whatever time you put for analyzing and writing, double it. It will (almost always) take longer to do these tasks than you expect so budget in that time now so you don't have to do a change of graduation form further down the line.

Congrats @scientific ! That's awesome! I wouldn't worry too much about the online status yet. They might have to wait for the graduate division to change it, but the department chose to let you know before that happened.

@sadie508 This will not be the last time you are asked to meet (and not exceed) a specific word count. It sucks, but you have to "kill your darlings" and make sure you are turning in something within the word limit. Read through each sentence. Ask yourself if that sentence is necessary. If it is, is there a way to say what you mean in fewer words? If so, do it. Be harsh on yourself and your writing. Give it to someone else to tear apart if you have to, but get it to the right size. 

Yes, they read hundreds of essays, but another way to look at it is they have to read hundreds of essays. Do you really want to be the one potentially pissing off adcoms because you wrote a longer paper than they asked for? 
I know it's probably not what you want to hear, but I hope the above advice helps! <3 

Congrats to whoever got the interview invite at Madison!

This is definitely a huge worry for me. No matter what, I'll be moving to a new place (only 1 app to a school in my state/near family) and I'm terrified I won't be able to take care of myself. Some background, when I was 19 I was living on campus without a meal plan (was supposed to buy my groceries and cook my own food). I averaged less than 100 calories a day because I value other things over cooking and eating. I lost 15-20 lbs in a month, had to drop out of two classes so I wouldn't fail (if you don't eat, you start sleeping all the time), had to move back home (lived close enough I could commute to school instead), had to start therapy after having a major depressive episode brought on by the not eating and all the sleeping, and only attended school half-time the next semester. It was really bad.

On top of that, I have some health concerns that have made it so I can't eat any breads/grains, dairy, processed foods, carb-heavy fruits and veggies, or excess sugar. I'm doing pretty well with the diet changes (still transitioning dairy out), but that's because my family is super supportive and my dad's a fabulous cook who makes most of our dinners with diet options that work for me (ex. they might make something with rice, but keep the rice separate so I can eat the main part of the dish). I've got my hands on a crockpot and my dad's cioppino recipe (and I'm working on more meal ideas that can be prepped once a week), but I'm still nervous about it. I'd really hate to move far away from family and end up dropping out of school because I couldn't take care of myself as someone in their twenties. On top of this, I really hate cooking meat (even more than my hatred of cooking in general) so I expect I'll be getting a lot of my protein through cioppino and eggs.

2017: Graduated from my MA program and received my first acceptance to a doctoral program!
2018: Start my doctorate, manage to feed myself without starving, and a bunch of health things.