la_mod

Ah, that's great! I just applied to a nonprofit and need to look for more. I'm sadly not in DC, so it's tough.

A note on this: yes, they do interview for certain subfields, buuuuut I think they only interview people "on the cusp." I got an interview last year, but met a grad student this summer who said that she didn't get an interview but was accepted, and that a friend of hers in the same-ish subfield got an interview and was later accepted.

A question: how does one enter the swamp? Seriously interested in a chaotic political fallback, but never sure where to look, ha.

I applied to 7 PhDs last year and one MA (I was finishing my BA) and got totally shut out. Not going to lie, it was the most acutely depressing few months of my life, but there was never an option of whether I would reapply. Now I've expanded my pool a bit. I think in some regards it's easier this time -- I know that I'll live and be okay and figure it out (I've had a very nice "gap year" thus far working PT as a nanny and at my uni as a research assistant) but harder in the sense that I know exactly how awful rejection feels and exactly how hard it will be to get over it. This is how I feel too! I studied for hours upon hours for the subject test and did poorly, and then had a rough go at writing all of my materials. Rejection suuuuucks but I think having that mentality is good? although I sometimes wonder if it's unrealistic and if I should start developing a plan B.

Yes! I got my rejection a few weeks later. *shrugs*

As one of those who were "unable to grab a spot," I can tell you: they did not send any notification! Super frustrating.

I've got two. One not so bad, one awful: 1. Misspelled an obscure scholar's name wrong in my SOP. I think it'll probably go unnoticed. It wasn't an egregious misspelling or anything, but still a little embarrassing. 2. Sent the WRONG draft of my personal / diversity statement. The first paragraph ends mid-sentence! Ugh! It's super obvious too. It's like "while xyz does" and that's it, or something. I'm not gonna go back and reread it now. Tears have been shed. Luckily it was only for the first two schools I applied to. Unfortunately, one of those schools was my top top choice. Hoping that I'm somehow a good enough candidate that they won't read my diversity statement.

Currently kicking myself after realizing that I wrote down the writing sample length for one of the MA programs. All the others are 10-20, my sample is 20, and this school says 15 MAX. Not sure how I'm going to reduce the length in only a few days! Ugh

Have y’all heard about everything going on with Stanford? It’s the English dept specifically, and Moretti no less.... The deadline is Tuesday and I’m seriously wondering if I could work in a place where everyone knew their colleague was behaving in a predatory manner? But at the same time, a boycott does feel kind of pointless

I decided to bite the bullet and submit a personal history statement anyway. I figure that I need it for other schools as well, and I believe that UCLA English required it last year...

I'm going to be reapplying next year and am planning on focusing a lot on Canadian MA programs. I've heard (anecdotally of course) that plenty of Canadian MAs get placed at top tier US schools. On another note though: funding!? For an international student? How!? Congrats!

I have not! I'm expecting the worst... I know that a gap year will allow me some time (and that I look WAY young on paper — I'm only 20), but sheesh

7 doctorate, 1 MA

Didn't even get into the MA program I applied to as a backup! I am beyond devastated. I don't know what I'm going to do.

It's after graduation, so I'm not eligible! Plus I go to a state school and we have no money, ha. Yeah, I mean... it's one of those things where I COULD pay for it, but I'm not sure I can justify it.

Vent: my paper got accepted at a conference I desperately want to attend, but because I'll (hopefully) be paying for an MA, I now can't afford to go (also feels like a double kick in the chest, because now that I didn't get into a PhD program, I could really use another conference!)

Oh man, my thesis only needs to be ~30 pages, and I think I'll end up scrapping about half of it right now....

oh my gosh. this is me to a tee. i totally have spent the last three years (in my hometown, because i didn't want to take out loans for school, because i can't afford it and wanted to save for grad school) and it's like. for what? what was that all for? (and then i know that i am only where i am BECAUSE of my decisions and i need to believe in myself, etc... but it's still hard.) if it makes you feel better, it seemed like a really tough year. one of my profs was adamant that schools — especially top-tier ones like we both applied to — are hesitant to invest in someone who doesn't even have a BA at the time they're applying. so there's that. ugh. it is really emotional. adding on: i'm also working on my BA thesis, which i used for my writing sample. i took some time off from it before i got my decisions, as to not freak out about it. thank goodness i did, because the paper has SO much room for improvement! ugh!

I am definitely on the boat (assuming I don't get off this waitlist). My plan: + get MA by August 2018 through one-year program + have writing sample finished May 2017 (it's my BA honor's thesis!) + maybe re-take the GRE Lit next month + submit for a CFP that relates to my research so I can add it to my CV (// get selected, so that I can add it, lol) + write specific SOP section for each program I'm applying to before starting my MA in September + clean up the more general parts of my SOP fall semester + try and be cool about this all

What's up with Michigan taking so long to send out all rejections? I've accepted my implied rejection, but there's 0.000001% of me like "what if it's ACTUALLY a wait-list???"

I'm not sure if one waitlist counts as being shut-out, but I'm confident that I won't get in, and it's a gross feeling! I'm currently hoping that I'll get into a year MA and reapply, but if not, then I have no idea what will happen.... Also, wrt grieving: I think it really depends. I know that I want to do this until I get into a school, and I feel really strongly about that, so I may already have a new list of schools for 2018. But then again, I'm also laying in bed watching the Great British Bake Off and wondering where I went wrong, so maybe this is grieving? Ahhhhh this is all awful.

Gosh, I'm so baffled that people reach out to POIs. If you don't mind me asking, how'd you get this conversation started?

Could you maybe elaborate on this? I'm going to be re-applying and totally wish I would have reached out, but I'm not sure what I could say! How do you ask a question that doesn't come across as "look how smart I am"?

Hey, everyone! Now that decisions are nearing to an end, and before we all go off into the world of grad school (or return to the drawing board), I wanted to ask: what have you learned this year while doing applications? I mean this broadly: both personally and academically, triumphantly and regrettably (as in, things you'd have done differently), maybe even embarrassingly! Would you have done anything differently? Is there anything that you realized half-way through that paid off in a way you wouldn't have expected? Hopefully it's a somewhat-fun chance to reflect, but also something constructive that those of us applying again next year can look to. I'll start: First, I learned that the application forms themselves take TIME. I waited too long to start, and spent the first week of December working 8+ hours per day on this after being in class and work all day. Next, I wish I would have been slightly less specific in my SOP. That's probably not helpful to anyone else, but I went with a really niche angle, and no one is working on exactly what I'm working on — which is cool, but I think it made me a less attractive applicant.

Well! I just found out that Toronto's MA results should be out soon. Feeling pretty bummed that I've been all but shut out of PhD programs this year.... It's also frustrating because I KNOW my application was pretty good; I came so close to Chicago and Columbia! That UCLA wait-list! I met with one of my mentors who told me that a few of her grad students got in places, and she thought I was a stronger candidate than all of them, but I look very young and very fresh, and that's to my detriment. It's both heartening and frustrating to hear that you *should* have gotten in. Ugh. Next year I guess.