a_sort_of_fractious_angel

Accepted to Carnegie Mellon's Literary and Cultural Studies PhD. When I stop shaking, I'll call back and let you all know what I find out! 

Accepted to Carnegie Mellon's Literary and Cultural Studies PhD. When I stop shaking, I'll call back and let you all know what I find out! 

Congrats!

AHHHH CONGRATS!!!!! SO EXCITED FOR YOU XD

Congrats!

Accepted to Carnegie Mellon's Literary and Cultural Studies PhD. When I stop shaking, I'll call back and let you all know what I find out! 

Accepted to Carnegie Mellon's Literary and Cultural Studies PhD. When I stop shaking, I'll call back and let you all know what I find out! 

It's a difficult perspective to cultivate. Of course everyone wants a slew of acceptances! But when I really examined my motivations-- what I wanted from my life-- I came to the same conclusion you did. I want more than an office job can offer me. 
Social media/copy&content writing is a great path, too. I don't have that creative spark. My research is creative, but I could never write copy. Unless, of course, my supervisor was interested in REALLY bad puns. 
I agree-- between the time spent on the GRE and rewriting everything from the previous cycle, I just didn't have it in me to approach new research with my usual vigor. My writing sample is the distillation of work spanning several years, and reading it to butcher it (to fit writing sample requirements) really hindered my ability to approach it with the same curiosity and love. 

Thank you! I will definitely keep you in the loop - as soon as I hear something from someone, I'll email my friend and do some recon  MAYBE WE CAN BE COHORT BUDDIES!

11/10 recommend an MA program (if you end up needing one!) My MA really helped me improve my BA-level work (I was what I'm going to call a "good thinker but poor writer" as an undergrad).
Feel free to PM me if you'd ever want to chat about that option - also, lots of cool folks on here have done MAs and, I'm sure, would speak to the pros/cons of the experience. And there's lots of good threads from past years about the MA --> PhD plan.

HALP!
Just checked my Temple portal and I AM CONFUSED AF. 
A few days ago, it said "Application Status: Complete; Decision: Under Dept Review (or something close to that)."
Today, it says, "Application Status: Decision Made; Decision: University Acceptance."
No emails/calls from the department - any clue what this means? 
I'm thrilled it's a sign of life (wahoo!) and I'm hopeful it is Very, Very Good News - however, I realize it could mean that, like, I've passed through the grad school hope and am now onto departmental hoops, so I'm Extremely Cautious.
If it helps - apps were due 12/14, app was listed as complete/under review on like 1/16 (which is why I don't think this is actually an acceptance of any kind.) 
Any thoughts are welcome - I have a friend in their program currently but I'm too scared to reach out to him, hahahaha ... ahhhahaha ... AHHHHH .. I WAS COUNTING ON THIS BEING STRAIGHTFORWARD AND I PLAYED MYSELF.
 

HALP!
Just checked my Temple portal and I AM CONFUSED AF. 
A few days ago, it said "Application Status: Complete; Decision: Under Dept Review (or something close to that)."
Today, it says, "Application Status: Decision Made; Decision: University Acceptance."
No emails/calls from the department - any clue what this means? 
I'm thrilled it's a sign of life (wahoo!) and I'm hopeful it is Very, Very Good News - however, I realize it could mean that, like, I've passed through the grad school hope and am now onto departmental hoops, so I'm Extremely Cautious.
If it helps - apps were due 12/14, app was listed as complete/under review on like 1/16 (which is why I don't think this is actually an acceptance of any kind.) 
Any thoughts are welcome - I have a friend in their program currently but I'm too scared to reach out to him, hahahaha ... ahhhahaha ... AHHHHH .. I WAS COUNTING ON THIS BEING STRAIGHTFORWARD AND I PLAYED MYSELF.
 

Thank you! I think I just have the one edge now, particularly after being shut out last year. I only applied to schools that could support my research, so I just need one yes. 
I am fortunate enough to have a full-time administration job at a university, so I'll be okay if I don't get in. I'm trying to be more grateful for that. I'm just desperate for something a little more intellectually fulfilling. 
I hope you receive some good news soon! You have a fantastic list of schools.  

Hi, hello, welcome! Errors are so annoying, especially when they're not your errors, but - if PSU is like, "you didn't answer this," you have (I think) every right to respond with "BUT WHAT ABOUT THE EMAIL!?"
I hope you get good news soon, too! I imagine that will take the edge off (I hope. I have so many edges, I don't really know.)

@Warelin @a_sort_of_fractious_angel 
My application says it completed 12/27. I also received an email in 12/27 saying that my application was complete and had been received. It's the status page that is telling me I missed "department required questions."
Thanks everyone for the pep talk. I really appreciate it. I was having a rather unpleasant evening. So much goes into these individual applications-- it's pretty devastating to find an error.  
I've been a lurker on gradcafe for a long time. I wish I joined in on the fun earlier!

Late to respond, but I feel this so much. I've been out for two years now. I do not like the lifestyle offered by non-ac world. I'm annoyed by the arbitrariness of most of it. But it has helped me to gain more understanding of what I'm looking for in a career and has given me the confidence boost of knowing that I can make it outside of academia. 
If I don't make it in anywhere, I've considered retaking the GRE, maybe even the subject test, and trying again. If not, I'll focus on getting a new job. 

I got a call from a Michigan number yesterday and, thinking 'what if??', I answered. A woman's voice on the other end said something indecipherable ("this is xx at the admissions office" perhaps?), "Sorry?" I said, and she replied: "Do...do you speak Romanian?" Sadly I do not: wrong number. 

Don't lose hope! As a Not-Adcom, I don't know how any of this works but - the questions may be required by the grad school at-large (and not the dept itself). If that's the case, the dept will have everything they need (WS, SOP, scores, etc.) and may just keep chucking along. If it makes you feel better, there is a thread in this forum (a few years back) with a comment from someone who applied late to an Ivy (Cornell? Columbia? It was a C school) - like the time-stamp clearly denoted that they had submitted 15 minutes after the deadline - and who got in.
If your app didn't say "Complete" or some big things were missing, I'd definitely be concerned. These Qs - I don't know if they'll trip a wire in the system (my fingers are crossed that they do not!) Moreover, they could have the answers on their end from when you originally answered them - my Rutgers app says a letter is missing but the dept admin was like "no, we have it." In short, the portals are weird and anything is possible.

Hey - I just checked my PSU app. Don't see that for mine - BUT - I did have a lingering Q about answering what field I wanted if I was an MA (I have an MA but I filled it out anyway because - why not). 
Are you able to re-answer them now? I don't know much about computers or anything, but glitches are definitely possible. 

I'm not sure, at this point. Sixteen rejections would be tough to stomach, but the worst part would be deciding whether to quit my current shitty job. I've got an unhealthy amount of student debt, so I have to stay employed. But my job is soul-deadening; I really don't think I could stay here much longer. I also haven't given much thought about what I'd like to do in the private sector if academia doesn't work out. Yeah, yeah, I know it's irresponsible, but I'm in my early twenties, so this is to be expected.
Perhaps I'll join the dark side and work on a political campaign. I think the swamp could use a well-meaning dingus like me. In fact, this is probably not the worst time to become politically involved, if ya know what I mean. 
Also, @a_sort_of_fractious_angel, I'm really pulling for you. Of course, I don't know you at all, but I do know that you deserve a spot at a great school. So again, I'm hoping for the best.

I've been getting a call a day from an unknown number neighbor over the past 5 days - I'm losing my mind every time the "buzz buzz" starts.
Also, @mk-8 - HELLO, FELLOW IGGLES FAN! I had no idea!
I don't know about you, but I'm totally using the next 13 days to live in anxiety re: the Superbowl instead of applications, which is really just doubling up my anxiety but - whatever. 

I've been getting a call a day from an unknown number neighbor over the past 5 days - I'm losing my mind every time the "buzz buzz" starts.
Also, @mk-8 - HELLO, FELLOW IGGLES FAN! I had no idea!
I don't know about you, but I'm totally using the next 13 days to live in anxiety re: the Superbowl instead of applications, which is really just doubling up my anxiety but - whatever. 

Glad to see there’s another traumathusiast in here! PM if you ever wanna talk shop. And let me know where you land!

Self-shellacked! 

I'm not even getting false alarms! And, really, this obsession is becoming a problem. I was having a perfectly interesting conversation with my co-workers, but halfway into it I started having legit anxiety that I wasn't near my phone or computer. Hoping for news from OSU this week sometime.