senorbrightside

I decided to have a crazier dream than a PhD in history to make myself feel better if I don't get in and have something to work towards if I don't get in. First female GM in Major League Baseball. I mean, that does make a PhD seem a lot more attainable...

I had a really good week. Received an acceptance to one of my programs, so it's a relief to know that I'll be getting a PhD! Also, a paper that I submitted last year was just accepted for publication pending revisions. 

El rechazo.

I have a Skype interview with Texas Tech on Monday! Anyone do an interview before? It was great news to wake up to. 

@Chipmonk! ¡Enhorabuena! 

I did undergrad at UK(entucky) so, even though I couldn't care less about basketball, I didn't apply to Duke Good luck on that one and the others too! 

Thank you.  I'm hoping I get in, but being a lawyer wouldn't be so bad. I love baseball: the theory, sport, stats, players, and the money behind it. I think I would be happy working either in a front office or as a sports agent. It just wouldn't be my first choice. I know that not every sports agent is Scott Boras (or Jerry McGuire for that matter), but it's not a bad way to make a living.

I agree we should start hearing back soon. Looking at previous years, umich and IUB should start sending applications soon. 
I just really need to find out soon. I am constantly distracted at work and that has affected my teaching. 
Sounds rough. Hopefully you will resolve that soon. 

Hi! I applied to eight PhD programs in Spanish (Literature track) in the Southeast, and this is what I know so far:
January 8: Admitted at South Carolina and Virginia
January 22: Admitted at UNC Chapel Hill
Has anyone heard from Duke?

Just got my first acceptance (well, kind of, recommended for admission) from UNC Chapel Hill!!!

Oh my God. It hasn't even been 15 minutes since I last posted but UNC Chapel Hill just sent me an email saying I've been recommended for admission. This is so kjhkjnkjn

So...  I may not get into grad school, but I JUST GOT PUBLISHED!

I will probably scream of excitement, tell a few people about it and wait for the other decisions to be made if it isn't my top choice and cross my fingers the funding will come through so it can happen! 

Sorry to the poster above me who got rejected. I know what that feels like too well! I tried in 2008 and was rejected all around. Last year I was accepted to the one I had money to apply to, but the funding fell through. 

Having flatmate problems distracting me from properly worrying about this! Jaja. Last week I had a few meltdowns about not knowing...this week, well outside the flatmate problems and trying to find a new place to live to keep me distracted, I'm a bit more "I'll find out when I'll find out" yet still check portals once a day and the results page various times a day, as it's fun to see commentary from other disciplines....quiero saber ya. 

Hope everyone finds out soon and gets the results that they want  

Just out of curiosity, how is everyone holding up?
I feel like I all I do is worry about the whole process. It is a good thing that I have a full-time job that keeps my mind occupied, if not, I'd go crazy. 
 

Hello Everyone,
Got a call yesterday from the head of English Graduate Admissions at Notre Dame with an invitation to fly out (at their expense) for a "recruitment" weekend.
Can't help but feel this is a good sign, yes?
 
 

God, where do I even begin? To put it simply, this has been such a dream of mine for years, and I am so anxious that my dream might be dead on arrival.
I am applying to MFA programs in fiction writing, quite a derivation from many of you guys, and I have a bit of a history with this process. I went to a smaller, public university in the Midwest. Graduated in Dec. 2013. I was a model student, dual majored in English and philosophy, minored in German. I was a pretty decorated student. I applied to programs right out my undergrad, and I had the full support of my professors. I got into one MFA program and one MA program. I was ultimately rejected by six other programs, and this crushed me. The one program that accepted me did not offer funding to me, and this was a deal breaker at the time. I was living at home. I didn't have much of a savings to support myself. I was struggling to find employment besides retail. I questioned if taking out loans was worth it or a smart idea. I decided not to go. I was now colossally crushed. I fell into a very deep depression for months, and I struggled to write. It was awful. I ended up taking some journalism classes at the local community college to help beef up my resume to find a job, and then I briefly worked in local news. It was fun. It helped me out of my depression. But it wasn't my dream or my passion.
During that time, I met and fell deeply in love with my now husband. Maybe everything happened for a reason. In 2015, he relocated to D.C., where I planned to join him later that year. But then my mother passed away. Cue grief and an even deeper depression for months--one I still struggle to stay out of. I didn't move out to him until nearly Summer 2016. I started working in technical writing a couple months later, and I still work in the field. Through that, I learned how important fiction writing was to me. To quote Hamilton, "I wrote my way out." It was critical to my recovery and still is. I really got over my fear of rejection, after I realized just how dark life could be in the scope of an even greater, far more monumental loss in my life. I realized all the cliches: how precious life is, how you can't wait for life to happen to you, etc. That's when I knew I had to try again.
I write nearly everyday now, so long as work/life/etc. allow. I'm so much more dedicated than I ever was when I tried before. I feel it on such a visceral level. Graduate school is a symbol of resilience, and hope, and ambition, and recovery to me. I want to make my mom proud. I want to live a fulfilling life, where I enjoy my job most days and get to teach, reaching students and helping them with their dreams.
I try not to think about what happens if I am rejected this time. Part of me thinks I am better equipped to handle it, but part of me thinks not. I applied to 12 programs this time around, and I applied to a greater variety (differing levels of prestige/difficulty, some in Canada, some spread across the U.S., a couple MAs as well). Every week I hear nothing is a great week for now. Most programs don't issue acceptances until about mid-February.
But I pine away about it so often. I overthink my supplemental document submissions and my portfolio. I overthink my personal statement. For the time being, I control those thoughts with research hours into the cities I've applied to, and the real estate market in each. Sometimes, I worry this is getting my hopes up to high, but I like dwelling on the items I can control, given I'm accepted, rather than the millions of things I can't.
I realize this time around that nothing is guaranteed. So much of this is subjective. So much of this process is splitting hairs. Many of us, no matter our fields, are great and worthy candidates. This, unfortunately, is just the current state of things: the economy, the job market, academia. It's frightening to consider how out of one's hands your life often is. But we have done what we can do to steer the direction, to choose a brighter path. I try to take great hope in that.
Will I give up after this if I am totally rejected? Probably on going to school. I hope not on writing. I hope not on entering the field of education--even if in some tangential way. Even if it hurts, my life (our lives) will go on, and can and will still be incredibly fulfilling. We just will have to grieve our loss and heal.
I wish you all luck, and I hope your greatest dreams come true. Thanks for listening.

Spanish/Journalism major applying for a master in Spanish literature chiming in. I was given three quant sections. I cursed. As an aside, none of my programs look at the scores but require it because the grad school requires it. I did pretty decent on it all things considered. Definitely an interesting hypothesis. 

Thank you! Yes, it is one of my top choices: UVA ?. It's probably my #2 choice, so I'm super excited!

Hello, everyone! I was not expecting this so soon but I was admitted to one of the PhD programs I applied to!   I still have to hear back from other programs but that could take a while. Super excited! 

Lately, especially over the holiday season, it's been very difficult to maintain my equilibrium. I tell myself all the time that I am a good candidate, that I am doing my best, and that I will find my way in life. But then everyone wants to tell me that I will get this or that, or that I have to do this or that because it worked for some other random person, or why should I be worried about my chances when it's all going to work out fine -- and I know they mean well, but it's upsetting. I prefer having very low hopes, and I usually manage to do that without feeling like I'm the wrong part of the equation. It's just a truth of the matter, at this stage everyone is amazing and my level of amazing isn't to such a degree as to make anything a guarantee. It's better to recognize that now, than think things will unfurl before me just because I have good intentions and am smart. So when everyone tries to tell me to stop being so negative, I don't think they realize that they're upsetting my careful balance and actually making me feel worse. If I'm okay with acknowledging the luck aspect of this whole process, that it's not entirely fair, and that my chances aren't guaranteed, then they should respect that. 
Because otherwise I start to wonder... What will they say when I get my inevitable rejects? Do they really just expect perfection? Why can't we celebrate the normal people in life? The people who keep going despite the hiccups and avalanches and rocky roads? What if I end up doing something totally different in life but I know I've tried my best, will they still be telling me it'll all work out and how I should just go for it again? 
I know they mean well, and I know too that they don't really understand the system, but sometimes I just want everyone to stop endlessly propping me up and to be more realistic about this process. A simple, "I believe in you, let's see what happens," would suffice. 
Wow... That was really helpful! I've never been able to say that to anyone, but it was really nice!

I think that this is a general thing, the nervousness I mean. Are you a literature or linguistics concentration? Which programs are you looking into?
Best of luck!