senorbrightside

THIS^^^^^! I took a gap year between my BA and my MA because I needed to figure out my next step. I was then able to do a killer MA program that I might not have considered if I rushed the process. 
Since then, it has been 12...let me reiterate...TWELVE YEARS since I was in school. I had a career in retail/restaurant management, started my family and have been running my own business from home for the last five years. Doing all of that made me a better me and will definitely make me a better professor. It may have limited my options for my education, but it DID NOT take me out of the running. That said, trust your instincts, y'all, and do what is right for you.
And, if you don't get in this time around, don't give up! This year is weird. With so many funded programs not accepting applications (or accepting fewer students due to limited funding), I am sure many programs had a much larger applicant pool than they are accustomed to with fewer spots to fill, making competition even stiffer than usual. 
I honestly had no idea how being a (MUCH) older student would affect my chances, but I think it really comes down to finding the department that is the right fit for you. You want to join a department that is excited about YOU; your research but also you, as an individual. So, if this year doesn't work out, take the experience and learn from it so y'all can kick ass next year!

¡Saludos!
¿A cuál 'Washington'? La University of Washington o la Washington University in St. Louis? Yo solicité a esta última. De todos modos, no espero respuesta de Washington en San Luis sino hasta marzo. También solicité a Nebraska. Si sé algo te lo dejo saber. 

Congrats to you, too!!! That's amazing!! I read through forums form previous years & it seems like an excellent choice! I'm still deciding where to go.

So you should be!! It’s the only application I have remaining which I would consider taking over my other offers. If I’m rejected from them, I’m more than happy with my Davis offer, if I get in (looking unlikely) I’m 90% certain I’m taking the Davis offer because it’s the second highest ranked of the schools I applied to and the campus looks gorgeous. 

Hi! Yep, I got admitted into Georgetown yesterday!

YES offense, Wallace. Yechk.

¡Enhorabuena!
And yes, that sounds like a good sign.

I'm...still....waiting...

Woke up to my first acceptance this morning! Beyond ecstatic! Also the program which I interviewed with a couple of weeks back has sent me a request for financial info for visa processing which can’t be sent until March so I’m assuming that’s at worst a waitlist (hopefully an acceptance)

There was 1 or 2 Berkeley decisions for Spanish on the results page: https://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/

¡Enhorabuena!
Be yourself. Be prepared to talk about your research or the research you want to do and why, what interests you about their research, things like that. Know your SOP well as they may ask things about it. Make sure Zoom or Skype are up to date beforehand. Be prepared for the "describe yourself" and "best/worst qualities" and "tell me a time" type questions. It'll probably be bilingual. I think for the one interview I had for my M.A., they asked about my hobbies, and we started talking about paella (I was living in Valencia at the time). 
Anyone else have any interview advice? What did I miss?

Just got formally accepted to UNC Chapel Hill! They have a tradition of allowing grad students to take some courses with Duke, so maybe I'll see some of you if you choose to go there haha. 
I've been a longtime lurker on gradcafe and only posted a few times but I'm happy to share my good news this year. This is my THIRD cycle applying after having unfortunate luck the first two times (waitlisted at one school cycle one, admitted and then offer rescinded from another school due to low funding during cycle two). I applied to >10 schools each cycle and kept getting rejection after rejection and I honestly was telling myself this would be the last time I would try before just giving up on my dreams. I thought this year would be another bad year with covid and I don't have a stellar GPA (2.9) or any publications, no Masters degree, only some pretty good teaching experience on my resume. But I rewrote my awful SOP and I think that's what did the trick! 
Wishing you all the best of luck with your decisions and other applications. I'm still waiting to hear back from most of the schools I applied to this time but I'm happy at the moment lol

Thank you!!! @senorbrightside Good luck to you!
I can't stop refreshing my email. The wait is so stressful

I received my first acceptance yesterday!!! Even though I do have to hear back from the rest, I am beyond excited because its my top choice! I hope this cycle is going well for everyone!!!☺️

I just got an email from OSU saying I was accepted! It's the first decision I've gotten, and I'm glad it wasn't a rejection ?
Congrats to those who also got accepted to OSU!

I would second this. If you look at historical application cycles for OSU they notify on their website and then send emails 2-5 days later. It's also unclear if they are doing it in waves or if they have notified all their acceptances (could be a smaller cohort, could be people aren't on GradCafe, hard to say). 
Especially since emails haven't gone out, resist the urge to call and pester them. Not only are they working on admissions, they are teaching, doing research, and trying to navigate covid all at the same time. Give them some time. If you're still sitting at pending and no email in like 2-3 weeks then reach out, especially if others have heard one way or the other.
I feel like the anxiety has ratcheted up a little with this first wave of decisions (mine included, I'm also still sitting on Pending) but I think it's important to reiterate the "you are not your acceptances" mantra that had been going earlier in the week/last week. You are a well qualified candidate or you wouldn't have convinced three professors to write LORs. At this point it's a bit of a crap shoot, and it *sucks* but it is what it is, and please try not to take it personally (as really freaking hard as that is). 

Hey guys! I was active in the Spanish thread last cycle, and am currently  in my first year of a PhD in Span. lit at Princeton. Just wanted to check in and say best of luck to everyone. In terms of interview tips, I'd add that in my experience, the interviews for PhD programs frequently asked me about a favorite or influential book I had read and why, a favorite film, potential projects or areas of interest for the future/for a possible dissertation, as well as a question or two about why I want to go to grad school, where I see myself in the future, and that sort of thing. Generally, they were fairly low-pressure. No grilling or intense interrogations. Pretty much a conversation about your interests! I was asked to talk about my undergrad thesis, to explain more about a possible interest I'd mentioned in my SOP, and to talk about a book I had connected with recently. I mentioned Nada and was asked what I thought was the most memorable scene of the book for me. I believe I was also asked to talk more about my experience going abroad and what I'd learned from it. Most of my interviews were 80-100% in Spanish which I assume is partly because I'm non-native. I heard that some other interviewees who were native Spanish speakers were asked more questions in English than I was. Anyways, just wanted to pop in. Hopefully this will helpful to some of you! Best of luck this cycle! 

Please remember that you are not your acceptances. You are not your writing sample nor are you your statement of purpose. You are not your grades. You are much more than that. Please don't let your acceptances define you.

¡Gracias amigo! I won't say publicly just so as to not jinx it. I'm weirdly nervous and looking forward to it as I really like the program. That's great news about the Durham acceptance! Mucha suerte with the scholarship application!!

¡Enhorabuena!
Be yourself. Be prepared to talk about your research or the research you want to do and why, what interests you about their research, things like that. Know your SOP well as they may ask things about it. Make sure Zoom or Skype are up to date beforehand. Be prepared for the "describe yourself" and "best/worst qualities" and "tell me a time" type questions. It'll probably be bilingual. I think for the one interview I had for my M.A., they asked about my hobbies, and we started talking about paella (I was living in Valencia at the time). 
Anyone else have any interview advice? What did I miss?

¡Enhorabuena!
 Can I ask which one of your excellent schools has realised your own excellence? I understand if you don't want to say.

I have news of my own. I was accepted to Durham, but without funding because it's the UK, so now I have to apply for an important, extremely competitive scholarship for all humanities Ph.Ds amongst eight or schools in hopes of getting funding. I'm excited for the acceptance, but trying not to get my hopes up for getting the scholarship. 

Just received exciting news as well! Received an email to schedule an interview for next week! It is one of my top choices, and I am too excited, but nervous too! Does anyone have any interview tips?

@presidentialpudding @senorbrightside
That is amazing, congrats & good luck to you both!!

Received my first interview invite today! Makes it all feel a bit more real and the department is absolutely lovely from the communications I have had with them. 

That’s a nice mix! I applied for Georgetown, UIUC, UIC, UC Davis, U Arizona and U Miami so no overlaps with you unfortunately. I applied for linguistics track. 

Thanks for the info - that’s interesting! I’m not stressing yet because it’s still very early days. The grad secretary at one of my programs emailed me today to say that they will only be making decisions early February so that gives me a timetable for one program. Where have you applied to out of interest?