TaliaTee

I’m not sure if this is necessarily the right place for this question, but I saw the results about a rejection from University of Oregon’s PhD program that said the person had read/heard terrible things about it. I got an acceptance to their program, so I’m curious to hear more on that, if anyone has any info! Also, any word on University of Illinois at Chicago rejections/acceptances?

Got an email an hour ago with my first acceptance—University of Oregon!!! I have been feeling down because I got three rejections in quick succession and started to wonder if I wasn’t cut out for a PhD program, so getting this email made me immediately burst into tears! I have 6 more programs to hear back from, but having an acceptance to an awesome school definitely eases my anxiety!

Ugh, I’m sorry about that dream! I had one last week that I went to check on all of my apps to see if there was any news, and none of them were actually submitted and I accidentally didn’t apply to any schools. I feel like, at this point, any dreams about grad school (even the good one I had where I was attending Brown in the fall) are awful and need to be stopped. No getting my hopes up or making me anxious. Get outta here, brain.

Wow, all of that sounds amazing! As an Eastern European, I dig that area of study!! And this really is an awesome place, isn’t it? I’m glad you’ve been able to get involved, too! I was also sadly rejected from UChicago, but I’m staying hopeful for the others, too! Hoping for the best for you guys!!

Shoutout to your husband! I clearly appreciate his interests, haha. What are you studying/planning to study? Besides the two I mentioned, I applied to UChicago, Northwestern, UMich, OSU, UPenn, Brown, UIC, and Colorado Boulder. I tried to find places that had strong faculty in both areas that I’d be delighted to work with!

Awesome, thanks so much! I’m Post-45 American Lit and Gender & Sexuality Studies. And congratulations!!! It seems like an amazing school, so I’m super excited for you!

It really is! I got so many texts from said friend last year about how unbelievably stressful the program was for him because it was shoving 18 months worth of work and research into half that. He struggled a lot with anxiety and insomnia as a result of the workload (although he definitely had anxiety prior); it takes a special kind of person to take on that workload and not struggle with it. The thesis he wrote was only 20 pages, though; I’m not sure how long Masters theses typically are, but I know that that’s shorter than my undergrad thesis was! Another downside is that you aren’t in the program long enough to form strong bonds with professors. He reached out to one of his language professors to write him a letter of recommendation for PhD applications, and she told him, “I only had you in class for one semester, so I can’t really attest to how you’d handle a PhD program.” Which isn’t to say that the program is terrible or that everyone has that same experience! But after hearing how stressful it was and the toll it took on him, I’ll definitely be passing on it.

I did as well! No amount of praise for the program can convince me to take out that amount of money in loans for a 9-month program. (Especially considering I know someone who graduated from the program and said, while fantastic, it isn’t worth the debt.)

So much good news this week, hot dog!!! Tagging everyone on my phone isn’t the easiest, so I just want to say a blanket congratulations to everyone who received acceptances this week!

There are University of Oregon and Vanderbilt acceptances on the page now. When should I get worried? (Also, only mildly annoyed at the use of “University of Vanderbilt.” ?)

I have a close friend who’s in Classics and who graduated from that program last year. When I told him my UChicago application got referred to it, he told me it isn’t worth my time because it’ll put me into considerably more debt and that only 3 people in the whole program got any sort of funding last year (and they only received 1/3 of funding). He said the professors and school are wonderful, but if you have other options that’ll save you a lot in loans, then go for that. Hope that helps!

Ahhh, okay, makes sense! My early morning brain definitely did not catch the “Education,” haha. Thanks to both of you for the clarification!

Are you referring to U of M, Ann Arbor or another Michigan school?? (I’m easily confused by these sorts of things, haha.) Because someone (but only one person) posted on the results page that they were accepted to U of M, Ann Arbor yesterday. ?

I’m in the same boat! I’ve got about two weeks, at least, before I hear any more results, but I’m still constantly refreshing the results page as if the good vibes from all of those acceptances will give me a greater chance of getting into a program (or as if all the rejections will make me feel a little bit calmer about the rejections I’ll inevitably get).

Well, the OSU rejection emails were sent out. I knew the rejection was coming since accepted applications were updated a few days ago and mine still said “pending,” but having it confirmed made me feel awful. Now to wait in agony for responses from the other 9 schools I applied to.... Sending positive vibes to everyone who got the rejection email today! Just remember: this isn’t the end. After all, we only need to get into one program!

The fact that I’ll be hearing back from many of my schools soon is so nerve-wracking; I originally thought the anxiety from waiting would kill me and wished I could hear back sooner, and now I’m like, “Heh, it’s fine. Just never tell me. If I never know, then I never got rejected from anywhere, right?!” Applied to UChicago (which wasn’t a right fit anyway) and didn’t get emailed about an interview. Guess that’s one rejection already! 9 more schools to hear back from... Good luck to everyone on here! And thank you for keeping this lurker sane over the past few months!!!

I actually have the opportunity to spend a few months in Sicily for just the cost of plane tickets (my sister and brother-in-law live there), so in January, I'll be flying there and country-hopping! I was given advice to travel during my gap year if I have the opportunity (and if there aren't any professional opportunities available), so since this opportunity fell into my lap, I thought I might as well take it! And since the job market, ya know, hasn't been too kind to me. Thank you all for the recommendations! I'll definitely look into the aforementioned programs. And thank you for the recommendations on the statement of purpose! (That's actually what I meant to put in my original post but mixed them up.) That'll be super helpful!

Hi, all. This is my first post here, but this forum has been greatly helpful to me in my grad school search so thank you so much! But I digress... I'm a recent graduate with a BA in English Literature from a small but respectable private university in Indiana, and I'm taking a gap year now before applying to PhD programs. My interests are in Gender and Sexuality and others forms of media such as Film and Theatre. I'm also interested in Post-1900s American literature, although it isn't my primary focus. I'm not sure how all to go about wording this in my personal statement to programs, and I was also curious about the importance of specifying a time period. Would it benefit me to include my interest in Post-1900s American literature along with my primary interests (or as one of my primary interest)? Would all of that be too much to detail in a personal statement? (Note: My 24-page senior thesis, which I plan to use for applications, is on queer theory and analysis of a French queer film, if that info is useful at all.) I was also curious if anyone has programs they think could align with my interests. I have a list of 11 schools so far that I'm considering applying to, but I'd love to hear suggestions and broaden that list. (Preferably schools that don't require the GRE Subject Test in Literature because I know I haven't read enough classic literature to get high scores on that and would rather not bother.) Let me know in the comments if you need any additional information from me. Thank you in advance!