JustPoesieAlong

Now, for a question I sort of already know the answer to: is it obnoxious to email OSU about my status on the waitlist, even though they said in their email that they expect to have answers in late March? Like everyone else on waitlists, I'm anxious to just hear something.

I called Emory to see what is up--and first off, I want to say how very nice their graduate coordinator is. This is the second or third time I've spoken with him, and he's been super friendly and helpful every time. He said that they are finalizing their stuff now and that all applicants would hear something by the end of next week at the latest. I asked him if, since I wasn't interviewed, if I could kind of assume a rejection and he suggested their process isn't quite that straightforward, but he couldn't say much more than that. I don't have my hopes up or anything, but it's interesting to know that there's more going on in the process than I had thought.

Oh, I think I'll do that. Good idea, thanks! I hope you don't mind me asking, but did your notification come from the Grad School or the department?

Yesss! Congrats! Wonderful!

That's totally understandable! Thanks for sharing. Now I'm even more confused about their system, though. I did message the grad coordinator about a month ago (when the acceptances/waitlists/rejections were posted), and he said they are still "finalizing their list of admits". Is it too obnoxious to email him again, I wonder?

I haven't heard from anyone else waiting on their Emory rejection, but I have theorized that the two rejections on the board right now are out of the pool of those who were interviewed but didn't make it. I expect the rest of the rejections for folks who didn't interview will come through the grad school in the next week or so.

Hi there! Congratulations on your decision on a gap year. Obviously, different strokes for different folks, but I am just so glad I took time out before applying to PhD programs. I have actually been out for about three years. When most everyone in my master's program was applying for PhD programs, I felt very uncertain about that decision--and also very overwhelmed at the thought of applying to schools while also scrambling to write a thesis and do coursework and teach two full classes. My son had a school he was happy in and my husband had a job, so we decided to stay here. I was lucky to get a research assistantship that helped with part of the summer after graduation, but I did feel the need to scramble and get whatever job as quickly as possible. I was disappointed at how few teaching gigs I found, and knew I wanted to do something at least vaguely related to my degree, so I scoured the staff job postings for my university and the nearby colleges. I had sooo many misses, but ended up landing a job as a secretary in the office for academic affairs at my university. It was pretty tedious and frustrating, but I gained a hell of a lot of insight into the inner workings of a large state school. I left pretty quickly after getting a job as an editor for one of the university's research institutions. All the while, I found myself longing for academic life. I missed being around people who cared as much as I do about literature and writing and "the life of the mind." I also discovered how much office life bothers me--the rigidity of the office structure drives me crazy. My time as an editor had a huge role in motivating me to apply to PhD programs. Not only because I was working with faculty and wishing I could be generating more of my own work instead of editing theirs, but also because I started seeing some real connections between my academic interests and conversations taking place in the field I'm currently in. That helped me to narrow my scope of focus in a way that I am really excited about and that I think paid off in my applications. Balancing a full time job and applying to grad school, not to mention having two kids, was incredibly challenging but definitely doable. I spent a lot of my lunch breaks reading/writing, and would work until I couldn't keep my eyes open most nights after the kids were in bed. It was painful, but I guess I survived. My work performance wasn't great, but oh well. Overall, I'm very happy I took this time out from academic life. I have an assurance that I lacked before about my fit for academia and about the satisfaction it can provide me compared to other career choices. I also think that holding professional jobs as a non-student has given me a maturity that I didn't have before--another quality I think showed in my applications and I am sure will pay off as a doctoral student and, later, as a job candidate.

Good luck to you too!

Like others here, I legit bombed the subject test when I took it as an undergrad applying to MA programs. I didn't retake it when I was applying for PhD programs since only one school required it--and I only realized at the last minute that they did. Despite having a terrible score, I was still accepted into that school with a TAship and additional funding. I also didn't do great on the general GRE--not terrible, but not great--and consider this application season to have been pretty successful. All in all, I really do believe it has more to do with your overall package. Sure, some schools may look more closely at those scores than others, but it isn't necessarily a make-it-or-break-it deal.

Maybe not, but maybe so! In any case, thanks for sharing!

It's mostly tequila and/or Shiner, but we'll share. I honestly didn't feel much love toward Texas until I left it. I didn't realize how much my identity was wrapped up in Texas culture--whatever that is--until I moved away.

Not me (I didn't apply there). I just get excited when I meet other Texans. Edit: Oh, wait, maybe I missed an earlier conversation and you weren't asking me. Lol. I'll just see myself out now.

I cry just thinking about good Tex Mex! No on in Alabama gets it either. *sob*

Congratulations! Fellow Texan here to say the pull from the home state is strong. And also, howdy.

Anyone in at OSU thinking about going somewhere else? It's really the only school I'm waiting on at this point.

Blarg. Am I awful for not getting actual gifts? I never do well in these social exchanges...

(Inspired from the general post on the board about preparatory reading lists): Early modern folks, what are you reading to prepare over the summer? I'm nervous that I have gaps I'm not aware of and would love to know if anyone else has the same worry and what you're doing about it. Right now, to make sure I've got a solid foundation in early modern medicine/medical rhetoric/early modern science (my primary interests), my reading goals include: Thomas Browne's Religio Medici (currently reading) Thomas Nashe's The Unfortunate Traveller Ben Johnson's The Alchemist Bacon's Advancement of Learning Anything on the subject by Stephen Pender Lucinda M. Beier's Sufferers and Healers: The Experience of Illness in EM England Kerwin's Beyond the Body: The Boundariesof Medicine and English Ren. Drama Vaught's Rhetorics of Bodily Disease and Health in Medieval and EM Engand It's laughably ambitious to hope that I will get through all of this before fall, what with kids, a full time job, selling our house, moving, but I'm just going to do my best. But, more generally, what works do you consider "required reading" before you start your respective programs?

I was planning on nice thank you cards. I'm not going to be able to buy nice gifts at this time. I've updated my letter writers and was planning on sending cards after I made my decision.

Edit: Question no longer relevant.

I've been building a "dissertation reading list," and trying to prioritize what I need to read over the summer from that. Mostly filling the gaps for early modern primary texts--and wondering if I am the only incoming early modernist who hasn't read X, Y, Z, etc.--and trying to make sure I know who's doing what work in my specialization interest.

Thanks! Yep; I applied to the Strode program.

Congrats to everyone with good news over the last couple of days, and welcome to the newcomers! I thought I would update in case it would be of use to future applicants: I received an informal notification of admission to the University of Georgia (UGA) via email from the DGS on 2/22, several days after I saw that the portal had updated to read "offer of admission." I still haven't received my official letter from the Graduate School, although it should be coming through "traditional mail."

I haven't heard anything about waitlist movement at Bama. I do think that they use waitlists a little differently than other schools though, but I'm not sure.

Ohhhhh! Congratulations! Much deserved news!

Oh, dang. Is this in a handbook somewhere? I've never seen this before, but maybe I've missed it with other schools. Does anyone know how common this is?