JustPoesieAlong

@silenus_thescribe @cloudofunknowing @dazedandbemused
Hope it's okay to revive this thread. I got into UT Austin's English PhD, and it's a great fit. I'm interested in early modern/Renaissance, with a focus on Milton Studies. John Rumrich is a perfect scholar to work with for my interests. The funding is good enough, and my fiancee likes the location. Also, re: my fiancee, she wants to continue to teach as an adjunct and it seems very likely that at UT she can do that. Also, Austin has been aggressive in its recruiting, with all the Renaissance profs reaching out, having conversations, and being exceedingly kind and welcoming. Feeling welcome and wanted has gone a long way for me in putting UT above the other two programs I got into.
The only hitch is, I got waitlisted at University of Virginia. It's not nearly as good of a fit (good Renaissance people but no one with a sharp Milton focus, certainly not like Rumrich), not as good of a location (though probably cheaper), and my fiancee isn't as into it. But--it's ranked higher. So, for you UT students, what would your advice be if I should get into UVA? I feel like I should go to Austin, but I don't want to sabotage my chances at a future as a professor. 

I agree with @midwest-ford - Temple changed my portal over a weekend and I heard from the grad school that Friday. Buffalo took a day or two between grad admittance and dept contact. It's hard to wait but they will reach out soon!!! And likely have all sorts of good information for you!

Thank you!!
I keep thinking I have a direction I'm leaning, but then something tips me the other way. Right now, I really need funding info from Madison and I need to know if I get this fellowship at OSU; I think that's going to end up playing a very big role in my decision. 

Seriously. Bug off if you don't like it, dude. I've really valued my interaction here. It gave me an outlet to focus my energy while waiting and nearly every encounter I've had here has been positive and encouraging. 

Yup.  This.  You aren't there to impress them.  You've already done that.  When you meet with the professors, chat about your interests and see how they react to those interests.  I had a meeting with a prof once who heard about my interest in stage fools and immediately connected it to something in his field in an excited way.  It was a great conversation.  I had a meeting with a different prof at a different school, and he couldn't have been less interested in my areas of research (even though we were in the same historical period). 
 
The key to a visit (hell, part of the key to graduate school) is starting to think of yourself not as a student who needs the approval of the instructor, but as a junior colleague who wants to learn under a more established mentor.

Seriously. Bug off if you don't like it, dude. I've really valued my interaction here. It gave me an outlet to focus my energy while waiting and nearly every encounter I've had here has been positive and encouraging. 

Got into University of Georgia! I think, anyway. No email, just an update on the portal that says "Offer of admission." 
 
The user who got an error from U-Mich breaks my heart and awakens all my worst fears! I'm so scared of getting an email that says, "Oops, sorry, not you. Our bad." 

Got into University of Georgia! I think, anyway. No email, just an update on the portal that says "Offer of admission." 
 
The user who got an error from U-Mich breaks my heart and awakens all my worst fears! I'm so scared of getting an email that says, "Oops, sorry, not you. Our bad." 

Got into University of Georgia! I think, anyway. No email, just an update on the portal that says "Offer of admission." 
 
The user who got an error from U-Mich breaks my heart and awakens all my worst fears! I'm so scared of getting an email that says, "Oops, sorry, not you. Our bad." 

Got into University of Georgia! I think, anyway. No email, just an update on the portal that says "Offer of admission." 
 
The user who got an error from U-Mich breaks my heart and awakens all my worst fears! I'm so scared of getting an email that says, "Oops, sorry, not you. Our bad." 

Got into University of Georgia! I think, anyway. No email, just an update on the portal that says "Offer of admission." 
 
The user who got an error from U-Mich breaks my heart and awakens all my worst fears! I'm so scared of getting an email that says, "Oops, sorry, not you. Our bad." 

Got into University of Georgia! I think, anyway. No email, just an update on the portal that says "Offer of admission." 
 
The user who got an error from U-Mich breaks my heart and awakens all my worst fears! I'm so scared of getting an email that says, "Oops, sorry, not you. Our bad." 

Got into University of Georgia! I think, anyway. No email, just an update on the portal that says "Offer of admission." 
 
The user who got an error from U-Mich breaks my heart and awakens all my worst fears! I'm so scared of getting an email that says, "Oops, sorry, not you. Our bad." 

Got into University of Georgia! I think, anyway. No email, just an update on the portal that says "Offer of admission." 
 
The user who got an error from U-Mich breaks my heart and awakens all my worst fears! I'm so scared of getting an email that says, "Oops, sorry, not you. Our bad." 

Got into University of Georgia! I think, anyway. No email, just an update on the portal that says "Offer of admission." 
 
The user who got an error from U-Mich breaks my heart and awakens all my worst fears! I'm so scared of getting an email that says, "Oops, sorry, not you. Our bad." 

Got into University of Georgia! I think, anyway. No email, just an update on the portal that says "Offer of admission." 
 
The user who got an error from U-Mich breaks my heart and awakens all my worst fears! I'm so scared of getting an email that says, "Oops, sorry, not you. Our bad." 

Got into University of Georgia! I think, anyway. No email, just an update on the portal that says "Offer of admission." 
 
The user who got an error from U-Mich breaks my heart and awakens all my worst fears! I'm so scared of getting an email that says, "Oops, sorry, not you. Our bad." 

Got into University of Georgia! I think, anyway. No email, just an update on the portal that says "Offer of admission." 
 
The user who got an error from U-Mich breaks my heart and awakens all my worst fears! I'm so scared of getting an email that says, "Oops, sorry, not you. Our bad." 

@themoderncondition You and I seem to be in similar life positions. My husband and I have been together for about 10 years and have two children--9 and 2. My husband is very supportive, but he's also super apprehensive. We're going to need to sell our house and move across state lines with very little money saved up beforehand. I wish I could have stayed nearby so we wouldn't have to pick everything up and leave. We're really hoping he's able to transfer his job, but it's going to be a little bit before we find out the status there. In the long run, I know we'll be okay, but I know the next two or three years will be a big struggle. I'd love to hear more about ways you're finding to supplement your income, because I'm going to need to do the same. I don't know yet about working through summer, but I'll definitely be looking into it. I'm hoping my program offers some opportunities for summer funding, but I don't know that they do. :/ 

Damn, @mads47, you put my answer to shame! 

Ok I am going to geek out here and attempt to do this question justice. I want to give a few caveats first: many time periods have different names depending on the region (ie. Victorian vs. 19th century American); larger eras of study include a multiplicity of subdivisions; these eras are largely based on canonical interpretation of literature, so many more recent scholars push against these dates of separation between eras and the idea that these eras are typically defined by British and American literature. Also, I am going to define these eras in the way that English scholars typically do, but I think Comp Lit people define the eras slightly differently, because many important literary trends and eras did not start in English. So please, please, please correct me if I am spreading any misinformation.
Midieval Lit: This follows historically what is considered Midieval, so largely the fall of the Roman Empire until the Renaissance. In English, this includes Anglo Saxon literature (from about 500-1066) and Middle English (1066-circa 1500)
Early Modern Lit: This is literature from the Renaissance, Reformation, and Neoclassical eras (circa 1500-circa 1800).
Romanticism: Depending on who you consider the first Romanticists to be, this overlaps with the later Early Modern and Early Victorian Eras. (late 1700s to mid 1800s), this era includes the beginning of Gothic Lit
Victorian Literature: This is literature written during Queen Victoria's rule (1837-1901). This era contains realism, a significant amount of social satire and writing for social reforem, scientific writing, early nature writing and later Romanticism, etc. 
Modernism: This is an era that is tightly defined by 1901-1945, but more loosely encapsulates certain styles from the 1890s to 1950s. Maybe I am biased, because this is my era of study, but it seems an era more defined by certain literary and artistic movements than the time, though it most certainly contains the interwar time.
Postmodernism: This is a term used in so many different ways, it is largely believed to be unhelpful. Some theorists defined it as 1945 to the fall of the Soviet Union. Other people call everything since 1945 postmodern. There is a significant trend to discuss more recent literature in thematic categories instead of by time (ie. Post-colonialism)
Contemporary Lit: This is literature written now-ish. 
I hope this helped a little bit. There are undoubtedly gaps in this timeline, and I hope others will help fill them in (: 

Man, if anyone can write artfully about getting an erection, it's Robert Herrick... 
Also, speaking of Wyatt, "Whoso list to hunt" is one of my all time favorite sonnets! 

I can't wait to read this.
I mentioned elsewhere that I had been trying to get a head start on a dissertation reading list, but with the stress of waiting to hear back from schools this goal has been put on hold. I'm currently reading/re-reading Shakespeare's works--most recently Coriolanus and, currently, The Twelfth Night. Considering either Winter's Tale or Richard II for my next read, although I might take a break and read Plath's The Bell Jar to change things up a bit.
After I graduated, I wanted to read everything but early modern works, and especially wanted to read works from folks who weren't dead white guys. I went through Toni Morrison's works and now consider her quite possibly my favorite author. My favorite of her works might be Song of Solomon--although few books have done what Beloved did to me so it may be a tie. I also read ZNH's Their Eyes Were Watching God; another one of those books that just stick with you. 
I also spent time expanding my experience with stuff in the canon that I had missed since I focused on early modern so early on. I particularly enjoyed Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. I read a lot of Flannery O'Conner's short stories as well. Reread Anna Karenina (that horse scene, y'all!). 
And now that I'm saying all of this, I'm really kicking myself for not retaking the subject test. Doh!
My dream list of non-early modern canon includes The Sound and The Fury, The Bell Jar, Jude the Obscure...there's more, I'm sure, but that's what I can think of now.
 

Just got accepted by Connecticut.

Hey, y'all! Have you seen this beast? @Warelin has picked up the effort from years past to update a funding package spreadsheet. If you've got updated info, please drop it in the file. If you're worried about at the tracking, you can add to it anonymously.