FreakyFoucault

Hmm LIKE YOUR FELLOW ADCOMM COLLEAGUES, @Warelin?!?!? 
#thetruthisoutthere

Hmm LIKE YOUR FELLOW ADCOMM COLLEAGUES, @Warelin?!?!? 
#thetruthisoutthere

I speak for everyone here when I say that I, FreakyFoucault, of the Grad Café, by the utter lack of authority not vested in me, hereby declare, in the most solemn of asseverations, that you, @Warelin, also of the Grad Café, are forthwith granted tenure at the institution of your choosing!! 
Have a nice career! 

I speak for everyone here when I say that I, FreakyFoucault, of the Grad Café, by the utter lack of authority not vested in me, hereby declare, in the most solemn of asseverations, that you, @Warelin, also of the Grad Café, are forthwith granted tenure at the institution of your choosing!! 
Have a nice career! 

I speak for everyone here when I say that I, FreakyFoucault, of the Grad Café, by the utter lack of authority not vested in me, hereby declare, in the most solemn of asseverations, that you, @Warelin, also of the Grad Café, are forthwith granted tenure at the institution of your choosing!! 
Have a nice career! 

Hmm LIKE YOUR FELLOW ADCOMM COLLEAGUES, @Warelin?!?!? 
#thetruthisoutthere

Hmm LIKE YOUR FELLOW ADCOMM COLLEAGUES, @Warelin?!?!? 
#thetruthisoutthere

I think this will depend on where you're applying, but dominating the GRE and Flaubertifying the SoP and WS are probably the two strategies most in your control to perfect. We all know that the GRE is an expedient way of whittling down the application pile (for top programs at least), so I'd stress that if you're like me (not gifted at standardized tests), then you should try to study for them as much and as intelligently as possible. I used spreadsheets to track my study progress and isolate areas in which I was weak. The SoP and WS, moreover, should be as flawless as you can make them. Show them to everyone: your letter writers, other professors, parents/friends, lunatics on the bus -- basically anyone whose opinion you value.  
As far as prestige goes, my undergrad institution is ranked somewhere in the top 50, and its English PhD program, I think, is below 100. I believe one of my letter writers has some kind of working relationship with a professor at one of the schools to which I applied, but I doubt that she reached out to him. I therefore attribute my three acceptances at this point to nothing more than good GRE scores, solid SoP and WS (I went through many, many dozens of drafts), and a lot of luck; or, in other words: blood, sweat, and tears. That's about it. In fact, if I hadn't worked for 1.5 years after graduating (which gave me time to hone my materials), I don't think I would've had as much, if any, luck. Of course, it's possible to be shut out even with perfect GREs and a stupendous SoP/WS, so YMMV. 
I guess what I'm saying, then, is if you think you need a little more time to prepare for grad school, it's not a bad idea to work for a year or two after graduating. And, although I'm not enamored with the business world, I have learned a lot from working in corporate America, especially about how to deal with people, set schedules, accomplish goals, etc. Most important, I matured a little more and began to understand in a deeper sense why I wanted to go to grad school. So, no shame in taking some time off! 

Days off are indispensable. I get so much salvation through just one day of not thinking of school. Usually Fridays are those days (even though I work in the afternoon), and even Thursday evening after class. I Netflix and chill so hard!! No guilt. 

Crow T., sounds like you need a break! Is there any feasible way between now and conference day that you can squeeze in a Netflix binge session? Or maybe take RisingStar's advice and have a tech-free Sabbath? Or go to a gun range and shoot something? 
Deep breaths, you'll be fine, and your conference is going to be a breeze! 
Additional anecdote: my undergrad school is pretty well known for insane workloads, and I unfortunately had to pull double all-nighters with some regularity. The only way I stayed sane was by taking the occasional do-nothing / Netflix-binge day. It literally is for your health. Of course, there's that nagging thought that do-nothing days are counter-productive, but, to me, they were indispensable. 

I think this will depend on where you're applying, but dominating the GRE and Flaubertifying the SoP and WS are probably the two strategies most in your control to perfect. We all know that the GRE is an expedient way of whittling down the application pile (for top programs at least), so I'd stress that if you're like me (not gifted at standardized tests), then you should try to study for them as much and as intelligently as possible. I used spreadsheets to track my study progress and isolate areas in which I was weak. The SoP and WS, moreover, should be as flawless as you can make them. Show them to everyone: your letter writers, other professors, parents/friends, lunatics on the bus -- basically anyone whose opinion you value.  
As far as prestige goes, my undergrad institution is ranked somewhere in the top 50, and its English PhD program, I think, is below 100. I believe one of my letter writers has some kind of working relationship with a professor at one of the schools to which I applied, but I doubt that she reached out to him. I therefore attribute my three acceptances at this point to nothing more than good GRE scores, solid SoP and WS (I went through many, many dozens of drafts), and a lot of luck; or, in other words: blood, sweat, and tears. That's about it. In fact, if I hadn't worked for 1.5 years after graduating (which gave me time to hone my materials), I don't think I would've had as much, if any, luck. Of course, it's possible to be shut out even with perfect GREs and a stupendous SoP/WS, so YMMV. 
I guess what I'm saying, then, is if you think you need a little more time to prepare for grad school, it's not a bad idea to work for a year or two after graduating. And, although I'm not enamored with the business world, I have learned a lot from working in corporate America, especially about how to deal with people, set schedules, accomplish goals, etc. Most important, I matured a little more and began to understand in a deeper sense why I wanted to go to grad school. So, no shame in taking some time off! 

Seriously, Purdue... "Quit playin' games with my heart" 
[Not officially rejected because of their rolling acceptance process, but I've sort of written it off at this point]

So maybe that's the reason he recently received both an honorary Russian citizenship and honorary doctorate in theoretical and practical shysterism. 

Just for good measure: félicitations!!!!

Just for good measure: félicitations!!!!

I was so confused that I posted in the wrong thread! I switched to French this year, but I was in the Comp Lit batch last year, so I wanted to share here... I got into Rutgers!! For the French Ph.D!! Fellowship and assistantship... !!!!!!!!

Too bad: I hear TU has a decent Russian Studies program... 
X-)

Too bad: I hear TU has a decent Russian Studies program... 
X-)

Too bad: I hear TU has a decent Russian Studies program... 
X-)

Too bad: I hear TU has a decent Russian Studies program... 
X-)

Mellow, you need to ... dare I say ... mellow!! You got accepted to Chicago, no? You must have a killer strong application!!!! I have faith in you ! 
FWIW, to receive an 800 on the 2002 LGRE, you'd have to get 228-230 questions correct. That just seems impossible. Again, things can change from test to test, but I'm having a hard time buying it. 

[Harold Bloom remarks with a satisfied chuckle that even* those with degrees from Harvard probably won't know what he's talking about]
*especially 

[Harold Bloom curses] 

Mellow, you need to ... dare I say ... mellow!! You got accepted to Chicago, no? You must have a killer strong application!!!! I have faith in you ! 
FWIW, to receive an 800 on the 2002 LGRE, you'd have to get 228-230 questions correct. That just seems impossible. Again, things can change from test to test, but I'm having a hard time buying it. 

@FreakyFoucault Thank you so much for your congratulations! I have definitely also known some academic power couples and I always try to keep that in mind when I think about my partner and I trying to do this crazy thing together. It's just that some people in my life are eternally pessimistic and have expressed the impossibility of it and it's sometimes very hard to ignore those comments. But now my partner and I are on our way to proving them wrong!