signandsignifiers

Also Victorianist here (current grad student)! I took both of these approaches and it worked out fairly well: I only got 2 straight-out rejections. I'd also look into Boston College, Boston University, University of Indiana: Bloomington, and UC Riverside, to name a few places that come directly to mind. While all of those top-tier programs that you posted are fabulous, you'll want some middle-ground applications as well.

I had a similar problem when applying. I intentionally made my writing sample 20-pages because it seemed like the happy-medium between all of the length requirements. Then, last minute, I decided to apply to another program that had a WS length of 12-15 pages. I had a week before the deadline; I wasn't about to cut down or rewrite (well, actually, I was going to use another sample that I didn't like as well). I emailed the department and asked if I could submit my 20-page doc. They said it was perfectly fine, and I got accepted to the program. So: don't be afraid to ask! They might take a longer/shorter sample than they explicitly ask for on the webpage.

Send them an email! Ask them frankly if they're taking on graduate students. You don't have to say that you're worried about age, but you do want to know that they'll direct your dissertation or at least be on your committee (there are other reasons why they might not take on new students, so it's good to ask even if the faculty member is younger). If you have their word from the onset, it's less likely that something will happen.

Nope. After reading about the bad experiences of MAPH students, I wouldn't want to contribute to that system. They have some amazing faculty, but I'd definitely not apply to Chicago again, and I'd warn other people against it as well.

Current UConn student here! UConn doesn't do an official visit, so that's why you haven't heard anything. We will host if you want to come and visit, though (not sure about waitlisters. I'd ask.). And not to be a downer, but they're probably not going to dip into the waitlist this year because they're trying really hard to make this year's cohort smaller.

I wish I'd asked to talk specifically with one of the faculty members I wanted to work with. I talked with one of them, and was told multiple times that the other wanted to work with me, but then when I got here, he spontaneously retired. In other words, make absolutely certain that each faculty member you need to work with will work with you--and check if anyone's planning to retire any time soon.

I'd assume that they're just slightly different configurations of geographic area. LA-Long Beach-Anaheim is about the same size as LA county, but LA county includes places like Palmdale and Lancaster which are economically very different to live in than, say, Long Beach.

My cohort has 13 total (they also overadmitted this year--they were aiming for 10), my best friend's has 6, and another friend of mine had 4 in his cohort (all of these are different English Lit programs). It varies. I almost wish I had a smaller cohort, but, as @klader said, they both have pros and cons!

No, I don't. I saw at least one other person on the results page, though. (Sorry if this is bad news) I do know that their program (lit, I know nothing about the Rhet/Comp department) is quite small, so it's entirely possible they sent all of their acceptances out. They said that they're expecting to only fund 4 people in the PhD and 4 people in the MA program.

I know Comp/Rhet heard last week, and I (Lit) got accepted on Monday. So, at this point, I think both have gone out.

Yep, I’m one as well. At this point, I think I’ve only seen the two of us as admitted UCR lurkers, but both of us got our acceptances last week (and, I believe, we’re both pre-1900s). Honestly the whole system just confuses me as well. I dont understand why they don’t just send everything out at once to rip the bandaid off.

I just saw some rejections go up for Syracuse; anyone know if that was for Lit or Ret/Comp? I know that the two programs are quite distinct there, so I'm just wondering if I should think anything of those rejections since I didn't receive anything. I also know that they're notoriously late to drop responses so I'm slightly surprised we're already seeing anything.

As someone who's already been accepted, that's still the case on my app, so it doesn't mean anything. My portal still hasn't changed since acceptance. I remember freaking out when I noticed that about 3 weeks ago, and then didn't hear anything until last week.

I'm accepted to lit, so that doesn't help you much. I can confirm the statement whomever it was made about the DGS claiming that they're taking a smaller class this year, though--I was told the same thing.

Anyone have suggestions for questions that we should be asking our PoIs? I'm arranging a phone conversation with a potential advisor for later this week, and I have some questions in mind, but I feel as though I'm lacking in content I should ask (particularly since I asked the DGS a bunch of the more general program questions).