hotpotato

Yep! I don't think so. I'll echo what was said earlier--it doesn't sound like you fall under comp lit, although if you were a Spanish minor you'd have part of the language requirement down. Past that though, I think finding the right program involves reading a lot of professors' pages to find faculty whose subjects or methods you're interested in. If the program has a good reputation for Southern lit, it could still be a poor fit if there's really nobody you could see yourself working with/whose approaches resonate with you. Even though it's early, I think starting to look at faculty in strong 20th century Am lit programs (or Southern lit, or any area, just pick one) would be a good thing to do when you have a bit of spare time. It'll help you narrow down your interests and find new areas or views you identify with. A week of seriously sitting down and reading faculty CVs and skimming articles took me from "I guess I want to study comp? and teach?" to a way more focused, legitimate, two-sentence summary of my research interests, which in turn helped me pick schools that seemed like a good fit, not just schools with a good program in my field. Sadly, it took me a while to figure this out, but there is such a marked difference between the schools I applied to and the statements of purpose I submitted at first and the schools and statements after I got my shit together.

@LexHex Same, just got the email! I held on to a sliver of hope personally, but I am unsurprised. That's the last response for me!

I just missed a call from a California number. I'm 97% sure it's just spam, but there's a UC Riverside rejection by phone on the board (which seems super mean and unnecessary, tbh)--what if it was them??? No voicemail though as far as I can tell, so probably spam. Seriously, it's been three entire months since that app was due.

@ThePandaBard Congrats on waitlist, good luck!!! Riverside is the last place I haven't heard from (and Northeastern, but I don't see myself going to Boston even if I happened to get in). I think I might have to call UCR for the "projected rejection" camp. :/

Why did I even apply? Why did I apply to most of the places I applied to? I ask myself that in the shower on a daily basis now. Quality info though!

I panic-applied to Loyola Marymount University in CA because I also had a bunch of rejections and they waived the app fee for "priority" deadline applications, so I literally know nothing about the program, but they do rolling admissions. They have a dedicated rhet/comp MA track, which was nice. Edit: Well, never mind that! CONGRATS@automatic, that's amazing!!!!

University of Southern California has a (newish?) track for their PhD that's a dual program in creative writing and literature. I looked into it only briefly when I was picking schools, but it sounded interesting. https://dornsife.usc.edu/cwphd/

I just want to go outside, shake my fist at the sky, and yell "RIVERSIIIIIDE!" @toxicmoss @chellyfish_ No email from Davis yet either. I'd really like them to get it over with so I can move on to worrying about something else!

Thanks for this reassuring point!

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and personal experiences! I really appreciate them and they were great to read. I'm not exactly asking because I'm considering it -- I'm still waiting to hear back from a few places, and I'm visiting the school I was admitted to soon (I'm very excited, and hope to love it!). I just feel weird about it because, much like @TK2 said, mine was a "slightly half-assed" application cycle. I can see a huge difference in quality even between my first application and my last one; in the month or two between, I learned a lot about my own research interests and how to present my qualifications and readiness. So sometimes I think how much better my application could potentially be -- and how much more prepared I might be -- if I rewrote my crappy SOP and writing sample, or got an MA and more research training, or had a different work experience, or otherwise could grow as a person and submit better apps. This isn't out of ambition, wanting more money, thinking that I'm better than the school I got into, lusting after X or Y top-tier school, or anything like that! It's mostly, as a couple people have touched on in this thread, a fear that I don't know who I am as a scholar, won't be prepared for a PhD (I was not super impressive in undergrad), and may be inadvertently walking myself into a 5-year commitment to a place that isn't actually the best fit because I applied to the wrong places. I also worry because going to this school would mean moving far away from my entire community/support network, but I guess that part of it is manageable and is mostly an issue of nerves. @WildeThing @renea I agree both that you should apply to places you'd actually want to go and that sometimes things can change or crop up between November and April! @chellyfish_ Yeah, I think FOMO is a big part of it, mixed with some lack of confidence. +1 to "things you never knew you wanted might surprise you in a good way", too. @TK2 @renea @Narrative Nancy @unanachronism Thanks so much for sharing your experiences and justifications, and giving some insight into what concerns were significant enough that you decided against accepting your earlier offers! I wanted to hear what the thought process was from people who had been in this (thus far hypothetical, for me) situation and what ended up happening in the next application cycle.

@renea Oh no, that's too bad! By my suggestion I meant more of a "is there any time in the visit schedule to squeeze in a look around at the area/town?". If you have a few unoccupied hours or a relatively light night I bet a student would be happy to show you around a little. With under a week to go I'm not surprised they couldn't change the flights - changing/cancelling anything with an airline is hell, although I'm sure schools fly people in and out so often that they do have some discount/frequent flyer or relationship with a couple airlines.

Sorry, this might sound wacko considering how stressful and hard it is to get accepted, and how amazing it is to get that "you're in!" letter, but I've been curious to see if there's anyone who got accepted to one or a couple PhD programs, but chose to turn it down and instead improve their app/get an MA and reapply. For whatever reason: trying to get into a "better school" or finding a better fit, hoping for more funding, really not wanting to relocate to that school, visiting the school after being admitted and not feeling a click, or something else. It's just that, in the horrible, insanity-inducing limbo of waiting to hear back from schools that already have acceptances on the board (:P), I've been thinking back on my apps and I know they could have been a lot better. I also could have picked better/better-fitting schools to apply to. What if you could take a year to work, get more experience, improve your app, and get into [your top 3 choices] instead of [not your top 3 choices]? What if you tried that but didn't get in anywhere, even to the school(s) that accepted you the first time? Does it matter so much where you go as long as you're okay with the school environment and where you're living and the program/faculty provides decent support for your research interests and career goals? (As they say, "One acceptance in the hand is worth two in the bush"!)

Oh, sorry, I wasn't sure what you meant! I see now. Thank you, this is a very helpful tip. I hadn't even thought of anything like it. I'll definitely check with them.

@Warelin I initially applied to the PhD, but they require an MA for entry into their PhD. I completely missed this somehow even though I had a spreadsheet and all these notes on the schools I was applying to. I didn't realize until they emailed me to ask for my MA transcript!

UCR is killing me! I wasn't stressed before I got my lone acceptance. NOW I AM STRESSED. If I get rejected from Riverside, am I moving to the Midwest?? The Midwest actually sounds lovely to me in a way, but everyone and everything I know and love are in California.