Indecisive Poet

Out of curiosity – have you read John Williams' Stoner? It's one of my favorite books of all time, about a medievalist with an emphasis on classical reception (sounds dry but is totally not!)

This is so kind and thoughtful of you – no apologies needed! But I do want to make clear that this has been a team effort between my partner and I that we have thought about carefully. He applied to multiple programs in every location we applied to, too. The only difference between us is that he has been unlucky and I have been a little luckier (and it really is just luck – he is a fantastic applicant and a brilliant person whose work astounds me, so these results have been a shock to both of us). He has now been rejected or implicitly rejected from 6 programs that overlapped with locations I applied to. I'm sure you can imagine that he and I have talked about our situation every day since he started receiving bad news, and him coming to Chicago with me and re-applying next year is a very real possibility that he's happy to do if it ends up being the best option for us. But, by the same token, it's only fair that I also consider the possibility of staying in England with him and re-applying next year, if that's what ends up making the most sense for us. Neither of us have offers from Oxbridge yet, nor can we necessarily expect them, so it's all up in the air. One or the other of us giving up offers and re-applying is an absolute last resort – I guess I'm just manically trying to plan for all outcomes because I've never been a level-headed "let's just wait and see what actually ends up happening" type of person.

In other news, I just learned that I majorly messed up my funding chances at Oxford and Cambridge: I didn't tick a box to be considered for a scholarship that I am actually eligible for at Oxford, and I applied to colleges at both universities that don't offer full-funding. This was just plain stupid of me. I am sending desperate emails to try to fix this and I am still eligible for one other funding source at Cambridge, but damn. Oxbridge is looking like the only option for my partner and I (he has been shut out from his American programs) and it would be so incredibly heart-wrenching to have to turn down offers and re-apply next year because of my stupid mistakes (especially because things are looking really positive for me at Cambridge right now, pending funding). Ugh!!!!!!!!

I'm so happy for you, genuinely. As someone also going through an is-it-possible-for-us-to-do-this-and-also-live-together crisis, I know how tough this situation is. Yay!!!!

Just received an unexpected offer letter from UConn – wanted to share that decisions are still going out from them in case anyone else assumed a rejection.

Yep! I think it was lower this year because they had about 60 more applications than usual.

A POI I skyped with after I was admitted said they had "about 10 places" to offer

UChicago had 560 this year ?

It seems odd that there are only 2 acceptances on the board for both Brown and NYU this year given that there are typically 4–6 on TGC for those programs. My best guesses are that either those programs are both admitting smaller cohorts this year (given lack of placement across the board in recent years) or that others who use TGC received offers but have not gotten around to posting them yet. Either way, I'm taking a loss on NYU.

Those attending the UChicago visit in March: are you booking separate accommodation or does anyone know if accommodation will be provided for by the university on the nights of the 5th/6th? I didn't see any information about this on the registration page for the visit. I need to stay a few extra days in Chicago due to UK visa changeover stuff on the 10th and I'm planning to book an Airbnb for my extra 3 nights (I'll of course be paying for that myself). I don't want to book the Airbnb for the night before/of the visit, though, if accommodation is already provided for.

I so appreciate this – thank you!

Oh, man – estimated quarterly taxes are such a pain. For some reason I thought the tax would be taken out of our stipends as they came in.

That would be so helpful, if you don't mind. I'd love to hear how the interview goes and what kinds of things you're asked about. I'll be over the moon if I'm offered an interview, but also quite nervous because I imagine they expect a greater level of specificity in thinking that I got away with not having for my American interviews. Feel free to send me a PM if you don't feel comfortable sharing details publicly. And – good luck!!!

Princeton, NYU, and Colorado this week, probably. Eek! Plus, someone just posted a Cambridge interview on the results page, although I'm not panicking because I know they tend to send their applicants news at many different times throughout February and March.

Out of reactions for the day but this is so wonderful to hear. A hearty congratulations to you!

I've decided to do my taxes today and I am looking forward to it because it will distract me from thinking about all of this. Happy weekend, everyone!

Congratulations to the Yale admits! (@meghan_sparkle, are you sure you are human?) This was the one I wanted most – alas.

Last year, NYU acceptances were sent out between 11–13 Feb, so it may be another week if they're operating on a similar schedule.

Agreed. Before my partner received his official Chicago rejection, we wondered if they perhaps kept a waitlist, a conversation which boiled down to me saying "surely not, because who turns down Chicago....besides probably me....." – but in recent days, I've been realizing that I don't think turning down one top-10 program for another necessarily makes any difference whatsoever to career prospects/success/happiness. I come across more academics in my field with degrees from Yale and Cambridge, for example, than I do from Berkeley or Chicago. If I'm lucky enough to be admitted to another of my dream programs and that acceptance allows me to stay with my partner, I'll turn down Chicago happily. I imagine there are a small minority of people who turn down Berkeley, Chicago, Columbia, etc. each year because they need to stay near their family, because they vibe better with a different faculty, or because there are resources at a given program that would be hugely helpful to them that another program doesn't have. Really lame of Berkeley to say this.

My partner also got a flat-out rejection with no MAPH referral, even after making it to the interview stage. He already has an MA as well, so I'd put it down to that. If that's the case, I think it's commendable that Chicago is adopting a policy of not referring applicants who already have MAs to their MA program – I find that behavior (Colorado does it too, I know) pretty offensive.

I didn't apply to Berkeley but I've been wondering about this too. I don't know what proper etiquette is re responding to offer emails that are coming from a DGS and are seemingly generic, as opposed to very personalized email notes from POIs.

Congratulations! Berkeley, Chicago, and an interview at Columbia – you are having a killer season!

@meghan_sparkle, @caffeinated applicant – to be fair, the initial rejection email was kind and seemed to be sent out personally to each applicant – the admin assistant there is a very nice man! This one was an automated portal email. But I'm not sure why we needed both ?‍♂️ @Rrandle101 I totally get this and I'm sorry you're feeling this way. But you are not an idiot! I'm (sincerely) hoping for good news to be sent your way very soon.

Lol Northwestern just sent me a second rejection email

@poetryislit @TiredStressed @snorkles @merry night wanderer Thank you all so much for your empathy/kind words/perspectives. What I will say for now is that we did leave other options open – I applied to five more programs that I believe I could be equally happy/successful at (and some others that I think it would be really tough to give up Chicago for). My partner has applied to programs that match those locations and we haven't heard back from any of them yet. So there is still hope! I think that more than anything, the news yesterday made me realize that all of those options could end up falling through; that I could end up faced with a choice between leaving my partner or giving up Chicago to go to, say, Boston College or Fordham (not that there is anything wrong with those programs – but I just don't see how it would make sense from a career perspective). There really isn't reason yet to think that this will happen, though – I guess I'm just wondering what the odds are of being accepted to more than one truly amazing program. @TiredStressed – he didn't apply to any other programs in the Chicago area except for Notre Dame. He interviewed there and it seemed to go well, so that may be an option, but it's far from his first choice. I applied to a whopping four programs in the Chicago area alone because I thought if either of us would get into Chicago, it would be him (he is objectively the stronger applicant). Anyway, here we are... we'll see what happens, and I hope to be able to report good news at the end of the application cycle.