©har1ie
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Posts posted by ©har1ie
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Rejected from Penn State yesterday. I'm a teeny bit salty because the email I got explaining the decision basically said they don't consider MA students who don't want to be admitted at the MA level AT ALL, where the department website gives the impression that they occasionally do. I guess I could have verified that with the DGS before I applied. Oh well.
I haven't made the final decision yet but basically my plan is to accept ND early next week. Rutgers DGS got back to me and said there's no movement yet.
- gagne, leguinian22 and thea
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I'm thinking of turning in an early acceptance. Technically UVA and Rutgers might be considered better programs than ND if I were to get in at the last minute, but idk if the difference would be worth waiting another month, or passing up on a program that I feel very comfortable with for one that might have a different vibe. It's also nice to know I'm really wanted somewhere as opposed to the bottom of a waitlist...
- thea, leguinian22 and bluemojav
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The waitlist collection grows. UVA this time.
- leguinian22, bluemojav and tea_life
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12 hours ago, bluemojav said:
It’s nice to read both of those responses! I think the only guaranteed funding I’d get for an MA would be with my undergrad institution, and I’m trying to convince myself it’s not the worst thing in the world to happen to me if I end up pursuing that first.
There’s definitely time for a PhD program to come to their senses and offer you. But I don’t think it would be the worst thing to do an MA at this point. For the less-funded option, if you like the program better, make sure you talk to people from the program to see what non-guaranteed funding opportunities there are. My MA was only 50% guaranteed funding, but I was given the opportunity to apply to an assistantship for my first year that brought it up to 100%. Something like that might be possible in those programs.
Also, the MA is probably a better time investment, in terms of career advancement, than the PhD. Me and my buddy from my MA program both got jobs right out of the program that were better-paid than the ones we had before. And we both feel that we have options now that we didn’t before.
Just some thoughts. Like I said, you should stay confident, your application obviously has merit, so you can still count on getting more good news.
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My undergrad performance was pretty mediocre at a pretty mediocre institution and I took 6 years to complete my BA. I never bothered to write an explanatory note about it for either my MA apps or these PHD ones. Mostly because I don't really have a compelling narrative to share ("I took three years to decide what I wanted to do in college and never really studied" doesn't really leap off the page). Maybe that's affected my chances at some programs, and I'm okay with that. I'll let my writing/research speak for itself, for better or for worse.
I definitely second the advice to get a funded MA. I'm certainly way more prepared for a PHD than I would've been right out of the BA. It gave me more chances to prove myself as a researcher and writer. And it reinforced my decision to pursue an academic career by giving me practical experience in that world.
- guavaloslos, gagne, voiceofunreason and 3 others
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Waitlisted at Rutgers. Nice phone call from DGS today. Would be a tough decision between that and ND if I got into both.
- bluemojav and leguinian22
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I was one of the Notre Dame admits from yesterday. I'm ecstatic, not just because it's my first acceptance. I really enjoyed visiting the campus during their recruitment event, I love the fit for me. It's nice to have something concrete.
- koipond, sheherazade11, leguinian22 and 2 others
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On 2/6/2024 at 9:30 PM, sheherazade11 said:
Thank you! Is it okay if I message you with some questions?
As a recent MA grad I’m also open to answering UGA questions if needed 🙂 Congrats.
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I also got that 3:00am rejection notification from UMD. As mentioned I’m a little bitter about that one, was most confident about the fit there out of all my applications. It just goes to show how competitive things really are.
For me, I am pretty much planning to be one and done when it comes to the PHD applications. If I don’t get in this year, I’ll just move on. I’ll either commit to secondary education or try to do something else in higher Ed, like work in admissions.
With that being said, I’m trying to stay confident. My app was strong enough to get positive attention from two good programs, and I now know which professors I’ll be interviewing with at ND. I feel like I’m a strong interviewer and I have some time to prepare for each one. It feels good to have something to DO, some way to influence my results.
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The rejections keep flowing. Rejected by WashU thru the portal.
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First rejection of the season from Duke. In a vacuum not really devastated, the fit was admittedly not the greatest. Narrows the possibilities though.
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On 1/26/2024 at 3:51 AM, tea_life said:
Did anybody get an email with the specific timeline and schedules for notre dame interview& recruitment day?
I did. Looks like it will work out for me to attend in-person.
ND is really the only thing I have going for me at this point besides the Illinois waitlist. I am pretty disappointed to see the Maryland interviews and acceptances going out; out of all the schools I applied to, it was the program I was most confident about fit-wise. I'd met and talked with faculty a few times, there were good connections between them and my MA program, and it just seemed the most likely spot for me. Oh well. Still ~5 programs left. Up to me to nail the ND interview.
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At this point I can assume quiet rejections from Penn, Princeton, and Vanderbilt (ouch, liked the fit), based on posted results. Still in the race for ND, and waitlisted for Illinois. That leaves 7 schools to go. Feel like we should be hearing from Maryland soon?
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I’m on the waitlist too! Better than a rejection!
- seizing, leguinian22, bluemojav and 1 other
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Got some good news today: I’m a finalist at Notre Dame and invited to their recruitment event in Feb. Feels good to get some positive movement so early!
I’m not sure how I will handle things if I get invited to multiple in-person interviews/events though. Personal days don’t really grow on trees at a public HS…
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4 hours ago, gagne said:
Is anyone else nervous about UIUC (University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign) coming out likely next Wednesday? Last year was January 11th, 2nd Wednesday of January.
A little. The website says “Most of our Ph.D. students have received their M.A.'s at Illinois” so if i don’t get accepted i will just choose to believe that it’s because I have an MA from another institution and not because my application is weak 😇
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20 minutes ago, leguinian22 said:
I feel entirely unconfident about everything. I should have been working on my apps more over the summer: I ended up rushing revisions and submitting on the deadlines for most of them.
Haha, i did the same thing. It is what it is.
- gagne and leguinian22
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On 1/2/2024 at 8:06 PM, sheherazade11 said:
I taught HS for several years. I miss it so much.
I’ll miss the kids (and I’m still going to try to leave the door open to come back if the PhD thing doesn’t happen), but I don’t think I’ll miss everything about teaching at this level.
- gagne and sheherazade11
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3 hours ago, leguinian22 said:
I think the wait is going to destroy me more than the application prep/submissions did! What are y'all's coping methods for the suspense?
I teach in HS now so I am not going to have time to worry after this weekend ...
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On 12/24/2023 at 9:00 PM, gagne said:
For English Lit do you mean English Literature PhD programs? If so, yeah! I applied to 7, got everything done before winter break.
Nice! I'm also applying to Illinois and Northwestern. I'm guessing you are focusing on "media aesthetics" since you are applying to Chicago.
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Any other 2024 English lit. applicants out there? I was waiting for someone else to start a thread but I guess I'll do the honors. I've applied to 11/12 of my programs at this point, going to finish the last app. in the next couple of days.
I've been lurking this forum off and on for about 5 years and this is the most dead I think it's ever been.
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Hello all,
I am applying to PhD programs this winter and I could really use some more example statements of purpose to guide my revision. Can anyone who has been through this process recently share their successful (i.e. got into a program) SoP via DM? Specifically interested in people who entered their PhD program with an MA, which is the situation I'm in.
PhD English - 2024 Admissions
in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition
Posted
I accepted ND today. I feel confident in making this decision despite pending waitlists at some great schools. Ultimately, the day after I visited, I realized that I wanted to be admitted there more than I've wanted pretty much anything in a while (my decision to attend my MA program was comparatively quite cavalier), and was ecstatic to be accepted. Having had a chance to meet key people in the department was crucial, and proximity to family, low cost of living, and what seems to be a great professional development funding situation just made the deal sweeter. I've found my fit and I'm happy to be done with the process!
Thanks to all in the thread for being so supportive.