Bopie5

Random Q--in the past 6 months or so, I've gotten 10 poems published, which is super exciting! But now I'm not really sure how to organize them on my CV, because some of them were published in monthly issues of journals (e.g. May 2019) and some were published in "season" issues (Spring 2019), which makes organizing by date a little complex. Should I organize them on my CV by: 1) Publishing date (Most recently published to oldest published) (If so, how do I order month issues vs season issues?) 2) Acceptance date (Most recently accepted to oldest accepted) 3) Alphabetical by poem title Anyone have thoughts, advice, or experience here?

THANKS! I'm also stoked--but also kinda in this space of not believing it so I keep rereading the email and panicking that it's somehow all going to be a mistake haha.

Thank you thank you! Let's hope those funding deities smile upon me and my future (weirdly, the GradCafe emoji function doesn't let me insert the praying hands or the crossed fingers emoji, but mentally insert both of those here haha)

Thank you both so much!!! Means the world to me!

THANK YOU! Pursuing multiple funding avenues both within and outside of the English department there, so fingers crossed.

THANK YOU!!!! ah your encouragement and support has truly meant so much over the last few months! and now I just feel ecstatic I had to leave my desk at work so I could go cry of happiness in the bathroom haha

GOT INTO THE VILLANOVA MA! Funding pending, but I am OVER THE MOON!

@urbanfarmer Thank you thank you! This makes a ton of sense, and helps me conceptualize everything in much clearer ways. There's definitely a learning curve here--my undergrad is a small, liberal arts, teaching-focused institution, so the conference/publishing elements of our discipline aren't really taught or emphasized very much. Thank you for your help ☺️

Thank you thank you! This is so helpful. Definitely wanna avoid any taboos, and good to know that I can submit same/similar abstracts. For context, I'm presenting a paper at a conference (an abridged/revised/narrowed version of a 15 page literary analysis I wrote), and was wondering if that paper is now functionally "dead." Similarly, I'm having a paper published, and was wondering if I could ever present a version of it, or if it was also donezo!

Okay, I have a potentially stupid question, but my family doesn't come from academia, and my school doesn't do much to help undergrads get to conferences, so, with the potential of looking like a fool, here I go! Is it gucci or taboo to submit an abstract to multiple conferences? Is simultaneous submission a concept in conferences/presentations, or should I not submit an abstract to a second conference if it's in review for a first? Obviously I would tailor the abstract to fit the emphases of the particular conference regardless. Similarly, if you've given a paper as a presentation at a conference, can you still submit it for publication in an academic journal? Or vice versa?

Yes! Thank you for this encouragement. It's like the Sanskrit saying "sarvam annam"--"everything is food." All experiences offer nourishment, all experiences give us something, all experiences contribute to the cycles of our lives in one way or another. Even negative experiences have things to teach us (have DEFINITELY been learning that in the shutout), and like your post really demonstrates, all experiences (even non-academic ones) can teach us things about ourselves as scholars and as people. It's all about your perspective.

Like @punctilious, I wanna push back on the idea that a gap year isn't that helpful, or that a year off will hurt the way your CV is perceived. Especially if you're early in your academic journey, I think it's normal to take a gap year even before starting to apply. And if you're pursuing presentations and publications, or if you're reading and writing and refining your research, that will be reflected either in your CV or your SoP/WS. I doubt an adcomm would look at a CV where someone was publishing while working at an Office Max, or waitressing, or bartending, or whatever, and have a negative reaction to the fact that the person had to take a non-academic job to sustain their existence. Choosing MAPH is probably the right choice for some people! I don't think MAPH is unilaterally bad or abusive. But choosing to take a gap year to refine interests, read, research, write, publish, and present is also not bad, and could be just as beneficial as MAPH. People have different and messy journeys. Personally, if I were to go to MAPH with my financial situation, that debt would probably cripple me for the foreseeable future. If I don't get into Villanova, I'm going to spend the next year revising old papers, pursuing a few new ideas, submitting to journals and conferences, etc, instead of going to MAPH. Maybe adcomms on my next go-around will look down on me being a part time yoga teacher/waitress while also publishing, researching, and presenting at conferences. But somehow, I doubt it!

Helpful information: 1) UCSB, Michigan, and Northwestern all have a policy not to offer feedback (citing volume of apps received) 2) UCSB's adcomm chair told me that this year they had around 200 applicants for 6-8 positions. 3) Michigan's director of graduate studies said that admission is very competitive, and "historically only 8-10% of applicants are offered admission" 4) Aaron Barstow from UC Davis said they had 156 applicants this year; didn't say how many offers were made. Hope this is helpful in getting a sense of the lay of the land!

FYI for everyone--I emailed most of my schools asking for feedback. Davis has given feedback, the program coordinator at UCSB said she'd contact the Adcomms for me, and the coordinator at Michigan said that they aren't able to give feedback due to high volume of apps. Waiting to hear from Northwestern, decided not to reach out to Stanford, Chicago, or Columbia.

I emailed both Aaron Barstow and Andi Carr in one email and heard back from Aaron Barstow! They're both listed as Graduate Program Coordinators, so I'm not sure whether Aaron is the right person, or if he was just the person who got to my email.

Okay, I heard back from the grad program coordinator at Davis! He was very friendly and helpful, and even gave me a few direct quotes from the Adcomm. Ultimately, there wasn’t much to work on—he said that my app was highly rated by all 3 profs, the comments were almost entirely positive, and that they thought my WS was “very competently written” and “strong,” but not as interesting as some other applicants, and that they think I would probably benefit from getting my MA. The transparency and clarity of his email makes me feel better about the denial letter, and encourages me that the Adcomm had positive feelings about my app as a whole! Might look to get this kind of feedback from other schools.

The denial letter said to email the admissions advisor of the English department, but I couldn't find anyone with that exact title, so I emailed the two graduate program coordinators (Aaron Barstow and Andi Carr), and explained in the email that I might be directing my question to the wrong place, but couldn't find the English admissions advisor on the website.

That's true! I just shot an email asking for more specific feedback (something I've been too nervous to do previously, but at this point I have nothing to lose!). Thanks for the encouragement ❤️ For sure. It's all so random and up for grabs anyway. And while I may not have acceptances from this cycle, I do have publications and presentations to reassure me that I am potentially viable in the field and that I'm not just somehow a shit writer haha.

Yeah, I get you for sure. And I already had a hunch my SoP was what took me down! I guess since I was shut out it just stung. Trying not to let it become fuel for the self-doubt, self-deprecation, and anxiety machine haha!

Finally got my official rejection from Davis. The vague "reasons you are not competitive with other applicants are:" sentence was a big ouch. I've assumed I was rejected for over a month now, do you need to rub salt in the wound?

In further craziness, I just had a paper on Frankenstein accepted for presentation at a conference on the Gothic! I’m shook! I didn’t think I would get accepted and I only applied for practice writing abstracts. It feels really good to be already be building my app for next cycle if I don’t get into Villanova.

Thank you for the intel! Hopefully this means I can finally get closure in the next few days. Or maybe I should just email right now and get it over with haha.

I know there is absolutely no way that Villanova will notify me at 10pm EST on a Wednesday, but alas...my heart still leaps every time I get an email.

If you hear from Davis, could you let me know??

Same—the way she talks about the wake honestly makes me rethink what kind of research I can and want to do??? I haven’t—I’ll have to add to my list!