havemybloodchild

Hard cheese

Midnight train

Yay! See you there

YESSSSSS!!!!

Hello! I would definitely apply this year if I were you. I don’t think schools expect BA applicants to have much under their belts experience-wise. Your GPA seems fine. I wonder if you have a professor who would be willing to work with you on refining your WS and/or SoP? Or several? That experience alone might strengthen their abilities regarding writing rec letters. It doesn’t seem like BA applicants are expected to have publications or presentation experience so I personally would just apply straight to MAs and PhDs, unless you’re not sure what you’d like to focus on, in which case is just apply to MAs. As far as addressing the past...I went to four different schools over fifteen years before I finally got my BA. I didn’t address it. Granted I didn’t get into any top tens. I do wish now that I would have mentioned how that experience impacted my research, but IMO it’s hard to talk about the past without sort of infantilizing yourself, when you really want to present the most polished and developed version of yourself as a scholar. I think one thing to note is that having a non traditional trajectory towards graduate school can be a good thing- it means you’re potentially contributing to the diversity of a department. I think the most crucial indicator of how your past has served you is really the quality of your SoP and WS. So I’d focus on them, rather than on trying to explain what is a trying time for honestly most students. Good luck!

Can graduated folks apply for the waiver?

I list mine by publication date ??‍♀️

Look at the interests of grads last year- if one or two folks with your interests just graduated that may indicate room for you.

I wouldn't retake it. I think you've proven how capable you are in far more accurate ways than that silly test.

My family is pretty anti-intellectual so it's been fun seeing their "that's not a real doctor/you're a cog in the liberal indoctrination machine" instincts clash with their very real pride and excitement for me ?

@Ranmaag “I just unleashed the saddest laugh.” Aka this whole goddamn process

How long before there is just some kind of grad school Tinder where you super like all your fave schools and they laugh with their friends at you as they swipe a hard left?

HAHAHA My dad remembered the word "Chicanx" today (I was so proud), but when the person he was talking to didn't know what that meant and asked, my dad did a big sigh and was like "please don't ask me that. It's just book stuff."

@tacocat211 that's awesome news! It's going to go great! On another note, anyone else struck by how funny it is that this one thing has been so all-consuming for you for so long, but no one else in your life (or maybe mostly no one else) really gets exactly what the hell you're on about? Listening to my parents try to tell people what I'll be studying is always a hilarious reality check.

Maybe this isn't relevant, but one of the things that swayed me to SMU was how dedicated the department is to growing its prestige. The resources they offer students are unmatched anywhere else, IMO. They want their students producing the best possible work, for the university as well as for themselves. I personally believe that this mission of theirs means they are and will be much more invested in my finding a job than other schools may be. Furthermore, while right now their placements are mainly in TX, they have previously mostly recruited students from TX, so it's likely many folks are not entering the job market upon graduation. According to their new recruitment head, the school is actively looking to diversify its incoming cohorts. I believe this means I have a good chance of getting support from the school when I do enter the job market with an eye to getting placed outside the region. In short, the school may not be quite where I want it right now, but they are actively committed (or at least seem to be) to moving in that direction, and I believe my success will be viewed as a part of that movement- good for the school. All I'm trying to say here is that there are so many more things to consider than just current ranking. However, as @rhetoricus aesalon 's comment reaffirms for me, the market is in general shite. We know there are many good candidates not getting jobs offers. This is just the reality. So I don't blame anyone for going with the top ranked program they get into. We all have to do whatever we can to try to make ourselves as competitive as possible.

I think if you're throwing the "L" word around you might be pretty close to a decision At the end of the day this is the next x number of years of your life, and I think you should trust your gut. It's obviously done well by you so far.

I just chose a program ranked at 108, so I’d also like to see responses from folks who did this. One thing I will say regarding private v public- personally I’m very happy to be going to a private school. My time working in student gov in Oregon in undergrad showed me just how effed up state funding can be. I think private funding is a bit safer and perhaps more likely to have COL increases. This is just my hunch though. Congrats on your acceptances!

So glad to see this thread! I have so many books and I’m not willing to part with...any of them. I was planning on renting a trailer and towing it but I’ll look into media mail- may save me some $$$ since without the books I probably wouldn’t even need a trailer.

Took myself off waitlist at BU and will decline Loyola later today.

I just think of the dread and hope I felt being on waitlists. Makes it easier to send out those emails.

Dallas bound y’all!

Just FYI for future students, there’s no room for negotiating funding at Loyola besides a possible additional first year fellowship.

Just sent an email to Loyola asking about negotiating funding, and let me tell you after years, honestly, of begging the gods to get into a program it felt INCREDIBLY awkward to essentially say thanks so much but you can you give me some more, please? I hope he responds quickly so I don't have too much time to re-read the email and sweat about it.

I’ll say my convos with grad students have really helped. I’ve also reached out to a recent grad to ask about their experience in school and on the job market. My main stressor besides my waitlist sitch at BU is that my folks, who bless them but they don’t know jack about my field, how grad school works in the humanities, what the job market is like, etc, keep bugging me to make the decision they want me to. They even talked to my little brother about it to try to get him to persuade me. Dude. I’m 31. W T F. It’s so frustrating to have the additional pressure. Also it’s kind of taking the joy out of my offers for me. I don’t want to have to justify my feelings or explain things-this is my life. Worse still (because apparently some part of my is 14 years old), the decision they want me to make is the one I’m leaning to anyway. But the petulant teen in me doesn’t want to acquiesce to their BS, haha. Regardless I think I know what I’m going to do, which is great. I didn’t know how stressful this part would be. I think once I do accept an offer though, I’ll start to feel the excitement.

Yay! Soak it up and enjoy ?