mandelbulb

@Matthew3957 assuming it's an acceptance because it'd be crazy mean to call you like this for anything less, i guess i'd suggest preparing by trying to find any gaps in info provided online. is their PhD handbook readily available? placement info? funding info (if they say "TAships" what does that actually entail)? perhaps also ask to be put in touch with a current student? i feel like you don't have to pressure yourself too much with having to make it a conversation or ask a ton of questions--you can always follow-up by email and it's better to have those answers in writing anyway lol

i don't see anything wrong with telling the other two programs that you have a funded offer to see if they might be able to find a way to fund you. however, i don't know if that's likely given their answer to you before was that it was unavailable. it might just be that their program does not fund MAs. are they offering you tuition remission or anything else? if not, even working full time, absolutely do not take on student loan debt for an MA. personally, if one of the unfunded offers was at my dream school--best faculty for my interests, great placement record in whatever i'm hoping to do after the MA, great location, great departmental vibe--then i would tell them they were my number one choice but that funding is preventing you from accepting the offer, especially given you are receiving funding at a different program. if both unfunded offers were from my dream schools, i suppose i'd attempt to negotiate with one at a time.

i did call uc davis a week ago and they said acceptances were still rolling, which i took to mean that they're waiting on decisions from those they've already given offers and will make subsequent offers as needed.

you can find out various funding packages and compare them with other english/literature PhD programs here to get a feel for whether they're competitive: as for how each program funds their students, it depends on a few factors, but it seems you're either funded with a fellowship or through a teaching assistantship. these usually include full tuition remission and a living stipend; fees are typically reduced, but they may or may not be covered completely depending on the UC i think. as for your application, i'd check the individual programs to see if there is any language emphasizing whether they take any specific element of the application into more consideration than other elements. however, there's been general consensus that you need to focus on every element of the application and make sure each one is as good as you can make it. for example, if you take the GREs and your score isn't as high as you wanted, you can either choose to retake it if you think you can do better (thus making it as good as you can) or choose to spend that time elsewhere (because the score is as good as you think you can get). we've heard that in general people tend to regret spending the time and money it takes to get a better score. if you have to focus on just one or two elements of your application, my advice would be to focus on your statement of purpose and your writing sample. if you can only focus on one, it should be your writing sample. good luck!

i finally decided to have a signature and listing out all the programs i still have to hear from was sorta jaw-dropping........................ i feel like this year hasn't been great for timely rejections, even from places that typically are good about it (harvard, uc davis).

i feel like waiting a week since you received the initial email is safe to follow up, but that might just be me.

it's nice to still see you here @jadeisokay and @Bopie5!

i personally have every intention of sticking around to answer any questions that i can and cheer on the next cycle

this random anonymous internet person right here is impressed too! you made it! fuck the rest

i'm 30 and the fire didn't go away. if it's something you want, it stays with you, even if you go on another path (or paths). trust your gut! lol i feel the same way about anyone in my cohort

it'd be... weird if they called you with bad news?!

they're used to it it's actually easier for them because they'll reuse their letter and just update it. don't worry about that part!

i just want to chime in here to remind everyone that grad school admissions is only one way to get a rejection. for instance: a prof on an admissions committee could've been rejected at any of these points. i don't know if making a sweeping accusation that they've never experienced rejection will make the sting of our rejection any less, but there's no reason to vilify people you've never met. for all we know, admissions committees have little control over when rejections are sent. some the rejections i've received during this process have come from the graduate schools, not the departments. there could be several layers of bureaucratic bullshit we're not seeing.

john kessel works in the english department at north carolina state. stephen graham jones works at uc boulder. shelley streeby is at ucsd. patrick jagoda studies sci-fi at uchicago, petra kuppers at umichigan, but i’m not sure how often they take students who narrowly define sci-fi as their focus. these are who i remember off the top of my head, but i’m sure there’s more.

my roommate keeps asking me when he can treat me to a fancy dinner as celebration and i keep telling him not yet lol “maybe when i hear back from everyone? maybe when i commit somewhere? maybe april 15? maybe before i move in august/september?” it just feels like we’ll be celebrating six years of hellish life and that’s...not worth celebrating. it’s not over yet is what it feels like.

do neither of these programs have teaching responsibilities...?

tbh, all i can think of is that sometimes the conferences themselves will offer grad student travel grants or may help accommodate presenters/panelists. it might be too late, though. you could also maybe try getting in touch with whatever program whose offer you decide to accept and see if you can kickstart any travel funds now. i'm assuming the answer will be no, but it may be worth a shot. wish i had more for you!

i currently live in seattle, have worked at UW on-and-off for years, and have various friends in grad school in other departments so let me know if you have any questions congrats!

i was a shut out last year. here’s what i did between then and now: - finished MA, which allowed me to see a gap in the literature that i could articulate better in my SoP as a research interest - i went through a few more revisions of my SoP than the year before, and all my letter writers helped revise - also my writing sample had been from my thesis, so in getting to finish it for my MA, i was able to revise it a lot and get good feedback from my committee - i strengthened my relationship with some of my letter writers, thus strengthening their letters - i expanded the list of schools i applied to because i had more money lol i was looking at a shut out until like two weeks ago, and this was my plan for next cycle: - inevitably, a few schools felt less like a fit after being rejected, so i was going to research into more schools. some ppl with shared interests as me applied to some places i hadn’t looked into so i was going to start there - take the gre subject test (i’m so glad i don’t have to now) - scrap my writing sample and try something else, working with my letter writers to continue strengthening our relationship - reshape my SoP a little to gesture toward new sample, revise it, etc - apply to a few conferences so i could add at least one to my cv (i have two, plus several in a different field) - email POIs, first reaching out to ask about any of their current projects to get a better idea of what their research interests are, then moving into asking about advise for applying - also, for schools i decided to apply to again, think about asking POIs what i could do to improve my application for the next year it was rough being shutout last year, but honestly i’m glad that it happened now. for a lot reasons, this is a better time for me to go so it feels like it all worked out for the best

have you checked the admission results? if you search the name of the school plus "english," you should get be able to get a sense of when those schools notify based on the data from previous years.

yeah, some do this - see @j.alicea's post above. secret waitlists are real and nerve-wracking.

i called and got through - the number on the website isn't actually for the grad program. she said acceptances are rolling out still, could be as late as april 15th. i'd take that to mean they may have sent out most acceptances but not waitlists?

for my MA, i had a letter writer from a different field write for me because i'd worked with her in a research capacity for years. she asked if any of my other letter writers wouldn't mind sharing past letters so she could mirror them. they were happy to share and even gave me examples from their colleagues. that might be a way to go?

the University of Washington has President's Day off, but they don't tend to send out acceptances ... for a while yet ...