j.alicea

@Warelin interesting! Thanks for showing me this thread. They gave us an itinerary and everything with faculty/student meetings scheduled in so I assume that’s their opportunity to ask us about our research. 
@victoriansimpkins I wouldn’t consider it an implied rejection. I don’t even like how loosely the term is used on the forum because so many factors could change regarding who’s accepted into a program. A rejection is never a rejection until you get that official letter. 

I stumbled across a book today called Inside Graduate Admissions by Julie Posselt. She observed the admissions process of a number of competitive programs in various disciplines. I found her original dissertation online and thought I’d share. It has been incredibly interesting, especially after being simultaneously so unaware and curious about what the admissions process actually entails. 
Here is the link to her dissertation if anyone else is interested: https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/99950/jposselt_1.pdf?sequence=1

Hi, made an account to claim this admission post! 
I wasn’t expecting them to admit until Feb. either! Very surprised! But as a posthumanist this program is a REALLY good fit for the work that I do, and I’m really pleased. 
(I’ve been hardcore lurking this forum for a while now.)

Lol don't ruin my pity party with your science sympathizing and, you know, facts ? 
 
This is some next level shit, and I respect it.
 
Also that new WashU acceptance made my heart stop for a second thinking it was UW, which I shouldn't hear from for like a month.

The BEST pup

Hey y'all, I would like to point to jonnyboy's posts in the Applicants thread - it appears that not getting a request for interview from UChi does not indicate a rejection. Interviewees are those whom the adcom is unsure of. So if you were invited to interview, you're still in it! If you haven't heard anything, you are also still in it!

he has a LOT of opinions, it is very difficult for anyone else to get a word in.

@sad_diamond Congrats! Great program for your research interests! Good luck! 

Just some notes from my personal experience with this kind of thing...
- Don’t assume they will contact you with a “.edu” email: for my MA, I was first contacted by a prof who prefers to use their gmail.
- Don’t assume you’ll be getting a call from a number with an area code matching that of the university/ies to which you’ve applied: this year, a UCSC prof. contacted me using their cell (NY number).
- Don’t assume you’re out because you aren’t contacted at the same time as others: this is a given. It is a long process, and some of you will receive acceptances as late as April 24th. I was just speaking with a prof. who claimed that they consistently send 2 or 3 acceptance letters as late as April. 
I just wanted to remind everyone that you cannot control what happens next, you cannot predict based on data you’ve found here or elsewhere (its useful, and sometimes necessary to help ameliorate the angst of applying for just about anything in academia). Oh, and (believe it or not) I have a friend who started PhD recently who was notified unofficially in person at their local socialist group meeting, which a professor happened to take part in. And another who was called back after the 25th two years back!
And for those of you who are really down about their apps (way too early for that, but I definitely  understand): there are still places accepting apps, especially for MA programs, and it is possible to get a terminal MA funded!
good luck, all!

Just some notes from my personal experience with this kind of thing...
- Don’t assume they will contact you with a “.edu” email: for my MA, I was first contacted by a prof who prefers to use their gmail.
- Don’t assume you’ll be getting a call from a number with an area code matching that of the university/ies to which you’ve applied: this year, a UCSC prof. contacted me using their cell (NY number).
- Don’t assume you’re out because you aren’t contacted at the same time as others: this is a given. It is a long process, and some of you will receive acceptances as late as April 24th. I was just speaking with a prof. who claimed that they consistently send 2 or 3 acceptance letters as late as April. 
I just wanted to remind everyone that you cannot control what happens next, you cannot predict based on data you’ve found here or elsewhere (its useful, and sometimes necessary to help ameliorate the angst of applying for just about anything in academia). Oh, and (believe it or not) I have a friend who started PhD recently who was notified unofficially in person at their local socialist group meeting, which a professor happened to take part in. And another who was called back after the 25th two years back!
And for those of you who are really down about their apps (way too early for that, but I definitely  understand): there are still places accepting apps, especially for MA programs, and it is possible to get a terminal MA funded!
good luck, all!

Just some notes from my personal experience with this kind of thing...
- Don’t assume they will contact you with a “.edu” email: for my MA, I was first contacted by a prof who prefers to use their gmail.
- Don’t assume you’ll be getting a call from a number with an area code matching that of the university/ies to which you’ve applied: this year, a UCSC prof. contacted me using their cell (NY number).
- Don’t assume you’re out because you aren’t contacted at the same time as others: this is a given. It is a long process, and some of you will receive acceptances as late as April 24th. I was just speaking with a prof. who claimed that they consistently send 2 or 3 acceptance letters as late as April. 
I just wanted to remind everyone that you cannot control what happens next, you cannot predict based on data you’ve found here or elsewhere (its useful, and sometimes necessary to help ameliorate the angst of applying for just about anything in academia). Oh, and (believe it or not) I have a friend who started PhD recently who was notified unofficially in person at their local socialist group meeting, which a professor happened to take part in. And another who was called back after the 25th two years back!
And for those of you who are really down about their apps (way too early for that, but I definitely  understand): there are still places accepting apps, especially for MA programs, and it is possible to get a terminal MA funded!
good luck, all!

@spectrum-in and @Englishtea1 Congratulations! Such an amazing program. Tejumola Olaniyan's Scars of Conquest/Masks of Resistance has been on my reading list for nearly two years, hopefully I will find time to read it over the summer.

@j.alicea Big congrats to you! Thanks for the info, too. 

@Matthew3957 Thank you! Just got the call today around four from a poi- he said funding info and official acceptance letter would be sent later this week. Good luck, I’m sure you’ll hear something soon.

Hell yeah, this factoid fuckin rules. Have a meme.

There is Duke GPL (Grad. Program in Literature) which seems comparable to a comp. lit. or literature/cultural and media studies program. I believe that they weren't going to accept new students this year (please correct me if I am wrong), whereas Duke PhD English is accepting new students.

Congrats to all of those that have received an acceptance letter thus far. To those that haven't, most schools don't release decisions until Mid-Feb. There is still plenty of time left.

On a side note: Please review financial offers carefully. In previous years, some programs that used to guarantee 5 years of funding only offered 3 years of funding to certain students citing funding problems as a reason. Please, please review those letters carefully to ensure you know what you are getting yourself into.

Side note 2: Some programs guarantee 5 years of funding based on satisfactory performance. I wouldn't worry about these as much as it's mostly to safeguard against someone accepting an offer and then leaving the program mid-way through. In most cases failing to keep up your grades would result in the end of your funding if one fails to keep them at the required level.

I got an email from the DGS last Thursday. I checked the system out of curiosity and nothing had been updated on the online portal. I will say my offer came with an additional source of funding on top of the base, so it’s possible others are still to come, if that’s a common occurance. 
For reference, I study cultural productions of modern and contemporary women across the African diaspora, with a Postcolonial and intersectional lens. 

UW-Madison!!!! I received an acceptance today via email! 

@Matthew3957 Thank you! Just got the call today around four from a poi- he said funding info and official acceptance letter would be sent later this week. Good luck, I’m sure you’ll hear something soon.

@Matthew3957 Thank you! Just got the call today around four from a poi- he said funding info and official acceptance letter would be sent later this week. Good luck, I’m sure you’ll hear something soon.

Hey, folks. I had a major meltdown this morning so my mom sat me down and gave me some insight into the admissions process now that I’ve turned my applications in. She’s a tenured English professor at a large public research university (with only MAs, no PhD program), and has served on an admissions committee a handful of times.
She walked me through the review process at her institution and what she’s gathered from peers who also review doctoral applications at other schools. She shied away from giving me too much information before I sent in my apps because she’s way too ethical and has students applying to some of the same schools as me, but now that they’re in she unloaded a bunch of useful information (which, on second thought, might be more helpful for people applying next year than those who’ve already applied).
Either way, I thought I’d share this information in case it gives others some insight into this nightmarish process, or at least assuages some of the dread that comes with waiting for decisions. As always, please take this with a mountain of salt, since its only one person’s experience and mostly hearsay since I didn’t take amazing notes when we were chatting (but I did read this post aloud to her and it has her stamp of approval). 
And of course, apologies if hearing about the process from a professor’s perspective after submitting applications might feel unhelpful/provoke further anxiety. It was comforting to me just to take the mystery out of it, but might not be to others. 
 
At her (small-ish) program, there are only 2 professors who read the entirety of the applications each year Admissions or the college of liberal arts have some basic guidelines, and the department administrator separates out the people who don’t meet these requirements before forwarding the applications to the faculty members  The adcomm faculty members still review the applications of folks who don’t meet requirements like GPA minimums, however, especially if they have supplemental letters/explanations for poor performance or test scores (mom says she wouldn’t want to miss a ‘diamond in the rough,’ lol, but she’s been listening to a lot of Hamilton lately) 
  The first thing she does when reviewing an application is independently read the SOP and writing sample There are some expectations for both pieces that determine whether or not the applicant is likely to be considered ‘graduate school ready,’ mostly the candidate’s reason for pursuing graduate study and their demonstrated interest in literary study She says a surprising number of people say things like “I want to go to graduate school because I love reading,” which to her doesn’t show that they understand the demands and expectations of grad school, and it comes across to her like they’re unsure of what to do after undergrad so they just want to bide time Even if the SOP and writing sample do not pass this initial litmus test, she and the other faculty member are expected to read the rest of the application, with the exception of applications that are to the wrong school or unreadable or clearly plagiarised etc.   She and other faculty reviewers at her institution almost always place more weight on LORs than transcripts and test scores. I asked her to rank the pieces of the application from most to least important and she said the following: SOP, writing sample, LORs, transcript, test scores (pretty common knowledge already, but it was reassuring to hear that the pieces I have the most control over are the most important)
  The 2 profs then independently make shortlists of applicants they want to accept, with around 10-15 more people than the average cohort size They then discuss with the other reviewer, and most of the time end up with unanimous ‘rankings,’ but sometimes have to get outside readers (i.e. other faculty or trusted admin) to determine who to choose if two candidates are especially close The top however-many of the list are guaranteed funding or a GTA (since their school doesn’t fund all MA students)
  My mom’s colleagues at both private and public schools who do have PhD programs review applications in a similar way, she believes, and last she heard there are usually double the number of faculty on their adcomms (so, like 4 or more people looking at each application) depending on program size/number of applicants
  Her institution does not recalculate GPAs, and she says most faculty are (hopefully) human enough to not put too much weight on undergraduate ‘pedigree.’  She says she approaches applicants like she would her own students, i.e. she’s generally on their side, want them to be successful candidates, and gives people the benefit of doubt when it comes to things like grades and test scores if they have adequate explanations  However, really poor writing is the only thing that will automatically remove an applicant from serious consideration when she’s on an adcomm, and of course negative LORs or other similar red flags (like mostly C’s and D’s in English courses, or no academic progression/clear patterns in performance) 
  She also doesn’t view older applicants negatively at all, and the only time she will really question an exceptionally large gap between undergraduate and graduate (like, over 12-15 years) is if their writing isn’t demonstrably graduate-level (and even then she said she’ll consider the possibility they might just be out of practice compared to an applicant fresh out of college who probably have more resources/proofreaders at hand) She said that sometimes older applicants demonstrate a lot of maturity and seriousness because they’ve had enough time to consider their career paths— they’re often her most engaged and dedicated students If a candidate is still in undergraduate but shows they clearly understand what grad school is about, this also will not be held against them 
  Diversity of experience counts a lot in her department She always tries to assess how a student might change the culture of the program ‘Fit’ to her is very much about determining who may contribute to the diversity of perspectives upon which the humanities classroom thrives Academic interests are important, especially if what they want to study isn’t offered in the department, but so is admitting students who can learn from one another, and from whom faculty can learn as well. This sounds cheesy, but she said its an important way to foster a well-balanced program
  The last thing she said to me is that graduate admissions varies immensely from year to year (which, sort of unhelpful but I guess a harsh reality)  Usually its a different set of people reviewing each year at her school, and she’s seen her own top students shut out entirely one year and then accepted nearly everywhere the next Many of the most successful scholars she knows have had entirely unrelated careers before going for their doctorates, or they’ve faced the challenge of having to apply twice or even thrice before finding success It really is a crapshoot, but that also means applying again and again won’t reflect poorly on you for most adcomms because it really depends on who else is applying that year  (And she also said some sappy mom-stuff about this torturous experience having nothing to do with my worth as a scholar or person, but that’s not coming from her as a professor so maybe not as helpful)  If you’ve made it this far,  I’m sorry this is so long, but my mom offered to answer any questions if anyone has any I didn’t think to ask. She didn’t know I have been on gradcafe for so long and is worried that I check it too often, but was also excited when I told her I was posting this stuff because she remembers her application days and how horrible it feels not to know. 

Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope some of this was helpful to you!  

FWIW, WUSTL offers a dual English/Comp Lit PHD that requires only one foreign language which can be modern or ancient.

I'm thinking I might use it but in small doses.  I want to research punk identity and trauma, which is necessarily of the 20th and 21st centuries, and I'm currently planning to focus on the UK and US, since those are punk's origins.  I also know though that punk has become a worldwide phenomenon, and since i know french and chinese, i'm planning to research whatever i can about their contributions to the scenes.  i know that asian contributions and scenes are extremely overlooked, so the chinese part should be really useful to bring some recognition to heritage.
i've been self-studying chinese at home lately.  planning to do the same for french. i don't know if my programs require an ancient language, but the possibility of that is making me second-guess myself--the closest i have to that is old english.  (i doubt it though, since i'm applying to contemporary)

Looks like Ohio State updated the application portals with acceptances. I'm in, unless their system made a severe error.