Anonymouse124

I desperately want to hear back from my last few schools so I can start making decisions already. I feel like there's just a huge number of impending life choices waiting to crash down on my shoulders. Anxiety does not sleep and, apparently, neither do I.
Hope everyone's doing okay and managing the stress! We'll get through this one way or another. Fingers and toes crossed for each and every one of you!

I desperately want to hear back from my last few schools so I can start making decisions already. I feel like there's just a huge number of impending life choices waiting to crash down on my shoulders. Anxiety does not sleep and, apparently, neither do I.
Hope everyone's doing okay and managing the stress! We'll get through this one way or another. Fingers and toes crossed for each and every one of you!

I desperately want to hear back from my last few schools so I can start making decisions already. I feel like there's just a huge number of impending life choices waiting to crash down on my shoulders. Anxiety does not sleep and, apparently, neither do I.
Hope everyone's doing okay and managing the stress! We'll get through this one way or another. Fingers and toes crossed for each and every one of you!

I desperately want to hear back from my last few schools so I can start making decisions already. I feel like there's just a huge number of impending life choices waiting to crash down on my shoulders. Anxiety does not sleep and, apparently, neither do I.
Hope everyone's doing okay and managing the stress! We'll get through this one way or another. Fingers and toes crossed for each and every one of you!

I desperately want to hear back from my last few schools so I can start making decisions already. I feel like there's just a huge number of impending life choices waiting to crash down on my shoulders. Anxiety does not sleep and, apparently, neither do I.
Hope everyone's doing okay and managing the stress! We'll get through this one way or another. Fingers and toes crossed for each and every one of you!

I desperately want to hear back from my last few schools so I can start making decisions already. I feel like there's just a huge number of impending life choices waiting to crash down on my shoulders. Anxiety does not sleep and, apparently, neither do I.
Hope everyone's doing okay and managing the stress! We'll get through this one way or another. Fingers and toes crossed for each and every one of you!

I agree that a healthy dose of skepticism about US News & World Report rankings is crucial. Even at the undergraduate level, those rankings reflect a lot of factors that are basically irrelevant to the student experience. (E.g., "selectivity," which universities manipulate by soliciting lots of applications from students who don't really have a good chance of getting in.) At the graduate level, they're even more absurd. As others have observed, some departments are especially strong in particular fields, and might be a top choice for, say, early American, but not have adequate faculty to advise and place students focusing on Romanticism. I also second the idea that it's wise to look at placement records for the schools you are considering--and to inquire about placement in your specific field, as well as the department as a whole. Public and popular perceptions of a department's "quality" change at a glacial pace compared to how quickly a department can achieve new prominence and importance in a specific subfield. Two hires in, say, Af-Am can turn an department into a powerhouse for graduate training in that subfield overnight. 
That said, reputation--understood with more subtlety and nuance than US News brings to bear--matters, at least for academic jobs. To be competitive for tenure-line jobs at reputable research universities or liberal arts colleges, you need to have a committee of scholars with national reputations in the field, and a record of having trained scholar who have gone on to professional success. 
Because the surge in alt-ac careers is fairly recent (and because I've never applied for or had an alt-ac career!), I, along with a lot of my colleagues, am poorly qualified to opine about what matters for those jobs. I do have one student who was hired mid-program to work for a state humanities council, and is now returning to finish the degree (not required for the job, but for his own sense of accomplishment and fulfillment)--but I don't know what exactly in his profile made him stand out for that job. 

I desperately want to hear back from my last few schools so I can start making decisions already. I feel like there's just a huge number of impending life choices waiting to crash down on my shoulders. Anxiety does not sleep and, apparently, neither do I.
Hope everyone's doing okay and managing the stress! We'll get through this one way or another. Fingers and toes crossed for each and every one of you!

For anyone wanting more info on Yale, their GSAS does have a dedicated webpage where you can track admission statistics. Access it here
Yale accepting 14-15 for their cohort started for Fall 2018. Out of 270 applicants, 14 were offered admission and 9 ultimately accepted the offer. In years' past, offers ranged 20-24 (going slightly down until there was a downsize in admissions). The data on the page goes back as far as 2014, but you can also track completion rates, time to degree, etc.
I'm also a Yale applicant. While I'm hopeful, it is definitely not happening considering my application was all over the place. I see a lot of Yale applicants here and all of you would make far more deserving and ready candidates. Hoping to see some GCers report phone calls from New Haven this week.

As another point of reference, Wisconsin has a nice record of information that list applicant stats. (There are more available by other universities as well. I think there are laws that Public Schools must make the information publically available somewhere.)

Taking a look at Madison's stats:
211 people applied in Fall 2015 for English. 35 were offered admission. 17 enrolled.
156 people applied in Fall 2016 for English.  9 were offered admission. 7 enrolled.
149 people applied in Fall 2017 for English. 10 were offered admission. 2 enrolled.

Comparing it to Biochemistry:
242 people applied in Fall 2015 for Biochemistry. 46 were offered admission. 18 enrolled.
243 people applied in Fall 2016 for Biochemistry.  60 were offered admission. 22 enrolled.
239 people applied in Fall 2017 for Biochemistry. 61 were offered admission. 23 enrolled,

Thank you, @3131, for saying this with eloquence and precision. I'll also add briefly that the term "ethnic" is broadly used as a way of imagining a dichotomy of white hegemony in Literary Studies and "ethnic" marginalia (but if you ask a Mexican writer, they will describe their work as "Mexican" literature, not "ethnic" literature). "Ethnic" therefore implies a directionality ("ethnic" literatures coming into and evaluated by a historically white Literary Studies) that moves towards the hegemonic core. This model diminishes the fullness and autonomy of deemed "ethnic" literatures. 
A similar problem existed for the term "Third-World" Literatures. I think of the much-discussed problems with Jameson's  "Third-World Literature in the Era of Multinational Capitalism".

I agree that previous school "rank" doesn't matter at all -- and if it is taken into consideration, it's like the last thing they consider. I went to a very average school that is not associated with strong academics at all. I think schools are really upfront and honest about what they look at (at least what they initially look at, before all the weird "fit" stuff comes into play): SOP, writing sample, and letters come first. Always.

This makes me feel a lot better honesty. Although it’s nothing to celebrate.

Any bets on when we're going to hear back from UPenn and Yale? 

Any bets on when we're going to hear back from UPenn and Yale? 

After reading through all 23 pages, I think I've managed to compile the most salient (at least for me) and still relevant pieces of advice as far as grad school supplies 
Laptop - While most people have a laptop, it was recommended by several people that folks in a new laptop (unless yours is less than two years old) and make sure you get an extended warranty (one that will hopefully last the entirety of your program).  Note: look into funding opportunities for laptops within your department. Some will finance a new laptop for incoming grad students!  Desk - L-shaped came highly recommended, given the extra space. While i love my little desk, I may invest in a larger one by year 2.  Chair (Desk) - Investing in a good chair was stressed many times. You will likely be spending many hours hunched over a desk. get one that will be comfortable for your back, but won't put you to sleep.  Chair (Reading) - a separate reading chair was recommended for those hours upon hours where you'll be reading. a comfortable chair or couch was recommended. Printer - there was some debate regarding the pros/cons of a printer. In an increasingly digital age, I don't think a printer is completely necessary. ESPECIALLY because so many universities have printers available and printing costs included within stipends. But this will depend on the person Scanner OR File Cabinet - One person had recommended getting a file cabinet and regularly organizing it so as not to fall behind (if you are someone who likes having physical copies of everything, then go for this option). HOWEVER, someone then chimed in to say screw a file cabinet. just get a scanner. and i thought that was an excellent idea! just scan everything you need and chuck the physical copies (unless its like your birth certificate or something)  Coffee - Coffee maker, coffee carafe (to keep it warm for those days of marathon working), french press. you get the idea. ALTERNATIVE: electric kettle for tea drinkers  Large Water Bottle - lets be sustainable folks!  Snacks - for those long days  Wall Calendar  Dry Erase Board  Noise Cancelling Headphones  External Hard Drive Dongles - actually didn't see folks write about this, so I'm adding it! Dongles/adapters are constantly changing based on your device. Get the one that is specific to your computer to HDMI and VGA, and you should be set for most campus systems!  Paper shredder - unless your campus has a shredding removal service like my current one has. I'd say take advantage of that Travel - Luggage, toiletry bag, international travel adapter/converter, etc. You will presumably be traveling a bunch! Get the right travel accessories if you can Desk accessories - post its, highlighters, pens Notebooks - it seems like everyone has been unanimously pro-moleskine notebooks on here. mmmm I'm not! What *EYE* recommend is going to your local art supply store, and buying sketchbooks from there. They are usually so much cheaper. And most art stores have artist and student memberships available, so you can get major discounts. I just showed a sale and got all my notebooks and pens for less than $30. Just my opinion  Software - Just some of the software that came highly recommended and that I felt like was still relevant today: Evernote. Zotero. Scrivener. CamScanner. Nuance. iStudiez  Most of this is hella obvious. But some of these I hadn't even considered! And its nice to think about these things early so you have enough time to save up or search the internet for deals. I curated an Amazon wishlist based on the information i listed above. Let me know if you'd like me to post it here and make public! 
And remember: 90% (if not all) of this is OPTIONAL. Let's not make academia seem more inaccessible than it already is. You will excel regardless of whether or not you have these things.  There's always borrowing. lending programs through your university. free services through your libraries. There are options! 
Hope this is helpful to those reading this post 8 years later! It was certainly helpful for me. Aside from curating a great list of things i want, it also helped distract me from decisions this week ://////

Although I am entering as a new Ph.d candidate this year, I remember very well my MA program, and so I am basically taking some of my own advice, which I will note for you guys here in case you'd like to follow my example.

1. I always contact my profs in advance for any readings or assignments I can start in the summer. I am in English, so this is usually a BIG timesaver. During my MA program, I taught for a program which required us to read and lead discussions on a reading packet (which had over 500 pages!!). I read and took notes on the packet in the summer, so that when the fall semester hit, all i had to do was look over my old notes and I was ready to teach. Right now, I've already begun contacting profs, and they have been giving me suggested readings. I have the summer off, so I am planning to hit the books and get ahead, which has always been the secret to my success (I rarely get too stressed out).

2. TIME MANAGEMENT. Let me say that again: TIME MANAGEMENT!!!!! When I get an assignment (for an essay, say), I don't wait until a week before it's due to get started. I IMMEDIATELY go to the library (sometimes directly after the class) and start compiling the materials I will need. I keep a detailed planner keeping track of what assignments are due when. With good time management, you don't have to do any all-nighters or be miserable because you don't have any free time. Work hard, work efficiently, and you WILL have time for fun in your life, even in your first year. In my first year as an MA student, I taught 9 hours a week for the linguistics department, making all my own lesson plans. I also took 3 full seminars. And yet, I don't remember being particularly stressed out. I set aside my Saturday mornings for lesson planning, and I'd plan my teaching for the entire week, setting aside all the materials I would need and making sure to make any required copies. Then the rest of the weekend would be for homework, research, etc., but I'd often go to a cafe and take time to go to the gym or take a walk. For me, grad school has always been WAY easier than working a 9 to 5 in a cubicle somewhere. In grad school, you make your own hours. If you're nocturnal, you can work all night if you want. If you're a morning person, you can get up at 4am to study. Perhaps the freedom of it all is what gets people into trouble....

3. Do NOT procrastinate. In undergrad, you could get away with cramming the day before the test, or staying up all night the night before an assignment was due, busting out a 5-page essay in 8 hours. In grad school, your profs will KNOW sloppy work for what it is. Get working on stuff early.

4. Communicate. You may not like many of your profs. In fact, a great many of them are arrogant a-holes. They may be condescending, or treat you like dirt. This is irrelevant. You have to put your personal feelings aside and communicate with them in a professional manner. I absolutely loathed several of my profs in grad school, but I smiled and did my best to visit them at office hours and ask them for advice. Trust me. It works.

5. Make sure the people on your committee are people you respect, and who will help you. Don't just get anybody who agrees to be on your committee. Be very, very careful. These are the people who will approve or deny your thesis/dissertation. You want people who will help you revise, or guide you along the way, not a prof who is already mentoring 8 other people, is never around, is 8 months pregnant, is near death or chronically ill, is head of a department and exceedingly busy, etc. etc. etc. You are going to want to show your work in progress and get guidance. Make sure the people you choose are the right people.

And of course, take time to relax and have a little fun. Audit an undergraduate course in something that interests you (sorry, I'm a nerd, that's what I do for "fun"). Go camping for a weekend when you're ahead on your work. Go study in an outdoor cafe--get Out of the house/library, for god's sake! Life is short. If you're not having a good time, you're doing something wrong.

@jr246 Last year they did right around this time, but some years a little later in the month. I'm also anxious to hear!

Hey everyone! Longtime lurker here. I only just found out about the forum and I honestly wish I'd been here from the beginning. Chatting with people in a similar purgatory state seems far more productive than refreshing the results page over and over.
Received an acceptance and my first rejection yesterday. I know I should be thrilled at the acceptance, but the rejection has honestly left me quite disappointed. Ugh. I wish we could learn why we were turned down though, though I'm sure that would not be of most emotional help either haha.

Delighted to say that UCSD just warmed this cold MN boy’s heart with an acceptance :‘)

Mood tbh. Welcome to the forums! Congrats on your first acceptance and commiserations on your rejection. It's weird to be juggling both, but celebrate that acceptance though You've earned it, but don't deny the need to let the emotions pour through on that rejection either. Even with an acceptance (that helps with peace of mind), the sting is still there.
I've been having an up and down cycle tbh, so this sort of yo-yo has been hitting me since the 1st of Feb. I started February with an acceptance, then a rejection, then a waitlist, then a second rejection, and now woke up today to an implied third rejection that's turning more and more official. It's a strange feeling, and it's definitely hard to keep reign on the emotions and the imposter syndrome that rises out of it (atm, my last two chances are programs that... are my top 2 choices this cycle lol, of which both are dream schools of mine).
Tbh so much of admissions can be such a crapshoot that sometimes being accepted/denied can be a matter of 'we think you're an incredibly strong candidate, but we don't know if our department's future trajectory can help support your project/interests/etc.' We only know one side of fit, and as someone said here, it is a shot in the dark and we don't really know if we hit the target or not. I know people have asked adcomms for feedback before. Now for sure isn't the most optimal time (since committees and admins are probably neck-deep in managing administrative overhead and communicating decisions, alongside the myriad of other duties). But I think it's possible and probably safer to later on (March and April), when the craze around decisions isn't as intense and if the university holds on to your file. With an acceptance at hand, you've very much hit the mark for one program

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone here. It seems like a lot of other boards are distinctly unsupportive and sometimes downright hostile. I’m proud of all of us for creating a supportive as hell community in a very trying time. Y’all rock!

Apparently CUNY Grad  Center is still sending acceptances! I received mine today. There's still hope, people.