[2019 Applicants]

9 hours ago, stanwix said:

Thanks for checking in for all of us. I applied to the PhD with a Master's myself. Supposedly they've admitted only 1 applicant with a master's degree in past years but who knows whether people know what they're talking about with these things. Seems that decisions are being rolled out differently than usual as well. Hope they still have some positive results to send out and we're not all just waiting on rejections.

Edit: the most recent post replying to yours also makes it sound like there was a full cohort's worth of students at the visiting day last week, so it seems likely that all outright acceptances have gone out.

Yeah, I wonder if they accepted less people this year, considering there’s less people reporting than in previous years. But I suspect they may have done a hidden waitlist this time. It’s by far my top choice and I think it’s a great fit, so I’m holding out hope. 

[2019 Applicants]

2 hours ago, stanwix said:

Longtime lurker here but speaking of not hearing anything for extended periods of time, is anyone here the Penn State caller from the results board who keeps getting the run around regarding timing for remaining results? I'm assuming it's a rejection at this point but the slim chance of being on an unofficial waitlist or something has me devoting too much mental energy to it. There are a few admits on the board but nothing since February and no waitlists or rejections.

That caller is me! Everything I know was posted there. That said, I’m waiting on MA results, not PhD. 

[2019 Applicants]

Actually, I hate to be using this account just to ask questions, but as someone who’s contemplating staying home and reapplying next year if I don’t get any funded offers...

None of my mentors had English MAs (all Creative Writing professors and non-academics), and I didn’t do a lot of the things I see mentioned in this thread as things typical of an applicant because I didn’t know they were typical of applicants. I didn’t do an Honors Thesis because I graduated early for financial/personal reasons (I would have needed to stay a full senior year), and I’ve never been able to attend or present at a conference- the time I would have used for research ended up being used on internships and jobs, and my university didn’t have many opportunities for humanities research for undergrads.

Did I miss out on my shot for a funded MA by not doing these things? Should I have never thought I could get into one without it in the first place? It seems like it was way more important of a factor than I thought. I only applied to standalone MAs, not MA/PhDs. 

[2019 Applicants]

Made an account for this and it’s probably a long shot, but I might as well ask anyway. I’ve been applying to English MA and Creative Writing MFAs this round- I think I’m shut out of the MFAs (which I expected) and got acceptances from SUNY Albany, SUNY Binghamton and Brandeis for the MAs. The only other MA I was able to apply to (for Reasons) was Penn State, which is the the only one that’s funded. 

If anyone knows anything about what’s going on with Penn State, I’d be eternally grateful to know. I see they’re doing things way differently this year and while I think it’s a great fit for me, I’ve got no idea what this radio silence means when everything about their notifications seems strange this year. Thanks in advance!!