grace2137
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Posts posted by grace2137
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7 minutes ago, riverbender said:
So, anyone have any good ideas/etc for the best way to use few months off to prepare for applying to graduate school besides working on the applications materials themselves? Language learning? Internships (and in what)? Just saving money?
I would be interested to hear what others are doing as well! I am by no means an expert and am just figuring things out as I go, but so far my plan is to continue working my job in publishing remotely to save money, try to keep up with languages I was studying in undergrad (duolingo here I come...), and do really in depth research on programs/read scholarship I haven't had time to otherwise.
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I was, sadly, let go from my last waitlist the other day, so... here we go again!!
Honestly I am really terrified to see how the financial fallout of our present situation will affect admissions for next year. It seems like this was the worst year possible to get shut out and need another cycle. I have certainly learned a lot, and my application will be much stronger next time for a number of reasons, but still part of me wonders if it will be nearly impossible and I will just be throwing $1800 out into the ether.
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3 hours ago, Shakespeares Sister said:
+1
Never incur debt with this job market.
25 years ago, it would have been fine. There were jobs at the end of the tunnel.
8 hours ago, meghan_sparkle said:For what it's worth I doubt this—there may well be fewer spots but I don't think that means MAs will be functionally mandatory. There are a good number of BA only applicants in all of my admitted cohorts, and to me they're indistinguishable from the ones with MAs, tbh. Ofc to a degree it's program specific (some already lean toward students with MAs, though not the ones I applied to, and maybe those will become even more MA-centric). What will get you into the PhD is an excellent sample and good recs, and an MA is only one way of many you can get there (I did a one-year masters, took a year out and worked after, and applied only with undergraduate materials that I revised while working in November 2019 before submitting in December. Obvs the fact of the masters on my transcript may have been a factor in my admissions, but purely in terms of materials I think it was revising my written work + having a year out to be a semi-normal adult that made the most difference.) Personally I wouldn't take on 70k of debt to do an MA thinking it will be mandatory/even more advisable than normal to get you into the PhD because COVID. Not least of all because even setting aside the question of how this crisis will affect funding/# of spots, there are almost no TT jobs at the end of the PhD (and will be even fewer in future), so you'll still have all of that debt following you while you're on the market, even best case scenario. The question of whether to risk taking on debt would be slightly different if there was actually a somewhat viable or semi-stable market at the end of all of it, but ... there just isn't, unfortunately
Thank you thank you for reaffirming this! The thought that an MA would become necessary was perhaps more of an anxious thought than anything else (life is hard y'all) -- but thank you for validating my initial instinct that acquiring a bunch of debt for this right now is absolutely NOT the move. I know MAs are very helpful for some folks, but I know my biggest issue this cycle was simply not having enough time to meticulously tighten and polish my materials like I wanted to, and I can definitely find that time without an MA.
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19 hours ago, TheorySchmeory said:
I learned a couple of days ago that I've been rejected off of the waitlist at UVa for PhD admission. I have, however, been granted admission to their MA program (as is the case for anyone waitlisted for their PhD), and this is my only offer for this cycle. I'm tempted to write off the MA program completely for financial reasons and take another shot at PhD admissions for next year, but I'm worried I'll regret not taking the MA offer if I have similarly dreary results on the next go-around.
Is anyone in/has anyone been in a similar situation? I know UVa is a top program, and if I took the offer I would be well-positioned for PhD admission afterward (their MA students seem to have very good placement records). But ultimately I'm not sure the debt would be worth it, especially given the state of the economy that I'm graduating into. I'm also not sure what people who are not admitted to PhD programs do in between application cycles to try to improve their profiles. I know a lot of it comes down to chance and which faculty are looking for which kinds of advisees, but I'm worried my applications for the next time around wouldn't look all too different, and given that I've been nearly shut out, that would not be a good move. If anyone has any words of advice, I would be very glad to hear them!
I'm in a similar boat - I still have a few waitlists pending but am not optimistic, so at this point it's either taking one of the partially funded MAs I was redirected to (UChicago, UVA, NYU) or going for another cycle. My shutout contingency plan has always been to forgo the MA/not to take out any debt, and just work and save $ and revise materials. I still lean that direction - taking out an additional $33-70k in debt sounds INSANE. But I don't know if the present circumstances (less funding/less spots/more applicants) will shift the admissions game to the point where an MA will be practically mandatory to get a PhD acceptance in the next few cycles. So then my thought was to apply to funded MAs and PhDs next year - but will fully funded MAs still exist next cycle? I recall reading on this forum that even this year, several that usually offer funding have cut back, and departments will only be under more financial strain -- so those offers may be hard to come by as well.
Once I have an official response from my waitlists, I'm going to reach out to my undergrad mentors and see what they think I should do. I'm honestly not sure! We're in a tough spot and unprecedented circumstances - it's definitely hard to strategize.
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I'm still waiting on some waitlists but am most likely in a very similar boat - graduating undergrad this spring, have around 30k undergrad student debt, no PhD acceptances, but have admission to 3 MA programs that offer partial tuition remission.
I went into this process saying that I would not do a master's program, mostly because I think accruing more debt is a terrible idea and I also just don't think that it is something I need in order to be able to articulate a research focus, etc (for me personally - I know masters programs have been essential and very generative for some folks trajectory as a scholar, so ymmv). It feels more tempting now, but I think I will stick to my guns and end up declining these offers, staying at my current job (assuming it stays safe in the economic downturn) to build my savings, and gearing up for another cycle. I'm worried, as I'm sure you are, about what next cycle may look like given the economic depression (more applicants + less spots, less funding). But I'm not sure that doing a master's program would really make any of those hurdles disappear, and I don't want to strap myself with more debt in such precarious economic times. Even if I did go, I would also have to work part time to make ends meet with rent etc -- while doing graduate level coursework, teaching, working on a master's thesis, and eventually refining application materials for a second go at the end of the program. At that rate, I'm better off staying in touch with my undergrad mentors and rigorously revising my application material while working full time - I'll make more money, probably have more time to focus on materials I have started, and not accrue any debt. It's worth mentioning that applying while in senior year of undergrad is extremely difficult to pull off period, and I think my biggest downfall in this application cycle was my inability to spend as much time as I wanted polishing and refining my materials.
Ultimately, you should do whatever will make you a more competitive applicant, since the competition will only get harder. A master's can make people more competitive applicants, but it isn't the only way.
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32 minutes ago, caffeinated applicant said:
Yeah, I've sent two people at UT Austin a combined three emails and nobody has ever gotten back to me... #solidarity
I don't have an acceptance currently, so no reason for me to really need an answer before April 15. If you haven't told them you're sitting on an acceptance, might be good to throw that out there in case it helps them understand the urgency.
SAME re: UT Austin - glad I'm not the only one! It was making me a bit nervous at first because two of my other waitlist programs have been extremely responsive and involved answering my questions about the program and connecting me w current students, etc.
As others have said, though, given the current state of affairs in the world, I wouldn't take anything personally or read into it if a program isn't super responsive to emails. There is simply so much going on. If you are ready to commit to the other program, I would let them know as a sort of last call - they might be able to tell you the likelihood of movement/how things are looking so far, etc. But, at the same time, I think the lack of in person visits and general weirdness of this cycle is likely to stretch out decision-making until the last minute for lots of folks, so they may not have much clarity to offer.
I'm not expecting to hear anything decisive until after the 15th, honestly - but boy has this been a wild ride. At least this global crisis has kept me distracted from stressing about waitlist movement for the past few weeks, lol.
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Yep, this is me. 4 waitlists, two of which were top choices. I'm hoping for good news but trying not to get too attached.
What is everyone else doing to learn about the programs/prepare to potentially make a last-minute decision? These schools didn't invite me to accepted students weekends or anything like that and I'm not sure if I could/(should?) foot the bill to visit on my own. I may ask to be put in touch with current students to ask questions. Any other thoughts?
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On 2/25/2020 at 11:49 AM, timespentreading said:
What are people's thoughts on visiting places that have waitlisted you? I'm on four waitlists with no acceptances, and I just heard back from the final program I was waiting for. So, I now have to decide if it's worth the money to pay my way to visit any of these places so that I could make an informed decision if an offer comes my way later in March/April.
also curious to know what others think about this re: waitlist programs! My first instinct was that it may be an uncomfortable/weird request, but then at the same time the thought of making a decision sight unseen if I did happen to get in sounds overwhelming.
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I've had a long weekend of confronting the harsh realities of shutout... I'm on a few waitlists and have 1 program yet to release decisions, but not getting my hopes up. Taking it better than I thought I would, though.
Also, I have been ghosted by NYU, UVA, and Rutgers. I assume NYU and UVA take so long to reject because they also have an MA to sort out and I may be under consideration for that. Not sure why Rutgers still has "no decision" up for me when it seems many were able to see their rejections in portal yesterday. I've pretty much accepted that this process is going to be dragged out forever for me because of waitlists, but is it worth it to reach out in any of these cases or should I just sit on my hands and wait?
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totally feel a lot of the sentiments that have been expressed about balancing serious relationships in this process... I've yet to get an acceptance, but getting in to grad school would have me and my partner of 2 years doing long distance indefinitely (in some potential cases, within a train/driveable distance, but in other cases not.) His career will never allow him to be flexible about where he lives, and is on some level as unstable and unpredictable as academia can be. I've definitely been struggling with anxiety about potential shut out this cycle, but at the same time, knowing I wouldn't have to uproot my entire personal life and leave behind my partner and so many friends who are like family to me (or at least not yet) would be a relief. I do think I would apply again another cycle - but I also would entertain staying based in the city where we currently live and focusing on an alternative career path.
things are looking all kinds of intense for me because it seems that my top choice program (which is close-by ish/potentially feasible for us as well as a dream fit for my research interests) will be the last to notify. eep.
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Took a break from checking my email over the weekend and saw this morning that I had missed an email from the DGS at Hopkins notifying me that I'm on the waitlist! Still no acceptances, but now have a few waitlists under my belt. It's certainly reaffirming, but looking like it's going to be a very, very long haul of waiting for me... Still have 5 or 6 programs that I haven't gotten official word from, though. I'm *hoping* that if I've gotten multiple waitlists it bodes well for my chances for an acceptance at one of the remaining schools - or that between all of the waitlists something will come through. But the pressure is certainly high and I'm experiencing all kinds of anxiety and terror. fingers crossed for good news for all this next week!
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Who all are we expecting to hear from this next week? I know Johns Hopkins notified in early feb last year so they should be any time, princeton, nyu, UVA, possibly cuny...
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3 minutes ago, Ida16 said:
Hey everyone, just out of curiosity... did anyone else notice that there are no acceptances for UT Austin? Did it not accept anybody this time? This does not seem the case for past years. There are acceptances along with rejections on the same date for last year and the year before that. Does anyone have any insight about this?
In their email to WL folks, they made it sound as if acceptances were already sent out ("We have strongly encouraged candidates who received first-round offers to make a timely decision") but it's a form letter that they likely wrote ahead of time, so grain of salt. Perhaps those with acceptances aren't active on the forum or didn't add to the board/post.
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Hey y'all - I'm one of the waitlist folks at UT Austin. Anyone have insights about whether people have often been admitted off their waitlist in previous years/the timeline/how waitlists tend to work for PhD in general (are they ranked/does it depend on someone in your period choosing another program/do programs tend to only admit their intended cohort size or account for some turnover and admit, say 20 to get 12 etc)?
Alternatively, are questions about these things appropriate to ask the dgs/etc in an email? This was my first notification and I'm still waiting on a lot of programs, but it would be good to know what exactly I'm dealing with here.
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Anyone have any intel on what programs we can expect to notify next week (aside from previous years data, which might suggest JHU possibly)? None of the programs I applied to have released decisions yet and I'm losing my mind... It has had me really second guessing everything and feeling like i'm getting shut out even though I'm technically still in the running at 12 programs. ?
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Thank you all for your helpful responses - a lot of this has confirmed what prior understanding I had, which is reassuring! I just started to worry I might be naive or not having the full picture. I did factor in the living wage index when choosing my list of schools and so forth, and I'm certainly not used to living extravagantly or anything - I would be coming straight from stretching meager FWS earnings to get by while doing my undergrad in NYC, and almost anything is a step up from that, haha.
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Now that I'm in the waiting phase I've been spending a lot of time thinking about the financial aspect of pursuing a PhD. I obviously went through the application process fully knowing what the situation entails and being okay with the financial opportunity cost in general. But I was hoping those with more firsthand knowledge can chime in with the real tea about the day to day. Does your stipend cover your basic needs (Rent, groceries, nominal wiggle room for emergencies, dare I say... going out and socializing sometimes?) Do you work another job part time/feel like you have to to make ends meet? Have you had to take out extra loans? What about in the summer - are there a lot of research-related obligations, or are students able to work then for extra income/experience in alt-ac fields, etc?
Because the application process is so exhausting and the competition is so intense, I can imagine it being easy to feel so validated receiving any offer of admission that one starts to overlook some of these factors, and want to mentally prepare as much as possible before decisions begin to roll out.
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7 hours ago, NinaM said:
Anyone who submitted to Harvard doesn't have their writing samples showing up on the portal checklist? I'm slightly panicking and contemplating contacting the graduate department to make sure they got them.
Mine isn't listed either, so I'm assuming it just doesn't have the ws as part of the checklist and wouldn't worry!
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13 hours ago, Warelin said:
Unfortunately, this depends on the program and may depend on policies set by either the program or the Graduate School. There are several that I'm aware of that would e-mail you about missing materials. Others only update via their portal and won't notify if materials are missing. I imagine most would be happy to answer any questions if you're concerned about missing materials though. Additional delays may or may not occur if it has to be processed by the Graduate School prior to being forwarded to the department or Admissions Committee.
Yeah, I decided to send an email to follow up with them for my own peace of mind. Hopefully I am just being paranoid!
13 hours ago, onerepublic96 said:Is everyone firmly in the waiting stage now?
I'm trying to finish up a secondary writing sample for one of my apps (why why why do some schools ask for two samples??) and it's such rough going at this point...
I just want to take a nap.
I am officially done as of last night, after submitting the one (!!) school that asked me for 2 samples... Revising and shortening a whole separate paper at this stage when I'm so burnt out was murderous. Being done feels so good, though. You'll get there!
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question.. would a program email you if they were missing a rec letter and the deadline passed? for one of my schools, I had a recommender send their letter via hard copy because of issues uploading, but obviously in this case there is not an automated response/updated status in the portal when the letter is submitted/received like it does when you submit electronically.
I had emailed back and forth w the grad coordinator letting them know the letter would come this way, and my professor told me they sent it - so I'm mostly being paranoid, but would I actually have any way of knowing if something went wrong and the letter never was received by admissions...?
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On 12/24/2019 at 11:08 AM, Warelin said:
Professors understand that interests change and wouldn't hold it against you if you decided against a school. The application process is ultimately about your future and interests. Professors also won't know if you decided to not apply to a school unless they're on the committee for that school. Those records are kept confidential. I think applying to schools which you feel are your preferred schools is the most important thing you can do. Your preferences might change again during grad school; schools know that. If you think there are schools with a better fit that fit your interests, apply to those instead. Is it possible to submit an application to the university where the professor you were interested in moved to? Does that school interest you?
The prof moved to another program already on my list! So that was convenient. I’m combing back through the faculty pages for this school to see if I could still make a reasonable case for fit, but you’re right - I wouldn’t want to go to the school if it can’t actually support my interests and at that rate I would be better off saving my money.
on a somewhat related note- how might a POI being on leave this school year (2019-20) affect things? Presumably one could still work with them after they return, but would adcoms not want to take students interested in working w them without being able to confer with them etc?
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1 hour ago, onerepublic96 said:
Does anyone feel like their research interests have shifted since beginning the application process? Or perhaps not shifted, but been refined/clarified a bit? I’m trying to finish up my last three applications for January and I’m realising that one of the schools is actually a pretty poor fit, even though according to my notes I initially had some POIs picked out.
Seriously debating if I should go ahead and apply anyway, since my profs have all sent in recommendations... but on the other hand, it’s $120...
I’m in a very similar position with one of my Jan deadline schools!! in part because my research interests have become more solidified and also because one of the faculty members I was interested in working with moved to another program. I’m also torn between apprehension about the app fee but being hung up on the fact that profs already submitted recs.
I also felt like one of my Dec schools was a stretch for fit for similar reasons when I was writing the SOP, but I already had a few waiver so I decided to give it a whirl.
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1 hour ago, Narrative Nancy said:
I literally just came back on the forum to search for projected acceptance dates, haha. Thanks for feeding into my desire to lengthen the process on one hand, and shorten it on the other. I'll check out WashU!
On that note... is there a thread somewhere with a list of the notification dates from previous cycles? I swear I’ve seen one but I haven’t been able to search it up.
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16 minutes ago, onerepublic96 said:
Submitted Yale's app 10 minutes late. Whoops. ?
I submitted many of my undergrad apps a few hours late and still got into those programs (including the one I am attending!) I could see graduate admissions being more strict, but I would venture 10 minutes is probably not the end of the world.
2021 Applicants
in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition
Posted
I heard about Princeton sociology and have worried english programs may be next... Though, I have taken a few cursory glances and it seems some programs have specific info about the 2021 cycle on their websites already, which is promising.
I do have a question for the group - how is the current situation shaping where you are deciding to apply, if at all? It's a liiittle early to be toiling over it too much, and I imagine how universities respond/fare during the forthcoming fall term will be very telling - but I'm curious to hear where everyone else's thoughts are currently.