ja.col

Even though I'm yet to hear from NYU and UPenn (I mean, who HAS - both are implied rejects I suppose (congrats to the admits)), I'm considering the rejection I got from Columbia today as the final nail in the coffin for any further good news. Thinking about this as the end of my application cycle, I can't help but feel relieved - I have one solid acceptance to what has been my dream school since finishing my MA in 2018 (and my dream city since visiting in 2012). Now all I've got to do is visit next week, soak it in, and say yes. Not being Oxford or Cambridge educated, from a failing state secondary school, a "first generation scholar," I was convinced that this application cycle would be a complete bust for me. It turns out that all it takes is one offer to make the whole thing worth it (despite the imposter syndrome I have as a constant companion at the moment). Despite feeling crushed by all the rejection (my supervisor once told me that the experience of working in Academia is the experience of rejection, and keeps a stack of every rejection they ever got in their office), I feel like the luckiest little queer scholar who could. And it really was luck; I hope that you all get just as lucky very soon. x

This is partly why I've decided to leave the UK for PhD, having spent my life in the UK education system. I wish you the best of luck. The UK Academy's ruthlessness with funding is of an entirely different calibre to the States. I hope that it works out in your favour, truly.

Yea Columbia. I didn't have an interview, but am getting sort of mixed messages about what that means. If a subfield was only accepting people from interview it seems strange that they wouldn't have already rejected us? I'm expecting a rejection because I didn't interview, but would just like to know either way. It seems cruel to have a list of confirmed rejections for a good number of weeks and just not saying anything. I guess this whole process is cruel, though.

I have very similar interests and have no updates either. Have there been any acceptances for 20th/21st or gender/sexuality things yet?

Just got my next decision ... an official rejection from Brown ! Relieved to finally be getting some news, even bad.

Very much agree. Feeling very put out by the fact that a few of the schools I'm waiting for already seem to have made their decisions but haven't decided to tell me for reasons unknown to all but themselves. I also have an MA and have opted out of consideration for a terminal MA everywhere I could.

I've been thinking just this... I heard from Stanford over a week ago and have had no news since......... Zilch (probably not good but still)....

I'd second this, I finished my MA in the UK at a very well recognised institution for my subfield, and I know many many PhDs that are completely unfunded (this is especially true of humanities). To get PhD funding, usually the process is that you apply through a university to be nominated to a larger consortium that considers funding for a whole host of institutions - one of the many reasons I'm decided on US schools. Having said that, I'm a relative stranger to Oxbridge (I was rejected by Cam for their MPhil back in 2018), but many Masters (including some friends that went to do the Oxon MSt) students now rely on postgraduate study loans coordinated by Student Finance England that I think are only available to UK students, and barely cover tuition. Don't quote me on it though. Even getting funding for PhDs in the UK, the stipend rates are mostly incredibly low in the humanities.

I've been a long time lurker on this forum, and used it for some great advice earlier in 2019. So I thought, you know, good time to post that I got my first decision of the cycle, and it was an offer from the University of Chicago. !!?

I'm also waiting for Chicago to respond after my interview a week or so ago. I thought maybe I'd hear Friday but didn't, so expect something early next week. I'm very glad to not see any Chicago notifications on this board so far. As I'm from the UK, I have a frustrating wait each day until 3pm before it's even morning in Chicago. Best of luck to you!

Thanks for the tip! I'll check them out. About the SoP: I know the kinds of things I want to propose and focus in on, but the structure of the statements required is still something I'm trying to work out. At the moment I'm trying to find any morsels I can online, and contacting various faculty that I think would be a good fit for me. One step at a time, I guess. I had a proposal for U.K schools drafted, but that's a dissertation proposal, which obviously isn't what I'm doing with the SoP - I'm just adjusting to that right now I think.

Hey all, I'm new here. I'm a recent MA graduate from the U.K. planning on applying to U.S. English PhD programmes this Fall for 2020 admission. I currently have a long list of possibles including some ivies, top ten schools, and some less "prestigious" options. Mostly, the insane amount of schools in the U.S. is really daunting and I could use some great advice from anybody thinking about grad school or currently there. I'm also really open to any unexpected suggestions, as I'm mostly doing my research in a vacuum, with advice only from Professors who are helping me out with thinking about schools and application materials. It's pretty hard to get a feel for things from this side of the Atlantic. I come from a dept. that is pretty well known for its research in 20thC and Contemporary Poetics, and have been advised that I could be looking at 'top' programmes as a realistic prospect (as realistic as 3% admissions rates ever really can be) along with other options. Ideally I'm looking for departments with an interest in anglophone twentieth century and contemporary poetics, critical theory, but am not wedded to these things in particular - partly why I want to travel for the PhD is to participate in longer programmes with more room for changing ideas! I do mostly write about poetics, affect, political economy, all the good things - if that helps. A good city, solid placement and robust funding packages (preferably mostly guaranteed) are all really important to me. Obviously I'd love to go to (and will be applying to) schools like Chicago and UPenn, Berkeley etc, but I'm really looking for schools that don't have the name recognition those do, but still offer really compelling packages and programmes. Any and all advice is really welcome, as I'll be making all of my decisions from across an ocean. Now that I've found these forums, I'll be scrolling continuously to get advice about Statements etc, the structure of the applications are so alien to me from the U.K. system, just want to maximise my chances. For colour, I'm also looking at places like Northwestern, JHU, NYU, USC, a load of the UCs, Michigan, etc. Even sage advice about places I've already mentioned would be beyond useful. Thanks so much!