karamazov

Thanks for the input! I will definitely write a follow-up email, then.

I emailed the DGS at one of the programs to which I've been accepted in order to decline my offer about a week ago, but I still haven't had any sort of acknowledgement from him... I've declined one other offer this cycle and the DGS of that program got back to me the next day. Do not all programs acknowledge when you decline or did I just somehow make a really negative impression this one time or...? We had spoken via email previously so it's not like I had never had any contact with him before.

I'd definitely suggest really scoping out the rental markets in the areas around all of the schools you're considering. Before applying I made my list of schools based in part on areas I liked and could imagine myself (and my partner) living in for 5-6 years, but I (stupidly) didn't crosscheck my assumptions about the cost of living in certain cities with actual rent prices. This mostly applies to Boston- I had visited before and really loved the area, and just, for some reason, assumed that since it wasn't NYC or DC, rent would be moderately reasonable. I ended up applying to four PhD programs in the area, and not until after I started getting acceptances did I really begin to understand just how much it would cost me to keep up the standard of living to which I'm accustomed. So, definitely be realistic with yourself about how much you (and, if you're planning to move with a partner, your partner) are comfortable spending on living expenses each month. I had more or less assumed I wouldn't really be getting into any PhD programs straight out of undergrad, so I guess all of the details just didn't seem real to me? Since I saw being accepted anywhere as such a long shot, I think I had a sort of "I doubt I'll get in but if I do I'll figure out the details later (as if getting in would even happen, lol)" attitude. So, I'd say that while yes, you need to be prepared for the worst, you also need to be prepared for the best. Oh, and another aspect of preparing for the best- if you're applying as a senior in undergrad, even if you doubt, like I did, that you'll come out of your first cycle with any acceptances, make sure you figure out beforehand how you'll handle missing class to visit programs. I had been so stressed about completing my applications and hearing back that I never really gave much thought to the logistics of campus visits while still a full-time undergraduate student. So I guess that while yes, there's always a very real possibility of not getting any acceptances, there's also a very real possibility of getting acceptances, so make sure you're ready for both outcomes and all that those outcomes entail.

UNC Chapel Hill actually directly addressed the question of the campus visit in the waitlist email. The DGS invited me to their open house because they "often end up admitting people into the program from the waitlist" so they'd "love" for me to attend. I guess this means that different programs really do handle their waitlisted students in drastically different ways... which I find really interesting. Maybe some programs know at the outset that they're more or less likely to admit off the waitlist? Maybe it's a question of funds? Regardless, even if I hadn't been invited to the open house, I would definitely have reached out to arrange a time to visit. Like @caffeinated applicant says, committing to spend half a decade at a school and in a city that you possibly haven't even set foot in before seems really risky. If I end up with an offer off the waitlist, I'd definitely want to know what I was getting into before committing.

Declined my offer to South Carolina today.

HELLO, FRIENDS! I just received word that I'm on the waitlist at UNC Chapel Hill!! I am so excited and so flattered that they are seriously considering me and I would absolutely die if I got in! The DGS sent a very kind letter and he sounded positive about the likelihood of admission! Still, I know I shouldn't get my hopes up too much, but I really am extremely pleased that it wasn't the rejection I expected. I had thought I'd have my decision made by the middle of March, but it looks like I'm going to be in this for the long haul! (Also, I sure wasn't expecting an email from the DGS at 10:59pm.)

Just booked my flights for my visits to Tufts and Penn State!

@TiredStressed @asongreference Joining the ~still waiting to hear from UNC~ club! I'm wondering if maybe we're on the waitlist for the waitlist that @CanadianEnglish found out about? If I don't hear anything by the end of the week I'm probably going to email the DGS.

Just sent an email to the DGS at UT Knoxville declining my funded offer to their MA program. Hoping this helps someone else out!

So are we assuming that the one acceptance and one waitlist will be it for UNC Chapel Hill? Only two posts on the board seems like so few but it's already almost 4pm EST the next day and no one else has heard a peep...

1. The offer letter says that "you can count on opportunities to teach advanced composition courses or courses in our undergraduate English program related to your area of study." 2. Maybe? Possibly? This is something that makes me nervous. I worked around 20 hours/week for the majority of undergrad while taking classes and still managed to build solid relationships with professors, so I might be able to make it work, but I also know that grad courses are obviously more demanding than undergrad courses. 3. I'd be eligible for a one semester release from teaching while working on my dissertation. There are also other opportunities for release time through centers associated with the department, but those are awarded "on a competitive basis." 4. I don't have any teaching experience, no. 5. The expected time-to-completion for the program where I'd be teaching from the beginning is six years, and they provide funding for all six years, plus a post-doc in exchange for a timely defense. The other program's funding package is provided for five years, but the expected time-to-completion is six years, so they have you apply for dissertation completion fellowships to cover the final year. 6. There definitely appear to be more networking opportunities at the school that guarantees the full six years of funding but requires more teaching. I'll also add that the school that requires more teaching is ranked 27 and the school with the fellowship year is ranked 57. I know that rankings aren't everything, but this seems like a fairly significant difference. I'm trying to weigh whether the fellowship year would really be worth choosing a school in the 50s over a school in the 20s. The school in the 20s also has more faculty members in my area of interest... But then again, teaching my very first year in the program could detract from my ability to really excel in coursework.

What are folks' thoughts about fellowships vs. opportunities to teach upper division courses? Of my two current top choices, one is offering me a fellowship for my first year, and the other requires me to teach my first year. The school that requires teaching the first year, though, offers opportunities for students to teach upper division literature courses when they're ABD, and I'd love to have that experience. Since research-focused positions are even rarer than teaching-focused positions (which themselves are, of course, insanely rare), I would think the extra courses would be good for pitching myself to a teaching-focused institution when I'm on the market, but then again, a year on fellowship sounds pretty nice. Of course I'm considering a number of other factors, but I'd be interested to hear what y'all think about this point.

Ah yes, the horror of realizing months after submitting an application that two faculty members at that school have research interests that fit perfectly with your own but you totally did not mention them at all in your SoP (and instead mentioned faculty with interests less neatly aligned with your own...) ... :') Very much a "repeatedly hitting my head on my desk" type moment.

I'm in at Northeastern???

@urbanfarmer @The Hoosier Oxonian @caffeinated applicant Thank you so much for the input! I think I'll try to attend the scheduled visit dates if at all possible, then. I'll talk to each of my professors about it and hopefully they'll all be willing to work with me about the missed class time.

Last year they sent out acceptances over the course of a few weeks!

Is anyone else trying to figure out how to manage visit dates while still in undergrad? Or does anyone from past cycles have advice about this? I've already missed two days of class, and I'm now looking at another three visits, two of which will require missing even more class. Both of those schools have expressed some flexibility about visit dates, so I'm tempted to see if I could visit sometime when I will not be missing class (spring break, maybe), but I'm also worried I might be missing something by not attending the regularly scheduled accepted students event. I really want to attend so I can make as informed a decision as possible, but visiting during the scheduled times would ultimately mean missing more class in this one semester of undergrad than I have missed in any of my other semesters combined. The thought of missing that much school makes me anxious but I'm also not sure if asking to come on another day would be kind of obnoxious of me and/or if by not going on the appointed day I'd be missing out on something. Since I'm applying straight out of undergrad I really did not think I was going to have any acceptances this cycle, so the logistics of campus visits in the middle of the semester had never really crossed my mind (until now). Does anyone have thoughts on this? Is anyone dealing with the same issue? I know this is a really privileged problem to have and I'm beyond grateful to have options but this is worrying me nonetheless.

Found out this afternoon that I'm in at Penn State!! I was nearly crying when I got off the phone with the DGS. I am still in shock.

I'm one of the Tufts PhD acceptances! Based on past years' results, waitlists seem to come out a few days later than acceptances, so I wouldn't say it's necessarily a rejection if you haven't heard anything yet.

As my flight home from my Northeastern pre-admissions visit was about to take off, I received an acceptance email from Tufts! I somehow managed to not shriek on the plane but I was definitely doing a happy dance in my seat. I am so insanely pumped and so extremely grateful!

UNC Wilmington's MA program offers funded teaching assistantships to select applicants, and their priority deadline isn't until March 15. Georgia State also offers funding in the form of writing studio work for first year MA students and teaching assistantships for second year MA students, and their deadline is on February 15.

I'm a tiny bit puzzled by the lone Brandeis rejection that was posted on the board today... It looks like they've sent out rejections mostly on the same day in past years, so I'm curious as to why only one person got one today. Strange. I guess maybe they'll release more tomorrow?

Love spending all day refreshing my email and then dreaming all night about refreshing my email... I am slowly but surely losing my mind.

Okay, awesome! Thanks for the info! And congrats again!

Okay, nice! I also applied to the MA. In past years they've sent out acceptances over a number of weeks so I'm going to try not to lose all hope.