meghan_sparkle

In at Yale with the kindest email I've ever read from the DGS oh my god 

Just to qualify my earlier reply re: Berkeley: it might be the case that like most schools they extend more offers than they want to enroll, knowing a few will decline, so they might not actually pull from the waitlist every year if the no's hovers around the same number—but still I think that grad coordinator's framing, if true as conveyed, is kinda disingenuous.
I have a question, though unless current students are lurking maybe it won't get answered. When is a good idea for international applicants to book flights to visit dates? I'm an American living & working in the UK, and still have 6/8 schools to hear from (expecting nothing, though; even if I get rejected everywhere else I'll consider this cycle a success) so not 100% sure what days in March I should plan to be in the US. Right now it's Berkeley (weekend around the 13th) and Chicago (6th). I don't want to book a round trip flight just for the two I've heard from assuming I'll fly back after Berkeley's because these tickets will be nonrefundable (I know you can book flexible tickets, but they're way more expensive and probably outside of the travel allowance).
But then again, I guess most other schools I haven't heard from—even if by some miracle/poor choice on their part I get into any—would have visit dates much later in March, so the choice is already between two trips (one early March one later March) or one long trip (staying with family in between visits). I work from home so could do this. Just not sure what is the best idea ... organizationally. Anyway, this is silly, maybe I should just book now assuming I won't get in anywhere else? Tickets will only get more expensive the longer I wait, and judging by past years, I will have some news next week, and then the rest the week after. 

Yes. Please. Take it easy, guys! The specifics in this case are specific to her. I understand that this is a difficult time for the rest of us, but this hounding is uncalled for. 
 

Perhaps I'm misinterpreting, so apologies if so, but calm down, dude. Her sharing specific details about herself and her application are not really going to help you with yours, and her doing so would not really be "paying it forward" as you so put it. 
 
I feel like there's more to say, but as I may be misinterpreting it, I'll leave it at that.

You all are too sweet. I hesitate to do this, not necessarily because it would reveal personally identifying information (though no doubt it would—I just mean I don't really care about that; I mean, I've showed my ass here no more than I usually do on Twitter or something similar) but because ... well, I'm not sure it would be helpful, and at worst it might be misleading? I first looked at gradcafe the last year of undergrad (a 3 year BA for me) and it freaked me out so much that I didn't apply that cycle, or the two after that! (Did a 1 year masters and have been working full-time as an editor the past year.) From the results board, it seemed like scores of people with insanely impressive stats got rejected each year; from the forums it seemed like everyone was doing so much and it was all a lottery and I felt paltry by comparison. I had weak parts of my profile, weak parts of my app—still did even this year!—and literally none of my mentors educated at places like Yale/Harvard/Brown said 'Oh you'll get in you'll be fine'. Nothing is guaranteed, and I think there is an element of lottery here. 
The fact is I did a ton of things with the hope that it might make my application stronger and I could roll out that laundry list, but I'm sure only a few of them were deciding 'standout' factors and it's impossible to know which (I mean, I have a couple hunches, but maybe they're different for each school, who knows). I would hate to say "Hmm, maybe I got in because of this", or "Maybe it was a combination of this, this and this" make anyone think they had to do all of that in order to get in. Also: the few schools that have indicated to me what they felt was strong about my application—well, news to me, that wasn't my opinion of those elements when submitting lol. What this process has taught me, if anything, is that a strong writing sample and an SOP that truly reflects your research interests and intellectual ambitions—whatever those may be—is really what counts. And the thing is, those're the two elements that we on GradCafe never see from each other! 
Anyway sorry this was a roundabout non-answer, if y'all still want to know I'll give some profile details but did wanna give that disclaimer!
 

In at Yale with the kindest email I've ever read from the DGS oh my god 

In at Yale with the kindest email I've ever read from the DGS oh my god 

Got in at Buffalo with a pretty nice stipend considering the living cost in that area, congrats to all the other admits from today and especially to anyone who got their first acceptance! Good luck to everyone going into the next week of February.

In at Yale with the kindest email I've ever read from the DGS oh my god 

In at Yale with the kindest email I've ever read from the DGS oh my god 

You all are too sweet. I hesitate to do this, not necessarily because it would reveal personally identifying information (though no doubt it would—I just mean I don't really care about that; I mean, I've showed my ass here no more than I usually do on Twitter or something similar) but because ... well, I'm not sure it would be helpful, and at worst it might be misleading? I first looked at gradcafe the last year of undergrad (a 3 year BA for me) and it freaked me out so much that I didn't apply that cycle, or the two after that! (Did a 1 year masters and have been working full-time as an editor the past year.) From the results board, it seemed like scores of people with insanely impressive stats got rejected each year; from the forums it seemed like everyone was doing so much and it was all a lottery and I felt paltry by comparison. I had weak parts of my profile, weak parts of my app—still did even this year!—and literally none of my mentors educated at places like Yale/Harvard/Brown said 'Oh you'll get in you'll be fine'. Nothing is guaranteed, and I think there is an element of lottery here. 
The fact is I did a ton of things with the hope that it might make my application stronger and I could roll out that laundry list, but I'm sure only a few of them were deciding 'standout' factors and it's impossible to know which (I mean, I have a couple hunches, but maybe they're different for each school, who knows). I would hate to say "Hmm, maybe I got in because of this", or "Maybe it was a combination of this, this and this" make anyone think they had to do all of that in order to get in. Also: the few schools that have indicated to me what they felt was strong about my application—well, news to me, that wasn't my opinion of those elements when submitting lol. What this process has taught me, if anything, is that a strong writing sample and an SOP that truly reflects your research interests and intellectual ambitions—whatever those may be—is really what counts. And the thing is, those're the two elements that we on GradCafe never see from each other! 
Anyway sorry this was a roundabout non-answer, if y'all still want to know I'll give some profile details but did wanna give that disclaimer!
 

In at Yale with the kindest email I've ever read from the DGS oh my god 

In at Yale with the kindest email I've ever read from the DGS oh my god 

You all are too sweet. I hesitate to do this, not necessarily because it would reveal personally identifying information (though no doubt it would—I just mean I don't really care about that; I mean, I've showed my ass here no more than I usually do on Twitter or something similar) but because ... well, I'm not sure it would be helpful, and at worst it might be misleading? I first looked at gradcafe the last year of undergrad (a 3 year BA for me) and it freaked me out so much that I didn't apply that cycle, or the two after that! (Did a 1 year masters and have been working full-time as an editor the past year.) From the results board, it seemed like scores of people with insanely impressive stats got rejected each year; from the forums it seemed like everyone was doing so much and it was all a lottery and I felt paltry by comparison. I had weak parts of my profile, weak parts of my app—still did even this year!—and literally none of my mentors educated at places like Yale/Harvard/Brown said 'Oh you'll get in you'll be fine'. Nothing is guaranteed, and I think there is an element of lottery here. 
The fact is I did a ton of things with the hope that it might make my application stronger and I could roll out that laundry list, but I'm sure only a few of them were deciding 'standout' factors and it's impossible to know which (I mean, I have a couple hunches, but maybe they're different for each school, who knows). I would hate to say "Hmm, maybe I got in because of this", or "Maybe it was a combination of this, this and this" make anyone think they had to do all of that in order to get in. Also: the few schools that have indicated to me what they felt was strong about my application—well, news to me, that wasn't my opinion of those elements when submitting lol. What this process has taught me, if anything, is that a strong writing sample and an SOP that truly reflects your research interests and intellectual ambitions—whatever those may be—is really what counts. And the thing is, those're the two elements that we on GradCafe never see from each other! 
Anyway sorry this was a roundabout non-answer, if y'all still want to know I'll give some profile details but did wanna give that disclaimer!
 

In at Yale with the kindest email I've ever read from the DGS oh my god 

In at Yale with the kindest email I've ever read from the DGS oh my god 

In at Yale with the kindest email I've ever read from the DGS oh my god 

In at Yale with the kindest email I've ever read from the DGS oh my god 

I was just about to go to bed and I got into UC Berkeley ?
EDIT: Just noticed the line: "The Berkeley English Department has nominated you for a prestigious university fellowship; as soon as we know the outcome of that nomination, I will be back in touch to clarify the offer." WHAT??! WHAT!

In at Yale with the kindest email I've ever read from the DGS oh my god 

I am really happy to see some people who were doubting themselves really be proven wrong. Many many hands for claps for yale offers!!! 

In at Yale with the kindest email I've ever read from the DGS oh my god 

Really? Man, if so, this is just crazy and so inappropriate of him to say. I know multiple people from my university who've turned down Berkeley English or Comp Lit just in the last few years. There are people every year who get accepted to multiple top programs, and, faced with an impossible choice, turn down places for all kinds of reasons. It isn't a rare thing and no program is above it. 

IN AT YALE!!!  IM GOING TO LOSE MY MIND I DON'T KNOW WHO I AM ANYMORE 

In at Yale with the kindest email I've ever read from the DGS oh my god