MichelleObama

I didn't even apply to Harvard and I'm still checking my email like I did! WHAT IS GOING ON IN PROVIDENCE I HAVE YET TO RECEIVE ANYTHING FROM THAT LACKADAISICAL REGION OF THIS WRETCHED COUNTRY IS IT MARCH YET. Is anyone else still waiting for Brown?

My SO is also unwilling to consider relocating--we are both from the west coast and I only applied to schools in the east as I have lived in the same region for 31 years. I'm not particularly interested in the sun or any of the UC schools, but we went to San Diego to visit his family over Christmas and I definitely felt like a moron for not applying to any of the UC's/Stanford! The sun is really cool, Seattle just made me forget that. We both have pretty lovely lives set up here and he isn't down to give up the community and opportunities he has set up for himself here, which I respect. Hell, I already have people waiting in line for my job and apartment! Our plan is to do long-distance until we decide to start a family (probably around the time I enter candidacy), at which point he will have to move. He's a touring musician and goes on east coast tours a couple times a year, so there will be that! I love the idea of catching one of his shows in Brooklyn or Cambridge. Until then, I'm kind of looking forward to long distance?? I love the idea of being physically displaced from my family, SO, and friends and grinding out this first year immersed in my department and my research.

Penn has some strong women on their faculty studying Shakespeare and race theory and I am VERY ANXIOUS TO HEAR FROM THEM. I was nervous about my application this cycle because there aren't so many faculty in programs I found desirable working within that particular niche. I'm not especially interested in complicating the decision I already have to make, but a Penn acceptance would definitely f*ck me allll the way up. I took the GRE (performed medium well on verbal and writing with an embarrassingly low quantitative score) at the last minute specifically for Penn and Yale & my scores reflect the impulse ?

Well said.

I bartend at a mid-sized music venue which has 2 venues and 5 bars within, so we have a crazy huge staff, lots of security, etc. Last night I was working a [terrible] show, and walked in to balloons, flowers, a bottle of champagne, and a card signed by the whole staff. Two of the touring bands yelled "CONGRATS ON YALE!" because they had been served by an old friend of mine in a town 2 hours away earlier that day, who happened to have told them I had gotten in. Needless to say, I cried in public multiple times yesterday. I've never happy cried this much in my whole life. This process is still the worst f*cking thing tho

I am also a classics nerd! Classical Studies became one of my majors. I took a year of Latin under the Classics and Ancient History minor and found I'd miss classics too much, so I declared the full major and committed to another year of Latin and I am SO glad I did! I want to do a million projects regarding race/slavery/women in antiquity which was part of my research proposal in my SOP. Classics are addictive af. Such a huge chasm in scholarship regarding female slaves!

Thank you!!!

In at Michigan!!!

In at Michigan! WTFFFFFF WHY IS THIS HAPPENINGGGGG I checked the wrong sub-field box on the application and this is definitely one of the schools I sent the wrong CV to ?

After getting home from work at 4am, I violently woke at 8am to check my phone thinking "Princeton Princeton PrincetonPRINCETON!!!!" as if the odds of them notifying on a Sunday were higher than the more likely, and more reasonable, possibility of Monday ? I truly cannot wait to wake up without the waiting feeling. I truly cannot wait to wake up thinking about ONE school and a definite move and a definite program. I can't wait to be institutionally monogamous! Here's hoping this is the last week I have to spend with potential rejection as my constant companion, and maybe I can finally just feel excited. It takes so much courage and so much hard work to even get to the point of submitting a strong application to PhD programs, and my first acceptance was from my top choice! That is very cool! I did it!!! But I can't even be fully stoked because I'm not fully done getting rejected yet! WHAT AN UNHOLY PROCESS THIS IS PLEASE LAWD LET THIS BE THE WEEK The solidarity of this forum has been wicked helpful and I probably would have gone insane without it/y'all. As nervous I am about rejections, I am ~so~ excited to see what acceptances y'all get! Congratulations on your UW offer! I just finished my undergrad there in December and the English Department is so hella wonderful. I've also lived in Seattle for my whole life should you (or anyone) have any questions.

I was just thinking, "If they had really finalized decisions on Thursday, why would they wait this long to start making phone calls?!" I woke up violently, frantically looking for my phone, and my poor partner looked SO over it ?

I am likely going to be doing the opposite switch as my undergrad institution operated on a quarter system and the programs I am considering operate on semesters, but I do know that whenever my professors have lamented the quarter system, it has often been due to the fact that although students have the opportunity to experience an extra course in an academic year, you don't get as much time to marinate with the material, desired texts for the curriculum get omitted because of insufficient time, etc. In WA, the majority of the public post-secondary schools in the state operate on the quarter system, so I haven't actually experienced a semester system since high school. I think I'm looking forward to it? I have been craving more time to dwell with course material, but another benefit of the quarter system is that when I have registered for a course I wish would be over already, the class is probably pretty close to its conclusion by the time I arrive at mine.

Thank you!! Looking forward to meeting you at Yale visit! WHEN WILL WE KNOW WHY BROWN LOVES TORTURE

In at Cornell!!!

YOU ARE! I see now that I was never actually prepared for the possibility of having a choice to make. I am a triple air sign...I am allergic to decisions. Congratulations!! I didn't consider that program until after the deadline and I wish I would have applied.

Received an email from the Graduate Program Coordinator at Cornell requesting a copy of my transcript with the degree awarded information?! If this is anything like what happened with me at Yale, Cornell is definitely announcing decisions very soon! Which we already knew, but still. I would DIE if I got in, even though I'm already dead because I got in anywhere at all ?

I'm deeply relieved to contribute to this board after receiving acceptances from both Yale and Georgetown (MA)! I got my Yale acceptance an hour before I started a Friday night double shift. As a bartender, I get asked about 900 times a day how I'm doing or how my day has been and since Dec 15, I have wanted to say "I spent a sh*t load of money to put my future in the hands of several strangers and am currently waiting to receive judgment on an application I have spent years and hundreds of hours developing, and now I'm just waiting on the confirmation that I'm a full POS. What can I get you?" One of my friends yelled to the whole bar that I had gotten into Yale and everyone clapped and I didn't cry so...Today was a good day.

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

Congrats to all the acceptances & WL's! I would have 10/10 applied to more schools with earlier projected acceptance dates if I would have known how painful waiting during February would truly be. I thought January would be the hardest part, but I was WRONGGG. Yale is my top choice and hearing that they are "very interested" in my application at this point in the cycle--hearing ANYTHING from them at all--gives me some comfort in what's to come in the upcoming weeks. I received a very kind and encouraging email from one of the deans in the GS in reply to their requested summary of how I occupied my time in my breaks from enrollment, but I'm still nervoussss even though... Yale didn't have to ask me anything! If Yale goes out of their way to contact me personally, its probably a very good sign! BUT WHAT IF I END UP ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK ANYWAY BECAUSE EVERYONE ELSE IS A BETTER APPLICANT THAN ME!!!?? THERE IS NO RESPITE!!!

Received an email from the ADGS at Yale declaring their interest and requesting more information about my breaks during school???!!! It took me about a decade to finish my BA while working full-time and often paying out of pocket. Essentially, I took breaks from school because I had lost hope or funding and worked in the service industry until I could save enough to attend again. HOW DOES ONE SPIN THIS FOR YALE??? HOW DOES ONE TYPE WHEN SHAKING BECAUSE YALE

Quick question in case I can possibly assuage my misery--I am 85% positive that I uploaded an inaccurate CV to some of my applications. If this was the case, the CV that I sent was only missing some key details: my honors thesis/advisor info (included in SOP and one of my LOR writers was said thesis advisor), 1 publication (non-academic, but socially & politically relevant), and possibly the research internship I've held with a NYT bestselling author/prof at my undergrad institution, which I've held for two years. The rest of my application is very strong. Should I bother trying to contact DGS at these schools to inquire after a possible replacement? Or let it ride? I might just be driving myself insane????

Long time listener, first time caller--applied to 9 English PhD programs & an additional 2 MA programs. Interested in Shakespeare and early modern/Renaissance drama, critical race theory, whiteness, and poetics. Feeling like I probably aimed too high. Wish I would've applied to more schools. Can't stop checking my email despite the fact that I know I won't hear from any of my schools until closer to valentines day! Praying to sweet baby jesus that I never have to go through this process again.