caffeinated applicant

Yeah, I haven't heard from them. My work situation has changed dramatically w/ coronavirus though and I'm now working like 65-hour weeks, though, so frankly, I have not reached out at all to them in a month. With the whole corona thing, I'm like, maybe I get in this year, maybe I don't. If I don't, maybe I reapply this fall, maybe I wait for fall 2022. The future is just so uncertain that I've stopped pretending I know what outcomes would be better, what outcomes would be worse. (Thinking about "outcomes" as, for instance, beginning a PhD in fall 2020 versus beginning in fall 2023, or even getting a completely different type of job.)

I'm not a current grad student (obviously lol) and my perspective is informed by very few data points. But if the offer package right now is basically the same (not like, private is offering 3x the money right now or includes health insurance while public doesn't), I'd say go with the strong union. I've seen friends at union schools get packages increased and cuts blocked because of the union, whereas I've seen schools without a union slash through grad student packages no matter how wealthy the school is. I think the crisis will exacerbate that divide and that a large endowment won't protect grad students. Obviously this is not super meaningful advice whatsoever given lack of specific knowledge about the programs you're considering and lack of insider knowledge about union accomplishments. But that's my thought process from a place of very low information.

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.

Yes, certainly check with an advisor on wording!

Terribly terribly sorry to hear this!!! I don't have words for this crisis, but this is terribly upsetting to hear, and you'll be in my thoughts. We're all rooting for you!

From what I've heard (not from SDSU in particular, but several other unis), this is an acceptance and the Graduate Division review is just a formality. Congratulations!

I'm with @WildeThing here. Do what's best for you, of course, but my thought is that an English PhD doesn't nearly so often lead to a job that will pay off those loans the way an MD or JD does. Would you be okay with paying off loans when you're 40 or 50 or even beyond? Some people are, some aren't. If it were me, I would study up, take whatever job I could that would give me the most time to study in off-hours (temping is often full-time and reliable hours, and I know a few people who prefer restaurant work because then they can write during the day and work at night), and apply again this fall. I remember from a couple months back that you're interested in teaching; I had a reasonably good experience in college working for a private tutoring company--some of them are really good money. Private schools also have different requirements for teaching certification, so there might be something there--I've got a friend, for instance, who taught for two years at a private school between college and applying for PhDs, with no prior teaching experience that I'm aware of whatsoever, including no certification. I was recruited for teaching, too, from a private school placement company that advertised new teachers not needing certification.

I'd like to retract my previous post truly did not comprehend the level that responses on all levels of US public health were gonna fuck up containment whoops

This is so heartbreaking, and it's absolutely appropriate for you to mourn the loss of these months! Please also remember that even though you're not able to go to the conferences or accept the awards to applause (i.e., take the honors that you deserve!!), you have still achieved all these things--I mean that both in the sense that you should feel just as good about your accomplishments, but more to the point, all of this still belongs on a CV, like so: Invited Presentations "Title" at Conference, Location, Date * "Title" at Conference, Location, Date* *These conferences were not held due to global health crisis from COVID019. You'll not be the only one with an asterisk--everyone's careers will be in the same boat. So don't worry about that. But in the meantime... it sucks so much that you're missing these things, as well as just your remaining months at university. It's cosmically unfair, and I'm very sorry, in the sense of being quite sad for you and for your peers. Also I will personally eat anyone who quips "Life isn't fair" in response to college seniors' sadness at the things they're set to miss out on.

I'd like to nominate BU for the award of "Grad Café's Choice: Worst Admissions Process" for 2020 ???? "I'm not too sure myself"... dang.

As someone sitting on two waitlists and no acceptances, I disagree with this one. Right now I'm not able to do my usual due-diligence on schools due to turmoil in my own work and personal life due to the virus sucking up every waking hour, and anyway, many schools and individual people aren't nearly as responsive as they would be otherwise in mid-March--because the virus is sucking up all their time too--so even the emails I do send don't get responses. I want the space to hold these conversations in the middle of April, instead of feeling like my time to get answers and reassure programs of my interest is going down the drain as I make sure that my family is safe and try to help others in and beyond my personal circles. Getting an acceptance on May 17th wouldn't be that different to me than getting it on April 17th, so far as the logistics of moving my entire life and my partner's life to a different state would be, but knowing that the deadline was extended would make my March less of a hellscape. And I know that others are in much, much worse positions! I'm like, top 10% easiest situations! I wish that the deadlines could be uniformly pushed back two weeks or a month so that professors and current students didn't have to deal with grad admissions stuff on top of their mountain of existing responsibilities due to moving classes online, childcare up in the air, professional obligations like standing on sand, etc. etc. I wish the deadlines were pushed back so that current undergrads didn't have to juggle this on top of forced evictions from their dorms. I wish, I wish...

Don't recall the specific text, but some sample language: Thank you again for considering my application. I have made the difficult decision to enroll at another program, and I would like for my name to be removed from the waitlist for 2020 admission.

Yeah, IMO Harvard in particular is handling this very poorly--short notice, short window to leave, and it appears from social media like the only surefire way to get someone's attention to get essential assistance from the university is to tweet about it and get replies from curious reporters the Boston Herald and WaPo. Compare Princeton and Yale's response, which has been to urge students to go home and remain home after spring break ends but, to the best of my knowledge, not require it or close facilities. And that's before even considering if closing campus entirely and moving to online the right thing to do from an ethical or public health standpoint, which I'm not sure that it is if it includes sending European and Asian students back to outbreak zones, or even sending students back to the Bay Area, NYC, or Seattle. And that's even before considering the ethical quandaries related to the university's obligations to students who simply can't afford to up and leave, to professors being asked to move everything online on a dime, to employees of the university (including grad students, undergrad student workers, and hourly staff) who may or may not be paid in a closure..... Even if on the second two levels, it was determined that this was the right thing to do, a bit of compassion on that first could go a long way...

No advice, just solidarity. I've emailed one out of three so far. Trying to get the energy up to email the other two this week... Cosign @snorkles's thought about in person may be easier--I didn't even think of this as it's not a possibility for me due to how far I moved after college, and one of my recommenders is at an even further-out university. I phrase my one email as "here's an update on my application process; thinking ahead, if not admitted I believe I'll reapply this fall, could we chat about strategy after the end of the spring semester." Prof responded with a characteristically short but not cool reply not to give up on waitlist but would be happy to chat. When we do, I'll ask explicitly if prof is willing to write another reference. I think I'll take a similar approach for the other two.

Two waitlists, no acceptances, and one of the schools has been completely non-responsive to my emails (one mid-Feb, one last week). I'm at the point in time where I need to start reaching out to faculty and grad students directly if I want to have those pre-decision conversations about program life. I had been hoping to be connected to people via the DGS or whomever, the way that if you are invited to campus, you are given a schedule of meetings with people who are--presumably--excited to speak with you and already plan to convey a significant amount of information to you in an organized way, but it doesn't appear that this is in the cards. I get that faculty have many important responsibilities, all the more so during the current coronavirus outbreak, but I'm feeling quite down today about waitlist-as-not-priority-student all the same. The calculus makes sense--you have limited time and thus devote it to the admitted students, that's fair--but my existing insecurities make this legwork to connect with people in the program all the more agonizing.

I don't know you, I don't know your story, yadda yadda, but if it were me: I would take UW Madison's MFA offer and turn down the PhDs without asking for deferrals. I would bet that if I had a second crack at PhD applications after an MFA, I'd have a much better shot at Chicago or Brown or Duke Lit or Harvard. UW Madison is one of the great MFA programs in this country, and without any real evidence to back this up, I would think that a UW MFA would make my application look better to a committee, even before the improvements to my application that I'd be able to make with two additional years in a writing program. And hell, maybe in two years I would see instead an opening to teach creative writing or work a cool day job while I query a novel, rather than apply to PhDs again right away. The world is wide open. I'm with you on the wariness about planning out your life until you're 30 when you're 22 (with apologies and adjustments if you're an older or younger college senior!). Helpful context: As you'll see in my signature, I didn't apply to any UCs. I made that determination before looking at faculty or programs or anything based on the funding situation in the UC system--low pay, high cost-of-living (especially rent), and frankly, I couldn't be 100% sure that a UC would keep their promises on full funding.

I'd suggest reaching out to Brown if you haven't heard yet! Not aware of anyone still waiting on them, and it's been a couple weeks since they notified now.

Congratulations!!!!! Such exciting news in March!!

Congrats on the MA acceptance! Definitely that should serve as another endorsement from a top-name school that you're going to do great things as a graduate student ?

They should definitely write back to close the loop. The email might have gotten lost--perhaps a good idea to send a quick-follow up like "Dear so and so, I was hoping to confirm receipt of my earlier email to ensure that you're aware that I have made the difficult decision not to attend X."

A handful things friends of mine who were going straight from undergrad to grad did: - One friend took the time to get their driver's license. - Save some money. Pretty self-explanatory. Get a summer job. You can bag groceries or whip up lattes for 30hrs/wk instead of doing a fancy internship and it really doesn't matter since you're already in grad school. Frankly, bagging groceries probably pays better than fancy internships... - Spend time with family. There's a decent chance that this transition means fewer trips home, or shorter trips. - Do something meaningful that you might not have time to do in the next summers. One friend, for example, served as a counselor for a summer camp for kids who'd been through traumas. - Find a type of exercise/movement that you like. Starting an activity is the hardest part. If you can get into a rhythm this summer, it'll be easier to maintain in grad school than if you're starting from scratch.

@tinymica: Remain calm--it's going to be okay. They are not going to pull your acceptance. All you have to do is be professional--as in, show up showered and don't tell bawdy jokes. They already think that you are extremely bright and prepared. You have nothing to prove to them. These visits exist for one reason: they want to make you want to come here. Seriously. Shake off the imposter syndrome. Swan into every room. This is your victory lap. You have earned it. Don't worry about trying to look smart. Be prepared to talk about the work that you've done in undergrad and the work that you're interested in doing in the future. Dress fairly nice. Bring questions for the current grad students about quality of life and department support. Wipe clear your memories of prior (non-)interactions with that one faculty member. You've got this. (NB: My perspective here is as someone who has listened to many a grad student describe these events, which they attended as current students and prospective students, in various fields.) Edited to add: Just want to underscore that this goes for everyone nervous about going into visits. You earned this.

Thanks for this whole post, @WildeThing! I'm sure I'll be messaging you in the coming days about the program to prepare myself in case I do get an eleventh-hour offer. Re. this particular point, I was trying to explain this to a friend in a biology PhD program to answer her question about "What do you mean they told you they don't rank their waitlist?" and her response was basically, "That's the most complicated and wild thing I've ever heard." Apparently in her program, they just hope every year not to admit all people who want to do the same project! I imagine it must be so difficult as a committee to weigh the waitlist for an English program and keep their cohort evenly distributed among all of the different periods, professors needing to advise, methods, interests... particularly since they must know as well as students that interests change and shift. The director of graduate admissions at UVA seemed especially conscious of the strain that the process puts on graduate applicants--I don't envy him or any other decision-makers this month as they try to build a cohort.

You may have already mentioned already that you've checked the portal for Maryland today and I missed it, but FWIW, my portal updated 2/25 with a decision letter (rejection). No email notification, coordinator (Heather) never replied to my email asking for status update/timeline.

The news about COVID-19 is so scary, and many people are specifically trying to make it sound scarier because half of all news is just a drama machine, so I completely understand why you're feeling anxious! I'm writing this with the assumption that your visits are US and clustered mainly in the northeast US: You'll be fine. You're in more danger of getting the flu or a common cold (most of which are caused by other coronaviruses! like yeah SARS is a coronavirus but so is "that headcold I had for a couple days") than COVID-19. If you've got regular access to a doc,* ask them for some general illness-prevention advice while traveling, which will probably be along the lines of "take some vitamin C, drink a lot of water, try to keep as good a sleep schedule as you can, carry hand sanitizer, and wash your hands often." Just to go through the very outlier cases, in case that helps with the anxiety, as it helps me to think about "what's the worst that could happen" sometimes: The most likely "worst case" scenario here is that you have to self-quarantine when you get home because a couple of people you never met who were 20 miles away from you at the closest tested positive. And it's not even terribly likely! A much less likely worst case scenario would be that you would be quarantined in the city of your visit. Even if you somehow got the virus, it's really only dangerous for middle-aged and elderly people with health risks like a history of smoking or a prior lung condition. Honestly, the biggest thing to worry about to me would be financial. Perhaps consider looking into travel insurance or whether your health insurance will cover you if you are placed under observation. But even this, I have to emphasize, really isn't very likely to happen. It sounds to me like this is a general anxiety latching onto coronavirus because that's where people are steering it. Don't let that happen. Breathe, process the anxiety as best you can, and if you're going to worry, try to worry about something other than COVID-19. * In the US, think a televisit w/ doc or nurse hotline via private insurance. In the UK, from what I remember after spending nine months there as a student, the NHS operates a nurse hotline that works pretty well for this kind of thing. If you're a current student in either place, the campus health center/college nurse is a good one too. Source: I've been closely following coverage from the New York Times and NPR in the US, because illness narratives are of academic interest to me and idk I really liked Contagion.