noneckmonsters

I would try and skype with current students and faculty, several at different stages if you can. Get multiple answers to the same question.

I would write this information in a way that raises your eligibility and funding opportunities. Departments like to know students are committed to the field and can overcome obstacles (specially cause academia has so many obstacles!)... This is great! It probably means they are interested in your application!!! Best of luck!

Hey yall, thought I'd add my info...some of it may be a bummer
Accepted into Emory WGS. Interview first weekend of February, phone call a few days later
Accepted into Stony Brook
Partner has an interview at Maryland WGS
No information from Rutgers at all
Those are the only WGS programs I've applied to. Best of luck to all!

I just want to thank everyone for their kind words after my last post. I spent an hour or so today talking with one of my professors in my MA program and she really made me feel a lot better. Like...yes, the tenure track job is a nightmare, but it's not the only option for folks with a PhD. I can teach at a private high school, work in publishing or grant writing, etc., and that to me would by no means be the end of the world. I'm also in game studies, so there's a chance I could end up with an industry job. (Of course, I'd love a tenure track job, but more than anything I want to make sure I can provide for my family first and foremost.) And I have options internationally, too; my partner is from Korea and we've talked about opening an English academy over there, which of course we'll have better prospects in doing if I have the PhD. Stony Brook has a fairly sizable Korean community and a developed Korean Studies program, too, and so my son will get to grow up exposed to that culture (we're already planning to raise him bilingual). 
Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know I'm doing much better now. Thank you again, and I wish everyone here the best of luck.

Okay immediately after that post Brown officially rejected me. I.........am okay with this. I thought I would be more upset, but I always knew deep down they wouldn’t want me that much and this means I 1) don’t have to move to Providence and 2) I don’t have to break up my relationship. So.....it’s okay.

I think we should all be aware of our positionality when making these arguments. In addition to a great reading load, it is unfortunately true that some scholars will not read all parts of the application. For example, when conservative scholars in English (which there are A LOT! in both public and private school committees) read an application from a private US or British school, they spend more time considering the parts of their application. These biases are real.
Although I have published for respected publishing companies and journals, attended regional and national conferences, and have letters of recommendation from highly respected scholars, private schools will not spend as much time on my application because of my background as a community college and state school alum. That is my experience in academic circle at large. I have been caught in binaries of tokenism and "inferiority" because of my gender and race. So, I think that conflating experience with bad faith is dismissive of people with different backgrounds. I think as scholars and future teachers of english we should be very aware of how we respond to other people's experiences in academia. 
I am curious as to where you received the knowledge that they extend unbiased attention all WS. 

I think we should all be aware of our positionality when making these arguments. In addition to a great reading load, it is unfortunately true that some scholars will not read all parts of the application. For example, when conservative scholars in English (which there are A LOT! in both public and private school committees) read an application from a private US or British school, they spend more time considering the parts of their application. These biases are real.
Although I have published for respected publishing companies and journals, attended regional and national conferences, and have letters of recommendation from highly respected scholars, private schools will not spend as much time on my application because of my background as a community college and state school alum. That is my experience in academic circle at large. I have been caught in binaries of tokenism and "inferiority" because of my gender and race. So, I think that conflating experience with bad faith is dismissive of people with different backgrounds. I think as scholars and future teachers of english we should be very aware of how we respond to other people's experiences in academia. 
I am curious as to where you received the knowledge that they extend unbiased attention all WS. 

I think we should all be aware of our positionality when making these arguments. In addition to a great reading load, it is unfortunately true that some scholars will not read all parts of the application. For example, when conservative scholars in English (which there are A LOT! in both public and private school committees) read an application from a private US or British school, they spend more time considering the parts of their application. These biases are real.
Although I have published for respected publishing companies and journals, attended regional and national conferences, and have letters of recommendation from highly respected scholars, private schools will not spend as much time on my application because of my background as a community college and state school alum. That is my experience in academic circle at large. I have been caught in binaries of tokenism and "inferiority" because of my gender and race. So, I think that conflating experience with bad faith is dismissive of people with different backgrounds. I think as scholars and future teachers of english we should be very aware of how we respond to other people's experiences in academia. 
I am curious as to where you received the knowledge that they extend unbiased attention all WS. 

Thank you for sharing this post. Academia is definitely a competitive field, but it is not the only field where you can find work after a PhD. I read your introductory post, and I'm also a first gen phd applicant. In terms of professionalization and securing a spot, the only recipe I can share is stay close to and work with people who will advocate for you, and have a good lines of communication with the grad center? I know it sounds basic, but it has gotten further than I would have by myself. 
On a personal note: I am reconsidering if a phd is right for me as well. Today, I turned to my Fall notes for inspiration. I kept asking myself what things about each program inspired me to apply. It has been a crazy month. It's okay to take a couple of days to reconsider your situation. We still have fifty days to make a decision (April 15). Ask former professors, reach out to current and former grad students in the next couple of weeks. What are they doing now? What are their thoughts about the program? There is time to think about all of these things. For now just breath. This process is overwhelming. You are doing better than you think. 

I'm not sure about that... I think it depends on the stage of your argument in the WS. I submitted a published chapter as my writing sample. The introduction is actually three pages of description, and the argument is not crystalized until page three. I've gotten accepted into ten programs. I am not sure that I would have been accepted to these places would I have submitted my MA thesis, which is a not nearly as finished as what I have already published. 
Nothing is wrong with my sample. It's been published by Palgrave MacMillan. It sounds like you have a very well organized system in place for elite schools like Brown, Harvard, and Yale, so it probably works for them. But I just want to offer my experience of what works for well respected public institutions. Best of luck to everyone!!!

I think we should all be aware of our positionality when making these arguments. In addition to a great reading load, it is unfortunately true that some scholars will not read all parts of the application. For example, when conservative scholars in English (which there are A LOT! in both public and private school committees) read an application from a private US or British school, they spend more time considering the parts of their application. These biases are real.
Although I have published for respected publishing companies and journals, attended regional and national conferences, and have letters of recommendation from highly respected scholars, private schools will not spend as much time on my application because of my background as a community college and state school alum. That is my experience in academic circle at large. I have been caught in binaries of tokenism and "inferiority" because of my gender and race. So, I think that conflating experience with bad faith is dismissive of people with different backgrounds. I think as scholars and future teachers of english we should be very aware of how we respond to other people's experiences in academia. 
I am curious as to where you received the knowledge that they extend unbiased attention all WS. 

Thank you for sharing this post. Academia is definitely a competitive field, but it is not the only field where you can find work after a PhD. I read your introductory post, and I'm also a first gen phd applicant. In terms of professionalization and securing a spot, the only recipe I can share is stay close to and work with people who will advocate for you, and have a good lines of communication with the grad center? I know it sounds basic, but it has gotten further than I would have by myself. 
On a personal note: I am reconsidering if a phd is right for me as well. Today, I turned to my Fall notes for inspiration. I kept asking myself what things about each program inspired me to apply. It has been a crazy month. It's okay to take a couple of days to reconsider your situation. We still have fifty days to make a decision (April 15). Ask former professors, reach out to current and former grad students in the next couple of weeks. What are they doing now? What are their thoughts about the program? There is time to think about all of these things. For now just breath. This process is overwhelming. You are doing better than you think. 

Thank you for sharing this post. Academia is definitely a competitive field, but it is not the only field where you can find work after a PhD. I read your introductory post, and I'm also a first gen phd applicant. In terms of professionalization and securing a spot, the only recipe I can share is stay close to and work with people who will advocate for you, and have a good lines of communication with the grad center? I know it sounds basic, but it has gotten further than I would have by myself. 
On a personal note: I am reconsidering if a phd is right for me as well. Today, I turned to my Fall notes for inspiration. I kept asking myself what things about each program inspired me to apply. It has been a crazy month. It's okay to take a couple of days to reconsider your situation. We still have fifty days to make a decision (April 15). Ask former professors, reach out to current and former grad students in the next couple of weeks. What are they doing now? What are their thoughts about the program? There is time to think about all of these things. For now just breath. This process is overwhelming. You are doing better than you think. 

I think we should all be aware of our positionality when making these arguments. In addition to a great reading load, it is unfortunately true that some scholars will not read all parts of the application. For example, when conservative scholars in English (which there are A LOT! in both public and private school committees) read an application from a private US or British school, they spend more time considering the parts of their application. These biases are real.
Although I have published for respected publishing companies and journals, attended regional and national conferences, and have letters of recommendation from highly respected scholars, private schools will not spend as much time on my application because of my background as a community college and state school alum. That is my experience in academic circle at large. I have been caught in binaries of tokenism and "inferiority" because of my gender and race. So, I think that conflating experience with bad faith is dismissive of people with different backgrounds. I think as scholars and future teachers of english we should be very aware of how we respond to other people's experiences in academia. 
I am curious as to where you received the knowledge that they extend unbiased attention all WS. 

I'm not sure about that... I think it depends on the stage of your argument in the WS. I submitted a published chapter as my writing sample. The introduction is actually three pages of description, and the argument is not crystalized until page three. I've gotten accepted into ten programs. I am not sure that I would have been accepted to these places would I have submitted my MA thesis, which is a not nearly as finished as what I have already published. 
Nothing is wrong with my sample. It's been published by Palgrave MacMillan. It sounds like you have a very well organized system in place for elite schools like Brown, Harvard, and Yale, so it probably works for them. But I just want to offer my experience of what works for well respected public institutions. Best of luck to everyone!!!

I think we should all be aware of our positionality when making these arguments. In addition to a great reading load, it is unfortunately true that some scholars will not read all parts of the application. For example, when conservative scholars in English (which there are A LOT! in both public and private school committees) read an application from a private US or British school, they spend more time considering the parts of their application. These biases are real.
Although I have published for respected publishing companies and journals, attended regional and national conferences, and have letters of recommendation from highly respected scholars, private schools will not spend as much time on my application because of my background as a community college and state school alum. That is my experience in academic circle at large. I have been caught in binaries of tokenism and "inferiority" because of my gender and race. So, I think that conflating experience with bad faith is dismissive of people with different backgrounds. I think as scholars and future teachers of english we should be very aware of how we respond to other people's experiences in academia. 
I am curious as to where you received the knowledge that they extend unbiased attention all WS. 

I'm not sure about that... I think it depends on the stage of your argument in the WS. I submitted a published chapter as my writing sample. The introduction is actually three pages of description, and the argument is not crystalized until page three. I've gotten accepted into ten programs. I am not sure that I would have been accepted to these places would I have submitted my MA thesis, which is a not nearly as finished as what I have already published. 
Nothing is wrong with my sample. It's been published by Palgrave MacMillan. It sounds like you have a very well organized system in place for elite schools like Brown, Harvard, and Yale, so it probably works for them. But I just want to offer my experience of what works for well respected public institutions. Best of luck to everyone!!!

I'm not sure about that... I think it depends on the stage of your argument in the WS. I submitted a published chapter as my writing sample. The introduction is actually three pages of description, and the argument is not crystalized until page three. I've gotten accepted into ten programs. I am not sure that I would have been accepted to these places would I have submitted my MA thesis, which is a not nearly as finished as what I have already published. 
Nothing is wrong with my sample. It's been published by Palgrave MacMillan. It sounds like you have a very well organized system in place for elite schools like Brown, Harvard, and Yale, so it probably works for them. But I just want to offer my experience of what works for well respected public institutions. Best of luck to everyone!!!

I think we should all be aware of our positionality when making these arguments. In addition to a great reading load, it is unfortunately true that some scholars will not read all parts of the application. For example, when conservative scholars in English (which there are A LOT! in both public and private school committees) read an application from a private US or British school, they spend more time considering the parts of their application. These biases are real.
Although I have published for respected publishing companies and journals, attended regional and national conferences, and have letters of recommendation from highly respected scholars, private schools will not spend as much time on my application because of my background as a community college and state school alum. That is my experience in academic circle at large. I have been caught in binaries of tokenism and "inferiority" because of my gender and race. So, I think that conflating experience with bad faith is dismissive of people with different backgrounds. I think as scholars and future teachers of english we should be very aware of how we respond to other people's experiences in academia. 
I am curious as to where you received the knowledge that they extend unbiased attention all WS. 

I'm not sure about that... I think it depends on the stage of your argument in the WS. I submitted a published chapter as my writing sample. The introduction is actually three pages of description, and the argument is not crystalized until page three. I've gotten accepted into ten programs. I am not sure that I would have been accepted to these places would I have submitted my MA thesis, which is a not nearly as finished as what I have already published. 
Nothing is wrong with my sample. It's been published by Palgrave MacMillan. It sounds like you have a very well organized system in place for elite schools like Brown, Harvard, and Yale, so it probably works for them. But I just want to offer my experience of what works for well respected public institutions. Best of luck to everyone!!!

I think we should all be aware of our positionality when making these arguments. In addition to a great reading load, it is unfortunately true that some scholars will not read all parts of the application. For example, when conservative scholars in English (which there are A LOT! in both public and private school committees) read an application from a private US or British school, they spend more time considering the parts of their application. These biases are real.
Although I have published for respected publishing companies and journals, attended regional and national conferences, and have letters of recommendation from highly respected scholars, private schools will not spend as much time on my application because of my background as a community college and state school alum. That is my experience in academic circle at large. I have been caught in binaries of tokenism and "inferiority" because of my gender and race. So, I think that conflating experience with bad faith is dismissive of people with different backgrounds. I think as scholars and future teachers of english we should be very aware of how we respond to other people's experiences in academia. 
I am curious as to where you received the knowledge that they extend unbiased attention all WS. 

Just to be clear, schools you apply to will definitely read your writing sample in its entirety—and if you get to the second and third rounds where candidates are narrowed down to 60/~20-30 applicants respectively, many people will read it! I really don't think anyone should be approaching or strategizing for the WS on the assumption or hunch that it won't be read. I'm sorry, that just sounds like a bad faith argument to me.

It certainly seems that way! I might send you a PM when I feel up to really thinking about it. I promised myself I’d only do two cycles and then move on for the sake of my mental health and all-around pragmatism.

Hi there. I am very sorry to hear that. Based on your profile interests, we are into similar stuff. Have you thought of applying to other departments? This is my first cycle and I've had positive feedback from women studies and ethnic studies departments? Unfortunately, a lot of schools talk the big talk about doing interdisciplinary research and expanding but when they get really cool interdisciplinary scholars they end up turning them down. I'm really sorry this has been your experience. 

Yeah, but how long could this waitlist be? I physically know a handful of people who haven't received acceptances or rejections.... hmmm....