Jetpacked

Update from the world of applications across the pond: we're entering the time of year where decisions about funding to accompany offers are usually released. [Brief UK system summary: apply from Sept-Jan, get offers with or without conditions from Jan onwards, and hear about funding usually from March to early May, but it can drag on 'til July.] I've been accepted unconditionally at three schools of the four I applied to - one was a really bad fit - and all are good for Renaissance literature. School 1 has informally offered me a good stipend with opportunities for teaching, but no official info has been forthcoming since the unofficial notification from my PI two weeks ago - and they've treated their current grad students pretty badly during all this, which has made me wary, but it's my only realistic choice at the moment; School 2 has been radio silent but last I heard (in early March, which may as well be years ago in the current climate) they will release decisions later this week; and the rumour is that School 3's funding committee, who had planned to release decisions this week, are partly in self-isolation after coming into contact with someone with coronavirus - but they're still hoping to get decisions through next week. I've been told I won't hear from another scholarship until May at the earliest. UK research councils have advised incoming doctoral students to keep in mind that "there is a need for flexibility" for October 2020 start dates. We're all in full lockdown here, due to be revised or extended in a couple of weeks. Though I didn't end up applying for US schools in the end, it's been really useful following along to see the questions you've all asked; some aren't applicable, but a lot of them still are and I hadn't considered them much at all. Funding is so limited that it's easy to just be overwhelmed and grateful and forget to ask important things about the contact with the PI and the experience of current grads, etc. It's also been weirdly reassuring to see everyone here is still worrying over grad apps too! I feel almost guilty that it's still on my mind so much. Solidarity with those still waiting... it's the long haul over here.

Oh congrats, that's great news!

Fellow UK student here — failing official transcripts of any sort (which is what happened to me, not due to coronavirus but just regular old administrative delays at my university), I asked my referee to vouch for my achieved grades so far on official letterhead. He was also the course director. I confirmed this with admissions for my PhD programmes in the UK and they were okay with it as a temporary measure until official transcripts could be provided, whenever that might be. Could be worth suggesting if you’re getting nowhere with other options, though I’m not sure how amenable US programmes will be to it! First and foremost I’d try for the interim transcripts suggested above, though, which should be accessible.

Just copy-pasting what I wrote before on the Applicants thread on this topic: "I actually got upset this year in a meeting with my MA director because I hated having to ask him and others to write more LoRs for me after last year's failed cycle, and he was incredulous and a little bit angry that I was even worried about it, because (in order) "I'm glad to support you, it's literally my job, the application system shuts out excellent candidates all the time and you're nowhere near the first person to ask more than once, and the circumstances in which I might be unable to write a letter for you would be nothing to do with your worth as an applicant". Anyone who has taken the time to help you out with your application is very unlikely to be disappointed in you [or annoyed], as they know all the time you've put in." You're right that it's not a big deal, and I don't see any reason why they'd not support a second application, but it is a hard conversation to have. Don't do what I did, and leave it until a couple of weeks before the deadlines for submission, because I was so worked up about sending the emails! This precipitated the weepy conversation with my MA director above, who was three parts bemused and one part exasperated (not at me for asking, but at the thought processes that had led me to take so long to ask in the first place). And they still wrote me and/or resubmitted some presumably nice LoRs that have got me accepted to three programmes in the UK and nominated for funding at all of them too, so if you're asking now, you're doing one better than me.

I can't believe they redirected you to a webpage. I work for an agency which regularly processes a lot of applications with about a 1 in 7 acceptance rate, and it takes literally no effort to auto-fill a name to send a generic rejection email, which still isn't ideal but is better than sending you to a publicly hosted page, for goodness' sake. I'm sorry you had to receive that.

Hey, nice to see someone else! Congrats on your acceptance - is that for Criticism and Culture, going by your signature? I'm in a somewhat different situation as while I was interviewed, it was not by anyone I'd previously spoken with, even over email. I was assigned a provisional supervisor after that interview, with my acceptance letter back in early February, but we've yet to speak, and all my communication has been with administrators or in official correspondence. I was told the interview was part of the funding selection process but not that it was a nomination! It seems that there might be some mixed messages at the department depending on who you're in touch with. I'm taking the hedging I received from the administrator as an implied no for now, and will be pleasantly surprised if anything positive comes through.

If there are any lurkers here for the Cambridge MPhils or PhDs — I know there have been acceptances on the board but not sure anyone has posted — I’ve been told by the department following a question about college scholarships that they’re not releasing any further info on funding (nominations or otherwise) for now. Results are due out with the rest of the studentship competitions in March. There have been some people this year who’ve mentioned hearing that they’ve not been put forward for funding, and last year they did seem to notify some nominees that they were under consideration in mid-March, but not sure what’s happening this time.

I feel this last sentence a lot from my rejections last year. To be fair, a lot of the reaction I interpreted as disappointment is because none of my close family or friends have ever applied for PhDs before, so nobody really understood the process or the odds. I don't know if it's the same for you, but a lot of people may just know that you're a very clever and hardworking person who loves their research and therefore don't understand why you would be struggling to get a place, and express their support and frustration on your behalf in a way that sounds like disappointment in you. Some of my family and friends who said the most hurtful things in the thick of it (like "why did you even attempt it?") were the ones who were most worried about my health during a very difficult year, and looking back I can't really fault them for saying the wrong thing at a stressful time; I was obviously exhausted, as so many of us are, and it did have a direct impact on my health, and I don't blame anyone for not understanding why you're still so committed to an experience that pushes you so hard at times. As for your thesis chair, I'm sorry she said that, though it sounds like it was also an ill-judged attempt to make you feel better. I actually got upset this year in a meeting with my MA director because I hated having to ask him and others to write more LoRs for me after last year's failed cycle, and he was incredulous and a little bit angry that I was even worried about it, because (in order) "I'm glad to support you, it's literally my job, the application system shuts out excellent candidates all the time and you're nowhere near the first person to ask more than once, and the circumstances in which I might be unable to write a letter for you would be nothing to do with your worth as an applicant". Anyone who has taken the time to help you out with your application is very unlikely to be disappointed in you, as they know all the time you've put in; they're far more likely, if they've seen how hard you worked, to be seeing your own disappointment now too and offering some solidarity and frustration for you, in perhaps a slightly misguided way.

May not be too useful for you as it’s UK, but I emailed my POI to ask about what I could improve on a reapplication and was later able to arrange to drop by their office as I lived in the same city. There still wasn’t much they could say, either in writing or in person, and I can’t say I had much idea going into this cycle about what needed changing (although I did change a lot with the benefit of my MA research experience). UK Research Councils specify they do not offer any feedback so I received none from them.

I could have written some parts of this — Oxbridge BA and MA from elsewhere, waitlisted for funding last year at UK schools and eventually rejected, and I received almost exactly the same frustrating non-feedback last time (“liked the project, but not as much as others”). I chose to reapply in the UK system and I’m waiting to find out if I’ll be rejected for funding again, and if so I’ve pretty much decided not to apply a third time, though it’ll be a heartbreaking choice to make. However, both of us aren’t out of the game yet, and while I think you’re right to be thinking about contingencies, don’t jump the gun while there’s still a while to go in this cycle. I can’t offer much advice, just solidarity that there are those of us who may also have to make that choice with what feels like not enough info to go on.

I'm probably not who you're looking to speak to about this as I'm not a US applicant, but I did apply to Cambridge partly as they've got some book history expertise, as I'm using some distant reading methods. I also asked at my interview about database methods training for easier navigation of the corpus as it grows, though I'm teaching myself at the moment, and they said there are funds for that kind of skills training available though it'd likely be another application process for a small grant if it's a paid class. I'm accepted there pending funding (Cambridge's system is 30% chance of acceptance first, then 30% of those acceptances include some sort of funding offered at a later date). I graduated from an MA programme in the UK which is known here for being heavily DH focussed, though. I'd also be interested to hear from other book history people! Also, if the Romantic Studies Cambridge PhD acceptance is lurking here, hi! I was accepted for Renaissance and I'm also waiting on the Trust and slowly convincing myself that emailing for updates would be totally reasonable, even though the decisions definitely won't be out until after the first week of March.

Thanks. Last year I was accepted at another UK uni with waived tuition (about £4K) but nothing towards maintenance so this is cycle 2 for me, as I couldn’t take the place. I’m keeping expectations low as I’m reliant on getting some sort of stipend. I’m a little in awe of the sheer number of places people seem to have applied to on this thread, though obviously there are a lot of great programmes to choose from in the US! The systems are pretty different in some respects but I definitely recognise the agony of waiting to hear. Hope all’s going well for you this round!

Can UK applicants jump on the bandwagon here? ??‍♀️ I’m a Renaissance PhD applicant. I’ve been lurking for a while but saying hi as I’m waiting for Cambridge to send their decision on scholarships and it’s likely going to be weeks still. The UK system gives you the decision in two parts, on acceptance to the programme in January or February and then funding details usually come months later in March or April, so they make you suffer a couple of rounds of waiting. I’m currently eating a lot of snacks and making my housemates wish they’d never met me, so it’d be nice to hang out here where my existential crisis might be slightly less irritating.