Magic Lantern

I just want to say that I love your username!

According to the results page, Yale only takes 3 applicants this year, and Stanford only takes 2. I'm starting to think that this might be the case for most literature programs this year, unfortunately. Spent my day thinking about other (nonexistent) career paths and potentially reapplying next year. 😕

That's very good to know! Thank you so much for your advice! I just heard back from the program coordinator who said that an unofficial e-transcript would suffice for now, and an official one sent from the institution would be required if they decide to admit me. Glad that they are being so flexible this year!

Thanks! Just wrote to them.

Hi friends! Question about the Comp Lit program at University of Toronto: Do they require hard copies of official transcripts? I only uploaded an electronic version of my official transcript through their online portal, and didn't mail anything to them. Just logged into the portal and saw that they did not receive my official transcript. Now I'm panicking...

Thank you! Turning off the wifi definitely helps! I actually feel a bit more energetic now after staying away from the result page/my mailbox for the weekend. I hope you had a restful weekend too! Wishing you all the best at the start of this new week.

I feel this on a spiritual level. I'm also in East Asia and because of the time difference, I stay up until 5am everyday to refresh my mailbox every 5 seconds, only to find nothing in spam. Yesterday I totally messed up my sleep schedule and slept at 9am. Now I'm sleep deprived, on the verge of becoming insane and having a heart attack.

I asked a current PhD student at Cornell; they said that Cornell Comp Lit usually did not interview applicants. But someone posted on the result page that they recently got an interview invitation. Maybe this year is different? I also haven't heard from Cornell yet. Super confused and anxious.

This is so relatable. Am I happy during my gap years? NO. Are these two years meaningful? Definitely. I'd say that they are even necessary for me to figure out what I really want to do with my life. I also really appreciate this little community we have here on gradcafe (The result page gives me panic attacks, but the forum makes me feel less alone and keeps me going). Hang in there, friends. You are all such wonderful people!

Just got officially rejected by Northwestern. I thought I'd get the rejection letter from someone in the comparative literature department, but instead the letter is from the Dean of the Graduate School who is a professor in the biosciences department. Just a generic letter, I guess?

I'm also waiting for Northwestern. I just saw on the result page that someone received an acceptance phone call from Northwestern yesterday. I haven't heard anything from them, so I'm assuming the worst now.

I haven't. Since their application deadline is Jan 15, I imagine it might take a few more days (weeks?) until we hear from them. Best of luck with your applications! It's good to meet another comp lit applicant.

Comp lit! What about you?

haha I got that email too. When I read the subject line: "UC Davis Graduate Admissions......" I was like: omg is this a proposal?!

That's a great way to think about the situation! We can still make changes in our lives with or without a grad school offer. Thanks for helping me put things into perspective!