LtotheOG
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Posts posted by LtotheOG
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3 minutes ago, missmarianne said:
Yikes! My advisor recommended I send a published writing sample because a professor, two outside readers from the press, and two editors had approved it for publication, but the takeaway here seems to be that someone on an admissions committee could still disagree with all five critics and hate it.
? Cool, cool, cool, cool. ?
As much as I hate to say it, they could. Can I ask if it plays well with/complements your SoP?
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2 minutes ago, Shake829 said:
Advice wanted: I’m one of the few who has yet to hear back from CUNY. I emailed the department to inquire about when decisions would come, but I haven’t yet received a reply. Is it pushy to follow up on that email or call on Monday? Should I just wait it out?
I’m wanting to start considering my options early, and I won’t be able to fully do this without the CUNY confirmation.
I’d probably wait it out a bit longer, given the slow roll this year.
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12 minutes ago, missmarianne said:
I think I felt pretty okay about what I sent because it was mostly coming from my already-reviewed/approved MA thesis. Who knows, though.
I sent in something similar that I also published in a peer-reviewed journal as a way of guaranteeing its presentability. One of my PoIs commented that the WS might have been too much of a “stretch” and could have posed a potential problem for the file.
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3 minutes ago, missmarianne said:
Another note that I forgot to add: when I asked why I shouldn’t contact POIs, she said that it could give the impression that you’re not entirely sure what they do and that you’re asking them if you’d be a good fit. This makes sense; most POIs interactions are “I do this. Would you be able to work with me if I was admitted?”
She said that if you feel the need to ask, the fit is likely not there.
While that is true, it can’t harm either way. As it often happens, they may not be available to work with you, or may not be taking on new students. Just ask if they are willing to advise you.
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48 minutes ago, Shake829 said:
But she also advised not to tailor it towards only one professor, because that doesn’t show that you are a good fit for the department; it shows that you are a good fit for that specific person (I hadn’t thought of it like that before she made the point). She said that a good fit meant articulating why a number of different professors could work with me.
This is GREAT advice, although I confess it hasn’t worked for me so far. On the other hand what did work for me at the time was my research aligning with that of a specific faculty.
Afterwards while doing my PhD the same ‘click’ unhappened in spectacular fashion and I was thrown off the program, solely because my advisor disowned me. (There was simply no one to step into their shoes)
Sadly, the dream of working with ‘someone’ turning into a nightmare is a regular nightmare in itself! -
24 minutes ago, missmarianne said:
1. Was I supposed to be carrying on an ongoing email exchange with these professors beyond the introductory/inquiry email and the thank you-for-replying-email? I assumed that I would be disrupting their work if I did that...
2. Did y'all* have other professors reach out to them first to make an introduction? Is that a thing that happens?
3. Did y'all know the people you were going to work with before you emailed them and, if so, how did you meet them?
1. I’ve heard faculty here advise, that they assume as well that you’d disrupt their work.
2. I did/could not. It can happen, but perhaps not so much in this particular context. (Imagine: cosupervision, etc.).
3. I did not ‘personally’ know anyone. The only person I did end up working with for a short while, was someone whose essay I read and cited in the SOP.
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44 minutes ago, Shake829 said:
Just curious: do you anticipate a better or worse cycle next year?
This should be made an entire thread out of.
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That’s a great question, I don’t know the answer to which.
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15 minutes ago, Shake829 said:
Also, in response to your last point, I think most schools who have less funding find out after the applications are in. Quite a few applications were suspended after the deadline, for example. Frustrating? Yes. But I honestly believe that departments do not find out until after the deadline. I’m sure that most programs want to be as transparent as possible, but things are murky with the pandemic. Plus, I could be wrong, so let’s hope for an anomaly year that deviates from their usual timeline!
I’m sorry but I find this more than a bit hard to believe. From my experience, programs had some notion of the funding situation affecting the coming cycle, given that the pandemic had struck much earlier.
The PhD program I was part of last year, suspended admissions for 2021 way ahead due to covid-caused reallocation of funds. While the decision may not universally apply, factors driving it do. -
2 minutes ago, LtotheOG said:
Can I ask how you know this?
Btw, I’m asking this for my sanity’s sake.
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19 minutes ago, Shake829 said:
There is a chance that just very few acceptances were made. Rutgers is under a hiring freeze due to the pandemic, so I’d imagine they wouldn’t want to dedicate a lot of money into letting the department take a large cohort.
Can I ask how you know this?
If it’s true, this is nothing short of infuriating. Sadly and predictably, applicants weren’t given a clue.
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I see two Rutgers-English acceptances on Results. Have all acceptances gone out, you think?
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2 minutes ago, silk said:
okay so i just got an acceptance e-mail from alberta's ma program. anyone have any solid information about their funding package? they are offering me 20k for the first year (scholarship), but it says i'd have to reapply next year for funding. since i cannot go if i do not have guaranteed funding for two years, this is kind of bittersweet. also, would i still have to pay tuition? i'm really confused. the letter says i should get back to them by march 19, which is also too soon imo.
i'd be happy if anyone had any info on this!
Congrats!
If it were me, I’d probably seek clarifications from them directly. Good luck!
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4 minutes ago, AnxiousBean said:
I'm fairly certain I'm not getting in anywhere this term which is OKAY but I wanted to get the forum's advice on something.
In applying, I've realized I have a better focus of where I want to be and would apply to less schools next cycle to be more focused. Is it rude of me to ask for critique from a program who rejected me? Should I reach out to a professor who I had briefly messaged about applications for the program to ask for that? I want to have guidance for my next steps but don't know what to do.
I can’t imagine something like this being counted as rude. Although in many cases, you may not be rewarded with a workable critique.
I regularly go back to my PoIs for feedbacks on rejection, btw.
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10 minutes ago, missmarianne said:
In the meantime, I composed a very silly rejection letter written by my anxiety disorder that I sent to McSweeney's and, whether or not it gets published, I will be sharing it with the group to ease the pain of my inevitable shut out.
Wonderful idea!
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4 minutes ago, icedwithoatmilk said:
Hi! I am just wondering how typical you all think it is to inquire about the status of one's application? I kind of want to for a couple of schools where I've seen both acceptances and rejections posted, and I know that some people do so, but I don't want to be bothersome or seem impatient. But is it normal/no big deal just to ask?
I’d think it’s no big deal.
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13 minutes ago, catchampney said:
If you have an advisor and/or professor in your current dept (or previous dept) I'd send this to them too if you haven't already! I can't tell if by format they mean, page set-up or in-text organization. However, I'm guessing the latter because if it were a file type issue that seems wanting for a very different reply than this - "difficult to read" is actually a relatively ambiguous statement... difficult how?
One of my profs who read my statement recommended a set-up / organization for the content in my statement, which I otherwise wouldn't have gravitated towards, so it could also be that the dept. that told you this expects a certain formatting. Although, this is only a guess... I hope that this feedback doesn't discourage you, though! It's promising that you have a strong research project.
Thank you...! Looking at the file I did send to him, it seems that paragraphing and almost all spacing have entirely disappeared. New lines and/paragraphs sometimes start from and end at the middle of the page, etc. The appearance that all of this gives is that of a non-invasive wall (hence, difficult to penetrate).
When I actually wrote without paragraphing (a year or so ago), my professors would regularly tell me how difficult it was for them to confront a ‘block’ of script. So the “difficult to read” in this instance, although somewhat confusing, seems to not be too difficult for me to read.
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2 minutes ago, missmarianne said:
Haha, no problem! Major grain of salt, because literally everyone has rejected me, but the presses I've published with have already had their own format and font (and copy editors, obviously!). So far no one has just uploaded a PDF or word doc I've sent them for publication!
Tbh, I do not think formatting is unimportant, especially when overwhelmed committees are basically looking to eliminate applications. My only disappointment probably stems from the fact that I sent the same filetypes to my PoI who I wish had forewarned me — although of course, I do not hold it against him.
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3 minutes ago, missmarianne said:
I'm hoping with everything in me that they meant something like, "your paragraphs were disorganized" which I could understand, but formatting? Seriously? Are you applying for a copy editing job?
Sorry I’ve run out of showing approval today, I fully intend to.
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50 minutes ago, queenofcarrotflowers said:
Yikes that's rough, really sorry about this. I think it might not entirely have been formatting from the way this was worded (see bold). Also, may I ask what kind of file conversion you did? (since I'm pretty sure I uploaded my statements straight from word rather than converting to pdf :s)
Thank you! I think it suits me better to know it wasn’t only the formatting. I also think for this application, it was .pages to .pdf
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51 minutes ago, 1 Pint of Ricotta said:
Ah, that's rough @LtotheOG. I've heard the "if your file won't open/it's difficult in any way, you're not getting in," but it's still disappointing to hear they didn't try at all. Do you think it was an issue specific to an application, or did your formatting get screwy for all your apps? Especially during these times, I would have thought they would be extra considerate. I'd trust this person was being honest, and seems like a PoI you should try to work with in the future, if you have to reapply.
Thanks for this!
At this point, I have no idea what filetype I sent over to each place but I do know that the .doc and .pdf files with the same content (WS) look very different. I think this application contained the pdf version which looks very fucked; .doc is perfectly formatted.
I am not sure I can afford to apply again, though. This time around was already in many ways, very difficult.
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Looks like formatting fucked me. This is what I was written to by a PoI:
While I cannot speak for the rest of the Admissions Committee, I can tell you that I thought your research project was strong. However, the application itself did not appear to be well organized or written. I'm not sure whether you had to convert your statement and your writing sample from one format to another, but it was very difficult to read. I'm afraid that this issue prevented your application from making our shortlist, even though, again, I thought that your research project was quite interesting.
I'd advise that you spend some time carefully reviewing and revising your statement before applying again next year.
Thoughts, people?
Do you think the real reason is something else? Can formatting truly fuck you? Should I have been given another chance to patch things up? (I had changed file formats for submission, and that did leave undesirable effects).
2021 Applicants
in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition
Posted
To clarify, this PoI wasn’t on the committee though. She did however go through my file. The judgement is her own.