fall-11

The heart asks acceptance first, And then, to not have heard, And then, that awful waitlist, In limbo, awaiting the word; And then, to go to sleep, The fragile nerves to ease; And then, a gentle arrest The weakened heart to seize.

I'm in the same boat and it's killing me Two rejections, and in the final round at Loyola (which was at the bottom of my list, but still nice), but no acceptances as of yet. Eight more to go. I'm not being able to work on my thesis at all, and I'm sleeping through most of the day. It's nice at least to have a place where we can commiserate... Hang in there, MM -- you're not alone. ETA: I submitted all my applications during the Thanksgiving break, so it's been almost three months...

I'm sorry you get that kind of attitude from people. That's just awful. I'm 30 and applying to PhD programs, but at the place where I'm doing my MA, one of the PhD students is in her mid-50s. So hopefully not all adcoms have a bad attitude towards older applicants. Good luck! ETA: I also have a friend who's 51 and doing a Master's in Education at Harvard. So, don't give up hope just because of your age!

Mine is still "In Review"...

Thanks for the info, giaour!

I have C's on my undergrad transcript too, as well as one D and some I's (incompletes), with an overall GPA of 3.33. But that was a long time ago and I was struggling with really bad depression back then. I honestly don't think adcoms should hold that against me, when they can see I went on to earn an MA in creative writing from a really good program, have a 4.0 in my current MA program in English, and GRE scores above 750 in all sections. I *do* believe they look at overall promise, and not just at some failure we had 10 years ago, be it due to depression as in my case, or family/home issues as with Tybalt. Whether to address it in an SOP is more tricky -- I didn't address my undergrad grades because I figured 3.33 is not *so* bad that it needs to be addressed, and in any case my undergrad was in an unrelated field, not in English, and it's from so long ago. If I were in Tybalt's shoes, I would probably email each DGS individually (before sending in my apps) to explain the situation and ask if I need to explain it on the SOP. I suspect different DGS's will have a different take on it, so each SOP would have to handled accordingly. Also, perhaps the undergrad issue might be addressed somewhere in the application itself (there's often a space for any additional information you want to provide) rather than in the SOP. But it's definitely a tricky issue -- I'm sorry Tybalt but I honestly don't think they're going hold it against you since it was a long time back, and you've proved yourself in the 10 years that have elapsed since then. Good luck, and hang in there

Oh my goodness, the one about the apartment with a pool (http://dontevenreply.com/index.php) had me laughing until my stomach hurt! This is awesome! Thanks for the link, ecg1810!

So according to the results board, UVA seems to have notified some folks by this time last year, but this year -- nothing. Anyone have any inside scoop on when they might start notifying? Thanks.

Well, I learned French at the Alliance Francaise in my home country (I'm an international student), so I do have certificates for the exams I took, but I didn't include copies of them or anything in my application. I simply wrote "Fluent in <native language>, and proficient in French" on the resume that I included with my app, without including any official documentation for either one. (Well, for my native language, I don't *have* any documentation to prove it anyway.) And if the application asked about foreign language skills, I wrote the same thing there. In the three US schools I've attended so far (one for undergrad, one for an MA in creative writing, and currently the one where I'm doing my MA in English), nobody ever asked to see any kind of certification for language learning. However, at each place, I did have to take and pass a translation exam (I used my native language in the first two schools, and French for the third one). Of course, if you really want the certification, you can take a test someplace, as the others have suggested, but nobody's ever asked to see mine in the three schools I've been to, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

You might not even need a formal certification if it's just for grad school purposes. Once you get into the program, you'll need to take their language exam (usually translation of a passage, with the help of a dictionary). If your reading knowledge of the language is pretty good, you should be able to pass the translation exam. I had to take one in French for my MA program, and basically it was a passage of about 600 or 700 words taken out of a 19th century French novel. We were allowed to bring a dictionary, and we had 2 hours to do it. It did take the whole 2 hours for me, but it was doable. Whether you have a certification might not really matter -- you just need to have enough reading skills to be able to pass this kind of translation exam.

Not necessarily -- I'm still waiting for OSU, and my last name begins with an E. (My Wisconsin status changed to a reject this morning, though.) I'm not sure I buy this alphabet theory -- it doesn't really make much sense to go alphabetically like that.

Damn, it's the weekend again -- now we (those who don't have an acceptance yet) have to wait out a whole Saturday, then a whole Sunday, before starting the vigil again on Monday morning.

Thanks stranger, I appreciate it

Ha! Well, USC can't see my profile picture, since it's not on my application -- maybe I should have included it for good luck? Surely there are some warm and fuzzy professors out there who respond to furry little critters? Actually, I've been wondering who the woman on your profile picture is. I'm guessing it's some literary figure, but I just have no idea who. Thanks for cheering me up a little. You guys rock

Okay, I just double-checked, and those are indeed the numbers they provide on their website (http://college.usc.edu/engl/programs/graduate.cfm). Not that I'm feeling terribly hopeful about being among those 10-12, but whatever.

Yeah, I think I remember their website saying they take 10-12 for English, and 4-5 for Creative Writing. Feeling too lazy and demoralized to actually go look it up again, but that's what I remember.

Ow, ow, ow, the Wisconsin rejection really hurts Thought I had a good fit, and really wanted to work with Lynn Keller. I hope it's okay to use this thread to vent our pain & anguish.

Mine still says "In Review" but seeing those rejections on the results board is scaring me now

Hi there, USTgrad, don't give up so soon! It's still really early in the process, and most schools have not even started notifying yet. Glad you found the Grad Cafe -- I stumbled upon it a while ago when I was applying to MA programs, although I was mostly a lurker then. But yes, it's a godsend! Good luck and hang in there

Well, you deserve major kudos for perseverance. This is my first round for PhD apps, but I had to go through two rounds for my MA applications, so I know how it feels. The first round (for Fall 2008), I didn't get funding, so I applied again for Fall 2009 to more schools, and with a better writing sample, and made it (with funding) on the second round. So it was totally worth it, though of course I hope with my PhD apps, I'll make it this round, and not have to do it again! Good luck to everyone waiting. I am totally in the crazy boat with all of y'all.

I'm in the same boat -- this is driving me nuts. The only place I've heard from is Northwestern, and that was a reject. Not a peep from my other 10 schools, even though some people have already heard from Wisconsin, Ohio State and USC. It's killing me and I can't get any work done on my thesis

I'm also waiting/hoping to hear from USC. By the way, does anyone have stats on how many people usually apply vs. how many are accepted? I usually look up this information on petersons.com, but the data they have for USC is only 90 applicants last year, which can't be right (http://www.petersons.com/graduate-schools/university-of-southern-california-college-of-letters-arts-and-sciences-department-of-english-admissions-000_10026073_10088.aspx). Anyone have more accurate info?

That's awesome, congratulations!!

Great video -- thanks for sharing it!

Thanks for the kind words, Belle!