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Looks like CMU has started notifying Rhetoric PhD rejections and Lit & Culture MA acceptances... any word on the Lit & Culture PhDs? Looks like it's been done by phone in previous years. I think they only admit about 6 each year, so I'm not expecting one (I would probably turn it down for PSU anyway), but it would be nice to hear...

It really depends on the school. Penn State seemed very positive about offering potential support through extended TAing or Lectureship or something, but I know that this is a real problem at other places. For example I have a friend at Cornell who (while she was trying to cheer me up) said that it is very hard to get funding beyond 5 years. When I spoke to the administrator there earlier this year, she said basically the same thing. So while their up-front package is better, in terms of dollar amount, it's more "compressed."

It depends on the school. In the University of Maryland system, for example (where I worked for a while) transfer credits could not be older than the "time limit" for the degree. So if your class was from 2006, and the max time allotted for degree completion was 10 years, you would need to graduate with those transferred credits before 2016, or they would "expire." Of course, sometimes exceptions were made, and it's probably different for each school/system.

Hi dmmar, That's cool if people want to turn it down, but I was completely joking. I don't want to influence anyone's decision. Honestly, if I don't come off the wait-list, that just makes my decision much easier because I'm really torn between the two (theoretical) possibilities I'm facing.

It looks like UVA sent out their rejections around the second week in March last year, so there's that to look forward to next week Wonder why they wait so damn long, though. On another note, did anyone else apply to Carnegie Mellon? Looks like they might be sending out admits this week too...

I know it's super tempting, but it would be really nice if we could all stop pushing other people's buttons. Overall these threads are really civil and the "arguments" are logical and well-thought-out... but it seems like, inevitably, somebody's gotta go pokin' away... and then all hell breaks loose.

Yeah, I'd love to meet some of y'all on here in a real academic setting, but unfortunately I don't think there's any acceptance overlap with anyone that I really "know" on these boards. On that note... Dear Lurking Michigan Admits, I think some of you probably want to turn down your offer, right? I mean, if you got in at Michigan, chances are you got into some other kickass programs too. You reeeeeally want to go to one of those. Seriously. This is not a Jedi mind trick. [this might be a Jedi mind trick] You should turn down Michigan for that super sweet other program. It's okay. Just send that DGS an email. He'll understand. Love, hugs, and kisses, bfat p.s. Dear god it is late and I think I may have lost all my mental faculties.

I keep fantasizing about all the awesome programs I could have gotten into if I could have just fixed my application this season. While I think it was okay (maybe even pretty good), I know there were also some things wrong with it. I don't think my SoP was quite focused enough because my interests are so broad--but not unconnected! In truth, I'm really looking forward to the two years of coursework that will really whip my "focus" into shape because, while I feel that there is a thematic thread connecting my various interests right now, grad schools and, more importantly, employers are more interested in (marketable) subject areas rather than "thematic threads." I tried my best to describe my interests in this way (theory, posthumanism, contemporary fiction), but I still think it might have come off as "all over the place." Other things were kind of unfixable: the Lit GRE (which I took when I had a 2-month old infant--let me tell you about how much studying you can do in the 2 months after a baby is born...), and my undergrad prestige. All this is to say: if you should happen to be rejected this year, think of it as an awesome opportunity to really kick ass on next year's applications. I know that if I had to do a second round, my app would be so so much better. Second timers almost always score big.

Thank you. As I said, I don't want to downplay the one acceptance that I have, and I do feel kind of guilty for still feeling shitty, but I guess this process is revealing that I have a bit more pride than I thought. There's just such a vulnerability you create in submitting these applications. And the fact that we can see each other's stats and acceptances, I think, can't help but drum up further vulnerabilities and a sense of competition (and therefore failure sometimes too). Every time I think I feel great and confident, I'll see something on here that makes me feel kinda shitty again.

I think it really depends--the waitlist letter I got said "We really wanted to admit you, but we were restricted by funding" or something along those lines. It seemed very genuine, and made me feel kinda good. That being said, however, from the actual offer I received, the DGS seemed to indicate that they'd rather not have to pull from the waitlist--of course, that might just be a "recruitment technique" or something like that. But I think opinions on waitlists probably vary greatly between schools. As many have already said, the admissions process is something of a crapshoot in a lot of ways. When a committee is looking at two nearly identical files and trying to decide which is an admit and which is a wait-list (or rejection), it may come down to some relatively arbitrary factors.

I know I've said this before, but seeing people with 8 acceptances on this board--EIGHT FUCKING ACCEPTANCES--(and other similarly ridiculous numbers and/or 3-5 top-ten acceptances) makes me want to bash my brains in. Also, it makes me wish I had applied to like 16 schools because it would feel really freaking awesome to turn someone down right now... or perhaps I would just feel like an even bigger pile of crap because then I'd have 15 rejections instead of 5. If my application was okay enough for one, why was it so wrong for all the others? While I know it's unrealistic for most programs (especially with 300-500 applications) I just really wish that schools would give feedback about admissions results, because I'd love to know why I was rejected from most places. I think I might know two (three, in some cases) pretty strong reasons, but it would be nice to have those suspicions confirmed. Ugh, why does this whole process suck so much? <--- still full of self-doubt/shame/sense of failure [but also, I am super super grateful for the acceptance and waitlist that I have--I don't want to seem like I'm not. I just really wasn't expecting the level of self-doubt and sheer pain that so many other rejections would inflict]

I can't verify much, but I had that program on my initial list of places to apply, and my adviser made this icky face and was like "No. Take that one off." I told her it was relatively well ranked and sounded interesting, and she kind of softened her response and said I could apply if I wanted to, but that she didn't hear good things about that program. I have no idea what this means, but I didn't apply. (I had plenty other schools to waste money on app fees for. Ha.) Of course, this is the opinion of just one professor at one university and she could have some crazy bias I don't know about. But she is in charge of the hiring committee, and said she hadn't liked any of the applicants she'd seen from that program. Personally, though, I think the program looked interesting. Right now USNews has it ranked at #63, so it will be interesting to see where it falls after the new rankings are released this month, especially since USN is pretty widely recognized for ranking based on reputation.

Uh...higher than what? CUNY is a top 20...

Yes, the MA package is 6 years of funding, with the expectation that you will continue to the PhD. The "application" process between them is something of a formality (you submit a seminar paper from your coursework, and instructors you've worked with talk it over). The DGS said it's about a 90% admission rate from the MA to PhD, and the 10% who don't move on often decide not to.

Right now PSU is my only definite admit, though I'm still holding hope for my UMichigan waitlist to come through. Who else was admitted this year? Anyone on the boards already attending? I know there has already been a bit of discussion (and there's another thread about it in Decisions Decisions...) but are there people who are seriously considering not going because of the recent scandal? (If so, why did you apply?) I'm pretty excited about their program, but I honestly don't know which I would choose if Michigan comes through. I'll be visiting both before April 15 though.

lols. I was a vegan until I got pregnant... I'm really really trying to go back to it, but it's still really difficult while breastfeeding (TMI? sorry...) I'm maintaining my vegetarianism well, though. And I'm only buying organic/cage-free when I do buy (occasional) eggs or dairy. Mostly it's the time consumption that cooking balanced & healthy vegan meals requires.

Understanding "fat people" as a separate subculture is different than understanding the cultural conditions that lead to obesity, and then understanding the cultural context in which that obesity is then received. The first, like this: seems crazy to me. I can see how this would offend many people and cause a bit of a backlash. But I think interpreting cultural context (causes and responses) surrounding a hugely pervasive issue in contemporary society is completely legitimate.

It's also that it has completely reversed: at the turn of the 20th century, before the industrialization of agriculture, poor people often starved to death. Now there are "nutritional deserts" in urban communities where there is an excess of calories--so many people are overweight--but no real nutrition at all. The more I think about this... I'm kinda excited. I'm very interested in issues of public health, and particularly agriculture and food production in America, so "fat studies" would definitely take those areas into consideration as well. ETA: I think the name "fat studies" is kind of degrading and potentially misleading, though. Not to mention that it might de-legitimize itself because it will inevitably lead to many of the (shocked, irritated, "SRSLY?!?!") reactions already expressed here.

It seems like it would certainly overlap with other identity-studies, especially gender and class. While my initial reaction was totally in line with (fat) Homer jumping the shark, it really only takes a minute or two of closer consideration to see that it could potentially be a really important topic in contemporary cultural studies.

If it helps, prof, I've lived in Maryland all my life, and while UMD-CP is a great school, the DC corridor is a total nightmare. I'm in the Baltimore-DC area right now, and I can't wait to get out. The lifestyle here is just really stressful--insane traffic, fast-paced everything, grumpy people. Amherst, on the other hand, is a haven of free-thinkers, freaks (in a good way), and generally awesome people. Of course, it's also kinda filled with obnoxious hippies, but some people are into that. My sister lived in the 5-colleges area for more than a decade, and I spent many summers of my youth up there. It's laid back and amazing and also clean and beautiful (except Hadley, which smells like manure). I can't say anything about UI-UC, though, sorry. So, if all of the programs are amazing fits, I would turn to what place would make you happiest. Hope this is just a little bit helpful. Good luck! ETA: I know this post might have sounded really harsh against Maryland, so keep in mind that I've got the whole "grass is greener" thing going on. There are, of course, some really wonderful aspects to the area as well. I'm just at a point where I'm aiming for (literally) greener pastures, rather than gridlocked beltways.

There's a little bit of a problem with "Schools you know you can get into," unless they are unfunded options. Any school that offers funding is going to be very difficult, and, as many many people have said before me, there is no such thing as a "fallback" for PhD programs. I applied to 8 schools this year, and so far the schools that I have heard positively from were in the upper-middle range as far as "easiness" to get into (which is often correlated with rank, but that's a whole other confusing realm). Though all of the programs I applied to were very good, I've been rejected from two "top" programs and two of the lower-ranked programs on my list (with one higher and one lower still outstanding). All of these programs were a really great fit for my interests (though I didn't feel as strongly about UVA and Carnegie Mellon--the two still outstanding), so it's really hard to say what the factors are that make you desirable to a program. Feels kinda arbitrary to me.

I had a voicemail on my phone from Ann Arbor today when I came out of class, and I just about had a goddamned heart attack. But it was a call from a realtor, because I registered for a site so I could start comparing housing prices/options if my fam needs to move. Oy.

Haha, yes and yes. I am failing miserably and about to be in a world of pain. World of pain, Donny.

Yup. I feel ya exactly. Like really exactly. Four rejections this week, and only 1 acceptance so far. I keep thinking, "What if it was a mistake?" And also, horribly, "Maybe the program isn't that good, if they accepted me." Even though I know that empirically it's pretty good. But yeah. This shit is hard.