catherinian2

I'm not sure that I'm the best person to address this, because I did have strong Ph.D offers the first two rounds. However, while reapplying for my third and last round, I'm incorporating what I learned (belatedly), so this is hopefully still useful. -I'm writing a very different kind of sample. Whereas the writing sample from my first two rounds essentially offered a certain reading of a text (as well its reception/criticism), I'm engaging much more broadly with historicist/cultural questions. I'm hoping that this will seem less like an "undergrad" writing sample and far more like a glimpse of how scholarship is actually in my field. -My SoP is very different. This may be because I'm applying with an MA under my belt (hence, different rules apply to those of you with a BA), but my focus is far more specific, virtually an abstract of a possible dissertation topic. The "fit" paragraph is also much more specific. Whereas I basically googled CV's and read web bios during my first two rounds, I did a lot more research this time. I read the recent books (sometimes from cover to cover) of the professors whose works are the best fit for my interests, and thought carefully about how their work might help guide my future projects before writing the SoP. -I'm going with lor writers from graduate school, rather than undergrad. -I'm leaving "the numbers" alone--that is, not re-taking the GRE's or worrying too much about my GPA. (The GRE's consumed FAR too much of my time the last two rounds). -unlike my strategy during my second round, I'm actually *not* focusing on getting a publication or a submitting to conferences. I may do this anyway if I find a good fit, but I've come to realize that focusing my energy on producing a single piece of strong scholarship to serve as my writing sample is far more useful than trying to line up publications. (In any case, it takes 6 months or longer to hear back, so submitting now isn't very useful). Good luck! I'm curious what everyone else is doing.

There are so many unwarranted assumptions in your post that I won't bother calling you out on all of them. Simply: wow. Good luck with your decision. I hope (sincerely, though I almost wish otherwise) that this doesn't come back to bite you. Academia is a tiny, tiny little world, and there's no such thing as anonymity on the internet.

If you didn't want people to assume the worst of you, don't make a post that very clearly implies you've already made your decision. We can only respond to what we see: we saw a post from someone who made a choice but wasn't ready to announce it, with apparently no regard for the many people on waitlists. Since the phrase that got your goat was from taken from my comment. I'll assume that it was directly at least partially at me. You apparently decided to completely disregard my warning that making such assumptions of the people who responded is...unwise. I'm not waitlisted anywhere. I have been in the past, so I do understand the agony quite well, but your rather callous comment was uncalled for. No one ever said that you're not a decent human being, but I think one can make a case that sitting on an acceptance that you know you won't take (true or not, that was heavily implied in your original post) when others are waitlisted for that spot is rather indecent behavior, even if that doesn't accurate reflect your character.

Bowdoin: Ummm....we know because you posted what schools you got into? No one said that you shouldn't weigh your options closely, or that you need to hurry up and make a choice. However, your first message clearly suggested that you already had your decision, and simply dreaded writing the "I aint coming" email. It's one thing to still mull over your choice. It's something else entirely to put someone else through agony when you already know your decision. And for the record, I wouldn't assume that everyone who is urging to announce your (already made, it seems) decision is simply venting their personal frustrations on you. We're simply telling you to be a decent human being and avoid screwing over your future colleagues...especially when it's, to be frank, no skin off your nose. Again, no one telling you to rush your choice--but it sounds like your choice has already been made.

If you've already made your choice, you REALLY should notify the schools. I know of at two people who are waitlisted at one of your programs. One of them will not go to grad school this year if he/she doesn't get in. The other will have to take an unfunded offer. It's one thing to wait until you've made up your mind...but to hold off until April when you already know that you won't be attending is rather unfair to those who are waiting on your decisions. If I remember correctly, you had several offers. At the very least, turn down the schools that you know you won't be accepting.

It depends on the school, but if you're given a late offer (after April 2nd, presumably from a waitlist), you should be given 14 days from when you're notified of your acceptance to make a decision...which means that the April 15th deadline does not apply for you, for that particular school. Of course, if you're in at other schools, you still have to abide by the April 15th deadline for those.

Yellow, I absolutely agree with you that many (though by no means all) candidates who get into the top programs will have multiple offers. My original comment was specifically in regard to the Ivy's. I might have read too much into your remark that if you can get one ivy, you can get into all of them, and was simply trying to point out the neither the Ivy's nor strong candidates are generically alike. I think that's a good thing. And I should add, perhaps implicit in the shift that occurs in your response: the Ivy's are not the end all and be all of strong graduate programs, and many candidates have turned them down for other strong programs that might be a better fit.

To confirm: Brown IS done accepting students. They made 19 offers for 7-9 spots, without a wait list. They made calls over two days last year, but I think all the calls went out on a single Saturday this year. Information on the visit (which is next week) has already gone out, so if you haven't received a call, I'm afraid that it doesn't bode well. Irishcoffee--good luck making decisions! I'm glad that you have other offers, and I hope this makes it a little easier to choose. As a general rule, the Ivy's unfortunately do not accept in rounds, though some (Cornell, at least...perhaps UPenn as well?) do have a wait list. Yellow: I actually disagree. The Ivy's actually quite different from each other, and are not necessarily gunning for the same type of candidate. Most of the candidates that I know of who has been accepted into an Ivy were accepted into *only* one, perhaps two at the most. I'm sure that there's a small handful of candidates who are so stellar that they'd get in anywhere they applied...but most of us manage to be strong candidates and a good fit only for a few schools.

R1, Thank you for the info. It's incredibly helpful. If you wouldn't mind, can you post perhaps the first 50? Just some additional food for thought: is this weighted for cohort size? (and historic cohort size, rather than current--programs like Duke and Chicago have slashed their cohorts within the last few years, but those students haven't hit the job market yet). A program that graduates 5 students a year and still makes it into the top 50 of your placement list would be highly impressive, whereas a program with a cohort of 25 that's hovering around the same number might be considerably less so. I'm not very up to date on this, but I do know that Duke, Columbia, Berkeley, Chicago, Johns Hopkins used to have huge cohort sizes (over 20 or 25, I think). Other programs, like WUSTL and Rice, have maintained a smaller cohort (5-8) all along. Regardless, I think that this list is an extremely value addition to the way we consider placement rates...which, of course, is probably a major consideration for anyone who is making a decision. Actually, if you don't mind, can you also post the number of professors placed within the top 50 from each school as well? (#1 Yale, 100....etc). While the math would remain inevitably crude, it might give us a chance to compare the numbers against cohort sizes. I would be impressed, say, if Hopkins is placing 1/4 as many professors in the top ten as Berkeley, considering that they used to be 1/8 the size of Berkeley....

sorry folks, UCI English acceptees have already been notified.

Were you accepted into their MA or Ph.D program? If it's the MA, you're on your own for funding. I think it may be possible to get second-year TAships, but the Ph.D students will have first dibs, so nothing is guaranteed. If it's the Ph.D...to be honest, you'll have to wait and see. I do know that they normally offer TAships and some fellowships (money on top of TA ships, not service free years) as part of the normal package for Ph.D students. I believe that as funded Ph.D students turn down their packages, you may receive their TAship lines, though not necessarily the fellowships. They also have a waitlist, but I'm not sure how that works alongside the unfunded offers.

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\ I'm not sure that I understand the question. How can they automatically reject you (for not visiting) "only schools that had made offers ask you to come visit them?" In any case, yes--with exceptions--to the first question, and a somewhat baffled "no" to the second. Several comp lit programs have interviews. Among the English program that I'm aware of (by no means a comprehensive list), only Emory has in-person interviews *prior* to offering an acceptance. Northwestern has phone interviews, and UMass-Amherst interviews for TA-ships, which is separate from acceptances. Almost every other school will either have a visitation weekend, or will let you pick a date and fly in, but that happens AFTER you're given an offer (and usually on their dollar). At that point, the school is trying to convince *you* to go...you're being scrutinized, of course, but the worst they can do is curse their breath and gossip about you. That offer will stand. To address your second question a little more closely, Emory and Northwestern have BOTH made their interview offers. Northwestern notified their accepted students today (and since they abolished their wait list last year, I doubt that they'll have one this year). Emory only does one round of interviews (early next week--they already notified their interviewees), though they will sometimes waitlist students that they did not interview. So, if you haven't heard from Northwestern, you're probably out. If you haven't been notified of the Emory interview yet, you still have a shot at their waitlist. Otherwise, "visiting" schools is your prerogative.

Just to clarify, I was the one to have posted the Northwestern, WashU, and MSU results. I did not apply to any of these programs, but candidates on other communities have started to notify, so I'm passing the word along. Northwestern: phone interviews, scheduled for this weekend. Traditionally, Northwestern only accepts students that they interview. No wait list last year, probably none this year. WashU: fly-in accepted student weekend the first week of March. Comp Lit has also started to notify. MSU: I'm reporting a friend's results. Her circumstances are unusual, and the notification is unofficial. I'd give it a few more weeks for the official notice.

Among the ones that I know, the situation is quite unique. The MA degree might be an advantage, but more likely, their writing improved dramatically. In short, they became better scholars, and thus more attractive candidates. I've seen the SoP's of one of them (for both rounds), and it's pretty obvious that she/he didn't simply pad the CV, but became a much more thoughtful and interesting scholar. Apologies for the vagueness, but I'd paranoid about my own privacy, so I'd tend to err on the side of caution when discussing someone else as well.

Were you referring to C, V, and D? Hopefully without imposing too much on their privacy, two of those were candidates who had applied the year before, and got in nowhere. Quite a different result the following year, since both had the luxury of turning down Yale.