rubyrunner

Planning to attend UC Davis for the English PhD. Congrats all around!

I worked as an adjunct in my year off, and I think it may have tipped the scale towards acceptances at several schools. One adcom member even told me as much. My recommenders were very focused on showing how I stayed active in the field post-MA, so I think that's the more important thing (especially if you already have teaching experience). I have to say, though, that I really enjoyed having colleagues who knew exactly what I was going through with applications.

I just declined my PhD offer + fellowship. I hope someone on the waitlist hears good news soon.

I haven't heard anything since the phone call. Hallucination definitely crossed my mind! Perhaps they haven't sorted out all the offers yet?

Also in the haven't-heard-anything boat.

My dad is a professor in a different field. I had the unfortunate experience of looking him up on ratemyprof only to see numerous chili peppers...ugh.

Thanks! Congrats on Illinois...I'm quite envious Honestly, I'll probably think about Oregon for a few days, but I'm leaning towards Davis. If I make it off the Illinois wait list, it will be a very difficult decision.

I just received a phone call from the DGS admitting me to Oregon. If you haven't heard yet, I think calls should be going out now. Best of luck to everyone!

I turned down my offer from Colorado on Friday. I haven't seen anyone on the boards wait listed there yet, but I hope it helps someone.

One criterion I've paid some attention to is the presence of a well-established journal. Working on a journal seems to be a great way to stay on top of trends in the field, network with professors from other schools, and get a sense of the peer-review process before attempting to publish. I'm ashamed to admit that I selected my undergrad institution based almost entirely on the quality of cafeteria food. I did have excellent food for four years, though.

I got a wait list email from Anthony Pollock last night that said they'd made first-round offers and are waiting on funding to see if they can make more. The message didn't specify MA or PhD program, but I'm applying with an external MA.

Waiting on mine, too. I'm a PhD applicant...

Quick question for Colorado acceptees: Did you receive a phone call (other than the acceptance phone call) from the department? I have a message from a Colorado area code, but can't quite make out what's being said. Thanks!

Not yet, but I'm leaning towards Davis. Best of luck with your visit, rdsull.

I just faced the same dilemma. The prospect of a phone conversation with the DGS made me realize that I would not be attending the school, and I didn't feel right taking up his time. Writing the e-mail and hitting the "decline" button gave me a huge sense of relief, as I'm sure it will for you. Plus, you'll make someone on the wait list very happy. (Weirdly, my husband was against me declining schools early. His reasoning? "What if the other schools rescind their offers?" I was like, "WHY would you put that into my head?")

I just declined my offer at UC Riverside. Sad to do so, as it's a lovely place! I hope it's helpful to a waitlister on these boards.

I'm interested in 18thc Brit lit/journalism. Hope a phone call is in your future!

I posted the first of the acceptances around 4:00 on the 28th--weirdly, GradCafe autocorrected to the 29th. I received the call from Paul Youngquist, who said a cohort of 5 was accepted this year. I'm very surprised to be accepted! Good luck to you all!

This. I was in a similar situation last year, except I was wait listed at my top choice. Visiting campus was one of the best decisions I made, since I had the opportunity to talk to POIs and see what a good fit the school would be. Everyone was incredibly kind, and basically treated me like an already admitted student. If you have the time and means to make it happen, visiting campus is worth it. I would recommend you contact the DGS to set up an official visit, since they often have a planned itinerary for wait listed students. In my case, the DGS put me in contact with the graduate coordinator, who in turn set up meetings with POIs and students.

Looks like a couple of people got in from the waitlist last year. I'm taking that as a good omen!

Congrats, viracity! I'm another waitlister. My email said I'm high enough on the waitlist that they'll fly me out for the Open House, which is very generous! I definitely think it's acceptable to ask your place on the list.

I can't believe it. I just got in!

I talked to Tina about funding and TAing, but that's it. I think she mentioned that professors were planning to call this week. Have you?

I have mixed leaning-towards-negative feelings about unfunded MA's...but I did one, so there's that I went to a state institution, which helped defray costs enormously. I had to take out loans, but I also applied for as many scholarships as possible through the English department at my school. The scholarships covered about one semester of the two-year program. I also worked two jobs outside of the MA program: a mindless retail job and a regular writing job that I could do remotely. Most of the people I knew in my program worked at some sort of outside job or relied on a partner for extra income. I agree with Jbarks on one point in particular: taking out loans for outside living expenses is the devil. It's also REALLY tempting to do after a long, thankless day in retail. I'm similarly pretty freaked out by debt, of which I now have a little bit, so there are times when I regret doing the MA. I feel like I got my money's worth, though.

Oh, man. I have so many, but my personal favorite from a student paper: "He put his wife on a petalstool." (pedestal) Thankfully, this is distracting me from the fact that I have not heard anything from Davis yet.