madhousefluent

Wow, and I thought Berkeley's rejection letter was unnecessarily rude!

I didn't live in Guelph, but a neighbouring city, Waterloo...can't answer as to their residence situation, but I can tell you that the cost of living is pretty low for SW Ontario, and it's a really beautiful area.

Thanks for this -- it's good to hear of successes as a second-time (or third, or whatever) applicant, since at this point that's all I can hope for. I'm already planning how to improve my application for the next round, though -- and it'll be easier when I'm NOT a senior. (Yes, I am doing that ridiculous thing.)

I'm also being driven nuts...I scoured my web app once I saw the rejection, but nothing. I'm a C, so I don't think it's alphabetical, but it seems like there are too many of us to take it as an indication of still-in-the-running...I vote for "they're just messing with our heads out of the cold icy depths of their hearts."

Anyone have any idea what this means for those of us crazy enough to apply to the MFA/PhD joint program?

Seven schools, not a word. Two implicit rejections for sure, three more probable implicits (not clear on whether they're done notifying), and one of my schools is UPenn...that leaves the sole Master's program I applied for at my undergrad school, which would be okay except I also need to win funding...and while I made it past the first round, that's the only good news I've had all year! Woe, consternation, etc.

Personally I'd kill to be in your position of worrying about Berkeley's future...

In agreement with everyone here! I don't know anyone else in real life applying to PhD programs (I'm currently in Canada, where most people get an MA in English Lit first), so the you're-smart-you'll-get-in refrain is constant. To the point that, when one of my professors e-mailed me as kindly as possible to point out that all the places I'm applying to are extremely competitive, and I might not get in, my immediate reaction was of profound relief. Somebody gets it. Even if it's only the people who have already made it...