RestorationJunkie

Yeah, I was wondering this myself, but for the MA program. There aren't any past results for their MA program, though, so I don't know when they generally send out decisions. When was the PhD deadline?

Ladies and gentlemen of the lit/rhet/comp subforum, I present the only website that has managed to actually keep my mind off of grad school applications for a decent amount of time: http://reasoningwithvampires.tumblr.com/ Enjoy!

I am still in undergrad so my "old" papers aren't more than a few years old, but it is definitely interesting to look at my freshman/sophomore papers! I don't know that my actual writing has changed or improved very much, but my ideas and theses have become quite a bit more complex, which is fun to see. Yeah, it surprises me to hear that people do not read comments. I would never NOT be able to look at a comment made on a paper. In fact, (warning: neurosis ahead) not only do I always read the comments, I generally revise the paper accordingly before I store it. It will bother me otherwise.

The question of age has come up in a number of topics here on Waiting it Out and on the board in general. So I'm curious, how old are you? Do you think your age is helpful or harmful (or irrelevant) to your application?

I hope that is indeed the case. I suppose am truly a child of my generation--very impatient and used to instant gratification. I shall try to be more patient.

Well I'm guessing that whoever said that Duke would be flooded with emails asking for feedback was right. I emailed the grad director two days ago and haven't heard anything back. (Either that or she just didn't want to answer my email.) While I suppose she could still email me, I'm thinking it's pretty unlikely. Oh well, I guess it was worth a try!

How about something that I included but regretted later? I told them I have eleven siblings because I thought it might be a good way to stand out. Then I realized that many of the stigmas/stereotypes about large families probably would not serve me well in a grad school application. Oh well.

Haha, no, Cockney would sound too friendly. I was imagining a really snooty, pinky-finger-in-the-air one.

The way I see it, if they tell me the problem and I can fix it, then it was a hugely worthwhile question to ask. If they tell me that it is a problem that I cannot fix, it will be difficult to hear, but no actual harm will be done. Either way, I think knowing is almost always better than not knowing. I also had a potentially huge problem with a LOR, and I'm curious to see whether that actually impacted my application. If it did, I can know that I have a better chance with the schools for which she was not one of my LOR writers.

Hm yeah, I see how Austen and Modernism can be linked but I guess her point makes sense too. I'm interested in issues of sexuality and gender, specifically queer theory. But I don't really have a specific time period, which could be a problem. My writing sample uses Foucalt's The History of Sexuality, Volume 1 to analyze the deployment of sexuality as an identity between M.G. Lewis's The Monk and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

Thanks! I think I'll do that. May I ask what your topic area is and what your writing sample was about? (I completely understand if you're trying to stay anonymous or something and don't want to share.)

I had no idea this was even a possibility. How would one go about asking for feedback? Via email? And to whom?

Also from a real rejection letter: "I am sorry to report that you are among those whom we are unable to admit. We do hope that you will be able to pursue graduate study at another institution." For some reason, I kept reading the "we do hope..." part in a British accent.

Haha, don't worry, I don't think you're picking on me at all. Thanks for trying to explain! And your calculators can be part of my brain as long as they keep doing all of the calculating work for me.

*English major brain explosion*

This is hilarious! Thanks for posting it!

Some of the spam is really funny (there was a rejection from University of Phoenix the other day, I assume that was spam!) but yeah, this one just made me scratch my head. Also, not very nice since Harvard could actually be notifying people soon.

I thought that might be it. Tamora Pierce was my favorite author when I was little (haha who am I kidding, I totally still reread her books).

Mine was an email with a link to my application on the original application website (applyyourself), and there was a link to my rejection letter on there. All the email said was "your decision letter is ready to be viewed"

Aw I saw that and came to check this thread because I was hoping it was you, Lyoness. I hope you hear soon, and I hope it's good news! P.s. What's the origin of your username?

Most of my programs don't usually respond until at least mid-February, so I'm trying not to freak out yet. "Trying" is the key word there...

You are so beyond amazing it's not even funny. This is GREAT!

Aw that's super nice. I like that! I got a great response today from an alum of the school I applied to: "What?! Those elitist, arrogant, d-bags! I am SO not rooting for them during March Madness, and I'm taking my diploma off the wall!"

From a parent: "You're not as disappointed as I am." Uh, yes, I think I probably am.

I'm okay. Not too surprised, but definitely disappointed. Thanks for asking