muchado

Congrats, Sursie! That's so awesome!

It seems like a visit on March 2 would be pretty late notice at this point. I have my Louisville visit that weekend, and we received all the official info for the trip last Friday. Plus, I had already known about it for a week.

Congrats YesPhDinHumanities! It's awesome that you've received good news from (what seems like) your top choice!

Great House is also on my list. I just got it for Christmas along with The Fault in Our Stars, The Casual Vacancy, and a couple of others which I'm dying to have time to read...damn you thesis! The History of Love is one of my favorite books as well, so I'm really hoping Great House holds up.

I've always loved reading. My Dad loves to tell stories about how I got mad at him when he would read to me because he wasn't using all the words on the page (if you've read to little kids, you know how easy it is to say "and the mermaid was happy" instead of actually reading the story). However, it didn't really hit me until high school how much I wanted to pursue literature as anything more than just a hobby. I had always planned to be a doctor, until I realized how much more I loved my English classes than my science classes. And that was it. I've never stopped trying to figure out how the words we use shape who we are.

My SC acceptance contained some version of the phrase "early notice" and required some information from me for a Fellowship nomination deadline. We haven't received any official info regarding contracts or visits yet, so I wouldn't couldn't it out.

Anyone want to claim the last few rhet/comp acceptances? Congrats to whoever it is!

Yeah, here's hoping that it will be more like end of February rather than mid-March. I wonder if they said anything similar last year considering the boards show acceptances posted in the last few days of Feb? The waiting really is the worst.

Congrats dazedandbemused! Pitt is such a great program!

Flaglerlion - Safe to assume you got the email from FSU today? Generic email to all applicants saying that they would have news in March. I'm hoping this is just cautionary so people will chill out and not email them so much.

I pretty much agree with all of the above posters. I was rejected across the board from PhD programs after my BA and decided to go to a funded MA program. It has been a fantastic experience. I have grown so much as a scholar over the last two years through the 10 classes I've taken and the thesis I'm still working on. In addition, I was able to really figure out the field I was interested in (Comp/Rhet rather than Lit) and receive a great deal of personal attention from my adviser on my thesis, PhD applications, and general goals for professionalization. If you get into a PhD program, that's great, but if not, you should definitely consider the funded MA option. I'm so glad I did.

I know it's difficult, but we all have to keep in mind that it's still really early. I have several schools that I know haven't even started looking at applications much less made decisions. In regards to Louisville, I still haven't received official info from the graduate school or the email I was told to expect from Karen Habeeb in regards to traveling for the visit weekend. I'm not assuming that they are finished notifying until one or both of those are sent.

Yay! Congratulations!

Seems like you've got the situation well in hand damequixote. Perhaps you will hear even more good news to continue complicating your decision.

I hadn't heard of that program before now, but it seems to me like you would want to go where you feel like the best fit with your interests and personality lies. If that's at Michigan, then I say go for it. Aside from that, here is the main thing I would take into consideration: What kind of department do you want to teach in (English or Education? Or something else?) and do they commonly place people in that type of job? If their graduates seem to get jobs in Education or Communication departments and you want to teach in English then it might be better to go with a different program. You clearly have great options. It's still really early to be making decisions. Talk to and visit as many of these departments as you can to get a clearer picture of what the next several years would look like there, then make a decision. Hope that helps!

So, I'm currently reading Moll Flanders, but I have been looking longingly at the copy of The Fault in Our Stars that I was given as a Christmas gift. Does that count for anything? I just need to bite the bullet and read it. I know it won't take me more than a day or two. Also - I LOVE the Lizzie Bennet Diaries. They are absolutely wonderful.

I hope so too! The words "advanced notice" were in my email, and I had to send something back because of the fellowship I was nominated for. SO - there's definitely a chance they are still sending emails out. I was told to expect word from the Graduate school soon.

Haha. Very nice. Well, I hope you hear good news! What are your research interests?

lewisthesamteenth - I'm in NY state right now, so I didn't apply farther west than Texas. I had enough options in that area, and I have ZERO desire to move across the entire country. I moved halfway across the country (Texas - New York) for my MA, and I'm not going further than that. Do you have any idea when your schools should start notifying? Pranayama - As far as I know, it seems that MA and BA students applying to PhD programs are considered at at the same time. I think it mostly comes down to strength of application, no matter your previous education. If you dig a little further in these forums, you might find better discussion of which students lean towards students who already have MAs and who prefer their PhD students right out of the BA. Personally, I'm glad that I ended up getting a general MA in Lit (not my original plan) as I think it's made me a better student and been a great experience, but you shouldn't count yourself out until it's over.

In and nominated for a fellowship at South Carolina! So excited for everyone who got good news today!

Hahahaha! I'm going to go edit that now. I was perhaps still a little too excited when I wrote that.

I actually just received a formal email from South Carolina admitting me to the English problem! Hooray! Edit: I'm also excited about the English PROGRAM!

I was considering applying to Old Dominion for a while, and their deadline (I think) is Feb 15th. Are you only interested in PhD programs? Or are you considering MA programs as well?

Congratulations! I'm so so glad you heard good news this year. I absolutely feel the same way. Knowing that I'm getting a PhD somewhere next year is a wonderful feeling. I really hope more people hear good news soon!

Thanks so much! I feel like my stats are pretty average. I went to no-name private schools for my BA and MA (4.0 at both), have average GRE scores, and have presented at several conferences. My MA has been focused on literature, but I've been able to take two composition theory courses and write a comp-based thesis. Most of my research thus far has had to do with cultural tensions, both in rhetoric and in the composition classroom. I'm very interested in cultural identity and how that is shaped through language and writing. So, that's not broad at all. Haha. I really hope Louisville will be sending out more news next week. Like I said earlier, it seems that all the notifications have noted a fellowship nomination, so there's a chance they will send another wave of acceptances. That being said - I'd love to hear more about what other people are interested in researching. And now that it's February, are there any schools that people are particularly excited/freaking out about hearing from this month?