tinycat

mine was for predoctoral.

got my rejection too.

Kinda hope it was a joke, or that they do it in waves. :/ If not congrats!

I applied there too for that program but haven't heard anything. *shrug* I am already more seriously considering other offers so I'm not too shook up about it. I wonder, though, about the wisdom of late application dates or about taking a long time to contact folks. By this point, some people have already made decisions about where to attend and whatnot.

Not sure about other genres, but poetry has been notified. Lots of applicants, very few spots....

My friend her from a POI there in early feb, but decisions are, I think still officially forthcoming.

and congrats to you, too! I see we applied to a lot of the same programs/genres! It's a tough time out there for writers!

Well, how did you find out your admission status? Did someone call you up and say "congrats, we want you in our poetry/fiction program" or did you find out via website, etc? In that case, I might email the grad coordinator and ask for more info about the program, funding, if you can visit, etc, and see what they have to say about the field you were admitted in. That should tell you more about what program you were admitted into, than one professor perhaps making an innocent email mistake or some such if it sounds like they might think they are talking to someone else (who isn't you.) I would say to try and get the information from the most reliable source, who might not be a professor in this or that department/program.

Utah has, I think, notified at least some of their CW people by phone already.

The GRE writing sample is a 5 paragraph essays, plain and simple. The people who grade those things don't take more than 2 minutes. Statistically, your sample will receive a higher grade if (1) it is long (er) and (2) you have a clear three point thesis and 3 paragraphs that start with first, second, and third, and then a conclusion. I followed that format and got a 6 both times. That's always been the easiest part of the test for me. Who cares about the actual topic of the question or the issue. Just study how they want it done. A good friend of mine did stellar on V and Q and totally bombed the writing, thinking that they actually 'cared' about what he was writing, and not how he was writing it. It's about studying the format. Same with the other parts. Focus on nailing those first 10 questions and the last 5 will barely count. As for the lit test, my background is not in literature (I studied, and will go on to study, creative writing) so most of my time was spent in studio, not in Shakespeare. I studied the nortons, took practice tests, and did about average because I thought I might apply to some lit programs and some CW programs. In the end, studying the test format and learning more about lit than I ever did in undergrad paid off. I didn't get into ivy league programs (a tough sell with no strong lit background) but I got into most of the top programs in my field. As everyone says, the app makes the most difference, but when it comes to the GRE you probably want that to stand out in a good way which means studying how to take the test, at least, in my opinion.

I had to really study the actual taking of the test, because I know how I get. I took all of these online practice tests, and my scores always varied widely. Because the current version is adaptive (your score is calculated based on the first 10 questions. That is, is calculates the probability of what you will get based on your performance on the first ten) I realized, from the online practice tests, that you could get the same number of questions wrong, or even more wrong, but if you get then wrong in certain places, that's what counts. So, if you get the first 10 right, and get the last ten wrong, your score will be higher than if you get the first 7 right, and the last 5 wrong, and so on. I took the test twice in two months or so because my scores were also expiring. I had a test score from 2005 and they are only good for 5 years. I took it once, didn't do well, but gave myself enough time to take it again. So while I did take it again to improve my score, it certainly looked as though I hadn't spent those 5 years studying the GRE, you know? Either way, thanks to ETS screwing up, my newer and better scores never got sent to a lot of places, or they got sent late (And I had to pay for them all again, too). But those programs that got the old 2005 scores didn't seem to mind! So you never know....

It definitely depends. Some schools don't look at GRE schools until the last minute, others use it to cull the herd, so to speak, if they are facing some 500 applicants. Some people don't take them at all and get admitted anyway. GRE scores don't necessarily help, but they *can* hurt. Of course, if your scores are exceptionally high, your app might get a second look if the rest of your materials were kind of blah. They can help you stand out in good and bad ways. Your scores are pretty low, and admit panels might raise their eyebrows at that, but if you explain in your cover letter maybe that you are a bad test taker, etc etc, they might not care, but the graduate school will as they often have minimums (even if unstated.) I am a terrible test taker, too, and did not do well on the test. I practiced and practiced and did not do well on test day, though I nailed the AW portion (6.0). So a month later, I took it again and improved my score by like 300 points. It's not like my knowledge increased in that month, but my knowledge of taking the test sure did. It is expensive and annoying, but if you test poorly, at least in my case, the solution is to take the test more than once. If you go through the app season again, give yourself enough time to take the test two or three times (too many times looks excessive). So try August, then October or November. In the end I probably cared more about my scores than the schools did, but I wanted to give myself the best chance. Good luck!

I couldn't remember my password, so I didn't even bother looking, lol! Whatevs, no tears over it. Thanks to the results board, I liked knowing that this was not unexpected, especially since it made it a lot easier for me to narrow down my choices a lot sooner and make plans.

i think they are on mid-winter/spring break...

mine was unchanged, and then it was changed to deny late last night. I'm not particularly torn. I got in two years ago and they were incredibly sketchy about funding and by the time they figured something out I had already said not to bother. And at this point right now I have much stronger choices. Congrats to those who were accepted, Chi-town is a great city!

yeah :/ for sure.

I emailed the secretary to let her know that this happened (and thus a lot of people's information was compromised as a result) and she profusely apologized. Clearly it was an accident. :/

per the the mass rejection email without the blind carbon copy: its a little tacky. epic FAIL, Cornell, epic FAIL.

the US News and World Report does rankings of schools and programs. that is at least one source of rankings. Other places, and magazines, might do their own.

and congrats to you!!!

Cool! Are you doing Am Studies or English Lit, British Lit? They do seem pretty amped on the individual visit, which is exciting!

I'd like to know your research area, etc!

what is your area of specialty?

English/Lit/Cultural Studies UPenn, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, UW-Madison, WashU, Cornell Same as above but with creative options: UConn, Cincinnati, SUNY Albany Creative Writing PhD Utah, U Denver, FSU, Georgia, Missouri, U of Ohio, Western Michigan, U Houston, UW Milwaukee, Nebraska, UIC Good luck everyone!

Were you applying for a regular english PhD or a creative one?