lyonessrampant

While it depends on the program, most places accept the number of slots they have and extend offers to the waitlist as people decline. This avoids the problem of having too many people accept an offer, resulting in a larger-than-expected cohort. I believe that happened to UChicago last year.

Also out of upvotes so posting to say

Doing an MA made me a much, much better scholar and thinker. I did UChicago's much-maligned MAPH with a partial tuition scholarship. In retrospect, I wouldn't do it, but I'm a first generation college student, let alone graduate student. I had NO idea what grad school would be like. I went to a tiny LAC with kind but out-of-touch professors. I didn't know there were funded MA programs; I wasn't even really sure what the difference between an MA and Ph.D. was. I don't encourage people to go significantly into debt for a humanities MA, especially significantly into debt. Your situation, WT, is a positive one in that it sounds like you'll be able to get a decent amount of funding and you don't have to make a huge move with your wife and put her in the situation of changing employment. Those factors all matter, and UMD doesn't accept a bunch of people like UChicago and NYU's MA programs. Be proud of yourself I also didn't feel like I was treated as a second-class citizen even doing MAPH. I did know some people who felt that way, though, so my experience may be atypical. The difference may have been that I reached out to professors, went to office hours, asked for guidance, went to research groups and workshops, and basically was very proactive. That's important to do, especially in a large department. My biggest piece of advice for the MA is to be proactive. Take advantage of every opportunity and forge connections with professors because you have a shorter time to make an impression.

You could, I guess, but I think that it might come across negatively. Programs have procedures for handling their waitlists, and trying to negotiate your way around those procedures seems unfair to me. It also seems like something that a program might dislike. There's a difference between negotiating once you've got an offer and trying to negotiate your way into an offer. Not sure how others feel, but I personally wouldn't. I would certainly check in and say you're still interested and get information on their waitlist procedure, but unless you've got some sort of deadline situation, I wouldn't tell them when you get admitted other places unless those admissions would result in you wanting to remove yourself from their waitlist.

You can also ask for things directly. While a competing offer can give you some extra leverage, you don't have to have one to negotiate. I would agree that there are lots of reasons to not use a ghost offer as leverage.

Go super early for the astrolabe! Also, wander around during wine hour; you'll get lots more wine that way.

I'm also presenting at Kalamazoo. If I don't get into the astrolabe workshop AGAIN this year, I'm going to be so pissed! I was at Kalamazoo for the first time last year and went about 15 minutes early and it was already so full that there was a big group of people turned away. I'm hoping they do it in a bigger space this year.

I definitely encourage people to negotiate. Even if the answer is no, that's the worst case scenario. As long as you're polite, no one is going to be offended. It's also expected that you negotiate somewhat if you get a job offer, and that is true across many fields. I recommend looking at Linda Babcock's Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide. As the title indicates, if obviously focuses on women's negotiating experiences, but it has a lot of good information for anyone who finds negotiating difficult. While programs may find it difficult or impossible to reduce your teaching obligations or increase your funding in years beyond the first (budgets generally change yearly so them increasing your total package can cause future budgetary problems), start with the big things and work down to things like top-off funds, relocation expenses (many programs don't cover this, though some do and asking is certainly not crass), book funds, increased travel funds, and assistance with language classes. Be polite and respectful and there won't be a problem. Lots of people negotiate, so it certainly won't seem out of place.

Hi! I did my comprehensive exams almost a year and a half ago (September of my third year). For ours we have a book list that covers canonical texts that you could expect to teach in the first part of the survey of British literature (I'm an early modernist), and then we add texts for our particular areas to get to a total of around 200. We submit a rationale with a booklist to our committee who adds/removes books and suggests possible revisions on the rationale until the advisor says it is fine. The three people in the department each submit a written question. We get the questions and one week to pick a question and write a 20ish page paper. Two weeks after that, if the written passes, there is a 2-hour oral exam that is part response to written/part quiz on booklist/part discussion of dissertation project. I say all this to preface my tips since I used them for this format of exam. 1. Take notes in an electronic format so that it is searchable. You might want to build an excel spreadsheet that has each text and then a column for main argument/main characters/main plot (or multiple columns for these areas if your list is most primary material) and then a column about why it is useful to you. This seems similar but in a compressed format as the professor's recommendation. To me, that amount of notes sounds overwhelming in terms of the time it takes to generate them. I had long-form and short-form notes, but even my long-form notes were generally not that extensive. 2. Make a flash card for each text that has the text name and/or author on one side and then one notecard of important details on the other. Use these cards once you're read your list, have longer/more extensive notes, and are really just preparing for a timed exam. 3. Know your weakpoints because a committee probably knows them too and will likely ask you about them. I specialize in epic romance and poetry more generally. I definitely don't do drama. I know my committee knows that, so I knew I'd get some drama questions. I tried to preempt them by talking about drama in my response to the written comments, but I also made sure that I was pretty familiar with the dramatic texts on my list. 4. Know what your committee members do/are interested in at the time of your exam. You can predict the types of questions they might ask you if you know that. Try not to stress out too much. Easier said than done, I know, but they wouldn't let you take the exam if they didn't think you will pass. Be confident in yourself and you'll do better. Good luck!

It is super different, and while their FACs is pretty transparent on methodology and random halves is a pretty reliable statistical measure, I'd like to know who are the people giving them the opinion rankings that they use as the data. Maybe I missed this, but I'd also like to see the criteria they specifically use to determine the Students category. They say funding, time to degree, and completion are some of the metrics, but do they adjust for cost of living for example? For example, the standard stipend at my university is $14,000 and it is $25,000 at CUNY. Obviously, the number for CUNY is way higher, but the cost of living is astronomically higher so that when adjusted for cost of living, the stipend here is actually larger in terms of going farther. I don't mean to hate on these rankings and used the example I did only because I know those funding amounts, but in many ways it seems like the NRC's rankings use some of the same methodology as USNWR (ask some people what they think and then we'll make rankings) but asked more people and randomized the data better. The other metrics could also be more transparent in terms of source. TLDR; rankings still seem pretty arbitrary and largely they don't matter, I think, because perceived prestige doesn't shift a lot so the same schools/programs people think are great will be ranked that way.

Congratulations all! Chiming in to say that you should definitely consider having multiple offers a negotiating situation. You don't want to be too aggressive (some schools don't have more funds) but you should definitely ask about the possibility for top-off funds, summer funds, book funds, travel funds, etc. You should also go back to a DGS once you know what your funding package will be at multiple programs if the program you'd prefer is offering you less money. You can phrase this diplomatically (I really like your program and would really prefer to be here, but the funding offer at X is making it really hard to come. Is there any way that the funding here could match the offer at X or come closer?), but definitely negotiate. I found this particularly difficult. The gender dimension of negotiating (Sandberg's Lean In addresses that, though there are other-better in my opinion-books as well) can make it uncomfortable, but it's great practice and can make a huge impact on your overall graduate experience.

Congratulations! Better change that signature

It is very unlikely that your status will change on the website. You'll probably get a call or email from the DGS extending you the offer. It also depends on how the program compiles their waitlist. Some schools just have a ranked waitlist so that it doesn't matter what your subfield is. Lots of programs (mine included) have ranked waitlists organized by subfield, so when a 20/21 person declines an offer, the top ranked person on the 20/21 waitlist receives the offer rather than just the top-ranked waitlisted person. It's a good idea to ask the DGS at the program where you're waitlisted what the procedure is for their program. Good luck to everyone waitlisted!

I don't know if this will make people worry less or more, but the year I applied (started in 2011-12), I got rejections from Berkeley, Duke, and Stanford all on Valentine's Day. They'd notified acceptances a week or more before that if I recall correctly, though in the case of Duke there had been a lot of both acceptances and rejections. In communication with the DGS I was in some sort of quasi-waitlist limbo. Anyway, I thought that was kind of a mean thing to do but fortunately started the day with an acceptance to my current program. Of course, it seems like places are notifying earlier this year, so maybe you'll hear one way or the other for sure on Berkeley sooner than mid-February. Best of luck to everyone! While whiskey is a great coping strategy (one I used/use a lot), I would also say that these next couple months are going to be (for many) long and anxiety ridden between waiting to hear, seeing others hear and not hearing yourself, waiting out the waitlists, deciding between offers, etc. I definitely wore myself ragged during this time and wish that I'd eaten healthier and worked out more in addition to my other coping strategies. Just my 2 cents. Best wishes to you all!

Sorry obrial. Best of luck on your remaining programs.

Congrats! Also, I'm in the Ph.D. program at the University of Minnesota and happy to answer questions about the program. You'll be contacted by someone in your subfield soon, too. On visiting weekends: Most programs partially or fully fund the visiting weekend, so definitely ask about funding options.

^You should send this as an addendum to your applicant file to all your programs.

It will depend based upon the program. A lot of programs have set funding packages, so if an offer is extended to someone on the waitlist, it will be the same basic funding. Sometimes there are top-off grants or special fellowships that generally won't go to waitlist offers, but generally, the funding package should be comparable.

Fingers crossed for you, WT, Hesse, and everyone else waiting to get the first acceptance! There really is still a lot of time left, and should you get shut out and decide to go through another round, please know that LOTS of people don't get in on the first try, even people who go on to win fellowships, grants, publish, and do good work (ahem . . . I'm in the multiple rounds pool and know other people in that group as well).

The forum is quite a bit more supportive these days. I've been around several years, and while I overall always had a positive experience, there were definitely some flame wars. HUGE CONGRATS to Unraed and Hreathmus (special characters take too long). You both are super impressive applicants, and I love that you may be in the same cohort together. Congrats to everyone else accepted as well! To those of you still waiting, don't lose heart; there's still a LOT of time left. Much love to all!

All humanities pre-program fellowships are INSANELY competitive, so don't feel badly. Also, humanities programs expect to fund their admits (especially the programs you're applying to), and generally the external fellowships don't become a thing you apply for until you're in the dissertation phase. Good on you for applying, though! That's really the attitude that leads to success, IMHO, in grad school. Apply, apply, apply. The rejections hurt, but the acceptances are great and you can't win anything unless you apply!

I would say not to worry about it until you know if you will get the fellowship. Sometimes departments will admit an additional applicant if she is self-funded through an external grant, though this is more common in the sciences or for international applicants on a Fulbright. If you do get it and it is enough to cover tuition + stipend and renewable for the length of a program, then I'd contact all schools you applied to and tell them you have external funding. If it is not a huge amount, it will probably not be a factor in your admission or funding package.

So glad to hear that things have improved! What a journey you had. It's awful that your former advisor has ruined so many academic careers. I hope that all of the people she turned away found as satisfying a life course as you have. Best wishes.

Aw thanks I'd upvote you, but I'm out of them. Who caps good feelings anyway?

Just passing on the grad cafe pearls Good luck all!