kahlan_amnell

Most applications that I've seen have a blank for that. I've sometimes not filled it out, lest the programs I'm applying to that might be lower ranked then others think that I'm not serious about their school. However, I see no harm in telling them where else you're considering once you've been accepted.

Ah, was it you that posted the Temple acceptance in the results? Congrats! Did you see the decision on the TU Portal/Owlnet web page?

The worst rejection I've gotten was not this round of applications, it was a few years ago when I was applying to law school. The sentence that struck me as terribly pompous on their part was: "Ultimately, we realize that many people denied admission to Boston College Law School will go on to lead successful professional lives." Right, do they really think that they need to reassure people that their entire life isn't over just because they didn't get into one law school?

Ah ok. I had never heard of it applying to MA programs, as there are more unfunded then funded MAs.

"Too young"? I know someone who started a Ph.D. program at 18. That doesn't make much sense as a reason not to go. If you go to U Mich and decide you don't want to get a Ph.D. you can leave with a MA. If you go to a MA program now, you'll have to go through this whole application process again, and if you change schools some of your credits might not transfer and it would therefore take longer to get your degree. Anyway, you've gotten some good advice on how to turn them down.

I've only heard it referenced for Ph.D. offers, and I've heard people say it doesn't apply to MAs. I don't know about MSWs, and the resolution itself does not specify what type of programs it applies to.

I don't know. Just what I've heard tossed around when the CGS is discussed, particularly over at the live journal applyingtograd community. However, in checking on it, it says: "Acceptance of an offer of financial support (such as a graduate scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, or assistantship) for the next academic year by a prospective or enrolled graduate student completes an agreement that both student and graduate school expect to honor. In that context, the conditions affecting such offers and their acceptance must be defined carefully and understood by all parties. Students are under no obligation to respond to offers of financial support prior to April 15; earlier deadlines for acceptance of such offers violate the intent of this Resolution." Doesn't say anything about Ph.D.s specifically, but that does address the fact that the resolution is about accepting funding. And I've never heard it referenced with MA offers, perhaps because there are so few funded MA programs in many disciplines. Have you heard of it applying to MA programs?

Ah, I see. There haven't been any decisions posted since 2/25, if they have finished accepting people then they are certainly taking their time getting the rejections out.

1) Depends on the school. If they are a member of the council of Graduate Schools, they must do this by April 15th for funded Ph.D. offers. 2) If they are a member of the council of Graduate Schools, you will have to decide on funded Ph.D. offers by April 15th. If they are not a member, then they can set whatever date they choose. These are questions you should ask the program that admitted you.

Congrats on the acceptance! How did you find out that all Rutgers accepted students have been notified?

I got this notice in my school e-mail and I thought it might be of use to some people on this forum, if they need to print resumes or CVs:

So I take it that "Univ of Michigan, AA" didn't offer you funding and that is why you are saying no to them? Or is UTA a better fit, or higher ranked in your field? Otherwise I'm not sure why you would turn down a Ph.D. offer for a MS offer. If it is the funding, you could use that to explain why you are saying no.

I think the average in History is something like 8 years. I thought that must be thrown off by people who took a huge number of year to finish, but then when I started my MA program I met Ph.D. students who seemed like they were taking 8 years or more to finish. Some took their quals several years ago and are still writing their dissertations. I guess for some dissertations it really does take that long, but I can't imagine spending more than 1-2 years on a dissertation myself, as I study American History and wouldn't have to travel halfway around the world to archives or do much translating.

I'm also in my last semester of an MA program and writing my thesis. I've got until April 17th to get it finished though. Mine's going pretty well, I'll be turning in the first complete draft in a few weeks, I've been turning in chapters since the start of February. How's your thesis going? Be sure to get some sleep sometime, caffeine only goes so far towards making sleepy people awake.

The answer was no for me too. G-mail notifier showed me enough of the e-mail to know it was a rejection before I even opened the e-mail. Oh well, I figured I wasn't going to get in there.

TUPortal? The only thing I have a username and password for at temple is the applications site as far as I know... Edit: Apprentely I should have gotten a username password for TUPortal but I somehow didn't. I called the computer help desk and they helped me get one. Still no decision from Temple, but at least now I know the right site to check for one. Thanks!

Yeah, I haven't heard either, and if I don't hear anything this week I'm going to guess I'm out. Oh well, it was quite a long shot. Question for anyone who has heard a decision from Temple: It looks like they mostly notify by phone and e-mail. Has anyone found out a decision from Temple's Apply Yourself website? Also, has anyone heard from Rutgers latley? The last results post was on the 25th. On the off chance that anyone is waiting to hear from Claremont Graduate University, I have heard from the department that they are slow on making decisions this year. It seems that the admissions committee has not met yet.

I wouldn't suggest contacting them until mid-March at the earliest.

Thanks for your thoughts. Yeah, I know that Washington is a large state, and that different parts of the state are quite different. I am aware of Pullman's location. The middle of nowhere is quite my thing, I lived in the middle of nowhere before moving to an suburban sprawl type area for my MA, and I would be glad to get back to that sort of place. As for a party atmosphere, oh well, as long as I can find an apartment that isn't surrounded by people having loud parties, then it doesn't matter to me. If most people leave during breaks, that's fine too. Then it will be quiet and that's nice. As for the ranking, well, ranking isn't everything. I'll look into the placement rates before making my decision. This program was recommended by various professors at my current school as one they thought would be a good fit for me. I don't think they would have recommended it if they didn't see some merit in the program. Since you don't go to the school, I don't think you have that much perspective on it. Sure you know people there, but I wouldn't give others advice on a school based on knowing people there. No offense or anything. I do plan to visit before accepting, but WSU would be better than my current school, if they even accept me to their Ph.D. program. At least they have a decent sized faculty there. I'm currently at a tiny department that has three full time professors. Yep, I agree. I was amused as well. Honestly, I'm not going to put much stock in the advice of someone who doesn't even go to the school they are bashing. It would take something much more substantive to rain on this girl's parade. I'm just glad to have been accepted somewhere. Thanks! Yep, I plan to visit. The professor who would be my advisor seems to be pretty active in publishing as far as I can tell from the website. I should note that so far the only thing that has been said about the reputation of the graduate school there is that it isn't ranked highly. Most of the other information has been about the undergrad school, which isn't necessarily all that relevant.

Thanks! Actually, the WSU campus I was accepted to is in Pullman. I've heard good things about Washington in general, and I think I would like it there.

After five rejections I got my first acceptance today! I was accepted to Washington State University. They haven't mentioned anything specific about funding yet, but it sounds like information will be forthcoming. Did anyone else here apply to WSU? Do any WSU students have any words of advice?

Sometimes there just aren't foreign language that are all that relevant to your research if you're an Americanist though. I study 19th Century social, cultural, and gender history. I've passed a language exam in Spanish, after taking a Spanish for graduate study course last summer to refresh my knowledge of the language. Before doing that I asked my MA advisor what languages she would recommend I learn/take my exams in and she told me just to take an exam in one I already knew, and substitute a research tool for the second language if I stayed at the same program for my Ph.D. Most Ph.D. programs I applied to don't require two languages for Americanists, they usually ask for one language and a research tool. Now, I'm not saying that having two or more languages wouldn't help your application if they are relevant, all I'm saying is that they aren't relevant for everyone. In planning academic things to do over the summer, intensive language study would not be on my list.

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Because any rankings have a certain degree of arbitrariness to them. I'd suggest you focus more on figuring out if the program is a good fit for you and finding out if their graduates are finding the kind of job you are interested in finding than the rankings.

MA student here and I'm 0-4, with 6 schools left to hear from. I don't know if things are worse for undergrads or not.