booksareneat

Enter Tina Turner TT: This to Barter Town! Welcome to the Thunderdome! Crowd: 500 applicants enter, one applicant leaves!

Washington are the only school who I haven't even bothered to press by emailing their secretary with a basic inquiry. I figured the response would be vaguely saying, "yeah, we'll get there eventually." April 24th sounds optimistic. I'm going to hold my breath until July and then they'll go, "oh, hey we have this whole other stack of applications sitting on the floor."

I saw a note from someone about Washington posted. They are in the process of whittling down a short-list to a final group of 7 spots, correct? I suppose that is good news if I haven't heard? They've made some offers, though, haven't they?

So did anyone else get that email that seemed like it was going to be a rejection, but instead it was just saying, "we'll be in touch?" With only six positions, I'm pretty well sure that I'm not going to be one of those six, but the email confused me. Just letting me down gently, in waves of rejection?

Ok. I got news about cohort and waiting list that I'd share if someone PMed me, but I won't post here.

Any news on the size of the waitlist or the cohort? I am on the former, but haven't heard anything about specifics. I am hopeful that this new spending package passed today will help the Minnesota budget (that's at least what some are saying) in terms of education.

As with all these conversations, you should directly ask the DGS what their placement rate (and where they place) for grads. That is the most important thing. Unless you were accepted somewhere I was waitlisted in which case... yeah you should totally wait for next year.

wrappedup: In this case, I emailed the DGS and she responded. Calling their secretary wouldn't be a bad idea. She's quite nice.

First off, excellent name. I'll have that song in my head for the rest of the day. Second, I think it is quite common to be accepted into "better" schools as I think a lot of these forum posts can attest to the fact that rank and reputation often has little to do with acceptance. Sub-note to the second: I was lamenting the fact that a school rejected me when I thought we were perfect for one another. I said to a friend that if I didn't get into that school then the rest of the schools will surely reject me. He pointed out that I've been terrible at predicting where I WILL get in that I will probably be as bad about where I WON'T get in. So far, he's right. Third, are you thinking about email the DGS because you haven't heard yet? I think the graduate secretary is a better bet (since the DGS will usually pass it on to them anyway). To answer the question, though, I don't think it would be harmful.

I read that and had the image of Kurtz saying, "The Horror."

Actually, that almost makes me feel better. I feel like this whole thing is the wheel of fortune anyway. It's almost reassuring to know that there is a department out there that doesn't have a plan. Maybe I'll fit into that non-plan.

The advice I received from one of my recommenders was that this is a professional degree (PhD) and that you need to have a clear focus on what you need to do. Going into my MA I had a good idea of the branch of literature I wanted to focus upon, but within a few months everything came into focus--I started to see the theories I wanted to work with and get a good idea of where I wanted to apply those theories. Then again, I felt (and was told) my SOP was spot on and I seem to be striking out with schools (*shakes fist at academic gods*), so maybe I just slept with the wrong people.

Yeah, the false sense of security is the rub. It's not as if you've moved to the next round. From what I gather, Washington throws their applications on the ground, shuffles them up and then begins to pull each one out, saying "yea" or "nay." I could be way off, but in the past it seems like acceptances and rejections came out all through the month. They're just toying with us.

I know better than to expect Washington's (Seattle) admit process to make sense, but I still get toyed with. People have submitted results that say they've been called or emailed, but Wash's official position is that they will email a rejection and mail an acceptance. Can any of you who have had responses help a brother out?

So, Sarah, your email acceptance was informal? Was the email initiated by you or are they emailing and mailing acceptances?

First off, this sucks. Sorry for all involved. However, why couldn't you accept on March 11th and if you get another offer, then you could drop Rhode Island. It's not the best thing to do--sure you don't want to jerk them around. But there's nothing to really stop you, is there?

No problem. In my experience, it is the Director of Graduate Studies. Sometimes, it is hard to figure that out from the website, but it's easy to find the graduate secretary. Once you find them, you could call and ask to the DGS (even if it isn't by name).

Email the DGS. In my experience, half of them don't give you much and the other half are happy to tell you something (improve your writing sample, get an MA, something).

Sit down with your recommenders and ask them that question. They are the best suited to answer questions like this. Then email programs that reject you and ask to speak to their DGS so you can get a better idea.

By the end of the weekend, you say? Is that a speculation or veiled insider knowledge? I think the anger at the adcom thing is just trying to let off steam. This is a frustrating process and the fact that I've gone through 8 f5 (refresh) keys is a testament to that. I do think it is odd that some schools that have Dec. 1st deadlines are still dragging their feet. Lookin' at you, Ohio State. Unless they call me and say I'm in and then everything is forgiven.

I'm still waiting and hitting refresh every ten seconds. I wish that my extended pain could be a good sign, but we all know it isn't. Sorry you're striking out Orinin. I feel that pain.

Took one for the team and called the office. Letters started going out last week and will continue going out this week, maybe into the next. That is the most I could get out without sounding impetuous.

I understand everyone's enthusiasm for the wiki idea, but have to say that two things raised my eyebrows. I am glad that BC is a perfect fit, but there are probably 100 people just on this forum who could say the say thing and BC only let's in a couple of applicants every year. The main thing is, putting up a wiki describing departments' strengths seems a bit odd. I don't know about other people, but when I did my research for schools, I went through every school's faculty page and looked over the faculty related to my field. I looked over their published works; have they published in the last 5 years? Do I like their style? etc... I compiled a 30 page document that listed job placement statistics, faculty interests, funding notes, etc... Out of the 13 schools (well, 12, because I screwed up the date for one) I applied to, I could say that I would be a perfect fit at 4. There were smart people in my field (20th C. Lit and narratology) who I liked a lot. Then I applied to schools that would be great to be at, though they may not match me perfectly. And I applied to schools that I was hoping would be easier to get into (though, I've learned my lessons about safeties). I agree that there seems to be a complete lack of imagination at times, with people applying to the same schools and throwing out cliches like aim for the stars when talking about applying to Yale. But I think the idea that there is one perfect love and that once you find it, you're sure to get in... boy I wish that were true, but I'm afraid the schools may not see me in the same light.

Good. I like using teamwork to annoy adcoms. If there's a program you need me to pester, let me know.

Bravo! I eff-ing LOVE the word defenestrated. I don't think there is a better word in the English language. Every time I hear/read it, I imagine a couple of dudes getting tossed from a window and I crack up. I'll let someone else fill in the D.O.