unearthedlurker

I am glad to have been part of this community for the past (THREE :eek:) application seasons. I'll be around next year, only because I'm holding out hope for my top school (err, the only school I've applied at. Ever. Sigh). Everyone here is wonderful---I've kept my fingers crossed for countless people and am so very glad to see they're moving on to *phenomenal* programs. Good luck to us all, whether we're heading to a program or battling competition next round!

This is the third year I haven't heard anything until the final week. And even then, after that April 15th deadline, they don't really give you any resolution---there's always that hope that someone will back out over the summer and they'll call upon those who have expressed interest until the very final hours. All of this to say: I feel your pain, fellow waitlisters. I feel it deeply.

Congrats, anon-on-the-results-page! Has anyone else heard anything? I'm biting my nails at this point. Suspense is killing me. (How many more trite phrases can I include?)

Correspondence between my house and UF is usually pretty speedy---I still haven't received notice either way. I never even received a waitlist notification, and they sent one out last year mid-March. This leaves me wondering if mail has been delayed due to good ol' Florida storms.

Good luck at Austin, Tortola! Looks like the postal acceptance was a mouse mistake and is actually a rejection.

Oh, no! I had meant to post this yesterday, but I had to leave to teach class. It was sitting, unposted, as soon as I clicked on my monitor this afternoon: Today I just heard from a source (not a professor in the department, but a student who works closely with a few adcom members) that the PhD cohort is finalized. Because decision day still looms ahead, this can change at any time if anyone reneges; however, with only six slots, chances are that these people probably know they're desperately desired, like the funding package and research opportunities, and will stay with the program. Blasted. (Congrats! to those of you WGIers...) I think my source is pretty reliable, so I'm heartbroken. BUT I do have hope for next year! Coming back to 4/05/11: looks like they're sending out rejections per the results page.

I try to eschew oppressive and gender biased language at all times. I don't usually think about it because it's very natural for me; however, going into the spotlight makes me remind myself "this language is unacceptable so be sure not to use it!" Unfortunately, reaction formation takes over when I'm nervous---so I begin throwing around extremely gender biased language like "It's so nice to meet you guys!" to groups of female professors OR "No skin off my back!" to groups of people of color while attempting to feign ignorance of the actual phrase ("I mean, wait, is that the phrase? I dunno, I don't really know what the phrase is") and drawing more attention to the fact that I've used it and know it's offensive and hurtful for those clued in. Awful. I kick myself for WEEKS afterward.

Thank you for sharing, Catalysta. Your insight is invaluable to those of us considering reapplying (and for those who haven't heard a peep).

Hmm. I don't have connections in the department, so I can't be entirely certain; I simply heard through admissions committee members at two nearby Central Florida universities of this Rick Scott news and what it means for state schools. Personally, I'm going to stick with believing the cohort size is an exceptionally small group. Better for the ego that way!

The state of Florida, much like many states, is facing *extreme* budget cuts in education (for one). Sounds about right to me. I heard through the grapevine that Gov. Rick Scott has asked programs to cut their cohorts in half, if not more.

I'm actually looking for the same. Can anyone give me a general idea about notations on eReaders? How long does it take to type a comment? (Personally, I would prefer NOT to type. Does anyone have a reader with a stylus to "write" your notations?)

You're probably right on all accounts, but do let me explain. There are three schools in the States (I don't want to move abroad) that offer a PhD in the field I'm working in, but the other two universities have theoretical and literary bents that are not conducive to my work. These schools also don't look kindly on applicants outside that spectrum (my friend applied to both--twice--and was rejected each time; upon asking what to do for improvement the second time around, she received very rude answers that suggested she needed to change her theoretical foundation). The school that I've applied to several times over has a scholar working on the same types of literature with similar theoretical scope. The difference is, this scholar works on a particular aspect *exactly opposite* of what I'm doing. He is "well published" for a blossoming field, but even then, his publications are few and far between. So, yes, I'll have trouble publishing, and yes, I'll have a difficult time finding an academic position. But doing what I love for four years versus biting the bullet, switching subfields, and possibly not being as happy seems like a less pleasant PhD experience. I know there's a market out there, it's just being developed. I hope to someday take it to new places---places where I and this particular scholar would like to venture.

I've presented at six different conferences, some regional, some national, some international. I'm presenting at an International conference on Thursday. I have to reiterate: "speak louder and slower than you need to." Personally, I bring a digital recorder to my panel and A) keep time while it's recording, B ) keep in mind that I need to speak loudly and position it as far from my mouth as possible, C) keep in mind that if I were to use Dragon Naturally Speaking to transcribe my presentation, I would need to speak clearly and slowly for it to correctly "understand" what I'm saying (like my audience members, Dragon is "hearing" it for the first time and doesn't know what I'm saying---keeping this in mind allows me to enunciate properly and speak at an intelligible speed). I advise you to go out an purchase a digital recorder with transcription options. This has been a GODSEND for me. I've listened to each conference playback, and my presentations have only gotten better. I highly recommend investing the $60 or so a good digital recorder runs. Good luck EDIT: for some reason the board decided my "" was a "cool" shades wearing emoticon.

I've been waitlisted three times by the same university; granted, it's the only university I've applied to, as I'm not a good fit for any other university (vice versa---too few people are doing what I'm doing), and barely a good fit there. This is my third time on the list. I'm not sure if they're telling me "figure out something more widely applicable and we'll let you in later" or if they're just swamped with other more viable candidates. But... yes, it definitely happens. In fact, if I'm not in again this year, I plan to reapply next year. I wonder who holds the record for "most times waitlisted at a university?"

bottles, good luck to you re: MLIS. My friend just posted a breakdown of her salary in the wake of the Wisconsin rule, and it looks grim. To be honest, I was thinking about doing an MLIS in the interim between reapplying (if I don't make it off the waitlist), but after I saw her post... not so much. I hate to be the harbinger of bad news, but I don't believe in false hope. I know we all do what we love---and, boy, do we love books, all of us here!---but keeping food on the table is a pretty big deal. My friend, who has been working as a librarian for the past four years, is now making an excess of $150/mo. after bills. It's great, of course, that she has a surplus coming in, but things to think about now that the pension plan outlook seems grim to all of us: retirement. What's worse is that, she said, in the great state of WI, she'll have to put 12.6% of her excess money toward pension and, what, 5.2ish% toward healthcare. Do the math on that, and she's left with pretty much nothing to put toward personal accounts like ROTH/IRAs or stock or bonds or whatever it is people are putting their money into these days. This is, unfortunately, going to be a big problem to most of us in the humanities. While it's a big problem only for Wisconians at the moment, I see things ending badly for EVERYONE nationally. It makes my heart break. I sure hope this doesn't offend or hurt anyone. I just... don't want anyone to have false hope, you know? Not that you would have false hope about the MLIS, but the ideal/fantasy world we grad students live in sometimes differs from what might happen after school. I hate to think about it, but I feel like I have to.