darthoutis

My pleasure, katanianQ. I hope you find the best fit for you and wish you luck on the rest of your applications -- and everyone else's, too!

I think Catholic U would fit your description of "old school," in so far that they emphasize the reading of literature as literature (as opposed to an historical document, rhetorical artifact, etc.). You may be interested in a recent interview with their department chair, Ernest Suarez, from Literary Matters. The link is: http://english.cua.edu/News/Ordinarily%20Professing.doc Other than Catholic U, you might consider University of Dallas as a "traditional" program -- although theirs is more interdisciplinary, since they only offer a Ph.D. in Literature, Philosophy and Politics, not English Lit., I understand. The last school that comes to my mind is North Carolina State, where R.V. Young is. He's a "New" New Critic and authored At War with the Word (http://www.isi.org/books/bookdetail.asp ... 07311fcd17). I think they only offer a Masters, though. I'm hoping that more schools continue to return to the traditional study of literature, especially with the recent trend in historical formalism (at least within my period). I'm not sure if this movement is practical anymore, however, since most English departments already seem to have set into motion the process of becoming "Cultural Studies" departments and we're constantly being asked to justify the value of our discipline in worldly terms. Kyrie eleison.

I do know that the English department has already made their decisions and official GSAS notifications for all applicants should arrive within the next week or two. I don't know if the English department has already sent unofficial notifications to their admitted students or if the posts on this website are hoaxes. I only learned about my status when I inquired about a separate matter and the DGS volunteered to tell me that I have been waitlisted. "The" waitlist, I understand, is actually several ranked waitlists according to different concentrations, and the admitted Ph.D. cohort was 8 students. Best of luck to you!