sundv004

I definitely second Carnegie Mellon. WashU has an interdisciplinary Digital Humanities graduate certificate (Data Science in the Humanities), Bowling Green State University's rhetoric program is pretty digital-intensive. Florida State has a History of Text Technologies program, as well as a rhetoric program. I'd maybe look into Miami University (of Ohio). Maybe Berkeley--if you're into rhetoric as understood as cultural theory.

Did you (or anyone else on this thread) end up going? I am applying this round and would LOVE to work with David Wills. Any reports from the Albany front?

I attended one of Interdisciplinary.Net's conferences (5th Global Conference on Cybercultures) and it was, by far, the most productive conference I have attended. To be sure, I was also skeptical at first: the conference fee and the number of conferences they host annually rendered the program initially suspect in my eyes. But such was not the case. First of all, this is Europe, not the States: attendees are not expected to stay in an over-priced Radisson with cold coffee and stale donuts as their "food"--you eat three course, gourmet meals with the individuals attending the conference. And on that note--the cats from Europe astounded me. If anyone needs any kind of verification on whether or not the Humanities system is broken in the American academy, take a stroll over to Europe and converse with some of the cats over there. In addition, while they do publish an e-book with the conference papers, they sometimes publish a hardcover anthology of papers selected by committee (they have a press, Inter-Disciplinary Press), and these books are edited by tried and true academics who attended the conference and volunteer to edit. In short, any cynicism directed towards this organization is merely a further reflection of the backwards thinking of American academia: how will it look on my CV? will it improve my chances for Phd admission? is it a "scam?" I am not aware of any other standing academic organization that is doing inter-disciplinary work like this one. The opportunity to converse with some of the top-notch scholars within the global community on topics that are often ignored by conferences is, in and of itself, commendable. Extremely professional, and my hats are off to the top heads who keep this ship afloat. If you're still skeptical, just check out the credentials of those who run, and have attended, the conferences (their webpage is thoroughly comprehensive).

I finally found a topic on Bowling Green.... Yes, I'll be attending this fall. And you?

Anyone else still waiting to hear back from Miami? Granted, I did apply to the MA program, which may change when I would receive a response but...it is the "end of the month..."

I know this may be a little off topic, but is anyone attending the Stony Brook Conference on Philosophy and the Arts ("Yielding Narrativity") this weekend?

I know this may be a little off topic, but is anyone attending the Stony Brook Philosophy and Arts Conference ("Yielding Narrativity") this weekend?

This is what confuses me: if schools are preparing to tell me after April 15th, and the schools that have already accepted me want me to confirm by April 15th, what is a boy to do?

Why not post yours first?

There is absolutely NO way of knowing, as every adcom is different and follows a different procedure and protocol when it comes to admissions. For example, some students get rejected outright and some may get accepted outright, with the middle stack taking more time. Moreover, some applicants may get waitlisted, but instead of sending out waitlist notifications, some schools will simply wait to see if they receive declined offers so they can just send an acceptance instead. Then there is an issue of funding that has to be decided--and who gets what funding can be a harder decision as they move down the acceptance list. All said, having to wait longer can mean a good thing or a bad thing; that is, it means nothing at all. Take it easy. If they absolutely did not want you, you would have already heard back.

I'm not sure when they're planning on sending out "official letters," as I received my waitlist information from Dr. Kidd via email (after inquiring). However, I can tell you this: Dr. Kidd was fantastic in detailing exactly what was good and not-so-good about my application, so if you want to know, I would advise just asking over an email. As someone else already pointed out, the U of Florida adcom and faculty have been extremely responsive through the whole process--it's just too bad I didn't get in.

Congrats on the acceptance. I'm starting to feel as though I'm one of the few MA applicants on many of these forums, and I am wondering how that impacts when and how I will be notified. Still haven't heard a thing.

I don't think it's pester-ish at all to politely ask your position on the waitlist, especially if they haven't told you. That's important info. to have, and it assists a lot of students in making better decisions in a more timely manner (which, in effect, could help other waitlisted students). I'm on the University of Florida waitlist, but the DGS was kind enough to let me know that I was at the bottom and that it didn't look good. That's not the best news, but at least it keeps me from developing false hope. Good luck! (Aren't waitlists almost, in their own way, worse than outright rejections?)

Congrats on the acceptance!

I think I'm the only waitlisted person who was actually told by the DGS that it doesn't look good for me, but that he'll keep me posted.

Yes, indeed there were 15 spots for over 200 applications total (Phd and MA), and I am the bottom of the waitlist, which I am told is substantial. Kidd says it honestly doesn't look good. We'll see, though. May as well stay optimistic. Anyone saying "naw" to Florida?

Thanks, capn. I'm very sorry to hear about your grandmother.

capnganch: Out of frustrated/anxious curiosity: Did you apply to the Phd program or the MA program? And when you say "recently" do you mean today...? Don't mean to pry. I just haven't heard from ANY of my schools yet, and this is becoming cause for alarm, it seems. Thanks!

Yes, indeed: if we can all find a way to squeeze into a funded program, then we should be in good shape six or so seven years from now. And as terrible as it may sound, today's reduction in grad school admits equals less competition for academic jobs tomorrow. But I feel terrible even thinking that.

Phew! I was assuming that simply could not be true. Thanks for the reassurance. I'm waiting for a response on a Masters (Literature) application, and understand that it may take longer for them to make MA decisions. Thanks again for the clarification; it's much appreciated.

Thanks for the information. I do appreciate it. I did call around Feb. 28th and they said that they were in the process of reading my application; that they were backed up and that it would take a little longer than usual. I'm going to hold out hope and assume that the 15 acceptances they speak of were for the Phd programs. Otherwise, I'm going to call tomorrow. You're definitely right: they were very kind the first time I called, so I figure a follow-up phone call wouldn't be too much of a nuisance (?). Thanks again.

It's your choice and your life, but I would go to one of the schools that accepted you. Especially if you're getting funded. Besides, I am strongly convicted in the belief that applicants over-determine the weight given to the GRE when it comes to adcoms. The GRE might be used as a yardstick to cut a pile of applications in half, but it's not the thing that's going to get you in. When it comes to down to brass tacks, I am quite sure that writing sample, letters of rec and your statement letter are what really makes you or breaks you. Besides, do you really want to have labor over the GRE again--just for the mere possibility of getting into a slightly better school? Bah: sounds nightmarish.

I know there has to be a good chunk of cats who frequent this site who applied to the University of Florida English program. I saw that many of the Phd candidates have already been contacted, but what of the MA candidates (such as me)? I saw that a fair number of Phd candidates who were accepted applied to the film and media studies track. Are you at all interested in working with Greg Ulmer and Terry Harpold? Does anyone have any news about Florida and what their admissions situation looks like at this moment? Thanks!

I applied to their English Masters program. I haven't heard a thing and, based on what I've seen on the search results, neither has anyone else. But then again, I haven't heard from the other three programs I applied to either. I'm really hoping we start to hear something in some sort of way or fashion some time relatively soon. Good luck1

Is anyone else waiting for their first response from a school for English MA programs? I know that MA offers usually go out after Phd offers, but really, how much longer can we expect to wait? Also, are any MA applicants out there also hoping for funding? I know this can be a grey area for MA students, as many departments are having a hard enough time funding their Phd students, but...whatd'ya think? Thanks!