Mr Grimwig
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Posts posted by Mr Grimwig
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Final Decision: Columbia!
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I haven't heard anything either, and I just checked the site. Nothing. It's odd they're staggering rejections.
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Is anyone else feeling totally at a loss for how to decide between programs? At the moment, I am leaning towards Rutgers, because they gave me a superior financial package. Does anyone have any general advice for how much to 'follow the money'? I really like all the programs I've been accepted into and there's not one I like wildly over the others.
I think the most important thing is to look at which department has the best people to fit your field and interests, which program seems to be more successful in finding its graduates good jobs, and which program is in the best setting to make you productive and relatively happy. The money is important, yes, but if it means throwing away a better option in terms of fit or where you'd rather be located, I wouldn't strictly "follow the money".
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I will be attending the visiting day next week. I look forward to meeting all you guys who will be there! Columbia was very helpful in making my travel arrangements for me.
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I just got the same email and offer, Isidore.
I'll be letting them know soon that I won't be accepting it, even though it's a lovely campus.
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UVa is always so frickin' tardy on notifications. Blech.
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Rejected via email. Looks like the results board's lighting up.
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deebee, to me one of the major attractions of UK programs is their consideration of authorial intention. I have never been inclined toward literary theory, and I am worried that in an American program it will be forced upon me more than I'd wish.
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Unlike most American Ph.D. programs, teaching opportunities are not automatic at Oxford. But they are available, you just have to apply for them. Not everyone does this, and I think those who don't later run into trouble on the job market (especially in the States).
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I feel like it's going to take me forever to decide because Oxford doesn't usually announce until March 20th or so.
Many people tell me I am crazy to keep Oxford in consideration now that I've gotten into Columbia and Brown. But I can't let the dream die so quickly...I've always wanted to study in England.
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Maurice Lee told me BU had about 200 applicants this year. With this number, it would be unrealistic to give every applicant feedback. BUT not every applicant writes in to request feedback! Indeed, I'd bet only a tiny percentage do.
I completely understand professors are very, very busy people. But it seems so aloof and cruel not to at least offer some kind of feedback to those who request it. Even the briefest of comments can be immensely helpful. I doubt many applicants write in to ask for insights like tjschae, and it seems such applicants should be rewarded for their resolution to improve their applications.
This could easily be done by the admissions committee. They could make small notes when rejecting an application as to why they're doing it (poor fit; non-competitive GPA; SOP needs refinement and focus). Then, when an applicant inquires, they could quickly jot them a note with their reasonings. I just don't see where this would be that big of a deal for the admissions committees. They're already doing a lot of work, and this wouldn't add much.
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Columbia has been emailing me incessantly. I've had notes from four POIs, as well as two other professors who just wanted to welcome me and tell me they liked reading my application.
Meanwhile, I have not heard anything specific from Brown.
I am trying not to let this sway my decision. But should it? How much can we tell from the email habits of programs?
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Congratulations, all you Princeton people!
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Wait listed. Just got a kind email from Maurice Lee.
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I got one of the acceptance phone calls....it was from a 617 area code. On my answering machine, apparently about an hour ago, from a professor in the English department.
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Great thread!
I am facing the biggest decision I've ever made in my life. I have been so fortunate with my acceptances, and I am eternally grateful. Still, it's going to be a tough decision, especially since yesterday's acceptances at Brown and Columbia were complete surprises. They were reach schools by definition, and I didn't think I had a chance.
I've never been to Providence, so I am definitely going to visit for their recruitment day. I used to live in NYC, so I know what life would be like at Columbia.
Now it's down to very, very critical thinking over the faculty mentors, job placement records, and overall philosophy of each program. I've been reading through all the program's brochures, student handbooks, etc., to get a better feel.
Funding is virtually the same at Brown and Columbia, but NYC living expenses will quickly wreck that equality.
I am also considering which place is more theory intensive, as I tend to be less than enthusiastic (polite version) when it comes to literary theory. I think Brown is more theory intensive, but it's a tough call.
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As a Woolf obsessive, I'm loving the "R" references!
"The very stone one kicks with one's boot will outlast Shakespeare..."
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Congratulations arrivant and girlmostlikely!
Just got an acceptance email from Columbia, too. Absolutely gobsmacked. Two major acceptances in one day has left my head spinning. SO THANKFUL for this news.
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Got an email. Accepted. CANNOT BELIEVE IT. DREAM PROGRAM. Going to go run down my street to get some of this energy off.
- Grunty DaGnome, ahembree, ComeBackZinc and 2 others
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I heard back from Edinburgh, Durham, UCL, and St Andrews several weeks ago. I had applied in mid-December.
Still waiting to hear from Oxbridge. They say late March before they'll notify....blarf. I hope they squeal sooner than that.
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congratulations cquin!
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@ cquin: this was for the Ph.D. program
@caitlee91: My speciality, is British modernism, particularly Woolf and object theory. I'm interested in researching how the growing scientific knowledge of atoms in the early twentieth century (particularly their hollow nature) may have influenced writers like Woolf, Lawrence, Forster, etc., in representing the permanence and transience of material reality, and affecting the fluidity of their prose.
I'm really excited about the offer, though I am so split between my choices. Money aside, I really have a desire to do my graduate studies in the UK. Unfortunately, unless I get a great scholarship offer, most UK schools won't come close to matching what American programs can offer. I hope time makes this decision easier to make!
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Just got an acceptance call from a professor in the Brandeis English department.
She said this was the "unofficial" acceptance notification, that the department had forwarded my name to Graduate School to be approved officially. In the meantime, she also sent me an email with information on funding (which looks great!) and contacts.
Excited! This is the first American program I have heard back from.
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I still haven't heard back from Tufts yet, either. I keep checking my email and the website. I'm not sure why I am so obsessed with it, because I am not sure it will be a great fit for me.
I wonder if they say "Tufts Sh*t" on their rejection letters?
Fall 2013 English Lit Applicants
in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition
Posted
I took the GRE and, as always with my standardized tests, I didn't do so hot. I had an 86th percentile verbal. I can't remember my exact percentile on the literature subject test, but it wasn't great.
I still got into several great Ph.D. programs with funding. I just accepted an offer at Columbia. All the professors I've spoken with (at Brown, Columbia, Brandeis, and Oxford) raved about my writing sample and statement of purpose. Those two documents tell them whether you're a good fit and whether you can write and research properly. They are of paramount importance, so my advice would be to focus on those.
And I mean REALLY focus on them. I went through 24 drafts of my statement of purpose. I'm sure other people have gone through even more than that.
And re-read your writing sample, edit it over the summer, have other folks take a look at it, make sure the research that underpins it is fresh and makes a clear point.
And best of luck!