Aztecson23

Hahaha...are you being sarcastic? 'Cause if you are, I will love you for life:-) I like your pic, btw.

Same here. Two acceptances and an interview. I thought it would make the worry go away--but nope. Now I want to know which school will be the best fit. I am grateful for the admittances, though. I want to hear back from a couple schools...

Right? Welp, I wish you all the best. But yeah: I had a friend who was waitlisted at a UC all the way up to May! She's just finishing her dissertation and publishing three articles, five years later.

Gracias. I think I'll bring mine too. Just in case...

And I will follow suit. Thank you, Anthro!

My understanding is that some programs send out acceptance notifications to a first round of competitive applicants, some of whom will inevitably decline the offer for another school. The second batch of applicants are not necessarily "waitlisters" in the sense that they will never know that they were not considered as first-draft picks. (Well, with Grad Cafe, that illusion is dispensed with, I suppose.)They give a certain amount of time to the initial batch of applicants, say, until March or April 15th to accept or decline. Once some decline, AdComs move on to the second round of slightly less competitive applicants. Then a waitlist. I don't think every program operates this way but that seems to be how things are working out from my limited perspective. In short, though this is distressing to one's ego, it nonethelss provides a reasonable hope for admission and funding.

I don't want to say on here. But I'm sure it's a first for Belzie.

Hilary, wow: thank you so much. I will put your advice into practice. Sounds...well, sound. Should I ask the professor who emailed me about who will be interviewing me?

Hello there. I've been informed that I, along with 24 other finalists, will be flown to the school for individual interviews and a jam-packed day of activities. I'm happy but also anxious (of course). Can anyone tell me: 1. What is appropriate to wear? I was thinking some nice slacks, a dress shirt with a red tie, and a dark blue sweater (cardigan perhaps). Although I don't consider myself sartorially-challenged, I have not extensively schooled myself on what one should wear to interviews--I'm a teacher/tutor and I've worn business-casually clothes to interviews and gotten the jobs. I do have a standard-issue blazer but that's it. In short, help a brother out, please. 2. What kinds of questions do they ask?: personal backrgound, past and future research projects mentioned in the SOP, what is my favorite ice cream, etc. 3. What can I do to prepare? 4. What should I bring? CV (but why?)? SOP? I appreciate your feedback. Thanks.

And if it's you in the photo there's no way I can make it better, huh? Damn. I hope it's Keroauc or anyone but you.

Just saw that you're planning to apply for next year. If you need help, let's stay in touch. Peace.

Hahaha: hey, I'm glad you found my comment funny. I added you as a friend. Are you applying soon or are you in a program currently? And is that Kerouac in your profile pic? If it is, it has got to be the wizened alcoholic, conservative Kerouac. He looked beat, by then:-)

Well, my POI, with whom I have not had too much contact, called me Sunday morning to tell me that I was admitted and that the official letter of acceptance would be mailed out soon. I've no idea about financials--it didn't occur to me to ask since I was thunderstruck that this scholar I admire so much was calling me to give me acceptance to a school in my top three. And, wow: I thought it was the credit card people. I'm sure this isn't much help. And I'm worried now that I've done something wrong by outing myself as the Maryland admit. I mean, can divulging this hurt me somehow? This process has made me paranoid. (And I do feel a little guilty for this acceptance, quite frankly.)

Me. Explain later--falling asleep. Found this thread quite by accident.

I've applied to seven programs and have gotten into two so far. I was informed of the offers of admission via phone. I had contacted professors at both schools beforehand. The professor (from School X) and I corresponded via email: four emails in late September and three brief emails right before submitting. We also met very briefly at MLA (unintentionally as it turned out, which made me think of cosmic timing and all that. I believe decisions were made shortly after MLA. But that's another story.) School Y's professor and I have been talking on the phone for months. He approached me at a conference, got my contact info, and we've been in contact since August. We talk about three times a week on the phone. I know it sounds strange but I'm older than he is, our academic interests really match up, and we've become friends. And maybe he really wants me to go to his school. (And this is another story to be told at a more opportune moment, I believe.) In addition to X and Y, a third school, probably the most prestigious of the seven, informed me of my status today: interview. I emailed the head of grad admissions to ask about the length of the SOP back in December. That was it. They emailed me this morning to tell me that I am a finalist and they want to fly me out for an interview--How did I manage to get an interview? (All finalists must interview.) Having said all this, here are some things to keep in mind: There are systemic issues way out of our control--you're coming in as a modernist and the really bad-ass modernist professor is: already working with four students/going on sabbatical/is retiring/trying to focus only on research and can't take on students/pulling for a student he or she has already worked with through a research internship, etc. In short, rejected/waitlisted applicants should not always take things personal. (Easier said than done, especially coming from someone who has been admitted to two programs so far and has been invited to interview for a third.) Maybe it is the Statement of Purpose, not so much that it's badly written: it's safe to assume that English majors can write decently, but maybe the SOP shows little awareness of the genre. I learned from my Rhet/Comp friends how important it is to look at successful models and analyze structure, as well as consider variations and the extent to which an SOP can depart from conventions--not so much as it turns out. I looked at successful applicants' SOPs and there were differences in terms of structure but nothing radically distinct in terms of content--past research, future research, which professors' interests can profitably guide this future research, etc. And always a compelling narrative thread; which is not to say that it was a short story but that it contained a sustained, integrated rationale for pursuing literary studies that tied the whole thing together. I strategically only chose to apply to schools with at least two professors whose specializations seemed to match with my future projects (though not always 100% but close enough). This left out a lot of the Ivy Leagues because I couldn't see myself working with certain professors who specialized in stuff I found to be, quite frankly, boring. (It probably isn't, just not to my liking, simply a matter of preference.) This made applying easier, though not easy. I just mean that when writing my SOPs and Personal Statements I could draw from a sharply defined pool of past, current, and future research interests. Because I didn't have to make up stuff or radically change my research interests, I had an easier time writing. It was still the most difficult thing I've ever done, though. The psychological roadblocks were terrible and I got into a really bad relationship to cope: the drama made me feel alive. I know this makes a lot of sense. But again, yet another story for another time. (I digress.) When I contacted professors from schools X & Y, I was always brief in the initial email. I just introduced myself, the Master's program I was in, and my research interests. Because these were sharply defined for me, I was able to ask a question about the type of research that could be done at their school or, if possible, I would ask about something I was working on at the moment. I avoided emailing to ask about the obvious or to gush about how much I would love to gain admittance. I was always purposeful and brief. When one of their suggestions bore fruit, sometimes way later, I sent a quick email to show what I'd learned and say thanks. In other words, the content of my emails were always oriented toward intellectual or professional considerations that a thorough once-over of their Eng. dept. website couldn't address or that a cursory knowledge of their research areas wouldn't cover. I'm not sure why or how I was invited to interview at the third school. I really can't say. Rules work half of the time and they fail the other half. Sometimes there's no telling why a great applicant does not get in. Read Beckett and Sartre to see how absurd our quest to find meaningful patterns is. Sometimes you just have to respect the grammatical period at the end of the statement "I didn't get in and I don't know why." Acceptance of your lack of acceptance. You be the committee you wished you'd had. Or if you're courageous, you can ask the department what the weaknesses of your application were in order to iron out the kinks the second time around. But most people won't do this. I apologize if I sound like a pedantic arse. I don't mean to. My attempt was to be as specific and clear as I could in case my experience might be helpful to some of you. I don't claim to have all the answers, except maybe on the topic of dirty limericks. By which I mean I know none, but the phrase "dirty limericks" certainly makes me sound cooler than I am. And I do feel a little bit guilty that I got in, I must say, especially because I have found most commenters in the threads I've read to be such supportive, kind individuals. Many exhibit this beautiful ability to commiserate with and encourage others even as they might be feeling down themselves. I don't think it's fair. But, hey, I was the middle child, the chubby nerd and not the handsome athlete my brother is, so forgive me if I do secretly (well, up until writing this sentence) relish my getting in. I mean, all those years of being teacher's pet (and elbowing little grade-grubbing upstarts: it hasn't been easy, folks) have culminated in gaining admittance. This is the ultimate fantasy of a sad, lonely teacher's pet whose self-worth is tragically tied to approval from teachers/professors. I'm addicted to seeing that light of intense interest in my teachers' eyes when I propose or present a project. I live for that light. Without it, I am nothing. You all are all probably capable of loving. You can take pleasure in life's little moments. And for this I should be pitied. But I am good looking now. I kind of look like a Latino Zach Galifianakis but with Humphrey Bogart nerd glasses , which to me is the ultimate in sexy, if my mirror does not lie. Which it doesn't. Hold me.

Your PI sounds like such a cool person. Glad they're in your life. Would really help having someone like that around during this stressful time. Cheers.

Hahahah, this is funny. Just read it...I'm obviously Golden Boy:-)

Of course. I aim to establish a dynasty of academics. By the way, I'm applying to Western, too, to work with my mentor's mentor who's director of the Theory program. Good luck.

I know, right?

OMG: you're all fantastic! I'm at Denny's, unable to move forward with my life until I hear back from more programs and am therefore refreshing survey results for the umpteenth time, when I stumble upon this thread. OMG--I can't stop laughing. I wanted to comment on each comment but I can't. Hahahahaha...y'all made my day.

I don't think it's conceited: I posted about getting acceptance into one of my top three PhD programs today. Though I did want to show off a little bit, my aim was to share with friends and family in one fell swoop. Also, I have been tirelessly working on applications since August, with little social life, so I felt like I deserved to announce that my labor had reaped at least one acceptance--I get excited over what my friends are doing with their lives too, whatever it may be. In short, I can't worry too much about people's reactions to fortunate events in my life. Hopefully they partake of my joy. P.S: Ok, there were a couple haters that said I wouldn't get in anywhere, so...that may have played a role in facebooking about my acceptance. A very small role, though.

I got into U of Maryland's doctoral program in English--received a phone call this morning from one of the professors I mentioned in my SOP. He said they would be mailing out a letter with the details but that the financial package would be "nice". I've no idea what this means but as it was in my top three, I'm going to relish U of Maryland's acceptance for today!