Zephyr99

There is still the "I can not believe they did not except me" response to being rejected after applying for a PhD in English.

So you are drunk posting on Gradcafe? Now... it all makes sense!

Some additional very helpful thoughts re. my situation, guys (e: just in case: folks) -- thank you.

I got an email from UK a couple weeks ago.

Definitely don't give up. My first two cycles met with solid rejection, and my third had only one fully-funded offer for an MA. Now I have offers from a few top schools. If you're willing to spend the next six plus years of your life living in poverty and spending all hours of the day and night digging through the archives to find some elusive bit of information to put in a conference or article proposal that will probably be rejected anyway, all in hopes of being able to apply for hundreds of jobs one day that won't even email you to let you know they've decided to pass, then you should be willing to try, try again.

So the most shocking thing to me in this thread is that some people applied to over 10 schools.
 
How the heck are there that many schools with departments which are even vaguely a good fit?

I respectfully disagree. On three separate cases, I was able to schedule appointments for telephone conversations (each one lasted about 20-30 minutes). On several other cases, POIs notified me that they were retiring and therefore unable to take on graduate students, which helped me refine my SOP (i.e.: which POI names to suggest as viable mentors). I've also been told by professors that, even if all I get in response is "I look forward to reading your application," at least I get my name in the back of their heads, and, when they're reading applications, that pays off more often than one might expect.
 
Long story short, I'm glad I contacted POIs in October/November. It took minimal effort and, at times, paid off substantially.

And I'd advise you that you have no idea if you have "no chance of getting in".  I didn't think I would get into the place I ended up going because I didn't think I was a good fit.  The faculty thought I was a better fit than I did.  There is a very big difference between what levoyous describes (a POI telling him not to bother) and not believing in reach schools.

Deepest condolences to the University of Phoenix reject. You must be feeling pretty shitty.

Here comes Columbia. 
 
PS. Bugs me when people post that they got "5 years of funding" from an Ivy League school, as if they don't know that everyone who goes there gets full funding. 

So you are drunk posting on Gradcafe? Now... it all makes sense!

I think people are forgetting that this thread was someone's drunken, depressed rant about not getting into one of the top PhD programs in the world. It's time to stop analyzing this so much.

I think people are forgetting that this thread was someone's drunken, depressed rant about not getting into one of the top PhD programs in the world. It's time to stop analyzing this so much.

I think people are forgetting that this thread was someone's drunken, depressed rant about not getting into one of the top PhD programs in the world. It's time to stop analyzing this so much.

This thread is just ridiculous.
 
No rejection letter is going to be warm and fuzzy. Get over it. 
 
If you can't handle a rejection with maturity, you have no business being in graduate school. 

This might be the greatest trolling of all time. 

So you are drunk posting on Gradcafe? Now... it all makes sense!

This might be the greatest trolling of all time. 

Probably that they received a lower # of applicants than expected. Get your materials in ASAP!

Live on Meltdown PhD admissions 2014! But seriously, go to bed and sober up. This is not the end of the world. It really isn't!

So you are drunk posting on Gradcafe? Now... it all makes sense!

Live on Meltdown PhD admissions 2014! But seriously, go to bed and sober up. This is not the end of the world. It really isn't!

Live on Meltdown PhD admissions 2014! But seriously, go to bed and sober up. This is not the end of the world. It really isn't!

So you are drunk posting on Gradcafe? Now... it all makes sense!

I heard back from 3 schools so far... all are acceptances! Last year, I applied to 9 programs and was rejected from every single one. Changes can happen, people! Keep up the hope and the drive!