skybythelight

I was accepted to (and currently attend) the University of Washington with a significantly lower verbal GRE and GPA than you have.. I did not get funding, however. Just to give you a tangible response. Good luck!

I didn't take the subject test, and these were the PhD schools I applied to: Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, Rice and Vanderbilt. I know they aren't all top 20 (are any of them? I don't even know), but they're all well respected, great schools.

Trying! Today makes it just about exactly one month since classes started for me, and I already feel like it's been years. We're on a quarter system at UW, and it just totally flies.

If they specifically ask for a CV, send a CV.

I don't know what the cut offs are for any particular programs, but I think that 156 might be a bit low. No one in my cohort that I know of got lower than a 160, though I haven't talked to everyone by far. Do you have the option of retaking it?

No problem! I don't know how much help I can be in terms of the specifics of international students, unfortunately. There are a number of international students in my cohort this year, but it seems like they are here either visiting for a year or they are on a Fulbright scholarship for their MA. I don't know the entire PhD cohort, though. I can try to find out. I would suggest e-mailing or calling Kathy Mork, she's the best source of information for that sort of thing. As for your question of mentioning you have funding: it probably wouldn't hurt, but at the same time, are you looking to obtain a TAship to start aquiring teaching experience? Because most of UW's funding comes in the form of a TAship, and even if you don't need the money, you may want that experience anyway (I don't know your situation so I'm just speculating). I'm not entirely sure how to reconcile those two things. It sounds like you should definitely talk to them. The ladies in the office are really knowledgeable and willing to help. And as for the MA thesis, it definitely can't hurt, but keep in mind that UW's writing sample requirement is only 15-20 pages, so if you want to submit a large thesis you may end up needing to either cut it down or submit just a section of the larger piece. I would keep that in the back of your mind as you're working on your thesis, because I do think that sometimes parts of an argument can get lost in translation when the entire piece isn't submitted. There are definitely lots of ways around that, so I'm not saying not to do it, I just think it's important to consider and possibly talk to your advisor about. Hope that helps a bit!

It is definitely possible, at least half of my incoming cohort received first year funding which is then renewable for subsequent years. If you can tell me who you talked to/what they said, maybe I can try and decode it for you.

I don't know much about the Asian Lang & Lit program, so I'm not sure who to direct you to, sorry. :-/ My GRE verbal was 161, analytical writing 5.5, quantitative was abysmal, something like the 30th percentile, haha.

UW only funds roughly 50% of the incoming MA/PhD class. I believe it's usually split roughly down the middle, as in, half of the funding goes to incoming MAs, the other half to incoming PhDs. Funding decisions this year were made in late March/early April, and acceptances went out in February, so it was a few months of waiting, which was not awesome, haha. Once you have funding in the form of a TA-ship, it is renewable for at least five years, but usually six or seven. So no, it isn't semester to semester. The department has been known in the past to be really wonderful in terms of obtaining funding for their second years. So in other words, if you were to attend the first year of your MA unfunded (as I am), there's a really, really good chance that you'll get funding for your second year and beyond. However, this year that changed a bit due to budget constraints and only about half of the second years received funding. I was told that this year they expect it to be about the same or perhaps a bit better. Does that help? I feel like it's a little convoluted, let me know if I can clear anything else up!

It is certainly not in the middle of nowhere, it's right in Seattle. You may be thinking of Washington State, perhaps? WSU is in Pullman, WA which is on the border of Idaho and often described as "the middle of nowhere." Seattle, though, is a big and vibrant and amazing city. I'm not a Victorianist myself, but there are a few members of my cohort who are. The one Victorian professor that I've met is Charles Laporte, and he's super nice. There are plenty others though, if you check out the faculty page. I would describe the department as incredibly welcoming and supportive, from day one. The two ladies who work in the graduate office are so knowledgeable and friendly, they're there to answer any question, point you in the right direction, guide you towards finishing the degree as quickly as you can, etc. It's honestly a very open and friendly environment.

Following the example of the generous Penn State-er below, I thought I would open myself up to any questions concerning the program/application/faculty/whatever you want to know about UDub. I agree that this would probably have been really helpful to me when I was applying last year, so hopefully it may be for those of you Fall 2014 hopefuls! Please feel free to ask away.

Hey guys, It's been forever since I've really been on gradcafe and I wanted to revive this thread and find out if any of y'all in here ended up accepting UW's offer. I did, and I'm really psyched about it. Will I see any of you in the fall?

I have a decent amount of Spanish, though not quite enough to test out of the requirement. It would require some brushing up. My interests are pretty theory-heavy, though, so I'm considering taking up French.

That's really weird, they've been really good about communication with me. Good luck!

Hi everyone! I'll also be attending the UW in the fall in the English MA/PhD program. I'm getting a little bit stressed about housing as well as I'll be coming from Rhode Island. I'm going out to Seattle to visit in a few weeks, but I won't be able to fly out there again to look at apartments before actually moving. I'm hoping we'll be able to find a decent place online that we'll be able to rent from afar, or perhaps have a friend check out in person for us, but I've never had to rent an apartment in another state before, let alone from across the country. Eek. Right now we're planning on driving out and leaving on September 1st.

Hi guys, I wanted to try and revive this thread as I've decided to attend UW in the fall for an MA/PhD program. My main concern right now is housing. My boyfriend and I will be driving across the country, and are planning on leaving on 9/1 and arriving in Seattle around the 9th or 10th. Right now my tentative plan is to try and find a rental for 9/1, and we just wouldn't be moving in exactly on the first. The other option would be to leave towards the end of August and plan on arriving in Seattle on or closer to September 1st, but there are a few things I would miss here at home that are pulling me in the direction of wanting to stay here til the end of August. Anyway, do any of you locals have any thoughts on that? When is the best time to start looking for housing? Also, does anyone have any experience with obtaining an apartment from across the country, without actually seeing it first? I have a few friends out there and I'm hoping one of them may be willing and able to look at a place or two for us, but that isn't guaranteed just yet.

Thanks for weighing in, everyone. I just officially declined my Colorado acceptance. Hope that may help someone on the MA waitlist.

Congrats, Two Espressos and girl who wears glasses! I've been rooting for y'all as well.

I feel like there has been brief conversation about this in the middle of other threads, but I was curious as to what you guys thought proper etiquette for declining an offer of admission. Do you e-mail the DGS? I'll be declining UC Boulder's MA offer, but my e-mail correspondence with the DGS has been so kind and helpful that I almost feel guilty. I know that's silly, but does anyone feel similarly?

I still haven't heard a peep from Penn State. Has anyone gotten a rejection from them yet?

I think we're going 80 for most of our drive. We have a bunch of things we want to see: the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone. I mapped out a route with most of our tentative stops last night, but I'm having a hard time deciding how long I want to spend in each city/destination. We don't have a set amount of time for the drive, but obviously the longer we take the more nights we have to sleep somewhere. We're considering camping a few nights to save some cash.

I didn't mean to insinuate that I thought anyone was being a jerk. I don't. I know the advice is coming from a well-intentioned place, and I do genuinely appreciate the concern. I have had numerous conversations with advisors and family members.

I understand and appreciate what you're saying. My point was simply that there are numerous other places in this forum where the question of whether or not to pursue an unfunded MA has been or is being discussed. I created one of the threads myself. Perhaps this is just indicative of my spending too much time here, but it seems to be getting a bit repetitive and I was just hoping that I could start a discussion without people feeling the need to jump on the decision I've made. I also wasn't asking for advice about my specific situation. I was sharing what I'm currently going through and wondering if there were others who have gone or are currently going through a similar experience. I would never turn to an Internet forum for serious financial advice.

Haha, no worries. Thank you so much! We're in the process of booking a trip out to visit in a month or so... I can't wait. It's great to hear that your uncle had a good experience.

Thank you, I appreciate it!