NowMoreSerious

Rankings are somewhat arbitrary and kind of BS, but I actually kind of understand why they averaged them. They didn't want knee jerk reactions from the last few years (bad economic years, bad job market, etc.) to make somebody's ranking plummet. I agree with the other poster, though, who said that even small ranking changes mean much more now. Santa Barbara jumped,which is nice to hear. But yeah, I am also not surprised that more movement occurred in the mid tiers because those schools would be more affected by external economic and social forces, I would think.

I don't think they initially read all of it, but when the schools started narrowing down I am sure they read all of our materials multiple times. I recently did welcome day at UCSB and got the impression that several people read my Writing Sample and SoP more than one time, which, by the way, was terrifying.

On the topic of rec letters, I do know one of my rec letters was 8 pages long.

I really have no idea yet. I haven't heard anything and haven't yet asked. I probably should.

Yes, I am visiting Davis on April 1, which is the visiting day for everyone right?

I think I need a category for "animal magnetism" or "good looks"

One of my issues is that my leanings change depending on who I've talked to last. I haven't even been able to eliminate one of my acceptances, and one of my advisors told me I should eliminate one school, and the one I spoke to a few days later said that should probably be my first choice. Then I talk to some of my friends who are already in graduate school and they have their own rankings/suggestions. I actually appreciate it all and wouldn't have it any other way, but personally it makes things difficult for me. I guess I'll know more for myself once I visit.

I turned in each and every one of my applications on the due date, all 16. Not because I am a procrastinator, mind you, but because I work on things up until the last second even if they seem done way before. I constantly read over things, etc. Ok fine yes I am a procrastinator.

Unless they are having separate dates for that, yes firm dates of March 27th-29th, with the meat of the visit occurring on the 28th.

Soca are you going to UVA at the end of March, too?

Married? Well, I am not obligated to condone or reason with such errors of judgement. I'm kidding, of course (?). Congrats on that and on your acceptances. What a great year this is shaping up to be for you.

My March is shredded, yes. But luckily for me none of them land on the same days. I can go to Minnesota, then directly to Virginia without missing anything, for example. And yes it is expensive but I am mostly getting reimbursements and I have saved up money for this possibility.

Ah thanks, yes. I forgot all about the Fly Away, yes. It might get you there faster; though, if I remember correctly FlyAways come 1 time an hour.

It's actually easy. Take the 6 Bus. It should even say UCLA. Do NOT get on the 102 Bus it will take double the time. What day are you coming in? Sunday?

Any other UCLA admits here? I also have still not heard anything specific about Sunday.

I hope you hear good news soon. DH, for what its worth, I don't see how much "hotter" you can get than Digital Humanities/Print Culture. If that's what you want to do I wouldn't change interests, but instead see how you can make what you have better, provided that it's what you want to do. I'm into digital humanities myself. I'm certainly no expert on anything, but if you want to PM me feel free.

I said this earlier in this thread or maybe another thread, but if I had stuck to an earlier version of my school list that had only 9 schools, I would have had 1 acceptance and 8 rejections. This process is quirky and weird which is why whenever somebody asks me I continue to encourage large coverage of at least 12 schools, spread out among tiers--provided it is possible financially. I know many will disagree with me but I feel applying to too few schools leaves too much up to chance.

No it just means they wanted somebody else slightly more. If I can't decide between two movies I really want to see, but I end up picking movie A, that doesn't mean that I didn't really want to see movie, B, too.

It doesn't get much better than CUNY really, provided you feel you are a good fit. If it's because you had your heart set on an Ivy, I'd ask yourself why. I know everybody says job placement but I've heard that some of these "elite" schools have an overall reputation that outruns their actual job placement/preparation.

I'll keep you posted from my end here as well. I do have a friend in the program right now so maybe she has some inside information, though I doubt it. I'm really curious about the funding because that can lead me one way or another.

I know, and I am very thankful to have been this fortunate. I thought I would get in nowhere this year. But it is kind of bittersweet in that I got rejected from my top choices this year: Berkeley, Princeton, and my first choice, Duke Lit.

I have a question for those who applied to fewer than 8-9 programs. Was it a matter of money? Were those the only schools you wanted to attend, period? Because I am curious as to whether your advisors warned you of how extremely competitive English is, everywhere. Because if you were advised to apply to that few schools, that might be a red flag that the advisor is a little bit out of touch with how things are right now.

I've just been notified that I am on the waitlist for University of Southern California. This complicates life a bit for me.

How disappointing is their funding? I am only asking to get a sense of what is considered good funding.

If any school has already released their acceptances and a week has passed, it's 99% a rejection. Furthermore, Berkeley is notorious for sending out rejections really late--literally in mid-april.