Stately Plump

I'm potentially moving closer to home than I've lived for the past 8 years. Lol.

I had applied for the PhD program at Columbia. I was rejected, but they said they would get back to me about the MA program in a few weeks.

Actually, one student was talking a bit about this. He made a really good point: when we were freshmen in undergrad, we wouldn't have been able to handle the workload we would eventually handle as seniors. Similarly, you learn to adapt and manage the workload as a graduate student. He was saying that, while it can be intimidating initially, you learn very quickly how to manage your time. He was saying that he breaks up his day: he might read for two hours, take a short break, grade for two hours, eat something, read for another two hours, go to class, etc. I made sure to ask everyone I spoke to specifically about the workload. No one mentioned it being overwhelming at all.

So, I went to visit today. Lemme say--I was really, really impressed. I had a great time, and it definitely made the choice between there and BU much more difficult (before I had been leaning heavily toward BU). I visited only with Renaissance faculty and students, so I can only speak to that. I don't know if what I'm going to say applies to the other subfields. I met first with Arthur Kinney (who is among the biggest names in Renaissance studies). He was incredibly nice and helpful. He was really, really interested in hearing about my interests and my thoughts, and was incredibly easy to talk to. He genuinely wanted me in their program, and was willing to offer support that I hadn't read about elsewhere on the website (funding via RA position working for the journal ELR, e.g.). I met then with another professor, Jane Degenhardt. She was very personable, and we talked almost exclusively about my research interests and what I might be interested in pursuing as a graduate student. She talked about the resources available at UMass, and especially about the very personal (though professional and helpful) relationships between faculty and students. Next I had lunch with some graduate students, and they were really helpful, really nice, and really informative. They talked a lot about the relationships that develop between students in the grad program; they said they are very collegial, there is no competition between graduate students (for funding, faculty resources, etc.), and they all seemed genuinely interested in what I wanted to do. They continually asked me about my own potential research interests, and they seemed like they really wanted me to join them at UMass. They mentioned that the work load was not overwhelming, and they always felt like they had enough time to complete their own work, as well as teach (they teach 1/2 the first year, then 2/1 after that; they do two years in the writing program before TAing, and then finally developing their own general courses). Several of them went out of their way to make sure they met me at some point before I left. I then met with Drs. Joseph Black and Stephen Clingman, as well as with Wanda Bak. They were all just as friendly in person as many of us have attested them to be in their emails. All of the faculty I met with knew my name (they knew I was coming, but still, there was no, "Oh, who are you again?"). They all knew I was interested in the Renaissance, and some even remembered some of my more specific interests. I then hung out with some graduate students again for a few hours, and got a tour of Amherst and Northhampton. Again, the students were friendly and really wanted me to join them. In many ways, I felt like I was already part of the community over there, despite only being there for the day today. I really did get the sense that they have a veritable community. I could very, very easily see myself as part of that community, both as a professional scholar and as an individual. Like I said, this applies to the Renaissance group; I didn't meet any professors (outside of Dr. Clingman) who were outside the Renaissance field, and I met no graduate students outside the field. Overall, I had an entirely positive experience. I really can't say enough good things about my day. It made my decision much, much more difficult. As of now, pre-BU visit, I'm leaning heavily towards UMass, due solely to my experience today. Hope this helps some people. If anyone has more questions, I'd be happy to try to answer them Also, got me really excited to be in grad school

I got the offer to the unfunded MA as well. Very, very doubtful I'll take it, considering I have some offers to funded PhD programs.

Rejected. Well, I got what I asked for.

Ahhh, sorry . I feel like a dumb ass lol.

You are potentially on the wait-list/going to be offered a spot in the MA (unfunded). I don't want to get your hopes up, but I do believe many rejections have already gone out. Although, I was rejected from one school over a week after they rejected many other candidates. I'm also waiting on a program that has sent out both admits and rejects. So who knows what's going on with this stuff (<--- sunglasses to pretend I'm not bothered by not knowing)

Ahhh, I've been hoping for that email Congrats! Awesome achievement. At this point, I just want to get rejected so I can move on with my acceptances. When you get there, tell them to reject me quickly please thank you

I think Theresa Coletti and Jane Donawerth. I'm not sure who else. You?

I'm going down for the Wednesday portion of the event, but I can't make it for Thursday. See you there?

hahaha!

I know a professor who will be paying off her loans until she's in her 60s :/ She's only 36 right now. And she was lucky enough to get a tenure-track job right after graduating. It's an enormous risk, and I don't say this to scare you, but it can literally ruin your life. If it's worth it for you, do it. I wouldn't go anywhere without funding. All that being said, it can be done, and plenty of people do it. Just know the risks going in: there's a great chance you won't get a good job afterwards, your probably won't be able to start a family, and you will very likely be paying off loans for 15-20 years after you graduate.

I think it's possible that some schools have "unofficial" wait-lists. What I don't understand is why the wait-list has to be "unofficial." Why can't they just tell me I'm on the wait-list (if that's the case) and then reject me from the wait-list when the time comes? Arrrrgghhh (<--- insanity laugh)

Congrats on being accepted to both of those schools! Truly incredible, I'm really happy for you. The first thing you should do is take a long vacation (whatever that means) to congratulate yourself for your hard work and success I definitely agree here. If your interests shift at all, or if you have some secondary-type interests that might evolve while a graduate student, which school might better accommodate those interests? Also, though this should be far from your first concern, where would you rather live for the next 5-7 years? I know that this, ultimately, should have no bearing on your final decision, but it is something to consider. All other things being equal, would you rather be in Cambridge or Princeton? I'd rather be in Cambridge, but that's just me

I agree; I think adcomms use "fit" to try to describe the process of selecting 12 students from a pool of 40 that they would really like to take. Because ultimately, that is probably what happens; they end up with a bunch of students they would love to take, and they have to select a fraction of those students. "Fit" is the word they throw out there to justify their decisions, though that word probably doesn't mean much; when you are deciding between two equally well-prepared students who are both obviously capable of succeeding in X program, how do you determine which one to take? Well, I dunno, this one seems to "fit" better with what we have going on here. Why? I'm not precisely sure, but she wants to work with Y professor, she's from a different type of school than some of our other applicants, her potential research interests have less (or more) overlap with some of our other current students, she's from out of state, etc. etc. When describing why they chose that student, "fit" is the word that sums up all of those things. I'm just trying to think like an adcomm. I don't actually know any of this for sure, but based on some conversations with current profs, this is kinda what I gather. What I'm trying to say is, fit sucks

I agree that this would have been enormously helpful, and I probably would not have applied places if I knew they weren't looking for what I was bringing. However, I doubt if very many schools START the application review process with this type of forward-thinking. They are probably leery of soliciting students in a particular field at the expense of other, potentially great students. They probably don't want to say, "Okay, we want three Postmodernists and will not consider and early modernist." I think they probably start the review process more holistically, and once they see what they have to work with, they begin to narrow it down. I think where the numbers for the individual sub-fields begins to play in is when the school has 30-40 students they really want, and from there they try to begin to narrow it down.

I think part of the challenge, and part of what schools are looking for, is a clarity and conciseness that allows you to say everything you need to say in 1000 words, or just about 2 single space pages (or less, for some schools). The best advice I received was to show, not tell. I had a sentence in my SOP about traveling to London and seeing manuscripts from Philip Sidney, so I talked about that as an inspiration for my current research interests in manuscript/archival studies. A lot of us have probably done similar things, and unfortunately there's no secret to success. But I do think that most schools are thinking clarity of thought translates to clarity of prose, which they are thinking will come out by asking someone to write so much in so few words. Hope this helps

I recently got a letter encouraging me to apply to some journalism program before their January 15th deadline. The letter was postmarked February 23. I said and threw it in the garbage. Okay, I threw it in the recycling, but still. Discarded it nonetheless.

me: Yea, the job market isn't too good for English PhDs. friend: Well, at least you can always teach. That's a plus. me: (confused as to what they thought I meant by "job market")

I agree. I think schools want to see (a) that you can think through a research project and ( that you have done some hw about the program to which you are applying and have been able to see how your interests might fit in with them. It sucks that it ends up coming down to this type of stuff The fact is that, probably, almost all of us are overly qualified to be in grad school and that we will do incredibly well there.

I don't say this to discourage anyone, but actually just the opposite: at some point, it really just comes down to luck. Every single school is getting hundreds of applications, which means, probably, dozens of qualified applicants. My guess is that many programs end up with something like 30-40 students they would LOVE to take. At that point, there is really nothing you can do to sway their decision. It is purely luck. Maybe they already took someone from your state, so they want someone else from a different state? Maybe they already have a few girls, and they want some more guys? Maybe they already have someone from a large state school, and they want someone from a smaller liberal arts college? Maybe the person you mentioned in your SOP, though they would really like to work with you, already has 3-4 students, and someone else mentioned a different POI, who doesn't have as many students? Maybe they already took a student just out of undergrad, so they want an older, less traditional student (or vice-versa)? Unfortunately, when you have 40 students you want, but only 12 you can take, it ends up coming down to this nit-picky stuff that we have no control over. Like I said, I hope this doesn't discourage people, but rather helps to realize that we ARE good enough, but we need a little luck, too. So, good luck for everyone!

Ya, I got nothing all day from them I wish they would just send the rejection so I can move on. It sucks how, even when you've "counted a school out," you cannot let go of that last glimmer of hope that remains when you have yet to receive the official rejection.

Yea, I haven't heard anything yet either. I'm sure it's only a matter of time...

This link is awesome. Thank you