athousandlemmings

I was accepted into Brandeis with an 18-page paper. I think that the high limit is mostly so that students wanting to use a thesis or senior project for a writing sample can do so without the awkwardness of massive trimming or excerpting. I think anything close to ~20 pages would be fine. Also, good luck with the app! It was a very difficult decision turning them down.

Agree with Sherlock, of course. They only have the first season on there (at least last time I checked). The version of Coetzee's Disgrace on Netflix (with John Malkovich) is pretty good, but it's one of those where you're doing yourself wrong if you don't read it first. Couldn't even finish the film version of Brief Interviews With Hideous Men. Considered watching Naked Lunch ...

Teach Jitterbug Boy to my freshman comp students as a way to get a new perspective on "voice." Watching the pain on their innocent faces as they listen = priceless. Also, a great way to find that one student who "gets it" and becomes the teacher's pet

Going to Tufts!

Declined Brandeis (PhD), haven't seen any waitlist acceptances yet so good luck!

I've taken it twice, and the thing that I struggled with both times was the grammar/rhetoric stuff. Not hardcore grammar/rhetoric, but there were a few more rhetorical and poetic devices than I had hoped for. Also--and this seems to be the case with everybody I know that's taken the test--know your old British stuff. Have at least a familiarity with Old and Middle English lit (and languages!), and know Renaissance/17th Century poetry pretty well. I've seen at least five different Milton poems referenced on the tests.

I'm pretty happy that my top choice among acceptances is offering the most money ... but I'm still in the "leaving/trying to sell everything and buying all new furniture" boat. I'm pretty okay with getting rid of all my furniture--though I'm going to miss the queen-sized bed I got for free--but my main conundrum is what to do with my books. When I moved from my undergrad to my MA program, I loaded all the books I had (half as many as now) into my brothers car, and the car tilted all the way back on the back wheels. Now, how the hell am I going to transport my library four times as far away? Has anybody dealt with this? I'm thinking of doing a bunch of those UPS flat-rate boxes ... I can't imagine going through a PhD without all the books that got me to this point (and that many that I bought with a PhD in mind).

3151 miles according to Google Maps (CA to Boston). If I wanted to drive over there, it'd cost $800 in gas alone. Yikes

Got the e-mail too. The worst part was having to log back online to the rejected application to get my ID because it was password-protected. Felt like opening up a coffin in hopes that something in there is still alive.

Anybody claiming the Rochester acceptance?

In the same boat (lived in the snow for awhile though, but I've spent most of my life in CA). Trying really hard to get a friend with a van to go on a road trip cross-country with me so I can take my library ... can't imagine paying for shipping for all of these things, or leaving them behind.

Ditto ... now to convince myself that I'm capable of that. Yea, I think I thanked her about 50 times in 20 mins but she was really cool, talked to me about doing her PhD at Berkeley (about an hour from where I'm from) and the weather adjustment from CA to Boston. I also found it really encouraging that she talked about my personal statement in detail, mentioning what different professors liked about what I had to say, and invited me to specific classes (giving me times and everything) for my visit. Vindication, thy name is Tufts. And ya, it's looking like a bunch of people on here will end up in the Boston area, so when it's all said and done it'd be nice to have a GC Boston takeover

I completely agree. The first acceptance was more relief than excitement. For the second, I was so excited I couldn't come up with anything intelligent to say to the DGS. And, having been accepted now to two of my top four choices (rejected from one other, still waiting for the last), I'm much less concerned about the remaining offers than I was between the first two. Now, my biggest stress is how the hell I'm going to afford moving cross country, and whether I can find roommates that don't listen to dance music all day and night.

Just got an acceptance call from Dr. Haber ... was one of my top choices!

Bought one of my recommenders a bottle of Jameson's before he wrote the letter (as a thank you for writing me a letter to get my lecturer job, and as a half-joking bribe) ... is another bottle overkill?