antihumanist

Not quite there yet, but I have enough waitlists thank you very much.  If any school wants to take me straight out i'll consider you, but otherwise please kindly reject me rather than add me to yet another "very short list."
 
Like seriously, now I'm basically going to be stuck waiting forever.  The funniest thing is that Irvine keeps saying "if you get a competing offer please tell us" - but as it is, I have no *real* choices/offers.  If I end up getting in off all the waitlists, that's when I'm gonna scream. (both from joy and fury)

I'm reviving this thread because my stress about choosing a school just got to the point where when I read a rejection letter my first thought was "well that's good, now I don't have to worry about another school." Anyone else gotten to this point yet? 

All this pessimism, jeebus.
 
I'm waitlisted at two places, and both schools have not only been pretty darned nice when it comes to being available, but they have also told me the funding offers that they would make were I to get in off the waitlist.  Both are very generous, and one school is paying to fly me out to their prospective students weekend.  Obviously my case isn't indicative of every school, but still, the apocalypticness from fishbucket is a bit overwrought.
 
I mean, really, unless you've got some huge ego insecurity you should see a waitlist as a VERY good thing.  While obviously it sucks that you're not actually in (and it's more than a bit excruciating to hope that someone ahead of you bumps out), the fact is that the school sees you as a potential grad student.  The fact is, you made all the cuts except for the very last (likely arbitrary) cut.  A school wouldn't extend a waitlist to an "inferior" candidate or a second class citizen - if you're on the list, they want you.
 
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Also, remember, part of the reason for waitlists is the musical-chairs nature of this process. Student A gets in at Harvard, Yale, Michigan, and Berkeley.  They can only go to one of the schools.  So all the schools need a waitlist since they need the grad students as labor, but don't know which students will take their offer, and which will decline cus they got in somewhere else.

I really don't intend to describe all my research here, especially to someone who seems so negatively predisposed toward it, but I will say that I find what you posted as insulting. Wishing that she had never read and instead birthed 12 children--I mean, come on (this is particularly insulting to Eliot's intelligence and femininity, by the way... not to mention my own. Should I stop reading have 12 children then, since I enjoy her writing?). I think you got a bit carried away there if your only complaint is that you don't like her writing style. Additionally, just because you don't like her novels doesn't mean she was a negative influence to society. This remark is incredibly ignorant and judgmental. You should do more research before you try to insult someone that is heavily influential to not only Victorian studies, but novel studies, feminist studies, gender studies, realism, and many more. I don't "get" magical realism, but I would never say that we're the worse for having it. 
 
Overall: didn't think that this thread was funny. (If that's what you were trying to accomplish.)
 
My suggestion: read more. Research--including that of the historical background. Maybe even have some compassion.

I should read Dead Souls

So, to alleviate the stress.
 
I think that George Eliot should have been one of those women who never learned to read, and instead had 12 children. Then she would have been of a neutral benefit to humanity, rather than a negative one. I mean, Gogol burned the second tome of Dead Souls - and Dead Souls was like x9000 better than anything I ever read by Eliot. And by sheer circumstance, I have been cursed with reading a lot of hers.
 
On the other hand, I just read a blog that counts good novels before and after the advent of George Eliot. Like, BGE and AGE. What is UP with that?
 
I don't get it. I wholly accept that this may indeed be the case, but I just don't get it.
 
 
Could a budding scholar perhaps explain why her writing is so valuable?

Lit job market being what it is, you can always say "try for a better program," but it's really hard to find better programs than CUNY, and plenty of people from the no-bullshit top-5 end up jobless anyway. Waiting a year for an uncertain crack at schools that may or may not have a better hiring record does not seem like a rational decision to me. Declining to go into a PhD at all, particularly in the humanities and particularly in English (regardless of program)? That makes a lot of sense to me. Declining in order to get back on the wheel, when you have a CUNY acceptance? Much less so.

This is definitely on the table for me: for instance, UC Irvine's offer made me blink, but then I saw they have (surprisingly cheap) graduate housing.  Now, I'm visiting to make sure that it's actually liveable (and that the numbers online are more or less real), but my assumption was initially a 1k/month rent in Southern California.  However, if everything checks out, the budget suddenly really works well.
 
Also, to this person:
 
 
 
Totally agree with your assessment.  There's no reason not to give every school that offers you a trip out a fair shake if you can manage it.  Gives you a feel for the stuff that isn't as easily qualified on a school's website - like what it's like in the city/town, what the people are like (outside of their awesome work, etc), the kinds of people at the program - stuff that doesn't show up until you do.

Haha, yes and yes. I am failing miserably and about to be in a world of pain. World of pain, Donny.

The JS conference was largely tongue-in-cheek. But, it was also extremely interesting and handled with the typical Chicago rigor.

Hi everyone, 
Congrats to everybody that has been accepted!! and fingers crossed for those still waiting. This process is unlike anything else. I can claim the NYU acceptance from two days ago, and yes, it happened on that day. Until I got accepted I had sworn off Grad Cafe because of how anxious it made me when I applied to programs the first time, so that's why I didn't claim it immediately (I had forgotten my login info and couldn't reply on the forum... whoops). Also, I am currently doing my MA at Georgetown (best MA program ever!!! btw) and can say that I was notified of my acceptance in late March. I know, a very long time to wait. Hope this helps! and again, CONGRATS TO EVERYONE!!!!!

Good luck to everyone this week/month!
 
I got my second rejection today from Northwestern (and was in the Vandy bloodbath as well) with another two implicit rejections. Even though I have seven schools left, nine if I hold out hope from those two implicits, I still feel . . . doomed is maybe the correct word? Strangely enough, reading this thread and seeing everyone in the same situation, or better, seeing people get in, make me feel happy. Wow, this became a day time talk show very quickly, haha.
 
And for those people hopeful for a Georgetown admit, I did my Masters there and can say it's a WONDERFUL experience. Good luck!!

As a native Oregonian, I take issue with this.  The Pacific Northwest is true Beervana, you guys in NC are pretenders to the throne!!!!
 
Of course, Oregon only has U of O as a good school, and it means living in Eugene.  So that's a tradeoff.
 
Sorry to derail, congrats to all who have heard today!

Hey all.  Lurker par excellence here. I've got a fun story about this:
 
I applied to 10 schools last year, rejected from all of them.  Parents were dubious but cautiously supportive of taking one more shot (I was willing to admit last year's SOP was kinda purposeless... not as targeted as it should have been). Rewind to last week.  I had been waitlisted at Vanderbilt and rejected from Northwestern.  It's Wednesday and I'm chilling around the house when I get a call from California.  Turns out I got into UC Irvine's Ph.D. program.  Tell my mom and she's floored - she didn't actually think I'd get in.  She obviously wanted it, but didn't think I could do it (not necessarily because of skill, but competitiveness).  I think they still are sort of like "really, he's really getting a phd in the humanities?," but considering that I pulled it off, they are gonna have to deal.
 
Anyway, I'm still pretty fucking stoked.  Irvine is in my top 3, so this is really amazing.  Any other peeps from Irvine around here (I was not the one who filled out the survey - I actually stayed away from TGC all year somehow, but finally broke my vow since I'm in.  They still haven't sent the funding information, and I was wondering if anyone else has heard or not.

Hey all.  Lurker par excellence here. I've got a fun story about this:
 
I applied to 10 schools last year, rejected from all of them.  Parents were dubious but cautiously supportive of taking one more shot (I was willing to admit last year's SOP was kinda purposeless... not as targeted as it should have been). Rewind to last week.  I had been waitlisted at Vanderbilt and rejected from Northwestern.  It's Wednesday and I'm chilling around the house when I get a call from California.  Turns out I got into UC Irvine's Ph.D. program.  Tell my mom and she's floored - she didn't actually think I'd get in.  She obviously wanted it, but didn't think I could do it (not necessarily because of skill, but competitiveness).  I think they still are sort of like "really, he's really getting a phd in the humanities?," but considering that I pulled it off, they are gonna have to deal.
 
Anyway, I'm still pretty fucking stoked.  Irvine is in my top 3, so this is really amazing.  Any other peeps from Irvine around here (I was not the one who filled out the survey - I actually stayed away from TGC all year somehow, but finally broke my vow since I'm in.  They still haven't sent the funding information, and I was wondering if anyone else has heard or not.

Hey all.  Lurker par excellence here. I've got a fun story about this:
 
I applied to 10 schools last year, rejected from all of them.  Parents were dubious but cautiously supportive of taking one more shot (I was willing to admit last year's SOP was kinda purposeless... not as targeted as it should have been). Rewind to last week.  I had been waitlisted at Vanderbilt and rejected from Northwestern.  It's Wednesday and I'm chilling around the house when I get a call from California.  Turns out I got into UC Irvine's Ph.D. program.  Tell my mom and she's floored - she didn't actually think I'd get in.  She obviously wanted it, but didn't think I could do it (not necessarily because of skill, but competitiveness).  I think they still are sort of like "really, he's really getting a phd in the humanities?," but considering that I pulled it off, they are gonna have to deal.
 
Anyway, I'm still pretty fucking stoked.  Irvine is in my top 3, so this is really amazing.  Any other peeps from Irvine around here (I was not the one who filled out the survey - I actually stayed away from TGC all year somehow, but finally broke my vow since I'm in.  They still haven't sent the funding information, and I was wondering if anyone else has heard or not.

Hey all.  Lurker par excellence here. I've got a fun story about this:
 
I applied to 10 schools last year, rejected from all of them.  Parents were dubious but cautiously supportive of taking one more shot (I was willing to admit last year's SOP was kinda purposeless... not as targeted as it should have been). Rewind to last week.  I had been waitlisted at Vanderbilt and rejected from Northwestern.  It's Wednesday and I'm chilling around the house when I get a call from California.  Turns out I got into UC Irvine's Ph.D. program.  Tell my mom and she's floored - she didn't actually think I'd get in.  She obviously wanted it, but didn't think I could do it (not necessarily because of skill, but competitiveness).  I think they still are sort of like "really, he's really getting a phd in the humanities?," but considering that I pulled it off, they are gonna have to deal.
 
Anyway, I'm still pretty fucking stoked.  Irvine is in my top 3, so this is really amazing.  Any other peeps from Irvine around here (I was not the one who filled out the survey - I actually stayed away from TGC all year somehow, but finally broke my vow since I'm in.  They still haven't sent the funding information, and I was wondering if anyone else has heard or not.

They're calling today and I'm freaking out. According to their site they take something like 12... I'm pretty sure I'm totally screwed at this point. My list might have been too top-heavy but still, this was one of my primo fit schools. Anyone else anxiously staring at their phone like me?