Datatape

"Doctoral Applications or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Booze"

YAAAAAAAY! So glad you got good news, Katia. As far as the phrasing, I think that's pretty standard, and even if the graduate school rejects you for some reason (which actually happened to me at the school I'm now attending thanks to my undergrad GPA being a hair shy of 3.0), generally all that means is the DGS has to fill out a form and send it over explaining that the English Department wants you and they can go suck an egg. In the meantime: go celebrate! Part your hair behind! Eat a peach! Preferably doused in the alcoholic beverage of your choice!

If anyone is applying to Nevada - Reno, I spoke with our graduate director this week and she said the committee is meeting February 7 and will likely have acceptances out by the end of the following week. Good luck, all.

I will say I was notified of an acceptance on a Sunday, but it was just because the DGS was very kind and was only emailing her accepted students in advance of the official notification. I never got an official notification (either acceptance or rejection) but Monday through Friday.

And adding on to this: very, very few schools in general will notify before February. This is likely the only time you'll be able to relax until April 15, so please try to take advantage of it. You will need that rest to help maintain your sanity through February and March.

My DGS has what she calls "the rule of four": that is to say, the total number of classes you are teaching and taking should never be more than four. I've followed it and it's worked out well for me so far - this fall, I taught one class and took three and in the spring I'm teaching two and taking two. When in doubt, I would err on the side of caution; you can always pick up another class later on if you need it and it won't do you any good to get burnt out early because you overloaded on classes.

I don't see why not. Just list it as "upcoming presentation" and you should be fine.

At some schools, you actually have to do this: provide them with two smaller writing samples that combine to about 20-25 pages. I specifically remember having to do that with one school (Kansas? I can't recall off the top of my head) last year. but yes, to echo everybody else, the DGS is the person who would be able to tell you one way or the other whether this is kosher or not.

Yes, good luck, everybody. I was in your position both last year and the year before, facing down a godforsaken number of applications and wondering how it all was possibly going to get done. I'm now attending a dream program that I love - you are all brilliant and I know you will do your best. Just breathe and remember ev-er-ee thang's gonna be all right. Rockabye. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSPjTAFn-l0

A 159 verbal score or 81st percentile is not the end of the world. It's certainly not the highest score any of these schools will see, but it's not so low that you should be automatically DQed from somewhere. Further, your odds are always going to be better applying to an MA than a PhD (I'm assuming that's the program you're applying to for UIUC?) - just breathe and remember that it's only one part of your application, and hardly the most important part at that. The purpose of the test is to show that you're not a complete ignoramus when it comes to English - that's it. As for your math score, unless you scored in, say, the 8th percentile, that should not keep you out of anywhere. As for rankings, that's an argument that's been hashed out time and again here on the forums. Suffice to say, all the schools on your list have excellent programs, so your concern should primarily be which program you feel most strongly about and want to attend the most. The fact that you already have such a positive amount of feedback from a professor at UIUC is a good sign; just keep moving forward and do your best as you pump applications out - that's all that can be asked of you.

These are all schools I applied to, over a course of two years, that did not require the subject test: Alabama, Emory, Florida, Georgia State, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Ole Miss, Nebraska at Lincoln, Nevada at Reno, UNC Chapel Hill, and Texas Tech. In addition, LSU and WashU recommended you have a subject test score, but did not require it, and in year one I was very, very close to getting off the waitlist at LSU without a subject test score. My advice: don't be so caught up in rankings that you overlook excellent schools that don't require the subject test. Many, many posters on here have turned down offers from higher-ranked schools because a lower-ranked one was a much better option for them and what they wanted to do.

My guess would be probably not, but with that said, you may want to write the graduate director and ask if they would consider a supplementation to your application after the deadline had passed. Some schools will, some won't, but it doesn't hurt to ask. I was concerned last year about my GRE subject scores arriving after the deadline for three of the schools I was applying to, so I emailed graduate directors about it. One very politely told me to go pound sand, but the other two were very encouraging and told me to go ahead and apply; it was more of a concern for the Graduate School than the English Department. I ended up getting waitlisted at one of those schools, so it's definitely not a kiss of death.

It didn't help me at all when applying. One of my letter writers was an alum of Oregon and personally wrote to my POI, who sat on the admissions committee. That's just my personal experience and doesn't relate to everyone, but I wouldn't hang too many hopes upon it.