Datatape

Oh, yay! Lots of people posted on the Google Doc already. Don't forget to include what you're going to be studying, guys - that's part of the fun of seeing who's going where.

We had a thread for this last year where people formally announced what their decisions are (in fact, some brilliant person put together a GoogleDocs document so we could see a summary list of who was going where - anyone want to do that?). I figured that since a few people appear to either be close to making a formal decision and a few seem to have chosen, we could celebrate where we'll be for the next five years in a thread. Anyone want to kick this off?

After seeing the waitlist post on the results board, I called the graduate office this morning and spoke with the secretary. She said the committee is in their final meeting right now to analyze their top forty candidates and determine what their status should be. She did confirm that a few acceptances already went out (as we know from thatjewishgirl and Mr. thatjewishgirl) but wasn't sure whether all the acceptances had or not. She did say that after the meeting finishes, the DGS will hand her the list of students to alert and that if I hadn't heard anything by the end of next Wednesday to call her back and inquire. She did say that she couldn't promise notifications would go out immediately, as she does have over 300 rejections to send out to MFA applicants, but that they got 110 applications for roughly 10-12 Ph.D. slots, so that gives an idea of our chances of getting in.

I just checked Georgia State's website and finally have another acceptance to my name. It's beyond thrilling to know I have a choice and that it wasn't just a fluke I got into one program. No official word on funding yet, though.

Ole Miss didn't notify until around the first or second week of March last year. This is about average for them.

What I felt when I saw this topic: What I felt when reading the rankings:

For real. Those were the sourest of grapes.

You should think terribly of Harold Bloom. He is a misogynistic narcissist. He is not even in their English Department. They gave him his own department of Humanities because no one could frackin' stand him.

It can be done. I worked two jobs (one of which was full-time) while earning my M.A. I finished on-time for my program and earned at 3.87 GPA. Now, did I have even a remote inkling of a social life or free time while I was doing it? No. But it can be done.

Louisiana State University.

Congrats on the acceptance! And yes, funding is not GSU's strong point, but Atlanta has a pretty low cost of living if you don't mind living outside of the downtown area. Like you, I'll believe it when I see it about them notifying in the next couple of weeks.

The biggest reason I can think of would be a program that doesn't have a series of checks and balances to keep you on track to the degree. Also, a lot of people get tripped up on the foreign language requirement (it set my thesis advisor back an entire year when he was getting his Ph.D.). The program might also simply be too big where they can't keep track of every student's progress and a few slip through the cracks. On the other hand, if you see a phrase along the lines of "we expect all students entering with an M.A. to finish in four years" (that's verbatim from one program I applied to), you know they have a pretty strict timeline that they expect you to stick to so you can get through the program quickly and get out on the job market.

Aye. I didn't apply, but I recall last year a lot of applicants were offended by how rude their rejection letter was (something to the effect of, "the adcom has not recommended your application for admission and I agree with their decision"). At the same time, one of the professors at my school got her Ph.D. from Washington and she absolutely raved about the school and program. I dunno.

Go to Goodwill/Salvation Army. I'm dead serious. You won't be able to find something tailored to you, but you'd be shocked at what people give away that you can pick up for a few bucks.

If you can, get a list of events. When I went to Nevada for visiting weekend, they had us both going to a reception at the end of the day and taking a two-hour walking tour of the campus. I elected to wear a pair of dark slacks, a long-sleeved shirt, and comfortable loafers. It was dressy enough for the reception, while not causing me to die during the trek across campus. If it's just a general open house with no special events, business casual should be fine.

My Masters' program capped the length of the thesis at 30 pages. They still viewed it as an important part of earning the Masters Degree, but wanted it to be of publishable length so that we could get some use out of it. Condensing a thesis down to 30 pages without losing the important parts of my argument was a hell of a feat, but I know it made me a stronger writer.

DHEnthusiast, I don't know if it's a school you've applied to, but UCF offers a Ph.D. in Texts and Technology that sounds like it might be up your alley: http://tandt.cah.ucf.edu/

Not much to add to the debate except to say I do admire those of you who can make the vegetarian/vegan plunge. I tried it back in ninth grade and lasted all of thirty-seven minutes before I was all

Thanks, thenightsky! What is your area of study?

I did not. It was more of a pipe dream than anything last year and I realized it wasn't a great fit with what I wanted to study. Great program, just not for me.

Based on the feedback I got when I was rejected (via email) from UF last year, I am almost 100% positive those phone rejection posts are fake.