gradschoolwannabe

Why is Duke rejecting everyone slowly! AIEEEE, get it over with!

I'm guessing beginning of March, but I have no idea.

Last year I only applied to PhD programs, 10 of them in fact, and I got rejected from all of them. I honestly think that my scholarship needs to be beefed up by a good MA program, and that it will only help me when I go on to apply to PhD programs. I don't think people with a diverse background are looked down upon by graduate programs. I've been accepted to one program this go-around, which is super exciting to me. That would be my advice to anyone applying a second time, really take a hard look at the work you've done, and decide if it is PhD program quality work, or MA quality work. It has nothing to do with intelligence, but sometimes we all need a bit more skill building. I hope that you keep with it. In other news, waiting for the other 8 is killing me! I think it's going to be a while before I hear back from the others.

My duke page still says "decision not ready" as well.

Indiana is sending out responses?

Me too!

I know, I'm going crazy here waiting for the English PhD.

Congrats on Louisville! I see that there's a post about UI Urbana's Masters, I assume they've made their offers?

Woohoo! Got accepted to Texas Tech. First acceptance ever!

Has anyone heard about the English PhD yet? Do they do interviews?

One of my interest areas is 20th c. American sci-fi. There's quite a few schools actually, you can try use google site: search function to look at a program that you're interested in's website. Cyberneticists work with science fiction quite a bit, so there's another option. Bruce Clarke at Texas Tech does interesting work, N. Katherine Hayles at Duke is one of the founding members of cybernetic study in literature. Most of the programs that are in my signature below have a faculty member who works in science fiction at the very least a small amount.

I think it's difficult, not because the name necessarily carries more weight (though I'm sure that's a factor as well, though I firmly believe in graduate school meritocracy) but because many schools simply don't have the resources or staff to offer as broad of an education as larger schools, and this is reflected on transcripts. Most semesters, there would be one or two classes with a specific focus on American literature, and it wasn't always 20th century. I am proud of the education I recieved, but much of my study was largely self directed, because there aren't very many americanists at my school and most of them don't work in the areas I'm interested in. I think that I have to excel on my personal statement and writing sample and not rely as much on my transcripts, because they don't really tell the whole story. That's my fear right now. I just hope I can stack up with candidates with stronger resumes than myself. I also think that going to a small school gave me the opportunity to get a lot of face time with really smart people, and I got to go to some conferences.

This is my second round of applications. I'm trying for: Georgetown (MA) Duke (PhD in English) Texas Tech (MA) Western Washington (MA) UI Urbana Champaign (MA) Indiana University (MA) UC Boulder (MA) U. of Florida (MA) UC Santa Cruz (MA) I opted for masters programs this year. I think my resume is undeveloped a bit, coming from a state school in Montana. Fingers crossed. I'm shooting for 20th c. American, emphasis on history of science fiction, cybernetics and posthumanism.

And there's the final rejection for me. Oh well, there's always next year.

Called UW today. The Graduate office said decisions should go out by email in the next couple of days. I'm still going crazy.

Bunch of new rejections posted. Sorry to whoever got those. I'm thinking my application is lost under a file cabinet somewhere.

Also, anyone been accepted to the PhD with a focus in 20th Century American Lit? That was the area I declared on my application, I was wondering if they're doing it by department.

This is the last school that hasn't rejected me. Fingers crossed!

Heard from the Grad Dept. that they sent out all the letters on Friday.

My status hasn't changed. As is par for the course, I usually expect that no news means a rejection.

I do not have this. Probably not accepted.

For me, academics is a passion (as I'm sure it is for many others). I find the idea of being funded to learn stuff pretty cool, but as far as expenses go (I was admitted without funding) I would much rather read and study hard on my own than spend 40,000 on Chicago. As much as I love W.J.T Mitchell, that figure isn't appealing. My goal isn't to get an awesome professor job at the end of my PhD (though it would be nice), I just want to be immersed in a fun academic environment.

If you don't mind me asking, what areas of focus did you designate on your application?

Still waiting on the MA....

Still waiting to hear about application to the MA.