shortstack51

Thanks for the info, but I'm actually finishing my MA this semester! My alternatives are more like contacting my undergrad about adjuncting (which they have offered me a job for already), exploring community colleges, or teaching at a private high school.

Not yet! Still waiting. It is a shitty feeling. Just one acceptance would help. I've started obsessing over alternative possibilities.

Got my official umass rejection. Sigh. That makes 4 so far (haven't receive my official rejection from BC or NYU but I know they're coming.) Makes me nervous for everything else.

Congrats on your acceptances! I'm at a school in NYC that's in the NYC five school consortium with NYU (meaning, PhD students are allowed to attend classes at any of the 5 schools). First, the cost of living in NYC is ridiculously high, to answer that possible question. You either resign yourself to living in a not so great area, find roommates, resign yourself to a 2-400 sq ft apartment, or commute in from outside NYC by train . I lived on a street next to a gang in a 700 sq ft apartment and it was 1400 a month (I had a roommate, so I paid 700)--and that was considered on the cheap side apparently. NYC is the only major city I've lived in, so I can't compare its living situation to any others, but I do have relatives in Madison and I know the cost of living is way way less in the Midwest. Some people love being in NYC and just take the living situation for what it is. Obviously, there's a ton to do here, academically and otherwise (the libraries are ridiculously helpful), and new york is a really awesome place to be. It's just expensive. And it has its own host of big city problems. People tend to romanticize it quite a bit, but most residents have a love/hate relationship with the city in reality. As far as I've heard from my school's adcomm and from students taking classes there, NYU has been having some kind of departmental drama with its grad students. I don't know what the drama is or if the info is even that accurate, but it's something to think about. It might be related to the funding issue above? Maybe someone at NYU could dispel the rumors or clarify. Anyway, congratulations again. I'm sure you'll be happy no matter where you are. And if any other new yorkers disagree with me, feel free to dispute!

We're snowed in out east, so my fiancée and I are taking the day to watch an egregious amount of television. Ps: this storm will probably delay notice from east coast schools

Apparently not well, mikers.

I have a similar situation! I haven't been accepted yet, but I'm hoping to start my PhD at 24 and then get married a year after that. most people in my program are at least 25, so I'm glad to see I wasn't the only 22 year old starting

I was 22 when I went into my MA as well. I'm glad you have this opportunity! Graduate school is a great experience regardless of goals. (Also, outside of the humanities, don't most other programs not offer that much funding? As far as I remember, law students and med school students are usually up to their eyes in loans, as are my engineering friends.)

As I've argued elsewhere, there are immense benefits to being in an unfunded MA program. At least half my professors were in debt from their MA programs. I'm not from a wealthy family at all--my parents couldn't afford to have me live at home and I couldn't find work with a BA in English. When I was offered an unfunded MA at a top 50 school, I jumped at the chance. It has helped advance me a lot as a scholar and should help me get into a better program for PhD (theoretically). I'm currently working with my school's adcomm head to possibly publish. There's a decent chance I'll get into my current school's PhD program, which is fully funded at $20k a year and has an 80% placement rate. I was told I'd be insane not to take it by my undergraduate advisors. There are plenty of benefits to an unfunded MA. It depends on your circumstance. No one should declare that any circumstance is never an option for others. And yes, I have a ridiculous amount of debt. But I think it's worth it.

Yes, that happened to me as well! Thankfully the program said they would review my application anyway.

Thanks for the clarification! Congrats to all who are getting in! One of my professors in undergrad did her PhD at UMass--great school. My fiancée also applied to umass and we were looking forward to potentially moving to mass (where we can rent a house for what we pay for our current apartment), so it's a bit of a blow moreso than usual that it seems I won't be getting in. That's the way the game goes, I guess! I shouldn't daydream so much! I still have 7 schools left (3 reach schools in that bunch), so hopefully I will hear good news eventually.

Sorry to obsess, but I'm really confused about the UMass notifications. The last two years, people were notified via e-mail or phone that they were being selected for interviews for funding first, then came acceptances, then rejections. No one ever said they found out via website, unless maybe no one thought to check. Did everyone else fill out that separate packet for funding that they made you mail in? Also, another question: When I applied a couple of years ago, one of the schools I applied to (and the school I ended up getting accepted to) said I needed to have submitted my FAFSA to them to be considered for funding. Is this something that programs expect? I haven't done my FAFSA yet because one of my W-2s got mailed to an old address and I haven't been able to get my hands on it, so I have no idea what my income was this past year and I haven't filed taxes. Does not doing your FAFSA affect you? I got turned down for funding at my MA program, and I found out several months later that they had never received my FAFSA due to an administrative error on their end that took weeks to figure out. I was told by one graduate student association or another that my funding did not depend on the FAFSA at all and was purely in the department. Yet, it said on the application that they needed my FAFSA, so to this day I'm confused.

So, as I was obsessively checking over my application materials, I noticed that one of the schools I applied to listed, "GRE: received official scores, digital download." Has anyone else seen this? I have to assume that this means that GRE score reports aren't sent in hardcopy, or at least not all of the time. It took over a week for one of my GRE reports to make it to a school I applied to. Others, less than two days. And all for $25 a pop. If they don't even need to print them, why do we still get charged? Well, I suppose the obvious answer is that ETS is a for-profit testing company that will charge as much as it wants because you're forced to take their tests. Is this something that everyone knew already and I'm just late to the party?

Well, someone else posted that the website updated for them too. might be bumping my tally to 3 implied rejections and 1 official rejection. Oh well- que sera sera

Mine hasn't updated, but I'm also just English lit. I hope this isn't bad news for me. Last year they contacted people about interviews first. Really would like to get in here. Crossing my fingers...! Congrats to you and the other acceptance!

The UMass acceptance is freaking me out I logged into my spire account and didn't see anything different, but maybe it's because this person was American Studies...

Oof! Wonder if the extra wait was caused by the weather or if they just got a late start this year. I have to wait a whole week? Yikes. I was hoping to hear back from 3 schools this week, but now it looks like I might only hear back from 1.

Congrats Vivian!! I wish you the best luck! It looks like the message they sent was similar to last year's. I hope someone declines for you!

You're welcome! I don't think you should count yourself out yet. The application process is super fickle, so you never know what might happen. It looks like NYU is notifying wait listed applicants. Unfortunately, it looks like I won't make the cut! I applied to 11 total- I already mentioned Harvard (thanks for the info!), but I also applied to University of Washington, WSU, UMass Amherst, UConn, CUNY, Fordham, Princeton (as another reach), WashU, and Boston College. I am suppose to hear back from a few of those this week. I am starting to get nervous - 3/11 rejected already! I'm afraid I didn't apply to enough of a broad range of schools. Where else have you applied?

Someone got waitlisted at NYU. Looks like that's it for me there. Ah well.

Last year they started getting back to people on the 11th, so I'm assuming it'll be in the next few days. 2012 they e-mailed people with rejections first, 2013 they did acceptances and rejections at the same time, so we'll see what happens. I'm also waiting to hear from them.

Haha, I'm trying. It's tempting, though! I applied to 11 total (all I could afford, sadly). I've only officially heard back from 1 with a rejection (UCLA), but I have implied rejections from BC and probably NYU now as well. I think the schools I applied to were a little too high on the list. The last time I applied, I only applied to 2 schools that weren't in the top 20, which was a really bad idea (I only got into 1). This time around, I tried to be more evenly spread throughout the top 50 (as I was instructed by my adcomm), but I still think I was a little unbalanced. I also had to restrict where I was applying based on some other life factors (ie, my fiancee applying, where we can live, etc). You've got plenty of schools to go, so don't fret yet either, though it's smart that you're looking into back ups just in case. In a perfect world, we would both get into UW and be merry! UW is one of my top choices in terms of fit.

Unfortunately, I'm about to complete my MA, so if I don't get in, I'm up the creek. At least I'll be able to get some kind of steady work (I hope), though. I'd really like to get into 2 schools so I have a choice this time around. I see a Washington in your signature--is that UW or WSU? I applied to both. UW apparently doesn't get back to you until mid-March, while WSU gets back to you at the end of February via postal if you're admitted.

Same goes for you! I'm waiting for the day you hear good news! 3 schools I applied to are supposed to get back to me this week based on past years. I just want to know! Two of my schools don't notify until mid-March, including my current school. Yikes.

All schools are different in terms of getting back to you--some will have enough people on the admissions committee (adcomm for short) that they can respond to questions, while others specifically ask that you do not contact them (NYU actually says in an e-mail not to contact them unless there was an issue). NYU's lack of response doesn't necessarily mean a rejection. They probably just don't have someone to answer all of the e-mails. Out of curiosity, what did Harvard say? I also applied there, though I'm not expecting to get in. GRE scores aren't a huge factor in admissions, depending on the school. I know Harvard tends to make their first round of cuts based on GRE scores, but there are schools who don't. Unfortunately, you are at somewhat of a disadvantage being from abroad. The way to know which schools care about GRE scores is usually by talking with your own school's adcomm and professional development faculty. I'm in an MA program, and some of the PhD students here had very low GRE scores. The most important factors are your writing sample (which should relate to your research interests and be a strong piece of writing), your personal statement (which should address your experience with your research interests, what work you've done, how your writing sample fits into that research, and how being at the school in question will advance your research), and your letters of recommendation (at least one sharing your research interests). If those three areas are strong, your scores don't necessarily make that much of a difference depending on the institution. Schools that get 500-700 applicants a year are more likely to weed students out by score, but that's not always the case. In terms of wondering why you got rejected, as I mentioned before, most of it has to do with statistics. You applied to a lot of schools that almost every student applying to PhD programs applies to. Based purely on numbers, that means you have a very small chance statistically of getting in, no matter how good your application might be. Other than that, it would help if you had contact with someone from the US who is either a grad student or a professor who could look at your writing sample and personal statement and give you feedback. Some people on this forum also have e-mailed schools that they got rejected from and got some good replies back, but sometimes schools also frown on that. Again, it depends on the institution. Retaking the GRE would also be a good start. There are study books that can help if you haven't looked at them yet--I personally prefer the Princeton Review. The same goes for the applications that ask you if you've been in contact with a professor. Some schools appreciate if you reach out to them, others don't. Most of the time, having talked to someone doesn't seem to change your chances of getting in. From what I understand, that field is mostly for people who maybe have been in consistent contact with the program for a while and are on good terms with a faculty member there. If you e-mailed someone once with a question and they answered, the person you e-mailed might not even remember you by the time adcomms begin meeting. I had a friend who e-mailed a professor at every school he was applying to--he applied to 10 schools and got accepted into 2 terminal MA programs, rejected from the rest. It didn't seem to make a difference if he had spoken to someone once or twice.