[Using admissions as leverage?]

It becomes appropriate later in the season. Once the end of March rolls around, I would say it's appropriate to start calling. But not right now. Most programs--depending on your field--haven't started doling out acceptances yet.

[Lesbian life in various places (recommendations? warnings?)]

Madison is one of the most LGBT-friendly cities in the midwest (I have family in the midwest). I haven't been there personally, but a quick google search shows a lot of LGBT centers/clubs and that there is also an LGBT center at UW-Madison. Apparently it has a generally high LGBT population. If you're interested, here's a yahoo thread about it: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090321225805AAJvwY1

 

As for specifically lesbian life there, I'm not certain, but I imagine there will be a decent amount to draw from.

[how often do you pull all-nighters?]

I don't do all-nighters very often. My program can be flexible about due dates (mostly in the case of final seminar papers), and I would rather risk a professor's potential wrath by asking for an extension than risking mental/physical health. I guess that's one of the perks of having only 2 or 3 graded assignments a semester, though. (We have about 500 pages of reading a week but  I get that done by pacing myself and reading on the train.) I average about 6-7 hours of sleep a night after work/class. However, my job grading papers has yet to start this semester, so that number may drop...

[If I don't get accepted anywhere, I think I'll...]

I have a few thoughts. I applied to 10 schools- this is my second time around. First time I applied to 6 and only got into 1, where I am completing my MA. If I don't get in, I will wait to see if my fiancée does. If she does, I will look for work either at a local community college or maybe a private school. If neither of us get in, we've talked about exploring options in Europe. She has family there and we have both always wanted to travel but can't afford to. We'll blow what we have on plane tickets and will have hopefully come up with plans for moving forward.

I spent over $1000 applying this time around. Same with the first time. I'm not emotionally or financially equipped to try again, although I might if we end up in Europe. If programs still don't want me after getting an MA from a school ranking in the 40s and after I've really grown as a scholar, I'm not going to be more appealing in a year.

[Fall 2014 applicants??]

NYU began sending out application responses around Feb 7th last year (I also applied and looked it up), so I would start checking around then.

[Anybody else applying with a spouse/partner?]

Haha yes that was me. I think what would happen is she would get her general MA then reapply to EdS programs. Also, the programs she's applying to are combined MA/CAGS (basically an EdS I guess?) or MEd/EdS or other combinations of letters. In my doofus-y humanities brain, I heard and read only the MA part while she was applying and didn't think to ask. So she should be all set.

It's good to know we're not the only ones. A lot of married/partnered people in my program basically never want to leave NYC, so it's less complicated for them. A couple of others have also done long distance marriages for a couple of years. Good for them, but not quite what we want, haha.

[Anybody else applying with a spouse/partner?]

Thanks so much for the response! We already each commute 45 minutes, so we're prepared for having to commute if we end up at different ends of a city.

My fiancée has made a similar statement that she will take the year off and reapply for MA. In her case it's a bit tricky because she's applying to 3 year, 66 credit programs for school psychology. She only can apply to programs certified by NASP, which narrows down the possibilities (unless she goes for a general psych degree, which she might do). She is flexible I think. I just feel guilt prioritizing my degree, although I am also running from student loans...

Your post has eased my anxieties some!

[Anybody else applying with a spouse/partner?]

I haven't heard back from schools yet, but I wanted to know if there's anyone out there who is applying to graduate school at the same time as their spouse/partner/SO. My fiancée and I are applying- me to PhD and her to MA- and it's a bit scary. We applied to 3 schools each in the same cities/regions but there is still a chance we might not get into school in the same part of the country knowing how selective schools are. Has anyone else had that issue? What do you do if that happens? I imagine one of us would probably have to compromise and take a year off... (NYC is kind of our "safety" city- my current MA program is there and she's applying to some less selective programs there).

[Finding a husband in graduate school.]

I have to violate the laws of being an English MA and just say O...M...G. What is this thread?? I can't sleep and this has provided me endless entertainment.

I also can't believe how many people going into graduate school have really horrible ideas about women's lives and women's relationships. What. Just what. YOU ARE NOT A HO IF YOU DATE CASUALLY. It is much more harmful if you force yourself into a long term relationship when you aren't actually ready. Settling for the first person you date is a terrible idea if you're only doing it because casually dating freaks you out and you want to get married. Anyone who thinks differently is going to be rudely awakened on entering graduate school unless you go to a very conservative school. It's not like undergrad where you can judge people's sexual habits and snicker. Everyone else (who will probably also be older than you) will just think you're crazy/immature.

Why the desire to get married? What will it add to your life that you don't have?

I gathered from OP's posts that she's from a small town where everyone marries young. OP appears to not have really encountered people or places where this is not the norm. I'm in NYC and there are plenty of people single past 30. I had no idea people thought they need to get married young. I'll be married next year when I'm 25 and my friends judged me over it initially because they thought I was too young.

Anyway.

As M Scott Peck said (I think), relationships are not addition. It's not a half plus a half equals a whole. It's multiplication. 1*1 = 1. 1/2 * 1/2 = 1/4.

I'm sure this post was a waste of time but at least I'm amused.

[Fall 2014 applicants??]

I did all of mine day of also due to money issues and the fact that applications coincided with seminar paper due dates. I don't think it's an issue As long as the main app was in on time. The committees often don't meet for 3-4 weeks after you submit.

[Has the current economy changed the trend on funding PhDs?]

It has changed. I work in the admin at my school and they have huge meetings dedicated to dealing with funding crises in the Arts & Sciences. Every school handles it differently. Some become insanely selective but offer funding, others aren't but offer only half of admitted students funding. The humanities are a bit different; they tend to receive funding more frequently, or at least we seem to in English (though it isn't as much of a guarantee as it once was depending on the school). But then we are competing with 80-100 people for the same spot at top schools. How rigorous are admissions in STEM? I'm also assuming challenging based on my experience in admin.

[Fall 2014 applicants??]

Hey, I know there are people on this thread who applied to Irvine (Should I start a separate thread?) As far as I know, no one has had an offer from them. I was told that their meeting was Jan 21st-- the grad coordinator and admit chair made it sound like that was decision time, but maybe it was only the first of many?

My transcripts were missing originally. They are in now, and as a result of my communication with Irvine about that matter, I was told there was interest (Yes, this is the alter ego of Dirty_Window--I keep forgetting my password, so I have multiple user names now).

Anyway, this is my top choice for many reasons and I am so anxious about it. If any one has any inside info, I would love to hear i--even if it is just the result of a phone call or email.

 

I looked at last year's reports on it and it looks like people didn't really hear back until mid-February. Generally, even if the admit committee has made decisions, it takes a while to get admin on board for funding and things like that. I wouldn't really start to expect any reports until the end of next week (UC schools seem to report back start Feb 6/7?). I couldn't find much in the reports from last year, so maybe if someone has done more digging than me (I didn't apply to UCI) they could help. You're lucky--some schools I applied to don't get back to you until mid-March. Ugh!

[That awkward moment when...]

When you realize you forgot to cite that Wordsworth quote you used in your SOP...

 

...and when one of your recommendation providers is over two weeks late submitting recs on 4 applications.

[Communication with Graduate Admissions committees]

I always use "Professor." It's more formal than "Dr." As for signing off, I usually end e-mails to grad admissions committees with, "I look forward to hearing from X School," which I feel is appropriately neutral.

 

For the most part, I would stick with the questions posed. Do you have other questions about the program (besides whether you got in) that aren't answered on the website?

[How Are You Coping With The Torture Of Waiting???]

I have 3 jobs and am working on my MA thesis, so thankfully I have plenty to do. But that doesn't stop me from having the GradCafe forums open in one tab and results search open in the other (I've been going through and checking at what time the schools I applied to get back to you--looks like I have some coming in about a week and a half potentially. yikes!) when I have a moment of downtime at work. Once in a while I also compulsively check my online application status for each school...but not often, since I know it's mostly futile.

[The Projected Results Game]

Ha! Lots of nots. Three nots. I hope I make up for it with at least three "yes" letters/emails/calls.

I did shoot for the moon - I applied to some great programs. But I took the names out of my signature because I'm really great myself. I don't want to be just another applicant to UT Austin. I don't want to be "the guy who applied at 3 places I applied and 4 places I've never heard of".

Besides I just sort of got tired of all the name-dropping. (nothing y'all do) but around friend. All of this, "did you apply here? and here? and here?" and "Miami Ohio? isn't that a small school?"

So with that said - MY PROJECTED RESULTS:

I bet I get into a 2 places that I'm super happy with and I bet they're super happy to have me.

I bet I get denied at 2 places that I really would have loved.

I bet a have a tough choice between the 2 acceptances come April.

I bet I don't hear back from 1 until May.

I like your mindset. I definitely think there tends to be a lot of judgment and name-dropping. It's sad that students seem to be discouraged away from certain schools simply because they're a "small school" or whatnot. I've had people discourage me from applying to WSU because "it's in the middle of nowhere."

 

That said, one of the only things that makes the process bearable (at least for me) is to obsess over it with other people. Even people who are already in my school's PhD program like to pick my brain to see what schools and when I'll hear back, just out of curiosity. Talking about it seems to keep my anxiety at bay, at least in the short term. Kudos to you for not having to obsess over every detail and having a healthy attitude about it.

 

If I were to imitate the way you've played the projection game, mine would go something like this:

 

I bet I'll get accepted by 2-4 schools that I would love to go to.

 

I bet I'll get rejected by 2-4 that will break my heart.

 

And I bet I'll get rejected by 3 that I expected to get rejected by but I tried anyway (other people from my program have been accepted at those schools).

["Safety" Schools?]

I've been through the process a couple of times and I use the term "safety." I agree that it can come off arrogant, so maybe I'll avoid using it, but I use it to denote schools that I have a statistically better chance of getting into based on where my MA is from, my scores, etc. and based on the suggestions of professors. When I applied the first time, I was told by undergraduate professors to specifically pick "safety" schools and have a good mix of top tier, mid-level, and "safety". Of course, the process is totally random and chaotic, as has been stated, so I don't expect that I'll be getting in anywhere. I'd be ecstatic to get into one of my "safeties." Every school that I don't think of as a safety is pretty much a reach because of how competitive the process is.

 

But I agree that the general usage of "safety" can be pretty arrogant and/or naive. Maybe I ought to pick a better word for "schools I think I have a better chance of getting into out of the 11 I applied to." Any suggestions?

[Alright, Give it to Me Straight.]

Thanks for posting what I would've posted in response to hashslinger, but (in turn) I must differ with you on the point quoted above. I, and many friends, earned our MAs at the University of Chicago's Master of Arts Program in the Humanities. You'll find that opinions are very mixed on this board as far as that program goes. There are good reasons, of course, but the biggest concerns are, precisely, that it is A) mostly unfunded, and a combined program. There are certain "tracks" within it, but it is designed to allow for interdisciplinary opportunities.

 

However, I will also say that placement from there to top-tier PhD programs has also been very, very good (among those who pursued further graduate work). I know of strong placements in English, Philosophy, History of Art, and Film and Media Studies. I personally benefited, and was offered admission to two superb programs. 

 

So it isn't always the case that a combined program carries problematic associations.

Thanks for the correction! I was just talking to someone who went to U of Chicago and said something similar. I don't know where I got that idea from--perhaps it only happens with some schools.

[Lesbian life in various places (recommendations? warnings?)]

Born and raised in CT, and I can also second that Amherst is going to be very LGBT friendly. You're surrounded by UMass Amherst (liberal) and the sister colleges (including Smith and Mount Holyoak, both of which are known for their high lesbian populations). You should feel comfortable there. You can scoot over to Boston for weekend trips if you want to be in an area with more LGBT night life and networking with older populations.  I haven't been to the Amherst campus (though I did apply there), but from what I understand having friends attending the sister schools, the campus is decently diverse in terms of sexual orientation and gender identity considering it's in small-town New England.

 

Williamstown should be similar. I've never been there, but it's MA on the border of VT, both liberal states. Williams College is also pretty liberal as I understand it. It probably won't be as progressive as Amherst (again considering Amherst's location) or as diverse, but there shouldn't be a lot of homophobia or anything.

 

Edit: I should note that since I'm 23, I really only know about the level of acceptance for 18-25 year olds. I can't quite vouch for how many over-40 LGBT individuals you might encounter.

[The Projected Results Game]

I'm mildly confident that I'll get into at least two of my three safeties, which are WSU, UMass Amherst, and UConn (all for English PhD). I'm also fairly confident I'll get into my school's PhD program, which I would really enjoy (I don't like to make any assumptions, though). I have a "special feeling" about CUNY Grad too.

 

Of course, after my experience of getting rejected from all but one school when I was coming out of undergrad, I don't want to get my hopes up about anything. Those rejection letters can be pretty crushing.

 

Chin up, cbttcher--the application process is so arbitrary that you never know what's going to happen from one year to the next. The funding for GSAS programs at all schools has been swinging like a pendulum over the last few years. I work in the admin at my school and year to year, the numbers change drastically for how many PhDs they can bring in.

[Alright, Give it to Me Straight.]

As far as grad school advice goes, that is the one piece of advice that I will absolutely stick to. No one should do an unfunded MA. Not just because the job market is so terrible, but because there ARE tons of MA programs that will fund you. Tons. Go to one of those. Unless you're independently wealthy *and* can't relocate.

 

I am sympathetic to people who don't have stellar undergraduate records and therefore have to do a master's in order to make themselves appropriate for a PhD program. I was one of them. I got an MA at a no-name (but funded) program. I managed to take my no-name-but-funded MA and get into a PhD program. But let me tell you, the job market is a total slaughter, and I'm really glad I don't have a bunch of MA debt around my neck. I'll probably be on the market for about two or three years, which is average for a lot of people these days.

 

I disagree. Because of student loans from undergrad and/or not having a family able to support them financially, some people can't afford to take time off if all they have to work with is a BA in English. For some people, the short term is more important to think about simply for survival. Even finding a summer job was impossible for me, and my family can simply not afford to have me live at home. I pay for all of my own living expenses. However, I was accepted into a good school for a terminal MA, unfunded. I've been told that my chances are high going forward. I do not regret my decision to enter into an unfunded program at all despite the ridiculous loan rates. My only advice on the topic would be that if you're going to do a terminal MA, it would be best to do it at a school that does not have a combined program (I've heard that if you have a terminal MA from a school that has a combined program, it raises red flags).

 

Nearly every professor I had as an undergrad was still paying off loans (different at my MA, where most professors got their PhDs at ivies). It's pretty common for students of English to have a lot of debt.  Expecting more than you may get can also lead to a lot of angst in the future. In terms of the job market, it's important to enter PhD programs with good placement numbers as well and a good professional development office. If I get accepted into my school's PhD program, I have an 80% chance of full-time academic placement after being awarded my doctorate and a 60% chance of tenure-track employment. Some people also refuse to apply for positions at schools that they feel are "beneath" them, which is part of what's clogging up the job market. Additionally, schools are now wary of hiring people who they believe may use their time there as a way to gain experience before applying to one of the top schools instead because people use small private schools as stepping stones too often.

 

tl;dr I believe it's better to focus on the short-term things that are best for you at the moment. If you want to take time off and reapply and you are financially able to do so, then that's a perfectly valid option. But entering an unfunded program is not the end of the world.

[School Psychology programs (EdS/PhD)]

Thank you for the response! That helps clear up a lot of things. For number three, she's applying to programs that help her get certified, so most of them are 3 year programs with summer classes. As far as I know, most of the ones she's applying to are 60 credit programs (UCONN, for instance, has a 66 credit Masters program, as do St John's and UMass), partly because many of them include a 15-20 credit internship. She's been working with a school pscyhologist as an undergrad and he advised her on programs, so hopefully he has steered her well.

 

Edit: As a note, I guess I actually misspoke about what degree she'd be receiving. It wouldn't be an MS--at a lot of the schools she's applying to, it's listed as a "School Psychology M.Ed" degree or an MA in School Psychology. When I step out of the English world, there are suddenly many more types of degrees than I realized...

 

We're both a bit tense about applications, so I wanted to double check with the resident experts on the subject. Thank you again Best of luck to you and congratulations on your acceptance and interviews!

[Fall 2014 applicants??]

Makes sense. One of my professors mentioned that some programs like to keep it even each year, so that I don't have a ridiculous amount of nay specialization. I heard duke only accepted 8 last year, which makes me even more nervous, though I know it is a reach for pretty much anyone. 

 

How many schools did you apply to total? At top schools, there are usually between 500 and 700 applicants. However, nearly every English applicant in the country applies to those schools, so that amount pretty much represents the total applicant pool. Consequently, the more programs you can apply to, the better. Those 500 people aren't going to be applying to every single program you apply to, but they probably will to the same top schools. Also, whatever program you're graduating from can make a big difference. Top schools like Duke, Berkeley, etc. are obviously going to be really hard to get into, but if you've spread yourself out enough and have a mix of mid-level and top schools, you have a statistcally better chance of getting in. I'm applying with an MA right now and I've applied to 11 schools. My first time around, when I just had a BA, I only applied to 6 and I applied to only top 20 schools/ivies. It really messed up my chances and I ended up just getting into the MA program that I'm in now (which is, thankfully, at a well-recognized school).

[Fall 2014 applicants??]

This is a dumb question but when they choose they probably go by disciplines right? So that they don't have like twelve renaissance people and one modernist?

 

Yes and no. The admissions process, according to a number of my professors who were on such committees at top 30 schools, is pretty arbitrary. Concentration is definitely a factor--but it's less about how many students they take in than how many faculty members they have to support the students they take in. However, I've also been told (again, by reliable sources) that they also expect you to switch concentrations. There are a number of people who end up switching after their first year or two. So your concentration is both important...and not.

 

Basically, it depends on the school, the committee, and a lot of other random factors, including the general applicant pool. A school with a strong group of Early Modernists will certainly look for Early Modern applicants, but they're also going to need a few modernists for their modernist faculty, for instance. Some schools might want a balanced program. Sometimes being the odd applicant out can work in your favor. I know a couple of PhD students at my school who are writing about comics and graphic novels, neither of which can be found listed as faculty specialties. It's most important that there are a couple of strong faculty in your concentration at whatever institutions you're applying to, but even that might not even mean anything.

 

The professional development person at my school told me to apply to as many top 30 schools as possible to try to statistically defeat the randomness of applying.

[School Psychology programs (EdS/PhD)]

Sorry if this question has already been answered--I'm just writing in because my fiancee is applying to school psych programs, but she's applying with the intention of getting a job as a school psychologist ASAP, so she's only applying to MS programs (usually about 3 years long, and most states only require a Masters for certification--some just want a BS for even the basic level certification; I'm an English student, so this is my rudimentary understanding from NASP). However, I can't really find any information on grad cafe for people in a similar situation. I've noticed a lot of PhD/PsyD/EdS people hearing back, but so far no MS. My best guess is they do the PhD students first, so she'll be hearing back later? A lot of her application deadlines are pretty spread out as well--one's not even due until May.

 

So I guess I have a few questions: 1) For those of you applying to PhD/PsyD, are you hoping to enter a different career path than school pscyhologist (ie doing research?)? 2) What is an EdS? and 3) Has anyone else heard of people just applying to MS programs? Do you know if anyone has been hearing back about interviews? My fiancee was advised to just apply to MS programs since that's what she'd need to get certified, though one advisor did try to push her towards a PsyD, which didn't seem to be what she wanted.