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Southeast Penn

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  1. I don't know if I'm a special case or not, but turning down these offers was really heart-breaking. I think I allowed myself to get especially invested in the prospect in attending all of these schools, even as I knew I couldn't attend all of them. I'm really grateful for this site and getting the almost immediate thrill of seeing someone else pop off a waiting list just as soon as an offer is turned down. Sad good-byes: Lehigh Purdue WUSTL UW-Madison
  2. I know it's impractical, but I really want to see some small degree of personalization beyond just my name in a rejection letter. Even if they just check a box from a list of reasons why you weren't accepted (... drastically underqualified... poor GPA... not 'diverse' enough) it would be more helpful than it currently is. Unless you call up the department and get someone unusually helpful on the line, chances are you'll never really know the exact reason why you didn't make the cut. Because, you know, it's incredibly impractical for me to spend $50 or more working on this application only to get a one page form letter in return, polite as it may be. We should demand more from our rejection letters.
  3. No disrespect to the OP, but I did wonder myself at that entry. In some respects, it could be read as a well-tailored troll, especially the line "I got in absolutely everywhere else," so I'm not surprised at the responses it garnered. The word "absolutely" raises a flag with me. It could just be some well-earned enthusiasm, but still... It's interesting that many of the responders read it as an example of inter-departmental nepotism rather than in a more positive light, which would be that even if your stats aren't pushing the 99th percentile in all regards you can still be competitive at places like Harvard. My own stats, in relation to the OP's, were a bit higher, but not significantly so, and I didn't make it into any ivies this time around. There's a lot we don't know: maybe the personal statement was dynamite, or the writing and and work were a perfect match for what the department was looking for.
  4. I spent two years there for an MA. Nice town, small, but it can fill up real quick on football weekends. What I liked was that there was a pretty clear delineation of the bars where most grad students hung out vs. the undergrads. It can be challenge to find a nice quiet place to live because the town is so small and there are roughly 15k students in the area, but the prices are decent, especially if you are rooming with someone. There are decent restaurants on the main street, and some nice nature preserves nearby. It is close to Cincinnati, but it takes longer than an hour to get down into the city if that's where you want to go, due to lots of congestion.
  5. Here's the breakdown I've seen on acceptances this year: 1 Prof email 1 Prof phone call 1 thin envelope, single letter 1 9" by 11" envelope, big packet of stuff Similarly, my rejections have come from either automated emails or just by checking the school websites (I assume the thin letter will follow within a month). So I guess anything is possible.
  6. Got the same rejection from the Buckeyes. I've now been rejected by OSU three times (one MFA, two PHD). Maybe I can get an extra paragraph on my form letter explaining why I'm not Buckeye material this time, hmm?
  7. No problem. While a lot of these questions are probably best left for visits (though I don't have enough weekends to visit all the schools I applied to should they admit me; hence the questions), the info on foreign languages is helpful. When I was applying, I was of the mind that I'd go anywhere that took me and tough out the languages, if need be. Now that I have a choice, I find myself (unsurprisingly) slouching towards the path of least resistance (no languages). But if the requirements are as lenient as Minnesotan indicates, then they shouldn't be that much of a big deal. Also, just an update, I spent a few hours in the bookstore yesterday reading over all the generic grad school books/manuals/self-helps. Not a lot of helpful info, but one thing I did take away from it is that it may be wise, or even expected, to ask for a nicer funding package, using other offers as your bargaining chips. I wonder: anyone have any experience/ideas about that?
  8. This is my third time applying for Literature PhDs, and I've been fortunate/lucky enough to be accepted at several schools so far. I was wondering if anyone had a good sense of how to break down the decision of where to go. Here are the issues that are most troubling/confusing to me: 1) How much does reputation matter? How do you rank reputation? If I'm looking at a US News and World Reports ranking from 1999 and one school is 120th and another is in the top 20, should that weigh heavily in my decision? Or should I simply ask them how good they are at placing their grads in jobs and use that as my 'reputation' metric? 2) How important is it (in English) to have a faculty member you want to work with? When this process began I targeted several scholars who have published copiously in my intended area; is there any way I might be able to find out how well-respected/famous these people are in their respective fields? (Been out of the game a little while, so I haven't been to many conferences or have had much contact with other students). Is it better to attach yourself to a young up-and-comer or someone who has been around a long while? 3) Teaching. How much is too much? I've read that anything more than one class a semester is exploitation. If that is so, is one class plus tutoring work exploitation? At what point does the teaching load interfere with classes and research? 4) Foreign languages. Ugh. In principle, I agree that having working knowledge of foreign languages is a good thing for a scholar. But on the other hand, I'm scared to death of this requirement. Not really a question, just an observation. Some schools require 2, some 1, and others seems to have no requirement. Obviously, I'm leaning towards the latter, but I think it's a bad idea to base my decision on this characteristic alone. 5) Funding. As long as there is a tuition waver and some sort of stipend, the actual amount doesn't really matter to me. However, some schools have indicated that the funding doesn't start until the second year. Does this mean I need to pay tuition for the first year? Other schools indicate they fund years 1-4 (with year 5 added in on a conditional basis). Should I be looking for five guaranteed years? Six? Anyone have any idea what is customary here? Any insights or observations would be very helpful during this very confused time.
  9. This happened to me last year. It was devastating. I had applied to 3 schools and was reasonably sure I would get in to at least one of them (I had applied for study at the same school I got my MA from). The first thing to deal with was the "well, what the heck do I do now?" feeling, along with the rejection and disappointment. I remember lots of drinking and video games. Fortunately, I'm a teacher, so summer offered a bit of free time to try to pick up the pieces and figure out where I went wrong. I knew I had to take the GRE again, because my original scores were 5 years old and going to expire. I also started studying for the subject test in my field (which happens to be Literature), because I knew just taking the stupid thing would increase the number of schools I could apply to next year. I researched personal statements to see if I had made any glaring errors on mine. Turns out I had. In retrospect, I think my personal statement was so bad that most adcoms didn't even bother with my writing sample, my transcripts, etc. In the meantime, I kept teaching. I tried to fill out the weaknesses I knew I had on my application. I imagined, "what does the ideal candidate in my field look like on paper?" and tried to hit as many matches with that that my own experiences would allow. Because in the end I think most universities don't pick 'ideal' candidates, they pick students who show they can bring a total package, and the particulars of that package are different in each case. This year, when the panic set in and it was looking likely I was in store for a universal rejection again, I quickly applied to a few local MA programs (my original MA was in Creative Writing, not straight English). If you're going to have to wait another year (or two) you might as well spend it doing something that is going to directly help you accomplish your longterm goals. If you think you are a strong candidate, you probably are, and the problem lies in how you presented yourself on your application. And getting rejected, while I would never call it a blessing in disguise, does give you something else: adcoms (or at least the ones I've known) love candidates with 'real-world' experience.
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