nothing, nothing, nothing

[Medievalmaniac]

So are people saying that most of the initial rejections have happened and if we haven't heard anything we're still in the running? Because I would like that to be true. Even if I get rejected across the board, I'd like to know I made at least the first cut.

Not necessarily in every case, but certainly, as we have seen in the results forum, in several cases this appears to be the case. There were several large batches of rejections early on...if you haven't gotten one, you're still in the running.

[Lise]

Interesting, someone for BU has received an acceptance by postal mail.

[hopefulJ2010]

Interesting, someone for BU has received an acceptance by postal mail.

someone has also received one by phone!

[muffinlit]

So, this is my second year applying-- and I know I had been rejected by a handful of places by this time last year. And the one school I heard from was literally two weeks ago. I just can't stand this, and I thought oh yeah old hat, I'm too cool to stalk the mailman. I was wrong. This is worse!

I'm sitting on waiting for 17 schools (not all English Lit). I know that March first will begin some sort of awful rejection a week thing. I'm just not sure I can handle multiples in one day.

PS my eye has been twitching all week.

[woolfie]

sure why not. 680 verbal, abysmal subject test but they didn't req it. 3.94 gpa from honors program. that's about it for numbers.

Ah, well I'm 640V and 3.71 gpa from an honors program. I'm hoping to get in on my writing sample, but I won't be surprised if I don't make the cut this year. I'm considering trying to retake the general test to try and break 700 but test anxiety usually gets the better of me.

[tortola23]

Is anyone else all agitated over UPenn? Less than 1% chance of getting in, supposed to get notifications in February... I just want to know that I'm rejected so I can finally start crossing schools off my list! I feel like once I hear from one school, the ball will start rolling and the dead silence won't be so awful, and the notifications (good and bad!) will start getting around at a steady pace.

As someone wrote a while ago, February has been one giant striptease. (And now I have blue balls, y'all.)

[Medievalmaniac]

As someone wrote a while ago, February has been one giant striptease. (And now I have blue balls, y'all.)

lolol, hilarious.

I'm not bothered about UPenn, since I didn't apply. But I'm highly concerned about UNC and UVA, my top two choices.

[commoner]

"As I ponder'd in silence, . . ."

[Lise]

Still nothing. I can barely believe it. Tomorrow it is already Wednesday...

[Str2T]

I wonder how long the committees actually spend with most applications. Does it really take 3+ months to choose a student cohort? For $60+ I'd like to think they spend at least ten minutes on each app., but I've heard some programs immediately reject a big batch because the students don't meet their preferred minimums or aren't competitive enough.

[crutch]

Hearing nothing is much better than hearing a lot and starting off 0/12.

I really didn't expect this... I've got a great GPA, a Master's from one of the top universities in the world, and average GRE scores (90th percentile in V). I was definitely expecting a lot of rejections, but was also expecting 2-3 acceptances... my writing sample and SoP must be much worse than I thought. *sigh*

Treasure those nothings while you have them!

Seriously, though, good luck to all of you who have yet to hear.

Edited March 3, 2010 by crutch

[commoner]

Ouch. 0 for 12 is painful. I feel your pain. I went 0 for 13 my first year (1 official waitlist, 1 unofficial waitlist), 0 for 11 my second year (1 acceptance without funding). This year, the silence has gone much longer than ever before. I want to think that it isn't a terrible thing. But I know that some of the schools to which I applied have already filled their bills. Just waiting for the hammer to come down.

[commoner]

Hammer #1. Santa Barbara.

[Lise]

My first rejection is a fact, Penn State. Really liked that one though, but I kinda feel relieved because I finally heard something.

[bluellie]

Five nothings. There are two results posted from two of the programs I'm waiting on. I'm not sure what this means.

[woolfie]

My first rejection is a fact, Penn State. Really liked that one though, but I kinda feel relieved because I finally heard something.

Oh really? When did you get that? Did you get a letter or an email? I don't see any rejections in results...

I am confused by their website, as when you click on 'check my status' it says "as of January 1 we have recieved your application. Please contact this list to find your department if you have questions on the completeness or status of your app." I guess that means they won't update the website?

[tortola23]

I've obviously been rejected from UPenn, although not notified yet. I've also seemed to make some kind of "first cut" at Buffalo and at Chapel Hill; I wasn't rejected in their first batches of negative notifications, but probably will be soon.

The ones I'm still hopeful about are Arizona, Washington, and Santa Cruz.

[Lise]

Oh really? When did you get that? Did you get a letter or an email? I don't see any rejections in results...

I am confused by their website, as when you click on 'check my status' it says "as of January 1 we have recieved your application. Please contact this list to find your department if you have questions on the completeness or status of your app." I guess that means they won't update the website?

I got an email today! I did post it on the results page, as a few other have done.

[woolfie]

I got an email today! I did post it on the results page, as a few other have done.

Ah yes, you are probably Comp Lit then. I was thinking English. I just wish I'd at least get a rejection so I can move on with my life, this past month has been madness.

[tortola23]

Ah yes, you are probably Comp Lit then. I was thinking English. I just wish I'd at least get a rejection so I can move on with my life, this past month has been madness.

I'm English too; you haven't heard a thing from Penn State either? Do you know if they've made all their offers? I am guessing that they have...

[veronica]

I'm English too; you haven't heard a thing from Penn State either? Do you know if they've made all their offers? I am guessing that they have...

Same deal. I HOPE they haven't.

[tortola23]

Same deal. I HOPE they haven't.

Yup... all of this is extremely disheartening.

[lady_coffee]

So far I am 0/7 - waiting to hear from UC-Davis (pretty sure that's an implicit rejection - anyone know what's up with them?), Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, and Virginia. I'm trying to keep perspective, though - if I get rejected across the board, then I'll apply next year with (hopefully!) a stronger application. I don't participate on this board very much, but I'm grateful to those who are willing to share their knowledge and outlook on the application process... it's all a learning experience. And if we risk nothing (with applications), we gain nothing.

[Branwen daughter of Llyr]

So far I am 0/7 - waiting to hear from UC-Davis (pretty sure that's an implicit rejection - anyone know what's up with them?), Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, and Virginia. I'm trying to keep perspective, though - if I get rejected across the board, then I'll apply next year with (hopefully!) a stronger application. I don't participate on this board very much, but I'm grateful to those who are willing to share their knowledge and outlook on the application process... it's all a learning experience. And if we risk nothing (with applications), we gain nothing.

Indeed! I'm also likely looking at rejections across the board - and it's probably a good thing. I've learned so much in the past two months that my applications next year will be a bird of a completely different feather!

Good luck!

[woolfie]

I'm English too; you haven't heard a thing from Penn State either? Do you know if they've made all their offers? I am guessing that they have...

I was under the impression that they offered acceptences to fellowship recipients and not the TAships. When I emailed the secretary a couple weeks ago, she said that we won't know until late March, early April. Now, that could be when all the rejections go out, but still, I'm pretty confident they are not done making offers.