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1 hour ago, urbanfarmer said:

I know someone who applied there this year and was rejected-- but they got an exceptionally kind email. Maybe your email rejection got lost, if you're only seeing this on their portal or whatever. 

It’s possible, but the email I got was “your status was updated on the portal” which I’ve gotten from other schools

Most schools just upload the letter (generic but with a name) to the portal

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10 hours ago, AnachronisticPoet said:

UIC, by far, had the rudest rejection I’ve gotten this cycle. This is the notification. No letter or content, no “personalized” email (even like auto tagging first names). If you click “more additional information” it just takes you to a generalized university webpage called “Denied Application” 

Unprofessional and insincere.

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Wow— this was just as bad as USC forcing me to create a separate account on a different website just to download the rejection letter. 

Edited by spikeseagulls
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Okay, but no really...I'm starting to hate late afternoons/early evenings because it means another day has gone by with no news. I keep looking over BU's past notifications as if I'm going to gain some new insight. It's making me even more paranoid because aside from last year, it seems like they only accept 1-2 applicants each year (well, that post on GC that is). 

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11 minutes ago, gooniesneversaydie said:

Okay, but no really...I'm starting to hate late afternoons/early evenings because it means another day has gone by with no news. I keep looking over BU's past notifications as if I'm going to gain some new insight. It's making me even more paranoid because aside from last year, it seems like they only accept 1-2 applicants each year (well, that post on GC that is). 

Also being slowly driven insane. My boss went to campus to participate in an event this afternoon. 

 

Also, also, though, I think these numbers have a lot to do with GC user numbers rather than a complete, accurate representation of admitted students. Last year it looks like four got in and a few more were wait listed. Before that, you’re right, only one or two. 

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17 hours ago, Emailchecker said:

That's not a lot of places. Do you think they have the same number of applicants as Chicago? 

I couldn't say. It looks like Chicago is a bigger program, but who knows how that translates to how many applicants/spaces they actually have. I like the concept of a small cohort (especially after reading some comments on here about the benefits), but load a good it does me if I'm not in it! I will say, last year when I went to U of O's welcome days, there were about 20 people in the cohort and only 7 or so posted on GC. So, like @BetterLight13 said, GC isn't the best representation of potential cohort size. 

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2 hours ago, gooniesneversaydie said:

I couldn't say. It looks like Chicago is a bigger program, but who knows how that translates to how many applicants/spaces they actually have. I like the concept of a small cohort (especially after reading some comments on here about the benefits), but load a good it does me if I'm not in it! I will say, last year when I went to U of O's welcome days, there were about 20 people in the cohort and only 7 or so posted on GC. So, like @BetterLight13 said, GC isn't the best representation of potential cohort size. 

Update:  They take five per cohort. (https://www.bu.edu/english/graduate/phd-in-english-and-american-literature/phd-program-information/). Not great, but actually not terribly different than a lot of other comparable universities in the area. Thinking of Boston College or Brandeis when I claim this. 

Someone earlier in this thread also commented that many universities, BU included, recently did away with the GRE Subject requirement. This probably did have an effect on the number of applicants, but we may never know how drastically. 

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9 minutes ago, Emailchecker said:

Basic question, from someone unfamiliar with American academia lingo: does cohort mean in the phd program of a year overall, or literary period etc.? 

Program of a year overall. Per period/field you can expect 1-2 on average a year, I imagine. 

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11 minutes ago, BetterLight13 said:

 

Update:  They take five per cohort. (https://www.bu.edu/english/graduate/phd-in-english-and-american-literature/phd-program-information/). Not great, but actually not terribly different than a lot of other comparable universities in the area. Thinking of Boston College or Brandeis when I claim this. 

Someone earlier in this thread also commented that many universities, BU included, recently did away with the GRE Subject requirement. This probably did have an effect on the number of applicants, but we may never know how drastically. 

Yikes. The odds are definitely not in my favor. Balls. 

 

10 minutes ago, Emailchecker said:

Basic question, from someone unfamiliar with American academia lingo: does cohort mean in the phd program of a year overall, or literary period etc.? 

Those in the program overall. So, we'll be the 2020 cohort. 

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Just received the details of my campus visit! I’m scheduled for a series of discussions with faculty and other prospective students on various topics (genre, environmental humanities, etc). I’m feeling the urge to “study” in preparation for those discussions....is that....overkill?

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Just now, tinymica said:

Just received the details of my campus visit! I’m scheduled for a series of discussions with faculty and other prospective students on various topics (genre, environmental humanities, etc). I’m feeling the urge to “study” in preparation for those discussions....is that....overkill?

Yes, yes it is. If you have been accepted, then you don't need to prove yourself. I imagine the conversations are to illustrate interests and not competency. 

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5 minutes ago, tinymica said:

Just received the details of my campus visit! I’m scheduled for a series of discussions with faculty and other prospective students on various topics (genre, environmental humanities, etc). I’m feeling the urge to “study” in preparation for those discussions....is that....overkill?

Be prepared to talk A LOT about your area of interests. You'll say the same things over and over again. However, like @snorkles, I don't think you need to study. Just enjoy being part of the discourse and overall environment! And don't be afraid to chime in when you have something to say, even if you don't feel super confident in an area. (However, however, if you're interested in peeking at Enviro Hum, I highly rec. Jeff J. Cohen, Gillian Rudd, and Corinne Saunders (Medievalists) and Stephanie LeMenager (Americanist) Also, Greg Garrard has a fairly easy-to-read text on overall ecocritical themes/key words). 

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On 3/3/2020 at 3:29 PM, olivetree said:

Hi, @Tessjane77! I've worked as a high school English teacher for the past four years (started teaching right out of college) and just applied to PhD programs in this cycle. I highly recommend getting some work experience outside academia before reentering the academy; not only do I think it's helped me become a more competitive applicant and clarify my research interests, but it's also just been hugely valuable to me personally to be removed from the ivory tower for a few years. If you want to talk more about entering secondary education, let me know! I've loved working as a high school teacher and, given the dearth of TT jobs, teaching at the high school level is a great option for people with interests like ours.

Aw, thank you for the support! Yes, I am warming up to the idea of a high school level job, especially since post-secondary stuff is so crazy.

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I just checked my BU portal (for the 2493854th time) and the main page is now different. It gives the option to "make changes" to my application. It wasn't like that earlier in the day, so I'm not sure what that means... No status update or anything like that, just a new button at the top to make changes. I clicked on it just to see if it would do anything, nothing happened, and now it's gone? I hope I didn't just fook something up.

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20 minutes ago, gooniesneversaydie said:

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations!! I'm screaming at the computer screen in complete joy for you!!

Thank you!!! I have to say that I've been really grateful to share my waiting frustration with you. Please let me know as soon as you hear from them. It would be incredible if we both got in - then we could meet in person!

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17 minutes ago, tinymica said:

Thank you!!! I have to say that I've been really grateful to share my waiting frustration with you. Please let me know as soon as you hear from them. It would be incredible if we both got in - then we could meet in person!

It has been a real comfort to have other people so stressed out as me (especially about this one school, jfc). That sounds odd, like, I'm grateful for your mental struggles....?! Weird. If I don't get in though, the Tufts' campus is like 7 miles away from BU, so if you decide to come out east, you'll have a friend here waiting! Plus, in my second year, I get to take advantage of the Boston-area consortium (so would you!) and hopefully take some classes at BU and do the women's study consortium program at MIT. 

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6 minutes ago, caffeinated applicant said:

Congratulations!!!!! Such exciting news in March!!

Thank you so much! I have no idea what to do now. My brain is like "fit" "funding" "west coast" "no east coast" "family" "FUNDING" on a loop

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