Rrandle101 Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 2 hours ago, Tessjane77 said: Ugh, every time I check my application statuses, they all say "decision pending". ? The wait is maddening! One thing I've been wondering: how many interviews or campus visits have you guys done? I applied to six schools, but have only been invited to interview at two. Does that mean anything/is it normal? I feel like it depends on how many of the schools you've applied to actually even do interviews and when they historically announce, "hey let's do this thing and interview" based on past years. I applied to 12 programs and would at most have only 2 interviews as the other departments don't really do them so my guess is that you're probably just fine since it isn't even the last week of January yet anyways!
politics 'n prose Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 Congrats on the interview requests, @Tessjane77! I’m assuming you’ve applied to English/Lit programs, in which case two interviews out of six schools is a pretty great yield—especially considering the fact that the healthy majority of English PhD programs don’t conduct interviews at all. To offer another comparison point to @Rrandle101‘s: I applied to seven English/Lit programs and only one of those schools traditionally does interviews. So, unless the six schools you applied to all happen to be ones that interview—and, hell, even if that is the case—I’d say you’re in pretty good shape.
onerepublic96 Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 Ok dumb minute please, but how are you all seeing ‘decision pending’ on your applications?? Most of mine are through ApplyWeb and it just says ‘submitted’...
Cryss Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 5 minutes ago, onerepublic96 said: Ok dumb minute please, but how are you all seeing ‘decision pending’ on your applications?? Most of mine are through ApplyWeb and it just says ‘submitted’... Questions that need answers. I'm completely lost too. onerepublic96 1
Wimsey Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 5 minutes ago, onerepublic96 said: Ok dumb minute please, but how are you all seeing ‘decision pending’ on your applications?? Most of mine are through ApplyWeb and it just says ‘submitted’... I have the same question.... onerepublic96 1
caffeinated applicant Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 11 minutes ago, onerepublic96 said: Ok dumb minute please, but how are you all seeing ‘decision pending’ on your applications?? Most of mine are through ApplyWeb and it just says ‘submitted’... I've got two programs that used ApplyWeb (Brown and Penn), and both of them just say "submitted." I'm pretty sure all of the ones I've got that use whatever infrastructure that Chicago and Duke use also just say "submitted." UT-Austin's recently switched to a slightly longer message that includes "Forwarded to the Graduate Committee for review," but frankly I can't remember what the prior message said to see if that indicates "decision on the way"... I'm sure it's just a difference in what system the programs use. @Tessjane77's signature also says they're applying to MAs, not PhDs. Wimsey 1
S_C_789 Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 18 minutes ago, onerepublic96 said: Ok dumb minute please, but how are you all seeing ‘decision pending’ on your applications?? Most of mine are through ApplyWeb and it just says ‘submitted’... 11 minutes ago, Wimsey said: I have the same question.... Yes, all my application statuses show up as 'submitted', including UChicago (which was an implied rejection) and Emory (where I landed an interview). No official rejection email(s) yet either, though most of the schools I've applied to typically notify candidates between mid-Feb to early-March. I'm guessing it'll take another couple of weeks, at least, for the portals to be updated/pending emails to be sent out. Wimsey and caffeinated applicant 2
Wimsey Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 18 minutes ago, caffeinated applicant said: I've got two programs that used ApplyWeb (Brown and Penn), and both of them just say "submitted." I'm pretty sure all of the ones I've got that use whatever infrastructure that Chicago and Duke use also just say "submitted." UT-Austin's recently switched to a slightly longer message that includes "Forwarded to the Graduate Committee for review," but frankly I can't remember what the prior message said to see if that indicates "decision on the way"... I'm sure it's just a difference in what system the programs use. @Tessjane77's signature also says they're applying to MAs, not PhDs. That makes sense. I submitted the majority of my applications through ApplyWeb or the format used by Chicago.
Indecisive Poet Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 Wondering if it's expected/appropriate to send a thank-you email to interviewers post-interview? I would ordinarily do this for a job interview, but not sure if this is the same game. (Mostly, I just want to hide in a hole for the rest of my life because I just had the worst/cringiest interview of all time!)
snorkles Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 9 minutes ago, Indecisive Poet said: Wondering if it's expected/appropriate to send a thank-you email to interviewers post-interview? I would ordinarily do this for a job interview, but not sure if this is the same game. (Mostly, I just want to hide in a hole for the rest of my life because I just had the worst/cringiest interview of all time!) I sent one after my interview, only because of some prompting language during the interview itself. I don't know that it's necessary/expected/beneficial in most cases. I received a response from one of my interviewers. As for your wanting to crawl into a hole and die, I know the feeling. Faculty are good at reading through nerves, I want to believe. Cringe can be okay as long as it doesn't read as pompous. Just remember that they want to like you!
Indecisive Poet Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 8 minutes ago, snorkles said: I sent one after my interview, only because of some prompting language during the interview itself. I don't know that it's necessary/expected/beneficial in most cases. I received a response from one of my interviewers. As for your wanting to crawl into a hole and die, I know the feeling. Faculty are good at reading through nerves, I want to believe. Cringe can be okay as long as it doesn't read as pompous. Just remember that they want to like you! Thank you for this!!!
cruel optimism Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 Duke interview. Am freaking out. Any tips? (I'm exceptionally horrible at interviews...) digital_lime, poetryislit, asdf1123 and 7 others 10
meghan_sparkle Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 38 minutes ago, Indecisive Poet said: Wondering if it's expected/appropriate to send a thank-you email to interviewers post-interview? I would ordinarily do this for a job interview, but not sure if this is the same game. (Mostly, I just want to hide in a hole for the rest of my life because I just had the worst/cringiest interview of all time!) Oh no, what makes you say that? I'm sure it wasn't bad—it's so hard to get a good read on interview experiences when you're the one sitting in the hotseat.
S_C_789 Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 35 minutes ago, cruel optimism said: Duke interview. Am freaking out. Any tips? (I'm exceptionally horrible at interviews...) Best of luck! This is great news! cruel optimism 1
S_C_789 Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 (edited) 40 minutes ago, cruel optimism said: Duke interview. Am freaking out. Any tips? (I'm exceptionally horrible at interviews...) Seconding @cruel optimism on the interview tips bit -- some general tips (applicable for most unis doing a Skype interview) would be great too, please? Edited January 22, 2020 by SheCyborg poetryislit 1
digital_lime Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 37 minutes ago, cruel optimism said: Duke interview. Am freaking out. Any tips? (I'm exceptionally horrible at interviews...) Congratulations!!!! This means they already like you, a lot! You can do this. I don't know if I have any tips from experience, except--try and make the interview about your work and not about you (unless your research is aided by your personal experience, or they ask explicitly about it); focus on the value that you bring to the department rather than the value the department brings to you. (This has worked for me in job interviews and so on, but I haven't done an interview for PhD programs, so take any advice I can offer with a big ol' grain of salt.) No matter what happens, you should be proud to have made it this far. cruel optimism and Indecisive Poet 2
digital_lime Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 Oh, the other piece of advice--which should probably be obvious, and which I almost certainly don't have to give anyone here--is don't lie. It's OK if you haven't read a particular book or done a particular thing. It doesn't mean you're a bad student or a sub-ideal applicant; you want to go to this place to learn and become more well-read, which suggests, obviously, that you haven't read everything there is prior to admission. Even if you got into a program by misrepresenting yourself, you don't want that hanging over your head for five years that will be difficult enough as it is. Indecisive Poet, cruel optimism, ArcaMajora and 1 other 4
snorkles Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 1 minute ago, digital_lime said: Oh, the other piece of advice--which should probably be obvious, and which I almost certainly don't have to give anyone here--is don't lie. It's OK if you haven't read a particular book or done a particular thing. It doesn't mean you're a bad student or a sub-ideal applicant; you want to go to this place to learn and become more well-read, which suggests, obviously, that you haven't read everything there is prior to admission. Even if you got into a program by misrepresenting yourself, you don't want that hanging over your head for five years that will be difficult enough as it is. This. Be honest about what you don't know. digital_lime and cruel optimism 2
cruel optimism Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 (edited) @SheCyborg thank you so much!! And thank you, @digital_lime for that timely reminder. I was just on the brink of panicking while thinking about all the reading that I might have to do tomorrow to keep up (even just slightly) with everyone (I don’t know who’s interviewing me, still) on the panel. But you’re right, I should be alright with admitting that I don’t know as much, since the faculty clearly has YEARS ahead of me. So thank you, again, for that reassuring advice. Edited January 22, 2020 by cruel optimism
caffeinated applicant Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 1 hour ago, cruel optimism said: Duke interview. Am freaking out. Any tips? (I'm exceptionally horrible at interviews...) Congratulations! I haven't done any PhD interviews so I'll resist the urge to launch into the tips I exchange with friends for jobs, but in the meantime, Duke of Bookingham (current UMD PhD student, in 3rd or 4th year) wrote up a nice tips post over here: https://dukeofbookingham.tumblr.com/post/190293342155/so-ive-been-in-the-room-for-prospective-phd poetryislit, Brown_Bear and S_C_789 1 2
onerepublic96 Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 1 hour ago, cruel optimism said: Duke interview. Am freaking out. Any tips? (I'm exceptionally horrible at interviews...) Congrats! That’s awesome news! ahh another school to mourn on my end ? caffeinated applicant 1
Rani13 Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 2 hours ago, cruel optimism said: Duke interview. Am freaking out. Any tips? (I'm exceptionally horrible at interviews...) Congrats! Is this for English or Literature?
inchoate-eyes Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 Hi everyone, I'm also a Fall 2020 applicant, interested in queer theory and postcolonial studies (broadly speaking). I have been anxiously checking the results page and this forum for a few weeks now, and thought about joining in to quell my nerves. Is anyone else's jaw super sore all the time, and breathing erratic? I want this slow-burning anxiety attack to enddd. I applied to a bunch of schools, mostly English and a few gender/women's studies. So far, I got an interview request from a women's studies program but English programs are SILENT so far (didn't apply to any of the schools that have been sending folks interviews so far). Anyways, I have no questions at the moment, but just wanted to join the cesspool of nervous wrecks vondafkossum, S_C_789, CanadianEnglish and 2 others 5
asdf1123 Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 3 hours ago, cruel optimism said: Duke interview. Am freaking out. Any tips? (I'm exceptionally horrible at interviews...) Congratulations!
poeticdweller Posted January 22, 2020 Posted January 22, 2020 posted this on the acceptances thread, but was just notified via email to check Duke's app portal and saw I was accepted! asdf1123, SomethingWicked, digital_lime and 8 others 11
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