2020 Acceptances

[ArcaMajora]

@Lblack Congrats!!!

UCR English is a wonderful department. I'm an undergrad alumnus, but I maintain contact with my thesis advisor and I visit from time to time. I can't speak much to the department from the grad student perspective but I'm happy to field questions about the department.

Best of luck, and I'm also happy to see another SoCal resident

 

[SomethingWicked]

Just waitlisted at Carnegie Mellon! This is my first choice school. I am bawling my eyes out at the chance to attend.

[aussiekoala]

32 minutes ago, SomethingWicked said:

Just waitlisted at Carnegie Mellon! This is my first choice school. I am bawling my eyes out at the chance to attend.

CONGRATS!!! I'm so happy for you! 

[Cryss]

13 hours ago, Indecisive Poet said:

In at UIC ? 6 straight years of teaching, though! Wooooah

Congrats!!! 6 years?!!? 

 

9 hours ago, VincentH said:

Got an email acceptance from the DGS at UC Davis yesterday! Details still pending but I’m so thrilled  

Congratulations, @StormChild @ecogoth @Indecisive Poet @Cryss !!! 

Thank you! and Congratulations to you as well! Awesome!!

[Cryss]

3 hours ago, SomethingWicked said:

Just waitlisted at Carnegie Mellon! This is my first choice school. I am bawling my eyes out at the chance to attend.

Yay!! So happy for you!! 

[onerepublic96]

Anyone here to claim the Northwestern acceptances??

[The Hoosier Oxonian]

1 hour ago, onerepublic96 said:

Anyone here to claim the Northwestern acceptances??

The acceptances on the results board are not mine (I'll post shortly), but I am in at Northwestern. The professor who called to tell me asked me not to tell any other applicants until Monday because she said they can't call everyone who's accepted between now and then and they don't want everyone to worry all weekend. But since the beans have already been spilled, hopefully I can set some minds at rest to know that not having been called today is not a sure sign of rejection.

[cruel optimism]

11 hours ago, SomethingWicked said:

Just waitlisted at Carnegie Mellon! This is my first choice school. I am bawling my eyes out at the chance to attend.

Congratulations! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some waitlist movements for you! 

[Indecisive Poet]

8 hours ago, The Hoosier Oxonian said:

The acceptances on the results board are not mine (I'll post shortly), but I am in at Northwestern. The professor who called to tell me asked me not to tell any other applicants until Monday because she said they can't call everyone who's accepted between now and then and they don't want everyone to worry all weekend. But since the beans have already been spilled, hopefully I can set some minds at rest to know that not having been called today is not a sure sign of rejection.

Aw man – almost wish I hadn't read this post. I felt completely crushed when I saw the results board and now I won't be able to help but hold out hope! (Not blaming you ? – thank you for sharing this!!) I wonder if they'll be calling everyone else today then or if they'll be calling people through the whole day/evening on Monday as well.

Anyway, HUGE congratulations to you!

Edited February 2, 2020 by Indecisive Poet

[coffeelyf]

Don't know who also applied to McGill here - only Canadian school I applied to - but I just got accepted to their PhD program! This season is looking up, y'all.

[Wimsey]

Just learned that I have put the "in" in Indiana. ?

[karamazov]

Found out this afternoon that I've been accepted to the University of South Carolina! I'm so excited! 

[merry night wanderer]

This is already simultaneously the slowest and most harrowing week ever. 

[onerepublic96]

According to my list I should have 6 or 7 schools notify next week, which pretty much makes me want to knock myself unconscious...

[Cryss]

25 minutes ago, onerepublic96 said:

According to my list I should have 6 or 7 schools notify next week, which pretty much makes me want to knock myself unconscious...

Yes. Next week will be tough. 

[meghan_sparkle]

When I got the acceptance from Chicago—which was a letter from Deborah Nelson saying something like "You'll hear shortly from a member of the faculty via email or phone..."—not even 10 minutes later another email came through and I thought, Oh, that was fast! But it wasn't from a Chicago prof—it was an invite to a Columbia interview. (They don't usually interview for my field, 20th c). When I say I sat down on the stairs of my apartment in the dark and was nonverbal for an hour . .  whew.

Was roused out of it only by a call from my best friend/mentor (at whom I've moaned and despaired constantly about how I'm sure I'll get shut out) which he began by yelling, I quote, "HAHAAAAAA HOW'S THAT NEGATIVE SELF-IMAGE DOING, HUH? HEADLINE: REALITY TRUMPS HATE. WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!" Lol. Okayyy buddy!

To be honest I've been a little too dazed to properly feel anything about it, but seeing that something I did make someone I care about so happy—well, that was the first thing that really made me smile.

[poetryislit]

Northwestern and Duke said no... but Chicago said yes! It really is a crapshoot—that being said, it really does come down to luck, rather than qualification, after a certain point. 

[onerepublic96]

22 minutes ago, poetryislit said:

Northwestern and Duke said no... but Chicago said yes! It really is a crapshoot—that being said, it really does come down to luck, rather than qualification, after a certain point. 

Congrats!! This message alone gives me so much hope! 

[Indecisive Poet]

4 hours ago, poetryislit said:

Northwestern and Duke said no... but Chicago said yes! It really is a crapshoot—that being said, it really does come down to luck, rather than qualification, after a certain point. 

In at Chicago and out at Northwestern here too.

I am grateful for Chicago's offer (truly beyond my wildest dreams) but I will have to turn it down because my partner was not admitted. It's a real blow, if I'm honest.

Edited February 4, 2020 by Indecisive Poet

[poetryislit]

24 minutes ago, Indecisive Poet said:

In at Chicago and out at Northwestern here too.

I am grateful for Chicago's offer (truly beyond my wildest dreams) but I will have to turn it down because my partner was not admitted. It's a real blow, if I'm honest.

This is totally unsolicited advice (and yet I can't help myself)—I think that you getting into Chicago is an incredible accomplishment in its own right, regardless of who else got in or didn't get in, regardless of whatever anyone else's credentials were—the point being, they accepted you, and so, you clearly do deserve to be there. If turning down Chicago is a "blow" for you... don't turn it down. Go to Chicago. I've always felt that if you're making the right decision for yourself, you will not feel like you're giving up or sacrificing something of yourself. This decision is so big already... I think the easiest and most beneficial way to make it is to make it completely about yourself and your own future (if one's circumstances allow them to do so).

Once again, this is very unsolicited, but, seriously, congrats on your acceptance! It's a big deal. 

[TiredStressed]

8 hours ago, Indecisive Poet said:

In at Chicago and out at Northwestern here too.

I am grateful for Chicago's offer (truly beyond my wildest dreams) but I will have to turn it down because my partner was not admitted. It's a real blow, if I'm honest.

More unsolicited commentary to add to what was said: Did your partner get into Northwestern? It’s close enough to UChicago that you could still make it work by attending two different schools.

[snorkles]

9 hours ago, poetryislit said:

This is totally unsolicited advice (and yet I can't help myself)—I think that you getting into Chicago is an incredible accomplishment in its own right, regardless of who else got in or didn't get in, regardless of whatever anyone else's credentials were—the point being, they accepted you, and so, you clearly do deserve to be there. If turning down Chicago is a "blow" for you... don't turn it down. Go to Chicago. I've always felt that if you're making the right decision for yourself, you will not feel like you're giving up or sacrificing something of yourself. This decision is so big already... I think the easiest and most beneficial way to make it is to make it completely about yourself and your own future (if one's circumstances allow them to do so).

Once again, this is very unsolicited, but, seriously, congrats on your acceptance! It's a big deal. 

Speaking as someone in their second quarter at Chicago, I can say that I would have been happier at another program if it meant my partner could come. This is to say nothing about the program at Chicago. It's great. But once you're here and settled, it all becomes normalized and you realize that great people and programs are everywhere. A committed, supportive partner is less common. 

Edit because ambiguity: My partner was able to come with me, and it has made everything much easier. 

Edited February 4, 2020 by snorkles

[merry night wanderer]

52 minutes ago, snorkles said:

Speaking as someone in their second quarter at Chicago, I can say that I would have been happier at another program if it meant my partner could come. This is to say nothing about the program at Chicago. It's great. But once you're here and settled, it all becomes normalized and you realize that great people and programs are everywhere. A committed, supportive partner is less common. 

There's no way around it, this is an incredibly difficult situation. (And I feel it, since I'm also long distance, and hovering over my decision is the fact that my partner is currently located in Baltimore, but is in tech, so might eventually go to California? Ugh.) But it's still early and I'm sure they both have plenty of responses to take into consideration. The "trying to make partner and career work together" calculus is never easy, particularly if you're both in academia, but who knows? This process is full of curveballs. My two favorite professors in undergrad were a couple who had gone to Harvard together and then got jobs at my school, and were a powerhouse of a matching British and American Romanticist pair. I wish a similar fate upon you! 

Edited February 4, 2020 by merry night wanderer

[StormChild]

On ‎2‎/‎1‎/‎2020 at 8:02 AM, Lblack said:

I was accepted to UCR’s English (Literature) PhD program yesterday! I only applied to three schools, so this is a huge relief. I got a phone call from the Director of Graduate Admissions. I’m so happy to have found out so early. 

Congratulations!

[Indecisive Poet]

@poetryislit @TiredStressed @snorkles @merry night wanderer Thank you all so much for your empathy/kind words/perspectives.

What I will say for now is that we did leave other options open – I applied to five more programs that I believe I could be equally happy/successful at (and some others that I think it would be really tough to give up Chicago for). My partner has applied to programs that match those locations and we haven't heard back from any of them yet. So there is still hope! I think that more than anything, the news yesterday made me realize that all of those options could end up falling through; that I could end up faced with a choice between leaving my partner or giving up Chicago to go to, say, Boston College or Fordham (not that there is anything wrong with those programs – but I just don't see how it would make sense from a career perspective). There really isn't reason yet to think that this will happen, though – I guess I'm just wondering what the odds are of being accepted to more than one truly amazing program.

@TiredStressed – he didn't apply to any other programs in the Chicago area except for Notre Dame. He interviewed there and it seemed to go well, so that may be an option, but it's far from his first choice. I applied to a whopping four programs in the Chicago area alone because I thought if either of us would get into Chicago, it would be him (he is objectively the stronger applicant).

Anyway, here we are... we'll see what happens, and I hope to be able to report good news at the end of the application cycle.

Edited February 4, 2020 by Indecisive Poet