only days away?

[diehtc0ke]

My larger point was simply that it is a very unhealthy attitude to start placing yourselves and others in such hierarchies of worth (only the "TIP TOP candidates," suggesting that fellowship awards require astronomical GPA and GRE numbers, etc.) even before, as far as I know, ANY PhD program has sent out an actual admission for English lit. And it's unhealthy to do that anyway. Yes, some schools will start notifying soon. The schools that notify early will start notifying soon; the schools that interview will start notifying interviewees soon (or already have); and a few qualified, lucky applicants who are good fits at schools that don't notify especially late may receive notice of admission with fellowship nomination soon.

Amazing, qualified applicants who are a great fit at schools who notify later may not receive that awesome fellowship notification until even after the mid February rush.

Yes, there are traceable patterns in the admissions timeline, but they are delicate, ephemeral, and subject to myriad contingencies. It is even more difficult to identify trends in notification patterns based on this timeline that will brand your hierarchical worth as a candidate over and above (or below) other admitted students.

The TIP TOP candidates are the ones that get into solid programs that support their interests, no matter when that happens. That's all I'm saying.

This is true. I should also enter the caveat that by earlier I mean that I still received my first acceptance in February. It was just early/mid February as opposed to late February/early March. There is tons more waiting to be done by all of you so I wouldn't stress out too much about it (which of course I can say because I'm not applying right now lol).

The bolded statement I found to be especially true.

This is true. I more so meant fellowship recipients, those with the stellar GRE scores. Which shouldn't mean that they are better candidates than the other admits but, financially, they are treated that way.

Again, I know this happens but I still disagree with the premise that it's only people with stellar GRE scores getting these fellowships.

Edited January 22, 2011 by diehtc0ke

[Medievalmaniac]

Yes, please, take my screening process for fellowship candidates as a major exaggeration intended merely to illustrate my point. In no way did I mean for that to be taken super-literally!! I was simply trying for an example that would be clearly a fellowship candidate sort of application - but as DietcOke and others have pointed out, fellowships depend on a wide variety of variables.

[tortola23]

I'm basing my expectations on last year's posted results. So for instance, Pittsburgh notified most of their acceptees around Feburary 16th last year, so I could start freaking out around mid-February if I applied there.

Can't have any pointless freak-outs, now can we! . . . oh wait. HAHA.

[cheshirequeen]

I'm basing my expectations on last year's posted results. So for instance, Pittsburgh notified most of their acceptees around Feburary 16th last year, so I could start freaking out around mid-February if I applied there.

Can't have any pointless freak-outs, now can we! . . . oh wait. HAHA.

Isn't the whole point of GradCafe to freak out en masse?

[tortola23]

Isn't the whole point of GradCafe to freak out en masse?

Yes. Yes it is.

[lolopixie]

I finished my application so long ago (early November) that it seems like I have been waiting forever!! Fortunately, I've been so busy since then with the holidays, gall bladder removal surgery, writing thesis, and working full-time that I haven't had much time to dwell on the decision letters...until yesterday when I had a HUGE freakout. The "what if I don't get into any program and I am stuck working in corporate America for the rest of my life" freakout - yea that was fun. Good to know that it will only be a few more weeks -- hopefully sooner!

Edited January 29, 2011 by lolopixie