PhD English - 2025 Application Cycle

[ForTheCulture]

7 hours ago, Irmak said:

I'm so nervous y'all... Seeing that some people are getting their interviews from the universities I applied to is making me feel like I'm about to have a panic attack. I know that some schools send out invitations over a course of a few days and I do not need to get into all of them, just one— but the fear of not being accepted into any is excruciating. It's just nice to know that I'm not alone, and seeing your comments make it a tad easier. I wish all the best to everyone here!

Definitely not alone. We all are concerned about this. I actually like it here better than some other forums where they weren’t concerned about getting into a program, just about getting into an ivy. I feel everyone here just wants to do their best and get into one of their choices. 

[bgt28]

12 hours ago, Irmak said:

I'm so nervous y'all... Seeing that some people are getting their interviews from the universities I applied to is making me feel like I'm about to have a panic attack. I know that some schools send out invitations over a course of a few days and I do not need to get into all of them, just one— but the fear of not being accepted into any is excruciating. It's just nice to know that I'm not alone, and seeing your comments make it a tad easier. I wish all the best to everyone here!

I feel you. It really is excruciating, and the worst part is it usurps the life force needed to pursue helpful distractions. We are with you. 

[Hchak]

Just discovered a couple of formatting errors in my writing sample smh. Additional quotation marks, some wonky paragraph breaks. Does anyone have any idea how harshly these are judged?

[gagne]

Anyone else feel like they are just waiting for the rejection emails? 4 of my 5 schools have results posts, though really only 3 (UIUC, Buffalo, Brown) but they are only acceptances and waitlists and are scant. Super nervous about UIUC as I was waitlisted last year and then rejected and have a feeling it’ll be a flat out rejection this cycle 😭

[ForTheCulture]

1 hour ago, Hchak said:

Just discovered a couple of formatting errors in my writing sample smh. Additional quotation marks, some wonky paragraph breaks. Does anyone have any idea how harshly these are judged?

This is something I would like to know too. Maybe small grammatical errors are a little more appreciated this time because of AI? 

[ForTheCulture]

13 minutes ago, gagne said:

Anyone else feel like they are just waiting for the rejection emails? 4 of my 5 schools have results posts, though really only 3 (UIUC, Buffalo, Brown) but they are only acceptances and waitlists and are scant. Super nervous about UIUC as I was waitlisted last year and then rejected and have a feeling it’ll be a flat out rejection this cycle 😭

Feeling this about Brown and Princeton. You would think they would just send out the rejections already 🙄 just say you don’t want us and allow us to move on with our lives 😭

[gagne]

Saw that current US president also paused all federal loans and grants essentially freezing FAFSA so guessing if you mentioned being low income and/or your program is assessing financial need; this isn’t the season for you 😭🫠 *cries in first-gen, low-income, community-oriented memory and archival studies*

[ForTheCulture]

6 minutes ago, gagne said:

Saw that current US president also paused all federal loans and grants essentially freezing FAFSA so guessing if you mentioned being low income and/or your program is assessing financial need; this isn’t the season for you 😭🫠 *cries in first-gen, low-income, community-oriented memory and archival studies*

I wonder how much this plays into the fully-funded programs

[chattycoffee]

Just saw my first change in an application portal– Amherst took away the Awaiting Decision - Under Program Review that's been taunting me these last few weeks, changed to Decision Pending. No news either way yet, but I'm at the point where I'm just glad to see that something is happening after seeing so many people hearing back!

Edited Wednesday at 03:28 PM by chattycoffee

[Irmak]

So, you think it's time to lose hope on Brown and JHU? There were 3 acceptances for Brown and 2 for JHU already—I do not know how many students these schools typically accept but the radio silence makes me think it's unlikely to get a positive email from these two at this point.

[ForTheCulture]

23 minutes ago, Irmak said:

So, you think it's time to lose hope on Brown and JHU? There were 3 acceptances for Brown and 2 for JHU already—I do not know how many students these schools typically accept but the radio silence makes me think it's unlikely to get a positive email from these two at this point.

Honestly… that’s what I’m thinking about Brown. Princeton as well. At this point we are just waiting for rejections, but at the same time, we can’t give up hope in our other applications! 

[bgt28]

Something is afoot....only 3 people? How?!

[gagne]

It’s hard to tell who they’re accepting or their timelines. Brown was in February last year.

[allthenightthru]

Would anyone who has already had a Princeton interview be willing to share what kinds of questions they asked? 

[chattycoffee]

First rejection of the season Really sucks, but Amherst wasn't the best research fit out of all my schools. Didn't apply to too many places b/c my focus isn't super common, might try to apply to some UK schools that have more specified programs– coping with rejections through more applications, LOL.

[ForTheCulture]

1 hour ago, chattycoffee said:

First rejection of the season Really sucks, but Amherst wasn't the best research fit out of all my schools. Didn't apply to too many places b/c my focus isn't super common, might try to apply to some UK schools that have more specified programs– coping with rejections through more applications, LOL.

Same... Had 3 rejections back to back and now looking at schools with late deadlines to see if I can beef up my numbers. 

[gagne]

I’m wondering why so few schools have notified this January. Today’s last day and it’s 5pm or later CST eastward so not a lot of schools who would notify left today across time zones. Feeling unsettled by this.