Mississippi

[Datatape]

From the results board, it looks like at least five people got called and accepted today; anyone claiming any of those?

[jywayne]

I'm not one of them. It's pretty much the only place I'm taking seriously that's left on my list.

[Jbarks]

One of those is mine. I had a missed call from the DGS around 9:15 last night. I don't have any details; I plan to talk to her today to find out more about funding, etc. My field is medieval btw.

[Datatape]

Congrats, Jbarks! I met with Dr. Trefzer, the DGS, when I visited Ole Miss back in November. She was very cordial and encouraging of my application, but a bit distant - not rude by any means, but I got the feeling she didn't want to get too involved with prospective students before the applications were actually in. I checked both my cell and home phone and haven't missed any calls from Mississippi, so this is looking like another rejection in the making.

[flower303]

I also got a call from Dr. Trefzer last night and was thrilled to hear the good news! I'm also on two waitlists, so I'll likely have several more weeks of waiting on those decisions, but I'm very happy to have at least one "yes"!

[lolopixie]

I didn't get in and I got a rejection letter from Miami in the mail today. Ready to slit my wrists.

[lolopixie]

I'm so sorry lolo. keep your head up! I hope lsu has good news coming your way. fingers crossed.

Thank you. I'm waiting on Purdue and LSU. Just walk through the office tomorrow and keep repeating my name...maybe that will work!

[Datatape]

Lolo, how did you find out you didn't get in to Ole Miss? I haven't heard anything yet, one way or the other.

[TripWillis]

Thank you. I'm waiting on Purdue and LSU. Just walk through the office tomorrow and keep repeating my name...maybe that will work!

Good luck! We're all rooting for you!!!

[lolopixie]

Lolo, how did you find out you didn't get in to Ole Miss? I haven't heard anything yet, one way or the other.

Assumption. If the admits are out, I am taking this as an implicit rejection. I lose hope when the admits go out with schools that send everything at once.

[Jbarks]

I wouldn't lose hope. I talked to the DGS tonight, and there is a wait list. So you never know!

[Datatape]

I wouldn't lose hope. I talked to the DGS tonight, and there is a wait list. So you never know!

That's good to hear. If I don't hear anything for sure one way or the other within the next few days, I'll email Dr. Trefzer and ask her about it. It seems like all the acceptances went out first, so until I get that rejection, I'm not ruling this one out.

Edited March 8, 2012 by Datatape

[Datatape]

They certainly seem to be taking their sweet time. No sign of anyone being rejected outright or waitlisted yet. I emailed Dr. Trefzer yesterday and haven't heard from her so far (and I doubt very much she'd be emailing me over the weekend), so we may have to wait this one out until Monday at the earliest. :/

[jywayne]

Ole Miss is on spring break. It'll probably be a while, yet.

[sobeobe]

I didn't post my acceptance on the results board, but I got a call from Dr. Trefzer early last week. I'm pretty pumped; I went down to Oxford last summer for the Southern Writers/Southern Writing Conference. Loved the place, enjoyed talking with the faculty. Overall, really happy. I had a couple of other options, but I'm going to accept Ole Miss.

Good luck to everyone still waiting. For anyone else on the board who was accepted, message me. Might as well meet one another if we're going to be working together.

[Jbarks]

I didn't post my acceptance on the results board, but I got a call from Dr. Trefzer early last week. I'm pretty pumped; I went down to Oxford last summer for the Southern Writers/Southern Writing Conference. Loved the place, enjoyed talking with the faculty. Overall, really happy. I had a couple of other options, but I'm going to accept Ole Miss.

Good luck to everyone still waiting. For anyone else on the board who was accepted, message me. Might as well meet one another if we're going to be working together.

Congrats on your acceptance! What is your area? I'm still trying to decide where I want to go next year, but I've had some good convos with people at Ole Miss. I'm really deciding between three programs at the moment, and it's so difficult because they've all been forthcoming and helpful.

My biggest concern with Ole Miss is the stipend. I know the COL in Oxford is low, but $10,250 is pretty small. You may have received a fellowship or something, so yours maybe better. If money wasn't an issue, my decisions would be a lot easier!

[sobeobe]

Hey JBarks, my area is environmental literature and ecocriticism, mostly with 20th century American. You're medieval, right? I'm not worried about the stipend; it's bigger than my M.A. stipend and seems on par with most of the other numbers I've been hearing from folks accepted to other programs. Maybe a bit lower, but not by much. And the teaching load is solid. I've heard that FSU (which I saw there on your signature) is making people teach a 2/2 load. Is that true? If so, that's nuts. Plus, like you said, COL is pretty cheap. I can live on the cheap pretty easy.

What are the other programs you are debating between? If you don't mind me asking, where are you leaning? Have you visited the towns at all? I know this probably shouldn't be the case, but a deciding factor for me is definitely locale. I want to make sure I am in a cool place, somewhere with culture

[Jbarks]

Sobeobe, Yeah, I'm medieval. Ole Miss has two medievalists whose work I'm interested in, and apparently they are getting Stephen Justice from Berkeley next year, which is pretty cool. I agree; I like how their teaching load is 1-1. They also seem to put a lot of work into helping and training you as teachers, which is really important to me. It definitely beats FSU's load, which is a 2-2. It's not that great of a deal. The stipend is 12,500, but they don't offer health insurance and fees are a little more than other schools. In the end, it ends up being even less than Ole Miss.

Right not I'm deciding between Ole Miss, Oklahoma, and Purdue. I'm leaning toward Purdue, and I'm going to visit this week to see what it's like. However, I've had very good interactions with people from the other two programs, which is making my decision super hard. I'm trying not to think too much about location. I'll be coming from NYC, so everything is going to seem like a let down. Is Mississippi your top choice, or are other programs in the running?

[sobeobe]

There were other programs in the running, but I think my decision is pretty final at this point. Ole Miss is definitely where I'll be next year. The faculty I talked to were great and the department wants to start getting environmental lit more integrated within the program, which is a very attractive option for me. I like the idea of helping to establish something.

Coming from NYC? See, I'm coming from Ohio, and I don't care for it much; I need some place with a little more culture. Oxford is pretty damn cool. I have a friend out here who got into Purdue, but didn't get funding, so I don't know how their package is. All three of those programs seem really great though. There's nothing better than having options.

If you choose Ole Miss, let me know.

[Datatape]

I heard back from Dr. Trefzer. It was a very nice email, but she basically told me I was so far down the waitlist, there was almost no chance of me getting in with funding. Sigh.

[sobeobe]

Bummer Datatape. How are things looking with Bama? I saw on your sig that you were wait listed there.

[Datatape]

No idea. I emailed the DGS at Bama a couple of weeks ago and she told me they were going to assess who they'd offer admissions to once they heard back from their first round, which could be a while yet. Probably the only chances of me getting in is if they have some Late Americanists turn them down, as that's the track I applied to. It's rapidly looking like that's my only chance of getting in anywhere; I doubt very much that LSU is going to have anyone from their first round declining.

Edited March 13, 2012 by Datatape

[sobeobe]

Well, best of luck to you. The wait list is stressful; been there before and it was tough. There's always a pretty significant chance it could work out though, so I'd stay hopeful.

[thegirlintheafternoon]

Hi there! I'm one of the admits - sorry I didn't see this forum earlier! Since I posted, I've received a couple of e-mails letting me know that the stipend package has increased to $11,500 per year for TAs. I also received a $2000 Graduate School Honors Fellowship renewable for a total of four years and a one-time recruitment fellowship of $1000.

I'm weighing the benefits of Ole Miss (specifically the 1-1 load) against Kansas (better program, more money, but an INTENSE teaching load).

I do African-American and queer literature, focusing specifically on Baldwin.

[desaparecido]

I'm weighing the benefits of Ole Miss (specifically the 1-1 load) against Kansas (better program, more money, but an INTENSE teaching load).

Isn't the teaching load 2/1? The email I got reads:

(1) Teaching Assistants (TAs) serve as section leaders and graders in the English Department’s 200-level literature or 300-level Shakespeare classes. Each TA is assigned three sections per semester of around 20 students each, meets with each section once a week for 50 minutes, and serves as principal grader for each section. (2) Graduate Instructors (GIs) teach a yearly 2-1 course load in the English Department’s 100-level composition sequence. More experienced instructors may occasionally be assigned to 300-level literature or writing classes.

I am weighing my options between Ole Miss, LSU, and Stony Brook. This is by far the most difficult decision I've ever had to make. Sigh.