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Final Decision Thread


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Man, this is so much worse than waiting for decisions to be released. I think part of it is that I feel so incredibly guilty turning down schools that have been so friendly in their communication and generous with their time and money.

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Even if there's no objective truth to rankings in that way, I think it would be in one's best interest to be aware of varying "perceived" prestige when considering such a huge decision (And I would appreciate fellow gradcafer's honest opinions on that, despite how arbitrary such assignments of prestige may be).

Exactly. There seems to be an unduly neurotic fetishization of rankings from the more science-y fields (at least, judging from my ex, who's pursuing dental school in the fall), but I feel as if some humanities people have the obverse problem: entirely neglecting the importance of prestige, whether actual or *perceived* (this is the key term here). Whether we want to admit it or not, there is a hierarchy in academia, and ignoring it will only hurt us down the road.

So yes...pay close attention to the rankings, but don't let them completely dictate your decisions like my ex, whose choice was entirely based on perceptions of prestige. "I like such and such school better, they fit me perfectly, and they're highly ranked, but such and such is an Ivy, so I'm going to go there."

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Man, this is so much worse than waiting for decisions to be released. I think part of it is that I feel so incredibly guilty turning down schools that have been so friendly in their communication and generous with their time and money.

Don't feel guilty! Just think of all the (hundreds of) worthy students that these schools rejected.

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Trip, every time I see you post on this thread I get so excited that you've made a final decision (only to learn you indeed haven't)! I don't even know you but your waitlist at Rutgers seems to have me on the edge of my seat just as much as my own waitlists. :) Here is one more person rooting for you on these boards!

And congrats to everyone who has their decision made---very excited for you all!

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Trip, every time I see you post on this thread I get so excited that you've made a final decision (only to learn you indeed haven't)! I don't even know you but your waitlist at Rutgers seems to have me on the edge of my seat just as much as my own waitlists. :) Here is one more person rooting for you on these boards!

And congrats to everyone who has their decision made---very excited for you all!

Thanks, mcs! I'm gonna be really really happy either way, so I really just want this to be over at this point.

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112 replies later, I finally get to join you guys =P! I'm heading to Penn State's (non-terminal) MA program this Fall, after getting in yesterday. Was very happy and excited to be going to Kentucky, but am so impressed with PSU's job placement success, professionalization, and eclectic faculty. I know there's only ~4 days left until the deadline, but I encourage waitlistees to keep hope.

To keep with theme, I'm interested in 20th century/contemporary literature and film, American studies (viz. post-WWII), narratology, and cognitive literary theory.

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112 replies later, I finally get to join you guys =P! I'm heading to Penn State's (non-terminal) MA program this Fall, after getting in yesterday. Was very happy and excited to be going to Kentucky, but am so impressed with PSU's job placement success, professionalization, and eclectic faculty. I know there's only ~4 days left until the deadline, but I encourage waitlistees to keep hope.

To keep with theme, I'm interested in 20th century/contemporary literature and film, American studies (viz. post-WWII), narratology, and cognitive literary theory.

Congratulations and good luck at PSU! I know it'll be great.

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I declined an offer from LSU yesterday--I hope the offer goes to a gc'er. :)

I was prepared to accept an offer to UGA, but now I'm panicking. I rarely hear anything about UGA, which is making me anxious. Does anyone have anything to share about UGA? I've spent a lot of time on the website and talked with faculty and students, but now I have the fear that I'm missing something? I was also accepted at the University of Florida off of the wait list yesterday, so that has complicated things, too. UF has a 1-1 teaching load; UGA is 1-2. However, UGA is offering a much better stipend, and they are a better fit for my interests. UGA, UF, or try again next year? Any thoughts?

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I declined an offer from LSU yesterday--I hope the offer goes to a gc'er. :)

I was prepared to accept an offer to UGA, but now I'm panicking. I rarely hear anything about UGA, which is making me anxious. Does anyone have anything to share about UGA? I've spent a lot of time on the website and talked with faculty and students, but now I have the fear that I'm missing something? I was also accepted at the University of Florida off of the wait list yesterday, so that has complicated things, too. UF has a 1-1 teaching load; UGA is 1-2. However, UGA is offering a much better stipend, and they are a better fit for my interests. UGA, UF, or try again next year? Any thoughts?

Two of my professors went to UGA and they loved it. One does 19th century British and one does 19th century American. I also have one friend is there now and who accepted an offer there for the fall, and they both are very excited about the program. .

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@Mistral-- I wish I could say more, but I can only really say that UGA treats its grad TAs and adjuncts REALLY well. In fact, one of their adjuncts is responsible for a lot of the New Faculty Majority stuff that's going on right now -- and he's involved because he's shocked, as far as I can tell, by how well UGA treats it's contingent faculty in comparison with other universities.

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I just bit the bullet and officially accepted UC Riverside's offer! California, here I come!

Woo hoo! Timshel, I'm really excited for you! I can't wait to be decided myself...

Remember when we first started this insane application journey? Seems like forever ago...

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Woo hoo! Timshel, I'm really excited for you! I can't wait to be decided myself...

Remember when we first started this insane application journey? Seems like forever ago...

Thanks! I know! We were so convinced we weren't going to get in anywhere! I can't wait to join academia with all the friends I made on here! We definitely need to keep in touch and meet up at the MLA or something!

*Edit* Wow, what a lot of exclamation points! You can tell how excited I am to have finally made a decision!

Edited by Timshel
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