ComeBackZinc Posted March 19, 2013 Posted March 19, 2013 In other news, I received a call from NYU to basically get a decision from me on their MA program. The professor was very nice and, once I told him I had a PhD offer, he suggested I might want to give a firm decline so someone else could receive the funding I was offered. Happy to oblige! Ugh. That's exactly what they're not supposed to be doing, if they're CGS Resolution signatories.
kayrabbit Posted March 19, 2013 Posted March 19, 2013 Ugh. That's exactly what they're not supposed to be doing, if they're CGS Resolution signatories. Yeah, I didn't mind declining because I knew I needed to contact them anyway, but it was kind of weird to be asked for the final decision over the phone.
Cactus Ed Posted March 19, 2013 Posted March 19, 2013 (edited) Yeah, what's that all about? They're now the only program I haven't heard from. You would think they could at least reject some of us. I'm just counting it as a rejection, because even an acceptance at April 15th wouldn't matter, since I will have already made a decision. Yeah, I'm officially unimpressed with CU Boulder. I emailed the DGS two days ago and haven't heard a peep. At this point I wouldn't accept any offer anyway, however unlikely that offer is. I'm in and and wait listed at my other top choices. But it would be nice to hear, anyway... Edited March 19, 2013 by Cactus Ed
nhswrestle Posted March 24, 2013 Posted March 24, 2013 Is anyone else still waiting to hear from schools? I've recieved nothing but radio silence from Purdue.
dazedandbemused Posted March 24, 2013 Posted March 24, 2013 I still haven't heard from UConn yet. I really hope they actually processed my application this year, since they never did last time.
Cactus Ed Posted March 24, 2013 Posted March 24, 2013 I'm pretty sure no one other than a handful of acceptees have heard from CU. I sure as hell haven't heard anything. I'm going elsewhere anyway, but it would be nice to know my application fee wasn't just wasted beer money.
Katia_chan Posted March 25, 2013 Posted March 25, 2013 Is anyone else still waiting to hear from schools? I've recieved nothing but radio silence from Purdue. I haven't heard anything from them either. They've been really slow for me in previous years, though.
FlamingoLingo Posted March 25, 2013 Posted March 25, 2013 I haven't heard from UVA. I'm not sure why they haven't been putting up rejections all at one time
1Q84 Posted March 30, 2013 Posted March 30, 2013 So USPS lost my teaching fellowship application even though I sent it by Registered Mail. Wonderful! Luckily the Grad Chair has been lovely and amazing and very accommodating (so far) about it... but needless to say my "Good" Friday was spent in a particularly frenzied mood. I wish it was all over like it is for pretty much everyone else on the board!
Two Espressos Posted March 30, 2013 Posted March 30, 2013 I wish it was all over like it is for pretty much everyone else on the board! It's not over for me yet either, 1Q84! I have a spot on the wait list of a great Ph.D. program and an acceptance from Georgetown that I will not accept unless I'm offered funding, so this cycle could very well be a bust for me. It's so hard waiting to see if the wait list will convert or not, especially after having visited the campus in question and having met the faculty and current/prospective grad students [like It's (Not) About Me], who are so cool! April 15th seems so far away...
1Q84 Posted March 31, 2013 Posted March 31, 2013 It's not over for me yet either, 1Q84! I have a spot on the wait list of a great Ph.D. program and an acceptance from Georgetown that I will not accept unless I'm offered funding, so this cycle could very well be a bust for me. It's so hard waiting to see if the wait list will convert or not, especially after having visited the campus in question and having met the faculty and current/prospective grad students [like It's (Not) About Me], who are so cool! April 15th seems so far away... Solidarity! Sending you some good vibes...
practical cat Posted March 31, 2013 Posted March 31, 2013 It's not over for me yet either, 1Q84! I have a spot on the wait list of a great Ph.D. program and an acceptance from Georgetown that I will not accept unless I'm offered funding, so this cycle could very well be a bust for me. It's so hard waiting to see if the wait list will convert or not, especially after having visited the campus in question and having met the faculty and current/prospective grad students [like It's (Not) About Me], who are so cool! April 15th seems so far away... Wait listing is the worst. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I'm really hoping yours converts!
hopefulscribbler2014 Posted March 31, 2013 Posted March 31, 2013 Firstly, huge congratulations on all of your acceptances and best of luck to those of you still waiting for news! Just a quick question about the magical, mystical "fit" element: in your SOP, is it wise to focus on a single academic doing research that floats your boat in a department, or should you maybe reference two or even three? It feels a little risky to hone in on one person alone, and in some cases I think I'd be thrilled to work with either of two profs who are doing closely connected work in my area...
Taco Superior Posted March 31, 2013 Posted March 31, 2013 (edited) Firstly, huge congratulations on all of your acceptances and best of luck to those of you still waiting for news! Just a quick question about the magical, mystical "fit" element: in your SOP, is it wise to focus on a single academic doing research that floats your boat in a department, or should you maybe reference two or even three? It feels a little risky to hone in on one person alone, and in some cases I think I'd be thrilled to work with either of two profs who are doing closely connected work in my area... more than one (though others will have differing opinions). Edited March 31, 2013 by Taco Superior
ghijklmn Posted March 31, 2013 Posted March 31, 2013 Firstly, huge congratulations on all of your acceptances and best of luck to those of you still waiting for news! Just a quick question about the magical, mystical "fit" element: in your SOP, is it wise to focus on a single academic doing research that floats your boat in a department, or should you maybe reference two or even three? It feels a little risky to hone in on one person alone, and in some cases I think I'd be thrilled to work with either of two profs who are doing closely connected work in my area... Definitely more than one. What professors at all the schools I was accepted at commented on was the fantastic "range" of my abilities and interests. They flat out said that what made me an attractive candidate was that I wasn't fully formed yet and could work with lots of different people.
hopefulscribbler2014 Posted March 31, 2013 Posted March 31, 2013 ghijklmn, thanks. I don't suppose you'd be willing to share where you were accepted? I hope that's not rude, it's just the "fully formed" thing concerns me a bit as an applicant who'll have a couple of grad degrees. I worry it'll put programs off, although I hope to make my SOP show I'm open-minded and interested in a number of things within my broader field. I had felt UPenn would be my no.1 but it's neck and neck with Stanford and Yale's combined PhD in English/African American Studies, and I see you applied to those schools. Congratulations on all your yesses! I'll probably apply to about 8-10 programs myself this round, and I'd be over the moon if half of those accepted me!
AurantiacaStella Posted March 31, 2013 Posted March 31, 2013 Hopeful scribbler-- as someone with very defined interests, I was worried about the fully-formed criticism too. On each on my SOPs I listed one main person and then two to four others. I tried also to show that I am open to stretching myself and learning about other periods and methodologies. Worked out pretty well for me! I think that if you do have very well-defined interests, it won't be of any benefit to you to pretend that you don't. You should just try to express a general openness to new things to show that you're still very eager to learn/grow/evolve.
Swagato Posted March 31, 2013 Posted March 31, 2013 ^ I, too, would like to know where you were accepted. I'm particularly curious about whether you received a nod from Yale. I was told some very interesting things about my application during my visit, so I'm interested in whether a different department (at the same institution) may have expressed similar thoughts. Reveals a bit about institutional culture.
Gauche Posted March 31, 2013 Posted March 31, 2013 Firstly, huge congratulations on all of your acceptances and best of luck to those of you still waiting for news! Just a quick question about the magical, mystical "fit" element: in your SOP, is it wise to focus on a single academic doing research that floats your boat in a department, or should you maybe reference two or even three? It feels a little risky to hone in on one person alone, and in some cases I think I'd be thrilled to work with either of two profs who are doing closely connected work in my area... You shouldn't focus on solely one faculty member, but if there is one that really does closely fit with your interests (and I mean like the best possible fit ever), it probably wouldn't hurt to talk more about them compared to the 2-3 other faculty members who can supplement your research. In my case, since it was hard to find someone with my specific field, I was thrilled when I found one particular professor who matched with my interests almost exactly. However, I was afraid this person was going to retire, so I didn't focus on her as much and brought in two other professors that had similar interests as well.
dazedandbemused Posted April 1, 2013 Posted April 1, 2013 So I finally got my funding offer from Florida this weekend, and I was wondering what other accepted people's letters looked like. In particular, I thought it was interesting the way the language made it so that you were guaranteed funding, while still keeping a loophole just in case funding ran out. Pending available funding, we plan to continue your appointment for a term of 2 years. This appointment will be renewed automatically each year, conditional upon the availability of funding, I wasn't feeling too generous to them before this, but I'm kind of amazed at what I think is mildly unsavory legal language. I mean, to tell their students that they're fully funded, unless things head south, seems wrong to me. I don't know if I'm overreacting, though. Maybe it's different for PhD acceptances?
midnight Posted April 1, 2013 Posted April 1, 2013 So I finally got my funding offer from Florida this weekend, and I was wondering what other accepted people's letters looked like. In particular, I thought it was interesting the way the language made it so that you were guaranteed funding, while still keeping a loophole just in case funding ran out. I wasn't feeling too generous to them before this, but I'm kind of amazed at what I think is mildly unsavory legal language. I mean, to tell their students that they're fully funded, unless things head south, seems wrong to me. I don't know if I'm overreacting, though. Maybe it's different for PhD acceptances? While I don't have other offers for comparison, I wouldn't read too much into it. Sounds like typical CYA mode to me.
Swagato Posted April 1, 2013 Posted April 1, 2013 So I finally got my funding offer from Florida this weekend, and I was wondering what other accepted people's letters looked like. In particular, I thought it was interesting the way the language made it so that you were guaranteed funding, while still keeping a loophole just in case funding ran out. I wasn't feeling too generous to them before this, but I'm kind of amazed at what I think is mildly unsavory legal language. I mean, to tell their students that they're fully funded, unless things head south, seems wrong to me. I don't know if I'm overreacting, though. Maybe it's different for PhD acceptances? I worked in corporate PR for a while, so the kind of language you quoted is familiar to me. It isn't shady; they are clear about the fact that the automatic renewal is entirely dependent on whether funding is available or not.
dazedandbemused Posted April 1, 2013 Posted April 1, 2013 I guess the reason it strikes me as shady is because I feel like in the humanities a program shouldn't make offers if they don't know they can back them up. I mean, imagine accepting that offer in good faith and then finding yourself, three years into a PhD, with no funding and no options. I know academia is a business, but I guess the idealistic part of me thinks it shouldn't be so corporate.
AurantiacaStella Posted April 1, 2013 Posted April 1, 2013 It really is possible that they could actually not have funding for you one year, especially at a state school where the legislature determines the budget. I don't think this sort of language means it's likely that you would lose your funding, but like others have said they just can't make absolute guarantees. Unfortunately state schools' budgets can be pretty precarious.
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