Chances at Comp Lit Programs?

[DontHate]

before you go I hope you read this. You seem to need it.

Enough. I don't care. You are being annoying. I didn't tell you that you "have no sense of irony," I just said you seemed to be taking one comment I made very literally. Based on your reaction, you obviously take yourself waaaay too seriously.

[DontHate]

You're just airing your insecurities on the internet.

YEAH I THOUGHT THAT'S WHAT EVERYONE ELSE WAS DOING ON HERE!?

I didn't say anything about your first response. It was perfectly fine. I had no problem with it.

[DontHate]

I feel like an emo teenager right now. WHY DOESN'T ANYONE UNDERSTAND?!?

Mood: Jaded and Apathetic and Perterbedded

Music: Creep by Radiohead

[asleepawake]

YEAH I THOUGHT THAT'S WHAT EVERYONE ELSE WAS DOING ON HERE!?

I didn't say anything about your first response. It was perfectly fine. I had no problem with it.

That's why I said it was fine! You just don't have to be a meanie head about it, you know? The rest of us aren't.

[asleepawake]

I feel like an emo teenager right now. WHY DOESN'T ANYONE UNDERSTAND?!?

Mood: Jaded and Apathetic and Perterbedded

Music: Creep by Radiohead

LOL it is posts like these that make me think I'm going to start liking you but then something goes wrong.

[DontHate]

Well, they weren't trying to be mean, I guess. But they were basically saying that I had only posted my stats to make them feel bad, and other ridiculous accusations along those lines. I mean read this thread, it's all about the "zero sum game" that basically makes people angry at anyone who they feel might pose a threat to their spot in some program (which is inherently ridiculous, since I'm not even applying to English programs). And then the question I asked in another thread, about what people plan to do with their degrees, was also upsetting to a lot of people (though admittedly, I did ask in a rather provocative way... life is dull.)

The end.

[Two Espressos]

The community on here is only supportive of people who are exactly like them: the longshots with abysmal stats who are applying to the same slew of crappy programs and bemoaning the unlikelihood that they'll get in anywhere. Doesn't anyone else find that tiresome?

This is a bullshit comment. Lots of people on this forum get into great programs: Harvard (Julianne Pigoon, or something like that-- can't remember her exact username), CUNY (TripWillis), etc. If you stick around when admissions decisions start rolling in, you'll find that many regular posters--though not all, of course-- will get in somewhere, oftentimes several places. People on this website, at least the English forums, seem to be quite successful in their graduate school careers.

[DontHate]

LOL it is posts like these that make me think I'm going to start liking you but then something goes wrong.

You should like me. I'm actually a very likable person. I'm just frustrated with gradcafe.

Here's the real issue I have with the whole application game: It makes you doubt your worth in a very specific way. Because it's your first giant hurdle in the race towards a very specific kind of job. So of course we measure ourselves against each other, as applicants, because it's a competitive profession. There isn't room for everyone. So at what point do you figure out that you're not one of the chosen few who will succeed, at what point do you cut your losses and move on? Because this really isn't the kind of job that just anyone can do if they try hard enough. Only a few people can do it, and even fewer of those capable of doing it will actually get the opportunity to do it. It is an elite profession, in that sense.

I'm still not sure I can do it. And probably everyone else on here is in that wobbly boat with me. Otherwise, I don't think gradcafe would exist. We'd all just be getting on with our lives, blissfully playing tennis and yachting or whatever.

Edited December 9, 2012 by caw_caw_caw

[DontHate]

This is a bullshit comment. Lots of people on this forum get into great programs: Harvard (Julianne Pigoon, or something like that-- can't remember her exact username), CUNY (TripWillis), etc. If you stick around when admissions decisions start rolling in, you'll find that many regular posters--though not all, of course-- will get in somewhere, oftentimes several places. People on this website, at least the English forums, seem to be quite successful in their graduate school careers.

I'm pretty sure those people are the exceptions, not the rule. Just judging from the results pages.

[Two Espressos]

I'm pretty sure those people are the exceptions, not the rule. Just judging from the results pages.

I wasn't talking about the results page. I was referring specifically to the "regular posters" on here: people like TripWillis. I've been on this website for a while, nearly two years, and the regular-posting cohort has been quite successful for both application seasons I've been witness to, especially considering that most good schools have something like a 5% acceptance rate.

[DontHate]

Why have you been on here for 2 years?

[Two Espressos]

Why have you been on here for 2 years?

Why not? It's a fun website, a great time waster, and an opportunity to learn from fellow applicants and graduate students.

[DontHate]

It seems like a long time to spend in this stewpot. Have you been preparing to apply to grad school for 2 years?

[Two Espressos]

It seems like a long time to spend in this stewpot. Have you been preparing to apply to grad school for 2 years?

In a general sense, yes--I've been casually researching graduate programs and such for two years. I certainly haven't been working on an SOP, writing sample, etc. for two years.

[DontHate]

Do you feel like the foresight helped you out? Or just made you have the same kind of anxieties that everyone has, except for 2 years?

[Two Espressos]

Do you feel like the foresight helped you out? Or just made you have the same kind of anxieties that everyone has, except for 2 years?

As much as I'd like to say the former, it's probably the latter, haha. I kept changing my mind about what it was that I wanted to pursue at the graduate level--composition and rhetoric, English literature, philosophy-- so I kept switching the kinds of programs I'd research. I do feel that I've made a very informed decision as to the programs I applied to this year, though.

Edited December 9, 2012 by Two Espressos

[DontHate]

What did you decide on? English literature?

[Two Espressos]

What did you decide on? English literature?

English literature, yes, but my current research interests are heavily philosophical and interdisciplinary.

[antecedent]

I wasn't talking about the results page. I was referring specifically to the "regular posters" on here: people like TripWillis. I've been on this website for a while, nearly two years, and the regular-posting cohort has been quite successful for both application seasons I've been witness to, especially considering that most good schools have something like a 5% acceptance rate.

Also, Marlowe, Fiona Thunderpaws, GuateAmFeminist, Ophelia, the girl that got into Harvard AND UT Austin, the really nice guy from Purdue, Timshel, of course TripWillis, the girl that went to Duke (and got Wagon Wheel stuck in my head forever) not to mention the many other people who got into programs I wasn't specifically monitoring. Last year was a very successful year for English Lit grad cafe folks.

I've stayed out of this thread because I have nothing to add to the stats/comp lit conversation, but I have to say it irks me when someone comes in and starts slagging off all of the hard work that people here put in. Being on grad cafe can in no way tangibly increases your likelihood of getting into a (good) PhD program, but it certainly doesn't identify you as unlikely to succeed.

[DontHate]

I wasn't insulting anyone's hard work. I don't know anything about anyone's hard work (it's not exactly visible on here). I was just commenting on the impression certain people have been giving off, based on their responses. I don't think being on grad cafe affects anyone's chances at all, it's entirely unrelated to your chances. I just think that there's a certain prevalent attitude (which is what I was describing)...

SOL (sigh out loud)

[Two Espressos]

Also, Marlowe, Fiona Thunderpaws, GuateAmFeminist, Ophelia, the girl that got into Harvard AND UT Austin, the really nice guy from Purdue, Timshel, of course TripWillis, the girl that went to Duke (and got Wagon Wheel stuck in my head forever) not to mention the many other people who got into programs I wasn't specifically monitoring. Last year was a very successful year for English Lit grad cafe folks.

I've stayed out of this thread because I have nothing to add to the stats/comp lit conversation, but I have to say it irks me when someone comes in and starts slagging off all of the hard work that people here put in. Being on grad cafe can in no way tangibly increases your likelihood of getting into a (good) PhD program, but it certainly doesn't identify you as unlikely to succeed.

Yes, indeed! Last year was a great cycle for grad cafe members. Here's to hoping this year will replicate last season!