Fall 2014 applicants??

[BookGeek]

Has anyone here had any experience with Loyola Chicago or living in Chicago in general? I'm deeply interested in their program and what the school offers, but wary of trying to afford city life on a budget. 

[Fiz]

Here is to UDub, who has still failed to notify me of ANY decision, despite the fact it is now April 15th. Bunch of unprofessional jokers. Sure glad I didnt end up there with those looney tunes.

[school_of_caliban]

Nyctophile,

 

Did you hear back from POI at that school? I'm in a similar situation, and I'm hoping I didn't burn that bridge. This POI is really important in my field, on top of being a great individual. I'm hoping these profs are just busy recruiting those on the waitlist.

[Nyctophile]

Nyctophile,

 

Did you hear back from POI at that school? I'm in a similar situation, and I'm hoping I didn't burn that bridge. This POI is really important in my field, on top of being a great individual. I'm hoping these profs are just busy recruiting those on the waitlist.

Nope, I never did. I actually just went back through my sent email to double check that the message actually got sent. I sent one to the provost, the dept. chair, AND that POI and not one has replied. I just want to know I didn't inadvertently insult any one...

[dmariebelle]

The same thing happened with me and Penn State. Never a word about anything. Sent the DGS a polite email a week ago, and nothing. Really maddening!

[Katia_chan]

Here is to UDub, who has still failed to notify me of ANY decision, despite the fact it is now April 15th. Bunch of unprofessional jokers. Sure glad I didnt end up there with those looney tunes.

 

Had the same experience with Georgia.  Heard nothing.  Finally Emailed on the 14th.  Got a form letter stating my rejection as a response.  No "sorry for the wait" or anything of that nature.  I thought, given that it was the 15th of April, that some general "so sorry our decision didn't make it to you" would have been appropriate.  But apparently not.

 

It's a great school with great faculty, but that experience definitely makes me a little less bummed about the rejection.

[bgguitarist]

Well, Boulder finally notified me. It's a good thing I wasn't actually waiting on them any more...

 

Go Oregon Ducks!

[mikers86]

The same thing happened with me and Penn State. Never a word about anything. Sent the DGS a polite email a week ago, and nothing. Really maddening!

A professor of mine said she never got a rejection from them when she was applying to PhDs. They're quite rude about it.

[dmariebelle]

A professor of mine said she never got a rejection from them when she was applying to PhDs. They're quite rude about it.

Mikers, Thanks. Also, I am going to UNH in the fall! Tell me what you know, everything you know.

[mikers86]

Mikers, Thanks. Also, I am going to UNH in the fall! Tell me what you know, everything you know.

PM me and we can chat!

[MsWuff12]

I've already signed the contract for one program, but found out that I got into a better program the day of the national deadline.  Is it that hard to get out of a program after the national deadline?  No monies have been transferred from my fellowship to the bursar yet,

[Between Fields]

I've finally come to a decision: I'll be at Illinois State University in the Fall!!

[bhr]

I'm doing an ethnography for an undergraduate course based exclusively on this thread. Reading through 5000 posts has eaten up quite a bit of time, but it's been a blast.

[toasterazzi]

Just got a rejection from the school that I was waitlisted at. Good times

[TeaOverCoffee]

So quick question for those who have applied before, will a 3.5 GPA get you cut during the weeding out process? Will they simply look at a 3.5 and put them in the rejection pile immediately without looking at other materials? They meaning, top tier/middle tier universities.

[shortstack51]

Is the 3.5 cumulative undergrad, major undergrad, or MA? If it's cum undergrad, you should be ok. A 3.6 is generally the desired GPA, but I'm pretty sure plenty of people from these boards have gotten accepted with less.

[TeaOverCoffee]

Great! It's my cumulative undergrad. However, my major GPA is exponentially higher. I went through numerous science majors with quite a few C's within those classes before I finally chose an English major. Anyway, I was just a bit worried.

Also, when sending your transcripts, do you wait until Fall semester of senior year is over or do they only look at junior year and below?

[iExcelAtMicrosoftPuns]

 However, my major GPA is exponentially higher

 

 

Now I'm just having fun and I know this is all informal - sooooo mistakes are expected and yada yada yada OMG exagerate - ya dig?

But "exponentially higher"?!?!?!

I don't think so.

I know we're not "math" or "numbers" people... but is it safe to say that we are atleast "word" people? Then we should construct our sentences with some informed knowledge of words and the meaning behind those words.

I'm sure you know what an exponent is. 3^4 or 3 to the fourth power - ya dig? If we assume that the limit for a GPA is 4.00 - then your 3.xx GPA does not have the room to expand to even the second power. 

Now perhaps there was exponential type growth but you reached a limit - akin to carrying capacity. But the idea of growth includes time (Things can not grow outside of time - if that were the case we could have simultaneous net growth and decay!) - your message had no indication of time, in fact you weren't using "exponentially" to describe a phenomenon but instead you were using it comparatively.

So lets compare.

3.5 to 12.25

3.5 to 42.875

3.5 to 150.0625

So if you had 3.5 dollars and I had 150.07 dollars I could tell you that I am exponentially richer than you and I wouldn't be wrong.

Exponential is a tricky bugger and I see it bastardized all the time. Exponential is exceptional - it can be a massive increase, and it's generally quantifiable.

[TeaOverCoffee]

Lol! Well, I'm glad I made somebody on a website laugh, rather than making that same mistake on something I submitted to a graduate school!

[bhr]

Great! It's my cumulative undergrad. However, my major GPA is exponentially higher. I went through numerous science majors with quite a few C's within those classes before I finally chose an English major. Anyway, I was just a bit worried.

Also, when sending your transcripts, do you wait until Fall semester of senior year is over or do they only look at junior year and below?

My GPA at time of application was a 2.7, and I got into my top choice program (and MA).

[champagne]

Hi, friends! Not that this is terribly important to anyone here, but I've been awarded a fellowship in a program next fall! After having to study this for two years in my off time, I can't wait to be a full-time student again!

[Imaginary]

Champagne: That's great! I feel like I remember you being around for as long as I have or longer (I was under a different username before this year). I have also been studying part time until now, though still taking courses, and I was also awarded a fellowship for the upcoming year.

[Horb]

Can someone define what top tier and mid-tier are in terms of ranking? My school is in the late 40s/early 50s depending on ranking and I'm not sure if that puts me in a mid-tier or low-tier. I don't really care, because I know the program is well known as is the university, but I'm curious.

[hj2012]

Can someone define what top tier and mid-tier are in terms of ranking? My school is in the late 40s/early 50s depending on ranking and I'm not sure if that puts me in a mid-tier or low-tier. I don't really care, because I know the program is well known as is the university, but I'm curious.

 

It'll depend on who you ask, as these things are necessarily subjective. I don't think there's any one definition of "top tier" or "mid tier," and I find these words are frequently redefined depending on the conversation. That said, the metric that I've heard thrown around the most is that "top tier" correlates to the top 20 (according to the USNWR). I feel like there's little-to-no consensus on what constitutes the boundary between mid / low tier, though I can't imagine defining a school in the 40-50s (when there are 150+ English PhD programs in the country!) as "low tier."

 

Just my $.02, though.

[rhetoricus aesalon]

Can someone define what top tier and mid-tier are in terms of ranking? My school is in the late 40s/early 50s depending on ranking and I'm not sure if that puts me in a mid-tier or low-tier. I don't really care, because I know the program is well known as is the university, but I'm curious.

 

For graduate schools in your sub-field, "top tier" will probably be something more like 1-3 schools. For the organizations that rank universities and focus on undergrad, "top tier" is around the top 50 schools. USNWR uses the term "Tier 1" to describe the top 130 or so universities as well. Bottom line, it's a very subjective term.