I got an interesting letter in the mail today. . .

[hesheit1]

So I'm applying to English PhD programs.

 

I applied to my favorite school about two weeks ago, just the graduate school not the department, and I got a letter I wasn't expecting in the mail. I opened it thinking it would say, "Your application has been received, apply to your department."

 

Instead it was a lengthy letter detailing their Distinguished Doctoral Fellowship Program, and how I was eligible for a nomination. They asked if I could come in next week to discuss my funding opportunities.

 

Is this common? It's from the Graduate Recruitment Office. . . they already have my money, so what else could they want from me? Should I be excited?

[hj2012]

Honestly, I'm just an applicant like yourself, so I don't really know, but...that sounds like it can only be good! When I was researching schools, I did notice that some departments stated in their FAQs that they nominated outstanding applicants for university-wide recruitment fellowships.  

 

I know I'd be really excited if I were you. Congratulations! 

[hesheit1]

thanks hj2012. I have to admit when I read the letter I was immediately floored. I grew cynical after awhile though, graduate schools are so cruel that I'm starting to wonder if it isn't something they do for every applicant that has a certain GPA or GRE. My GPA is solid, but my GRE scores really aren't on par with where they should be. And all the school has is my transcripts and my scores. The letter explained the encourage diversity, and my academic background is a little diverse (makes me wonder if I shouldn't play up my participating in my schools Gay Straight Alliance club) so maybe they're just trying to boost their numbers for a wider variety of people pursuing their PhD?

 

I've already emailed the person in charge of fellowships (the woman who contacted me) and I'll try to arrange a meeting when I call on Monday. I'll keep the thread updated in case anyone is curious about the situation/has received the same sort of letter as me.

[wombats]

BUMP.

 

I've received a similar letter. Anybody know what it means for us?

[hj2012]

thanks hj2012. I have to admit when I read the letter I was immediately floored. I grew cynical after awhile though, graduate schools are so cruel that I'm starting to wonder if it isn't something they do for every applicant that has a certain GPA or GRE. My GPA is solid, but my GRE scores really aren't on par with where they should be. And all the school has is my transcripts and my scores. The letter explained the encourage diversity, and my academic background is a little diverse (makes me wonder if I shouldn't play up my participating in my schools Gay Straight Alliance club) so maybe they're just trying to boost their numbers for a wider variety of people pursuing their PhD?

 

I've already emailed the person in charge of fellowships (the woman who contacted me) and I'll try to arrange a meeting when I call on Monday. I'll keep the thread updated in case anyone is curious about the situation/has received the same sort of letter as me.

 

Yes, definitely keep us updated. And...now that you mention it, since it was from the graduate school itself, not the department, maybe it is based on a certain combination of GPA-GRE? 

 

You might also try posting over in the Literature forum -- they might have more people who've experienced something similar before.

[NoSleepTilBreuckelen]

Definitely follow up with it! And maybe once you've submitted the application, or done the interview or whatever you need to do for to be considered for these fellowships, you might want to send your POI/the department a quick email to let them know. That'll reinforce your interest in the program and let them know you've acted on this potential funding opportunity.

[hesheit1]

What's really odd is that when I looked at the school's websites for the criteria for the fellowship, I don't meet them with my GRE scores. However, on the nomination PDF it has a check box where it can be waived.

 

I'm calling first thing on Monday, I'll let you guys know!

[VioletAyame]

I might be wrong, but I think it is definitely a good sign. My reasoning is that a candidate can be accepted with or without a fellowship, so the number of acceptances will always be bigger than the number of fellowship recipients, and so being nominated for a fellowship is worth even more than being considered for acceptance. It doesn't guantee acceptance, but it does get you much closer to it, if that makes sense. The only thing I'm concerned is the letter came from the Graduate Office, not the department itself - my understanding is that usually the department nominates its candidates to the graduate school. That's my 2 cents, and I'll be waiting for your update with everyone else!

[Queen of Kale]

I was nominated for special fellowships at a few of the universities I applied to.  I was accepted to these schools in the long run but did not receive the fellowships I was nominated for (but did receive full funding otherwise).  In several cases my POI was pretty upfront about the fact that I was being nominated because I was a female/minority.

 

On the other hand, although I did not receive any of the special fellowships I was told I was nominated for early in the process I did receive fellowships from two more prestigious schools that I did not even expect to get into & who didn't tell me I'd been nominated. So while I think this can't be anything but a good sign for your applications don't let it sway you too much in terms of how you might be ranking schools in your mind.

 

And good luck!

[wombats]

I talked with my POI today and he said that the graduate school is the one who determines the fellowships, not the department, so he couldn't really comment on it other than it was very prestigious and competitive. He said they very occasionally nominate people for fellowship, but that it's usually the recruitment office that . . . recruits people for it. So it's weird, I don't know about hesheit1 but my scores on the GRE aren't stellar. But why would they have contacted me? It's not like they don't have my scores in front of them.

 

I think I may be in the same boat as Queen of Kale. I'm a woman and I was also president of our Allies (Gay/straight alliance) at my college campus, plus my MA is in applied Linguistics and not English. Plus, my letter discussed how much the school embraced diversity so. . .

 

Violet, this is exactly my line of thinking. Even if I don't get the fellowship, I feel like it might be a good sign of at least admission into the department. Plus, since I've told my main POI, maybe he will tell the adcomm that I was at least eligible for nomination?

 

We shall see. Keep me updated hesheit1. I won't be able to contact the recruitment office until tomorrow, but I'll post once I've discussed with them.

[VioletAyame]

I talked with my POI today and he said that the graduate school is the one who determines the fellowships, not the department, so he couldn't really comment on it other than it was very prestigious and competitive. He said they very occasionally nominate people for fellowship, but that it's usually the recruitment office that . . . recruits people for it. So it's weird, I don't know about hesheit1 but my scores on the GRE aren't stellar. But why would they have contacted me? It's not like they don't have my scores in front of them.

 

I think I may be in the same boat as Queen of Kale. I'm a woman and I was also president of our Allies (Gay/straight alliance) at my college campus, plus my MA is in applied Linguistics and not English. Plus, my letter discussed how much the school embraced diversity so. . .

 

Violet, this is exactly my line of thinking. Even if I don't get the fellowship, I feel like it might be a good sign of at least admission into the department. Plus, since I've told my main POI, maybe he will tell the adcomm that I was at least eligible for nomination?

 

We shall see. Keep me updated hesheit1. I won't be able to contact the recruitment office until tomorrow, but I'll post once I've discussed with them.

 

Hi wombats, I really hope that line of thinking is correct. I got a phone call from my POI from one of the schools asking me if I'd be willing to switch my application to the Ph.D program (I applied to their M.A program since I thought I couldn't go straight to the doctorate w/o a master) since she wants to nominate me for the grad school fellowship. I'm crossing my fingers and also hope that with or without the fellowship (she did take time to explain that it's very competitive) I will at least get accepted.