t1racyjacks Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 thanks. I'll need it. I just finished writing half a scholarship application for Leeds. They want me to tell them why I deserve the scholarship. I'm not even sure I deserve it more than anyone else, actually. but I can't tell them that. I mean... gah. it's difficult. I'm focusing more instead on why my study is important. but of course everyone will think their studies are important! FoolofaTook 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoolofaTook Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 ^That exactly. "Sell yourself well, at any cost." Well that solves the problem A friend of mine told me in as many words, 'Please for heaven's sake don't write about how you find it difficult to justify why a school should fund you in your SOP, yeah?' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katla Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 thanks. I'll need it. I just finished writing half a scholarship application for Leeds. They want me to tell them why I deserve the scholarship. I'm not even sure I deserve it more than anyone else, actually. but I can't tell them that. I mean... gah. it's difficult. I'm focusing more instead on why my study is important. but of course everyone will think their studies are important! Yeah, I definitely think applications are the place to lose your humility and sell the heck out of your research, and it's okay to say yours is important and deserves to be funded because it totally does! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmmscience Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 As good a time as any to bring this back http://academictimgunn.tumblr.com/ This. Is. Magical. NMLogan and TeaOverCoffee 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldfinch1880 Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 did anyone applying just get a very cryptic email from Notre Dame?? my name wasn't even filled in: Dear , Thank you for your application to the Ph.D. Program in English at Notre Dame. As we continue building a world-class department, we are eager to recruit the very finest students to our graduate program, and we were delighted to see your interest. Our deliberation process involves the entire department, and members of our faculty from your area are reading your work with great excitement and delivering their assessments to our Graduate Studies Committee. I will be able to contact you soon about the next stage of the process. Our Ph.D. program provides our students with favorable funding packages and access to the University's outstanding oversees facilities in London, Dublin and Rome. English students have competed successfully for Notre Dame's most prestigious fellowships for graduate study. And our faculty is committed to providing a collegial and fully inclusive environment for our graduate students. I encourage you to explore our departmental webpages to discover much more information regarding our department. I look forward to communicating with you soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramus Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 did anyone applying just get a very cryptic email from Notre Dame?? my name wasn't even filled in: Dear , Thank you for your application to the Ph.D. Program in English at Notre Dame. As we continue building a world-class department, we are eager to recruit the very finest students to our graduate program, and we were delighted to see your interest. Our deliberation process involves the entire department, and members of our faculty from your area are reading your work with great excitement and delivering their assessments to our Graduate Studies Committee. I will be able to contact you soon about the next stage of the process. Our Ph.D. program provides our students with favorable funding packages and access to the University's outstanding oversees facilities in London, Dublin and Rome. English students have competed successfully for Notre Dame's most prestigious fellowships for graduate study. And our faculty is committed to providing a collegial and fully inclusive environment for our graduate students. I encourage you to explore our departmental webpages to discover much more information regarding our department. I look forward to communicating with you soon. Yes, I got the same thing. I interpreted this as the basic "your app has been forwarded to us" email, but it is definitely unusual that they'd talk about being excited and interested in our work, and mention contacting us soon. I think they're just trying to psyche us out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldfinch1880 Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Yes, I got the same thing. I interpreted this as the basic "your app has been forwarded to us" email, but it is definitely unusual that they'd talk about being excited and interested in our work, and mention contacting us soon. I think they're just trying to psyche us out. I thought it was a "your app has been received" email, but it seems so late for that?? Part of me hopes it's a pre-Finalist email, but the fact they didn't fill in my name makes me think they sent this to everyone who applied.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurayamino Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 *twiddles thumbs idly* all seems quiet on the Western front. I keep trying to remind myself that it is literally 8am over there, but that's not helping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramus Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 To be honest, it seems a little late in the game to receive an email like this, even though ND's deadline was 1/2. Two years ago they sent out interview notices on 2/4, so getting this email now suggests that they're a bit behind this cycle. But I might be reading too much into it; I'm not sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramus Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 I thought it was a "your app has been received" email, but it seems so late for that?? Part of me hopes it's a pre-Finalist email, but the fact they didn't fill in my name makes me think they sent this to everyone who applied.... Yeah, I think it's just a form email. Notifications of finalist status/invitations to interviews will come in the form of a personalized email. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t1racyjacks Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Yeah, I definitely think applications are the place to lose your humility and sell the heck out of your research, and it's okay to say yours is important and deserves to be funded because it totally does! Good luck! actually I'm studying the selling of research and how it affects aesthetics, so I HAVE to deal with the selling aspect! O well :ph34r: Katla 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmmscience Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 (edited) For a minute I thought one of the Berkeley admits scored a 99 in verbal. And I thought, dear god, there really IS hope for all of us. And then I realized that that surely was 99th percentile. And now I just sort of feel like an idiot for letting my hopes soar quite that high. Congrats to the Berkeley admits! Edited January 30, 2015 by mmmscience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HesseBunuel90 Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Well, a 99 in verbal would be impossible. The minimum is 130. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmmscience Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 (edited) Ha, of course it's impossible. But you can't expect logic to prevail over desperate hope, right? Edited January 30, 2015 by mmmscience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Put a cat on it Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Ack, apparently ASU never received my transcripts or GRE scores. Waaat. Thankfully they just asked for unofficial copies for now. Good thing I keep everything ever in my Dropbox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Put a cat on it Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Unless you get an official rejection, I'd say there's still cause to hold out hope. I know it probably takes a while for our DGS to get in touch with everyone (he's a busy dude haha), and as allplaideverything said, he likely is contacting the fellowship folks first. I think I mentioned on one of the threads that I feel like rejections went out within a couple weeks of acceptances last year, so I feel like everybody should have some idea of where they stand with OSU relatively soon. As opposed to some other schools where it gets dragged out forever (I even had one school that never notified me of anything last year lol. Good times). I was also wondering about this. Well, no reason to give up hope until you get the official NOPE email. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannalore Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 (edited) A friend of mine who's applying to Vanderbilt came to me yesterday very upset that he was apparently missing a LOR. I didn't think much of it, since I had confirmed with all of my professors weeks ago that they had submitted letters to all 5 of my schools. Today as I waited anxiously to see if Vanderbilt will notify I decided to check my application status page. I should have done it sooner. I was horrified to see that I'm missing a letter too, and from a professor that I trusted implicitly to have her ducks in a row. I called Vanderbilt, they checked my application for me, and confirmed that I was missing the letter - it wasn't a mistake. She also told me it was too late to change it, my application would be considered based on what was there. For you guys (I'm certainly not getting in), I asked when she thought decisions might go out. She just said she didn't know. Vanderbilt was always a reach for me, but I'm still gutted. Edit: Thought I'd add, both of our missing recommenders got their letters in everywhere else. Edited January 30, 2015 by Hannalore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Old Bill Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Gah! Sorry, Hannalore. That's really unfortunate. I actually wound up using a whopping FIVE LORs for Vanderbilt. Normally three is more than sufficient, and many places urge against having any more than that...but Vanderbilt seems to value additional information more highly than some other places, so I pulled out all the stops. Having said that, I really don't think it's going to mean much in the long run -- either you fit with what they're looking for, or you don't. Vanderbilt is particularly selective at the best of times (honestly, they might have the lowest acceptance percentage of all English Ph.D. programs), so getting picked is a wing-and-a-prayer proposition anyhow. I know that doesn't make you feel any better, but you have my sympathies at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannalore Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Thanks Wyatt's Torch! I'll be crossing my fingers for you and the rest of the folks waiting on decisions from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LilithWntDwn2TN Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 This is a bit random, but has anybody noticed that the majority of people who are accepted to Ph.D. programs post minimal information (GREs sometimes, comments rarely - and then somewhat vague, like "Second choice. Excited!") while people who have been rejected tend to offer a list of achievements (GREs + "Three pubs, 2 first author, three years research experience. Their loss.")? I have two thoughts on this. First, I totally understand. When you're admitted, the pressure is off - you're free! Woo! Your entry in the database is a celebration, and really you'll never need those stats again, so who cares? And when you're rejected, you feel defensive - you worked hard for this! You're awesome! This is so arbitrary. Those responses are totally natural and totally human. BUT. It would be so useful for me, and other prospective grad students, to know the specific qualifications of successful applicants. So this is really a very heartfelt request: when you get in (and I have so much faith!!) PLEASE include your stats. Pleasepleaseplease. And if you've got research experience, an MA, publications, etc, it would be awesome to know that too!! We all want to be successful applicants, after all - sharing your particular qualifications would be, in my opinion, very generous. Just a thought as I wait impatiently for Jan. 31st! I haven't shared my stats since, honestly, I'm intimidated. I don't want to be some hustling rube, you know? I've gotten accepted into one program, but some part of me still thinks I'll be rejected everywhere else. So many people on this forum are applying to top ten only schools. Anyway, for my SIU Carbondale acceptance here are the stats: GRE: 170 qualitative, 145 quantitative, 4.5 analytic GPA: 3.9 (English MA), 3.95 (M.Ed), and 3.65 (BA) over 6 conferences ranging from graduate to internationally recognized 1 pending book chapter publication Several years teaching experience (high school and college) I also fancy myself quite the writer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snyegurachka Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 For you guys (I'm certainly not getting in), I asked when she thought decisions might go out. She just said she didn't know. I wouldn't necessarily assume that. From what I understand, letters don't really matter very much (unless perhaps the professor has ties to the school?) because every school assumes that the letters are glaring recommendations. Don't give up yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InHacSpeVivo Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Re: Ohio State... As another OSU-limboer, I'm expecting to hear next week (personally, I'm thinking a waitlist would be a best case scenariot). Last cycle they sent first-round acceptances around the same time they did this year. If that trend continues, then the rest of the decisions would come out the first week of February. TeaOverCoffee 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katla Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Ugh, I'm really sorry about that Hannalore, but as snyegurachka said, don't lose hope! Sending positive vibes! I've gotten accepted into one program, but some part of me still thinks I'll be rejected everywhere else. So many people on this forum are applying to top ten only schools. Ugh, I can so relate to that. Part of me still thinks the acceptance might have been a fluke. I'm trying to tell myself that at the end of the day, one (funded) acceptance is really all you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Old Bill Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Looks like an acceptance is up for Vanderbilt, though has already been declined... Not sure if they send their acceptance emails out in bulk or not. If so, then it looks like another miss for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldfinch1880 Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Looks like an acceptance is up for Vanderbilt, though has already been declined... Not sure if they send their acceptance emails out in bulk or not. If so, then it looks like another miss for me. 1) have you logged in yet? Mine is still listed as "submitted" but I assume that's where the decision WOULD be? 2) is your SOP not visible?? I know I submitted mine but it's not showing up anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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