2016 Acceptance Thread

[DaniB23]

1 hour ago, genrescholar said:

So, I got an e-mail from the DGS of University of Florida saying I've been admitted!!!! No mention of funding, but we'll be talking on the phone tomorrow afternoon, so that should be clarified soon. The website says the department offers TAships renewable for up to four years.

Congratulations!  Here's hoping we all hear back soon

[conceptcheck]

2 hours ago, genrescholar said:

So, I got an e-mail from the DGS of University of Florida saying I've been admitted!!!! No mention of funding, but we'll be talking on the phone tomorrow afternoon, so that should be clarified soon. The website says the department offers TAships renewable for up to four years.

Congrats! Looks like a few of us are anxiously awaiting the same thing. 

[HumanCylinder]

On 3/1/2016 at 7:24 AM, DaniB23 said:

I just emailed them since I received an offer that has an approaching deadline, and I got this automated email response: 

Phd, MA and CRWR-MFA applications are now in committee for review. You should hear from us via email by no later than March 15th.

 

Graduate Program Assistant

University of Colorado Boulder

Department of English

 

Sooooo...2 weeks it is!

I'm out at Boulder.  I'm at least happy that they notified sooner rather than later, and I knew it was a long shot anyway.  Hoping you other Boulder applicants fared better!

Edited March 3, 2016 by HumanCylinder

[DaniB23]

5 minutes ago, HumanCylinder said:

I'm out at Boulder.  I'm at least happy that they notified sooner rather than later, and I knew it was a long shot anyway.  Hoping you other Boulder admits fared better!

Im also out!  Kind of relieved.  If I got in I think I really would have wanted to go, knowing that I wouldn't be able to afford to live there.

[EmmaJava]

25 minutes ago, DaniB23 said:

Im also out!  Kind of relieved.  If I got in I think I really would have wanted to go, knowing that I wouldn't be able to afford to live there.

Totally! Couldn't have said it better, you took the words out of my mouth. My application to Boulder was basically for appearances' sake (it's complicated). But I'm glad to not have to agonize over it, and to be super honest with myself I'm probably not a good fit there, anyway - my MA notwithstanding. I'm one step closer to being able to make a decision and get on with the business of figuring it all out.

[HumanCylinder]

15 minutes ago, DaniB23 said:

If I got in I think I really would have wanted to go, knowing that I wouldn't be able to afford to live there.

I've used this same rationale, too.  Some acceptances would make for a difficult "match-up" between programs and put pressure on me to choose based on factors other than fit with faculty (which is my #1 factor), such as proximity to family/S.O..  I'm basically waiting on Utah to notify, and apparently the WUStL admission process is "ongoing" (though I'm skeptical of that).   

[DaniB23]

16 minutes ago, HumanCylinder said:

I've used this same rationale, too.  Some acceptances would make for a difficult "match-up" between programs and put pressure on me to choose based on factors other than fit with faculty (which is my #1 factor), such as proximity to family/S.O..  I'm basically waiting on Utah to notify, and apparently the WUStL admission process is "ongoing" (though I'm skeptical of that).   

I'm in the exact same position in terms of(possibly) choosing based on factors other than my #1 being faculty because of tough match-ups.  Especially when there are so many other factors after that one that I'm having a hard time putting into a hierarchy of importance.

[Little Earthquakes]

I got accepted to U of Washington, which I was not expecting in a million years. On an alternate list for funding though. Really hope I get a funded offer from them. Gotta just calm down, sit tight and wait on it for now.

[bpilgrim89]

I was just notified that I have been recommended for admission with funding at Georgetown!

 

A little bittersweet since I was hoping I'd be going to a PhD program, but I am more than excited to have a funded offer that I am 99% sure I will be accepting! Plus Duncan Wu, Dennis Todd, AND Kathryn Temple? I could faint right now!

[A blighted one]

2 hours ago, bpilgrim89 said:

I was just notified that I have been recommended for admission with funding at Georgetown!

 

A little bittersweet since I was hoping I'd be going to a PhD program, but I am more than excited to have a funded offer that I am 99% sure I will be accepting! Plus Duncan Wu, Dennis Todd, AND Kathryn Temple? I could faint right now!

Congratulations! I'm hoping to hear from them as well, but since you have already heard back and I haven't yet heard a peep, I guess I'm probably out of luck!

Edited March 4, 2016 by A blighted one

[bpilgrim89]

3 hours ago, A blighted one said:

Congratulations! I'm hoping to hear from them as well, but since you have already heard back and I haven't yet heard a peep, I guess I'm probably out of luck!

Fingers crossed for you! Don't give up hope yet! I know I am a weird case as I am currently on my Fulbright, i.e. on the other side of the planet with less than optimal internet access. Ergo, I think they let me know early in order to find a time to talk on the phone.

[LeadersAsAnimals]

Out at Buffalo (wasn't a good fit anyway), in at Georgia State, waitlisted at Auburn, and waiting on UF and Penn State (I am assuming PSU is a rejection at this point). Of course, any rejection stings a little, but this app cycle (my first for PhD) is far more successful than I anticipated, and I am simply relieved that I have an acceptance. All apps were for PhD in English and applied with MA in English. Hang in there, folks, it is an arduous journey, but the journey will be over soon!

[muteswann18]

19 hours ago, DaniB23 said:

19 hours ago, HumanCylinder said:

I'm out at Boulder.  I'm at least happy that they notified sooner rather than later, and I knew it was a long shot anyway.  Hoping you other Boulder applicants fared better!

Im also out!  Kind of relieved.  If I got in I think I really would have wanted to go, knowing that I wouldn't be able to afford to live there.

To you and others who were hoping to get into Boulder-- I am curious if you could talk a bit about what attracts you to the program. Is it mostly location? The program itself? I notice it's pretty low in rankings and there's no placement information on their website, so I wondered why they still manage to draw so many applicants. I certainly understand the draw to live in Colorado, and the program does seem to have really great course offerings and graduate groups, but just curious to hear about your personal draws to the program. Thanks!

[DaniB23]

3 minutes ago, muteswann18 said:

To you and others who were hoping to get into Boulder-- I am curious if you could talk a bit about what attracts you to the program. Is it mostly location? The program itself? I notice it's pretty low in rankings and there's no placement information on their website, so I wondered why they still manage to draw so many applicants. I certainly understand the draw to live in Colorado, and the program does seem to have really great course offerings and graduate groups, but just curious to hear about your personal draws to the program. Thanks!

For me, it was more of the culture of the program; I like being in a program where the graduate students can be friends and aren't at each other's throats in competition all of the time.  Also, I don't really focus on rankings so much, as I've had professors from top ten program that I found to be highly unprepared to teach a graduate course (personally, since I'm really in this to teach, I care more about being in a program that will support that goal with focus on quality, rather than getting a job at a university with a certain reputation in ranking).  There were specific people I wanted to work with there in my field, and that really has been the number factor in determining where I applied. Likewise, it was one of the universities that my advisor/letter writers really encouraged me to apply to, as they know that the faculty in my field would offer top-notch support on the job market, as they have placed others.

[muteswann18]

9 minutes ago, DaniB23 said:

For me, it was more of the culture of the program; I like being in a program where the graduate students can be friends and aren't at each other's throats in competition all of the time.  Also, I don't really focus on rankings so much, as I've had professors from top ten program that I found to be highly unprepared to teach a graduate course (personally, since I'm really in this to teach, I care more about being in a program that will support that goal with focus on quality, rather than getting a job at a university with a certain reputation in ranking).  There were specific people I wanted to work with there in my field, and that really has been the number factor in determining where I applied. Likewise, it was one of the universities that my advisor/letter writers really encouraged me to apply to, as they know that the faculty in my field would offer top-notch support on the job market, as they have placed others.

Thanks! This makes a lot of sense to me. I have been swayed by advisors who stress a significant link between ranking and job placement, but it's nice to hear that you'd feel confident about your job prospects regardless of ranking.

[DaniB23]

8 minutes ago, muteswann18 said:

Thanks! This makes a lot of sense to me. I have been swayed by advisors who stress a significant link between ranking and job placement, but it's nice to hear that you'd feel confident about your job prospects regardless of ranking.

No problem!  I think it just depends on what one wants to do at the end of it all. I think it's completely valid to put more emphasis on ranking, especially if a candidate is more focused on research, as having a PhD from a top ten will go a long way towards placement at R1s.

Part of my research of the programs I applied to was tracking down CVs of the faculty I want to work with, as they usually have a section dedicated to dissertation committees they have chaired or sat on.  I google the students and see if and where they have been placed.  I applied to programs that range from top ten to the mid 60s in rankings, and based on people I want to work with, their placement rate for TT jobs have been similar (but again, for me all that matters really is tenure-track positions with slightly more emphasis on teaching).

[Aloice]

10 hours ago, bpilgrim89 said:

I was just notified that I have been recommended for admission with funding at Georgetown!

 

A little bittersweet since I was hoping I'd be going to a PhD program, but I am more than excited to have a funded offer that I am 99% sure I will be accepting! Plus Duncan Wu, Dennis Todd, AND Kathryn Temple? I could faint right now!

Congratulations to you! I just got notification from Georgetown as well, although I haven't yet gotten the call for funding. Did you get the call on the same day as the email? I'm sorely tempted to go but I also have a fully funded offer from Penn State and it'd be tough to pick an unfunded Georgetown offer over something with a 19k/yr stipend.

[HumanCylinder]

40 minutes ago, muteswann18 said:

To you and others who were hoping to get into Boulder-- I am curious if you could talk a bit about what attracts you to the program. Is it mostly location? The program itself? I notice it's pretty low in rankings and there's no placement information on their website, so I wondered why they still manage to draw so many applicants. I certainly understand the draw to live in Colorado, and the program does seem to have really great course offerings and graduate groups, but just curious to hear about your personal draws to the program. Thanks!

I agree with what DaniB expressed.  I chose programs based mainly on the type of work the faculty did there, and tried my best to check out whether I actually liked that work.  I was considering one program, found the person who works on Modern poetry and read their work, but did not like the critical direction, so I took that program off my list (of course this is reductively stated and there's a little more to it than this).  In another program I did apply to, a POI works on figures a little different from my own but I really liked how she described her research project in her most recent book; I thought it was actually important and I "vibed" with her ideas/rationale.  So, for Boulder, I liked that their Modernists were focused on visual culture and that a lot of faculty there work on literature and other arts.   There were other more practical factors, like the fact that I'm trying to stay as close to the West Coast as possible, and I was also trying to increase my odds by applying to a higher number of schools, not all of which were perfect fits (but each had something I could like about it).  I am also not as concerned about ranking because I want to focus on who can help me do my best work. Also, I know that my "stats" like GPAs are not competitive at schools that are in the top 20, so I think I was pretty practical in realizing that, if I wanted a shot to do a PhD, then I needed to focus on schools that are more in the 40 to 60 range.  Even still, there are schools here like Boulder and Oregon, where I was also just rejected from, that are very popular for a variety of reasons that make it hard to cut through and make it in.  

[bpilgrim89]

30 minutes ago, Aloice said:

Congratulations to you! I just got notification from Georgetown as well, although I haven't yet gotten the call for funding. Did you get the call on the same day as the email? I'm sorely tempted to go but I also have a fully funded offer from Penn State and it'd be tough to pick an unfunded Georgetown offer over something with a 19k/yr stipend.

I got the "official" email response today, but I received my joint admission/funding email much earlier the day before. Like I said, I think they notified me earlier in order to discuss the details of my funding over the phone, but of course, that's pure conjecture! If it helps at all, your 19k offer at Penn State is more than what I'm getting offered from Georgetown, so even if you get funding, Penn State will probably be more generous.

[EmmaJava]

Interesting stuff. I applied to Boulder mostly out of a sense of obligation, which was easy enough considering how mind-numbingly gorgeous the campus is, how amazing Boulder is as a community and a geography, that they let PhD students teach sections of Modern & Contemporary, that I know it like the back of my hand, and that I have a home and a family and a life in the area. Given all of that it probably would have felt even weirder not to apply even as I simultaneously admit it not being the best fit for doctoral work (notice that I didn't mention any specific faculty), and expressing some relief about not getting in.  All in all, this was by far my strangest application and I'm glad it's over.

As to this recent streak about rankings and placements - I subscribe wholeheartedly to the almost silent school of thought that would have all of us kick as much ass as humanly possible. How this isn't discussed more is beyond me, so let me loudly proclaim it: Do incredible work. Not good work, not solid work - every single one of us should strive for a masterpiece in every single classroom post, comment, every single critical bibliography, every single book review, conference paper, abstract, prospectus, seminar paper, or dissertation. I believe that any one of us can reach the top, but not without absolute commitment to craft. This goes beyond "hard work" to obsession. This will sound over the top, but I don't know how to get around it, I see it as the only way, and I believe that would be true of a student at any top-10 school as well as a student at any unranked school, and everything in between. Our writing must be magical, it must be crystalline, it must be transcendent. It must be a game-changer. My feeling is that if you find this kind of rhetoric embarrassing or silly or whatever, it's not going to work out, and rankings won't matter in any case.

Sorry if this is a little soapbox-y, but I am bewildered that I've had exactly one (1) mentor preach this advice, and he did it and continues to do it tooth and nail, and I don't see how he's wrong, or even out of proportion. It never came up in a proseminar or any other kind of advisor-mentor meeting. I don't hear students or faculty talking about it. How totally peculiar. I say, let's ball and wreck shop and fucking kill it. If nothing else, we'll be living the dream.

[A blighted one]

8 hours ago, bpilgrim89 said:

Fingers crossed for you! Don't give up hope yet! I know I am a weird case as I am currently on my Fulbright, i.e. on the other side of the planet with less than optimal internet access. Ergo, I think they let me know early in order to find a time to talk on the phone.

I was just accepted to Georgetown with full funding as well! Wow!

Congrats to everyone!!!

[bhr]

Well, I've taken myself off all my waitlists, and am just negotiating a few financial points before accepting at my first choice, So happy this is over with.

[EmmaJava]

35 minutes ago, bhr said:

Well, I've taken myself off all my waitlists, and am just negotiating a few financial points before accepting at my first choice, So happy this is over with.

Awesome, bhr. If you don't mind, can I ask what this looks like - are you asking for a higher stipend, for example, or fellowship dollars, or something else?  And how are you entering into this dialogue?  I feel compelled to negotiate as well but wouldn't want to risk my offers or shoot myself in the foot. I'm guessing I'll be pointed over to another negotiation thread somewhere, but if you're willing to share any wisdom, I'll be grateful. And if it's none of my business and you don't want to answer this, I would get that, too, but thought it worth asking.

[catfurniture]

On 3/3/2016 at 1:22 PM, genrescholar said:

So, I got an e-mail from the DGS of University of Florida saying I've been admitted!!!! No mention of funding, but we'll be talking on the phone tomorrow afternoon, so that should be clarified soon. The website says the department offers TAships renewable for up to four years.

Congrats genrescholar! I was admitted today as well. Do you think you'll be attending?

 

 

[bhr]

On 3/4/2016 at 6:01 PM, EmmaJava said:

Awesome, bhr. If you don't mind, can I ask what this looks like - are you asking for a higher stipend, for example, or fellowship dollars, or something else?  And how are you entering into this dialogue?  I feel compelled to negotiate as well but wouldn't want to risk my offers or shoot myself in the foot. I'm guessing I'll be pointed over to another negotiation thread somewhere, but if you're willing to share any wisdom, I'll be grateful. And if it's none of my business and you don't want to answer this, I would get that, too, but thought it worth asking.

Honestly, I just said "I want to be here, but still have a few concerns. If you could give me X, Y, and Z I am ready to commit to doing my PhD at your program."

To be fair, I asked the DGS about a couple of the points on recruitment weekend.