2016 Acceptance Thread

[haltheincandescent]

8 minutes ago, cloverhinge said:

Oh my goodness congratulations!!! Did you get a phone call? 

Nope, an email. And, nothing updated on the site, so far.

 

1 minute ago, lousyconnection said:

 @haltheincandescent I just received an acceptance from UChicago too! *high five* Maybe see you at prospective student day.

I really can't believe I can sit back a little bit now. I've been a piano wire for months!

And congrats to all the admits that are popping up on the board!

And, yes! I'll be there--I'm super close, so this one won't even be a problem to schedule around work.  

[persynanōm]

Hooray! True celebration is in order on this thread. I'm really glad see those of us who felt completely unadmitable feeling awestruck at their acceptances. Truly a life-changing event for us (as I definitely share that sentiment)! I'm sure that the shift in self-conception will have positive effects on our lives - but we just must fight hubris to realize the gold at the end of this crazy rainbow: this happy news heralds a future of hardwork and service to others through the shared creation of knowledge. Mainly to myself, I guess I am saying - probably way too far in advance (as is the wont of someone totally afraid of the future)  - let's remember those caring professors and scholars who motivated us to spend those thousand-plus dollars and seemingly ten-thousand-plus hours slogging through this tedious, panic-ridden process and not become those pompous, self-aggrandizing, cold, and bitter academics who perhaps made us feel so unadmitable in the first place.

 

Anyway, I am sorry if that sounded much more like a St. Crispin's Day speech for noble academic Enlightenment than one fit for our mini-monumental shifts in our personal narratives (neither nationalism nor unreflective Liberalism is my jam). I'm just, I guess, processing what seems like the crazy crazy crazy implications of these opened doors on us applicants and our futures. 

But anyway, for now, as Louis CK would say, Weeee! 

Edited February 1, 2016 by persynanōm

[persynanōm]

10 hours ago, solomonski said:

That was me! I'm not sure what questions I have beyond the typical ones, but I'd love to hear your overall thoughts on the place!

Sorry not to respond to this earlier, @solomonski. Before I get into my impression of the place, I must offer a couple of disclaimers: I was a transfer student, so I only spent two years blitzing through the requirements (which included a two-year language requirement, one class each semester) and taking as many interesting classes as I could while doing so. Also, my previous institution was a community college, so this will be a pretty limited, non-comparative evaluation of the department based on what I have gleaned about it in relation to others and from my own experience. Also, I consider myself a fringe member of the English community, coming from a performance background and being most interested in rhetoric, race and ethnicity, and theatre/performance studies.

Overall, I would say that the department is in the midst of changing fairly significantly, as a lot of the stalwart faculty are older and the budget is tight. At the moment, there is only one trained Shakespearean/Early Modernist (my main focus while there), and she is will most likely retire within 5-7 years, basically precluding graduate study in EM. Our department, from what I gather, has great strength in American, particularly African-American, Dickens, Poe, Whitman, Melville, the Reconstruction Era (though that faculty member seems near retirement), and contemporary; Medieval; Restoration; modernism; African literature; Marxist and post-Marxist theory; and contemporary poetry/creative writing. I would argue that rhetorical theory should be counted as well, as a huge portion of my intellectual development came at the hands of Ralph Cintron, a rhetorician and ethnographer who holds dual, full appointments in English and Latin American Studies, and offers truly phenomenal pedagogy in traditional and contemporary rhetorical theory to graduates and undergraduates alike; he is also, as one might imagine, very interdisciplinary and frequently partners with extradepartmental faculty to co-teach exciting courses. Areas of weakness would be Asian American literature, animal studies, performance theory, and basically any exciting theory that has sprung up or leaked into English departments since perhaps the mid-Nineties (though apparently the new hire in queer studies is quite solid).

So yes, overall, I would say it would depend very much on your interests whether the faculty is a fit for you, as I must admit that the department seems like it is slightly past its prime. The big names of our department were all of another era, or so it seems. Stanley Fish peaced out, Graff retired. Walter Benn Michaels, love him or hate him, is a very good department head, though, and seems to be guiding the department in a fairly solid direction focused on building up the decaying coverage of the curriculum due to state budget cuts (which, actually, I learn are pretty severe this year due to Bruce Rauner, the new Republican governor of Illinois). He does not, however, have the star power of Stanley Fish to lure in talent. We have some cool new professors in Victorian and postcolonial literature from UCI, both theoretically savvy in the Marxist and post-Marxist tradition.

In terms of the graduate life, I know very little, unfortunately. I think I remember hearing that the stipends are not tremendous, but I have enjoyed the TAs I had for the most part. In fact, I should stress the creative writing strength more, as I had a fabulous TA named Laura Krughoff who was a finalist for a Lambda for her first novel.

The campus is pretty cool, though. UIC is the only public research institution set entirely in a major city (so they say). It is hooked up to the elevated lines (the blue line, to be exact) and is minutes away from downtown Chicago. The skyline is really worth a visit, if they are paying for you to fly out. True, though, the buildings are mostly brutalist, with the exception of the new ones; the campus was apparently designed just after the Vietnam-era riots at Kent state and Berkeley, so the architecture visibly reflects a securitarian anxiety. The windows in most classes are mere slits so they cannot be broken a la said riots, the faculty offices (for most of the humanities) are all stacked in University Hall, a twenty-five story panopticonic tower that is picture below with the department head when the United Faculty struck for raises (and he participated despite it being against his contract).

That picture also alludes to the snowy severity which is Chicago's winter. I imagine the meet and greet (if there is one) is in March, as February too is very cold. It is the wind that kills - and on this campus, the wind cuts like a knife around UH in the winter.

Now, my experience: I personally had a great experience with compassionate, extremely inclusive and committed professors who treated me as a peer while encouraging my intellectual curiosity at every turn, mainly in the realms of rhetoric, Shakespeare, and critical theory. As an undergraduate, there were many opportunities for undergraduate research, the option for an honors thesis, fairly frequent events and lectures at UIC's Humanities Institute (though I would say these were not necessarily big names), a thriving Writing Center, and a good library. UIC is regularly ranked among the top 15 most diverse schools nationwide, and that was one of the best parts of my educational experience. When one walks across a campus and can't discern a clear ethnic majority, real learning can really happen.

It is definitely a public institution, with all that entails: 50 people in 100 seat lecture halls for required English courses, grade inflation most-likely, real exposure to the funding hardships of the public humanities, and, as I said, passionate, earnestly invested faculty that will help you achieve your goals. I settled on English after being denied admission to DePaul for Acting, and I went from having no confidence as a writer and intellectual to having...some confidence as a writer and intellectual (I guess enough to pose just so for USC).

 

I am already decently wistful for my time there and in Chicago -- the drop-off from seeing world-class theatre via reliable public transit to saddling myself with a car loan and driving miles to see a decent show sucks. But the weather... It is good to be back home in California.

Hope that helps a little. Take my crappy, undergraduate-eye sketch for what its worth.

 

   

Edited February 2, 2016 by persynanōm

[soydominique]

On 12/18/2015 at 2:14 PM, BarAndFrills said:

I received a call/email yesterday from Michigan State, and have been accepted to their PhD program in Comp/Rhet for 2016. They accepted 10 people total, according to a friend of mine who is there. 

Congrats! I considered applying to that since my undergrad is in rhetoric, but I applied to the Chicano/Latino Studies and just got in!

[soydominique]

On 1/30/2016 at 6:39 AM, pbnwhey said:

I used to be on here as beet-nik (about three years ago, when I was applying for my MA)....but I forgot my password. So I just thought I'd chime in with a new username since I got into UCLA's Gender Studies program! Also applied to Emory and UNCG English in addition to some American Studies and Ethnic Studies programs. 

I applied to some ethnic/cultural studies programs too. Where did you apply? I was just rejected by Berkeley and UCLA

[WendyWonderland]

On 2/1/2016 at 0:27 PM, BooksCoffeeBeards said:

Congrats to the one WashU in STL acceptance I saw! Really, really, really hoping I hear from them soon...

Me too. Congrats to all those being accepted!

[conceptcheck]

I got my Michigan State lit acceptance a few weeks ago! Still waiting to hear back from some schools higher up on my list, but it's nice to know that I'm set with funding. Congrats to everyone with their acceptances!

[ProfLorax]

I know UMD has started notifying! Any acceptances yet?  

ETA: I also know that decisions are still in process, so you're still in the game if you haven't heard yet! 

[Apocolocyntosis]

Congrats to the recent Brown acceptance! If this person has any questions on the program, please let me know. I did my undergrad there and would be happy to discuss the school and in particular the faculty. 

[pbnwhey]

On February 2, 2016 at 1:57 PM, soydominique said:

I applied to some ethnic/cultural studies programs too. Where did you apply? I was just rejected by Berkeley and UCLA

I applied to Buffalo for American Studies and Colorado (Boulder) for Ethnic Studies, in addition to Emory English, UNC Greensboro English, and UCLA Gender Studies. I've only officially heard back from one (my UCLA acceptance), but since Emory is an implied rejection at this point, my heart is pretty set on UCLA since I never thought in a million years that I'd be accepted there anyways ? Congrats on the MSU acceptance by the way!! Where else are you waiting to hear back from?

Edit: To put my extremely varied application choices into context, I should probably mention that my focus is on queer indigenous studies ?

Edited February 3, 2016 by pbnwhey

[soydominique]

2 hours ago, pbnwhey said:

I applied to Buffalo for American Studies and Colorado (Boulder) for Ethnic Studies, in addition to Emory English, UNC Greensboro English, and UCLA Gender Studies. I've only officially heard back from one (my UCLA acceptance), but since Emory is an implied rejection at this point, my heart is pretty set on UCLA since I never thought in a million years that I'd be accepted there anyways ? Congrats on the MSU acceptance by the way!! Where else are you waiting to hear back from?

Edit: To put my extremely varied application choices into context, I should probably mention that my focus is on queer indigenous studies ?

My whole application is framed through queer chicana stuff! Pretty close interests! Yay! I have to explain that to people too. I applied to so many programs, but the voice of my application was generally the same.

For gender/feminist studies, I applied to UCSB, UCSC, U of Washington, and U of AZ. The last two I got rejections (Arizona told me to apply for a PhD in English)

For Chicanx/cultural/ethnic/latino studies, I applied to UCLA (rejected), UC Riverside, UC Davis, Tulane, and Michigan State. 

So I have half of the schools down. Michigan let me know they nominated me a fellowship (fingers crossed).  I know getting into any UC school is ridiculously hard, which must mean you are amazing! UC Davis, UC Riverside, and Michigan were my top choices in their group, but UCSB and UCSC are also fantastic. I'm mostly doubtful about getting in because my undergrad is in rhetoric, but my MFA is in poetry. 

 

[lesabendio]

New lurker.  I was warned to stay away from the grad cafe forums for my sanity's sake, but now that I have an acceptance in the bag, I can probably start using the forums as a way to check up on my other applications.

Anyway, the faculty member I mentioned in my personal statement called offering me admission to UC Davis' English PhD program.  No email, though, and he said the Director of Graduate Studies would call shortly but hasn't yet.  The paranoid, irrational part of me is putting the celebrations on hold until I get some kind of confirmation.  Is this sort of over-the-phone-only acceptance common?  

I was rejected a couple weeks ago from my alma mater, UC Irvine, but that's neither really a surprise nor a disappointment.  So, that leaves UMichigan, UChicago, Brown, and CUNY.

I applied to 6 English programs with low expectations in the first place, because it's been 5 years since I graduated from UCI with my BA and I've been completely out of the academic world for so long.  I've been working the kind of white collar labor you would expect a dude with an English BA to be working, so it's a little jarring to be offered the opportunity to leave that behind for a completely different pursuit.

Good look to you all, and I hope for the best! If anybody knows anything about UC Davis' program -- like about the culture or campus or whatever -- I'd love to speak with you!

[persynanōm]

1 hour ago, lesabendio said:

New lurker.  I was warned to stay away from the grad cafe forums for my sanity's sake, but now that I have an acceptance in the bag, I can probably start using the forums as a way to check up on my other applications.

Anyway, the faculty member I mentioned in my personal statement called offering me admission to UC Davis' English PhD program.  No email, though, and he said the Director of Graduate Studies would call shortly but hasn't yet.  The paranoid, irrational part of me is putting the celebrations on hold until I get some kind of confirmation.  Is this sort of over-the-phone-only acceptance common?  

I was rejected a couple weeks ago from my alma mater, UC Irvine, but that's neither really a surprise nor a disappointment.  So, that leaves UMichigan, UChicago, Brown, and CUNY.

I applied to 6 English programs with low expectations in the first place, because it's been 5 years since I graduated from UCI with my BA and I've been completely out of the academic world for so long.  I've been working the kind of white collar labor you would expect a dude with an English BA to be working, so it's a little jarring to be offered the opportunity to leave that behind for a completely different pursuit.

Good look to you all, and I hope for the best! If anybody knows anything about UC Davis' program -- like about the culture or campus or whatever -- I'd love to speak with you!

Congrats on Davis! I think phone only acceptances are very common; USC called me to let me know so that I didn't have to wait the extra 3 days for the email. I guess a little caution can't hurt, though.  Happy to hear that you have the option for a career change!

[Villain Elle]

10 hours ago, ProfLorax said:

I know UMD has started notifying! Any acceptances yet?  

ETA: I also know that decisions are still in process, so you're still in the game if you haven't heard yet! 

Not an acceptance but I was wait listed at UMD today. I was surprised they notified this early! 

[iExcelAtMicrosoftPuns]

Hiya!
Congrats to all you
Composition and Rhetoric and Languaging and Writing kinda person here.

I've been quiet lately. But I've got a few acceptances now.

I can claim:
a Louisville acceptance / a Nebraska acceptance / a Madison waitlist / a UMD waitlist.
 

[Eternal Optimist]

Received acceptance from Michigan State couple of weeks ago. Another acceptance from UMass Amherst today. Funding info forthcoming for both. 

[Poustevnik]

Anyone want to claim the NYU English result? It seems strange that only one has gone out (alternatively, that only one has been reported). Anyone else heard anything?

[pbnwhey]

14 hours ago, soydominique said:

My whole application is framed through queer chicana stuff! Pretty close interests! Yay! I have to explain that to people too. I applied to so many programs, but the voice of my application was generally the same.

For gender/feminist studies, I applied to UCSB, UCSC, U of Washington, and U of AZ. The last two I got rejections (Arizona told me to apply for a PhD in English)

For Chicanx/cultural/ethnic/latino studies, I applied to UCLA (rejected), UC Riverside, UC Davis, Tulane, and Michigan State. 

So I have half of the schools down. Michigan let me know they nominated me a fellowship (fingers crossed).  I know getting into any UC school is ridiculously hard, which must mean you are amazing! UC Davis, UC Riverside, and Michigan were my top choices in their group, but UCSB and UCSC are also fantastic. I'm mostly doubtful about getting in because my undergrad is in rhetoric, but my MFA is in poetry. 

 

I'm from California originally, but my Master's work in Maine (which was funded, so I actually had time to get my thesis and whatnot done) definitely gave me a boost for the PhD applications -- not to mention, I had the support of some really wonderful scholars there. So I wouldn't say UC schools are super hard to get into, you just have to have the perfect fit for research interests! I got lucky and my POI had gone to undergrad with my advisor, so he knew that our research interests aligned pretty closely and encouraged me to apply to UCLA. I really wanted to apply to UCSC because I fell in love with it quite a few years back, but the fit just wasn't there so I didn't waste my application money. I can't wait to hear about the rest of the results for you (especially UCSC, because I'll totally be jealous if you get to be a banana slug)! And same goes for UCSB Gorgeous campus. Just a random thought -- did you look into UCSD? I know they do a ton of chicana studies work in their Ethnic Studies dept -- one of my undergrad professors did her PhD work there on latinx prison lit, which I thought was pretty awesome.

[Lauren Hemingway92]

Hi all,

Have there been any more acceptances to UMD? I saw that some have already heard back, and I have been obsessively checking my email since midnight.

Anyone get anything back from NYU, Rutgers, UPenn, or Virginia?

[Poustevnik]

5 minutes ago, Lauren Hemingway92 said:

Hi all,

Have there been any more acceptances to UMD? I saw that some have already heard back, and I have been obsessively checking my email since midnight.

Anyone get anything back from NYU, Rutgers, UPenn, or Virginia?

I'm waiting on NYU as well. There has been one confirmation on the results page, but nothing else. Which seems strange.

[DJS]

I agree it is pretty strange. I actually can't find the one confirmation. It is to NYU's PhD program in English? 

[ProfLorax]

10 hours ago, Villain Elle said:

Not an acceptance but I was wait listed at UMD today. I was surprised they notified this early! 

Please let me know if you have any questions about the program! I'm happy to answer. We don't usually have deep wait-lists, so if you have already been contacted, that likely means you're pretty high on the list. 

12 minutes ago, Lauren Hemingway92 said:

Have there been any more acceptances to UMD? I saw that some have already heard back, and I have been obsessively checking my email since midnight.

Per a conversation with my advisor, I don't think decisions about cohort size have been finalized. So the first wave of acceptances and wait list notifications went out yesterday, but I don't think that will be the last round 

[unræd]

10 minutes ago, DJS said:

I agree it is pretty strange. I actually can't find the one confirmation. It is to NYU's PhD program in English? 

A friend of mine was accepted to NYU's English program yesterday--she got a call from the DGS.

[Poustevnik]

11 minutes ago, DJS said:

I agree it is pretty strange. I actually can't find the one confirmation. It is to NYU's PhD program in English?

Yeah, but you need to search for it as New York University, as opposed to NYU. Fingers crossed some results come out soon!

[TomJones678]

17 hours ago, pbnwhey said:

I applied to Buffalo for American Studies and Colorado (Boulder) for Ethnic Studies, in addition to Emory English, UNC Greensboro English, and UCLA Gender Studies.

Hi, pbnwhey,

Just curious--with UNC Greensboro, did you arrange a campus visit with the dept/POI? Do you suppose that's expected in order to have a good chance of getting accepted?