2017 Acceptances

[Hartley]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

So, I'm trying to weigh two very different offers.  I have an offer to get my PhD, funded in full, at a very reputable program—top 20. I also have an offer to get an MA from a tippy-top program.  Regarding fit with research interests, they are pretty even.  So, am I crazy? I take the PhD offer, right?  Thanks for any advice.

[fieldingfanatic]

Has anybody heard words from Northeastern or Loyola Chicago? Trying to figure out if I'm on an imagined waitlist or not.......

[orphic_mel528]

16 minutes ago, Hartley said:

Long time lurker, first time poster.

So, I'm trying to weigh two very different offers.  I have an offer to get my PhD, funded in full, at a very reputable program—top 20. I also have an offer to get an MA from a tippy-top program.  Regarding fit with research interests, they are pretty even.  So, am I crazy? I take the PhD offer, right?  Thanks for any advice.

I don't know your personal circumstances, but I'd go straight into the PhD if it were me. When I did my MA, it was because my undergraduate work was in an entirely different field. There would've been no way I would have ever gotten into a PhD program for English. If they're taking you, that means you've demonstrated your preparedness, not only through your GREs, SOP, and writing sample, but also from your undergraduate work. If your undergraduate preparation lacks in any area, they will likely request that you take additional courses to address that.

In short, I don't see any academic/professional benefits to your doing the MA first, but you may have personal concerns that make matters more complicated.

[positivitize]

1 hour ago, Hartley said:

Long time lurker, first time poster.

So, I'm trying to weigh two very different offers.  I have an offer to get my PhD, funded in full, at a very reputable program—top 20. I also have an offer to get an MA from a tippy-top program.  Regarding fit with research interests, they are pretty even.  So, am I crazy? I take the PhD offer, right?  Thanks for any advice.

 

I'm with Mel. Go for the funded PhD unless you've got a compelling reason to do otherwise.

[Dr. Old Bill]

1 hour ago, Hartley said:

So, I'm trying to weigh two very different offers.  I have an offer to get my PhD, funded in full, at a very reputable program—top 20. I also have an offer to get an MA from a tippy-top program.  Regarding fit with research interests, they are pretty even.  So, am I crazy? I take the PhD offer, right?  Thanks for any advice.

1 hour ago, orphic_mel528 said:

I don't know your personal circumstances, but I'd go straight into the PhD if it were me.

...

In short, I don't see any academic/professional benefits to your doing the MA first, but you may have personal concerns that make matters more complicated.

23 minutes ago, positivitize said:

I'm with Mel. Go for the funded PhD unless you've got a compelling reason to do otherwise.

 

I largely agree with the wise folks above, but I will add one minor counterpoint.

A lot of this depends on you and your readiness to go down this path. The problem is that you might currently have no way to gauge that -- you might think that you'll be able to make an easy transition from undergraduate to doctoral level work, and discover that the chasm is far wider than you could have anticipated. OR it could just require a bit of rapid adaptation on your part, and you'll find you can adjust rather easily.

Two years ago, had I been accepted to a Ph.D. program as well as the M.A. program I ultimately attended, I almost certainly would have taken the Ph.D. program. However, with the luxury of hindsight, I can see how much better served I was by getting the M.A. before moving into a Ph.D. program. I still think I could have done well in a Ph.D. program right away, but the two years of M.A. work have been invaluable. In your situation, getting an M.A. from one of the highest ranked programs in the country could position you for even stronger work when you pursue a Ph.D. two years later.

All of that being said, I do think the most obvious choice is to go for the Ph.D. and don't look back. I just wouldn't want you to think that there's not at least some merit to the other option as well.

[etch00]

Forgive me for any daftness, but what is the idea behind sending out acceptances and then (mostly) not putting the remainder on a waitlist, BUT waiting weeks or even more to inform the rejects? I understand it's different program to program, but I don't really understand why it's done that way. It's clearly a common anxiety as people talk about it here every year. They just want to have their finalized list done before they tell someone who had no chance getting in? It's given to the uni's graduate admissions office to handle and it just takes them a month to email?

BTW, I'm not complaining and I haven't bothered any unis over this. Just wondered if anyone else has insight.

[Warelin]

8 minutes ago, Wyatt's Terps said:

 

I largely agree with the wise folks above, but I will add one minor counterpoint.

A lot of this depends on you and your readiness to go down this path. The problem is that you might currently have no way to gauge that -- you might think that you'll be able to make an easy transition from undergraduate to doctoral level work, and discover that the chasm is far wider than you could have anticipated. OR it could just require a bit of rapid adaptation on your part, and you'll find you can adjust rather easily.

Two years ago, had I been accepted to a Ph.D. program as well as the M.A. program I ultimately attended, I almost certainly would have taken the Ph.D. program. However, with the luxury of hindsight, I can see how much better served I was by getting the M.A. before moving into a Ph.D. program. I still think I could have done well in a Ph.D. program right away, but the two years of M.A. work have been invaluable. In your situation, getting an M.A. from one of the highest ranked programs in the country could position you for even stronger work when you pursue a Ph.D. two years later.

All of that being said, I do think the most obvious choice is to go for the Ph.D. and don't look back. I just wouldn't want you to think that there's not at least some merit to the other option as well.

I think Wyatt brings up several good points.

I'd also like to add that acceptances anywhere aren't guaranteed by any means. Where you get into right now may not accept you two cycles from now. With that being said, what is your ultimate goal? If you're aiming for a R1 school then there's a good chance that you'll need a top 10 program. If the goal is a liberal arts, community college, or anything else, then the prestige of the college matters less than your teaching experience. Alternatively, you could take the MA program, develop your skills, do presentations and see how you change within the two years which is something that a PHD program wouldh't allow you to experience otherwise. You might find that your work interests and style do change. You may find that there are programs that are a better fit. You may realize that you may not even want to pursue a PHD. Or it may make you want to try a post-graduate fellowship or you may decide that you want to teach high school. There is no right or wrong answer but the Master degree can be pretty life changing by itself.

[Warelin]

36 minutes ago, etch00 said:

Forgive me for any daftness, but what is the idea behind sending out acceptances and then (mostly) not putting the remainder on a waitlist, BUT waiting weeks or even more to inform the rejects? I understand it's different program to program, but I don't really understand why it's done that way. It's clearly a common anxiety as people talk about it here every year. They just want to have their finalized list done before they tell someone who had no chance getting in? It's given to the uni's graduate admissions office to handle and it just takes them a month to email?

BTW, I'm not complaining and I haven't bothered any unis over this. Just wondered if anyone else has insight.

Sometimes, programs don't have a ranked waiting list and instead divide it by subfield. If that's the case, they may be waiting for someone to reject before offering it to the next person in the subfield. They may do this in order to make their "prestige" higher by keeping the admits low. Others may do this due to funding concerns or to make sure that they don't have too many people in one specific subfield enroll or to make sure that too many people get the same adviser. Others may indeed leave it up to the graduate school to decide which often has their own schedule of things that must be done. There are lots of things going on behind the scenes that we may not be aware of.

[waitinwishin]

Just found a Vanderbilt rejection on the portal (no email) for those who have been wondering...

[Dr. Old Bill]

5 minutes ago, waitinwishin said:

Just found a Vanderbilt rejection on the portal (no email) for those who have been wondering...

C'est moi. I guess my hypothesis from yesterday was correct: just no GC folks with acceptances a few weeks back. Go figure!

Incidentally, while I'm not at all upset with their program, I can't deny that logging in to see text that reads "We are very pleased" before realizing that it's just the initial "thanks for applying" text before you click on the status update is a little disheartening!

Well, considering the implied rejection of Berkeley, I'm down to five left to hear back from. OSU is looking more and more like a certainty to me (even though it would have been a "finalist" no matter what happened).

[piers_plowman]

Out at Vanderbilt too - oh well. Someone posted a Yale acceptance via phone - anyone want to claim that?

 

7a/0w/5r

[Sunsy]

@Wyatt's Terps, @piers_plowman, I'm out at Vanderbilt too, which makes three early modernists! Oh well... And I too would love to hear about that Yale acceptance!

[piers_plowman]

1 minute ago, Sunsy said:

@Wyatt's Terps, @piers_plowman, I'm out at Vanderbilt too, which makes three early modernists! Oh well... And I too would love to hear about that Yale acceptance!

Dang - congrats to you mystery EM scholar-wizards who took the spot(s). Luckily all three of us have solid options already! Early modern solidarity!

[etch00]

40 minutes ago, Warelin said:

Sometimes, programs don't have a ranked waiting list and instead divide it by subfield. If that's the case, they may be waiting for someone to reject before offering it to the next person in the subfield. They may do this in order to make their "prestige" higher by keeping the admits low. Others may do this due to funding concerns or to make sure that they don't have too many people in one specific subfield enroll or to make sure that too many people get the same adviser. Others may indeed leave it up to the graduate school to decide which often has their own schedule of things that must be done. There are lots of things going on behind the scenes that we may not be aware of.

Thanks, Warelin. That makes perfect sense. If there are any other reasons, feel free to explain to us new peeps.

[Sunsy]

Also, for the person who posted on the results board that they got waitlisted at NYU and that it's their top choice, I'm 95-99% sure that I will turn NYU down, so I hope that helps you!

[Dr. Old Bill]

14 minutes ago, piers_plowman said:

Out at Vanderbilt too - oh well. Someone posted a Yale acceptance via phone - anyone want to claim that?

6 minutes ago, Sunsy said:

@Wyatt's Terps, @piers_plowman, I'm out at Vanderbilt too, which makes three early modernists! Oh well... And I too would love to hear about that Yale acceptance!

It came through as I was reading Act IV of Titus Andronicus, too!

As for the Yale acceptance...mucho congratulations to whoever that is. I suppose that means an implied rejection for me, which makes for a pretty black Friday in terms of decisions... 0 for 3. I was over the moon about OSU 3.5 weeks ago, but now I'm even more humbled and honored by my acceptance there in the face of all of these rejections...

 

Edited February 17, 2017 by Wyatt's Terps

[Caien]

1 minute ago, Wyatt's Terps said:

As for the Yale acceptance...mucho congratulations to whoever that is. I suppose that means an implied rejection for me, which makes for a pretty black Friday in terms of decisions... 0 for 3. I was over the moon about OSU 3.5 ago, but now I'm even more humbled and honored at my acceptance there in the face of all of these rejections...

 

Same WT, this cycle started off so promising, my ego has definitely taken a beating this week!

[piers_plowman]

2 minutes ago, Wyatt's Terps said:

It came through as I was reading Act IV of Titus Andronicus, too!

As for the Yale acceptance...mucho congratulations to whoever that is. I suppose that means an implied rejection for me, which makes for a pretty black Friday in terms of decisions... 0 for 3. I was over the moon about OSU 3.5 ago, but now I'm even more humbled and honored at my acceptance there in the face of all of these rejections...

 

Ominous! It's hard not to feel like poor flies being struck down for sport, these days. And yes, I agree, I had a stellar first week, but since then it's been a painful trickle. Here's hoping we all finish strong.

[Sunsy]

3 minutes ago, Wyatt's Terps said:

It came through as I was reading Act IV of Titus Andronicus, too!

That's weird because I was reading book IV of Paradise Lost and I'm a Miltonist and you're a Shakespearean (I think)... 

[Dr. Old Bill]

7 minutes ago, piers_plowman said:

Ominous! It's hard not to feel like poor flies being struck down for sport, these days. And yes, I agree, I had a stellar first week, but since then it's been a painful trickle. Here's hoping we all finish strong.

Getting one early... Man, what a wonder it does for the psyche. Rejections still sting, but it's more like stinging through a thick jacket...or a puffy Ohioan parka...

7 minutes ago, Sunsy said:

That's weird because I was reading book IV of Paradise Lost and I'm a Miltonist and you're a Shakespearean (I think)... 

Indeed! Although I do love Milton a great deal. If I could be both a Miltonist and a Shakespearean, I would...but that's a pretty tough balance to strike at this stage. Still, I've read all of Milton's seminal works (even Areopagitica ), most of his less seminal works, and think PL is the best epic ever written (and I love me some Odyssey), and that Comus is the best masque. In other words, even as I continue as a Shakespeare scholar, I'll remain something of a Milton "fanboy"...

Edited February 17, 2017 by Wyatt's Terps

[Hartley]

@Caien & @Sunsy  What do you think about Notre Dame? I'm weighing an offer from them, but I'm unsure if I'm leaning toward them due to the fun of being wined and dined at interview weekend.  Sunsy, I'm sure working with Stephen Fallon would be awesome. And Caien, how does BC compare to ND in Irish Lit.?  It must be nice to have so many options.

[Avalanched]

If my UVA portal hasn't updated to reflect a rejection but I never got an email or phone call, clearly the department is waiting to call me to inform me that I won their most prestigious scholarship to increase the suspense, right?  I mean, phone signals are so dodgy in Hawaii anyway, naturally. 

[Caien]

10 minutes ago, Hartley said:

@Caien & @Sunsy  What do you think about Notre Dame? I'm weighing an offer from them, but I'm unsure if I'm leaning toward them due to the fun of being wined and dined at interview weekend.  Sunsy, I'm sure working with Stephen Fallon would be awesome. And Caien, how does BC compare to ND in Irish Lit.?  It must be nice to have so many options.

I wasn't at the interview weekend, and to be honest my gut is pushing me toward ND, but I had a great interview with the ND faculty and only exchanged a few brief emails with the BC people, so I'm not going to make a decision until I go over and visit - for all I know the BC peeps are just as wonderful in person!

As for Irish lit, its a strength of both BC and ND really. They both have Irish studies programs and lots of links with Irish unis and research groups (not that that would be that exciting for me ). I am developing a slight concern that the ND campus and surrounding area may be like living in a Disneyland version of Ireland - Shamrock Street, Waterford lane, and that fecking leprechaun... Are you in Irish lit also?

Edited February 18, 2017 by Caien

[othersamantha]

27 minutes ago, Sunsy said:

@Wyatt's Terps, @piers_plowman, I'm out at Vanderbilt too, which makes three early modernists! Oh well... And I too would love to hear about that Yale acceptance!

Make that four! I'm out too. Super bummed as it seems like a great department, but I'm also lucky to have an offer at another program that I'm really excited about.

[Sunsy]

22 minutes ago, Hartley said:

@Caien & @Sunsy  What do you think about Notre Dame? I'm weighing an offer from them, but I'm unsure if I'm leaning toward them due to the fun of being wined and dined at interview weekend.  Sunsy, I'm sure working with Stephen Fallon would be awesome. And Caien, how does BC compare to ND in Irish Lit.?  It must be nice to have so many options.

 

 

I absolutely loved ND, and I met so many fascinating and brilliant faculty there, and you're right, Stephen Fallon was the reason I applied; his work was central to my writing sample and his book was one of the first things I read in literary criticism that got me excited and made me really think, so it was great to meet him and talk with him. As you said, the weekend was great and just an all around classy move on their part. Part of my excitement about ND I'm sure comes from that weekend and the fact that it was the first time I've ever really been in a situation like that, i.e. surrounded by other future grad students who really care about criticism and academics, and also, importantly for me, people who have clearly put a lot of thought into things I care about but don't see in my hometown often enough, like the rights of women and minorities. However, barring some good news from Michigan, Harvard, or Yale, it's pretty much down to JHU or Berkeley for me right now (leaning towards Berkeley). I haven't visited either yet, so those visits could indeed change something, but my sense of both programs places them at the top for me. Prestige or ranking is by no means the reason for that (although that does play a certain role), but I think those places will be more in line with what I want to do in the future, and they're both in locations that I think I would be much happier in. That being said, ND seems lovely, and as someone with affinities for Latin, Medievalism, Theology, and philosophy, it's a place I'll definitely feel a certain kinda way about turning down. You'll make the right choice though!

EDIT: @Caien all this is to say that if you do choose to go to ND, trust me that you'll be in an amazing cohort... everyone I met was just so smart and motivated.

Edited February 18, 2017 by Sunsy