2017 Acceptances

[urbanfarmer]

1 hour ago, ratanegra19 said:

I can't speak with authority on the PhD program at UW, but I know that when I applied to the MA a couple of years ago it took them a REALLY long time to reply--I didn't actually get my official rejection until around April 10th, even though I had emailed them. I'm from Washington, and I've known a lot of folks who were associated with UW--they kind of have a reputation for taking longer than most to make their decisions.

I wrote this on another thread (or earlier on this one, don't remember)... but I got into their PhD program two years ago. I was notified on March 13, and they said they "couldn't guarantee" funding.

[ProfessionalNerd]

Does anyone on here feel bad about declining programs? All the ones that have taken me (even the ones that have waitlisted me) have been so kind. I just feel awkward about the fact that i'll have to decline some without seeing them. I can't afford (time-wise) visiting each program, although I wish I could. How are the rest of you feeling about you decision making process? 

[orphic_mel528]

1 hour ago, ProfessionalNerd said:

Does anyone on here feel bad about declining programs? All the ones that have taken me (even the ones that have waitlisted me) have been so kind. I just feel awkward about the fact that i'll have to decline some without seeing them. I can't afford (time-wise) visiting each program, although I wish I could. How are the rest of you feeling about you decision making process? 

It's not personal, it's business. They know it and aren't hurt by your decision; they know how the process goes. But I know what you mean; I almost feel like I'm projecting my, "PLEASE LOVE ME!" pre-acceptance emotions into them. 

[ProfessionalNerd]

1 minute ago, orphic_mel528 said:

It's not personal, it's business. They know it and aren't hurt by your decision; they know how the process goes. But I know what you mean; I almost feel like I'm projecting my, "PLEASE LOVE ME!" pre-acceptance emotions into them. 

This is the common sense answer, but it feels strange all the same. 

[Yanaka]

It's so quiet here!

[loganondorf]

Just now, Yanaka said:

It's so quiet here!

It's so weird! Looks like everyone's having a nice, quiet Sunday away from grad-related stress.

[Yanaka]

Just now, loganondorf said:

It's so weird! Looks like everyone's having a nice, quiet Sunday away from grad-related stress.

Yeah--lucky them  

It's really funny to observe the different stages of the forum: first, everybody panicking and asking questions about applications and programs; the anxious waiting before expected dates come up; then the awful fear of the progressively official answers--and finally, the topics asking for advice on decisions and the calm realization that positive answers are not to be expected anymore  

[anon4now]

Dear Columbia, 

WYA?! 

-My Anxiety 

[zombiekeats]

42 minutes ago, Yanaka said:

It's so quiet here!

Hello! Hello! Hello! Hello! Hello! Hello!

Yup. Preeetty empty.

Edit: rest assured, I am still obsessively refreshing my email. I'm not sure what I'm going to use the internet for after this is done. What did I do before? Go on Facebook? Who knows.

Edited February 26, 2017 by zombiekeats

[Yanaka]

5 minutes ago, zombiekeats said:

Hello! Hello! Hello! Hello! Hello! Hello!

Yup. Preeetty empty.

Edit: rest assured, I am still obsessively refreshing my email. I'm not sure what I'm going to use the internet for after this is done. What did I do before? Go on Facebook? Who knows.

Hahaha true! Well you can look for a nice vacation before 7 years of doctoral program  

[Silabus]

My official acceptance letter came in yesterday. It was mailed to my home instead of to my P.O. Box where I'm at school. Weird. Anyway my grandfather took it upon himself to open it. He called me yesterday like: "This is a great deal! You're going to get health insurance!" xD Thanks, can you send that to me?!

[FeetInTheSky]

I got offered a spot in the UMD MA program yesterday

Funding is questionable and I don't know if I'll take the offer given that I have guaranteed funding in Nebraska, but it still feels good! I'm sure lots of people get the "ok not the PhD but try out MA program" email (or consolation prize, as I've heard it called) but I'm still counting it as a win. 

[Kate-]

Quick question about accepting an offer!:

If I was given until the 28th of February to accept/decline an offer, does that mean I can let them know ON that day? Or do I need to let them know before that date? I'm probably overthinking this...

Congrats to everyone on their English MA acceptances, and good luck to those still waiting!

[CrunchyMamademic]

25 minutes ago, Kate- said:

Quick question about accepting an offer!:

If I was given until the 28th of February to accept/decline an offer, does that mean I can let them know ON that day? Or do I need to let them know before that date? I'm probably overthinking this...

Congrats to everyone on their English MA acceptances, and good luck to those still waiting!

I would probably accept by the 27st, but I'm not sure what the actual guidelines are.

That's such an early deadline!

[Mippipopolous]

Guys, after that Oscars flub I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have nightmares that I didn't actually get into a PhD program. "I'm sorry, but there's been a mistake—we've actually admitted Moonlight to the English PhD program at Notre Dame!" 

[Avalanched]

9 hours ago, Kate- said:

Quick question about accepting an offer!:

If I was given until the 28th of February to accept/decline an offer, does that mean I can let them know ON that day? Or do I need to let them know before that date? I'm probably overthinking this...

Congrats to everyone on their English MA acceptances, and good luck to those still waiting!

Can programs do that? At least in the USA I don't think most programs can legally require a response until April 15 (at least if the acceptance comes with funding), and we can withdraw acceptances any time through the 15th. This thing.  I have no idea if it applies to you! 

[Kate-]

11 hours ago, CrunchyMamademic said:

I would probably accept by the 27st, but I'm not sure what the actual guidelines are.

That's such an early deadline!

Thank you! And I know, I wish I had a bit more time, but it was a VERY competitive offer, so I'm wondering if that's why?

2 hours ago, Avalanched said:

Can programs do that? At least in the USA I don't think most programs can legally require a response until April 15 (at least if the acceptance comes with funding), and we can withdraw acceptances any time through the 15th. This thing.  I have no idea if it applies to you! 

I'm Canadian and only applied to Canadian schools, so that won't apply to me! My later accept/decline date was only March 7th. I only applied to both schools, and both gave me their decision very fast.

[CrunchyMamademic]

35 minutes ago, Kate- said:

Thank you! And I know, I wish I had a bit more time, but it was a VERY competitive offer, so I'm wondering if that's why?

I bet that's the case. I have a March 15th decision deadline, which I attributed to the funding offer as well. 

[Abyss21]

29 minutes ago, CrunchyMamademic said:

I bet that's the case. I have a March 15th decision deadline, which I attributed to the funding offer as well. 

Same! I'm now curious about which universities you guys are talking about haha. Mine's pretty obvious based on my signature. 

[Hartley]

So, I'm wondering what y'all think about the reliability of implied rejections from Yale, Brown, and U. Michigan.  They are the only three I'm waiting for official responses from, and I'm starting to feel like I want to make a final decision.  I haven't combed through the results page at length, but it seems like these schools have already sent out acceptances.  Am I jumping the gun?  These schools would obviously be contenders if I had offers from them, but it seems like those offers aren't going to come. Is it really just wise to wait and get the official responses?  Or can I finally commit and start getting pumped about the program I'll attend?  I sort of feel like I want to express to the school I'm currently leaning toward that I am eager and excited to join.

Edited February 27, 2017 by Hartley

[brontebitch]

4 minutes ago, Hartley said:

So, I'm wondering what y'all think about the reliability of implied rejections from Yale, Brown, and U. Michigan.  They are the only three I'm waiting for official responses from, and I'm starting to feel like I want to make a final decision.  I haven't combed through the results page at length, but it seems like these schools have already sent out acceptances.  Am I jumping the gun?  These schools would obviously be contenders if I had offers from them, but it seems like those offers aren't going to come. Is it really just wise to wait and get the official responses?  Or can I finally commit and start getting pumped about the program I'll attend?  I sort of feel like I want to express to the school I'm currently leaning toward that I am eager and excited to join.

I have the same question about two different programs! It seems like CU Boulder and NYU also notified already (acceptances and some waitlists) but I haven't heard either way. I am kind of assuming rejection at this point, and I know NYU is notorious for notifying their rejects very late in the season, but it's hard when you don't have an official notice. 

[Yanaka]

18 minutes ago, Hartley said:

So, I'm wondering what y'all think about the reliability of implied rejections from Yale, Brown, and U. Michigan.  They are the only three I'm waiting for official responses from, and I'm starting to feel like I want to make a final decision.  I haven't combed through the results page at length, but it seems like these schools have already sent out acceptances.  Am I jumping the gun?  These schools would obviously be contenders if I had offers from them, but it seems like those offers aren't going to come. Is it really just wise to wait and get the official responses?  Or can I finally commit and start getting pumped about the program I'll attend?  I sort of feel like I want to express to the school I'm currently leaning toward that I am eager and excited to join.

I think what I'd do is

a- assume those are rejections

b- if you're so excited about a specific program, do you really think you'd change your mind if one of the last three schools turned out to send you an acceptance? I mean, for reasons other than rank? If you're super excited about one program then you shouldn't regret accepting their offer, no?

Anyway you still have time to wait, but if you're getting really excited and need to move on, then ignore the pending 3 answers! It also means it was meant to happen. If Yale like absolutely wanted you and thought you were a terrific fit, I'm sure you'd know already. 

By the way I have no idea if that's how they work in the adcomms, but I think that being absolutely excited about something means that's what you should go for!

Edited February 27, 2017 by Yanaka

[Ramus]

22 minutes ago, Hartley said:

So, I'm wondering what y'all think about the reliability of implied rejections from Yale, Brown, and U. Michigan.  They are the only three I'm waiting for official responses from, and I'm starting to feel like I want to make a final decision.  I haven't combed through the results page at length, but it seems like these schools have already sent out acceptances.  Am I jumping the gun?  These schools would obviously be contenders if I had offers from them, but it seems like those offers aren't going to come. Is it really just wise to wait and get the official responses?  Or can I finally commit and start getting pumped about the program I'll attend?  I sort of feel like I want to express to the school I'm currently leaning toward that I am eager and excited to join.

I don't think you have anything to gain by committing this early. While I think you're probably right to assume those are implied rejections, it can't hurt to wait a few more weeks until you get final word. If you ultimately end up attending the program you're currently leaning toward, it's not like committing now as opposed to, say, March 30th, is going to score you any extra points. They know that other programs are still notifying and won't (or shouldn't, at the very least) expect you to solidify you position right now. 

[chamakay]

On 2/24/2017 at 1:28 PM, ratanegra19 said:

No worries--I have trouble keeping track of who says what on this thread sometimes, too. We're working with 50+ pages and in only about 2 months worth of posts!

To answer your question, I learned about the program originally through reading the "Acknowledgements" section of Lisa Zunshine's book, Why We Read Fiction. It's a great read, and one of the first bona fide works in the field of cognitive literary studies, as opposed to cognitive science per se. She talked about how she'd gotten a lot of her ideas through the great seminars at Santa Barbara, though I don't think it was called "Literature and Mind" at the time. I did some research, and found that that cognitive approach tradition is still going strong--it looks pretty cool!

It's actually not a program so much as a reading group that offers some seminars, so if I choose to go to UCSB I would still be getting a "normal" PhD in English (whatever the hell that means), However, I'd do my best to work with some of the professors doing cognitive literary studies--there's also an option to do one part of your comps exams in the "Literature and Mind" subfield!

Woo...we're all such nerds here  

Thanks for the info! I was a little unclear at first about whether the centers were programs/affiliated with classes or not so it's nice to have more clarification. It sounds like the centers are a good opportunity to collaborate and build community.

Edited February 27, 2017 by chamakay

[BLK1222]

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone had heard from Tufts?