2017 Acceptances

[Warelin]

  On 1/25/2017 at 6:31 PM, eadwacer said:

My first result was a rejection from OSU--yesterday evening my status was updated to "denied" and this morning at around 7 I got an email.

Then ten minutes ago I got a wait list email from Minnesota. Apparently they were "favorably impressed," but could not offer a financial aid package, and since they guarantee funding: wait list.

I'm not especially surprised about OSU since 1) I'm not the greatest fit with the program, 2) Their application confused the hell out of me so I'm sure I screwed up some part of it, and 3) I'm applying from in-state and I've heard that's not exactly a plus. I'm actually kind of surprised Minnesota liked me, to be honest. I thought I wasn't an especially good fit either, but I'm glad to know someone disagreed with me at least a bit.

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Congrats on the Minnesota waitlist. 

[eadwacer]

  On 1/25/2017 at 6:35 PM, crugs said:

The 'others' ... makes me feel so LOSTy

Anyone have thoughts on what it means for some to hear acceptances and some waitlists early on? (Re: UMN)...Does it go by research focus? I know we don't really know what goes on in their heads, but to me it reads: if you have not heard it's a no. 

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I don't know if it goes by research interest, but if it helps, mine are Old English, ecocriticism, and queer theory.

[biyutefulphlower]

  On 1/25/2017 at 6:31 PM, eadwacer said:

Then ten minutes ago I got a wait list email from Minnesota. Apparently they were "favorably impressed," but could not offer a financial aid package, and since they guarantee funding: wait list.

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Congrats on the wait list~

[Chburdick]

Hi all, I've been lurking - got accepted into Minnesota yesterday. Status changed to final review last week. Talked to DGS this morning. I was accepted into the 18/19 century subfield so it sounds like that group already made its decisions? Not sure about the others. 

[crugs]

  On 1/25/2017 at 8:55 PM, Chburdick said:

Hi all, I've been lurking - got accepted into Minnesota yesterday. Status changed to final review last week. Talked to DGS this morning. I was accepted into the 18/19 century subfield so it sounds like that group already made its decisions? Not sure about the others. 

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Congrats!!! That's so exciting! I grew up in MN, it's the most amazing State!!!

[toasterazzi]

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to slide in with a hearty congrats/(possible) welcome to everyone who got in at OSU. It's been a while since I've posted, so for a refresher, I'm a 3rd year PhD Candidate (I just finished exam a couple of months ago). I primarily study television, film, and pop culture. If you have any questions about the program, the department, the university, funding, Columbus, etc, feel free to send them my way. And I look forward to meeting you all at the visit day!

[Scarlet A+]

I thought I was emotionally ready to wait until February to freak out about application results, but seeing all of your responses has me checking my email and Grad Cafe once an hour. I have to keep reminding myself it's only January. My apartment lease ends July 1st, and every application I sent out is in a different state. Longest. Wait time. Ever. 

[anxiousphd]

  On 1/25/2017 at 11:51 PM, ChloeCriss said:

I thought I was emotionally ready to wait until February to freak out about application results, but seeing all of your responses has me checking my email and Grad Cafe once an hour. I have to keep reminding myself it's only January. My apartment lease ends July 1st, and every application I sent out is in a different state. Longest. Wait time. Ever. 

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HOW IS IT ONLY JANUARY? All I can do is worry about how the nation is crumbling and how I want to hear back from my programs.

[Lovegood]

Got rejected from UW-Madison literature study this morning (Beijing time), heart broken.

Over 200  applicants this year, less than 14% of the literature study applicants are receiving admission offers.

Let's say 20 admission offers? HUGE numbers considering only in one area group. 

 

Edited January 26, 2017 by Lovegood

[Lovegood]

  On 1/25/2017 at 6:35 PM, crugs said:

Anyone have thoughts on what it means for some to hear acceptances and some waitlists early on? (Re: UMN)...Does it go by research focus? I know we don't really know what goes on in their heads, but to me it reads: if you have not heard it's a no. 

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I think @eadwacer and @Chburdick gave you answers already. To make you feel any better, my status hasn't change into final review yet. 

Edited January 26, 2017 by Lovegood

[imogenshakes]

  On 1/26/2017 at 1:13 AM, Lovegood said:

Got rejected from UW-Madison literature study this morning (Beijing time), heart broken.

Over 200  applicants this year, less than 14% of the literature study applicants are receiving admission offers.

Let's say 20 admission offers? HUGE numbers considering only in one area group. 

 

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Aw man, that sucks. I'm sorry, @Lovegood!

I did wonder about that big number though. They didn't give me the "over 200 applicants" thing, but did mention the less than 14% bit. Seems like a LOT of students, but then again, they also seem to have a LOT of graduate students in general. Maybe a bunch of them are graduating? Or it's possible I know very little about how these programs work (actually, it's likely, haha). Who knows?

Fingers crossed you'll get some good news soon!

  On 1/26/2017 at 12:40 AM, anxiousgrad said:

HOW IS IT ONLY JANUARY? All I can do is worry about how the nation is crumbling and how I want to hear back from my programs.

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Ugh, I know. I hate when everything is just TOTALLY up in the air and abstract, and bad news is everywhere we turn on top of that. Though the terrible political news does remind me regularly of why I want to do this in the first place. 

I just really want everyone to hear from programs. I'm so excited to see where we all end up! 

[Warelin]

  On 1/26/2017 at 1:35 AM, imogenshakes said:

Aw man, that sucks. I'm sorry, @Lovegood!

I did wonder about that big number though. They didn't give me the "over 200 applicants" thing, but did mention the less than 14% bit. Seems like a LOT of students, but then again, they also seem to have a LOT of graduate students in general. Maybe a bunch of them are graduating? Or it's possible I know very little about how these programs work (actually, it's likely, haha). Who knows?

Fingers crossed you'll get some good news soon!

Ugh, I know. I hate when everything is just TOTALLY up in the air and abstract, and bad news is everywhere we turn on top of that. Though the terrible political news does remind me regularly of why I want to do this in the first place. 

I just really want everyone to hear from programs. I'm so excited to see where we all end up! 

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  On 1/26/2017 at 1:13 AM, Lovegood said:

Got rejected from UW-Madison literature study this morning (Beijing time), heart broken.

Over 200  applicants this year, less than 14% of the literature study applicants are receiving admission offers.

Let's say 20 admission offers? HUGE numbers considering only in one area group. 

 

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Sidenote here: In previous years, Madison and Seattle while ranked highly do not guarantee funding to all their applicants. Madison used to guarantee a full 5 years of funding if you were funded but last year, someone only received a 3 year funding package from them (Due to Scott Walker?) . It's unclear how many people received similiar funding offers from them. From my understanding, the literary studies department is the biggest department in English. The Grad School has linguistics listed as a "minor" so it's also possible that the number includes them.

Last year, they admitted 37 out of 213 applicants; 20 accepted their offers.  It isn't unusual for a program to accept twice as many people as they have room for because programs expect top applicants to have multiple offers.

[Lovegood]

  On 1/26/2017 at 1:35 AM, imogenshakes said:

they also seem to have a LOT of graduate students in general. Maybe a bunch of them are graduating

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Thanks for your comfort, imogenshakes. Today is Chinese New Year's Eve, I think it is better to forget about the rejection, instead, keep optimistic and carry on.

I contact 2 Ph.D students before, using the info. on the English Department website. One told me she quit 2 years ago. One told me she graduated last year. So, seems UWM doesn't update their current students' info.

One of the reason I think UWM is a great program is that professors and students there are very nice to reply my e-mails. Congratulate to you again!

[Lovegood]

  On 1/26/2017 at 1:52 AM, Warelin said:

Last year, they admitted 37 out of 213 applicants

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1 out of 5, still, compared to other programs who claim they only have several places, highly possible to get in.  I just don't know how things gonna happen to other programs.  Seems I lost my best chance. 

[tvethiopia]

  On 1/25/2017 at 11:51 PM, ChloeCriss said:

My apartment lease ends July 1st, and every application I sent out is in a different state. Longest. Wait time. Ever. 

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THIS. while waiting to see which programs i get into--if i get into any at all--is stressful enough itself, the fact that i may have to plan a move without knowing where just escalates it 1000000%. while my apartment is month-to-month, my current job is a contract position and my contract is up june 30th, soooo.... come on schools. help a girl out.

[eadwacer]

  On 1/26/2017 at 2:11 PM, tvethiopia said:

THIS. while waiting to see which programs i get into--if i get into any at all--is stressful enough itself, the fact that i may have to plan a move without knowing where just escalates it 1000000%. while my apartment is month-to-month, my current job is a contract position and my contract is up june 30th, soooo.... come on schools. help a girl out.

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Feel y'all on that. My lease is yearly and it's up on April 30th. I may just... move multiple states away to put my stuff in storage and live in my mom's basement until I know where I'm actually going. Grad school purgatory is the worst.

[biyutefulphlower]

  On 1/26/2017 at 2:32 PM, eadwacer said:

Feel y'all on that. My lease is yearly and it's up on April 30th. I may just... move multiple states away to put my stuff in storage and live in my mom's basement until I know where I'm actually going. Grad school purgatory is the worst.

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Same boat here - my lease is up on April 30th, too.  At least it's likely I'll have an idea if I'm going *somewhere* by early April.  (I'll probably try to negotiate a month-to-month situation with my landlord through the end of the summer...if all goes well).  Not to mention I'm getting married on April 29th, so that add an extra layer of agita. The future-husband is also eagerly awaiting the end of this wait-season, so he can start looking for new jobs wherever in the country we may be.  It's too bad we don't have a definitive date like 'match day' like med-students, haha.

 

 

[crugs]

  On 1/26/2017 at 3:08 PM, biyutefulphlower said:

It's too bad we don't have a definitive date like 'match day' like med-students, haha.

 

 

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I feel this too--I have a few friends who went through the match process and as stressful as that day was, it was amazing that everyone heard at the same time and there was no real 'waiting' involved--of course they had to wait until the day, but it wasn't a trickling effect of some people hearing from some schools then other departments waiting longer, or all the schools you happened to apply to are those with later acceptance dates, etc. 

Also match day parties are a solid thing you can plan for and look forward to. 

[lyonessrampant]

Congrats to UMinnesota admits/waitlists. I'm an advanced doctoral candidate here and would happily answer questions if you have them. Best wishes to all waiting!

[Yanaka]

Personally, I'm moving out of my apartment end of May and will spend the summer with my mom until I leave. Since I'm in France right now and will be moving anyway, whatever the outcome of this app season, and since I'll just be done with my BA, it's a little easier for me. I'll probably leave in July, so I can stay with my dad a little while and get my driver's license in Florida. And help with the transition before I leave to wherever!

Edited January 26, 2017 by Yanaka

[Scarlet A+]

  On 1/26/2017 at 2:11 PM, tvethiopia said:

THIS. while waiting to see which programs i get into--if i get into any at all--is stressful enough itself, the fact that i may have to plan a move without knowing where just escalates it 1000000%. while my apartment is month-to-month, my current job is a contract position and my contract is up june 30th, soooo.... come on schools. help a girl out.

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I just feel my life will be 100% better when ONE SCHOOL accepts me (I know that sounds presumptuous, but we all handle the stress differently). I can finally have purpose again - looking up the school more, apartments in the area, finding potential roommates, budgeting potential stipends/living rate struggles, contacting people accepted/already going there, etc. And if I end up getting accepted later on to another school and have to repeat the process, even better. So much research to do and actions to take, in blinding contrast to this terribly uncomfortable period of knowing nothing and twiddling my thumbs. 

Edited January 26, 2017 by ChloeCriss

[Warelin]

  On 1/26/2017 at 5:09 PM, ChloeCriss said:

I just feel my life will be 100% better when ONE SCHOOL accepts me (I know that sounds presumptuous, but we all handle the stress differently). I can finally have purpose again - looking up the school more, apartments in the area, finding potential roommates, budgeting potential stipends/living rate struggles, contacting people accepted/already going there, etc. And if I end of getting accepted later on to another school and have to repeat the process, even better. So much research to do and actions to take, in blinding contrast to this terribly uncomfortable period of knowing nothing and twiddling my thumbs. 

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I just want to say that you do have purpose even if schools say no. You are much more than your test scores or your admission results.

[Scarlet A+]

If you don't mind my asking, what did your applications look like? GRE scores, GPA, WS/SoP emphasis, etc.? What do you think set you apart? When did you hear back from the schools?

[Warelin]

  On 1/26/2017 at 5:30 PM, ChloeCriss said:

If you don't mind my asking, what did your applications look like? GRE scores, GPA, WS/SoP emphasis, etc.? What do you think set you apart? When did you hear back from the schools? 

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I'm not convinced GRE scores make a big difference in the grand scheme of things. I think the Writing Sample, your fit within a program, and your SOP make a major difference. I ended up doing a lot of tailoring to ensure that the program understood why I was interested in them specifically.

[Scarlet A+]

Are there sites where people who go to those schools can chat and search for roommates? 

  On 1/26/2017 at 5:52 PM, Warelin said:

I'm not convinced GRE scores make a big difference in the grand scheme of things. I think the Writing Sample, your fit within a program, and your SOP make a major difference. I ended up doing a lot of tailoring to ensure that the program understood why I was interested in them specifically.

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Are there sites for those schools where students chat and find roommates?