2018 Applicants

[WildeThing]

So I got my firs official rejection. Checked the Cambridge portal and it said “unsuccessful”. The fit wasn’t as good as with Oxford but I liked the idea of doing a 3 year PhD closer to home. So far I’ve been rejected or implied rejected by 3 places that were middle or bottom of my list for one reason or another, but more and more I think I should have taken the advice I was given and aimed lower. Definitely thinking I might get shut out but it won’t really hit until I get rejected by my top schools (Yale, Oxford, Columbia).

[CanadianEnglish]

9 minutes ago, WildeThing said:

So I got my firs official rejection. Checked the Cambridge portal and it said “unsuccessful”. The fit wasn’t as good as with Oxford but I liked the idea of doing a 3 year PhD closer to home. So far I’ve been rejected or implied rejected by 3 places that were middle or bottom of my list for one reason or another, but more and more I think I should have taken the advice I was given and aimed lower. Definitely thinking I might get shut out but it won’t really hit until I get rejected by my top schools (Yale, Oxford, Columbia).

I'm sorry to hear about your rejection, but I wouldn't worry about it too much! As you said, it wasn't a good fit as the others, and this is one school out of 18! You're obviously ambitious, and I think schools will recognize that. Good luck in the next coming weeks! From one POCO to another  

[ashley623]

On 1/28/2018 at 11:59 PM, Wooshkuh said:

I went to North Dakota State (a rival of UND) for my undergrad and MA. Grand Forks is an ok city. Fargo is much better in my opinion. The support, funding, and teaching experience that I got at NDSU set me up on a great path! Don't overlook some of the schools that aren't ranked as highly (especially for your MA). 

Oh it's definitely not because of the ranking - it's more so because some of the schools I applied to are in cold places (for me) but ND is like the tundra! 

[M(allthevowels)H]

On 1/20/2018 at 4:07 AM, bemi said:

I got admission to uwash for global health,awaiting Berkeley, Yale and Vanderbilt

 

I don't know how I missed this but congrats! Waiting for Vanderbilt is a whole mood. (Though your program might have responded by now.)

[FishNerd]

So I'm new here and have been checking out these forums for the last week or so because my anxiety over hearing back on acceptances is killing me and knowing others are out there in the same boat makes it a little better. Plus I can see when people are hearing back from schools. Anyway... I just wanted to reply to this thread because I am applying this fall with my fiancee to programs - fiancee to English/Literature PhDs and me to Biology PhDs. I didn't look at this website much during applications and now that I have I am super stressed out by the fact that we have only applied to 3 schools - University of Arkansas, University of Denver, and University of Massachusetts (Amherst). We considered a fourth school that could have been on the table for me (I have to secure a potential advisor at each school and make sure I would want to work in their lab) but ultimately didn't apply because we didn't think even if we got in that we would want to live in the area that school was in. Other potential schools we looked at (and we looked at places all over the US) fell through on my end unfortunately. I am super worried we did not apply to enough now because I didn't realize just how competitive English programs could be and because it seems everyone here applied to 5 or more. I am posting here on behalf of my fiancee to know how he might compare to other applicants out there. Overall I think we are both fairly competitive but I don't think either of us realized just how competitive English grad programs can be.

Some info on him are BA at small state school with ~3.85 GPA (graduated from honors program) and with lots of conferences, research experience, and academic involvement (served on committees for the honors program and creative writing journal). MA from a different small state school 4.0 GPA with a couple of conferences, academic involvement (mainly with the creative writing part of the program) and thesis on its way to publication. He has some publication type things but mainly on the creative writing side and is preparing his thesis for publication in an academic journal. His GRE scores are 167V 155Q and 3.5 writing (he is a great writer just didn't prepare for that type of writing). He was a TA during his 2 years for his MA and now has experience teaching his own classes last semester (freshman composition) and this semester (freshman comp. and freshman lit.). I may be forgetting a few things but I think that's the gist of his academic career. His interests in literary research are in southern literature but more specifically Appalachian lit. I'm not sure I can specifically articulate what type of research he wants to do but as I understand it he is interested as to how these regional literatures expand in their influence beyond the region in which they are found (his thesis was on a novel that is a great example of Southern Gothic literature but the novel is actually set in Ohio).

My fiancee and I are most worried about SOP because I'm not sure either of us are super confident in our SOPs. He worries a bit about not having his research interests defined enough (though I think he expresses his interests I mention above) and I hadn't read how important a SOP can be in the admissions process. He also worries that his involvement with the creative writing sides of his undergrad and master's departments doesn't really matter since he is applying to do English literature programs and not creative writing ones (he just enjoys being involved on both sides but ultimately prefers doing academic research). I guess I am posting to see if anyone knows how my fiancee might stack up since he has no idea who he's competing against (and neither do I really). Also if anyone has any kind words about how maybe it isn't impossible for us both to get into at least one of our schools I would really appreciate it (though I do worry UMass might be out since I know some acceptances have been sent out there and he worries that the fit there might not be right for him, also it is the highest ranked of the schools we are applying to). I'm not sure if it's relevant but I have unofficially been accepted into U. of Arkansas so that's about all we know in terms of application decisions so far. I'm just super worried by only applying to 3 schools that we have potentially really hurt out chances of getting into a school together. I'll be happy to hear anything anyone here has to say!

Also good luck to everyone else on hearing back from schools!

[M(allthevowels)H]

14 minutes ago, FishNerd said:

I'm just super worried by only applying to 3 schools that we have potentially really hurt out chances of getting into a school together. I'll be happy to hear anything anyone here has to say!

If you guys researched the schools to ensure he's a good fit and there are people there he could work with, I wouldn't worry too much. I'm mean, yes, there's something to the idea of the "it's a numbers game" approach, but someone applying to 3 schools that they actually researched for fit is in a better position, in my totally uninformed opinion, than those who shotgun apps broadly without considering fit. 

[midwest-ford]

2 hours ago, FishNerd said:

He also worries that his involvement with the creative writing sides of his undergrad and master's departments doesn't really matter since he is applying to do English literature programs and not creative writing ones (he just enjoys being involved on both sides but ultimately prefers doing academic research).

He should not worry about this, and if he doesn't get in, it won't be because of this!

I'm in a similar situation (creative writing undergrad degree, doing a creative nonfiction MA thesis, applying to rhet comp programs), and based on what my mentors have told me & the schools I've been accepted into, I think if anything it helps to have a diverse range of experiences. It shows that he brings something unique to the program and that he has specific, unique interests that he actively pursues! One of my professors also mentioned that she thinks you're more likely to get a job if you do creative writing alongside your main field, because you can teach a wider range of classes and you're able to think and work in multiple ways. 

(Sidebar about feelings of desperation and rejection: I think most people on here would tell you that it's normal, common, and not a reflection on you (of course) if either of you end up not getting accepted this time. Sometimes it does take a round or two to figure out 1) what you want, or 2) how to articulate it in the best way possible. After my BA, I applied to 12 MFA programs and a Fulbright for an MA and got rejected from everything. The next year, I applied to 9 MFA programs (including 3 that had waitlisted me the year before) and got rejected from everything. I went back to my BA institution to get an MA. This year, I applied to 7 PhD programs and it's going well. Those rejections hurt (both my heart and my wallet), but ultimately they DID make me a better applicant and a more confident, assertive academic because I learned that this is for sure what I want to do. So best of luck, but please know that there is a positive side to this either way

[FishNerd]

@M(allthevowels)H Thanks so much for the feedback! We really did our best to research and ensure a good fit for the both of us at each school, and that's ultimately why we didn't apply to the fourth one that we could have together since we really didn't think fit there was good. He saw at least a couple different professors at all 3 schools that he thinks working with would go well. Honestly while we would like to have options to choose from, as long as we both get into one school together I think we'll be great because we're certain we'd be happy at any of our options (though we are still hoping to visit any we are accepted at to ensure that's true).

@midwest-ford  That's awesome to hear that you've heard having the diverse set of experiences isn't a detriment! My fiancee worries that by dabbling on both sides it will make him appear unfocused but it's really just because he enjoys both a lot. He would love to eventually teach a creative writing course eventually so that's another good thing to hear that he might be able to sell himself as well-versed in both sides! And thank you so much for the kind words in your sidebar - I know it's not the end of the world if it doesn't work out perfectly this year but we would be very disappointed. My fiancee has had to wait on me as I finish up my master's thesis so we ended up staying at our MA institution a bit longer than planned (my thesis hit some snags in data collection so I was delayed in momentum a bit) and we are so ready to leave the town we are currently in! But I do think this extra year has helped both him and me figure out exactly what we want at the next step and it's allowed him to get some valuable teaching experience. Hopefully it will work out at one of our options but you are certainly right that we will figure it out if not!

[Wabbajack]

On 2/1/2018 at 4:50 PM, FishNerd said:

His interests in literary research are in southern literature but more specifically Appalachian lit.

As a native Southerner whose family is from Appalachia, heck yeah!

Like others have said here, I wouldn't worry too much about only applying three programs. Now that I've sent out all of my applications, I've come to realize that there are only three that I actually care about. Obviously applying to more programs can have a numbers advantage, but you were also able to dedicate more time to those three and save yourself some money.

[FishNerd]

Thanks for the input @Wabbajack! My fiance and his family are also from Appalachia and we did our undergrad at a university set in the foothills of the Appalachia, so he his very fond of the region and before applications he realized that he would really like to incorporate his roots into his research. I'm glad to hear from everyone that we likely haven't completely shot ourselves in the foot by only applying to 3 schools. We are thankful that fact saved us money in applying because with us both applying application expenses add up quickly! Now to just wait until we hear confirmed results. At least 2 of our 3 schools didn't have deadlines until Jan 15th so we aren't too worried about not hearing back from those, but my fiance should be hearing back very soon from one school who let him know he should have the results of his application by Feb 15th.

[Warelin]

@FishNerd FWIW:From the e-mail correspondences I've had, UMass has finished sending out their first round pics. Denver is expected to notify this week!

Did your partner apply for the English PHD or the English/CW PHD at Denver?

Edited February 4, 2018 by Warelin

[FishNerd]

24 minutes ago, Warelin said:

@FishNerd FWIW:From the e-mail correspondences I've had, UMass has finished sending out their first round pics. Denver is expected to notify this week!

Did your partner apply for the English PHD or the English/CW PHD at Denver?

Yeah I had gathered from the 2018 Acceptance thread that UMass had likely sent out their first round picks. And yeah my last comment on this thread on expecting to hear back from a school this week was in reference to Denver. That's both exciting and nerve-wracking to know he should expect a response this week! Thanks for the info on these schools!

My partner applied to the Literary Studies (English) PhD. I had gathered from perusing the results area that the English CW PhD is extremely competitive (as I gather most creative writing degrees are?) but we don't know how competitive the Literary Studies is (other than what info the department website says that they accept about 10 people out of 150 applicants) in reference to scores and background and such. Do you have any idea?

[Mise]

The Stanford rejection, though totally expected, really totally totally expected, is kind of sad. The I-want-to-work-with-these-professors paragraph almost wrote itself when I was working on SoPs. 

[la_mod]

50 minutes ago, Mise said:

The Stanford rejection, though totally expected, really totally totally expected, is kind of sad. The I-want-to-work-with-these-professors paragraph almost wrote itself when I was working on SoPs. 

Ugh. I know the feeling. First thought: "well, no surprise." Second thought: "oh, I'll never get to take [xyz prof's] class."