Cornell

[subzoo]

Eeeek! Who got accepted? Who? Whooooo are you? Who, who, who, who? I really wanna know

Now, I am feeling abject terror. The Chapel Hill acceptances are rolling in and now this. Gah. Terror.

~ m

So no one applying to the English PhD program has heard from Cornell yet? Personally I wasn't even expecting to hear from them until late February at least (because that's when they told me they'd notify me), but now everyone seems to be suggesting that I should've been contacted for an interview by now, if I'm to get in at all. Do other English applicants feel the same way? Maybe English departments take more time in making their decision (i.e. maybe English departments are more sensible).

[Applied: cornell, suny buffalo, suny binghamton, u of rochester]

[Venetia]

So no one applying to the English PhD program has heard from Cornell yet? Personally I wasn't even expecting to hear from them until late February at least (because that's when they told me they'd notify me), but now everyone seems to be suggesting that I should've been contacted for an interview by now, if I'm to get in at all.

[Applied: cornell, suny buffalo, suny binghamton, u of rochester]

As far as I know, Cornell doesn't do interviews (I haven't seen any record of it in previous years' results postings, anyway), and they seem to notify from mid-February onwards. So no, I'm not worried yet! Unless someone has intel that Cornell is doing interviews for English...

[TC3]

If the post is legitimate, someone already has been notified of acceptance at Cornell (see results page). Looking back at the results from years past, it seems that programs notify the elect long before the time that they announce as the "notification date," which really is more of when they tell the hundreds of people who didn't make it that they were passed over.

[subzoo]

If the post is legitimate, someone already has been notified of acceptance at Cornell (see results page). Looking back at the results from years past, it seems that programs notify the elect long before the time that they announce as the "notification date," which really is more of when they tell the hundreds of people who didn't make it that they were passed over.

Maybe they don't issue acceptance letters all at once though - people applying to SUNY Buffalo have already been notified of acceptances and rejections via the SUNY website, whereas my status is still "application under review." So maybe the few Cornell acceptances don't mean all the acceptances are out yet.

[diehtc0ke]

Just saw the postal service notification on the results page and have already chewed half my fingernails off (a dirty habit that only resurfaces in the most dire of circumstances) in anticipation of tomorrow's mail.

[TC3]

Just saw the postal service notification on the results page and have already chewed half my fingernails off (a dirty habit that only resurfaces in the most dire of circumstances) in anticipation of tomorrow's mail.

Meh, I never expected to get into Cornell. I have a BA from an unranked state branch school and and an MA from a 50-75 program. Not like I'd even be considered. It was a frivolous application.

[strokeofmidnight]

Meh, I never expected to get into Cornell. I have a BA from an unranked state branch school and and an MA from a 50-75 program. Not like I'd even be considered. It was a frivolous application.

I know students (yes, plural) with your background who got to choose between Berkeley and Harvard/Yale. The name on your diploma doesn't determine your application fate, though certain schools do tend to provide more opportunities for you to attain/demonstrate the level of scholarship that top programs look for.

Even if Cornell doesn't work out for you, good luck with the rest of your applications.

Edited February 20, 2010 by strokeofmidnight

[TC3]

I know students (yes, plural) with your background who got to choose between Berkeley and Harvard/Yale. The name on your diploma doesn't determine your application fate, though certain schools do tend to provide more opportunities for you to attain/demonstrate the level of scholarship that top programs look for.

Even if Cornell doesn't work out for you, good luck with the rest of your applications.

Thanks, I do mean it, but I don't think that exceptions prove the rule. This forum is used largely by those who can realistically hope for such programs, and while everyone has that anecdote of the two or three people who started at Everyman State U. and ended up at Yale, 99% of the time the name *does* matter, and it's also more than a little unfair to provide what at first seems to be harmless "keep your chin up" advice. If anyone can get in anywhere, it makes it more of the applicant's fault that the Everyman State U. student didn't make it into Harvard; if s/he had just tried harder, then s/he would have reached his or her goals. Even more reason for the applicant to be depressed, as if there wasn't reason to be depressed already (see the Thomas Benton column at the Chronicle, as well as the related article concerning similarities between Academe and cult psychology). It's easy for the privileged to say that anyone can get in anywhere. It's not so easy for the underprivileged to buy the pitch.

Edited February 20, 2010 by TC3

[strokeofmidnight]

Thanks, I do mean it, but I don't think that exceptions prove the rule. This forum is used largely by those who can realistically hope for such programs, and while everyone has that anecdote of the two or three people who started at Everyman State U. and ended up at Yale, 99% of the time the name *does* matter, and it's also more than a little unfair to provide what at first seems to be harmless "keep your chin up" advice. If anyone can get in anywhere, it makes it more of the applicant's fault that the Everyman State U. student didn't make it into Harvard; if s/he had just tried harder, then s/he would have reached his or her goals. Even more reason for the applicant to be depressed, as if there wasn't reason to be depressed already (see the Thomas Benton column at the Chronicle, as well as the related article concerning similarities between Academe and cult psychology). It's easy for the privileged to say that anyone can get in anywhere. It's not so easy for the underprivileged to buy the pitch.

What do you mean by "privilege?" Do you mean the name on the diploma? The preparation/training/talent (and yes, also luck and timing) that marks a successful applicant from a less than successful one? We disagree, I think, in that I'm firmly convinced that it's the latter that gets applicant into grad school. And while the name on the diploma obviously influences one's opportunities to gain the latter, the two are not undivorceable. Nor is it as rare as your pessimism suggests.

It wasn't intended as a pitch. I had not originally meant to get into this discussion in this particular thread...but in short (and this is coming from someone who DOESN'T have an impressive name on her diploma), it's not the school name that counts. While ad-comms in top programs are more likely to pay attention to applicants whose LoR's are written by colleagues that they know and respect (who may be more likely to work in other well-known programs), they DON'T systematically toss out applicants who graduated from unknown programs. This isn't to say that applicants from top programs don't have an advantage. They have lots of advantages: they tend to be better-trained, better-prepared, better-advised in an environment that pushes them further and trains them to be more attractive scholars. But while it's obviously easiest to obtain those advantages from within the program, I do think that it's possible for a hard-working, determined applicant to gain that preparation on his own. It might require milking the resources at the (not-so-well-ranked) BA or MA program for all it's worth, studying independently, finding opportunities in exchange programs, etc, etc. But it's possible. I never suggested--and never will--that anyone can get in anywhere. I am arguing that far more of an applicant's success is in his or her hands, rather than predetermined by the name on the diploma. Even then, frankly, there are some extremely dedicated applicants who don't have "what it takes" (and I certainly can't describe exactly what "it" is), and for those, a PhD program--much less Harvard--isn't in the cards. But the defining line ISN'T whether or not the applicant went to a brand-name school.

There are lots of articles (some more accurate than others) by disgruntled (and yet, often current) academics in the Chronicle. He has good points, but I definitely don't buy his argument, wholesale.

[TC3]

Yes, I don't mean to make blanket statements.

And Benton's arguments certainly are problematic.

In the end, we're all just trying to make it. And it's difficult to discuss issues of privilege without sounding combative or denigrating those who do/did attend top programs. I certainly don't mean to do that.

I suppose I should take the -1/+1 for me/you as an indicaition and gracefully bow out.

I do agree that anyone can move up in the ranks, and I certainly did this from my BA to my MA. I would encourage anyone to get as much out of their program as possible.

Ultimately, Conan's advice is the most profound. Be kind, and amazing things will happen.

Edited February 20, 2010 by TC3

[subzoo]

sorry to interrupt, but something just occurred to me about the results reported about Cornell: there have been 2 admits reported, but one of them only says "Literature" - not english literature. Is this just a repeat of the other admit reported, or is it a comp. lit. result, or what?

anyway, do you think they're still making offers?

Edited February 21, 2010 by subzoo

[TC3]

sorry to interrupt, but something just occurred to me about the results reported about Cornell: there have been 2 admits reported, but one of them only says "Literature" - not english literature. Is this just a repeat of the other admit reported, or is it a comp. lit. result, or what?

anyway, do you think they're still making offers?

I'd assume that the posted acceptance indicates that Cornell made its first round of offers this past week, and that the posted postal rejection indicates that most rejections should be arriving in our mailboxes beginning on Monday.

[Venetia]

I'd assume that the posted acceptance indicates that Cornell made its first round of offers this past week, and that the posted postal rejection indicates that most rejections should be arriving in our mailboxes beginning on Monday.

Damn, they're notifying by post? This means that I won't know my fate for at least two weeks... :S

[TC3]

Damn, they're notifying by post? This means that I won't know my fate for at least two weeks... :S

They did postal rejections last year. I'm sure that the acceptance notifications are glowing telephone calls or emails.

[foppery]

Thanks, I do mean it, but I don't think that exceptions prove the rule. This forum is used largely by those who can realistically hope for such programs, and while everyone has that anecdote of the two or three people who started at Everyman State U. and ended up at Yale, 99% of the time the name *does* matter, and it's also more than a little unfair to provide what at first seems to be harmless "keep your chin up" advice. If anyone can get in anywhere, it makes it more of the applicant's fault that the Everyman State U. student didn't make it into Harvard; if s/he had just tried harder, then s/he would have reached his or her goals. Even more reason for the applicant to be depressed, as if there wasn't reason to be depressed already (see the Thomas Benton column at the Chronicle, as well as the related article concerning similarities between Academe and cult psychology). It's easy for the privileged to say that anyone can get in anywhere. It's not so easy for the underprivileged to buy the pitch.

I'm sorry, but (as other posters have pointed out) this is NOT TRUE. The name of your school will NOT prejudice an admissions committee against you. Well-to-do, high-ranked schools are disproportionately represented in the best Ph.D. programs because they have money and time to devote to their undergrads, and they have professors who attended those very Ph.D. programs and know how to work the system. But if you have stellar application materials, there's absolutely no need to worry about the name of your school. I know countless grad students (and respected academics) with undergrad degrees from Nowheresville College. One of my former English professors, a Harvard Ph.D. who publishes regularly in the New York Review of Books, attended an obscure college in North Carolina.

As for Cornell, a general bit of info: If you get on the waitlist, all is not lost. I was waitlisted last year, and was eventually accepted with no extra effort on my part, though I chose to go elsewhere. Good luck!

[subzoo]

Does anyone else find it strange that only one rejection has been posted so far? Shouldn't a great big batch of rejections been received in the past few days? Are people just too embarrassed to report them? In any case, I for one still haven't heard a thing from Cornell.

[w2010]

Does anyone else find it strange that only one rejection has been posted so far? Shouldn't a great big batch of rejections been received in the past few days? Are people just too embarrassed to report them? In any case, I for one still haven't heard a thing from Cornell.

Haven't heard anything either. I admit that I did apply to a larger number of programs then some (I knew that it would be a tough year because I am finishing my BA from a top 25 English program and of the 3 students I know applied last year, one person got 2 offers, one got 1, and another got zero). I have to say that I haven't heard much from the majority of the programs I have applied to. I think I have heard definitely (yes or no) from 7.

I hate waiting (as I know everyone else does). I wouldn't worry too much (unless it is May and we haven't heard).

[Venetia]

I haven't heard from them either, and from reading other people's signatures it seems like lots of folk haven't heard anything. I'm not going to write them off just yet...

[minnares]

I haven't heard from them either, and from reading other people's signatures it seems like lots of folk haven't heard anything. I'm not going to write them off just yet...

I've heard nothing as well. My faculty advisor keeps telling me that February is considered "very early" for responses in many English programs. So, I'm not writing any of my other five off until I get the Letter of Doom or the "You've been found wanting" email.

~ m

[Medievalmaniac]

Minnares - I emailed my prof in a blind panic the other day, and she told me basically the same thing - "February is early for English, don't expect to hear anything until next week or the week after, and don't start fretting until the end of March, if then". Penn State, for example, isn't expecting to get through it all until close to the end of March, according to someone on the board.

[minnares]

Minnares - I emailed my prof in a blind panic the other day, and she told me basically the same thing - "February is early for English, don't expect to hear anything until next week or the week after, and don't start fretting until the end of March, if then". Penn State, for example, isn't expecting to get through it all until close to the end of March, according to someone on the board.

Precisely. I also noticed in the results from 2009 that several programs had additional admits after April 15th. People probably declined offers, and those represented folks getting in off the wait list. And zo... Coolin' my jets . I think finding these boards and seeing so many people having contact with programs sort of blinded me to the fact that they weren't even in my discipline. I probably could have saved myself a lot of stress this month by just knowing it'd probably be March before I had answers. Last year, Harvard and IU Bloomington did the bulk of their admissions the first week of March; those who received rejections got them the second week of March. I've got little post-its on my desk calendar to track this (how mental is that). More waiting. It's a good thing I'm pretrial at my job right now. Busy!

~ m

Edited February 24, 2010 by minnares

[Venetia]

Medievalmaniac- that's good to hear. I think this forum's obsession with 'implicit rejections' was making me believe the worst about some of my schools merely because a couple of offers had been made and I was still dealing with silence. We have to remember that we're still in the beginning of the acceptance process (unlike the scientists, who are pretty much done, right?).

[minnares]

(unlike the scientists, who are pretty much done, right?).

Seems that way, and also most of the social sciences. One more way to make the humanities folks feel like second class citizens . I really appreciated the article someone posted yesterday about rethinking getting a humanities graduate degree, just a good reality check. One of my favorite professors just told me this morning she was denied tenure. Though the article just confirmed what I'd already been warned about by others (and didn't change my mind about going at all), it still made some strong points. Anyway, sorry, that was a bit afield of the thread . I'm just annoyed for my professor-friend, who was very deserving and is a fantastic instructor. Moving on...

~ m

[Branwen daughter of Llyr]

Seems that way, and also most of the social sciences. One more way to make the humanities folks feel like second class citizens . I really appreciated the article someone posted yesterday about rethinking getting a humanities graduate degree, just a good reality check. One of my favorite professors just told me this morning she was denied tenure. Though the article just confirmed what I'd already been warned about by others (and didn't change my mind about going at all), it still made some strong points. Anyway, sorry, that was a bit afield of the thread . I'm just annoyed for my professor-friend, who was very deserving and is a fantastic instructor. Moving on...

~ m

We are SO NOT second class citizens!! Quite the opposite!! It takes profs extra long to go through our applications because there is SO much to factor in!! - Think about it - past the numbers cutoff it's all soooo subjective - fit, writing abilities, SOP, LoR's... The fact that it takes a while actually makes me feel more confident that they're actually READING our apps rather than just playing eeny-meeny-miney-moe with them...

And about your prof friend. Hopefully once the economy improves somewhat, tenure jobs will start coming back (by the time we all graduate, you think?)

Edited February 24, 2010 by Branwen daughter of Llyr

[minnares]

We are SO NOT second class citizens!! Quite the opposite!! It takes profs extra long to go through our applications because there is SO much to factor in!! - Think about it - past the numbers cutoff it's all soooo subjective - fit, writing abilities, SOP, LoR's... The fact that it takes a while actually makes me feel more confident that they're actually READING our apps rather than just playing eeny-meeny-miney-moe with them...

And about your prof friend. Hopefully once the economy improves somewhat, tenure jobs will start coming back (by the time we all graduate, you think?)

Oh, I didn't mean within the discipline. I meant outside of it. Consider how much emphasis is placed on sciences and mathematics in terms of funding, scholarships, and available fellowships. Consider the emphasis placed on those areas by the government. You don't hear the president(s) standing up at the State of the Union address to say that the United States has to be more competitive in hermeneutics and literary theory. When a university is pooling applications for university wide funding and the science/math majors have already been chosen, it would seem that they get the first crack at the really meaty offers. My brother in law is at UC Davis doing biochemistry (AIDS research). He's got a ridiculous $35k stipend, summer funding, tuition remission, the works. The most I've heard of in English so far was $24k. So, while we recognize that folks in other professions need our discipline in order to learn how to publish and present their research (someone has to teach them how to write, yes?), it's low on the totem pole socially for importance. Right up there with getting a degree in art, though we know differently.

And thanks for the sympathy. She's really a Grade A instructor, author, and director (of documentary film). I was her RA for her first monograph. So I'm really shocked she was denied. Another good reality check.

~ m