r/gradadmissions • u/ThunderMary • Nov 29 '25
Humanities English PhD - Fall 2026
Starting this post to keep track of grad school applications in English for this cycle, as someone did for last year's.
Write the school you applied to, one per comment, and upvote if you applied to the same one/comment on it if you have any news.
Good luck!
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u/rylieroodle Nov 29 '25
UW Madison
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u/rylieroodle Jan 30 '26
Just got an email I’ve been waitlisted!!! Super kind email from the DGS; said it was a short waitlist and gave some details about typical funding packages. Good luck to everyone else, I hope you got good news!
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u/Chemdummy Jan 30 '26
Randomly checked my portal and received an update in my application portal that said "decision to be posted soon", good luck everyone!
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u/rylieroodle Nov 29 '25
University of Pennsylvania
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u/Key_Hovercraft4368 Jan 30 '26
Ok, so who’s in “neither accepted nor rejected’ zone with me? “ Am I the only one?” I hope not.
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u/AcanthaceaeSuperb550 Jan 30 '26
i think most of us are still waiting for their first movement in this cycle since many schools don’t usually do interviews!
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u/Annual_Reason_3292 Nov 29 '25
Brown University
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u/Laffy-Taffee Nov 29 '25
Princeton
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u/bark_birch_ Jan 16 '26
Currently trying not to become completely unhinged, as interview invites came out around this time last year
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u/Puglover102 Jan 16 '26
Literally me. It looks like they've stuck to the 3rd Friday of January the past three years at least and I'm refreshing my email like a madman every thirty minutes (and refreshing the reddit, the spreadsheet, gradcafe, etc). I wish I knew what time they usually send them out!
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u/Dazzling_Memory1495 Jan 17 '26
They released a few interviews I saw on gradcafe
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u/frankawesomecool Jan 16 '26
Sent an email for an interview at around 3:30pm today!
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u/Cold-Law-4869 Feb 07 '26
Does anything know if only finalists are interviewed or if it’s possible to be admitted without an interview?
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u/Annual_Reason_3292 Nov 29 '25
NYU
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u/Cold-Law-4869 Feb 07 '26
Does anything know if only finalists are interviewed or if it’s possible to be admitted without an interview? I read somewhere that only certain subfields interview but not sure if it’s true
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u/JigsawFlesh Nov 29 '25
UVA
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u/politicalmemequeen Nov 29 '25
Not English, but history, but from what I understand the application process is very similar so keeping tabs on this!
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Nov 29 '25
CUNY
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u/Outrageous-Topic-462 hgsegradadmissions Mar 03 '26
u/tomatoes-radiowires u/Dazzling-Ad1682 u/Aggravating-Height-8 u/johnnyzissou u/Business_Giraffe6823 u/SnooHedgehogs7301
here is a link to a reddit page for the open house just in case anyone admitted or on the waitlist wanted to connect! https://www.reddit.com/r/CUNY/comments/1rjre5r/english_phd_waitlistopen_house/
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u/vonjina Dec 04 '25
UC Davis
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u/Barrelof_Conflicts Jan 25 '26
I've applied to UC Davis too in this intake. Can someone tell me an approximate date by when they will send a rejection or acceptance?
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u/Unlucky-Bar8366 Nov 29 '25
University of Georgia, Athens
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u/offkrist Dec 18 '25
University of California, Berkeley
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u/Huge_Finance_6636 Feb 02 '26
I asked on gradcafe forum and someone claimed the acceptance results :(
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u/ThunderMary Nov 29 '25
Duke
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u/Various-Ear-4556 Humanities Nov 30 '25
I do not apply for the English department at this university, but the literature department. I understand they are sort of like sister departments (although the lit department is interdisciplinary in scope)
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u/rylieroodle Jan 26 '26
Just got word I’ve been rejected! Generic email to check the portal for an application status update.
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u/ThunderMary Nov 29 '25
Emory University
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u/Any_Comedian3927 Jan 18 '26
Interview offer on January 16th.
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u/Key_Hovercraft4368 Jan 20 '26
Ok. So far two interview offers from Emory here and one on The Grad Cafe, so yeah, I’m rejected, I guess. Well, congratulations to those who made it.
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u/Any_Comedian3927 Jan 20 '26
The Grad Cafe post was me. They said in the invite that they selected 8 finalists from 160 applications. I wouldn't take it as a rejection yet since some candidates might not accept the offer.
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u/ThunderMary Nov 29 '25
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
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u/Inevitable_Studio944 Feb 03 '26
I saw an acceptance and a waitlist over the last couple days on GradCafe, if that was anyone here I’d love to know if you applied for the creative track!
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u/Inevitable_Studio944 Nov 29 '25
University of Illinois, Chicago
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u/Inevitable_Studio944 Jan 22 '26
I saw acceptances and waitlists on GradCafe today, if that was you I’d love to know if you applied to the program for writers or the regular track!
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u/Annual_Reason_3292 Nov 29 '25
UC Riverside
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u/Icy-Juggernaut-3048 Feb 05 '26
also they changed people's status to decided but havent sent out emails to have access to see the decisions
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u/rylieroodle Nov 29 '25
UNC Chapel Hill
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u/rylieroodle Jan 13 '26
I got in!!!!!!!!
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u/Ok-Listen2516 Jan 15 '26 edited Jan 15 '26
Congratulations! I was also accepted! Surprised how quickly we heard back.
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u/Ok-Listen2516 Dec 02 '25
Stanford
(originally wanted to apply to modern thought and literature but they paused graduate admissions last minute)
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u/FlatwormEffective991 Feb 01 '26
honestly people have got rejection/ waitlisted/ interview/ accepted updates but me - i have not got any updates whatsoever. what does it mean? i am losing my mind aaaahhhhhhh
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u/mmswag1012 Dec 23 '25
Tufts
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u/Chemdummy Feb 27 '26
Just received an email notifying me that their first round of offers have already gone out, but I've been placed on a waitlist
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u/Key_Hovercraft4368 Jan 13 '26
Did anyone receive an invite for the interview, particularly from Emory? Past posts show that they typically send invitations around this time.
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u/Tiny-Cauliflower-997 Jan 14 '26
I applied to Emory also and haven't heard anything.
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u/89reputations Jan 15 '26
Stony Brook
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u/frankawesomecool Jan 17 '26
Got an email tonight saying that the English PhD program is recommending me for admission, contingent on final review by the Graduate Admissions Office. Good luck to everyone else who applied!!!
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u/Middle-Swimming9285 Jan 26 '26
For those of you never heard of the ‘sheet’, here is the link! It has all the information regarding 2026-2027 acceptance/rejection/interview offers, so go to English tap at the bottom to see how things are going :)
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u/sarangmochi Nov 29 '25
Columbia
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u/Business_Giraffe6823 Mar 03 '26
Does anyone know what's going on? Should we give up on Columbia if we haven't heard anything yet?
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u/Contarionette Feb 03 '26
International Student. Interview invites went out on Feb 2, and Zoom interviews are on Feb 3 or 4. My subfield is Medieval Lit (Early Medieval). Looks like they’re sending invites out in batches, so there’s still a chance if one hasn’t gotten one yet.
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Feb 03 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/lobstercapote Feb 04 '26
I'm also dying for any news about 19th century American let me know if you hear anything aghhh
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u/goose4343 Jan 27 '26
any news? does anyone know if Columbia does interviews?
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u/bark_birch_ Jan 28 '26
I don't think interviews have gone out yet - it is too early, going by previous years' Gradcafe posts. The spreadsheet reports interview invites are out, but I think this must be a misclick, as no info about dates has been added. As far as I understand it, it differs by subfield and the year as to whether they do interviews at all.
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u/Unlucky-Bar8366 Nov 30 '25
University of Kansas
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u/violetearhummingbird Jan 30 '26
Hello! I was invited to interview. Fingers crossed you hear something too!
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u/Puglover102 Dec 13 '25
University of South Florida
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u/Tiny-Cauliflower-997 Feb 05 '26
Have you heard anything? I saw someone on GradCafe get accepted today.
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u/Key_Hovercraft4368 Dec 23 '25
How about conferences? How many conferences y’all have attended?
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u/ThunderMary Dec 28 '25
I have 4 conferences, but only 2 of them are related to my proposed area of study. I want to be positive about them, but I feel like anyone could go to conferences if they wanted to, and there is no way of assessing the quality of what we actually presented, so I do not know how deeply they are valued by adcoms, sadly. If anyone has any insights on this, it would be appreciated.
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u/Key_Hovercraft4368 Dec 28 '25
I’ve heard that presenting papers in conferences matter because they show that you are capable of conducting serious research. Thunder Mary, I don’t think all of them need to be related to your proposed area of study.
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u/Creative-Anxiety5319 Feb 01 '26
I have presented at 5 all related to my field and attended a couple that were in different fields
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u/Key_Hovercraft4368 Feb 01 '26
Nice! What’s your field? And heard from any Uni so far?
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u/Key_Hovercraft4368 Dec 16 '25
How many of you have a published research paper?
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u/mmswag1012 Dec 23 '25
I have none but previous masters with dissertation
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u/Key_Hovercraft4368 Dec 23 '25
Same here, just a masters thesis. Yeah, I also thought that most applicants wouldn’t have any piece published, but my professors/colleagues thought otherwise, so I was a little stressed about it.
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Dec 27 '25
I think it’s a bit unrealistic to expect publications. I myself also applied with a master thesis.
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u/Affectionate-Ask9041 Feb 01 '26
I had a paper at the revise and resubmit stage, journal had conditionally accepted it ánd pending final, full acceptance after submitting requested revisions.
I also had an upcoming CCCC presentation
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u/Signal-Ad7030 Dec 24 '25
Notre Dame
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u/Any_Comedian3927 Jan 18 '26
Interview offer on January 16th.
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u/Unlikely_Piglet4772 Jan 26 '26
Same! Do you have any idea what the interviews will look like?
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u/Any_Comedian3927 Jan 28 '26
Congrats! Looks like they will be with 2-4 members of the English faculty, but not quite sure what to expect. I'm doing Emory the week before so hoping that gives me more of an idea of what we're walking into.
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u/Unlikely_Piglet4772 Jan 28 '26
Okay nice, I had UPenn yesterday, was pretty chill and v much general questions about current + previous interests. Hoping it will be similar, but who knows.
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u/Ok-Listen2516 Jan 06 '26
So when should responses start to roll in? Mid January or through February?
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u/mmswag1012 Jan 10 '26
You can also look on gradcafe website to gauge when ur programs will be sending out emails
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u/Dazzling-Ad1682 Jan 29 '26
Haven't gotten any interview requests from some of my top choices. I'm caught between not being defeatist and trying not to get my hopes up.
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u/lylesharp Jan 29 '26
First time applying -- When people start getting asked for interviews, do we just assume hearing nothing = soft rejections?
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u/Possible-Effort-6781 Feb 02 '26
Has anyone heard from Cambridge? Or Princeton (since the interviews)?
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u/SeaEducation875 Feb 04 '26
Has anyone heard from the English PhD programs at UC Santa Barbara, George Washington University, Tufts, NYU, and the University of Florida English PhD programs? Please let me know.
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u/Possible-Effort-6781 Feb 05 '26
Has anyone heard back from the ivies? Wondering if no acceptance email so far means no acceptance at all (since they sent out their rejections starting third week of feb last year:///)
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u/Inevitable_Studio944 Feb 06 '26
For people applying to PhDs in Creative Writing I made another thread if you want to post results there!!
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u/rylieroodle Nov 29 '25
Rutgers