littlenell08

Another key word you might want to start searching is "childhood studies," which is what a lot of people who are interested in children and child culture, but perhaps not specifically the literature of it, are branching into. I was successfully accepted into a PhD program for children's lit/childhood studies this year. I also finished my MA at a different institution and focused primarily on children's lit. So, if you have any questions or want to pick my brain about what applying to this small field is like, feel free to PM me

This was written last year by an upset student during a moment of internal departmental strife. All departments have their issues - this person just made the choice to air their greivances publicly. I am currently enrolled at this program - if anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to answer (fully and honestly!) via private message. A&M has problems, as all programs do, but we have a lot to offer and you shouldn't write us off becuase of one person's stance.

This legit made me laugh until I cried. <3 <3 <3. I showed it to 4 other people who didn't get it, but this seriously made my day.

Congrats, Cquin! That's awesome news I'm getting my MA from there now, and would be happy to answer any questions that you have about the program. I've been quite happy here. Celebrate!!!!!

I was one of the wait lists for Pitt. Unfortunately I don't have much news to share, except that I'm finishing up my MA from an American institution right now. The email didn't give much more information other than that they were placing me on a wait list and they didn't know when they'd be able to let me know more news. My specialization is 19th Century American literature, childhood studies, women writers and periodical texts. I'm sorry I don't have more info, but hope this helps :/ I will update if I hear anything else, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

I'm going to be reapplying in the fall for a program because I absolutely fell in love with it throughout the application process and made it very high on their wait list though, alas, I did not eventually get in. So in a lot of ways, we're in the same situation! I dont know what will be best for you, but I will be letting the little checked "yes" speak for itself and using the limited space in my personal statement to talk about how good a fit I would be for their program. I think that they're going to make whatever assumptions they want to with or without a paragraph in your statement addressing the situation and that the space could be put to better use. However, I think a good way of using this reapplication to your advantage would to be to (very politely) contact the director of admissions and ask him/her if they have any advice on how to make your application stronger. I've been in touch with the director at dream-school, and they've been really kind and encouraging. Good luck!!!

I thought it would be, but my dad FLIPPED OUT and insisted that we head down to texas (from Philly) to do apartment searching before the end of April. Apparently he did his research and a LOT of places fill up if you go too late. We did our research online and picked out 7 places to go look at and actually ended up signing a lease on a really nice apartment I'm very excited about - however, he was right. We even had to get on the "wait list" for this place I'll be moving to in August, and I get the feeling that that's not entirely rare. If I were you I'd find a couple of places I was interested in and at least get in touch with them to figure out whether or not the first week of August is going to be too late. Good luck! If you want a list of the apartments I looked at and what we thought of them, I'd be happy to provide Of course, feel free to ignore my experience completely. It was entirely the product of an overprotective father and his goal to get settled before we packed up and moved across country. I don't mean to make you paranoid - just letting you know what I experienced and heard.

PITTSBURGH!!!!! I did my undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh and I miss it SO MUCH! Oh Pittsburgh, you shall always hold a special place in my heart. Miss me some Oakland.

Hey everybody, looks like I'm coming to A&M for English too I'm sending my acceptance tomorrow. Pumped to see you all there! I'm from Philly, so Texas weather is going to be a bit of a shock. What do you mean, no snow!?

I'm still waiting to hear from UConn, U. Florida and Temple, which seems to be the three schools many other people are waiting on as well. But I agree with Icampb, I've pretty much stopped worrying about them and am lucky enough to have other offers to focus on. If they want me, wonderful, please call me! Otherwise, I have other fishies to fry.

This made me dance a little bit on the inside. And on the outside.

I'm so sorry, woolfie that's terrible news. I hope you'll pull through everything and apply again next year. I'm rootin' for you.

Reading this post actually gave me a really nice feeling. I moved home after my BA and am missing my academic family very much, mostly because I'm pretty sure I'm the only one in a 10 mile radius hoping to pursue academia as a career. My friends don't get it, they're concentrating more on building families than careers, my mom sees pursuing an academic degree as a death blow for my credit score and the most unpratical move a young woman can make, and dad is sort of ignoring it because he doesn't think I'll actually get in (though I already DID, so I don't know where he's getting these ideas...) It feels like everyone is sort of shaking their heads behind my back because I'm taking this risk, and they're assuming I'm going to fail. I think a lot of it goes back to the fact that I'm a first-generation college student, let alone a first-generation graduate student, and my immigrant mother doesn't understand why passion and love of my job is more important to me than a steady financial future with which I can support myself. I don't think she understands that I'm cool with being poor for a couple of years, this is what I love, and for me that's worth it. Anyway, reading this post really gave me a little boost so thanks to everyone else who is struggling with these issues. It's tough knowing that when I come home in tears of happiness with an acceptance my mom is just standing there with crossed arms and a death glare, but it's nice to know I ain't the only one. Keep it classy, ladies and gents.

Score for Victorian Children's Literature!!! That's pretty much my subfield, as well as Women's Studies, gender/sexuality and queer theory. Though they all just sort of mesh into one fabulous pile of interesting.