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rtrgwnd

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rtrgwnd last won the day on April 27 2010

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  1. rtrgwnd

    Eugene, OR

    I appreciate the help. Thank you.
  2. rtrgwnd

    Eugene, OR

    Does anyone have any information on finding housing in Eugene? I'm also trying to get a sense of what the neighborhoods there are like. I'm hoping to find a small house, relatively close to campus, but not in an overly student-poplated area. Too old for that. Any ideas?
  3. Does anyone have any information on finding housing in Eugene? I'm also trying to get a sense of what the neighborhoods there are like. I'm hoping to find a small house, relatively close to campus, but not in an overly student-poplated area. Too old for that. Any ideas?
  4. I'm wondering how older students are handling the foreign language requirements in their PhD programs. I took three semesters of French as an undergraduate and did well (As), but it's been over 15 years and I've had no practice with the language since then. I'm thinking that I'll have to start from scratch -- first year French-- and hoping that I'll progress rapidly since I do have some former knowledge of the language. I can't really imagine going into a higher class having done nothing with the language in 15 years.
  5. I'm wondering how older students are handling the foreign language requirements in their PhD programs. I'm going into an English PhD program and have to show reading competence in two languages or high proficiency in one by the end of the second year. I took three semesters of French as an undergraduate and did well (As), but it's been over 15 years and I've had no practice with the language since then. I'm thinking that I'll have to start from scratch -- first year French-- and hoping that I'll progress rapidly since I do have some former knowledge of the language. I just can't really imagine going into a higher class having done nothing with the language in 15 years.
  6. All the advice here is very sound but I have to go back to: why not just apply for a Master's and worry about the whole PhD thing later? You could even do a Master's at night and possibly get your job to reimburse tuition. I did one like this. I certainly agree that if you don't have a clear enough focus, you're either not ready for a PhD program, or a PhD is not for you. I am assuming, however, that focus and development is your issue and not whether you are sufficiently serious about studying literature. I'm assuming that you are serious about studying literature but that you haven't developed your education in it enough and therefore lack a bit of focus. When I was fresh out of undergrad school, I was the same: serious about literature but lacking development and focus in it. Focus was exactly what the Master's degree gave me and that's why I think a Master's might be a good option for you. You will be involved with literature, working toward a goal in literature, and developing and focusing as a student of literature. You may even decide as you move through your Master's work that you don't want to go on for your PhD, and you will have learned that unequivocally by being somewhat submerged in it.
  7. I think I have some good advice for you. There's much debate about whether it is wise to do a Master's before a PhD -- and apparently for some programs doing so is unhelpful -- but in my case, and I'm sure many others would agree, it was essential. The time and work spent toward a Master's offers opportunities to write under professorial guidance and will help you sharpen focus on a specific area or topic as you devise and complete a thesis. This thesis would presumably become your writing sample in a PhD application and would certainly constitute a significant part of your statement of purpose -- even if it's just as a launching point toward some new area you'd like to explore. Without my Master's, I would not have been able to put together a viable PhD application. Also, it's been many years since I completed that second Master's, and it still helped me generate an application that resulted in funded offers/waitlists this year. If I hadn't done my Master's in my 20s, I wouldn't have these options in my life now. My advice to you is to apply to solid Master's programs. If you can't afford the private, expensive programs, there are plenty of excellent state programs. I went to one and have already paid off the loans I took out. Then I did a second one overseas at a prestigious institution and am half way through paying that debt. I'm assuming you are on the younger side (early or mid 20s?) based on your "bright youth" comment, so time is on your side. Regarding the overseas Master's: I think it's a good option. An MPhil program can be done in a year, tends to have small cohorts, and if you get into a prestigious university, the tuition is a fraction of similarly prestigious institutions in the states. The entire cost of moving, living expenses, tuition, etc. was much less than just the tuition alone at similar schools here, and I was working with top scholars in my field. As I said, it's been years since I completed this second Master's and one of those scholars, who was my thesis advisor, wrote strong recommendations for my PhD applications this year. I should also add that two professors from my first Master's also wrote strong recommendations for my applications. Graduate programs, when they're really good, can create community that lasts beyond the time you spend there. Living overseas is also a lot of fun, a great experience, and there are English language schools all over Europe that you can teach at. I did it, and I loved it. It taught me, really, how to teach. I will end with this: I think possessing a very clear idea of exactly what you want to do is rare and, in some ways, a luxury. Some students, as we all know, are very gifted, and this small group of "bright youth" are able to assemble exceptional applications even before they obtain a bachelor's degree. Perhaps they will directly move on to PhD programs right out of undergraduate school, and most likely at the very top schools. Some of these very gifted students will be the scholars we read in the future. Others of us do not fall into this category. We have different circumstances and have arrived at or are arriving at our senses of purpose differently, perhaps very gradually, perhaps never completely. But there are really good options for students like you who are unsure exactly of what you want to do. Perhaps you will decide academia is not for you and will go on to do something else, something with more meaning for you. Perhaps you will be a scholar we read in the future. Or, like me, maybe your growth as a scholar or teacher will be gradual and you will slip in and out of it over the course of many years. I think you should consider the Master's to keep your options open.
  8. I wasn't really surprised by the one-person waitlist. I was suprised that the committee was confused by my statement of intent, arguably the most important component of the application, but still opted to put me on a waitlist -- and a waitlist that consists solely of me.
  9. Here's a strange one: I hadn't heard anything from this one program, so I called on the 15th to find out what the story was. The guy there told me I was the one outstanding candidate and that they didn't know what to do with me because they weren't sure they could take on a candidate in my area of interest. So I alone constituted the entire waitlist. He said to email him in a day or so, and he'd have more information. Shortly after this I got an email from the DGS confirming my precarious position on their waitlist of one and explaining that they weren't sure how they could help me as they only had one professor in my area of interest and that the committee was unsure from my statement of intent what I wanted to study with them and how they could foster that education. Odd, and very late in the game for all this -- but all around they were very polite about the whole situation. What I wanted to ask was why bother putting me on a waitlist? Just reject me. I can take it. Needless to say, I replied that I was probably just not the right fit and thanked them for their consideration.
  10. Undeniably, Yale's great, so is Harvard so is Princeton, so is Berkeley, so is UVA, so is WashU, so is Emory, so is UC Davis, etc. What I'm surprised to see is schools lower down the list referred to as "low ranked." These schools within the 50-60 range don't strike me as "low ranked" at all: Tufts, University of Florida, University of Oregon, University of Rochester, University of Connecticut, Boston College (I don't know much about the others in this range -- but I'm sure the same goes for them). They're strong programs, not the best, but close enough to it to be solid options in lieu of the top schools. Is it really accurate to consider any of these schools "low ranked" English PhD programs? Maybe I'm wrong, but I just never viewed the list that way. Even of schools lower down than that, I thought, oh, they're ranked.
  11. If you want to get a freakin' PhD in English, and you can afford it, either through funding or some other means, do it. And if it takes you three times, or four or five or ten times, and you have the stamina and persistence to keep going, then good for you. You're obsessive. You're outrageous. You can apply as many times as you want to. Who cares? And if you can't get into the top schools, or the top top schools, or the top low schools, but get into the low, bad, and evil schools, and you still want to go, and can afford to, then good, you can still go. And if, when you get out, you have trouble finding the perfect job, or even a moderately satisfying job, well, welcome to the world. And if you keep appying and never get in, you'll do something else, and you'll have a hard time finding a perfect job, or even a moderately satisfying job, at that, too. Reapply. You're a killer. You can't be stopped. Everything's going to be alright.
  12. So the reputation and quality of University of Oregon is questionable?
  13. Thanks. Yes, I meant University of New Mexico and PhD programs in English.
  14. Does anyone have info on how many apps University of Oregon and UNM got this year and how their general reputations are?
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