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Malumat

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  1. An MA is a useful stepping stone toward a very competitive PhD program for sure. It allows you to continue language study, broaden your horizons while honing your specific research interests, and form relationships with Professors who can write letters attesting to your potential as an advanced graduate student. I am in the U Chicago NELC PhD program now and most students come in with an MA. NYU is great place to do this I'm sure, and congrats on getting funding.
  2. I don't know about CMES acceptances, but I'm guessing they come out later because there are many times more acceptances, and I think they also refer some PhD applicants who are not accepted into the NELC PhD to the CMES Masters.
  3. Acceptances for Chicago NELC have been sent out. Not sure when rejection letters will be sent though.
  4. I know for certain that this conversation happens between professors in my department and professors in departments of other top programs. These professors know each other personally, as my field is quite small, and they do this in order to maximize acceptance rates. I don't know how widespread this is, though.
  5. This is true, but usually either a POI or the chair will send an informal acceptance by email before the official letters go out. I would expect those emails to be going out this week or next week at the latest if they haven't already been sent. Good luck everyone!
  6. Backpack for me. I am always hauling loads of books so for me the health of my back has to take precedence. I have a smallish North Face that fits really well and distributes weight to make carrying things more comfortable. I also get groceries on foot so I use it for that too.
  7. Like I said, I think my department must differ quite a bit from what happens in English departments. We have fewer programs and fewer applicants, and so discussing specific applicants isn't as implausable. I have heard it straight from the horse's mouth, excuse the cliche, that professors at University of Chicago discuss the applicant pool with people they personally know at Harvard and Princeton. The specific case I heard of was Harvard not accepting a student who U of C was accepting as a result of such discussions. Ie, "We're taking him, he will probably be better off here anyway, don't waste a funded spot on him". This type of scenario is obviously dependent on the presence of a group of professors who know each other personally and discuss such things "off the record".
  8. I have a North Face that has a laptop compartment and it has room for quite a bit of stuff but doesn't seem awkward if there are only a few books in there. It is also built really well for distributing weight-- the waist straps are substantial-- so on those days you are carrying a lot of stuff the weight sits on your hips and saves your back. Mine is the Borealis but I'm sure there are quite a few different models and they are not very expensive for the quality imo.
  9. Is there a reason you don't want to order them online? Not a snarky comment, just curious.
  10. I say follow the money. Competitive applications for PhD programs coming out of more general MA programs are ones that have great letters from professors that are recognizable in the field and have clearly gotten to know the student, and that show promising work in the writing sample. Language proficiency can also be an important element. I don't think where the program is matters so much, especially because these programs are only valuable as means to develop your research interests and develop relationships with faculty, as I've mentioned before. Anyway, if you get get these things and not have to go into debt that would be very good.
  11. I agree with divinemg about interpretation of posts... I think it would be best to give someone the benefit of the doubt that they're not "fishing for compliments" and just discuss the issue brought up. I think that some people are being really sensitive based on their own insecurities. Anyhoo... I would like to add to a theme that keeps coming up: that the Adcom's prediction, based on certain factors, of where you will actually accept in the end, can be considered part of the overall idea of FIT. I know most of the people here are in English departments so I am bringing a different perspective as someone in Near Eastern Languages and Lit. But, I happen to know that among the top handful of schools in my field, there is discussion among Professors from different schools who know each other about the applicants and where they would be better off, and if one school is certain to accept a student, another school may not offer admission to this student, knowing they will be accepted at the other school (and with a concern for yield rates at the forefront of this decision). Although this is not the same dynamic that we are talking about, it displays a concern for not accepting a student who the adcom has determined, for whatever reason, will probably go elsewhere. On the topic of rankings, and the concept of a student trying to determine what array of schools to apply to, I think it must be more difficult in English than in other fields. In other words, I think there must be less variance in the preparation and "on paper" credentials of those accepted into various "levels" of schools. I know there has been a lot of discussion about whether you can order schools realistically, and even though it's a problematic process I think everyone can agree there are schools that most people in a certain field would rather go to, regardless of where they are on the official ranking. This could even be affected by where they are located, attractiveness of life there etc... My point is that it seems to me that students in English have a more difficult time gauging where they belong, even within their own personal ordering of schools. I say this because I feel like in my field, for me and my peers it has been pretty clear. Schools that are not highly ranked typically just don't have the resources to provide, just as one example, language training in less commonly taught languages with low enrollment levels. On the other side of the coin, the top schools have fairly clear criteria for who is a competitive applicant, and it includes language proficiency in both local languages and European academic languages, as well as a proven track record of working with primary source material. Of course it's more complicated than that but my point is that there seem to be more tangible or measurable skills for an applicant to gauge themselves in my field, and I imagine in many other fields. English may be particularly tricky in this regard (in ascertaining where you will be a competitive applicant), but correct me if I'm wrong.
  12. For what it's worth, I didn't perceive the OP's original post as being pompous, it was more a matter of curiosity, and an invitation to discuss an aspect of the admissions process, that is: Adcoms taking into consideration the applicant's likelihood to be accepted at a "better" school and therefore decline an offer of admission. The question of whether these schools are actually better or not in a particular subfield etc is somewhat irrelevant as many people, whether for a "good" reason or not, would prefer to attend a top 10 than a 50-60 and so these preferences are taken into account. It is a legitimate topic of discussion. Does this really occur and to what degree? Is it occurring more often in the context of a worsening economy? Will it/ should it affect applicants' considerations about where to apply? Are these not valid questions? I don't see anywhere a reason to think that she needed some kind of comfort or explanation about not being accepted into a school... was she being pompous merely by indicating that she was an excellent candidate who was accepted to highly ranked programs?
  13. I do think there is quite a concern with yield rates. Yield rates contribute to the program and the school's over all rating. One factor to consider is the recent trend of people applying for more and more schools. As the economic conditions deteriorate and people, even highly qualified individuals, are concerned, and rightly so, that there won't be a spot for them at a top university, the apply to a wide array of schools to increase their chances. So lower ranked schools are getting more and more applications from applicants that would typically be applying mostly to top tier schools, maybe with one or two lower ranked schools as a backup. If they accept a cohort only of these applicants, likely they will get a lower yield rate as these students will prefer to go to any top-ranked program they get into. So there is definitely a calculation going on whereby if it is clear to the admissions committee that this applicant will most likely be attractive to top-tier schools, they won't "waste" a spot on them. Maybe they accept some of these students but to accept a whole cohort of this type of student might result in a close to 0% yield rate which looks really terrible for them. Anyway I think this has always been a consideration, but like I said as applicants form a safety net in a time of uncertainty by applying to more and more schools it has become a bigger concern.
  14. I just wrote nice cards. I think that's good enough. Another nice thing, if you have this sort of relationship with them, would be to buy them dinner or even just a coffee.
  15. I use Dear Professor ---, until it's obvious a lower level of formality is appropriate, which usually comes for me after knowing them for a while. But for older Professors I still use the more formal address even after I get to know them better because I think many of them like to see that. In fact, maybe I fabricated this in my imagination, but I feel like one older professor has responded quite positively to me partially because I am very polite and deferential towards him while some other students just treat him as if he is from their peer group. He is so nice that he would never say anything about it, but I think he appreciates the respect that some formality reflects. Also, just because they use your first name doesn't mean you should use theirs in return-- like it or not there is still a great distinction between Professors and graduate students, which some faculty care about and some don't. But you don't really want to find out who does care in the wrong way.
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