moderatedbliss

Hello, The question I am about to ask is relevant to UK schools, but the general theme is applicable I'm sure. I received an offer for an MA in Modern Literature and Culture at the University of Birmingham (UK), with full tuition covered and a little bit of living expenses. I received an offer for Comparative and General literature at University of Edinburgh, and I would only have about 1/3 of tuition covered counting the small scholarship I got from an organization here in the States. I'm far more interested in Comparative Literature than I am in Anglo Modern Literature. I'm not sure if I want to continue on to a PhD afterwards. I would take the funded offer if I were sure I did not want to do a PhD afterwards, but I'm afraid that doing Modern Lit as opposed to comp lit is going to really hurt me. I'm also afraid that if I DON'T pursue academia, going to Birmingham will hurt me because Edinburgh is much more well known and highly regarded in the US. Literally any input you have would help me, its getting sort of down to the wire here (the UK system is different) and I'm quite stressed! (:

I'll be in the UK if I can get funding! Waiting to hear back about funding from Edinburgh, UCL, KCL, Durham, Cambridge, and Birmingham... fingers crossed that one of them decides to shoot some financial aid my way! PS- predominately Comparative Literature programs.

This is for graduate study at a new institution (new for me) Ahhh why don't people reread their questions? In any case, I really appreciate your input. Vexed

From a university-wide scholarship: "What are the reasons behind your choice of postgraduate taught program?" Do you all think this is referring to the discipline itself, or the specific program at the school, or some combination of the two? I get 250 words, so I have to be rather Spartan. Any input helps!

Nope. I haven't even been accepted yet, and that's a big if. Somebody over on thestudentroom was interviewed as well, for history I believe. Waiting to hear back from the MML... it's killing me.

Hey, I've been waiting to hear back from Oxford, and I've been admitted to a number of different UK universities... I'll try to help where I can. From what I've seen on the results page, specific departments were told that funding information would come on a later date. For the Clarendon they automatically consider you, I would check back on the Clarendon page frequently. Did you apply for the Ertegun? I saw that somebody was already notified for an Ertegun interview, so they may already be in the process of notifying people. I was admitted to Cambridge, and thy said that funding decisions would be made by the end of April, and if I didn't hear back before then, I would assume that my application was unsuccessful. Sorry if that wasn't very helpful, I suppose it seems like it's department specific. As for your second question, I'm really not sure. I guess it relates to my answer for your third question. As for the third part: Let's say you opted for College A, but they found you were eligible for a scholarship in College B, this would mean that they would override your decision for College A in order to give you funding associated with College B, unless you specifically designated that you didn't want them to do that on your app. As you left it blank, I would imagine you'll get matched with any possible funding they would have for you. Sorry I couldn't be more specific!

Sorry for the double post- I like that saying about being in the wrong room. I enjoyed being pampered, but I'm tired of being the only person in any my classes that's actually interested in the subject matter -- not a commentary on intelligence whatsoever, I just care more... You bring up a good point about department culture as well; or the wider cultural in general. I'll be heading overseas, I don't know if I can deal with the traditionalism of some of the UK universities. I grew up in California, the idea of wearing robes aka "academic dress" seems absurd. Tradition for tradition's sake is moot, I say. MOOT.

I completely empathize with you. I noticed you applied to multiple California schools, did you go do your undergrad in Cali? I'm afraid of answering the dreaded, "So where did you do your undergrad?" question, and getting an "Oh, that's interesting!" Which is secretly code for, "Wow, why are you here?"

I'm interested in how people that went to a relatively low-ranking undergraduate school fare when facing a massive prestige/"ranking" boost of their university in graduate school. This is entirely subjective and based on speculation, so feel free to correct me. I attend a state school, and in both of my majors I've been treated like I'm the best thing since sliced bread. I feel like most people at my university are just there to get a degree and move on (which I can't fault them for) but I'm usually one of only a few people in my classes who is genuinely interested in learning and always participates (yeah, I'm THAT guy). My basic question is: if you're at a significantly lower ranking school than where you get accepted for graduate work, what is the transition like from being a star in your undergrad program to being adored in your undergrad program to being just another student in a more academically intense environment? Basically, what is it like no longer being considered the smartest person in the room? Is it liberating being with kindred spirits, or is is no longer being considered especially intelligent or special stressful and alienating? I feel like I haven't really been challenged during my undergraduate career, and frankly I'm afraid that I'm going to look like a fool. I suppose it's a bit of imposter syndrome. Does anybody have any thoughts on this?

Received an offer at Cambridge for an MPhil in European/Comparative Literature and Cultures, waiting to hear back about an MSt in Comparative Lit at Oxford as part of the dept. of MML... "late March" Did anybody apply for an MML program at Oxford?! edit: also, if anybody hears back about either the clarendon or ertegun, make sure to mention it!

If you get the Fulbright (I'm not sure which Fulbright you applied for) perhaps you could get it funded for a 1 year masters in the UK? The deadlines are rolling, and for the majority of schools it's not too late to apply.

Congrats on getting in and getting funding! I was accepted for an MPhil, although I'm not sure if I'll attend. Still waiting to be placed in a college, my first and second choices were Wolfson College and St. Edmunds College.

Did anybody apply? If so, for what subject specifically/ have you heard back about admission to Oxford/ the scholarship itself?

Bump.

Just curious, what program was this that they offered you half tuition for? I've seen no such offers anywhere for Comp Lit.

Hmm, that's useful. I didn't know there wasn't a comparative literature department/ undergrads couldn't major in comparative literature. From the looks of the faculty, they come from a multitude of departments. As long there are professors that have relevant interests, I suppose I should be okay. What was your experience in lit; from what I hear Edinburgh is well known for literature..

I applied to the "open" one for postgraduate study in the UK, hopefully that's specific enough.. I should have applied in partnership with a university, but I was afraid I wouldn't get in/ would be better suited somewhere I didn't apply in direct partnership for

Can somebody please confirm that Fulbright Postgraduate Student Awards (to the UK) will also hear back today? Don't want to be freaking out for nothing

I have this strange feeling that I'm not going to get an email at all, I think this is because I have a serious fear of bureaucracy.

You can't succeed if you don't try, shoot for the moon and land amongst the stars, no other cliches coming to mind at the moment. Edit: Your verbal trickery confused me.

/: Money is definitely an issue as well, but I don't want to regret not going. What universities did you want to attend?

^^ Did anybody apply/ has anybody firmly resolved to attend a literature-related program in the UK?

Which apps are you referring to?

So far, I've been admitted to University of Edinburgh and University College London for an MA in comparative literature. I'm not sure if I want to continue on to a PhD, which is why I'm opting for an MA instead of applying to a PhD directly. I did a fair bit of research on the programs, but I'm not really familiar with with the reputation of the specific comparative literature departments. In any case, I need help deciding which to attend! ANY criteria at all (finances, etc) is relevant in making my choice, nothing you say is irrelevant. Broadly, my literary interests focus on magical realism in Southern America, German-language writers (primarily Sebald and the Austrian Bernhard) and the French concept of the Flaneur. If one university may be a better idea for continuing on to a PhD and the other may be better in terms of the general job market, feel free to comment on that as well. Edinburgh pros - -Very small program size (I suppose this could also be a bad thing) -No formal language requirement, which means I could focus on the language I want to learn rather than improving the language I already know -Known for (English) literature -(Arguably) better international reputation than the other two? Beautiful city, less expensive and less overwhelming than London -Tuition is less -More scholarship options UCL -Bigger program, probably better developed -Access to more networking because of both the bigger program and having access to the London Comparative Lit association -Higher ranked overall -Professors that have relevant interests

Apologies for the double post: Does anybody know if applicants for the postgraduate student award will be notified if they're on the shortlist? Or rather, will they randomly receive a phone call for an interview...? It would be nice to at least know that I got formally rejected. I've been looking forward to this January 31st date for a while now, but from the sounds of things I'm not sure if I'll be hearing back at all..