DontHate

Nope, we've already done the gender-spotting in a different thread. Two Espressos is male

Well more people should try, at least.

I'm sure they are familiar with Chicago. You can't possibly be the first applicant from Chicago that they'll be seeing.

He's just trying to be funny. It's a nice change of pace when people actually try to be entertaining on these threads, rather than just reiterating their neurosis and talking endlessly about the most banal minutiae of the application process. Not that there's anything wrong with doing those things (that's what gradcafe is for), but we should mix it up every now and then.

Thanks brosef

Asleepawake is so right. We're all playing roles in the ebook "2013 PhD Applicants." I'm clearly the Supervillain. But who's the hero?

I think you have a good shot. Writing samples definitely do matter a lot. Some would say they are the most important part of the application, but since they take the longest to examine, there are certain factors that will determine the chance your sample will even get read. If you have a great personal statement, I'd say that definitely ups your chances of getting them to read your sample. Good luck!

That's funny, Billy Collins had only the warmest things to say about you

What She Said by Billy Collins When he told me he expected me to pay for dinner, I was like give me a break. I was not the exact equivalent of give me a break. I was just similar to give me a break. As I said, I was like give me a break. I would love to tell you how I was able to resemble give me a break without actually being identical to give me a break, but all I can say is that I sensed a similarity between me and give me a break. And that was close enough at that point in the evening even if it meant I would fall short of standing up from the table and screaming give me a break, for God's sake will you please give me a break?! No, for that moment with the rain streaking the restaurant windows and the waiter approaching, I felt the most I could be was like to a certain degree give me a break.

They reduce the tuition by a couple hundred dollars if your school agrees to sponsor you. My school pays the entire tuition for me, plus a bit extra for living expenses I believe.

That sounds awesome. Now I'm all excited.

Allow me to play as well: Most of my friendships with men tend to be more emotionally distant than my friendships with women. Is it significant? Does its significance have to do with gender dynamics, or just with me?

Lol...but basically that's what all of grad cafe is.

Anyone else doing this? Any thoughts about it? I just found out my school is going to sponsor me to go this summer.

Just looking at your list exhausts me

Here's a backup plan for all of us: GradCafe University. I'll let the rest of y'all fill in the details.

I went to one visiting day at a program that I'm currently attending, and this is what they did for me too. I'm pretty sure this IS actually the norm at Ivies and other top programs. They fly you out, book you a place to stay, wine and dine you, and try to woo you.

I was agreeing with you. Insecure jackass, to me, is someone who spends all their breath talking about how bad the work coming out of X program is and how they would never want to go there in a million years, when secretly they just know they would never get into X. It's a straw man person, not anyone on this thread. Bfat: of course, people don't always have the choice to go to the best schools. They don't always get into the best schools. If you are truly poor and get into an Ivy, they award scholarships. But not everyone is able to do that. Of course, people also don't always have the choice to be what they want to be. And it often is beyond their control -- due to the injustices of class, race, all sorts of discrimination, unplanned family mishaps, etc. I'm specifically talking about the things we CAN control. I don't see the point of talking about what we can't control. We try our best, but the best laid plans of mice and men...

I think the issue is that people are so resentful of what they see as the "unfair advantages" that big name schools give just by being on a person's CV that they overcompensate in these sorts of discussions by belittling aforementioned big name schools. The fact is, these schools are famous for a reason: they are excellent schools. Not every student at Harvard is a genius, but Harvard has a very strong English department. Once you see through the silly mystique of brand names (which belittling only serves to INCREASE, because it further distances whoever is speaking from the reality of these schools), you can accurately speak to the advantages and disadvantages of particular programs in the upper echelon without sounding like an insecure jackass. I'd also like to add that, in order to make it in this esoteric career, you will have to make sacrifices. People without a ton of money will have to make more sacrifices than rich people (but isn't that always the case?) -- as in they will have to take out big loans, and work part-time jobs while they study, in order to afford the education that will pave their way to fellowships and job opportunities down the road. I personally chose to take out a great big loan in order to attend a top MA program. I made that choice because I want so badly to be a professor, and I know this will help me get there. I don't care about money and debt as much as getting into this profession, so I'm willing to work this loan off later and be poorer while doing what I love most. If you choose to go to a less-recognized school because of financial concerns, that is a perfectly valid choice, but it has consequences for your future just like taking out a loan would have. That's all I have to say about that.

If you don't think the discussion is going anywhere that you like, then don't participate in it. Simple as that.

I was not referring to undergraduate pedigree (I'm sure that matters as well, but not as much, since there are many more undergraduate institutions than PhD programs) -- I'm talking about where you get your doctorate. This isn't something I have an "inkling" of, it's something that is documented with statistical evidence in every report on the tenure-track job market, and something my professors have reiterated when advising me. Talk to anybody in academia if you don't believe me. I'm sorry if my use of the word "pedigree" touched off a nerve. I'm not referring to your parentage, or whether or not your sire was a member of the AKC. I mean who you studied with, where you studied, who else was in the program with you, what kind of work was being done at your institution. That stuff. I don't think there's anything wrong with getting an MA or a PhD and not going on to become a tenure-track professor. I just assume, by default, that this is what people intend to do with their PhD's. I'm not trying to be snide, and I think the people who read snideness into my posts are the ones who are the most insecure about the topics being discussed. It's like if someone were to say "most professional ballet companies don't accept overweight dancers" (a fact that is perhaps unfair but nonetheless true) and readers interpreted that to mean "fat people shouldn't dance." Ya dig?

I'm confused, was this directed at me? I never said teaching at a community college was bad. But teaching at a state school, or any other university level, is incredibly competitive (in the humanities especially) and the fact is that you need to have a certain pedigree to even be considered for those jobs. I'm not passing judgment on whether or not the hiring system is fair, just telling it like it is. This is a moot point to argue, because the job market speaks for itself. It has nothing to do with pretension.

well you look cute in your pic, I'm sure you can get by on just that for a while