Phedre

Thanks everyone for the advice. I guess it's worth sticking it out for a bit, and then changing if necessary... the one thing that i am really not flexible on is letting go of queer theory. I majored in gender and sexuality studies and that is the whole reason I am in academia (more so than for a love of literature)... I'd rather wreck my chances of getting a good job than letting this discipline go. So maybe ultimately it is worth it to drop him... not sure

Hey all, So I very rashly asked a certain professor to serve as my main advisor/chair... I did this without having taken a class with him, without having had feedback on papers, etc. I just thought I clicked with him well and since we share so many areas of interest, we would work well together. I also asked him about a semester before I actually officially had to name my committee. This is turning out to a be a mistake-- although I'm not entirely CERTAIN it's a mistake. I leave meetings feeling like he doesn't listen to me, he is a bit of a bully and is pushing me to study one particular sub-field. I am very passionate about queer theory, and it will be a huge part of my dissertation, but he is trying to steer me away from it (no jobs in the field). I am feeling like he doesn't understand me. ALSO many of the older grad students have warned me about working with him-- that he's difficult, that he has many friends (huge networker, almost all of his students get great placement and great jobs-- at Ivies and prestigious SLAC) but also many enemies, etc. I feel like I've signed on to the mafia by accident! I suspect if I take him off my committee, he will be highly offended and things will be awkward and terrible. But if I leave him on the committee, I'm not sure if I can grow the way that I need to grow. That said, we've only been working together for half a semester, so I might do the "wait and see" policy instead of the "shit I made a mistake" reaction. But does anyone have any advice? Should I be listening to the experience of the older grad students, who almost unanimously tried to steer me away from him? Should I take the difficulty of our relationship to be a learning experience-- ie I will have to be challenged to defend my love of queer theory to him, which could be good? Or should I act now and say that maybe I acted too hastily and that i wanted to get to know him better first? Please give advice! Thanks so much...

Yeah, that is good advice. It can't hurt to have a well-connected person on one's committee... the problem is that now I need to find a new person to be my chair and I'm not entirely sure who that would be :-/ But I'm only finishing up my first year, so I have time next semester to meet more profs, and also to really reflect over the summer on what specifically is important to me. I also need to talk to other students who've worked with him on what mechanisms they use to assert their positions and fight for what they beleive in...

Hey all, So I very rashly asked a certain professor to serve as my main advisor/chair... I did this without having taken a class with him, without having had feedback on papers, etc. I just thought I clicked with him well and since we share so many areas of interest, we would work well together. I also asked him about a semester before I actually officially had to name my committee. This is turning out to a be a mistake-- although I'm not entirely CERTAIN it's a mistake. I leave meetings feeling like he doesn't listen to me, he is a bit of a bully and is pushing me to study one particular sub-field. I am very passionate about queer theory, and it will be a huge part of my dissertation, but he is trying to steer me away from it (no jobs). I am feeling like he doesn't understand me. ALSO many of the older grad students have warned me about working with him-- that he's difficult, that he has many friends (huge networker, almost all of his studetns get great placement and great jobs) but also many enemies, etc. I feel like I've signed on to the mafia by accident! I suspect if I take him off my committee, he will be highly offended and things will be awkward and terrible. BUt if I leave him on, I'm not ure if I can grow the way that I need to grow. That said, we've only been working together for half a semester, so I might do the "wait and see" policy instead of the "shit I made a mistake" reaction. But does anyone have any advice? Should I be listening to the experience of the older grad students, who almost unanimously tried to steer me away from him? Should I take the difficulty of our relationship to be a learning experience-- ie I will have to be challenged to defend my love of queer theory to him, which could be good? Or should I act now and say that maybe I acted too hastily and that i wanted to get to know him better first? Please give advice! Thanks so much...

Hey all, So I am in an incredibly lax literature department that doesn't have required reading lists, required theory lists, required languages-- NOTHING. Therefore, the onus is upon ME to motivate and read over the summer. I was wondering what people who were in a similar situation were planning on doing-- if they were going to get on a "reading schedule" with friends, if they have exams scheduled at the end of the summer, etc. I need to brush up on reading knowledge of 1 language and speaking of another (I'll be researching in the country of the third language so I hope I'll be able to refresh as I go). Any ideas for summer self-discipline?

I totally agree that South Hill is the best deal in Ithaca-- amazing location and much cheaper houses (if you can find a nice one, sometimes the Ithaca College students ruin property). A lot of professors live here and I love the fact that I have tw great running trails within one minute from my house. I share a house with 3 other people and we pay about $475/month in rent. Gas+Electric varies from $40 per person in warm months to $100 per person int he cold months, but it's never gone over $100 per person.

The on-campus parking permits are overpriced and NOT worth it. The bus system is quite good and unless you're at the vet school, you should have no problem getting to campus. I REALLY REALLY recommend coming to visit Ithaca to find a place to live. The quality of life in Ithaca can be wonderful, and you can find some lovely apartments and houses for cheap, but you have to put a little effort into it. There are really great places and great deals, and some really terrible places. It's seriously, seriously worth the time and effort to come up for a weekend and look around. or get a friend or someoen in your program to look for you!

Hey all, I'm a current grad student-- just a quick note: Maplewood is overpriced and rather sterile (think hotel room type furniture, etc) and not as close as you would think. Most of the grad students live downtown, in fall creek, or south hill-- I actually found a wonderful house on the edge of South Hill and downtown, and I absolutely love it. I would also highly recommend having a car, but just because I don't bike and I'm lazy. But in the winter, it's especially nice, or for getting up the hill late at night after the buses stop.

Hey all, I don't like to be the bearer of bad news, but the DGS just told us that they only accepted three students this year (half of the normal acceptances)! I think they're hoping for an incoming class of two students. I don't know if there is a waitlist after those three... that's all the news I have! so sorry... I think the economic situation means that a lot of 6th (and 7th!) years are clinging to fellowship spots that could have gone to the new class.

Hey, I got into Duke Lit last year, but I don't know if they are changing things this year. Last year they only took their incoming class and waitlist from the interview pool... so sorry to burst the bubbles of people, but I think if you weren't invited to interview, it doesn't look very good.

Hi all, This may be slightly premature, but I thought I'd put this out there. Cornell offers a School of Criticism and THeory every summer, it's like a six-week theory dork camp where you attend lectures by top professors from universities across the country (Yale, Princeton, NYU, Johns Hopkins, U Mich, U chicago, etc). You are also put into small working groups with these professors and you get a lot of discussion and one-on-one time. Ithaca in the summer is magical-- the gorges are lovely, the weather is not too hot, people go kayaking, swimming, picnicking, reading outside, etc. Anyway, if this interests anyone who is interested in beefing up their theory knowledge, or getting in touch with professors from any of these universities, I highly recommend it. I am also posting this because I need a subletter for my amazing house over the summer, so if anyone is interested, please pm me! THanks so much! http://www.arts.cornell.edu/sochum/sct/

small correction: Cornell gives and guarantees full funding for all of its students and it's extremely generous too!

This might be a case-by-case thing, because I seriously have never heard of them doing interviews in the past, and one of my former Yale advisors is also on the admissions committee. When I wrote to him last year asking about interviews, I distinctly recall that he just laughed off the idea. So I wouldn't worry too much about the interview timetable. At my current institution, I remember there was some handwringing over whether or not to let two French/continental philosophy people in in the same year (same for two years above me, except they were worried about overloading the class with German studies focused people). So in this situation complit might be interviewing to choose between a few candidates with the same major language focus. But that's just my two cents, who knows!

yale complit doesn't interview, or if they do, this would be the first year that I've heard of them doing such a thing.

To some extent, yes, the secretaries are important, but I would say in 90% of the sticky administrative cases, it's your main advisor/prof who is handling things. That being said, I can only speak from the experience of being a current grad student at one of those institutions and an undergrad who worked in the dept of the other. So it may be totally different at other schools! Best of luck though

Did you try calling your particular department instead of the GSAS? I wouldn't worry about rudeness or warmth from any of the schools; you are not attending the schools to work with the secretaries there or to study with the phone receptionist-- you would be going, presumably, to take part in a community of scholars and to work with wonderful professors, right? So don't fret too much about it, although i definitely know how stressful it can be to be on edge about applications (and reading into small signs didn't help my anxiety either!) As someone who's attended both schools, I can answer particular questions about the departments and the student experience if you lke! J

Only Duke does interviews, as far as I know (in a VERY bizarre weekend) and if you are in comparative literature, you might get a phone call in your target language (or non native language) for NYU and possibly other schools would do the same. I wouldn't worry TOO much about it, but you'd hear towards February, at which point come back to the board for tips (I have some!)

Haha that's true... Thanks Coho for the article, and let me know what you decide re: French or English! It's always the toughest call...where are your top choices? I guess I didn't pick certain programs (+ or - city) for a REASON, and I have to keep those reasons in mind (weird profs, teaching requirements, poor funding etc) My main reason for reapplying would be that I didn't really have a good gameplan and I was all over the place with interdisciplinary programs (Modern though & language, rhetoric, etc) when I should have applied to those same awesomely-located schools for LIT programs, because that's basically what I do... literature. That said, it's taken me a semester's worth of grad school classes to realize that, so I couldn't have made the same decision last year! In any case, I think I'm going to stick with my school for now, it's too late anyway (thanks guys for the advice!) and I'm developing more languages along the way while considering the benefits of a purely French Ph.D. I figure if I have to switch after two years, at least I'll either 1) know for sure if I want a French Ph.D or not, in which case I'll be able to indulge in a better city for a similar program or 2) be more competitive for other complit programs or 3) totally fall in love with my program-- everyone at my school loves the town and the school... and unanimously I've heard the first year is the hardest. Who knows... but you're right, a nice funding package, great placement, a nice school and good profs are hard to complain about (good advice Minnesotan-- thanks). maybe the small town will force me to power through and finish QUICKLY!

Yeah, I can't complain about funding or fit... but I can see how that would be a good reason to transfer! The best thing about a small town is that my grad stipend goes really far. I think it's just me second-guessing a lot of things in general, but also my old advisor told me that if I could find a similar school in terms of fit, it may be worth it to live for five years in a place that I really enjoy, as opposed to a tiny town. But maybe I'm just being indecisive, alas.

Hey all, So... Last year I was on thegradcafe quite a lot, fretting and worrying about my app. And I actually got into my tied-for-#1 choice for grad school! Lately, though, I can't tell if I've been having the transfer blues because I dislike my town, or if grad school is just different from undergrad and I need to get adjusted to not going out with friends or having the camaraderie of a dorm. I moved from the best city in the entire world to a tiny rural town and I am getting used to the absence of museums, concerts, and restaurants (not that my grad stipend woul have allowed that anyway.. hahah). My university appealed to me because of a professor in my particular field AND century, which is amazing, in addition to about nine other profs who focus on aspects of my work. The intellectual freedom is wonderful, the other students are mindblowingly awesome, and I've enjoyed writing and working on my research. Basically, this is such a good fit for me that I feel loath to transfer to any other less-ideal place academically (i'd have to do a French PhD at other schools, and I firmly decided to myself that I wanted a Comparative Literature one). This was the main reason why I couldn't bring myself to write my applications. However, the more that I think about it: I will probably apply for French jobs anyway, and wouldn't it be better to actually have a French Ph.D and to be at a better location? At that point in my mental "think through" i start kicking myself for not having accepted an offer at Columbia-- I could have been in NYC!! Alas. My other small qualm is the prestige factor, which I should just get over, and I know I sound like a snob for saying this, but my current school is not as well respected as my undergrad institution, so sometimes I'm embarassed to tell others... which is horrible of me, but at least I'm admitting it to myself. Alas, I made my decision and I think I'll be here at least for another two years-- even if I decide to send in apps, I would have to do it next cycle. But does this sound like grad blues to people, or a valid reason to consider transferring?

Taking theory is one of the best things you can do for yourself early on. A book can only go so far; you learn by doing. I took intro to lit theory for the first time freshman year and I was really glad that I had the time to let the theory sit and ferment and develop-- and from there you can branch into subfields of theory that interest you or that are of use for your work (structuralism, Marxism, hermeneutics, whatever). I still feel like I've only really mastered ONE or TWO subfields, but it's still so useful because when I'm reading Heidegger I can translate his concepts into terms that I understand (Butler).

Hi, if anyone needs a place to live, my friend is looking for a renter for his 1 bedroom apt on Commons-- it's very nice and centrally located! message me! Also, question: can i get by without a car? it seems like the bus system is really nice there and I am living close to downtown (just two blocks away from Just a Taste, etc). My roommates have cars... but i'm thinking it would be nice to have my own. Not sure, though-- with gas prices and insurance, etc. Can anyone give their opinion on this? jennie

i'd join!! im looking up housing and researching warm coats.... haha J

Hi all I'm thinking of deferring matriculation 1 year to get a French master's and to stick around Paris for a while; i really dont want to leave. I'm wondering if this will be just a waste of time. I'll be able to work with a professor at my university who will be in Paris next year and holds a joint appointment with the university where I hope to get my master's. I think I can transfer 2, maybe 3 credits (reducing the load from 12 to 10) Basically I just want more time to play in France, get my writing skills up to speed, and maybe read a little more of French literature. I'm going into a complit program, though, so I don't know if this would condemn me only to hold French jobs? also, I am not certain if a maitrise 2 would even be helpful or necessary should i ever want to come back to France to teach (don't I need to pass the agregation to do that?) any advice would be appreciated. All the best, Jennie

Cool! I took a class with Bill Deresiewicz @Yale! I think he's correct that there hasn't been any major "school" to come out since Judy B's book... but then again, perhaps it's OUR generation to take over? Or maybe I'm being optimistic. But looking realistically, every great "school" took about 20 years to latch on, to imbue the university setting. We've only really known our university education through the lenses of Butler and the other "cultural critics." In the 90's it was Butler and the queer theorists, the 70's was Bloom & deconstructionists, the 50's were the New Critics. Is it wrong of me to think that Deresiewicz only is seeing a "trough" in the rise of theory? Maybe our time is now? Or maybe I'm being optimistic... What would the future "school" look like, do you guys think? I feel like there are a lot of trends towards ecology theory (biopolitics, justice as related to viability and resources, etc.) But you're right-- who goes to school for 7 years just to ride the wave of a trend? J