jrockford27

Despite the weather this week, bear in mind, it was 80 degrees and sunny on St. Patrick's Day last year!

I dunno, I find it hard to take seriously anyone who comes anonymously and begins posting rather salacious and outrageous rumors without a scintilla of evidence other than a sworn oath on his or her honor as an anonymous agitator, oh, and the support of a second anonymous agitator who may or may not be his or her sock puppet account.

Actually, emoryenglishphd's mother is also pursuing her PhD at Emory.

Not because it is, apparently, a Lovecraftian nightmare where the living envy the dead? Artist's rendering of emoryenglishphd's thesis defense.

Actually, I think it was in my Norton Anthology of British Literature, Vol 1. It was various pieces. I think the "HOLY SHIT!" was near the end of Oroonoko, when the title character is being disemboweled whilst blithely smoking a pipe.

I wish I could remember what book it was that I wrote "HOLY SHIT!" in the margins of. I don't normally sell back my books, but I sold back that one because I thought my marginalia was too profane not to share.

I currently live near the U of MN and went there for my undergrad (English). I pay $765/mo for a one bedroom apt. about a 25 minute walk from the building in which the English dept. is housed. Though I know I overpay, mainly because I like my location for a myriad of reasons. There should be places available for less than that. If you're willing to have roommates, it shouldn't be hard to find a shared house/apt for 300-400 a month. If you're willing to get a bit out of walking distance, you might be able to go even cheaper. I can get a week's worth of groceries for about $38, and that's shopping at the fancy grocery store a few blocks from my place. The on/near-campus food and drink specials are spectacular (especially at Burrito Loco). The neighborhood where students typically live, Marcy-Holmes (of which the legendary "Dinkytown" is a part), is very walkable, and Minneapolis is consistently rated as one of the top biking cities in the country. I may take this for granted though, as I've lived here my entire life. I walked 25-30 minutes to class every day, regardless of the weather. Dress warm (this sometimes will involve long underwear) and you'll be fine. The bus system around the University is super convenient, and as has been noted, the unlimited passes are affordable. If you live in the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood you'll never live more than a block or two from a bus stop pretty much, and you can get anywhere in the city and the inner-ring suburbs by bus fairly swiftly. I loved the University of Minnesota. I love Minneapolis. I'm sad to be leaving it. Also, as I said, I did my undergrad in the English dept. If you have any questions about the school, department, city, where to live, costs, etc. feel free to PM me.

This thread is golden. Absolutely golden. By that, I might mean "tacky and overinflated in value." Without a trace of sarcasm I say, I'm not sure.

I took 5+ years, well about five and a half years. I was working full time, and trying to be in a touring punk rock band, neither of those things are very conducive to a brief undergrad career. So early on when I was just getting my generals I took a few part-time semesters. No regrets, really. I tied a lot of my work experience into my personal statements and I think it helped my application.

They're ranking fewer theory programs this year. The last list had rankings going to like 16 or 17?

When I got my first acceptance, I sent out brief, very excited emails to all of my recommenders and mentors. Once I've committed to a school I plan to send out a more thorough thank you and debriefing.

I suppose I qualify as a successful candidate? I applied to ten, was waitlisted at two, accepted at two, and offered a partially funded masters at one. I mentioned specific professors in each of my personal statements, as that was critical for establishing fit. Since I'm in what's probably a bit of a niche subfield within English, it was important for me to point out that I wasn't coming totally out of left field applying to these programs (though in the case of a couple, I sure was, don't know what I was thinking with that Emory app). I have no idea what was best about my application. I'd say that my most enticing acceptance comes from a school that is very big on theory and popular media, and my writing sample is well, big on theory and popular media. Likewise, my two wait lists come from schools where I was able to find professors who matched up with my research interests almost perfectly. I mentioned those profs by name in my statement, as well as what work of theirs I'd read (I went out of my way to make sure I'd read articles by any POIs), and how it related to my past and proposed work. Actually the way I narrowed my list was by making sure each department had at least two professors that I could articulate a plausible connection with in one or two sentences without reaching (though in some cases, I still reached, again, Emory). This involved many long hours going to the university library to read book chapters, articles, excerpts, etc. Maybe what made me a successful candidate was simply program selection. I was probably more careful about selecting my schools to apply to than I was with my actual applications! There has been much debate over the importance of fit, I lean to the side of "fit is super important." I mean, at the end of the day it all pretty much boils down to whether they "like" you or not, which is another way of saying "fit." I'm a bit jealous of you people who have actually gotten emails from POIs talking about your applications. Other than some, admittedly very nice, letters regarding funding, I really haven't heard much beyond the acceptance and invitation to the open house. Heck, my other acceptance hasn't even emailed me about funding yet.

Just received an acceptance email from Syracuse. Now I actually have to make a tough decision even if Pitt. and Vandy don't take me off their wait lists...

They were not specific. But I applied to English only, and not to the Film subdivision. However, the letter was from the director of graduate studies for English, and I know from having emailed with the department that they have a separate directory for film. At any rate, based on the survey, it looks like they're notifying the wait listers before the acceptees and the rejectees, so I wouldn't assume you're not still in the game.

Blah. Wait listed at Pitt., might be my #1. Kind of a bummer.

I'm curious about how car-centric the SUNY-Buff. north campus is. Since the school is in a suburb, I'm assuming that it's not particularly walkable. Most of the places I'm seeing that I could afford on the initial stipend offer aren't really near campus. Is it possible to get a decent, affordable apartment within, say, a 20-30 minute bike ride? I have a car, but I don't like driving, and I'd like to avoid it.

I was the first person to post a Vandy wait-list earlier, I believe. Was on my phone so I didn't claim it here. A bummer, I really liked them. But hey, I've had two responses so far and neither an outright rejection, so I guess it's an honor just to be nominated. I don't feel all that bad about it in light of yesterday's Buffalo acceptance.

This is for my fellow Buffalo people

Good point. If anyone wants to chat on facebook they can send me a message through this site.

Should I respond to the email? Ha, I don't even know!

Also in at buffalo... good lord, I can't even contain myself. So much work finally paying off. First school I've heard from.

Same.

Someone want to claim that Duke wait list?

I think this thread has officially jumped the shark.

The blue probably means you've been approved for special deluxe funding! What else could it possibly mean?! A friend insists it's probably just a coding error that's caused the cells in the table to take on the same color as the background, but he hasn't researched this stuff like I have. ETA: Hey, a Notre Dame acceptance up. Not one of mine, but it's news, right?