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charabanc

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Everything posted by charabanc

  1. Hey there--I can give some insight now that I've lived in Lawrence for a few months. You might want to start looking in East Lawrence (approx the grid of streets from New Hampshire through Delaware west to east and Sixth to Fourteenth north to south). This is where I'm living now--the neighborhood is quiet, very close to downtown, and affordable, especially if you have someone to split the cost of a house with. There are fewer apartments in this area, but still some to be found if you're diligent about looking on craigslist. There are a few bus stops around, too--I take the 11 bus every day. Other neighborhoods to look for are sort of northwest of downtown (Ohio through Maine, from Fourth down to Ninth or so), as it's similarly quiet up there and close to downtown. Avoid most anything on the streets between campus and downtown from Fourteenth to Eleventh as that's where the rowdy undergrad housing typically is, though Kentucky Street is generally quieter than the others. Hope this makes sense while looking at google maps of the town.
  2. This thread actually mystifies me because the idea of a college freshman having a story in Tin House is just mind-blowing. I admit I went through past issues to try to figure out if this is even plausible.
  3. The chances of getting accepted into Cornell's MFA program are so incredibly, incredibly slim that there is no way to gauge whether you're a strong applicant or not. Though a Tin House publication helps. (Seriously--you are a freshman with a Tin House pub? Doesn't that qualify you as some kind of wunderkind?) I don't know as much about Cornell's PhD program but again the MFA one of the most selective in the country (like 1-2% acceptance rate).
  4. The advice here is all great, but that said, I grew up in the Bangor area and I absolutely would not live in Orono (that might have a lot to do with having grown up in a town with a population of 500 people--I just can't do tiny towns anymore). I love Bangor despite its big box stores and lack of coolness, and you can find beautiful apartments in the old Victorians in the neighborhoods near downtown (though there are plenty of dingy places, too). Downtown Bangor is quite quiet, but it has a gorgeous public library, the franciscan monk bakery, Bagel Central, Giacamo's, Paddy Murphy's, and quite a few little shops and a couple of bookstores. IMHO, Bangor is much much much preferable to Orono, though the previous poster(s) are right in that you would be disconnected from the grad community.
  5. I agree that if you want to study creative writing at the graduate level, an MFA is a better step (most creative writing PhDs do not accept students without masters, anyway--I think USC has in the past, and University of North Texas? but most do not). I did my MFA at Indiana University where non-workshop (i.e., literature) courses were required and so it was very much an academic degree in that sense. As far as trouble getting published without an MFA, that's nonsense. You can pick up connections from an MFA but it is in no necessary to get your book picked up by an agent/publisher. That said, if you want to teach creative writing, the MFA-then-PhD track is a good one to take, along with getting a book (or two) published. Your end goal is the thing that should determine what you want to do, though I do understand that the acceptance rates can be daunting. Oh, and I think Cornell is the only MFA/PhD joint degree thing.
  6. Most of the creative writing PhD programs are dual degrees to some extent in that they are PhDs in English with a concentration/emphasis in Creative Writing. Different programs have different course requirements for the creative writing PhD, but the majority require lit seminars and/or lit courses as well as workshops. I don't know the specifics of USC's program, tho, so I'm not sure how it might differ from others. Their program gets a lot of applicants but the creative writing PhDs have pretty low acceptance rates across the board--many only accept between 1-3 funded students per genre.
  7. I mean, if you want to teach creative writing, then yes a PhD in creative writing can help you get a job, along with significant publications and teaching experience and ability to teach in more than one genre. If you want to get a job teaching something other than creative writing, then that degree would not be a good idea.
  8. Bangor/Orono does get a fair amount of snow and it can be hard if there's a heavy ice or snow storm, but the towns and Maine DOT are much better equipped to handle plowing than most any other place you'll ever live, so if the roads are really impassable, the campus will probably be closed. They keep the roads in good condition all night, so early mornings shouldn't be a problem. The commute from Bangor to Orono is an easy few miles up the interstate, so that helps, too. Just get some snow or studded tires for your car and you'll be golden. Feel free to message me anytime if you end up having questions about Bangor, where to live, etc.--I doubt there's anyone else on gradcafe who's really familiar with BGR/Orono lol. It really is a nice region and I hope to end up back there someday.
  9. If you're used to living in a small, somewhat isolated environment then it probably wouldn't be too big of a shock, then--and I think the school does a pretty good job of conveying to out-of-state students the environment there. I would guess some students might come expecting the Maine from TV and movies (lighthouses, ocean, lobster rolls) and the Bangor area could be a rude awakening. If you do make it up there and fly into Portland (the Bangor airport does have some daily flights, but they tend to be very expensive), definitely take a few hours to walk around and get a bite downtown/in the old port. I live in Portland now and it's a first rate little city. Once you're up north, I'd stop in downtown Bangor, which is small but I have a soft spot for it--the public library is absolutely beautiful, there's the Friar's Bakehouse run by Franciscan monks, Bagel Central which is a pretty substantial kosher bakery, some nice shops, a couple of pubs, a nice used bookstore. The architecture in Bangor can be quite pretty, too. Most of the city does revolve around the mall area and big box stores, but there are also very pretty homes, good restaurants, and in the summer there's a waterfront concert series and a yearly folk festival. Acadia National Park/Mount Desert Island is about an hour east of Orono, which is of course beautiful, or about an hour and a half (I think? maybe more) north of Orono is Baxter State Park and Mount Katahdin. Orono itself is very small with only five or six businesses downtown but if you like the outdoors, there is plenty to keep you happy. If I were going to grad school at UMaine, I do think I would live in Bangor and commute just because Orono is so small, but I know plenty of students do stay up there.
  10. I see you're from California--have you visited Orono? I only ask because I grew up in the area and it definitely is a place to visit to get a feel for. It can be a quite desolate if you're not used to rural & small town living.
  11. Ah but youtube and reddit don't presume themselves to be populated by graduate students (or would-be ones) with critical thinking skills and wide cultural contexts. (I'm not mad, just disappointed.) That said, asleepawake is awesome.
  12. lol do not underestimate how wildly offensive this thread is, buddy. you guys seriously outdid yourselves this time.
  13. this thread makes it official: thegradcafe is the armpit of the internet.
  14. Also, if anyone is looking for a roommate, feel free to send me a message. There are some really nice 2-3 bedroom houses for rent that would be cheap split two ways. And I also happen to come with the sweetest catahoula leopard dog in the world, so it's a win-win.
  15. I'm looking to find a rental a couple blocks east of Massachusetts Street (around New Jersey St, I guess?). My friend who lives in Lawrence says that the neighborhood there is quiet, with more families and older students, but still within easy walking distance to downtown/coffeeshops/restaurants.
  16. This is incredibly patronizing. Silas didn't say anything about the cwr PhD being an extension of an MFA. Chill out.
  17. Congratulations! I'm not sure how KU usually notifies their fundings. Was it for the literature PhD?
  18. I'm applying for the creative writing phd and I know a bunch of cwr rejections went out today. I'm hoping that the acceptances were all lit ones for my sanity.
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