lewisthesamteenth

C'est très gentil !
 
I try to assume a more positive attitude toward these things. Sure, statistically speaking, it's unlikely that any applicant, no matter how gilded his or her application or vitae or what-have-you may be, will be admitted to these programs. But, as the percentages admitted, despite being small, are in fact positive, then I've no reason to assume that my chances are nil.
 
Sounds to me that someone has caught a bit of the choler; temper your humors, s'il vous plaît.
 
And I'll re-iterate my inquiry: did anyone apply to Berkeley's Rhetoric program?

There are a couple of options for someone in your position, depending on the specific motivation behind your taking courses, whether it be for something to add to your CV or for to pursue (little Chaucer grammar, forgive me) a subject or skill that interests you.
 
If you want to take summer courses solely to boast of them on your CV or with a transcript, it's going to be difficult. American universities are  insatiable monsters fueled by consuming large amounts of capital and the dreams of students in the humanities. It is regrettable, but many universities here are run more like businesses than bastions of intellectual cultivation.
 
However, if you wanted to come here and AUDIT courses, that would not be totally out of the realm of possibility. I have had luck doing just this at both Yale and NYU: I send a very, very friendly letter to the professor teaching the course I want to attend, describing my situation and my interest in his/her work, and have thus far never received a negative response. My experience, I realize, does not a universal law create, but it's worth a shot.
 
There are also a ton of great courses available through iTunes (iTunesU, I think it's called), which sounds lame, but I've personally been really enjoying a lot of them. There is a Yale OpenCourse that provides a great overview of schools of literary criticism, a University of Oxford lecture series on Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, a great radio show out of Stanford called "Entitled Opinions," and lots more. This option would require more personal discipline, but I find myself almost always compelled to write SOMETHING in response to whatever I listen to. It's also nice to have on in the background while working out (cheating!)

I understand your view, and I can sympathize with you, having myself been "playing the game" (le mot juste, methinks) for some time now. Moi, I prefer to ignore Voltaire and hide under the warm blankets of Leibnizian optimism. I try to focus on the most positive features of my application, and acknowledge that there is ALWAYS room for exceptions to the rule.

Judging by history, I'd venture that I will be hearing back this week or next if I am granted admittance. No one on the forum has reported hearing from either of those programs, so my Hope maintains its feathers.

Anyone apply to Berkeley's Rhetoric program?

C'est très gentil !
 
I try to assume a more positive attitude toward these things. Sure, statistically speaking, it's unlikely that any applicant, no matter how gilded his or her application or vitae or what-have-you may be, will be admitted to these programs. But, as the percentages admitted, despite being small, are in fact positive, then I've no reason to assume that my chances are nil.
 
Sounds to me that someone has caught a bit of the choler; temper your humors, s'il vous plaît.
 
And I'll re-iterate my inquiry: did anyone apply to Berkeley's Rhetoric program?

To say nothing of The Waste Land.  If ever there were a more appropriate quote for the application season than "April is the cruelest month," I've yet to find it.

Fingers crossed for the best of all news for everyone today! The days are growing longer: soon it will be Spring!
 
Here's to everyone getting in SOMEWHERE so that we can all enjoy the auspices of the coming season without neither dread nor loathing; here's to 100% confidence of acceptance; here's to Friday !
 
Courage, my friends !

Sometimes, I wish I could share my Myers-Briggs results in lieu of GRE Subject test scores: Alas!, crieth the INTJ.

I understand your view, and I can sympathize with you, having myself been "playing the game" (le mot juste, methinks) for some time now. Moi, I prefer to ignore Voltaire and hide under the warm blankets of Leibnizian optimism. I try to focus on the most positive features of my application, and acknowledge that there is ALWAYS room for exceptions to the rule.

Judging by history, I'd venture that I will be hearing back this week or next if I am granted admittance. No one on the forum has reported hearing from either of those programs, so my Hope maintains its feathers.

C'est très gentil !
 
I try to assume a more positive attitude toward these things. Sure, statistically speaking, it's unlikely that any applicant, no matter how gilded his or her application or vitae or what-have-you may be, will be admitted to these programs. But, as the percentages admitted, despite being small, are in fact positive, then I've no reason to assume that my chances are nil.
 
Sounds to me that someone has caught a bit of the choler; temper your humors, s'il vous plaît.
 
And I'll re-iterate my inquiry: did anyone apply to Berkeley's Rhetoric program?

Anyone apply to Berkeley's Rhetoric program?

I will continue my independent studies of French and Latin, make an effort to have an article published, study for a re-take of the GRE Subject test, write extensively, work, bake lots of delicious loaves of bread, run, work on a farm or two in rural France (Normandy, Brittany, Dordogne, Bourgogne), &c., &c.
 
I'm not going to concoct any new strategies in order to weasel my way into a program, but rather, continue to cultivate myself in such a way so that should I receive nought but rejection, I'll have accomplished quite a bit, nothing to be ashamed of.
 
Then there's also Plan C: invest in a boombox and go from campus to campus playing those power ballads from the 1980s that are, at once, epic and insipid, à la "Say Anything . . . " O, snap!, this is just the thread for Plan B's. Just pretend like you stopped reading after paragraph number two. Nothing to be ashamed of.

I will continue my independent studies of French and Latin, make an effort to have an article published, study for a re-take of the GRE Subject test, write extensively, work, bake lots of delicious loaves of bread, run, work on a farm or two in rural France (Normandy, Brittany, Dordogne, Bourgogne), &c., &c.
 
I'm not going to concoct any new strategies in order to weasel my way into a program, but rather, continue to cultivate myself in such a way so that should I receive nought but rejection, I'll have accomplished quite a bit, nothing to be ashamed of.
 
Then there's also Plan C: invest in a boombox and go from campus to campus playing those power ballads from the 1980s that are, at once, epic and insipid, à la "Say Anything . . . " O, snap!, this is just the thread for Plan B's. Just pretend like you stopped reading after paragraph number two. Nothing to be ashamed of.

I will continue my independent studies of French and Latin, make an effort to have an article published, study for a re-take of the GRE Subject test, write extensively, work, bake lots of delicious loaves of bread, run, work on a farm or two in rural France (Normandy, Brittany, Dordogne, Bourgogne), &c., &c.
 
I'm not going to concoct any new strategies in order to weasel my way into a program, but rather, continue to cultivate myself in such a way so that should I receive nought but rejection, I'll have accomplished quite a bit, nothing to be ashamed of.
 
Then there's also Plan C: invest in a boombox and go from campus to campus playing those power ballads from the 1980s that are, at once, epic and insipid, à la "Say Anything . . . " O, snap!, this is just the thread for Plan B's. Just pretend like you stopped reading after paragraph number two. Nothing to be ashamed of.

As regards the Subject Test: the test itself blows. So much. I took it 2.5 years out of undergrad and did reasonably well (88th percentile), but it is such a marathon that I am dreading the prospect of doing it again. The first 100 questions aren't THAT bad; it's the last 130 that are the worst.
 
That being said, I think there is also some merit to the process of preparing for the test. I learned SO much in studying for the test, read so many great works that I was never required to read during my undergraduate years, and get some great insight into the overall trajectory of the canon; in a word, it really furthered my passion (for lack of a better word) for literature, and liberated me from my 20th-century obsession. The Norton anthologies are underrated !!!
 
But I'll repeat: the test itself BLOWS: such an emotional roller-coaster. The only questions that seem justifiable are the ones you know right-off-the-bat, the rest make you say, "Who the hell needs to know that?"

Second that, librarygremlin. Looking at the historical records, it seems that Stanford should have sent out interview notices by now. The deadline was later last year, and interview notifications had been posted by February 6th. There are a couple options, I suppose:
 
1. No one among us has received an interview-invite from Stanford.
 
2. We make up such an awesome applicant pool that they are tearing their hair out, clawing at their eyes, and beating their breasts because they can't decide.
 
Personally, I'm hoping for the latter, in which case, I'm scheduling an appointment for a bikini wax ASAP, as I know that I'm going to need to shine for that part of the application.

At present, I find myself reading Vanity Fair, in the midst of an independent exploration of the 19th century British novel. No, really, it's not quite as painful as it sounds. Next on the docket will be either a little Trollope or Dickens. Any suggestions?