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The feedback on Boulder vs. Philadelphia is definitely helpful, and will definitely be taken in to account. I actually had a TA-ship form my MA and liked it a lot, but then I like teaching. In my field it's not that helpful for preparing for qualifying exams since I'd likely be teaching 1st or 2nd year Spanish (like teaching College Algebra and Calc as a math PhD). I'll definitely inquire about the fellowship offers though, who knows? XD

I'll be just barely 28 when I start my PhD this fall. I was 23 when I received my MA and decided to take a couple years off, partly because I felt too "young" and partly because I didn't want my only adult life experiences to be in an academic setting.

I have it on good authority that the petty correct answer is to black the names and post it on facebook

Andean: It's a combination of the two, which is why I'm not sure how to proceed. Rising_Star: That's a very good point. I don't know if I can afford to visit B, but I'll try to get in touch with the POI and some grad students via email at least. MadScience: I'm not sure what the number rankings are for the departments, but my area of interest is pretty narrow so there's not tons of specialists in the field. I think I might be perceiving School B as much less prestigious because it's an east coast school, but not Ivy league, so from the west coast I hadn't heard of it before I found out they have some one working in my area of interest. whatshername: Yes, the TA-ships at both schools include a tuition waiver and just enough of a stipend to live on humbly. The advantages of the fellowship would be a) CV bonus for having a fellowship, and not having to teach for two years while still getting the tuition waiver/stipend. Thanks for the advice so far!

On applying to PhD programs in Spanish: "So you're gonna study the really advanced grammar, right?" "About damn time. We were wondering when you were going to get your doctorate." And: Them: "So what are you going to study?" Me: "Medieval Spanish Literature." Them: "So is that, like, Mexican or..."

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Okay, so I've been accepted to my top choice school A with a TA-ship. I've also been accepted to school B with a TA-ship, and I found out today that I've been nomination for a fellowship that would cover my first and fourth years of study. Both schools have POI who specialize in my (slightly obscure) area of interest. School A is a more prestigious department, but School B is a smaller pond (if that makes sense). I also know less about School B's department and program in general. I want to have all of the info before I make a final decision, but I probably won't know about School B's fellowship until next month and I don't want to "lead them on" if I wait for that and then chose to go with School A in the end. Anyone else in a similar dilemma, and/or have advice on how to handle things?

Hey all, I have a not-housing related question. My partner is trying to decide if she can/wants to move to Boulder with me (assuming that's where I go next fall). One big concern is employment, since rent in Boulder looks quite a bit pricier than where we are now. Does anyone know what the job scene is like in Boulder? Especially in bookkeeping/accounting type work. Any info is great, thanks!

Hey Catherine, I had something similar happen with one of my schools- I got a mailed letter on Saturday from the Grad School, and an email from the department this morning. If you're anxious, it should be all right to contact the graduate coordinator at your department and ask for more info. Or you could very reasonably wait a day or two- sometimes it takes that long for things to fall in synch. Good luck!

So I've received an acceptance from my #1 pick, and also from my just-in-case school (still waiting on two others). My top choice doesn't have an official visitation weekend for perspective students, but I'm planning to visit sometime before the April 15th deadline. I want to get a chance to talk with the faculty, and especially current students. What I'd like is suggestions for questions I should ask folks, or things I should make sure I see while I'm there (I know I'll be checking out the library, for example). So what do you guys think? What should I ask a prof, or another grad student, before I say yes?

To provide an alternate opinion... I was discouraged from applying to Berkley because they aren't as strong for Medieval studies in my area (Spanish Lit), while Vincent Barletta at Stanford is doing some interesting things with pre-modern minority literatures. I have no idea how things stack for your Comp Lit/Italian inclination though. On the other hand, Stanford and Berkley will be relatively expensive from a cost of living point of view.

I did my BA and MA at the same school, but will be going elsewhere for my PhD. As I understand it, unless your doctoral field is super specific and your university is the ONLY school in the country that has a strong program it's a very bad idea to do all three degrees at one school. Besides showing a lack of diversity on your CV, it can cause trouble with taking actual courses. I nearly wound up having to re-take a class at the graduate level that I'd take as an undergraduate in order to fulfill a requirement (thankfully I got a teacher to sponsor an independent project for me instead). Over the course of an MA/PhD, you're going to run the risk of exhausting your department's course offerings.

Solicité a Harvard, Stanford, Temple y UC-Boulder. He recibido un email de aceptación de Boulder, y una en el correo normal de Temple, pero nada de los otros dos. ¿Alguien haya recibido un "sí" de Stanford? He visto las rejeciones en los resultados, pero no creo que hey visto ningua buena noticia. Igualmente, saludos y buena suerte a todos!