wetheplants

Hey friends! Anyone heading to the CDC (comparative drama conference) in Baltimore this March/April?? I am presenting but seriously in need of a roommate at the hotel! Let me know! =] Also, I will also be attending the "Imaginary" themed conference at Northeastern in a few weeks. I live here so I won't be looking for a roommate but if anyone wants advice about the area, please feel free to message =]

I ended up going for Boston College instead - I quite like the phrase of "a herd of cats".

Alright guys, I've made my decision - BC it is for a two year Masters in English!! Thanks to everyone for all your helpful input over this year... I really can't thank you enough! =]

From Dartmouth, actually, but yeah. Do you have any idea why people don't think it's as prestigious as other programs?

Obviously you're the only who can answer that question. I was in a long distance relationship for my last year of college, with my boyfriend 3 hours south of me. We would see eachother about every other weekend, so two weekends a month out of four. We would try to swap - he would come up one weekend, and I'd come down the other. (Well actually, he came up more, but that's because we had lots of friends on campus.) But anyway, I found that arrangement to be very manageable. I was still able to have a social life during the week and weekends, while only losing one weekend a month to being out of town. The weekend he came to me, we'd still go out and spend time with friends. And seeing one another every other weekend wasn't too bad. But if that's not enough time for you, or she wouldn't be able to come out and visit you, etc, etc - that wouldn't necessarily work. Oh and just to note - as a frequent Boston>NYC traveller, it is about a 4/5 hour drive, and close to 5 hours on a bus. It is never a 3 hour trip (although I wish it was!)

Thanks for the input! That's a good point - I'm kind of doing the masters because I'm not entirely sure if I want to study drama in a theater or English department. Dartmouth might give me the option to continue to do both (as I did in undergrad) and BC will be sorta like - you do the English coursework and if you like it, you go English PhD - if you hate it, go theater. But yeah, I appreciate the idea! I'm trying to gauge how heavily the Ivy would be weighted. I think I would prefer to go to BC, but again I don't want to just turn down an Ivy without at least putting some thought into it... and I'm from the Boston area so I really have no idea how people perceive BC outside of greater Boston.

Having done it many times, I can safely say that Boston - NYC is NOT a 2.5/3 hour drive. It's like a 4/5 hour drive. *shrugs* and it adds up if there's traffic... which there always is!

I second these people - I'm a Bostonian who did plenty of commuting to NYC to visit my boyfriend. It was very manageable! Its certainly a long bus ride at around 4 hours, but not a bad time to do some reading or get work done, and it's usually pretty affordable! Just book your holiday weekends early.

Honestly, I just think they're like "We're Columbia and so we can do whatever we want." I dunno, I'm not gonna wait around to hear back from them. If they can't even give me an answer by mid-April, I'm certainly not going to neglect my other offers just to hear back. I think it's really rude to treat your applicants like that.

Just turned down offer from UVA, and will also turn down offer from UChicago's MAPH tonight... hope that will help out somebody out there on the wait list!! =]

Hey guys, St. Andrews gave me a generous extension when I asked for one. Also, can anyone help me out? At this point, I've pretty much narrowed it down to BC, St. Andrews, or Dartmouth's MALS program. Does anyone know very much about MALS? I'm very curious if the reputation will still be so great because it's Dartmouth, or if people won't take it seriously as a two year Masters in a subject.

Hey guys - I got the same "second round" email from them a few weeks ago. I emailed them back again today (I have deadlines on April 15, what else can I do?) and was told that since there aren't any scholarships, they may not be sticking to the April 15 deadline and that they haven't made a decision about my file yet. I'm thinking at this point that I'll most likely have to end up making a decision before I hear from them.

I really appreciate seeing this thread, guys! I've always been sort of on the fence about how much I particularly cared about teaching - I'm also a fiction writer and figured that a bestseller or two might land me the kind of professorial job opportunities that others would be competing for. This is really helpful to read though. I haven't really done any teaching, and I'm debating between which masters program I should pick right now. I'm leaning towards BC's, which is funding me (although funding isn't mandatory for me, as my parents are willing to pay for whichever program I think is best) and they also have TA/TF positions available for the second year. Maybe I should determine how much I really like the teaching aspect before I sink myself into a PhD program after this...!

Oh, Andrew Softer might be my advisor next year at BC, if I decide to go!! What is the book about, should I read it?

I don't think I'll know till next week. I had emailed the department contact asking when I would know because I have deadlines coming up starting on the 31... so she very kindly told me! Anyway, I'll report back... maybe I'll have heard from Oxford or the ever mysterious Columbia...!

Hm, that hasn't really been my experience. Granted I am applying to Masters programs at the moment and not PhDs - but almost everyone I have talked to on my end (so not the reps from the schools I apply to, but my college profs and family friends in academia) have talked at length about how difficult it is to find a job. One woman from Dartmouth mentioned that I should pursue a PhD only if I think I am very interested in the subject and could potentially be happy not teaching in academia - which is true, for me at least.

I absolutely agree. I may be unusual in this aspect, but I have always been of the mind that there are many possible careers that I could find fulfilling and enjoyable, no matter what degree I have. I have lots of interest and experience in the creative writing world (although of course it's just has hard to get paid that was than as a professor!), and in many other related and creative fields. Also, a PhD from a good school can be a solid entrance ticket to private institutions at the high school level or other fields where academic knowledge is valued. And honestly, even if I were a homemaker who could stay at home and write all day, I would think that was still a pretty good life! I think that anyone planning to pursue a career in academia should keep these things in mind as they go through this field, and keep themselves open mentally to many things. We should all plan to be sending out hundreds of applications and not be too distressed to see most of them ignored. It's just the reality! Perhaps spending time in the creative writing world has thickened my skin, but that's the truth of it. The people who are getting these jobs either worked their connections hard, or sent out one hundred more applications than the average person. It sucks, but that's the field.

Hey guys! Found out I got into MALS today. No idea about funding or details, just that I got in. Anyone know much about them? Assuming their tuition is the GSAS one, it's pretty expensive, it's like 45k.

I'm another Bostonian and these guys are right. Porter Square and Harvard Square are both lovely, safe places to live. I feel relatively good walking at night there, by myself (as a woman). Keep in mind not everywhere has parking for cars!

Welp, I got into Dartmouth's MALS program!!! Anyone know much about their reputation? (Are they considered another cash cow like UChicago's MAPH?)

Hi there! I'm in a similar position - I got an English major with a theater minor in college, and was hoping to study "drama" as you say, somewhere that would allow me to combine some of my interests. I also noticed a weird gap between the two disciplines - English majors are reluctant to talk about performance at ALL and Theater majors sometimes get too stuck in the performative aspects and don't really do the text analysis. I'm personally hoping (right now at least) to be the theater kid in the English department for masters programs - hopefully my experience in both disciplines can result in some good scholarship! =] I applied this year - I applied to Dartmouth's MALS and Uchicago's MAPH which are kind of a build your own masters program. Based on my experience this year, if you want to be in a English department you should contact the professors and see if anyone on the faculty has interest or experience in practical performance... AND do your homework on the theater department at the university too. Most English majors can take a course or two in another department. However, I found that a lot of places only offered mostly the same theater courses I took as an undergrad. Anyway, feel free to message me if you have any questions!! =]

I did Cheryl's cookies - we've recieved them as gifts before and they're very good! Sign up for their emails, they send LOOOTS of sale codes. Nice cookies and won't break the bank either! =]

Just got rejected from Cambridge, an hour after emailing them politely asking when I might hear back..... sigh. Was kind of my top choice too.

Oh good point guys, thank you! This is all news to me. And I suppose the people at BC will tell me how I ought to say it.

Hey guys, this is very helpful. I'm just trying to think how this would look - I've been offered what they call a 'full tuition scholarship' (which they apparently only award to four people) and then on top of that there are positions available to work as a writing tutor during my first year and TA/TF positions the second year with stipends. But I'm not guaranteed any of the positions - I mean, I feel hopeful that if they want me this much I can get one if I apply and they seem to have enough positions to satisfy most of the cohort, but that's not given at this point. So would I just say that it's a funded MA... and a teaching fellowship?