poppyensemble

Hi folks, I just moved into my apartment and am getting quite excited about Beginning Stuff so soon. Thought I'd bump this thread up to see how everyone else was doing!

reading this thread has been really helpful. : ) does anyone know anything about the 85-95 prescott street block of harvard affiliated housing? e.g. the area, the building, how loud the nearby art museum construction work gets... from what i can tell it's really close to main campus buildings, but i don't know much else about it.

I think you should call/email your International Student Office (or the equivalent) ASAP and see what they say. There's a good chance there have been previous situations like yours; or if not, I think they'll at least be able to tell you what your options are. Good luck! Hope you find a way.

I think there's a very small chance you'd not be approved by the university admission office. However, you want to be sure (glitches/mix-ups are always possible), and with the deadline already here... I think you should just call the Kent State department ASAP!

i'll be starting a comparative literature phd in the fall. does anybody else here live in beijing? : )

Here's some further food for thought. On how the humanities (and the texts and intellectual methods we teach and value), might in fact be seen as essential to a healthy civil society: http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/troy_jollimore_on_why_democracy_needs_the_humanities_20100423/ Snippets [The claim that democracy needs the humanities, that the crisis in humanistic education leaves “the future of the world’s democracies hang[ing] in the balance,” is a strong one, and more hardheaded readers may respond with skepticism. As much as the humanities may enrich the lives of those privileged enough to devote themselves to them, they continue to strike many people as, essentially, frills. As long as a majority continues to see them this way they will be among the first things to be jettisoned when times get tough. Nussbaum’s contention is that this view is precisely the opposite of the truth: As the subtitle makes clear, the main part of “Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities” is devoted to substantiating the claim that the skills taught by the humanities are “skills that are needed to keep democracies alive.”] ... [socratic pedagogy, then, is meant to produce an ideal citizen, one who is 'active, critical, curious, capable of resisting authority and peer pressure'—the kind of citizen who poses a threat to authoritarian regimes but who enables democracies to function.] Or a shorter, slightly more critical take on Nussbaum's argument here: http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2010/06/value-democracy-nussbaum-arts

yeah, i'm looking to live off-campus; but the dorms also sound far from terrible if things don't work out, at least for the first year. sounds like we're all pretty unfamiliar with boston. i'm looking forward to getting to know a new city. i keep hearing nice things about cambridge/boston, so that's at least reassuring! especially since i'll be going in for comparative lit, and —i don't know the specifics about your departments— but if the average in mine is anything to go by, i'll be in the area for a looong time. : )

ha, housing is one of those very logisticky things that i know i'll have to deal with sooner or later, but have wedged firmly at the back of my mind for now. ) you've probably seen this already, but there's some helpful housing info going on here: i also hear that harvard affiliated housing (http://www.huhousing.harvard.edu/HarvardUniversityHousing/index.aspx) can be quite a solid option (though it's apparently lottery-based), since the locations tend to be decent, all utilities are covered and you don't run the risk of running into supremely unpleasant proprietors etc. all that aside though, are you folks absolutely set on living off campus for the first year? as for post-acceptance euphoria, definitely! i still oscillate wildly between thinking of what i should be doing to prepare for grad school and not believing any of this has actually happened.

hi folks, i'm heading to cambridge this fall. looking forward to it! good luck with deciding. tufnel, i have a really close friend who is currently doing the first year of his polisci (er, government) phd. he seems to be working superhard but also having a pretty jolly time. : )

golly! that's awesome! (quite literally, too )

wow, a whole lot of 'tough love', as you say. : ) at the same time, you weren't at all defensive and quickly came to fully appreciate the other users' points of view, which i think says lots about your maturity and character. honestly, we've all said (plenty of) things —just perhaps not on these boards— that were unfortunately timed and not particularly well thought out, that ended up (very reasonably, but definitely not intentionally) hurting others. and we pretty much all have many moments of self-doubt (i know i do at least!), and times where we simply freak out about everything and our self-worth and where we stand with others (even though we know we shouldn't). so definitely be a lot more sensitive about where others are right now — as all your very sensible colleagues pointed out — but also don't be too hard on yourself. i think people were very frank and reasonable in telling you what upset them, but you also reacted pretty graciously. last of all, congrats to you! and good luck and strength to everybody at this extremely nerve-frazzling time of year!!

I think "intellectual consequences" here (hopefully, and much more likely) is gesturing towards how one's academic interests might benefit from/map onto New York's particular resources. e.g. If there are particular galleries and archives in NYC that would be really helpful to your research; or, for instance if one is researching representations of the urban in modern literature, then New York is obviously quite a stimulating environment; etc. So don't go unleashing your wrath and skepticism upon those NYU PhDs just yet.

did just that today. seems like a GREAT place. good luck!

i'm quite sure i'll be declining columbia within the next two days. —though not without some heartbreak : ( it seem likes a wonderful and vibrant place, and the profs and students there have been warm a& responsive. i've been told that there's a waitlist (a subtle, and sensible, nudge to tell me to hurry up!)... so for any who are on that and would like to go, best of luck!!

well... just because he's famous, doesn't mean he's not qualified. (just to be clear, i'm not a fan — have never actually watched anything with him in it besides a 30 rock episode) just think we should give him (and yale) the benefit of the doubt. i certainly don't envy him the level of scrutiny and skepticism he'll be getting if he actually attends. : ) in any case, a very interesting career choice for a young, famous actor..

Oh, me too.

Wow, thanks for all the thoughtful replies! Of course, I've always been deeply convinced too of the importance of studying and teaching literature. Its general reputation of 'not-very-usefulness' outside academia (or even among 'hard sciences' academics, etc) surprises me. For a discipline that involves sophisticated critical reading and writing skills, which are so basic to everyday communication and to processing information, I think its pragmatic brand of usefulness alone —regardless of its other merits— is quite weirdly misunderstood. Anyway, I was just really curious to see the range of different reasons that we all have for studying it. These replies have been really thought-provoking and will help me formulate my own constantly shapeshifting thoughts on the subject better.. I very much agree that we shouldn't need to justify studying literature more than people who undertake many other career paths do. Thus I was careful to emphasize the non-combative/non-defensive nature of the topic. Intentions decidedly conversational more than anything. I also agree that being passionate about a particular career is good justification for doing it, not least being that you'd probably contribute more in that field than in one you were less passionate about. : ) Personally however, I do think there is some need for self-reflection on the motivations of choosing to 'do' lit. Considering the amount of time and energy we invest in its pursuit, and the resources allocated towards us, I think we might owe it to both ourselves and others to constantly be mindful of the 'why' — especially since lit is so wonderful for opening up our minds to the 'why' in the first place, as lots of us touched upon earlier. Also, since most of us plan to teach literature, I think there will be times when we will be expected to 'justify' the learning of literature, whether we like to or not, not least to students — oftentimes really bright, inquisitive people who are just skeptical about the 'meaning' of the discipline, or have never quite clicked with it before. These cases might call for responses more conversationally productive and open-ended than "it's just really fun for me." Also, I'd like to think that we could have wonderful conversations about studying literature, and what we do, with other professions that are equally meaningful but in very different ways from ours — administrative assistants, cabdrivers, shopgirls etc.

Studying lit (and the humanities in general, unfortunately) is often seen as something hopelessly academic/a vain pursuit/point-blank 'useless'. I'm very curious: how do you justify studying it to people outside the field/academia? And I mean in a non-combative, non-defensive manner, even though many non-lit people may ask this from a very skeptical viewpoint... It can definitely be annoying sometimes, but the skepticism is, to be fair, quite understandable. In short, I'm genuinely interested in why we're doing this, besides a strong personal love for texts. I would love to hear how you folks have been grappling with this, since we're all obviously set on some form of continued academic involvement with literature. Anything from fully-formed lit-activist mini-treatises to fumbling one-line nebulous musings. This issue really interests me, and you're the best crowd to ask!

Hi Graciela, I had very similar concerns to yours before applying this cycle. I would also say not to worry too much. I have less extensive language preparation than you — in fact, besides English, I only have *one* other language (Chinese, which I'm fluent in). From what I could tell, comp lit grad students all seem to have at least three fluent languages under their belt (some even five or six!)... I was so unsure of my language credentials that I almost didn't apply to comp lit programs this year at all. But I did (only to a couple), and was recently admitted to a top comp lit program, to my very great surprise. Of course, this will mean a tougher time once grad school actually starts. I'm planning to spend a lot of time and energy on language catch-up over the next several years. But that's only to be expected, and I'm sure I'll find it extremely worthwhile in any case. In short, my feeling is that as long as you've demonstrated interest in learning more languages, you'll be fine. Obviously, additional language fluency is a plus, but it seems that, essentially, languages alone won't make or break your application (EVEN at the top programs), as long as you have one other very strong language besides English. Good luck!! From your post it looks like you already have all the motivation you'll need. : )

Harvard (comp lit) ~27,600 (incuding summer travel grant of 4,600)

Hi! I'm quite sure I'll be attending, since it's a good way to get a feel for the department and the people in it. And yeah, I've heard some very disheartening things about making 23000 work in NYC... and the heavy teaching load students are given. Oh dear. I guess current grad students there are the best people to turn to for comments on all that. Are you hesitating because it'll be a long trip for you?

I'll be heading to graduate school in the fall and was wondering how difficult it is to make things work on a grad school stipend. In the abstract the stipend seems fairly generous to me, as long as I resist the urge to splurge on things; but I do realise I might be somewhat detached from the 'real world' after spending four years on a tiny college campus... where I eat at a cafeteria everyday, don't get landed with utilities bills, don't pay for public transport regularly etc. The grad student lifestyle horror stories don't help ease my worst fears either. : ) More specifically, how far would 27,000 a year go in Boston? Or 23,000 in New York? I guess I just want to be mentally prepared. Any input, or advice and suggestions on living economically-but-not-miserably in these places, would be deeply appreciated!

well, they admitted fourteen this year... i'm sure at least a couple will eventually end up going to other places. it's not over 'til it's over! : )

Hi, I was initially reluctant to post about/submit this result as I don't want to cause any unnecessary anxiety. Now I sincerely hope this info will cause less distress than silence would otherwise. I received a phone call on Thursday notifying me of an acceptance. The professor was extremely kind and friendly; while I was taken completely by surprise, and only managed to utter the bare minimum of civilized responses. So unfortunately I don't have much to tell since I wasn't nearly 'together' enough to ask anything half-decent. What I do know: 200 applicants this year; and no specifics about funding were given over the line, but a follow-up with more details will supposedly follow soon. Thus it does seem that their admit decisions have been mostly completed.. but I'm not sure how the notifying/selecting process goes (who does!), so I definitely wouldn't lose heart. Good luck, not just with this one, but all your applications!! I really wish you the best. This is such a difficult process for everyone.