DyslexicBibliophile

The woman who teaches Shakespeare and American Lit. (I know, weird combination) at my college is one of those blunt, tell-it-like-it-is, kind of people. She once told my class that she didn’t cry at her wedding, or when her children were born, and that the only thing that does make her cry is grading students’ papers, which she then described as “a soul crushing experience.” Last year she was on the committee hiring a World Literature professor, and was explaining how competitive the field of academia has gotten. To illustrate this point, she described how our little campus (2,000 students total, I hadn’t even heard of this college before I applied, and I lived within 10 minutes of it most of my life) received more than 500 applications for the position. She then went on to explain why one of the strongest applicants, who had multiple degrees from Oxford, was immediately eliminated – “two weeks with you guys and he would have shot himself.” In one particular class we were discussing Poe’s “The Black Cat” and how cats are often associated with femininity. We were going through all the ways the cat and the wife could be interconnected, and were debating all the different moments the cat was either real or imagined/symbolic, when she ends the discussion by saying, with total composure and absolute calmness – “no matter how you look at it, the story is about murdering pussy.”

definitely have my heart set on English, but I also have a partner's feelings to consider. We've been together for five years and right now he's taking on about 80% of the financial burden. Plus, he's an economist and already thinks it is nuts to do a decade of extra schooling when the postsecondary job market looks the way it does and entry-level salary is barely more than what he makes with half the education (and that is if I'm lucky enough to find a tenure-track job). I can't say I blame him; his points are completely valid. Trust me, I'm tempted by Rochester, and it is definitely more financially do-able than most programs . . . it just might not be financially do-able enough. Even with my boyfriend burdening most of the cost of our lifestyle, I still contribute some money to rent and other bills. If I went to Rochester, not only is it the cost of the program, but it's the cost of rent in NJ plus the cost of rent in Rochester, the cost of us commuting to each other every once in a while (I'm too pathetic to go several months without seeing him), and so many other various random costs that might become compounded. And as I said, I don't even have all the information yet. What if I get into Villanova with a better funding package? Or the institution near where I live? I can't believe April 15th is only a month away, it feels way too soon to make this sort of decision . . . I can't believe just two days ago I was sitting down with my boyfriend to figure out what to do if I don't get in anywhere.

I'm conflicted. I really want to accept no questions asked, but the realist in me is stopping that from happening just yet. I promised myself I wouldn't go into any more debt for graduate school & I need to see if I get into my other schools/see what their funding is like before I make a final decision. I also need more financial information from Rochester – I’m a McNair Scholar, and I have heard rumors they have special funding opportunities for McNair students, but I don’t know how true/exaggerated those rumors are. It would be a no brainer with better funding!

Styrofoam - Congratulations to you as well!!

I also got in with a 50% tuition waiver! I'm so glad that neither one of us had to throw the other under a bus . . . that would have been rather unseemly! And just because I haven't outright said it yet - super big congratulations on the acceptance!

I sincerely wish I could claim it, but I still haven't heard anything. How long did your application say "under review" before you received your decision? It's been about a week and I still haven't heard a peep! Also - because I was only partially lurking the last week, I somehow missed your acceptance - CONGRATULATIONS!!!! (and sorry I'm so late to the party!)

I understand your post isn't a hard knock at Beloved, but I have to say it: I love Beloved. I equate it to watching something like Breaking Bad. It is emotionally draining, and you can't watch too many episodes in a row (or at least I can't) because it is just too heavy. That's Beloved. It needs to be read slowly and carefully. It is gruesome and grotesque, but it also beautiful and addicting in its own way. I could go on and on about the minute complexities that make it a work of genius . . . but I won’t. With all that said, it is definitely not a book for some people – it is unabashed and raw in its portrayal of the horrors of slavery, and therefore not for the faint of heart. Side note: when Beloved was assigned to me as a special project, the professor assigning it told me her own history with the novel. She first read it upon its publication, and absolutely hated it to the point she only read half of it. At the urging of some of her colleagues (and I think a student or two as well) she finally picked up the book again about five to ten years ago . . . and instantly fell in love. She could not believe that she had hated this book the first time she read it, and felt that she probably just was not capable of fully understanding it that first attempt. Not to get too cliché here, but I think that little anecdote holds an important lesson for us inspiring literary scholars – never completely turn your back on a piece of revered literature – its true beauty might unexpectedly surprise you one day. I know personally I respected The Great Gatsby, but never really enjoyed it as a book . . . that is, until the same professor from the above story explained that it should not be viewed as a novel, but as a poem disguised as a work of prose. It was with that understanding that I could finally see the beauty of The Great Gatsby. Edit - Also, I like that there was a lot of Clarissa and Pamela shaming early in this thread. I attempted both for some research I was doing two summers ago, and couldn't get through either. Between Samuel Richardson and Eliza Haywood, it was a major snoozefest. I finally ended up writing about the works of Aphra Behn, which were fascinating in comparison to those two.

Yeahhh . . . failing HS Chemistry was not enough of a lesson to me - for some reason I decided to try it again in College. Actually - the only other option was called "Applied Science," and the course called "Chemistry for Everyone" with a course description that discussed cooking and "everyday applications" made it sound like Chemistry for Kindergarteners . . . instead I am stuck with a woman who still uses an overhead project and during a lab in which the instructions told us specifically to shake our test tubes VIGOROUSLY, didn't tell us not to actually shake the test tubes until we all did it and got chlorine bleach all over ourselves . . . so I'm regretting my very existence at this moment, and in any moment that includes the utterance of ions and molarity. Actually - as a Native NJ girl - I am familiar with the concept of a Cheesesteak, and I *mostly* approve (much more into the Pizza & Bagel, gotta be a stereotype!). My application doesn't say anything - but that might be because I didn't decide to apply until last week, and I had to wait to get paid to send my GREs & transcripts. I'm really hoping the late arrival of those docs doesn't kill me for funding, but it probably will. (i'm not even going to proof-read this before posting, so excuse my tired head if this is totally non-coherent & includes wacky spellings.)

Thanks! You're awesome!!

HOLY SHIT YES. 1,000 TIMES YES. You had me at margaritas - seriously - anything that includes tequila as part of the plan is a-okay in my book! of course now we just need to get into Nova . . . .but I'll worry about that tomorrow. Tonight I study for Chemistry!

I actually have a question similar to this one - I'm not an incoming student - but I do love the program and it's my absolute TOP choice for getting a PhD someday. Do you mind answering questions about specific professors? There is one individual at Rutgers who is my dream mentor, but if that person doesn't typically work with PhD students or might be leaving the department, or something like that, I wouldn't want to waste my time dreaming. Ya know? But I also get how giving dirt on specific Professors isn't a good idea on the internet, so I understand if you're not into doing this. Thanks so much for doing this! (and hopefully, someday, I'll achieve my dream and get to Rutgers - oy - as a native jersey girl, that's not something I ever thought would be true!)

I'm in love with everything said in this thread . . . here's why: 1. I refuse to go further into debt for my graduate degree(s). I have friends who think this mindset is nuts, especially considering I have relatively low debt from my undergrad (less than 1 year tutition at my college). The only unfunded MA I will consider at this point is Rochester, and that's because 1.it’s only one year, 2. it seems like they typically fund half, 3. I am a McNair scholar, and Rochester has great funding opportunities for McNair Scholars && the director of my McNair program has connections there and might be able to finagle more funding as a last resort. 2. My back-up plan is publishing . . . . so hello Phoebecaulfield, can I buy you a drink? Or like a boat? Maybe a pony? 3. I applied to Nova, and while it does not seem that they have many Victorianists in the department, Deborah Thomas seems like a truly interesting person (I love Dickens!) – plus – it’s a short enough commute I can see my sweetie on a regular basis! Besides that, despejado is here! HI DESPEJADO!!

YAYAYAYAYYAYAYAYYAYAYYAYAYYAY! Congratulations! This is very exciting news! I'm so happy for you!

Bahahaha, I too wish you the best of luck . . . but as you said, not so much you beat me out. The ideal situation is that we both get in, that way we don't have to go all Hunger Games on each other. Yeah! I'm actually really excited for it! For some reason I had all this MA bias in the Fall when I did all my applications, but now looking at some of these programs, I feel like a total dum-dum. This feeling only deepened when the director of my McNair program told me she can pull strings and get me funding even at unfunded programs. I wish I knew that a few months ago . . .

Take a look at my profile. : )

Technically my application to Indiana - Bloomington is for an MA, but it seems to me that their MA program feeds pretty directly into their PhD program, so I guess I just always think of it as a PhD application. And now that I have been rejected now from half of the programs I applied to - I'm submitting two MA applications this weekend. One is to Villanova, and the other is to American (funding deadline has passed, but has rolling admissions - the reps have always been nice to me at Graduate School Fairs, so even though it's not a top program, it's one I have considered applying to throughout this entire process). Also - I know it doesn't *really* count in terms of this thread, but after being rejected from the University of Rochester PhD, they offered me the option to transfer my application to the terminal MA program, so that makes four MA applications.

Thank you so much for this information - even if it is only your "sense" of the situation, and not concretely how it occurs - it still makes me feel better and is much appreciated! I’ve been rejected from four programs this week (and haven’t been accepted to any programs yet) and even this slight suggestion of making it to “the final pile” somewhere makes me feel a whole heck of a lot better about myself!SO THANK YOU!! (also, thanks for the offer to pick your brain - if I get into the MA program I will definitely do so! I don't want to get my hopes up just yet, and flooding you with all my questions will definitely get me excited about the program, which will only make me super-extra-sad when a rejection comes my way).

Thanks for the positive thoughts! I definitely have my fingers crossed, but I'm not too optimistic. I've tasted rejection a little too much this application season to get my hopes up again.

I just got the Columbia email . . . was not waitlisted . . . they just took their sweet time with these rejections.

I'm in the same boat with Columbia. I'm pretty sure it's a rejection, but I would like to some certainty.

Holy crap! It has been ages since I listened to Dr. Dog!! I'll have to get reacquainted. For me, I'm revisiting high school, which means a lot of 90's E6 collective. I've also had my Pandora set to its "The Unicorns" station. Study music for me = a mix of Beirut and Yann Tierson.

Woo-hoo, I'm relatable! That's such a major compliment, you don't even know. I might print out that comment and post it on my little "when I need to feel good about myself" wall. Thanks!

That's exactly what my family thinks. I haven't even bothered to call my dad; I can't even predict what his response will be. My stepbrother got into every grad program he applied to, and actually had Columbia and another program FIGHTING for him (It was Urban Planning, so slightly different, but basic concepts still appy). What worries me is that because they think as long as you're smart, you'll get in - will they think that because I'm getting rejected across the board that I'm not as smart as they previously surmised? That would break my heart.

My boyfriend was doing the whole upbeat, "You don't know until you get the official decision," "You're great, someone is going to see that," thing - the harsh realism is a new development over the last couple of days now that real, hard, denials have started steam-rolling their way in. It's nice you have a partner who has gone through something similar. My boyfriend got his Masters in Education, but he literally applied to one local program, and they straight-told him in his interview that they were accepting him despite his low GPA and dismal GRE scores only because he did his undergrad at NYU. They then explained to him that a whole bunch of his undergraduate credits were not being accepted and he would have to take pretty much an entire year of undergraduate history courses (studying to be a high school social studies teacher) to really "qualify" for the program - aka - he was going to be a big money-maker for them and so they didn't care what his stats was as long as they could find some way to justify admitting him. So while he thinks he knows the process, his experience was so different from my own that I really wonder how much he can truly relate. *Le sigh*

Well, I'm glad I can bring some shred of happiness to someone on this night of terrible sadness and grief. Now you've made me feel better, thanks!! Edit - (I knew my boyfriend was wrong when he told me reading these boards just made me anxious and depressed. Ten points to despedjado!)