negarey

Yeah, I probably should have qualified my statements with the fact that I like to walk a lot. I've walked from East Liberty to Oakland, which was fun but I probably wouldn't recommend. You do have to cross the Hot Metal Bridge, but it's a small bridge with an absolutely stunning view that will make you want to walk back over again. I agree entirely with Hula-hoop, the only thing I want to add is the reason why I advise against Polish Hill: there are four 54 busses. Only one of them runs through Polish Hill and I'm pretty certain it doesn't run very late. In fact, here is a map of the 54. Oakland is highlighted. You can see how it only stops in Polish Hill every 45 minutes because only the 54D goes through Polish Hill. However, a bus goes through Bloomfield (Liberty Ave.) about every 20 minutes because both the 54C and the 54D take that route. Apparently the 54C is the only one that goes through Lawrenceville, so service there is pretty sparse as well, which I spaced out on until I looked at this map. Here is a map of all the busses that run through where the Pitt campus is. It basically tells you how to get to the other neighborhoods. It helps to read the information at the bottom of the 2nd page before trying to figure out the map above. Page 2 on this schedule is Squirrel Hill (61D). It looks like it runs every half an hour and stops before 2am. Bloomfield is definitely a great option and I'm kicking myself for not suggesting it in the first place. It is near Lawarenceville and it's kind of similar, but I think you'd find cheaper rent and more down-to-earth people. I worked at a restaurant on Liberty Ave. and sometimes didn't get out until 1 or 2am and was always able to catch a bus back to Oakland within 10-20 minutes. Also, vice versa, sometimes I met up with friends in Bloomfield pretty late and never had a problem. Anyway! Overall, since you're taking the bus, I'd try to stay on the 54 or 71 bus routes because they run far more often. The 71 even stops right in front of Giant Eagle, which is nice. Since I'm throwing out bus maps, here are the ones for the 71 (A and B in particular are kind of helpful): 71A & C — 71B & D I hope this helps! Also, that website has a trip planner so you can enter in whatever you want at whatever time you want and play around. All of the bus routes are in Google Maps, too, so you can just input two places into the app on your phone and pick the bus option and it will show you how long it will take and all of that fun stuff. EDIT: Also, I rented from Glickman Real Estate for 3 years and they were pretty good. Not the best of the best apartments, but I rented in their cheapest building (427 McKee, which I've heard they've done renovations to since I moved out). They were very quick to respond to problems and really friendly. They have like 4 websites, but I'd suggest waiting until they post on Craigslist because the website listings are kind of expensive.

Hi everyone!! I applied to three schools for MA programs this season. I was rejected from one, accepted to one, and haven't heard from the last one yet. I'm about 90% positive that I'm going to accept the one spot I've been offered regardless of the last school's decision because it's a much better fit. I graduated from undergrad in June 2010, so I've been out of the game for a while, but my eventual goal is a PhD. Aside from becoming reacquainted with criticism and theory, is there anything anyone else might recommend that I should do to prepare for re-entering after several years? I definitely plan to do a lot of reading in the next six months, especially -- but not solely -- in my area of interest (18th Century British), and blogging about my reading so I can get used to writing again, but I still feel like I'm missing something. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Also, if anyone has attended UMass Boston and can tell me their experiences with the program, I'd appreciate that too!

Polish Hill is a nice, quiet, cheap area but it's really kind of out of the way if you don't drive. North Oakland is much closer, but a bit more urban. Lawrenceville is more of a hipster neighborhood with great restaurants and bars. Shadyside and Squirrel Hill are more expensive but nice areas. They are still somewhat close to Pitt but not as close as N. Oakland. Honestly, if I had to choose, I'd probably pick Lawrenceville because it's mid-priced, there's stuff to do but it's not too obnoxious, and it's not too close but not too far. Kind of a nice middle-ground. Also, I've caught busses at 2 or 3 in the morning, especially between Oakland and South Side. I think it's worth considering living in the South Side Slopes, too, if you haven't already. Cheaper living, far enough from the loud obnoxious Carson St., but still somewhat close to the action as well. I've walked between Pitt and the Slopes many times in the warmer weather.

Hi!! Thanks for doing this thread! I've decided to attend UMass Boston in the fall for my MA but Rutgers is my top choice for PhD after that. Weird question, but do you happen to know if Professor Dowling still takes grad students at all? My interests and personal philosophy line up directly with his (more specifically - 18th Century lit and narrative theory), but on his website, he states that he discourages students from grad school which makes me think he wouldn't want to supervise. He doesn't use e-mail, so I'm wondering if it will be worth the time and effort to start sending him snail mail, which I would probably start doing sooner rather than later. Thanks!

I got a rejection letter from them a few days ago. I wish you better luck!!

Pearspears, where did you grow up? It sounds like you moved from somewhere relatively warm/snowless and happened to pick the two worst years ever to live in Pittsburgh. I lived there for three years and although there were indeed issues with the bus system every now and then when the weather was out of control, it was the exception, not the rule. Buses aren't invincible machines that can power through blizzards and other natural phenomena. It sounds like your issue is with the WEATHER, not the bus system. It's illogical to advise someone that getting a car will make everything all better when in reality there are far more issues with cars than buses in that kind of weather. I've seen cars spin out into ditches, stall out completely, crash into everything around them. Cars are MUCH harder to control in that weather than buses. If you know how to dress properly for winter and are not a complete moron when it comes to checking the weather in the winter months and planning for extra travel time, you'll be fine. At least when you ride the bus you know you'll be in a larger vehicle that has more traction than your $1,500 honda civic with no heat, and you'll be on the big roads that have all been plowed rather than dealing with idiots on side streets who moved to a super snowy city and never bothered to learn how to drive in the snow. Basically, if you're not a wuss, you'll be fine.

I agree that living without a car is very very doable! Almost every single bus in the city runs through Forbes or Fifth Avenues on campus, and they mostly run very frequently as well. Very reliable, in my experience. To expand upon raneck's advice, there's a Zipcar right on Forbes Ave, I think right in front of Caribou Coffee? Here is a map of all of the cars they have in Oakland: http://www.zipcar.com/pittsburgh/find-cars . I always wanted to sign up for that myself, but I don't have a license. Kind of need one of those. If you choose to live in South Oakland, there's an IGA on Forbes Ave. that suffices for most grocery needs. It's nothing special and choice is limited because it's a small space, but they DO have big granola dispensers that reduce waste! Many major buslines also stop at Giant Eagle Market District Shadyside and run every 10-20 minutes. I used to stop there a few times a week to get some essentials and took the bus home. Since you'll have free bus fare with your ID, you can probably make as many trips there and back as you'd like if you find an apartment on a 71 line (which includes South Oakland, North Oakland, and Shadyside). Fun facts: Nearby there's also UPMC Shadyside Hospital, Shadyside Family Health Center which is a great clinic, and I believe there's also a MedExpress urgent care location. This is a pretty great area, although it was too expensive for me when I lived there (I wasn't a student). Lastly, there's a Target in East Liberty which is very accessible by bus as well, though I would definitely take a cab home from there because, if you're like me, you end up walking out of Target with more than you went in for and don't want to walk very far for a bus stop. Every borough in Pittsburgh is a short drive away from most of the others, so shelling out for cab fare every now and then doesn't break the bank as long as you don't live in Regent Square or Highland Park or something (both incredibly beautiful neighborhoods but more residential and a little further out).

I lived on the ground floor of an apartment in South Oakland for three years (at the very end of McKee Pl). I was about a 5 minute walk from campus, if that. I wasn't going to school at the time, so I found out really quickly that Oakland can be a scary place if you're looking for it, but if you mind your business you will be fine. After that I moved to the South Side Slopes, which I found was a popular neighborhood for students as well. I loved living in Oakland because Schenley Park is absolutely beautiful. I'm a "dive bar" kinda girl so living near Uncle Jimmy's was great for me. Forbes Ave. has just about everything you could possibly need, and there are a ton of great restaurants within walking distance. As raneck said, it's an urban campus and you have the typical urban problems, but even then it's on a tiny scale. Someone I worked with in Point Breeze of all places (one of the safest neighborhoods in Pittsburgh) got me into drugs but until that happened -- about a year after I moved to Pittsburgh -- I had no idea of the scale of the drug scene in Oakland. It's not a ghetto, you don't have dealers standing on corners and whatnot, but there was a lot more activity there than I had noticed before. There are layers to the city and it all depends on how deep you want to dig. It's easy to walk on by and focus on school if that's what you want to do. It's also easy to get swept up into the undergraduate party scene or drug scene if that's what you want. If you're easily influenced and looking for quieter places but still have easy access to the campus, stick with North Oakland, Squirrel Hill or Shadyside. However, these places are much more expensive. If you're looking to save a bit of money, don't mind a little hustle and bustle and want more access to the restaurants and the bar scene and all of that, South Oakland and South Side are the place to go. And the walk from South Oakland over the Hot Metal Bridge to South Side (E. Carson St.) is incredible as well. The bus system into Oakland is ridiculously effective and reliable so you have a ton of options. All in all, even though I've moved past that part of my life, I would still move back to South Oakland because I loved the neighborhood so much. If their MA program funded, I'd be applying there. I'll probably apply there for my PhD. Can you tell that I'm nostalgic? If it was up to me, I'd live there for the rest of my life. I've lived in four different states and traveled and spent time across the whole country and that's my favorite place. I hope this helped a little bit.

Haha! Well, I'm actually applying back to my undergraduate university to get my master's. The professors have that parent-like quality of thinking you're capable of anything and inspiring you to avoid disappointing them at all costs. They treat the higher standards as if they're perfectly reasonable which makes for a very vibrant environment on campus. A summary of their prompt: 1. Give an indication of what you will pursue. 2. Explain the reasons for your choice of field and why it warrants pursuit at a graduate level. Give a sense of the questions that you will ask and why they are important. 3. Why this English department? What resources and programs are offered that would help develop your intellectual interests? The reasons I chose their department (even though I moved very far away since then and they don't offer funding) are their strong specialization in literary theory, the rigorousness of the program and the attitude and encouragement of the professors. I'm also having a real hard time with the introduction. I don't want to just launch into NARRATIVE THEORY NEEDS MORE ATTENTION!!!! If you know what I mean, haha.

Hi everyone! I've decided that one of the reasons I want to attend a particular school is that its program is much more rigorous than other programs that I've researched. Is there a more tactful way to say something like "While surveying programs, the department of such and such school proved to have much more rigorous standards for graduation than its competitors." For some reason, I feel like calling attention to the application process is a big no-no, but I could be wrong. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Thank you so much! It's all so new to me that calling it a "disability" feels weird and I didn't even think to search for further resources along that line. I will definitely make sure to register and possibly take fewer classes as well, just to be on the safe side.

I know this is a year later and it's possible no one will see this, but I also want to say thanks for sharing because I'm in the same position right now and I feel the exact same way. It's just reassuring to know I'm not the only one. It seems like whenever I acknowledge the weaknesses that arise due to my bipolar disorder (specifically in terms of communication issues as I'm on the severely manic end usually - pressured speech, leaps of logic and the occasional fierce, delusional loyalty to insignificant arguments) people think I'm just making excuses for being stubborn or intentionally trying to be rude. My mom ended up working with someone who was in one of my undergrad classes and this girl said I made it hard for other people to learn because I had already grasped everything and would talk excessively about it in class which would prevent the professor from really explaining it to everyone else. I'm on meds now, which helps control that compulsion. The professor who helped me with my honors thesis for a year and a half, and who was not entirely surprised when I contacted her a couple years later and explained my diagnosis, told me not to mention it at all and that she'd work it into her letter of recommendation. My GPA didn't suffer too much because the mania helped me get straight As basically until I took too much on in my last semester. I did the same thing as you. I'm an English lit person but I decided I would have no problem in a 400-level Linguistics course (I got a D), a philosophy course © and an unrealistic amount of independent study-based English projects, which I managed to do okay in, but definitely not as well as I should have. Anyway, I came to this post because now I'm wondering if I should "register" or whatever as having a disability with the university so that just in case anything happens, it will at least be on paper. I don't want THAT to look like I'm making an excuse or preparing myself to fail, i just feel like my professors should know so they can kind of keep an eye out if I become disruptive or something. I don't know if that even makes sense. Plus my meds have degraded my concentration and reading comprehension to the point that it takes me three times as long to read things sometimes, which is annoying. It hasn't diminished my capability of producing great work, it just takes longer. So I feel like it might be necessary to bring it up. Any advice on that front?

I went to SUNY Buffalo for undergraduate and I'm applying there for my MA. In fact, it's the only master's program I'm applying to that doesn't provide funding and it is still my top choice. I'd go there for my PhD if I could. It is an incredible school and the campus is beautiful. Although it's not in the heart of the city, it IS in what is considered one of the safest areas in the nation. It's probably a thirty minute drive from Buffalo proper, and the atmosphere is just vibrant with knowledge. I know, I know, that can be said of nearly all colleges, but this department really just hums with innovation. I had the privilege of being convinced to pursue the honors program which showed me exactly why it is indeed a top theory school. Also, I took many classes with Professor Ablow, the professor of Victorian literature who manages to be incredibly encouraging and friendly while maintaining a very rigorous course of study. I can't recommend her or the school enough. Good luck with your applications!

Thanks for the responses! I think a lot of my fear about contacting the third prof surrounds the language entailed in "feeling it out." I don't want to sound too self-deprecating but I do want to somehow acknowledge that I know I performed below the letter-of-recommendation-standards. I also have a reason for the difference in aptitude (mental illness), but I don't want to use it as a crutch or an excuse as I wasn't aware of it at the time. LeventeL, I didn't even know I could submit more than three! So maybe I will reach out to that other professor as well and see how it goes.

Hey everyone, It's getting down to the wire and I'm having trouble deciding who I should ask to be my third letter-writer, and I was hoping someone here could give me advice! A bit of background: I graduated in 2010, and I'm applying to Master's programs in English, specifically 18th Century British. I feel very confident about my first two letter writers, the first one is someone I worked very closely with on an honors thesis who is within my field and has been a wonderful mentor to me. The other is someone I've taken many classes with and who is very familiar with my work. My predicament is this: I have three very different people that I could ask to write the third letter. Should I ask: 1) "The Community College Professor" who I took three or four classes with about 6 years ago, who was pretty familiar with my work at the time. I got great grades and all of that jazz, but it might take a minute to remind him who I am. 2) "The Single-Course Professor" -- I've taken one course with him, and I did pretty well. The course was not in my direct specialization but it is casually linked with the novel I wrote my thesis on. 3) "The Possibly Only Moderately Positive Professor" -- This is a woman that I took a few Victorian courses with, and I did well in most of them but had trouble with one of them due to medical issues -- which Letter Writer #1 (my mentor) is addressing in her recommendation. She would be the best option if I did better in her courses, but alas. Should I write to her and feel things out, maybe explain my situation? I got a C in the final course, which was an honors course, but (I'm pretty sure) I got an A and an A- in her other classes. I'm sorry this is such a long post, but I'm kind of perplexed. Any help?? Thanks in advance!!