TonyB

I'm not "lecturing" anyone. You're the one who insists on adopting an overly hectoring and, frankly, insulting and dismissive tone toward anyone who more or less agrees with the OP's central thesis. How does restating the argument "Yeah, yeah, academia sucks but so does the rest of the world, so let's all throw our lives away anyway" over and over again solve anything, or even contribute anything to the discussion? Not really. Success means being able to support yourself (and your family, if need be) by the fruits of your labors. Too many people adopt an all or nothing mentality... you have the blue collar folks saying it's all about being able to get a job and put food on the table, but you also have academics who are a little too complacent about the possibility of consigning themselves to a lifetime of poorly paid, part-time academic work. It's great to be able to "do what you love," but it's also pretty important to be able to do so while not ALSO having to live in your stereotypical grandma's basement.

I checked out Urbana-Champaign and they seem like a cool program. Congrats!

The zombie gif is an apt one... we all think, on some level, that WE are the ones who will be able to get one of those "good jobs" in academia that are supposedly so (increasingly) few and far between, just as we all think we'd be one of the survivors adventuring our way through the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. Every overweight person thinks they're going to be the one to lose all the weight one day. Every poor capitalism-loving Republican thinks they're the one who's going to one day strike it rich. The bottom line is that there are more people in grad school than there are substantive jobs in academia. Academics don't retire, and new hires are overwhelmingly being brought on part-time. This is not a system that can sustain itself. To my mind, any institution that avoids hiring tenure-track faculty, while admitting grad students on anything other than a fully (and generously) funded basis, is ethically suspect. In fact I'd go so far as to say that they shouldn't admit any more non-funded grad students than they'd be willing to hire on a full-time basis themselves. Now, of course, there will always be those who will STILL go to grad school, just as there will always be folks who pursue useless liberal arts degrees when they'd be better off getting an HVAC certification (or something), from an employability perspective. But that doesn't mean "the system" is thereby obligated to give these people enough rope to hang themselves. It also does no good to put the problem down to nebulous concerns of economic and political philosophy -- capitalism vs. socialism, etc. -- or to excuse the policies of school administrators based on the flimsy notion that "all organizations in a capitalist economy inevitably exploit their workers," however true that might be.

Aaaaaaand the deed is done.

Wright State is pretty much a straight shot east from downtown Dayton, and it's right on the cusp of two fair-sized towns -- Fairborn and Beavercreek -- that have a lot of shops, restaurants, movie theaters, both an indoor and outdoor shopping mall, and so on between them. They're also very accessible to two of the main highways that go through the region, I-70 (which runs east-west between Columbus and Indianapolis, and points beyond in both directions of course) and U.S. 35, which runs straight east-west through the Dayton area but then arcs pretty sharply northwest-southeast as it leaves town in either direction. There's also an auxiliary interstate, 675, that provides good access to the rest of the Greater Dayton area (particularly South Dayton) and to I-75, which is the main north-south corridor. Honestly, I'd suggest living either in Fairborn or Beavercreek, or somewhere off 675 a little bit south of there. Dayton itself tends to be a bit "ghetto" no matter where you are (though North and West Dayton are especially bad), and the smaller cities to the immediate north and west, like Englewood, Huber Heights, Trotwood, and so on, don't have a lot going on. Any farther west and you're in the boonies (Preble County), and a good 35-40 minutes from campus besides. Again, I'd suggest looking for places in Fairborn, Beavercreek, the south part of Kettering or maybe north part of Centerville, and in general I'd advise you not to stray too far from the 675 corridor.

'Nother potential transplant from the Midwest (Ohio) here. I have friends and family members who are considering moving to Tampa or Orlando one day, so I'm interested in finding out about the area. Seems I hear a lot about roaches, lizards and assorted creepy-crawlies here and in the southwestern states forums (Arizona, New Mexico, et al). How bad is that issue, really? I have to admit it gives me a bit of pause.

RE: Advice on manuscripts... I was waitlisted at UW: Madison last year, and one thing the professor who broke the news told me was to avoid first-person narration, as it tends to be very common in writing samples. Good way to stand out!

These are the totals I've heard: Johns Hopkins $29k. Cornell & Michener 27. Rutgers (Camden & Newark) 26. Vanderbilt 24. Brown 23 (second year). Michigan 22. Washington University (WUSTL) 22. UNM Albuquerque 20. UW: Madison 19. University of Oregon 18. University of Alabama: 13.5

Good to know! I may have to put them back on my short list. $17k would be good for a Midwestern school, etc. I was just concerned about the generally high cost of living in Cali.

I hear those winters are harsh!

Really? Last I heard it was only $17k, which doesn't exactly strike me as being terribly livable in Southern California.

So are you still at Iowa, H? As Plan B's go... well, let's just say that's a hell of a Plan B! Haha. Personally, I've applied to 7 programs in the last two years -- been rejected by 5, yet to hear back from one, admitted to one without funding (which means I probably won't be heading out there come fall, so the end result's the same). I mostly wanna get my master's to have time to focus on my writing, to acquire a teaching credential, to have better access to other jobs in higher ed, and frankly, I'd like the opportunity to experience living in another part of the country without having to worry about chasing down a job there, etc. first.

I've pretty much decided that I'm not going to attend the program at this point. That's the direction most of the advice I'm getting seems to be leaning, and to be honest, it's where my own inclinations are leading me as well. I'd be looking at incurring AT LEAST another $10k worth of debt (and that's assuming I was able to get funding for my second year, which is by no means a certainty), and it's questionable whether the program would include any teaching experience as well. I guess my next question, then, would be what's the best way to handle the situation? Email, phone call? Should I "make something up" (fictitious family emergency, etc.). or be straight about my reasoning, or just say that I've decided not to attend and avoid getting into my motivations altogether? Any advice, as usual, would be greatly appreciated.

I'm definitely leaning in the direction of turning them down... unfortunately I already (impulsively) confirmed my enrollment when I first got the offer, so I don't know how polite I'll be able to be! :-/ I know that I definitely need to apply to more programs this year. Ten or so would be ideal.

It does, and I appreciate your thoughts! It says you've decided... where will you be going?

So I've been accepted into the English MA program at UD for the fall, BUT without funding or a teaching assistantship. It may sound petty, shallow, etc., but since I first started researching writing programs a few years back, I've promised myself that I wouldn't go unless I got full funding, and preferably the opportunity for some good teaching experience in the bargain. Now that I've been accepted into a program, however... I find myself wavering. Maybe it's partly a loss of confidence -- I was turned down by Michigan, UW:Madison, and Cornell last year, and two of the three schools I applied to this year as well. But I'm really struggling with whether to take this opportunity while it's offered, or hold out and wait for application season to roll around again next year. Any and all thoughts on the issue would be greatly appreciated!

I can't recall the programs offhand, but I know I've seen a handful of schools that offer a YA fiction emphasis.

Didn't really find much about Miami, beyond the fact that some people were applying/had applied there. That's my issue -- there just doesn't really seem to be much info about the program, outside what you can see on the website.

Just wondering if anyone knew anything about this program. Thinking of applying there for the fall.

How's that folklore class going?

Anyone know anything about the MA program in creative writing at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio?

Kinda surprising... IU has next to no info about funding on their site, and BGSU specifically says that they only fund about 2/3rds of your credits, even with a grad assistantship. Guess I'm a little spoiled by English/Creative Writing programs -- which is what I've been researching up to this point -- as they tend to be a little less cagey about stuff like this.

WHY would you take an unpaid internship if it's not even going to provide you with new experience? Visitor Services -- sounds like you're going to be a glorified front desk clerk. I say skip it.

Anybody know anything about the programs at Indiana University (Indianapolis or Bloomington), Ball State, Bowling Green State University, or University of Dayton? Also curious about the University of South Florida and Central Florida.

Hey -- sorry for not replying before! I'd have a car, so don't have to worry about being on the busline. And I'd only go if I got an assistantship, so out of state fees shouldn't be an issue. What I'm mostly concerned about, as a kid from the Midwest, is the crime and the cost of living out there. I'd most likely be living alone, and I'd want to live somewhere I could commute to and from school without passing through the dangerous areas. (Also somewhere livable, on my 21k/yr stipend). I realize there's going to be some culture shock, financially and otherwise, moving from Dayton, Ohio to somewhere a stone's throw from New York City, and I'm just trying to figure out how difficult a transition that's going to be.