ArthChauc

Congrats to the person who got the acceptance! I don't know how I missed that, the first thing I do is Control+F every school I applied to on this thread before I go on and read the posts, haha.

As far as the listserv goes, I was given access to everyone's names/emails/interests/universities as a print off via an advisor. My guess is that she has the information because she's part of the group.

Where the hell are all the Rochester acceptances then?

What to wear as a graduate student in English. Sounds ridiculous, but the array of dress from tenured profs to adjuncts to grad students is all over the place. Some guys are in button downs and dress pants, others are in t-shirts. I'll go to class one day dressed like I'm going to an interview and the next just jeans and a blazer. Some of our tenured profs dress like crap and others are in cocktail-looking dresses every day. Can we please standardize this? For a while I was wearing jeans, a sweater, and a scarf every day and my thesis advisor referred to it as my "uniform". Blahhh.

I guess I should note that my "post[ing] about my students" is moreso me posting about struggles teaching the course/getting a point across to students and seeking advice from professionals I'm friends with rather than anything else on Facebook. My Twitter, however, is anonymous and spares no one.

I post about my students all the time on my Facebook and Twitter. I'm also only Facebook/Twitter friends with people I know and my stuff is always protected and appropriate.

I think the take away from this is to read the book and decide for yourself.

Yay to the Oregon/Rochester acceptances. I applied to both, feeling pretty jealous about now.

I applied to Rochester!

This is the closest thing to the listserv that I know how to actually pass along. I'm a member of the Babel FB page, Cloud! Pretty cool group.

I think the book is a good first step--I will agree that his tone is a little cynical and defeatist, but so is the Chronicle's. It's one of the few books I know that sort of lets you dip your toes in the water, so to speak. I think reading it with a grain of salt might be necessary, yes, but overall it's a good, informative read.

Ahh, congrats about U of M!

You're coming to Kzoo. That's final My thoughts on Rochester is that gossip is gossip and almost all programs have some person who will find an "issue". For me, it's about the level of education I would receive and who I would work that. That said, unless for personal reasons, I think everyone who applied to Rochester should appreciate how phenomenal the program is. You did NOT get lucky with STL. It's an amazing program with wonderful people there. I did hear from a professor that they're restructuring things there--do you know anything about that? And yes, their DGS is wonderful from my experience :] You'll have to tell us about your visit! I would kill to go there. Yeah, I was shocked at Oregon's stipend and the fact that they aren't flying the person in for a campus visit. Crazy, if you ask me.

I have a book on my self that I have consulted an embarrassing amount of times that I think you would find really useful--it was actually given to me by a former professor and, lo and behold, one of my current professors printed a copy of the first chapter out for my cohort and gave it to us on the first day of class during year one of my MA. It's called Graduate Study for the 21st Century: How to Build a Career in the Humanities. It is WONDERFUL. I have a few friends applying to MA/Ph.D programs and I'm planning to give these as gifts when they're accepted. It's truly a wonderful, helpful book written by someone with clear knowledge in the field. I'm sure many people have read it (maybe even you!) but I can't stress enough how much I have enjoyed it and consulted it.

Katia, you should come to Kzoo (and yes, call it that)! I've looked at the website and you can stay in a dorm--as I will be doing--for about $32 a night which is a great deal when you see that the hotels are about 3x that and up. I'll post a link to the website here and a link to the schedule here. The registration fee is only about $80 or so for students and Bonnie Wheeler (ahh!) is going to be there, so it's probably worth it. I got to see her speak at MLA this year. Pretty awesome. I have a friend who did some work at Rochester and expressed a similar sentiment, but this had to do with an English department scandal. I don't want to get into it too much--mainly, because I don't know a lot--but it certainly made him feel uncomfortable. I don't know that I struggle with it enough to not attend because I'm thrilled with their faculty, but I also don't think I have much of a shot anyway--I come from a very small MA program and my GREs are pretty average, unfortunately. But anyway, only time will tell. Also, you beat me out for St. Louis so I wouldn't be shocked if you did it again How are you feeling about that program, anyway? I'll have to sort the manuscript thing out with whatever university I end up attending. Looking at the boards (and your list, Katia) it looks like Oregon is notifying around this time. Fingers crossed a million times over for the pair of us. Anyone else interested in trekking to Kzoo?

Okay, so much to respond to here. I just realized that since I deferred my graduation until summer, I can attend Kzoo now! (Before it was on the same Friday as my graduation, haha.) Super exciting, I'm going to start looking into that soon. Maybe, if people are going, we can all grab coffee and pretend we know each other in real life? Or not. You know. Whatever. I'm actually in the Babel working group's Facebook group, there's some pretty interesting ideas being thrown around there, such a fascinating group to follow. Truth be told, I used the Bable listserv as my main source for choosing schools and ended up applying to the universities that had multiple people on the Babel listserv. It was a great way to start looking for people and I ended up finding a few gems here and there at smaller (but still R1) institutions--check out Hilary Fox at Wayne State, for example. Also, I saw my girl Judy B mentioned above. In my cohort, we treat Judith Butler like Miranda in The Devil Wears Prada. I really hope you guys get that reference. We say things like "Uh, Judy B would NOT" or "Oh yeah, Judy wants to know if you finished that draft yet". It's a lot of fun, if not veiled insanity. Anyway, I work with trauma theory a lot (Felman, Butler, Berlant, etc.) and am obsessed with Precarious Life. Pure genius. Also, Guin (we're there, right? I can call you Guin?) I love Beowulf so if I end up trucking it from Ohio to M*chigan, I'll definitely stop by. I'd love to see your abstract? (Is that a thing I'm allowed to ask for? #nosenseofdecorum) Additionally, I saw Rochester mentioned above. Ugh, what an amazing school (with tons of Medievalists)! It's definitely one I applied to and one of my favorites. I have no hope of getting in, but I'm still crossing my fingers (toes, other limbs) anyway. Ohio has been pounded with snow for the last month and a half, but I'd take five more years of it if it meant going there. Sigh...if only, if only. Also, I saw a few people mentioning manuscripts above...does anyone know how, exactly, to go about securing getting to see them? I've been accepted to one Ph.D program (which I will attend even if the other nine are no's) and will be visiting England, Ireland, and Scotland this time next year for my honeymoon so I'll be in the right place. Help!

Did your status on their admissions website change too? I've checked mine and it still says that it's in review--thank you for the kind words before, by the way, but based on some of the people who applied to Boulder on here as well as their reputation in general, it was definitely, definitely, definitely a reach for me. I just want my rejection so I can stop waiting haha.

Weird. I haven't gotten anything yet, just check the application and I'm still under review. However, Boulder was a reach for me--I have no doubt that I'll be rejected. I'm off to a meeting now, maybe they'll be a rejection in my email by the time I get back.

Has Boulder notified everyone yet? I thought I only saw one response on the board last I checked.

(Please ignore my Avengers reference. Or, if you like Marvel comics, don't! :]) I thought it would be fun to have our own thread to discuss a few things such as Ph.D results (lament, triumph, whatever), what we're currently writing about, and maybe mention some of our interests (scholars, texts, etc.)? I know there are a few of us floating around here and it might be fun. Or it might not. Feel free to ignore me. Anyway, I'll introduce myself (needlessly, if nobody decides to join in). I'm AC, I'm an MA student in literature and I work with Old English/Middle English texts that relate to materiality, technics, and posthumanism. At present, this is a new interest of mine but it comprises much of my current research. I've been accepted to one Ph.D program (rejected by two, waiting on nine) and my aim is to work with narratives about saints and talk about the role of sainthood in Medieval texts as well as the temporality of the saint narratives and how they become reinvigorated during contemporary times (i.e.: Catholic saints and the Irish rebellion). Anyway, that's a super vague way of saying that I love reading Medieval riddles, writing about St. Aethelthryth, and I need a break from thesis writing.

This is exactly how I feel right now. It's hard to remember that even schools at the bottom of are list aren't bad schools...just not our favorites. Still a bleh feeling though, hard to shake.

That's interesting. I teach a 1:1 in my MA. I guess I didn't really look at what the regular teaching loads were at the universities I applied to. Huh.

Oh no, I totally agree that you should go where the best offer is and where you'd be happiest, I was just commenting on teaching load in general. I haven't received the official paperwork for my first acceptance (nor the phone call I was supposedly going to get this week as it was communicated to me via email), but it looks like, historically, the institution that accepted me usually does a 2-1 yearly load. My assistantship is between 15-20k with full medical, dental, and vision. It's also in a very inexpensive area. I'm excited about it because it is an acceptance and there are two scholars I would be happy to work with at the university, plus their tenure placement looks good--about nine people in the last three years are tenure track, the rest have visiting professor gigs--but I'm feeling a little blah about it as I have nine schools left to go. It's a weird feeling, being accepted somewhere and then getting greedy and thinking about all the "better" programs you applied to. I wonder if I'm alone in this?

I've heard teaching a 2-2 or a 2-1 load is pretty normal--is that not true?

Mozel tov! I'm here as an MA in Literature but I've taken many ACS courses--please let me know if you have any questions!