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Glanton

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Everything posted by Glanton

  1. How the hell do I edit my own original post? I've been trying to figure it out for ten minutes.
  2. That's fantastic way of putting it into perspective, thank you kindly!
  3. I don't think there's any reason to hesitate. I've been in touch with the Graduate Chair at my new prospective department about funding questions, among other things, and she's been extremely magnanimous and helpful. Not like they're gonna be all "OH-HO A LITTLE OVEREAGER, ARE WE? WE HEREBY RESCIND YOUR ACCEPTANCE, IMPUDENT WHELP"
  4. Thanks for the replies, friends. I realize now that I came off as a total entitled asshole in that initial post, and an entitled asshole is right at the top of the list of things I never wanted to be. I worked my _ass_ off during my undergrad--averaged 40 hours a week on top of a full time class schedule, then was able to cut down to part time work in my senior year due to some scholarships. I still ended up in pretty substantial (~30K) debt. After finishing at Ohio U, my lady and I pulled up stakes and moved to NYC, where we both got great jobs--this was months before the collapse in '08. Since then we've both gotten pretty good raises, and while I'm not making stupid money, I'm making more than I've ever had in my life. I applied to grad programs in English lit more for personal edification than career advancement, since I know I can get a good job with just my BA and solid work history. Since my future plans don't hinge on a career in academia (you'd have to be much braver or foolhardy than myself to pin your fortune to that in this kinda marketplace), I felt comfortable throughout the application process and was definitely not fretting getting some rejection letters this spring. Now that I've gotten an offer, I think I'm just second guessing myself for the sake of it. 15k and a full tuition waiver is a great offer for a masters program and I know it. I could potentially get my MA without going one cent further into debt, and that's an opportunity many would kill for. But I still feel like I _am_ worth more: I bit and clawed and scratched my way through college making barely more than minimum wage, essentially holding down two full time jobs (class & work-work), and got a good job right out of school which pays decently. It's always been my intention to get an advanced degree, and ~2 years in the private sector have definitely dulled my enthusiasm for working 9-5 for the rest of my life. I'd love to teach American lit at the college level, but I've got no illusions as to what the prospects for solid well-paying positions are in the humanities right now. In a way, this feels like a step back. Sorry for the scumbled-together mess there. Lot of things to consider right now, obviously. I'm 90% sure I'll take the offer from Miami U (in Oxford, OH), but if I got a better offer from OSU or NYU, is it at all appropriate to come back and say, "Hey, these two schools are higher ranked and offering me more money, but I like your program best. Is there anything you can do for me to make your school more attractive?" Thanks again, and sorry for the public hand wringing.
  5. Hey all, I got a way early acceptance call from my best fit (though least prestigious) possible program on March 1! I was totally caught off guard, partially due to the fact that I hadn't expected to hear anything for several weeks, and partially because I'd almost forgotten about the applications--I'm a busy man. So anyway, they offered me a full ride, as it were, plus a halfway decent stipend--or what seemed like a halfway decent stipend while I was on the phone. The more I think about it, the more I'm wondering if I'll be able to live on it. I currently live in Brooklyn and make 20K more a year than they're offering me. The school is in little town Ohio, so rent would likely be a little less than half what I pay here, but I've been working in the private sector for 2 years and my fiancee and I have become accustomed to a certain standard of living. I'm very worried about not being able to make it work on that amount of dough. I've got applications in at two other schools, one of which is here in New York and offers substantially more cash, but which is also a total reach for me. The school at which I've already been accepted is a good fit, and my lady and I are both enamored of the idea of spending two years there... So I guess what I'm asking is: is it at all acceptable to reply to the offer by saying you'd love to attend, but can't swing it at that pay rate? Or are these things pretty much set in stone? I'm giving it 3-4 weeks to see if I hear back from my other two choices, but I'd love the peace of mind of knowing that I could make this initial offer work for me somehow. Thanks!
  6. I'm polishing my SOP and finishing everything up. My earliest deadlines are Dec. 15, and I'm planning on having everything submitted by Dec. 1. Cutting it close, but hopefully they won't hold that against me.
  7. Man, that's rough. I'm lucky to have a variety of papers around 10pgs in length to choose from, and one of my programs actually wants a writing sample of 20+ pgs, so I'm excerpting my honors thesis for that. It seems to me that you could certainly effectively cut a 14 pg paper down to 10 with judicious edits, especially if it's acknowledged in the application that you've done so.
  8. Morning, all. I'm in the midst of throwing myself into composing my SOPs, the earliest of which are due Dec. 15. I knew at the outset of the process that this would be the least enjoyable aspect of it, and managed to put it off until after the GRE (740 verbal--woot!). We've all heard the tired cliche: "This is the hardest thing you'll ever have to write." I'm not finding it to be that, exactly, but I am finding it incredibly frustrating to approach simply because of all of the (sometimes self-)contradictory advice out there for writers. I've read threads here, articles all over the web, talked to other successful grad students, my former professors, and have come up with this basic set of constants which seem reasoned and practical: -Show that you understand that this is not a continuation of your undergraduate work. Talk specifically about your research plans and goals, though not so specifically that you seem inflexible or give the impression of already having everything figured out. -Talk specifically about what attracts you to the program to which you are applying: note professors whose work you admire, on-campus resources which would be beneficial to your research, and special programs which coincide with your interests. -Highlight your strengths, what has drawn you to pursue graduate study, and touch upon any instances of adversity or hardship which affected your studies directly. Beyond these common points, there seems to be little conventional wisdom. Some sources stress that this is a _personal_ statement, and thus should reflect your unique experience. The advice that one should lead with an anecdote seems suspect to me, and a bit contrived, but I also recognize that launching directly into a discussion of your research interests and ultimate goals in pursuing graduate study will not set you apart in a crowded field of applicants. I'm applying to literature programs, though my degree is technically in creative writing, and I'm quite confident in my ability to craft a cogent narrative. During the course of my undergraduate studies, I had to overcome a lot of adversity, both social and economic: I worked full-time for most of my time in college just to support myself, and it was only in my senior year that I was awarded sufficient scholarship funding to cut back on my work schedule. Beyond that, I also dropped out of high school my senior year, due in large part to problems with drugs and alcohol which started to consume my life after my mother passed away. I earned my GED the winter before I started college, and after a somewhat rocky first term, began to excel almost immediately, eventually graduating cum laude and completing a departmental honors thesis. All of this seems fertile for inclusion in my SOP, but... is it really? Is it even relevant? I'm certain I can relate all of this within a couple of sentences, but does it make my SOP seem over-dramatic? Is it even wise to mention that I didn't finish high school, or does the from-rock-bottom-to-intellectual-redemption narrative get overlooked due to the fact that I'm being overly negative? Should I eschew all of this in favor of writing the most professional, no nonsense, detail-oriented SOP possible? I realize there aren't any easy answers to these questions, but I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. Beyond the sticky problem of how much of my story to put into the SOP, I'm having difficulty connecting at least one of the programs to which I'm applying to my specific interests and research goals. I chose my schools mainly based on geography, reputation, and funding options. All but one of them have faculty working pretty much directly in my area (post-modern & contemporary American fiction), if not directly with the authors whom I am interested in. How far should one stretch in one's SOP to establish a direct connection with the work of someone within the program? There are conceptual and theoretical overlaps between my work and the work of some of these people; is it acceptable to write about how you feel your work in a specific area might be enriched and informed by working with someone whose interests lie in a tangentially-related theoretical area? My apologies for the mad prolixity; more than anything I wanted to type these thoughts & concerns out to try and think about them a little more critically. My SOP work thus far has taken the form of freewriting; I'm trying to get everything that seems vaguely relevant onto paper first, and then begin picking apart and assembling the pertinent bits. I just wish I had a better idea of what those were.
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