Minnesotan

Since when do good jokes need to be inoffensive? Do you think Eddie Murphy's "Raw" was inoffensive? It certainly made me laugh. What about Sarah Silverman? I'm not a huge fan myself, but she says the occasional funny thing, despite going out of her way to offend people. I think my point holds: you're taking yourselves too seriously. As for excel, you're just being silly. You state that I'm not an authority, and therefore have no right to speak to this issue. What right do you have to push your views on people? Are you an authority? Do you know what they call people who support a rule of behavior for others, but break it themselves? Hypocrites! Frankly, I don't care if I offend hypocrites, because they offend me.

I'm starting the school of masculinist criticism. You all can feel free to climb on board. We'll steer our profession out of the Doldrums, back into the lively, thriving intellectual enterprise it once was. No new schools, my butt!

I'm surprised professors still do this. There have been successful lawsuits against people who "burn" their students, and I say good for the plaintiffs! A letter of recommendation is, by definition, a positive reference. The referee is recommending a person, not a course of action, to the admissions committee. While I would suggest you ask for a strong letter of reference, or a positive recommendation letter when you approach a professor, one should be able to assume that if someone writes a recommendation on your behalf, it should be generally positive. Unless pushed, only the slimiest of individuals would agree to write a reference, only to fill it with negative, or even luke-warm, sentiments! People like that should not be given positions of power.

The "good news" could just mean that some of the committee members recommended him. I would not think this is grounds for an appeal. It is, however, a jerky thing to say, if you're not sure of the results.

Are you sure you're grad students? =)

Just so we're clear, nobody has called anyone any names during the course of this discussion, so please stop whining about that. The only reason you folks have your panties in a bunch is because I've been playing around, using a sarcastic tone of voice while busting your humps about the highly annoying method of communication you choose to employ. If you honestly take yourselves so seriously that nobody is allowed to bring you down a notch when you get up on your high horse, then you're going to have a horrible time during grad school. I mean it. Someone (excel, I think) used the example of the f-bomb as an appropriate word for this forum, in an attempt to justify idiotspeak. Curses of any sort, especially if directed at another person, are not appropriate. The difference is that we realize adults will use that sort of language on occasion, and we are all adults here, so we can handle it. On the other hand, there is no occasion where a grad student should attempt to communicate in the manner of a twelve year old girl. It will always be inappropriate. I think the Chronicle's rules are a good thing to emulate. We are budding professionals around here, not a bunch of drunken frat boys. Yes, we can give each other (and our profs) a little hell, but this should serve a therapeutic purpose, only. In general, this should be a professional atmosphere. You need to remember, though, that jokes are allowed in a professional atmosphere. It's time you stopped taking yourselves so seriously. I know I don't.

I bet you're a ton of fun in seminar. That's okay, though. It's always the people like you who leave after their first year, and go brood for a living at the trendy coffee shops, downtown. Make sure you hold up that copy of Kafka high enough for the chicks to see. They just love the intense, angst-ridden grad school dropout types. lol

I don't know about that. Although I realize you would never know this, since I rarely act my age, I'm an older guy, too. I was worried when heading back to school that I would be seen as the odd man out, or as an "other" by my younger peers. Rarely did that happen as an undergrad. Moreover, since coming to grad school, I've found I'm still probably under the median age for the stage I'm at in my field, even though I took a few (erm... 7?) years off to make some bucks. Lots of people have been returning to school later and later in life. I think the important thing is to demonstrate why this is a good idea for you, professionally and personally, and to assure the committee it isn't a backup plan you're falling back on because you're bored with your job, or having a mid-life crisis. Better to spring for the Vette, anyway. =)

It's sadder when people have to be humorless asses to make themselves feel superior. Not that I'm referring to anyone in particular, of course. =)

They probably have an unofficial waitlist, where you have been placed until closer to April 15. No news is good news!

I thought my Hello Kitty reference would have made this absolutely clear. Ah, well.

Yeah. Looking at the amount of acceptances still flowing in, I would not lose hope just yet.

It still beats the ten new topics per day, whining about the "problem" of having to choose between acceptances from Harvard, Brown, Princeton, Stanford, Columbia, Yale, and Penn, when there are a lot of sad people around here who got rejected to 10+ schools this year. Then again, we're probably taking our samples from the same pool of thinly-veiled braggarts. =)

Grad students seem to have to trade their senses of humor for offers of admission. At least that's my theory. I can't tell you how much crap I've taken from self-important ideologues since deciding to come to grad school. Even around the forums, here, if you dare say anything that is less than PC, the lynch mob arrives with pitchforks and torches at the ready.

Nobody should say rumbustious.

Oh, the irony.

It sounds like your choice has been made for you. Then again, I would like to know the situation with your Delaware advisor before chiming in -- was he unavailable during the visit weekend, or will he not get back to you? Advisor fit is probably more important than school reputation, in my opinion.

From the responses I've gotten so far, English programs were (yet again) abysmal this year. Intake at the handful of top ~20 schools I applied to were between 2-5%. That's based on the ratio of initial offers to applicants. It probably gets slightly better when schools are forced to go to their waitlists. Considering half of us who earn PhDs in English won't get tenure-track jobs within five years, one has to envy people with more sensible dreams. =)

The discussion has been moved to the lobby: http://forum.thegradcafe.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=13599

So that I don't continue to derail the conversation elsewhere, I moved my reply here: I spelled it out (pun intended) quite clearly above. Anyway, my statement was merely a personal plea on behalf of literacy in a place where highly educated people come to discuss matters important to their early careers. The anti-intellectual response I received is rather ironic, but like BGK said, there's no need for an argument, although a discussion might be helpful. I made my request (as an educated human being, not in any official capacity as a moderator), and you responded. While I'd rather you swore than wrote in idiotspeak, that's your call. I'm sorry I sidetracked us. My only defense is that texting like a twelve year old girl seems completely inappropriate in this venue. I'm not sure why that would be difficult to imagine -- this is a graduate school forum, not the Hello Kitty Adventures website.

The ninnies on their adcom can't seem to organize themselves. They've been sending out notices for a month and a half, now, and they're still not through their stack of applications. The stupid thing is that you are not evaluated in order of receipt, and when they're out of funding, they're out of funding. Thus, whoever is on the bottom of the pile when they're grabbing stacks of applications is S.O.L. if they already handed out the cash. You could be the best candidate, but tough titty since you didn't know well enough to bribe someone to place your file on top of the heap.

Haha! Dear Euges, We are sorry to inform you that we will need to take back our offer of admission, based on poor grammar. With regret, The Pedantic Adcom

I agree. If your choice is down to two schools, let the other ones know you're not interested. Some poor slob on the waitlist will love ya' for it.

Is it really all that difficult to spell out the word, "you?" This is a grad school forum, not the Orlando Bloom Fan Club chat room.

Loxored.