engphiledu

Funny! I'm not sure. . . I don't think I have a doppelgänger - what is your intended focus? I selected many of the programs because of POI, but also because of their solid programs in general. Personalizing each application is the most difficult, though hopefully the most rewarding. Due to the structure of my MA and because I've taken a year to be an instructor, I've luckily had a bit more time to prepare than most. Even with all the extra time, I still feel woefully unprepared. On an unrelated note, the .hack series is the shiz. It's been a long time, but I still remember staying up until midnight/1:00 a.m. watching it on Toonami and playing the games on PS2.

Applying to seventeen schools. Almost finished. Didn't think I'd be back at Grad Cafe so soon, but good to see all of you again (and welcome to those who are entering the fray for the first time).

Thanks, kotov! I am a grad student currently in the English department here, and we really do love it at Auburn already! Because my husband and I are here for my degree, we are hopeful for a good response to his application from the history department. I will definitely drop you a line when I have a chance, and thank you again for your willingness to pass along your experiences. War Eagle!

Has anyone heard from Auburn University's history department? We have contacted them with no response (rejection, acceptance, waitlist, or otherwise), and we haven't seen any notices on the results page.

We have been looking at housing options, and on the housing website they have a link to off-campus apartment options. It's actually a pretty sweet system. http://offcampushousing.auburn.edu/ As for on-campus housing options, there are the apartment complexes on Glenn street. They appear to be family and grad-student friendly, but I am not for certain. I will be making a trip to visit sometime soon, so if I find out anything, I'll post on here! https://fp.auburn.edu/housing/ApartmentDescription.htm

This is one that my mom and her 65 year old crocheting friends have been laying on me recently. "Oh, you were accepted to School A, but your fiance wasn't? You just need to make a trip down there, he can rewrite his statement of purpose, and you both can just go talk to the department. I'm sure they'll let him in after he talks with them." Yeah. . . because that's how grad schools work. They'll outright reject you, but it's not because they don't want you. They just want you to come visit and share in some tea and crumpets. Then they'll accept you. Sometimes I wish the world did work that way (because I do love tea and crumpets), but then that wouldn't be fair to the hundreds of other people similarly rejected. Similarly, I read this article on what you should do when you're waitlisted, and it was written by a professor who had once been a graduate director. He gave some tips on what you might do to show the department that you're interested in remaining on the waitlist and that you really would like to attend. A few things he said not to do (which he himself had experienced) was give your graduate director chocolates, flowers, or a mirror which read "Here's hoping I'll be looking at you next fall." lol "Did he like the mirror?" "I dunno. . . but I hope so. Maybe he'll invite me to his office for tea and crumpets." "Maybe you should send him another bouquet of flowers, just in case." "Yeah, you're probably right."

It's absolutely fine to contact. You don't want to badger them, of course, but calling the department or contacting the director of graduate studies and just asking in general whether decisions have been made isn't a bad thing to do at this point at all. They often won't just tell you "yes" or "no" decisions have/haven't been made, but if they have the info, they'll tell you where you stand. If they tell you to wait to find out, then you wait, but you can be sure to tell them how you appreciate the opportunity and you look forward to hearing their decision since, although you've had some other offers, you're particularly interested in the level of success you hope to achieve at their school...etc. etc.

If you'd get yourself out of Mordor, you might find higher quality men (or, actually, you might find some men, period). LOTR: awesome. Real life jerks: not so awesome.

Food and beer are always positives! We had a pass for a free beer at the end of the Spartan Race, too, but we were too tired to drink it. I guess that's a good sign, though! lol This upcoming Warrior Dash is just the 5k distance, though someday I'm hoping to do at least a Spartan Super (8+ miles). My two obstacle course buddies aren't terribly in shape either (at least in terms of running), but it wouldn't be fun, I don't think, to beast through it all by myself. The best part, after all, for me was hearing my two buddies behind me, breathing heavily, but still able to talk about how, "After this damn race, we are getting pancakes at IHOP. No questions." And, "Come on, man. Just one more wall. Then we can get pancakes."

I'd give it a shot for sure. They should be understanding in that you need information as soon as possible. Try calling the English department. They will more than likely either be able to answer your question directly or will likely connect you to the graduate director. From my experience, if you can call, they typically are a bit more prompt on responding than through email. (Although recently I had quite a few prompt replies from people via email).

I don't know about rude (though, these are our futures that they have held between their hands), but we are just. . . very confused. The secretary was very nice and tried to be helpful, but it would be good to know where we stand. It's the one school we both haven't heard back from (I applied for the English M.A.), and we applied back in December, so it would be nice to know so we can move on and start planning. He does have one other offer from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, but neither of us know about funding yet. The application process this year was not kind to either of us lol

It's for the M.A. program. We've checked the website, but it hasn't changed from "referred to department." The secretary of the department, when we called, sounded really surprised that we had not heard anything yet and was worried that the notices had ended up "on a desk somewhere." lol That's why she recommended we contacted the director who sent back the somewhat confusing email. We'd like to stay optimistic, but at this late in the game, it doesn't look good. We'd rather know for sure though.

That's awesome! You can do it for sure! You liked the Warrior Dash then?? I am hoping to do a Warrior Dash in October, and I have another obstacle race coming up in April. We had a blast at the Spartan Race in Georgia, so I was hoping to hear good things about the Warrior Dash as well!

I had to contact Ohio University and University of Mississippi directly. They were very helpful and prompt with replies.

Does anyone have information on the University of Alabama's (Tuscaloosa) history program? My fiance hasn't heard word, and when we finally contacted the department, we received a somewhat cryptic message about them being able to give us a "sense of what we can do in about two weeks" after they return from spring break.

Just an update: The 5k was awesome! It was really hot, though, and I took out the mile way too fast (excitement and nerves probably). I was hanging out after, talking with some of my professors who also ran/walked, and I heard my name called during the awards ceremony. Second place in my age group!! As someone who has been unable to run a mile since third grade, this is a major accomplishment. I have undiagnosed syncope (fainting), and so I haven't been able to run or exercise strenuously for years without the fear of passing out. (Exercise makes the symptoms/likelihood of it occurring worse). Last summer I started trying to run, used the Couch to 5k program, which was great since it worked up my endurance slowly but gave my heart plenty of time to rest. Since then, I've moved from running half a mile, to a mile, to a 5k almost every day. The most I've run is a 10k for practice, but maybe someday I'll be able to go even farther! Never give up, and don't let anything or anyone get in your way.

It just happened to be a Chinese student. It could have been anyone else, but I felt the need to include that it was a Chinese student for the sake of my professor's line about all the great centuries of China lending to that agonized moan. lol It could have been an American student, but we don't have ancient history, so our expression of regret is only half as magnificent. I've been laughing at all of these. It's funny to see just what kinds of stories stick with us, and how a simple discussion about literature can turn into a discussion about "vigorously enjoying one another's company." (LOVE IT Kamisha!) I have a professor who happens to be dyslexic. He also happens to be an eccentric, leaning on the more conservative, Episcopalian. I don't even know what word he was trying to write on the board during one of our lectures, but he happened to accidentally write the C-word. When a student pointed it out, I could see all life drain from his eyes. This is the same professor who had to explain sodomy related to Marlowe's Edward II. I feel for those professors who get embarrassed about having to explain these types of things to undergraduates, but then there are two types of professors, aren't there? "The serpent in John Keats' poem, Lamia, is a phallic symbol." "The serpent in John Keats' poem, Lamia, is a gigantic penis." Actually, there may be three types of professors. . . *slithers around the classroom while creepily chanting "LAMIA"* That third one was my first undergraduate English experience.

My mom told me today, after hearing from my third rejection, that she was going to put the names of these schools on a black list. "We'll write down all their names and curse at them." Then, after we talked for a little while longer, she said, "You know, I take that back. At first I wanted them to be on a type of hit list, but now that I think about it, they have to be stupid to reject you. And, someone that stupid needs praying for. So we'll pray for them instead." I love my mom, but sometimes I wonder if somehow I'm taking this whole process better than she is. . .

In light of the depressing application year, how about we gather around the campfire to hear some good ole stories? Here's one that my professor told me, though I'm not sure how well it will translate to text. My professor (I shall call him John) was sitting in one of his first M.A. classes, eager and ready to learn, surrounded by like-minded, eager individuals. The class covered 17th and 18th century British literature, and the professor gave off the air of being a generally calm, collected individual who likely still enjoyed reading by candlelight. Just as the professor handed out the syllabus and began to go over the reading selections for the course, a Chinese student threw open the doors and, having stopped in the doorway, looked up at the professor with pleading eyes. Breathless and in a heavy accent, he managed to ask, "Um, excuse me. Excuse me. Is this where we read the Awakening?" The professor, puzzled, responded, "No, this is a British literature class. We won't read Kate Chopin in here." The Chinese student responded, "No Awakening? Oh, ok.Thank you," and took a seat. Still perplexed, the professor went on explaining the syllabus and handed the Kate Chopin fan a copy. Approximately five minutes later, the same student raised his hand, the syllabus clasped in his other hand, and asked, "Um, excuse me. But, we read the Awakening in this class?" The professor with patience more vast than the Pacific Ocean responded, "No, this is a British literature class. The Awakening is an American novel." "Oh, ok. Thank you," the student responded. Again, after another five minutes of what must have been agony for the Kate Chopin fan, he raised his hand and asked, "Um, excuse me. We read the Awakening in this class?" Finally, the Pacific Ocean had run dry. The professor, with all of the constraint he could muster, responded, "Kate Chopin is an American author from the 20th century. This class will only cover British authors from the 17th and 18th centuries. We will not read the Awakening in this class." Although not an event of deja vu, the student responded, "Oh, ok. Thank you." The class went on without any further interruptions until, approximately ten minutes into lecture, John, my professor, relates that he heard the most dire, depressing sound he had ever heard emitting from a human being coming from the direction of the young Chinese student. He recalls that, with all of the pain and misery ever experienced through this young man's ancestry, centuries upon centuries, since ancient China, the student released the most agonizing moan he had ever heard, collected his things, and exited the classroom. My professor still wonders to this day if that young student ever found his paradise among the 20th century American literature classes.

I'm starting to not even expect good news through the postal service anymore. At least most rejections lay it out there right at the beginning: "Unfortunately. . . " "We regret to inform you. . . " I just got a rejection though that started out, "On behalf of the Graduate Studies Committee at the University of Kentucky, I wish to thank you for your application to our 2014 MA class. . ." followed by "I regret. . . " *sigh*

Writer's Block sucks, but a comp teacher of mine taught me a good little trick. It goes along with what crazyhappy said, but it works in increments. You can change the time increments depending on what type of writing you're doing or how often you've done it, but my professor told me that starting out with a 5 min on, 2 min off approach is a good way to start (especially if you're going through some really terrible Writer's Block). Set a timer for 5 minutes to start. Take that five minutes to brainstorm, make an outline, draw pictures, whatever you can think to write down. Take two minutes to look it over and do no more writing. Then, take five minutes and just write. Don't worry about grammar, don't focus on how you're phrasing things, write the same sentence six different ways if you need to, but don't stop writing for that five minutes. Take two minutes off, read back through what you wrote or refer back to your notes, but don't change anything. I churned out twenty pages in just a few hours doing this once. I only kept about ten pages, once I went back and edited, but it was much better than the blank screen. At this point, I had increased the increment to ten minutes on, five minutes off. Although I was working on the first draft of a novel, I have also used this same technique for research papers or different types of essays. For research papers, I generally take the five minutes to go back through research notes (so you might need to increase the off-time for writing just a bit, but not enough that you spend too much time in your research). Just an idea! It's saved my skin a few times!

My mom swears by it! lol Just taking on a little at a time can make a huge difference! You can do it! As for me. . . I'm running my first 5k tomorrow solo. Wish me luck! lol

I go to allrecipes.com as well! It's great because you can change the serving size and input what ingredients you have or don't have. I also commit to the "color rule" my mom always swore by. When you have a meal, you want each part of the meal to be a different color. That way, generally you are forced to make sure you have at least one vegetable, but sometimes even two. For example: Although I'm always really tempted to make baked chicken with a potato, the chicken and the potato are the same color. Therefore, I might make the baked chicken with broccoli, lima beans, or salad. Or, if I really want a potato, I'll have to get creative and make the potato into potato salad or something else that will change the "color." There are some times that this rule is broken, of course, but it helps me stay on track (and, in general, my dinners look more appealing!). Also, I have had to learn to take smaller portions. This goes out the window a little bit when you have a consistent exercise schedule (since it's worse to starve yourself when exercising than replenishing those calories). But, I have found out that I am more satisfied when I have a variety of food on my plate in smaller portions than a heaping helping, even if it's of my favorite thing. That way, even if I make too much food, there is just as much variety left over for the next day!