apixelrevolt

Seriously, and particularly because this is for an MA, I would encourage you not to lose any sleep over your decision. Be (eternally) optimistic, and squeeze everything you can from the MA program you've committed to, enjoy your time there, and knock your PhD apps out of the park. To be honest, interests change and evolve. You may settle into an entirely different track by the time you are applying for PhD programs. What is most important with the MA (I think) is to have supportive faculty and a chance to strengthen your own interests and sense of direction. And, of course, that funding is always important. So don't sweat it, and be excited.

Oooo! Thanks for the update collikl! Now, of course, I will anxiously await correspondence from UW (as if I wasn't already). Did you end up accepting elsewhere?

How was I unaware that this existed? I just thought the April 15th deadline was a general, tacit agreement. I had no idea there was an actual list of signatories. Thanks for sharing. It does state, though, that the resolution applies only to offers of financial support and not offers of admission. Not sure if/how that would affect brod's situation.

I'm in the same boat. Would love to go there, but that money is crucial.

anybody have any idea how many acceptances/funding offers UW gave out this year? all I know is that it was "competitive" and that they weren't able to make as many offers as past years. anyway, just wondering if anybody has heard any statistics.

I agree with Andrew. If you've already paid an enrollment fee, you might not get that back, but I'd imagine that the better offer will cancel that out. In any case, I'd just explain your situation as nicely as you can to the place where you had already accepted. I see accepting a school's offer as not unlike accepting a job offer. If something better comes up, changing your mind could be awkward, but you've got to do what's best for you. Plus, you'll be giving the gift of a late and unexpected acceptance to some waitlister out there.

Thanks so much!

(woah, that post was long. my bad, everybody.)

Hey skybythelight! I'm back, with more questions. I was wondering if you'd mind telling me a little about your perception of the general "tenor" of the department (for lack of a better word) in terms of its methodological foci. Obviously, UW has a fairly large English department, so generalizations are certainly that--just generalizations, but I'm wondering what sorts of approaches to literature seem most common among students (i.e., Do you find that students tend to take a theoretical focus? Or do they despise theory? Are people more into being historians of literature? Etc, etc, etc). I ask because of this (and perhaps this will better help you to understand my question): I'm currently completing an MFA at a school which, at least in terms of it's lit program, is much lower in the rankings than UW. I've taken a number of literature classes here, and I've enjoyed them, but in many ways the MFA program and the lit program remain fairly separate. In any case, I overheard a discussion between a couple of MA Lit students the other day (we were sharing a GTA office--what can I say?), and they were highly frustrated with the "theoretical bent" of certain professors and students. One of them made the comment that, if students want to focus so heavily on literary theory and philosophy, rather than the "works themselves" (and their historical contexts, etc.), then they should have gone to a higher tier school, where theory is more heavily the focus. Another student made the comment that they chose a lower ranked program specifically because they didn't want to be bogged down in the theoretical abstraction that characterizes higher tier programs. Ultimately, they were upset that discussions in a particular course were leaning so heavily towards "philosophy" (and, here, I must admit, I'm not entirely sure what they were talking about). (During this discussion, I also became privy to certain departmental politics which, to this point, I was unaware of. Evidently there is a good deal of animosity on certain parts towards the "pretentious" valuation of theory by certain other professors. As rumor has it, this has resulted in strategic replacements of certain "theory" requirements in order to allow students to avoid certain "theory" professors. I don't know--It's weird, and it makes me uncomfortable. But academia is a political game, and there's always going to be some of that. I imagine you don't want to speak negatively of departmental politics at UW, but if you can make any comment on what you've experienced, I'd certainly be interested in hearing it. But I digress.) To some degree, I get these students' point: I do sense some resistence to "theory" and "abstraction" here (I took one literary theory course here, and the class seemed to be distinctly divided into those who loved it and those who utterly despised it). In fact, there are very few courses offered here which take "theory" as their primary focus (the "Intro to Literary Theory" course that I took may be the only one that is offered on a regular basis). In any case, my question is this: 1) Is this true? Are higher tier schools more "abstract" or "theoretical" in their approach to the study literature? 2) Would you say that UW fits into this category? Specifically, do class discussions tend towards certain notions or approaches? (Like, I don't know, is it impossible to escape the spectre of post-structuralism lurking at the edges of every conversation?) To make myself clear, I'm mostly interested in how you think students at UW perceive all this. I already can see that the faculty there is very broad in its expertise (and super awesome, as far as I can tell) and, it would seem, more than capable of guiding dialogues that are both abstract/theoretical and concrete/historical (it's kind of a false dichotomy, but whatever--people make the division anyway). But do you find that students lean towards certain approaches to literature more than others? Are there certain approaches that, you feel, are minimized? It's a big, vague question, but (as I'm still debating whether or not to accept my offer at UW) I would love to hear anything you can tell me about the department (politically, theoretically, methodologically, phenomenologically, artistically, comedically, you know--really any adverb you can think of ). I guess I'm just trying to get a sense of what the department "feels" like, if you will. Cheers and thanks for all the info you've provided so far! It's been super-dee-duper.

I would definitely advise against appealing the grade. Certainly, asking the professor the explain your grade is completely valid, but I'd do everything possible to avoid any sort of negative confrontation. As much as we might not want to admit it, academia is very much about connections and not pissing off the wrong people. It's probably more important to avoid offending people than it is to have the A, particularly when you'd only be bumping it up from an A-. (I could see appeal as a potentially useful course of action if you were given, say, a D.) That said, I don't think that having an A- is going to hurt your applications anyway, particularly because it's in your first semester. I think it's easy to chalk that up to first semester jitters, the stress of a move, or any other factors that could make one's first semester in grad school a bit more difficult. In any case, a 3.9 gpa is solid, especially if it's backed by an outstanding SOP, sample, and letters of recommendation.

oh, boy. the liquid: mostly J&B scotch, because it was on sale. or old overholt rye. the soild: nachos upon nachos upon nachos. or pasta.

Probably won't have the chance to visit, as I'm currently on the other side of the country. But I may end up there in the fall--we'll see!

Another question popped into my head--perhaps you could answer. How is the English department divided at UW? The department seems to be seems to be fairly large, and I was wondering what percentage are MFA, Comp/Rhet, Lit, TESOL, etc? Also, how do the various groups work together? (i.e., Do Lit students get priority registration for Lit classes? Do the various groups interact with each other much? Do all groups draw from the same funding pool/compete for the same funds?) Also--I spoke with Jennifer on the phone the other day. She was incredibly helpful and very nice. She didn't seem rushed and was more than willing to answer any questions I had. If my conversation with her is any representation of the general tenor department, it seems like a very welcoming place.

collikl - Me too! Woohoo! skybythelight - Do you have any idea what the committee looks for in terms of funding offers? (For incoming or current students.) What kind of things were a part of your application for funding?

Skybythelight, thanks so much for the detailed response! It's certainly helpful to hear all the ins and outs from a current student. Crossin' the ol' fingers tight.