hypervodka
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Posts posted by hypervodka
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Someone made a joke about this person not being able to speak English.... That's an awful territory.
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They probably sounded ridiculous (I can't even find the comment you're talking about?), but you guys are really sounding nasty right now.
I'll just go ahead and step out on a limb and say you absolutely need to stop focusing so hard on the results page. It's not healthy, and I honestly don't think it's helpful. When you get accepted, you will be notified. If you are rejected, you will be notified. There is no reason this thread should be manhandled into such an extensive discussion of what some anonymous commenter said on the internet.
- Dr. Old Bill, Ramus, Mattie Roh and 4 others
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I wouldn't say that's an interview. I would say congratulations were in order.
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I finished my interview as well. Thought I'd share:
-I had a series of one-on-one interviews, rather than a panel of area group faculty or the admissions committee.
-They told me each of the people I was meeting with beforehand. Most of them were people I mentioned in my SOP, so I was pretty familiar with their work.
-"Interview" is used very loosely. I was never interrogated. It felt more like a series of conversations, in some cases about things I mentioned in the WS or SOP, but also about pop culture and outside hobbies. My last "interview," the first thing he said was "This isn't an interview." The only question he asked me was, "What questions do you have?"
-Other people who were at this interview excursion received SOME hard-ball questions, like an Asian-American scholar was asked how she would defend her interest in Afro-American literature and another person was asked how they would present their skillset on the non-academic job market, but overall, the atmosphere was very light.
-Most interviewers made some mention of my SOP and WS, and in such a way that compels me to here emphasize how VASTLY IMPORTANT THOSE TWO DOCUMENTS ARE in the selection process. My SOP for this school was set up in such a way that I spent between a third and a half of the time talking about the research of my POIs. One POI was very appreciative, and even impressed. Another interviewer (who was one the admissions committee) also noticed, and commented how several other applicants would right SOPs that never mentioned their target university by name. Be descriptive and earnest. Make sure you re-read those documents in particular before the interview.
-I mentioned speaking French in my CV. One POI is a native French speaker (and also speaks Spanish, my two languages)--she mentioned my languages, but none of our conversation took place in either, except in reference to the titles of works of literature.
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CONGRATULATIONS you guys!
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Another question for the group: I've been reading here and hearing from others that you want to ask professors about their research, but I was wondering how you would go about doing this...any suggestions?
For the literature department I'm interviewing for, they tell you (supposedly... I still haven't received my schedule, and it's this week!) who you're going to be interviewing with. Reading up on their research should prepare you pretty well (but, for personal, one-on-one interviews, you're typically interviewed by someone in your area group, so you'd probably already know a lot about them).
Some questions that come to mind:
What are you working on these days?
How has teaching at [university] benefited your research?
Do find any student employing similar methodologies?
How do you see your research evolving?
I'm interested in [interesting topic, turn of phrase, work of literature, author, etc from a POI's prior work]. Could you tell me more about that?
What university resources have you employed in your research?
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Thanks for pointing that out. I was basing these questions off of questions asked according to GCers in other disciplines. I do already have a dissertation topic picked out, so I didn't register that :research project" actually wasn't very applicable to us at this stage.
I don't think that the "research project" has to be so definite in our discipline. In my head, I've been translating it to mean "writing sample" as well as "dissertation topic." But I think you should just be able to clearly state the kinds of things that you would be interested in exploring.
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Some people have been contacted, but not even the Humanities division at the university seemed to know anything about it. Jury's still out on whether those interviewed are on the "cusp" of being selected, or are the final selection.
By the way, scribnera, one thing I'm interested about in terms of Comp Lit is if they "test" your language capabilities in any fashion over recruitment weekend--conduct some of the conversation in French, or reference Latin American texts in the original language. Curiosity more than anything. Could you report back?
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I would only say that you probably won't be asked o interview for Emory, since it is an on-campus interview, meaning they have to prepare flight details and hotel reservations beforehand, so there can't be too much delay. BUT, according to there's still a waitlist of people who were not asked to interview.
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I told all of my recommenders about my interview. It's really really stupendous news. I'm sure your LORs would appreciate any update.
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Alright, a some of us have some interviews coming up, so I thought it'd be helpful to talk through preparation methodologies? Some people have discussed their experiences in the but I thought it'd be a good idea to have a separate forum as well.
I talked to a couple of folks at my target university (mine is a campus interview), and they were pretty explicit about what to expect during the process. From that, I came up with a few questions to practice the answers to.
What is your research topic?
Why are you interested in your research topic?
What sets you apart from our other applicants?
What about your undergraduate experience has prepared you for a graduate career at [university]?
What is your dominant methodology for this project?
What evolution do you see you project taking?
How will your research project benefit from instruction at [university]?
How does your research work through and expand upon contemporary criticism in your area of specialization?
Why are you interested in the PhD program at [university]?
Why do you consider yourself a good fit for [university]?
What would you consider to be your teaching philosophy?
How would you justify the value of [area group] to an undergraduate audience?
What would you teach at [university]?
What work of literature has influenced you as a person?
Where else have you applied?
Do you have any questions for me?
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Haha, I didn't think it was snarky at all. Thanks for the congrats! This one floored me.
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Since it's a new policy, maybe the person you talked to just didn't know about the change? Speak directly to the English DGS, if you haven't.
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I didn't realize you'd applied or I'd have messaged you as well! I didn't want anyone to freak out about the Results Page--it ain't over 'til it's over.
- jhefflol, fancypants09, Katla and 1 other
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Just to say thank you all and ask one more question...remember that moment in our applications when they ask if we're applying for external fellowships? I marked no at the time of application, but there was a fellowship that came to my attention within the last two weeks or so, for which I have applied for first-round assessments. Am I to alert my schools that the answer to my response has changed, or does that depend entirely on actually getting the damned thing? Xoxo
Just looking at the schools you applied to... external fellowships would never be a determining factor in whether or not you were admitted to any of those universities. I would go ahead and let them know, though (I am fairly certain three of your schools haven't started looking at apps). Can't hurt, right?
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Speaking of Gates, I just learned that one of my family friends (known her for 15+ years) is apparently very good friends with him. Calls him Skip. He's her son's godfather! I missed an opportunity there...
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I can create it if anyone thinks it's a good idea and not just overkill. Any other columns people would be interested in are also welcome (beyond the standard GPA, test scores, publications, conferences, and highest degree).
I'd contribute!
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No, sorry. I assume around 10?
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I'm just a humongous busybody. I've still been emailing DGSs about program fit and calling POIs about expanding my research project. Over the course of all that, the Vanderbilt DGS mentioned that to me.
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I'm sorry about all of these rejections. Things are about to get heavy in the next couple of weeks...
Just a few updates (in case any one is as desperately curious as I am): Vanderbilt had 300 applications this year, which may be low for a school as popularly applied to as Vanderbilt, but still a bit hefty for our small applicant pool theory. They narrowed down the candidates a lot last week, so the acceptances could be coming fairly soon.
Rutgers hasn't started looking at applications at all, to my knowledge.
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On 1/16/2015 at 8:31 AM, HesseBunuel90 said:
HyperVodka: Was there anything unusual about your application, or did you apply to special fellowships?
I have to revisit this question, because I was completely wrong the first time around. I didn't apply to any fellowships personally, but the DGS is considering applying for a fellowship on my behalf, and the due date is at the tail-end of January, so he needed to contact me early. I'm not sure, but I don't believe all of the decisions have gone out.
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Also, hypervodka, let me know if you want to chat about UMD! You'll be contacted by students within your field soon enough, but if you're eager to ask some questions sooner than later, I'm happy to talk. I'd prefer video chatting, though, as I rarely have access to both of my hands these days!
Thanks so much! I absolutely will take you up on that.
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Congrats everyone who is getting accepted.Its all hard-earned.
So,I wanted to ask Hypervodka if Emory has sent out all its interview calls..sad if that is the case
I would think so, at this point, since I got my own notification ten days ago. I'm sorry to hear it. But the season is young! There's still so many other schools for us all to hear from.
Fall 2015 Applicants
in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition
Posted · Edited by hypervodka
That's what I'm saying, though. In order to make a joke about the cloudy meaning of a moderately understandable sentence, someone would have to actually read it multiple times.
There is no reason that there should be a page full of people reading this anonymous comment so closely: picking it apart, examining it for inconsistencies, and identifying possible misinterpretations. "It's funny because, as I've noticed in my fourth read-through, the arrangement of the ideas almost makes it seem like the person is saying that they can't speak English lmao" is the weirdest turn this forum has taken since I've been here. It felt too specific and too targeted, and for a sentence that, in comparison, is actually fairly inoffensive. Teasing very quickly became teasing out minutiae which quickly became tired. I only commented when this whole extended riffing started reminding of that e-card:
Of course, I'm saying that as someone who hasn't suffered any rejections yet, but this is a ginger time and it feels like you're smearing salt in your own wounds by reading and re-reading what some commenter said and how they said it and what what they said meant and what what they said suggested and how it could be inaccurate and on and on.
I'm saying more GIFs. That's what I'm saying.