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engguy

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Everything posted by engguy

  1. The note looks fine, but you may be barking up the wrong tree. This person may be occupied wining and dining and wooing the school's top choices, or with some other school-related stuff. Try someone else. And try calling.
  2. That's funny, because SUNY was one of my top choices, and I got in there; my safety was Wayne State, and though I got in it was the last school I heard from and they never really clarified funding. Thought for sure I'd get into University of Washington and Temple, though I suppose neither could be thought of as "safeties" in that sense -- didn't think I'd get in to UCSC or UT -- my approach to this whole thing was rather naive, I must admit. But, I did have a theory about this, which was that some sort of fairy dust must go into the envelopes you send to the schools you really want to get in to. I mean, I did put a lot more thought into making my SOP's specific to those programs, and put more research into my application to them as a whole. So I wondered if the other schools somehow sensed that I wasn't all the way committed to them, and focused on people they thought were not only better candidates but more likely to matriculate, as well. And with that, I hit no. 30 on the posts... :roll:
  3. Go to Oxford. :idea: Granted, I'm not a theater person, and I'm a little perplexed as to why you would need an MA in lit (although studying literary drama would clearly be a boon). But look at in terms of what you would get: the MA in lit (esp. coming from Oxford) would give you the ability to teach in the field -- albeit an overcrowded one, but still -- if times get lean in the theater biz. The experience will be amazing and challenging, and you will forever have the Oxford name on your CV, with all that entails -- free dinners, a foot in the door at most academies, etc., the starry-eyed looks of your peers. As others have noted, it's a once-in-a-lifetime chance; I'd certainly kick myself if I passed it up. On the other hand, you lose a year. But so what? A year is nothing, and it's not like you'll be spending it lying on a couch playing air guitar. This will only strengthen your applications for next year in every way. Forget deferment -- if you got in this year at some top programs, you will next year, too. Applying should be easier now that you've already done it once, and you will likely be able to add at least one LOR from an Oxford professor... Unless it means incurring an insurmountable debt -- go to Oxford. 8)
  4. I've declined at 2 schools for just that reason -- knew I wasn't going to go there and wanted to free up their waitlists. One of the other three is a real longshot, but I don't feel bad about it because they've told me they don't have a waitlist; they accept X number of students, fund all of them, and whoever doesn't go, doesn't go. So it's really down to 2 programs that DO have waitlists, and I'm hoping to make a decision sooner than later. I understand the phenomenon -- let's call it "Waitlist syndrome" -- and I can't describe the psychological relief of just having definitively heard from all my programs, even though some of them were rejections. My best friend is going through this process, and it's really feast or famine for him. Either he gets in to a top program with oodles of support, or he gets nothing. I think at this point, I want it for him more badly than he does himself. He's pretty worn out with the waiting. Really -- good luck...
  5. same thing happened here. bizarre :!: just visited one school, where the initial offer was significantly improved, and the other that told me "that's the final offer" just e-mailed to see if I would tell them what the other offers were to see if they could "free up more funds." and i'm trying to make a decision too. good luck.
  6. I don't know why you would do that, unless there's some compelling reason to. [edit] one more thought. I'm not sure if you mean that you'd apply to the same schools; you might want to check and make sure that they're cool with that. One school that rejected me stated explicitly on their web site that "those not accepted are not invited to apply for admission again" or some such obnoxious nicety. At least it saves you the $50 or so. Obviously you don't want to rewrite it for every one, but you should at least slant it so that each school is convinced that this is the only place you can do the work you want to do. You don't want them to read it and think, "sounds good, but I don't know why this person needs to come here and not school x." That means doing some research, and more than plugging in different names of schools/professors. Also -- I just had an admissions com member tell me this at a school that was very tough to get into this year -- you don't want to make your SOP sound like you're trying to cram in everything you know or have learned about your field; it has to be focused. That means being willing to leave out the cool theory you learned, if it doesn't advance your case. I think their fear is that too many students just don't have a clear idea of what they want to do -- which feeds back into the idea of making a compelling case for yourself at each particular school. Good luck! 8)
  7. @starving: Yes, you're probably right. We'll be fine. The problem though is not a bunch of single students running around in packs; in fact most of the grads are coupled, but there are still a great deal of male-oriented bull sessions and wives / partners are left to their own devices. Again, I don't think it would be categorically different anywhere else, but here it seems pretty pronounced. @jaw: The reason I didn't mention the rankings is that the program closer to home IS in fact ranked higher; yet my gut is pointing towards the more distant one. This is just one of the plus/minus categories for each, but I didn't want this to devolve into a discussion about rankings. To me it's not that important. But I hadn't thought of the "compromise" angle -- something to think about. Thanks. Well, I'm visiting the closer one today, so wish me luck.
  8. In case anyone was wondering what the agreement explicitly states: "Students are under no obligation to respond to offers of financial support prior to April 15; earlier deadlines for acceptance of such offers violate the intent of this Resolution. In those instances in which a student accepts an offer before April 15, and sub- sequently desires to withdraw that acceptance, the student may submit in writing a resignation of the appointment at any time through April 15. However, an acceptance given or left in force after April 15 commits the student not to accept another offer without first obtaining a written release from the institution to which a commitment has been made. Similarly, an offer by an insti- tution after April 15 is conditional on presentation by the student of the written release from any previously accepted offer. It is further agreed by the institutions and organizations subscribing to the above Resolution that a copy of this Resolution should accompany every scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, and assistantship offer." [emphasis mine] http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:Tx ... =firefox-a is the url Just for the record, I don't have any illusions either, and I think every prospective stu's primary concern ought to be to look out for him or herself. I've said as much on every thread where folks have had questions about pressure from schools. Yet I'm getting a little tired of santana's vehement tone on this and other threads -- something simply IS the way santana says it is, that's that. I think we all realize by now there are many problems with the US university system, and with the app. process in particular. But, yes, there are also people who do have ethics and who do follow them. And even if others don't, that's no excuse for everyone to drop theirs and treat this like a game of dice on the corner with a bunch of hoods. There's an apparatus in place to protect you -- use it! The fact that it's there gives you even less excuse. If they are still pressuring you, give them a soft acceptance if need be -- as it states above, nothing is final till April 15 no matter what you sign.
  9. OK, here's a question that's sort of the opposite of the thread below on long-distance relationships. I have a partner and will be entering a PhD program in the fall. There's one school I really like, and was out for a visit last week. However, my partner has heard rumors -- which I can confirm, to some extent -- that the social life of the program is really centered around who's in the program, so that partners are pretty much shunted off to the side or steered towards other non-partners in any social setting. I can also already see that socializing will be a big part of the scene, and I will be tempted / compelled to take part in it. There's another program much closer to where we already live. My partner could to some extent maintain a social life that's in place, and as we already have some friends in the town and program, the transition will certainly be easier. We just finished having a long talk about this, and discussed the difficulties we'd face at the first program from a social standpoint. I pointed out that it's been my experience that every program is like this to a certain extent -- PhD students always flock together and partners always feel a bit left out -- though it may be more pronounced in this one. So we will have to work hard to strike a balance. And there will inevitably be times when I am immersed in that world, and my partner will have to be patient. So, the question -- and let's assume that the programs are exactly equal, and that my partner is not pressuring me in either direction -- what would you do? And have you had any experience with this, and how have you dealt with it? Any experiences you'd like to share / advice would be welcome. Thanks :!:
  10. Shady but, I think, all too common. If it's a straight assistantship offer, though, it might be downright illegal, assuming they're part of the CGS agreement. I can sort of understand schools pressuring you if they're offering a plum fellowship, because the money streams for those are often particular and originate outside the program. Funders get anxious when their top choices don't accept. They like to close the deal quickly. Understandable, but still shady and against the principle of the CGS. That's why you should always get something in writing. Even if it's just an e-mail. At this point, it's all a big game of musical chairs, and programs are just as eager as we are (well maybe not, but pretty damned eager) to flesh out their cohorts and get everyone to sign on the dotted line for the coming year. On a separate note, speaking of this, I have to start writing e-mails today to turn some offers down... Part of me wants to keep offers open as long as possible, but partially for the reasons stated above, and also for my own peace of mind, I have to do this.
  11. No way it makes you look bad -- it's their crazy season and, depending on the size of the program, they may be overwhelmed right now anyway. Then too, calling might actually invite the kind of "soft pressure" and misunderstandings re. your intentions that so many have written about elsewhere on the forum. I think a polite note via e-mail, introducing yourself, would be the best approach. :wink:
  12. Have to disagree. But, hey, since you're a stats person, perhaps you could run some numbers on this and let us know... Both myself and several friends of mine have had success getting really good offers from programs in our field (English), all at age 35+. Frankly I was worried about this, because I'd also heard the unsubstantiated rumors (unsubstantiated because, as you rightly point out, no one would ever admit it's the case). And I have no doubt that at some schools, in some disciplines, it might be true. But it is not endemic to the university system. I am, to quote Cat Power, living proof of that. Now as for getting a job afterwards...
  13. It's fascinating to me that this question has consumed a number of folks for the entire weekend. Just goes to show how incredibly important language actually is to all of us. I'm ambivalent about this, as I feel that the language is constantly evolving and it would be as foolhardy to try to stop it as it would be to redirect a river or reverse a glacial melt. Is texting a future direction the language is going, or just a tributary with a certain utility, bound to dry up in the long run? I have to admit that as someone who teaches comp, it really rubs me the wrong way when students send me "textspeak" e-mails. It seems to me partially an ethical question -- how important is "proper" English to you? Which leads to, as rising-star points out, questions of literacy and the importance of articulation in being understood. That, vs. just having something to say and wanting to spew it out there without worrying about how it sounds -- being natural and spontaneous. Therefore we arrive at the issue not of language, but languages -- and language is a sort of social contract that we enter into, for better or worse. If you are texting with your friends, for example, implicit in that is that you've agreed it's an OK way or preferred way of talking. When students try to text me, I very quickly have to define the terms of our social contract. The problem here is that the folks on the forum are not all your friends and no agreement has been made... Though it seems clear the majority prefer standard English.
  14. i'll throw my cents in for the heck of it, though I largely agree with the above posters, except for one little thing... :x As an english person, you have to keep in mind that it's unlikely you'll be earning a large salary anytime soon. Granted, I don't know what your concentration is and there are professional positions out there for certain things, but by and large, you're signing up for a lifetime of not being terribly well off. That said, so much depends on your age in relation to how badly you want to do this right now. There's not a lot of money out there for MA support in English, at least in my limited experience, and that's not likely to change. But there is some. If you're young, it may not matter as much to take on a substantial debt that will take years to pay off. I refused to do that years ago when I was straight out of college, and I did come back to it a long time later, and received funding. But I understand it's not the norm. If I had it to do over again I would probably have started back a bit younger, but grad school would have been wasted on me when I was 23! :shock: At any rate, good luck -- I know it's a tough choice. You might also get in touch with folks already there, and find out if non-funded students are ever able to get funding further down the road, and whether they are treated differently, etc.
  15. The only way to know this is to know the track record of people who have done this sort of thing -- come in with no funding and been awarded a TA-ship / fellowship later -- in your school and your program. It's different from school to school, and within schools, I'd venture to say that it could differ greatly depending on the program (some are much better funded than others). Can you get in touch with some of them, even via e-mail? Most schools are pretty good about passing along current student contact info. And the students, once contacted, tend to be pretty up front about internal politics etc. They should be able to tell you with much better authority whether this is possible or likely (and make sure to talk to more than one if you can). That said, unless you have an absolute necessity to do it right now, I would hold off. That's just my opinion. Good luck! :oops:
  16. Agreed that it's probably too late, but here goes : I had friends who had recently (within the past two-three years) gotten into several of the programs I wanted to apply to. I asked both of them if they could send me their statements to look over in preparation for writing mine. This was truly invaluable -- I had been going the "personal history" route and by looking at theirs, realized that I had to at least lead off the statement with some very specific work I wanted to do, and get to the personal stuff later. And then only as it specifically applied to the work and research I wanted to do. Then, I had my thesis adviser go over the statement, and he made further recommendations, mostly for moving some stuff around. (I also, of course, sent my statement to all my recommenders.) In the case of one of the schools, I also had the friend who's there now go over my statement one more time, and made one last-minute change that I'm convinced pretty much got me in to that program. ---- (Sorry I'm not being more specific, but I don't think it would help anyone; I just wanted to give a sense of the process that I undertook, and which has been largely successful this year. Other people have posted on approaches that were completely different, and just as (or more) successful.) But overall, I would strongly recommend that if at all possible you try to get in touch with someone you can trust, who's already been accepted / attending the program you want to enter. At the very least, he or she can give you the inside scoop on whatever internal politics might be in play that could affect your application -- "So and so is simply not taking new students to work with" or "that concentration is really hot right now, slant your proposal towards that," etc. And as always, best of luck.
  17. agreed -- didn't read the whole article, it was too depressing. :twisted: clearly the rhet com focus is a current trend that's pretty sweeping. at the school where i'm finishing my master's, they recently installed a rhet dept. and it's really taken off. i like how the article mentions the "service" aspect of rhet within eng. dept's; that seems to be the norm, and it's part of what makes it so appealing, i think. there's a practical component to it that was missing previously. however, i have a friend who's doing a phd in rhet at a larger school, and his degree is much more traditional -- yet still, he's anticipating that he'll get better job offers because of that focus. and he's probably right. but who knows what might happen five years from now? i anticipate that more and more comp pedagogy will trend towards online classes, which cost the university practically nothing and are appealing to slacker students who hate showing up for class. perhaps there will be some sort of backlash when that fails -- as it's bound to do -- and students will become interested in literature and scholarship again. we can hope. :wink:
  18. go to http://www.ets.org/gre and download the "Guide to the Use of Scores 2007-08," which is a pdf. On page 13 it will tell you your percentile if you took the test this year. I don't think they change very much. If you are unable to find it, send me a private message and I will attach my copy. :roll: [update] http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/GRE/pdf/994994.pdf
  19. Agreed. The situations vary wildly, and as long as you put forward your question about funding respectfully and politely, no one is going to think less of you. You can't know if you don't ask -- and you certainly won't be offered more! In my situation, one program has offered so much more than the others that I already know no one is going match it, or even come close, esp. once cost of living is factored in. But on a visit last weekend to a different school, I brought it up with the person who had made the initial offer, just to see what she'd say. She was very nice about it, but essentially said, "that's the final offer." Over the course of the visit I gathered that this school has no waiting list -- they simply make offers to a number of prospects. Whoever takes it, great; whoever doesn't, it's money saved. Pretty much every school has been very open to talking about money, and up front about whether there's wiggle room. And this will be the only chance -- with the exception of competitive fellowships etc. once you're already there -- to increase your level of funding. So don't be shy about asking!
  20. would i go? no. but there are still so many variables here that it's impossible to say. for one thing, i'd be surprised if you don't have some idea of your status by early april, but of course you'd have to look at plane fares now. is your third school also in the bay area? lovely place to visit. and there are lots of schools around, so in the event you don't get in, you could look elsewhere for future reference. seems peculiar to me that someone would just tell you to come, without indicating yr status. was this a person from your field, an admin officer, the DGS, or just a receptionist? obviously going could have an impact if you're waitlisted; would show them you're serious about going there, and be a chance to make an impression on the committee. i would follow up with someone at the school in addition to your previous contact, explain your situation, and see what they say. good luck!
  21. the short answer is no. i didn't contact a single adviser at any of the schools i applied to, and still managed to get in at many of them. however, as an international student it probably couldn't hurt -- especially to know how they deal with the paperwork and setting you up with funding, should they offer it. most american universities have an international office, and you might try to get in touch with them as well to see what the process will look like. good luck! :wink:
  22. no problem, and thanks! hang in there and try to have fun with it. It's a beautiful day here, so I'm trying to relax and take it easy and not worry so much.
  23. OK... YES, you're being paranoid! I have to laugh because I go through the same paranoia, even worrying that the wrong word here or there in an email is going to offend someone at a school that's ALREADY accepted me, and somehow affect the situation. take a deep breath... relax. if you are sitting in a gallery, there are millions of reasons someone might call and ask who the director is -- the most obvious one that comes to mind is that it's probably an artist who wants to get an exhibit. (it's even possible that the reason he or she didn't give a name is that they've already submitted something and are waiting to hear -- thus mirroring your own situation.) i seriously doubt that a school would try to weed you out by fact-checking a CV -- they don't have the time or manpower for that!
  24. please understand, i'm no expert on this, but two last points: 1) I had my own school A and school B situation several yrs ago, when i was going into my masters program. school A notified very early and was courting me with a nice offer and giving me "soft pressure" to decide. school B accepted me, with no word on funding. after looking at their program web site and determining that they could do little more than match school A, i finally said yes to A, mostly to relieve the pressure. well, i was very shocked a week or so later when school B came back with a gigantic fellowship that i hadn't even known they offered... and this was the last weekend in march! turns out, their committee didn't meet to decide on the fwshp till then. needless, to say, it made for a very awkward phone conversation with the DGS of school A when i called to tell her. but even she had to admit that there was no way they could match it. now, if i had known about the CGS agreement at that time, i would have been much more sanguine about the whole process and saved myself and them a lot of trouble. that's why i think it might be foolish / pointless for you to pressure school B too much, btw -- they might be waiting to have a meeting and decide funding. 2) the other side of this is that school A has probably made indirect promises to those on the waitlist -- along the lines of, 'we should be able to let you know something by the third week of march.' while you should sympathize with these people and let them know asap so they can move on to them, it's really not your problem. again, don't be a jerk about it, but also don't take on responsibility for every single person who's waiting and for the harried admissions officer who's dealing with them. by whatever measure, you've earned a spot in their program, and you owe it to yourself to gather all the information you can before deciding. 8) again, best of luck!
  25. i don't think a brief, polite note of inquiry is inappropriate. let's not forget, we paid $50-90 just to apply to these suckers, not to mention the cost of sending scores and other materials. it's not too much to ask to know where they're at in the process. for the most part, i think they get that -- with one exception, every school i've contacted for whatever reason has been very gracious. in fact, i'm shocked that some schools are notifying via web site. thank god none of mine were that way. i suppose it's the wave of the future, but it's terribly impersonal. like getting std test results or something.
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