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kurayamino

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Posts posted by kurayamino

    Article on the Decline of the English Major

    in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition

    Posted

    I think this rings really true for my own school which seems to be in transition from liberal arts support to hard sciences. It seems as though they offer significantly fewer topics/classes in my senior year than they did when I transferred in three years ago. Some of that is due to a lot of people on sabbatical at the same time, but I would say more older professors are retiring and not all of those positions are being filled with TT faculty. At my school and to pretty much everyone I talk to I hear the same thing. "You're majoring in English? What are you going to do with that degree?" :rolleyes:

    New study out on academic prestige and hiring

    in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition

    Posted

    I remember when, as a double major, I decided to focus specifically on English instead of Psychology for graduate school. My mentor (in English) told me flat out what the prospects were about becoming a tenured professor and offered personal sobering statistics about his graduating class from Yale (he was the only one who found TT). I just said that I'd never wanted to pursue any aspect of psychology as much as I wanted my field of research in English and that it didn't matter one iota if I could get a TT position. I'd be happy at any location with good library access so long as I could continue my research.

     

    That being said though, I did look long and hard at placement records when I chose my schools to apply to because I wasn't about to sell myself short either. In some cases this meant "prestigious schools", but prestige isn't everything. I mean, Yale didn't make my list because of their refusal to list their placement record in spite of the fact that there are professors there who I would have loved to have worked with. So, the long and short of it is, in my opinion, prestige isn't everything, finding TT shouldn't be everything, but passion? That's pretty much non-negotiable. :)

    Fall 2015 Applicants

    in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition

    Posted

    I heard that this can be helpful, but the advice I got mainly was 1. If professors in the department you are applying are relevant to topics discussed in your writing sample, you need to at least reference them in a footnote. And 2. try not to mention too many professors from the institution in one writing sample or your statement because you may come off as pandering

    AND you don't know what the social/professional relationship between those two professors might be. 

     

     

    Same here. I was tempted to footnote a professor in a department I was applying to, especially after he mentioned one of his books to me in an email, but it would have been entirely synthetic and not as relevant to my WS as it should have been in order to be included. 

     

    I referenced only one person in my WS that works at a school I applied to as most people who work in my area of study are in non-US schools or schools I had no interest in because there was only that one faculty member I wanted to work with.

    I think I handled this with my SOP by talking about the work that influenced my research and how Professor X that I want to work with at Y school wrote Z book that was really important in developing my ideas, etc. etc. Having to do this type of thing in my writing sample would have made the process of writing it as tedious and dreadful as the SOP was for me.

    THE PLACE OF LOLLING

    in Waiting it Out

    Posted

    I love this thread! I hadn't even realized it existed until this morning.

     

    What grocery shopping feels like when you're entire future is hanging in the balance:

    tumblr_lmp1pvv0S71qii6tmo1_250.gif

     

    What I want to do to every email that has nothing to do with acceptances or rejections:

     

    tumblr_mt1m5ftbta1qh8a0zo1_250.gif

     

    What my mind felt like thinking about all the possibilities (and thus why I can't sleep):

     

    tumblr_n2ufj2BABH1t5dnm3o1_500.gif

    In the interest of making the weekend go by a bit faster....guilty pleasures?

    in Waiting it Out

    Posted

     

    Law orientated TV shows (even if they aren't very good) provided I can watch the entire series on Netflix or Hulu.  Somehow, seeing how it ends is important...even if it's utter garbage.  Police or lawyer orientated...doesn't matter.

    Yep, that's one of the ways I kill time too.

     

     

    I just finished Babylon 5 (which actually isn't on Netflix and I bought the DVD's). Prior to that I watched Farscape. This actually all started after I graduated from my undergrad university and found myself without much to do over the summer besides work at my crummy job, so I started watching Star Trek: The Next Generation and since then, I've been consuming lots of space sci-fi. I'm not sure what show to watch next, Battlestar Galactica or Firefly.

    I love Babylon 5 (and Straczynski!). I would recommend Firefly over Battlestar Galactica, but that's just my personal preference.

     

    Personally, other than watching tv I've been playing a lot of Diablo 3. It's a great time suck and distracting enough that I can step away from my email for a few hours.

    Fall 2015 Applicants

    in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition

    Posted

    This is interesting! I've specifically avoided sharing statistics both on the fora and in my (single, lonely) acceptance result post for two reasons.

     

    The first is because I hadn't thought the stats would actually be useful in a meaningful way to other applicants. Given published information on minima and averages, it's clear that even the best schools admit applicants with a range (sure--a much smaller range in some the case of some programs) of scores and GPAs, and I think sharing those more easily quantified items distorts their importance in a field like English, where all evidence suggests that what really discriminates between applicants at the final stage of the process is both luck and the highly subjective, much less quantifiable parts of the portfolio.

     

     

    I think overall you're right, but I think it would also be useful if your scores are outliers in any way. My AW score on the GRE is low (in my opinion) and so if I get accepted somewhere I'd want to make sure that score was there for someone to see that it's still possible to get in at X school despite that. This would show that other aspects of the application are weighted more and so forth.

    I like what hreaðemus suggested, that information such as research experience and publications would be very helpful in gauging what is necessary for future applicants and I'll be sure to put my credentials on both my rejections and my acceptances (I hope!).

    Fall 2015 Applicants

    in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition

    Posted

     

    I was checking elsewhere in the forums, and I found mixed reactions to replying to acceptance emails.
     
    The DGS of one of my schools sent me a personalized welcome email today, and I'm not exactly sure how to respond.
     
    I definitely want to thank this person for the acceptance and funding, but should I mention that I applied to other schools, and that I'm going to wait to accept/decline till I hear back from them?
     
    Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Thank you for your insight!

     

     

    Congratulations on your acceptance! I had the same question and my mentor suggested that the best way to handle an acceptance is to thank them and let them know that you're seriously considering their offer. I'd also ask if there's a date that they need to hear from you by. I would imagine that any DGS knows that students don't apply to just one school and will need to weigh their options before making a choice. After all, they want you to be just as sure about them as they are about you.

    Chances of Getting An Acceptance?

    in Waiting it Out

    Posted

    It sounds like you've done everything right swampfox and I can completely understand your anxiety! Doing everything right just gets you a ticket to get in, but it doesn't guarantee your number could be called. As a fellow humanities major with pretty abysmal math scores on the GRE I was anxious as well, but I was told that the quantitative section doesn't even play a part in humanities admissions. The most important factors are your SOP, writing sample, and LOR. The GRE just sort of puts your name out there.

    I can't say much to alleviate your anxiety, but I can say you're not alone. Just keep your chin up and don't let that Fulbright rejection get you down. Remember, that's a program open to every major, to every country in the world. That's a lot of competition and while you've still applied to competitive schools, it won't be nearly as bad as the Fulbright. Fingers crossed for you! :)

    What are you reading?

    in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition

    Posted

    Honestly, Stephen King was probably the first "adult author" I ever got into. I found my older sister's copy of Skeleton Crew when I was nine or ten, and was hooked. Maybe it's nostalgia speaking, but I think he gets a bad rep sometimes. Despite being a popular "horror" author, he's a very engaging writer. I haven't read anything he's written in the past twenty years, but when I first read some Flannery O'Connor some time ago, I couldn't help but notice a remarkable similarity in styles.

     

    I probably just offended 25,000 members of the literati by comparing King to O'Connor (don't worry, literati...O'Connor is better!), but that's my take and I'm sticking to it!

     

    Yes! It was the same for me as a kid. Same book even, although the copy belonged to the parents of the kid I was babysitting. I don't mind admitting I like Stephen King because he is engaging. I don't think I've read many authors who are on par with how quickly he can develop a character, but then again, I'm not a modernist. Perhaps I've been missing something.

     

    I can see what you mean about a similarity between King and O'Connor and perhaps that's why O'Connor appeals to me so much.

    What are you reading?

    in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition

    Posted

    I've never grown out of my Stephen King obsession from when I was younger...so I'm finishing up Revival. It's a very easy read and engrossing enough to keep me invested while flying across the country.

     

    When that's done I'm probably going to read Gilead by Marilynne Robinson which was highly recommended and given to me as a gift, but I know nothing about it except whats on the back cover.

     

    I'm also working on Under the Cope of Heaven by Patricia Bonomi for a history class. It's very informative and interesting, but a little dry.

    Fall 2015 Applicants

    in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition

    Posted

    On 1/20/2015 at 11:25 PM, morristr said:

    So it seems Ohio state posted acceptances today. Since I am not one of them (and this was a program that seemed "realistic") i am starting to feel pretty bleak about my application season. I've already decided to not chase good money after bad and do another round of apps. I turn 34 next month and it feels pretty now or never. I can't help but believe my undergrad performance (despite perfect grad gpa) has sunk me. Feeling very low and regretful. The tears in my late night snack! I know it's early in the season but this does not bode well!

     

    From other students I know from my own school (a large public college) English admits are widely unpredictable. Last year I had a friend get in to UPenn and Columbia, but was rejected from OSU, WUSTL, Michigan, and Temple. Everyone has a different journey, but try and stay positive.

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