Uncanny Kenna

Congratulations to all of you beautiful, talented people! I also got my good news today. After being rejected from Colorado, Brown, Pittsburgh, Florida, and Oregon, I finally heard back from Middle Tennessee and I'm in. Two days ago, my fiance and I had literally decided to just say "fuck it" and move to Burlington to open a Viking-themed brewery (that's still our ten year plan, no worries). Again, congrats to anyone else!

Is it a grad student conference? Sometimes grad student conferences take longer to hear back from because, well, the grad student organizers are usually very busy. If it's a national conference, you definitely should be hearing very, very soon. They typically stay on top of their game.

I noticed today that the UFL PhD program has started making phone calls. So, for the next two weeks, I'm going to be in a constant state of nausea, right on the cusp of an anxiety attack. Out of curiosity, because I'm trying to gauge the situation, did any of you awesome UFL applicants apply specifically for the comics studies focus? I mean, I know I'm not the only one who did apply, but I'm curious if anyone from comics has heard back yet.

It would be nice to see that process at work, but leaving out the CV removes all of the awards, conferences, publications, and teaching experience an applicant has. Granted, having those things doesn't necessarily make you better for a program than someone else, but when you're pursuing a PhD, it's expected that you'll be presenting original work at conferences, publishing journal articles, and teaching. So I don't know if just the basic stats and the writing sample would really cut it for looking at an applicant comprehensively. I think a big part of the problem is that too many places are focused on GRE scores and subject test scores, when it's been proven literally hundreds of times that quantitative data (like a test score) is less useful than is qualitative data (like a writing sample in understanding a person's academic strengths and weaknesses.

So, can I just ask a question because I'm curious? A lot of you who have suffered rejections ( ) have been offered MA positions instead. Most programs aren't taking PhDs right out of undergrad, partially because only about 1/4 of students who have pursued a PhD in English in the past have actually completed it. And I don't know if most undergrads would be prepared for the kind of work a PhD requires. Mother Mary on a Pogo Stick, I definitely wasn't prepared for my MA work when I finished undergrad. Is it possible that a lot of these rejections are happening because schools are trying to avoid offering highly competitive PhD positions to people who are less likely to complete the program (meaning, people who are coming with just an undergrad degree and are less likely to be prepared for PhD work)? The only places I've seen that will take someone with just an undergrad degree are programs that put you through a master's first, and then you feed into the PhD. Like UVA (but seriously, fuck UVA) and UConn and Harvard and whatnot. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that's fair in any way, and I'm sure many of you are super brilliant and could totally thrive in a PhD without an MA. I just wonder if maybe that's the reason so many of you have been rejected from so many programs you wanted? I've actually never even met someone (who isn't already a prof) that jumped right into a PhD.

Some of these classes sound absolutely awesome and I'm jealous. I've been really lucky to take some really out there, non-canon classes. In undergrad, I took a fantastic class called "Apocalypse Lit," which was awesome for me because I'm a sci-fi and zombie junkie. Lots of Phillip K Dick, which made me a very happy nerd. In my MA program, I took a genre theory class on graphic novels and comics (which was obviously awesome, since that's what my thesis is on) and I got to spend a lot of time talking about my love affair with Sandman. Right now, I'm taking a course called "Functions of Appalachian Horror Cinema." I feel like that speaks for itself, but the best part of the course is studying contemporary American class conflict that manifests in post-9/11 horror as urban vs rural, phallic vs yonic, rich vs poor, etc. There's nothing quite like cannibal hillbillies to get me going.

Hmm... That's tricky. I think fancypants is right to ask if you're thinking about a PhD at the end of it. The problem with an unfunded MA (in my opinion) is not the additional debt (we're already screwed anyway, right?). The problem is that the vast majority of English PhD programs are really looking to invest in future educators (because why else would you put yourself through the horror of a PhD if you don't want to teach?), meaning that teaching experience during an MA is becoming a requirement for a lot of decent PhD programs. If you're not going to have any opportunities to teach, you might be screwing yourself out of a good funded opportunity elsewhere. Honestly, I feel like you can write a thesis anywhere if you've got the right mindset. But the training to teach and the teaching experience is the most valuable thing most MAs are getting out of their programs these days. You don't have to make a decision right now anyway, right? If Fordham is your only option at the end of the road, then you've got your answer. But if there are other opportunities, you should probably consider them. As a side note, you might be able to get funding through a Writing Center. I don't know what Fordham's situation is, but a lot of work is going into developing university WCs right now (they're usually separate from but related to the English department) and a lot of English grad students are getting funded by working full time in WCs. I actually have full funding through my program, but for my last semester, I've decided to spend half my time in the WC and half teaching (instead of teaching two sections of comp three times a week, which is freaking exhausting). WCs are awesome and they look really good on future applications. Otherwise, I'm sure you can scrounge up a grant or something. Congrats on your acceptance.

Thanks, Ramus. I think you're probably right. I'll try to stop freaking out. I think I'm having what my adviser calls "impostor syndrome." Two formal, slightly rude rejections in the span of two days has pretty much convinced me I'm a sack of trash and that it's a fluke I made it this far. See Fig. 1 below. (I simultaneously realize this probably isn't true, but you know how it goes.)

I'm really sorry to hear so many of you received rejections from schools you really wanted. I have now been rejected from Brown and Pittsburgh. Although, really, I'm a popculture/film/lit studies person, so more prestigious universities are a little hesitant about my research interests. I did see something weird today, though. I applied to Middle Tennessee State University on a whim because they offer a good focus in pop culture studies. I check my application status today (I haven't gotten any official word back yet), and my status reads "Program admission initiated." WTF does that even mean?? Does that mean they've started looking at my application? Does it mean I've at least gotten into one school? I feel like I'm going to throw up.