Simpleton

I've debated weighing in on this discussion for a while now, ultimately deciding against it due to a sense that I might just complicate an already tortuous thought process for those of you considering MAPH. The more I consider it though, the more I feel an obligation to speak up. I'm currently a Phd student at Chicago, and from what I have observed and imbibed from the habitues of MAPH, as well as my general knowledge about the state of graduate study in the humanities in these dark days of neo-liberal evisceration, I would not suggest doing the MAPH Masters. Firstly, the MAPH people are assigned too much work, 3 classes a quarter as opposed to the two required of Phd students, and consistently seem flustered and worn down. Secondly, there are too many students in the cohort so they tend to get lost in the crowd and find it difficult to ratchet the attention of faculty. At a place like Chicago, not only is the department small in terms of the number of faculty, but the 10-15 stars who everyone wants to work with are already worn thin by the needs of Phd students. One year is not enough time to build a strong mentor relationship with faculty, and it is these kinds of relationships that need to be built if they are going to advocate for you in a manner that will get you into top Phd programs. In fact, I could go on and on about why the MAPH is neither worth the money nor the energy. If your goal is to pursue a Phd in English and you have been rejected this year, my suggestion would be to save your 40-60 grand, rent a cabin in the woods, and completely revamp your application. Work fiendishly on your writing sample and your sop, retake the gre if you need to, and READ, READ, and READ more...

I'm currently a Chicago Phd student and I thought it could be both comforting to those who did not receive admission and encouraging to those who did to relate the fact that our English Phd program received over 600 applications this year, and are looking for a 10 person cohort.

Hopefully this info can, at least, ease the worries of some of you on the waitlist; and at best, positively effect people's admission or funding status. Declined: Cuny/ Dean's Fellowship Wisconsin-Madison Duke NYU Yale Struck my name from the waitlist at: Cornell Indiana-Bloomington

I am sorry to hear that, and also sorry that my predicament will most likely not have a positive effect on yours. Indeed though, the faculty and administration at Duke have proven themselves extremely magnanimous.

Not funded in the traditional sense. Canadians often go on SSRC grants which are plentiful and not overly competitive. Others support themselves with TA and RA'ships. Montreal is also a very cheap city to live in.

I did my BA and MA at McGill and focused on theory and contemporary American literature. There are remarkable faculty members at Mcgill, but not enough funding or interdepartmental co-operation (the faculty is often rancorously divided over issues) to support doctoral study. As far as getting into top American programs, I have received admission to 2 top 5 programs this year, and 2 top 10, with a few more acceptances pending, so I would say McGill puts you in a pretty good spot. I would encourage anyone to go to McGill for Undergrad or their MA – Montreal is a magical city and there are many world-class scholars and, more importantly, pedagogues in English and Cultural Studies. They also seem to have a very good placement record in sending their MA students to top English programs outside of Canada. My appetences are by no means an exception, I know a lot of people who came out of McGill and are in top programs in the states. I think this testifies to the strength of the faculty and the students they attract.

I won't be attending, sounds like fun though. I have a few other recruitment sessions that are going to take precedence. I also noticed that someone reported being wait listed at Duke yesterday. Though I am not promising anything, I would say there is about a 90% percent chance I am going to enroll somewhere other than Duke, which means that Wait list spot is going to materialize into an admission offer. I really wish I could do it now and give you (wait listed person) the chance to go to the recruitment session, but I really need to visit and be sure about a few other places before I commit entirely and give up my admission offer at Duke. Cheers!

I feel like my misspelling of public is so deeply a parapraxis worth expressing I will refrain from editing it .

Yes, you should be very happy about getting in, enjoy it! As far as the state of Berkeley and the future of pubic education, we should all be mourning, not just you.

wow you guys! In two moderately lengthy messages you have outstripped the entire world-wide web in terms of clarity of information, introspection, and informative anecdotes. You rule, thank you so much! I really appreciate it.

Ok, great, two Hyde Parkers on the stand! Reports on the internet concerning the safety of Hyde Park and the outlying areas range from the tempered to the histrionic and borderline racist paranoia (granted this statement could be true of most all discussions on the internet). I have a basic question: I will most likely choose to go to Chicago and hope to be able to get around (to and from school, along the lake shore, possibly longer jaunts into town) on my bike – will that be possible? The cold is not a problem for me, I have lived and studied in some semi-arctic geographies and persevered on my bike for the sake of mobility and exercise. I am just wondering what kind of bike city Chicago is, and if the surrounding areas of Hyde Park might bar me from safely traversing them in any other way than on public transportation. Thanks All!

Hello All, and particularly other people with Chicago acceptances ! Has anyone yet ventured to take up Jay Schleusener's prompt in his acceptance letter to contact any of the faculty you are hoping to work with? I have refrained from doing this throughout the duration of my applications as it always felt slightly presumptuous and pushy. Certainly the conditions are different now, and as an admitted student it would feel less brazen, so I am just wondering of anyone else in my boat as decided to proceed making contact. Cheers!

I have already declined my offer at Suny Buffalo, which hopefully means a wait list spot has opened up.

I have been accepted to Duke, Chicago and Suny Buffalo so far and my general area of study is the literature of the long American 1960s (1958-1973), the history of social movements in the US and Europe, and the history of psychiatry and anti-psychiatry.