PaperChaser

Is anyone going to UNCG?

Funny! I guess I would just hide in the bathroom and look for pills to dull the torture of trying to constantly outwit everyone else.

I apologize if that was a bitchy reply. I just don't appreciate someone pissing in my Cheerios, because I was pretty dang happy to get into 4 schools I did. It may not be Manatee's dream "accomplishment," but it was MINE. So I'm going to go be happy for myself and anyone else who got what they wanted through persistence!

Wow. Well, I'm sure you have some good points. I personally don't see them, but I'm-by your standards-of such low intelligence and have such inferior qualifications that my perspective not only doesn't matter, it probably doesn't exist. So I'll direct my opinion to the other people who, like me, applied numerous times. Some of us applied and were rejected more than once to the LOWEST TIER SCHOOLS. Some of us got accepted eventually to lower or middle tier schools and are ECSTATIC to have the opportunity to participate in the pursuit of a PhD regardless of how much time it takes, how little the jobs (should we "bottom feeders" be so lucky to even be considered for them!) pay, how little history may remember us, whatever. For some people, having a chance to be in a community where knowledge and learning is valued is INTRINSICALLY valuable. Some of us CHOSE programs that aren't "prestigious" because they had something else to offer (i.e. high job placement rates-yes, outside the top 20!). Some chose programs close to home because we AREN'T 26. Some of us aren't planning to be tenure track professors. To me, saying that not going to a "top" school (and I mean "top" by your standards, not mine) is pointless. Some people who don't go to top schools don't get jobs; some people who go to top schools don't get jobs either. Some people apply once to top schools and get in; some people have to try multiple times to get into unranked programs. Some people will be miserable anywhere they go, no matter how prestigious the school. Some people will be happy just to be IN school. People are so different that an Ivy PhD doesn't guarantee you a job because someone else with a mediocre degree may have other qualifications that are "superior" for a certain job, like great course evaluations, a really interesting area of study, or (gasp) an inspirational personality. Sometimes it's not about a job or a seal of approval from a certain school. Some of us are the educational equivalents of Brad Stevens (who started as a volunteer coaching at Butler, in case you didn't follow the NCAA tournament)-we keep at it for the love of the sport, and maybe, just maybe, one day we'll be eye to eye with the most formidable leaders in our fields in ways that no one would have ever expected. "Top," for me at least, is subjective.

I wanted to go to the graduate weekend but was out of the US and didn't get back in time to make it the whole weekend. I was rather annoyed that the DGS said it "wasn't worth" coming down if I could only go down to Columbia (it's only 3 hours from me) Friday and Saturday. I was somewhat set aback that she didn't think meeting other students and seeing the campus, city, etc was "worth" driving to see. I had emailed some REALLY basic questions, and it took the graduate student assigned to the DGS (the student was very nice, she just didn't know much) a really long time to find the answers. Most of her answers were not particularly positive (perhaps my fault for question asking...). I was disappointed because it was by far my first choice scholar-wise (I totally agree it's a great program) but had such a low stipend. Still, I wish I had just gone down Friday and Saturday so that I knew what I was missing. Oh well! Congrats to those who are going!

In my own defense, I do own my dorkiness

Soooooooo, in the final 2 weeks before some of us make big commitments, some of us lose hope, some of us "get it all," and most of us are varying degrees of in-between, I think it's worth a minute or two to come up with a short playlist of the music that epitomizes the rollercoaster of grad admissions... I'll go first, because watching NCAA is better with music.... 1. "Paparazzi" (Lady Gaga) - overplayed but I feel like I'd chase down the dream till it loves me....or one of us dies. 2. "Heart It Races" (Dr. Dog cover of Architecture in Helsinki) - I AM slow to uncover the knots in my laces. Luckily, this time I wasn't TOO slow. 3. "Go West" (Liz Phair) - I'm not going west, but I'm taking a dicey chance....which scares the shit out of me. 4. "Revelate" (The Frames) - I think that speaks for itself. 5. "We Used to Vacation" (Cold War Kids) - I suspect this would be my story if I hadn't forced myself to take a chance. 6. "Engine Driver" (Decemberists) - I guess it's in my bloodline...either way, I have to find out. 7. "Bullet and a Target" (Citizen Cope) - always good for musing. 8. "Go Your Own Way" (Fleetwood Mac) - yep, in the end, I probably will....and then never hear the end of it! 9. "When You Were Young" (The Killers) - I'll always have that hurricane turning. 10. "Sparks Fly" (Widespread Panic)- all time favorite short quote..."while you're trying to think of.. why you never could become.. things you dreamed of... hot night sky we watch sparks fly..." Time to see if I can make sparks fly. That's me. Not too creative, but real. You?

Thanks, and congrats on your fellowship! Couldn't happen to a nicer person!

FWIW, I'm all in for UNCG. They're so flexible classes and requirements, and I just can't turn down a really good job AND pursuing my dream at bargain basement prices. It's not for everyone, but the DGS said about half the PhD students have full time jobs and pay their own way, so at least I won't be alone..... Louisville, VA Tech, and South Carolina, thanks for the consideration. Good programs, just not for me at this point.....(RELIEF)

Let me clarify. I didn't get IN anywhere my first round of apps (5 yrs ago) but WAS waitlisted at UNM. (I applied based on places I'd like to live....not so smart.) But that they CONSIDERED me... My sister, who would kill me for writing this, is an uber-genius who got into UNM's MD/PhD program in Neuropsychology (obviously, the brains of the family). Considering that she went to Amherst, maybe that's not so impressive. However, she had NO undergrad classes-not one-in psychology. She enrolled in non-degree classes, busted her ass, got a perfect score on the GRE Psych (yes, I love'hate her, but mostly I'm proud of her), and beat the crap out of the odds to get one of 4 spots in the program. She LOVES UNM, has tons of opportunities to publish and travel, and will get a kickass job. She's said that the best thing about UNM is that the faculty (graduate, at least) really start mentoring early on and give you as many opportunities as THEY get. I know Psych isn't Lit, but her boyfriend is in Classics (hello, opposites) and he says the same thing. It may not be the highest ranked or fanciest school, but the campus has gotten a major facelift, the cost of living isn't obscene, and the students seem really happy. Just revising my earlier inadvertent snark.

I managed to get a BA and MA in English without taking a single Victorian class...I honestly hate it.(Except for the rhetoric of the corset of course.) But I can totally see why (most) people wouldn't want to research MY interests...they're weird, not readily marketable, and outside what most literate people consider literature. But that's cool. I met a girl recently who said she was doing research on the evolution of primary school textbooks from the colonial era in America on. Would I want to do this? Hell no. Is it an interesting project that I'd like to READ? Absolutely. I think the challenge in researching older works is finding new angles from which to view them. Believe it or not, there is still a LOT of cool stuff to do with 19th century or earlier works that have barely been touched. Could I think of them? No. I'm too pop-cultury, too pedestrian, and (honestly) too much of an "If I haven't lived in that century, it basically doesn't exist to me." My secondary school and undergrad were a little deficient compared to many academics. But I am SO glad other people can find buried treasures! I think the sometimes motley fabric of English programs is exactly what makes them worthwhile. I mean, I'd love to know why death row written statements aren't afforded copyright protection in the US while many letters written in prison are. There are always questions....the coolest thing is to meet someone whose work is super-interesting but something you would never have thought of yourself! That's why I show up, anyway

Send a plant. (I'm not kidding.) Get a cheap one from 1-800-Flowers and send it to the DGS. Then they HAVE to acknowledge you...someone has to sign for the flowers. Say something clever that's not pushy. And if they don't return your calls or emails in a week, they don't deserve you. Spring break ain't forever.

Another semi-law (or just high level paid research and editing gig) is to research and edit technical texts. If you enjoy the technicality of writing/appreciation of the Harvard comma over the, in your words "soul-sucking," comp classes (I too prefer the latter, though I've had some great Comp students...just not enough to make grading the other 90 papers worth it)....LexisNexis, Kaplan, Thomson Reuters, Pearson, Aspen, etc have good jobs for editors that <gasp> actually have upward mobility and don't require participating in sales meetings or any of that BS. While you generally need a MA in technical writing, English, or a related field, it might be something that you like, especially if you'd like to live in a big city. Just another idea...

If you're willing to take a chance on a "new" program (albeit, not at all a new school), I was very impressed with VA Tech's English DGS. Their program is only about 3 years old, and it's Rhetoric and Writing rather than Rhet/Comp. It appears to be very interdisciplinary--the DGS said I could teach pre-law courses, etc--and the DGS was SOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOO nice and helpful. They have iffy funding----he said one year they could fund ten, the next two, who knows?----but I DO think they fund MA students as well as PhDs. (It's only the PhD that's new.) I was really impressed with the DGS and the school would've been my first choice if it had offered me funding OR were about an hour closer to where I live. Because it's so interdisciplinary, they evaluate each transcript individually (as opposed to every other school I applied to, where my work from 2005-2006 was "too old") AND....<this should get your attention!>....THERE IS NO LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT. I nearly shat.