haltheincandescent

The other poster is right about a Professor versus a TA. I am curious, though: you mention a TA for a class on probability, and a professor for a class on probability. Were these the same classes, or separate? If they were the same, you could ask both the TA and the prof to write a letter they would both sign - or, approach the professor first, and they will likely ask the TA for further input, anyway (I have written a few paragraphs for profs to use in letters for students I TA'd for - it happens all the time). If they're separate, I might still ask one of the profs first, and then try the lecturer if neither thinks they can write a strong letter.

Basically the title. I'm applying for a few teaching focused positions this year, and besides a letter from my advisor, I need one specifically addressing my teaching. I taught with my advisor most of my time in grad school, so I really only have two other options: Prof A, who I TA'd for, in a class where I did almost all of the discussion section planning, which I got great evaluations & an email of praise from the prof for, but where the prof was mostly hands off (never observed lessons or advised on lesson planning); or Prof. B, who I worked much more closely with, but who I think I had some pedagogical disagreements with. Nothing major at all, and students always responded well to everything I did, but I always had a vague feeling--emphasis on the vague--that prof didn't think I was actually very good at the job. My advisor strongly suggested I ask prof B, not only because I worked more closely with her, but also because she's well-known for her teaching, designing the kinds of courses (interdisciplinary) I'm applying to teach, and if it weren't for that vague feeling, I'd agree that she'd be in a better position to speak to my teaching. A friend suggested that just asking Prof. B couldn't hurt, suggesting that she wouldn't say yes if she didn't think she could write a good letter for me - in which case I could fall back on prof A. This is something I've heard before, but I'm still anxious about the possibility that I might get something tepid--or worse--from her. So I was curious what others' thoughts on this might be! Thanks!

Hi all, I'm sending a proposal to a conference in the U.K., and in reference to funding for student presentations, they say this: "Applications should be made online at the time of the submission of a paper or panel proposal for the Conference. Those who wish to apply for a Conference Award should tick the box to that effect and, in the space provided, add a statement of support for their application." My question then is, what is this statement of support? Looking elsewhere, it seems as if this can either mean a sort of personal statement/further explanation of my project's importance, or a letter of recommendation - the latter seems the more common use, but at the same time, given my experience in the US system where rec's are generally confidential/sent separately, I wasn't thinking that at first. Any help from those more familiar with this terminology? Thanks!

Eh, the creative literature itself is usually mostly good. The criticism/academic writing can be a different story. Some is just bad. Which maybe hurts more because, like: you people are supposed to be studying the craft of writing. But, okay.

As a literature person, there's not really a distinction. Which is both good and bad.

I like the concept of ebooks, and I use an e-reader for some things, but, I also really like annotating and handwriting, so, until there's a tablet with a stylus that well-mimics paper-on-pencil, I'm going to keep dragging around my large paper book collection. I'm not even sure I want to think about how many unread books I have--I'm definitely something of a collector (read: hoarder), but maybe that just goes with the whole studying literature/book history thing. But, bright side: I never have to think about wall decorations: the bookshelves take care of it all.

I like Eco's take on the to-read stack: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jun/26/umberto-eco-antilibrary-oliver-burkeman

Tell me about it! I have a 10 page single-spaced list worth of 'em to read by the end of next summer. (And this not counting anything for courses!) (Admittedly, really not complaining though--always happy to spend some more time with Shakespeare or Faulkner. It is, like, my job now, or something. )

Exciting! Yay! But also, there are always good opportunities for English department puns or literary shirts in general. But, yet, most academic-y lit people don't seem big into the whole book-reference t-shirt thing, so they never happen. I'm usually with them, to be honest, but, have to say, this one's pretty enticing: http://www.litographs.com/collections/t-shirts/products/moby-tee

I don't know too much in terms of specifics, (I'm not there yet) but when I visited and asked generally (also hoping to bike), everyone said Boston/Cambridge is very bikeable, and a lot of people do it, even if there aren't too many bike lanes. I think if you're generally confident biking with cars on the road, you'll be good. Biggest problem I heard of was: make sure to get a good lock; bikes get stolen fairly often.

I'll be around! In the English department . I decided to settle on the GSAS dorms for the first year--not the most ideal situation, but there's no way, with work and other stuff going on, that I'd be able to make it back out to Cambridge before late August (renting sight unseen seemed potentially sketchier than communal bathrooms, so, you know). Pros, though: I'll be super close.

Yup, this. If you have a smartphone, check out the free magoosh vocab apps; I found them really useful. If no phone, I think they have a list of the words on their website, also for free. Other than that, I'd suggest taking as many practice tests as you can find, and drilling on any words you don't know. If you have a bit of time 'til the test, reading a few Atlantic/New Yorker articles a day, and keeping a list of words you don't know/need to learn, helps too (and, you know, also fun/useful otherwise)--those sorts of publications are pretty good (bad?) about using GRE-type vocab here and there.

I'm decided to stay in the grad dorms, since I won't be able to make the couple of trips out there that it'd take to find a good apartment from afar, so, nope, no roommates! Small room, though, but I'm used to and very fine with that, so But, yeah, once I signed it and had the move-in date official, I started to feel something like a future-tense homesickness--I just can't believe that I'll be moving away from somewhere I've been for going on 6 years in just 3 months; and the school year's going to be over in just two weeks. I've already graduated, but a friend will be graduating, then leaving (still nearby, but not actually in-town in-town), which will be weird. I think maybe it's friends I'll miss the most, including my old advisor, who's turned into just a friend to grab drinks with. Which is to say, I'm also a little nervous about a different sort of relationship with profs going forward. I've gotten used to the: let's meet to talk about your thesis, but also new good music, everything you hate about your job, other books we're reading right now, new trends in shared research areas, how hard it is to find a new apartment, the new dog I got my kids, etc., over coffees or beer. I never needed a ride to the airport, but think that if I did, I could have asked. I hope I can find something similar, over the coming years.

Whoooo. I officially have a place to live in the fall! Got a move-in date and everything. Things are getting real-er!

Congrats, @CrashJupiter! If you want any commentary on living in Louisville, let me know - I didn't go to UofL, so I don't have school-specific advice to offer (except, if you're interested in/able to take a class or two in the lit. part of the department, and like modernism/cultural studies: Prof. Jaffee--very interesting/cool/great guy, at least as far as his research goes) but, I lived there for a bit, and can definitely point you to all the best and coolest bookstores, coffee shops, bars, etc., etc., if you want!

I'd say thanks--but, it's exactly that: luck (with scholarships), nothing really on my part, other than sacrificing (or at the time I thought it was--I turned out to adore my state school) a much more expensive private school for my state school. On the other hand, I still know absolutely nothing about loans, so, at some point, if I have to take one out in the next few years, I'll be much more lost as far as what I have to actually even do goes.

I (by some black magic) slipped out of undergrad loan free--so I have what credit reports like to call "a thin file." aka there's absolutely nothing.

Ah, the good old credit card. I've also avoided getting one, so far, but then my dad recently reminded me that, at some point, there are things that one might need a record of credit to actually get a loan for, and, without a credit card: basically no credit. So, time to get my first one ever, I guess. (The idea being, use it no differently from my debit card, and pay everything off in full immediately, so I can get my very own shiny credit report.) Ew.

Yeah, I think that was part of my reasoning for a while as well.... But my apt also requires everything to be done online, anyway...so I realized it's a bit silly to think that they'd have more access by it being done automatically, when they already have my account number and all that tied into their system anyway. I guarantee that I will be paranoid-ly checking to make sure it actually pays this time around, though. Trusting nothing.

My apt. offers automatic bill-pay, and for a while (for some reason) I resisted signing up for it--but then this last month, while travelling, forgot to pay (luckily mine also sent out a reminder), so: it's auto, now. #neverforget(inadifferentwaythanthishashtagwasintended)

I'm with you @Neist--mostly right now on advice about going to grad school at all. There's been a lot of flutter around on the humanities boards here about how deeply terrible/soul-crushing/life-ruining grad school in the humanities is, both in terms of job prospects and as an experience more generally, and, while some of it has been really a productive discussion, now that I'm definitely in it for the long-haul, a lot of it's just really dragging me down. I'm going to put some of that on the back-burner for my first year, at least, and in the meantime pivot back to mostly listening to all my profs who have told me it was the most fun and engaging time of their lives, and that, (at least in my program) it's definitely possible to spend a few good 'life of the mind' years toward the beginning at least, and then I'll come back to everything else when I've got myself oriented a bit better to the workload and everything.

hahaha, @Need Coffee in an IV, Indianapolis is really mostly fine, but Indiana's government has been doing some rather questionable things lately (I think), so it's a place that (with deep regrets for other reasons) I'm happy to be leaving. But, I'm also not actually from Indy--so no significant or unbiased impressions. (Bloomington all the way )

From Indiana: can confirm that Indianapolis is actually just a black hole. But, also: yeah: I sent something similar to that everywhere I declined, and everyone was really nice about it (well.....except one place, but, whatever. Not hardly the norm), so, I'm sure everything will be fine (and, if it's not for whatever silly reason: it's definitely not you: it's them)

Yay! Congrats! -- In other news, I'm @g.harvard.edu official now. So excited. Still antsy to get started on the rest of registration, but, have to wait until I have a good picture of myself to submit the stuff for an ID!

Ach, so jealous! I haven't gotten the email address set up email yet, but, looking forward to also be Harvard-official soon! (Also somewhat jealous of you all in the sciences that already have advisors to be so immediately in contact with--things are a little more free-floating and undetermined over here in the humanities, so I've really only been in contact with the DGS so far). But, I'm zen to anything involving waiting, now, so, all good.