bechkafish

I saw that the prediction for Georgetown was the 19th - do they usually release on Fridays, or is there a chance that they could start sending out earlier, between now and then? I guess it doesn't really matter (they'll get in touch whenever they get in touch), but I'm trying to manage my expectations a bit.

Cat has lodged a formal complaint re: being used in the summoning of demonic forces, she's been promoted now to Thesis Helper and Unwilling Snuggle Recipient while I check my email eighteen times an hour.

Amen to all of the above. Not a single peep - no emails, no letter, no calls, not a thing from a single department. I'm pretty sure I'm losing my mind?

I'm in Boston. Literally two miles from BC. I am pretending that my letter has gotten lost, possibly in a parallel dimension? Oh god.

YES. LITERALLY ANYTHING AT THIS POINT.

Oh no! Well, hopefully, if they don't feel comfortable about the address they have, they'll just give you a call or send out an email (if only to confirm your location)?

Not yet, @psm1580b, he's actually super hard to get ahold of? Apparently there's more to it than making your cat sit in the middle of a pentagram on the floor and putting on a black bathrobe and mumbling a bit in Latin.

I checked the survey results on my phone in bed, and (1) saw that BC had accepted someone via snail mail, (2) realized it was 4pm, (3) remembered that my mail comes at 3:30 on the dot, and (4) scrambled out of bed to check the mail so fast that I upended several animals in the process. Turns out there was nothing there but credit card statements and junk mail, which is probably some kind of metaphor for my life in general. But anyway, no, I applied to Johns Hopkins a few years back and they sent their rejection () via snail mail, too.

@oldhatnewtricks, your comment made me realize I'm being unwittingly kind of exclusionary, here. Undergrad theses, too! Thread title amended.

Hi guys, I'm noticing in other threads that a couple of us are working (or pretending to work while checking our email) on theses or a last handful of classes. I was wondering if anyone had some good time management tips that they're using to keep moving forward with their work while waiting to hear back from programs? If you've found a system that works, feel free to share!

Oh, you know. This and that. Trying to instigate blood pacts with Satan for an acceptance email.

As a fellow unconacted UChicago applicant, I regret to say that yes, we're likely rejected if we haven't heard by now. Chicago doesn't waitlist, so there's no real second chance there. Berkeley might be a different story, though... You might still have a shot for the waitlist.

Amen to that!

I recently commented on a colleague's paper at a humanities conference - since it was my first time commenting, I spent some time beforehand scrounging around the 'net for helpful tips or advice. The most useful of these was an article by Professor W. John Koolage, which I hoped some people here might find as useful as I did. (Disclaimer: since my experience with commenting was in the humanities, and that looks to be the author's field as well, this might be less useful to the folks in the sciences). The article is below: "How to Comment on a Paper" by Professor W. John Koolage So, you have been asked to comment on a paper at a conference. In all likelihood you have not done this before, and for many of you have never seen it done either. In what follows, I offer some suggestions as to how to approach commenting at a professional conference. Basics Congratulations on become an importnat part of the creative output of an academic research program! Commenting on a paper is the next most important role to presenting a paper at a professional conference. Paper writers will be relying on you to do two things: (1) help the audience identify and understand the salient features of the paper, and (2) be the key person to ask critical questions that will help the presenter think about, improve, and expand their paper. While this is a shock to most speakers, the audience at a conference might not be well equipped to help the speaker think about their paper critically. Of course, it is nice to simply provice new ideas to an audience, most speakers are actually looking for help in assessing the htoughts in their paper in terms of clarity and closeness to the truth. This is why your job is so important. Details First, you should take your job as a presenter seriously. This is especially important because commenters are also generating creative output. In many cases, commenters have een noted for their philosophic skills, thoughts, and critical abilities. In some cases, the commenter can be a greater benefit to an audience than the speaker themselves. As a result, you should dress the part of a professional, write your comments in a professional manner, and be kind and courteous to your speaker and the audience. Second, you should invest some time in your comments. I recommend the following format for a 5 minute commenting session; I also recommend that if you have 10 minutes you simply double the formula below. (5 and 10 minutes are common lengths for commenting.) Your number one goal is to help everyone understand the key ideas and argument in the paper. You should write roughly 1 page (double spaced) that summarizes the speaker's paper and identifies the central argument of the paper. Your second goal is to provide a professional critique of the philosophic ideas / arguments in the paper. In general it is best to focus on one or two "problem" areas for the speaker's paper. I recommend two, since this is more helpful to the speaker and requires slightly less work on your part (providing only one trenchant criticism will take you much longer, believe me). In practice, this amounts to writing roughly 2/3 of a page of each criticism / comment - for a total of, roughly, 1.5 pages. Your criticisms / comments are likely to be one of three sorts (1) another author(s) has offered a competing account of phenomena the speaker is addressing, and in your opinion the other author(s) must be addressed by the speaker; (2) the speaker's argument / central concept(s) contain a philosophical (logical or conceptual) flaw that you are prepared to explain; (3) the speaker has provided an incorrect / misleading / marginal reading of another author, and you are able to explain the standard / correct / less straw-person version of the author. In all cases, you need to be respectful of the speaker's intelligence, work, and motivation. You are simply helping them out, not trying to "get them". Finally, you should offer, roughly, 1/2 page of suggestions on how the speaker might "fix" their paper, other directions they may take the paper, and / or thoughts on other problems they may solve with their key ideas / arguments. Finally, remember that your comments are part of your own creative output, so be sure to make them such that you are proud to present them in front of an educated set of peers. Other Thoughts Here are some final thoughts that might also be of some use in thinking about commenting. First, people are typically focused on the speaker; in this way, you are simply helping the audience understand and think about the speaker's paper. This means, audience almost always view your work as good, since it helps them and since they're not there to evaluate you; this takes a lot of pressure of speaking off of you. Second, some commenters take the time to thank the speakers for their papers and to say a few words about the merits of the speaker as a thinker / person / contributor to the profession. This is by no means a requirements; in some cases this comes off as nic,e and thoughtful, in others it comes off as disingenuous. Third, I cannot repeat enough that it is your main job to help the speaker. The best way to do this is in the part of your comments where you help the audience understand the speaker. That said, most speakers are extremely thankful for the fact that you have read their paper and thought critically about their paper. It is very common for speakers to acknowledge commenters in the final versions of their paper. This is a good way to participate in the creative process. Finally, commenting is an excellent way to impress people and make new contacts in a much lower stress way than presenting. Be your best self when commenting and people will seek out your thoughts in the future. Final Important Note Most commenters provide their speakers with a short summary of their critiques a couple of weeks before the talk. This gives the speaker some time to consider responses. It is considered very uncouth for the speaker to change their initial talk in line with the comments, but it is equally uncouth to blindside a speaker. Thus, I strongly recommend you get in contact with your speaker as soon as possible, and you provide them with some idea the line your critiques will take a week or two before the presentation.

Sorry I'm so late getting back to you, @Starship. My conference was back at the beginning of November, and at the end of the day, I had to do exactly what I had been trying to avoid: take a bus down to the city, give my presentation, take an overnight bus back. It was awful and I do not recommend it on any level, and because I had no time to hang out or visit other presentations, I did absolutely zero networking... but at least I got to give my paper, and have the experience. It sounds like that's not quite the same situation that you're coming up against, though. I'm really sorry to hear that your financial situation isn't what you'd hoped it would be... I think at this point, if someplace to sleep and food and even transit is good and truly beyond you, I would (a) ask family or friends for a very small, short-term loan, if you're comfortable with that sort of thing, (b) explain the situation to your department and ask if there are any financial resources they can offer that you're not yet aware of, and (c) get in touch with the conference coordinators and ask what they'd suggest. I know no one wants to turn down a conference for financial reasons (what a waste of experience and a solid refereed paper! not to mention you've probably already confirmed your attendance), but at the end of the day, if you can't do it, you can't do it, and that says more about the sorry state of academia than it does about you. At the end of the day, I was only able to make it to my conference because it was fairly close (350 milies ish) and buses are cheap and I literally ate nothing but a fast food cheeseburger on the entire adventure.

Some great and helpful advice regarding the presentation of conference papers in the humanities, from the CGU Student Success Center:(Hyperlink not working for some reason, here's the location of the original: http://www.cgu.edu/pages/864.asp) Presenting Conference Papers: HumanitiesBEFORE YOUR PRESENTATION FOCUS CLARITY PRESENTATION

I recently got a paper accepted to a conference for the very first time (interdisciplinary humanities), and I'm terribly excited. Like most graduate students, I'm also terribly poor, and don't think I'll have the money to (a) head out of state to the conference venue, (b) stay overnight in that city, then (c) head back home; at best, I can swing a roundtrip on the day of my presentation, but I don't see how I could afford a hotel room on top of transit. My department offers some financial help in the form of reimbursement, but that's not immediately helpful. Is it poor form / rude to attend only one day of a two-day conference, when the concern is solely financial? I guess there's no good way to announce, "Hey! I respect everyone's work and I'm here to learn, but I have no money"... (Edited for typo.)

sidebysondheim and thomasphilosophy have already got this covered, but a little additional anecdote for you: I know someone who not only took 2 years worth of gap year, but attempted to study in a different field at a different university for a few months in between. Ultimately, he dropped out of that program and returned to philosophy, where - he asserts - his short absence from the field and flirtation with another discipline did him no harm whatsoever on applications. He ended up getting into five of his eight (quite well-ranked) PhD programs. I myself took a year between finishing my BA and heading to MA to work on application material, and when I mentioned it to faculty who had been on the admissions committee after I was accepted, literally none of them even realized the gap. I know it seems glaring to you because you're hypersensitive of its presence, but I second (third?) wholeheartedly the earlier advice in this thread: it won't matter a bit.

A couple of people (faculty and classmates alike) have suggested to me that I shouldn't limit myself to applying to PhD programs only in the States, especially given the fact that I'm all about continential and the ideal place to study that would be, well, the "continent". I keep wavering back and forth on whether to consider that an actual option... It's fine and exciting in theory, but I've never vacationed outside of the Eastern US, let alone lived somewhere else, and my mind keeps trying to weigh academic advantage (if indeed there even is one) against all the anxieties that such a move suggest (homesickness, loss of support systems, etc.). Has anyone left the country for graduate work, and if so, are you happy with your choice? Is there anything you would suggest to someone thinking such a transition over? Maybe any advice you wish you had had?

This is good to hear/read... As someone with a less-than-stellar undergraduate institution and a masters intended somewhat to mitigate that, I have put a lot of eggs into the "terminal masters" basket. I've heard from a couple of people, however, that PhD programs can sometimes frown upon the terminal masters because it means the candidate has already been molded, to some extent. You're probably used to doing things a certain way in graduate work, and that might not be the way they like, etc. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

I'm actually at BU, where foreign language profficiency isn't a component of the terminal masters. So I guess I had it in my head that it put me rather ahead of the curve, but I see what you're saying as a part of the bigger picture.

Naturally, two months away from application season, I'm starting to second-guess everything I thought I wanted to do and panic mercilessly. Here's my general situation: I am finishing up an MA in Philosophy (with specific focus on 19th Century Continental Philosophy and Aesthetics). My plan is and has been to apply this season to PhD programs in philosophy, or at least those particularly well-ranked in 19th Century, since an aesthetics concentration hasn't gotten anyone a job in forever. I have a reading knowledge of German, and what I think is an uncommonly enthusiastic background in [European] literature. Obviously, philosophy isn't a perfect match for this, but it is what it is, and it's the field I've been committed to for years. Now, of course, the proverbial wedding day is almost upon us and I'm getting cold feet. Academic philosophy seems to be trending away from what I care about, these days, and so much of what I've read online lately has made it seem like a comparative literature program would be a better fit. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I would feel like an absolute idiot mentioning this to my faculty advisors at this point, but all of my graduate work has trended towards it: papers on philosophy and Rilke, the value of memoir, gender in literature, etc. Outside of a philosophy and literature program like Warwick's, what are my options? I'm worried I'm just sort of self-destructing and casting about for something other than philosophy so that I can avoid the competitive nightmare that is professional philosophy; I'm also worried that the exact opposite is happening and I'm going to get stuck in a PhD program that's not right for me.

Philstudent1991, thank you for your suggestion! I am currently finishing up an MA at Boston University, though, and would like to progress to PhD work this coming application season, so I don't know that GSU really fits the bill. Maxhgns, I'm coming down particularly heavily on the continental/historical side of that line. I know the job market for anything aesthetics is worse than dismal, so I'm pretty resigned to the fact that it will have to be a bit of an ancillary interest. 19th Century Continental is much more generally the watchword for me this application season, though of course it would be very excellent if any of the strong continental departments had faculty interested in aesthetics as well. I suppose my general worry is that the departments ranked high in 19th Century on the PGR are, like you say, insanely competitive... and I've been getting a lot of conflicting advice on the SPEP-ranked departments.

Hi GradCafe-ers, I'm trying to compile a list of programs to which to apply this winter, and I was wondering if anyone had additional recommendations. My interests are in German Romanticism (all post-Kant German philosophy, basically) and aesthetics, and particularly the combination of the two; philosophy of music, philosophy of literature; an offering of a terminal MA in German / German Studies or some sort of joint program would be about a million extra brownie points. My list so far includes: CUNY, Columbia, Brown, UChicago, Princeton, Notre Dame, DePaul... What else should I look at?