DaniB23

Hello All! I am last-minute looking for a respondent for a panel I am proposing for SCMS 2017. The panel is on neoliberalism and space in transnational cinema. Respondents typically read the papers in the panel beforehand and come up with some responses and questions to the paper and across the papers. If you're interested please let me know and I will private message you details. Cheers!

I'm doing this because I'm getting paid good money (considering my cost of living) to do what I enjoy. I'm fully aware that my options may be limited to instructor, lecturer, or adjunct when I go on the market, and because my passion is teaching, and not driven by a capitalist impulse to excess, I'm completely okay with that. Btw- your bitter is showing.

My experience is a little different, though I did go back to my undergrad alma matter for my MA and have gotten into a great PhD program. However, my MA program was ranked, and an R1, though I really don't think that the ranking will hurt you as long as you have a strong application.

I have! I only had one accept and the two waitlists, but from the moment I got the accept at SUNY Binghamton I knew it was the right program for me. Speaking with the DGS at Florida completely solidified that (one of the main people I wanted to work with is going to be abroad on fellowship for the entire first year of UF's 4 year program, so that wouldn't have worked out had I got in). I got a very generous funding package + provost's summer fellowship, and I get to work with some really amazing poco/film faculty! My fingers are crossed for you for ASU or Baylor!

After speaking with the DGS at Florida and weighing all of my options, I've taken myself off the waitlist at University of Florida (3rd on list) AND at SUNY Buffalo (2nd on list). Good luck to all!!!

Yes to all of this, but especially your last sentence. I feel like I'm just in this little floating bubble and the second I make a decision it will pop. I'm so torn on how much emphasis I should be putting on ranking, because as you said, much of all of this is based on the ability to do my best work wherever I go and the rankings don't speak to the quality of my work, the time and energy I put into bettering my work, and my ability to sell myself as a job candidate. I think the ranking is really giving me a hard time, actually, because research fit is set with all my choices.

If you had to make a chart that weighed the pros and cons of a PhD program, what percentage of importance would you assign to the following: -Cost of Living/Rental Options -Research fit -Job placement rate -Congeniality of program -Funding offer -Summer funding opportunity -Ranking -Weather -Departmental support I'm inclined to say that research fit and job placement would have the highest percentage of importance, myself. Something like 30% each, funding 20% and so on. But I'm really curious what others think, and I'm selfishly hoping that looking at an aggregate of opinions will help me in weighing my own options. How would you all apply a percentage to importance when it comes to final program decisions?

Thank you! Oh the anxiety of positive news!

Just found out I'm on the waitlist (towards the top) at University of Florida. Found out by emailing the DGS. If I got in I'd have a tough choice to make between UF and another program where I've already been offered a very competitive funding offer.

What did you say your goal was in your SOP for Colorado? The reason I ask is if you talked about your end goal being publishing, then perhaps there is a reason you've been accepted in terms of fit. If you only talked about being a professor then I would second what @ExponentialDecay suggested and contact the program for placement information (I would probably do this anyways). Something to consider is whether or not the department is housing a journal. At my current program I happened to stumble into a position at a scholarly journal in the humanities, and I do believe the experience would be really great for someone on a publishing track. Keep in mind though, even if the program does house a journal, it is not a guarantee a position will be open during your tenure with the program, so this is something you may also want to inquire about.

After everything I realized that my safety school, the place I said (repeatedly) that if I only got in there I'd probably reapply next year and not go, is actually the best fit for me, pretty much across the board, including funding. That's probably my biggest blooper.

I would wait until you get the syllabi from the professors. I've had one or two who sent the syllabus a few weeks before classes started, and other who didn't provide the syllabus until the first class. Often I find that professors make them last minute, but if they don't or happen to email the course asking for students to come prepared having read a certain text, then it doesn't hurt to get ahead if given the opportunity.

I love this! It's funny because my thesis, also stemmed from an interest in punk. I was watching The Punk Singer (a documentary on the lead singer of Bikini Kill, Kathleen Hanna) to wind down one night and I started to think about how a lot of the very female centric teen films from the 90s had some elements of the riot girrrl movement, even if it was just a soundtrack heavily reliant on riot girrrl bands. The more I watched teen films, the more I realized punk in general wasn't necessarily specific to 90s teen films and someway and somehow my research got me to the neoliberal woman subject in 80s teen films. Actually, that's a big thing for me. My partner and I often don't agree on what to watch for enjoyment, so we always end up settling for documentaries, which always seem to inspire my work.

I agree with ProfLorax in terms of your weekly schedule being a 9-5 type thing. I went from the working world into my MA and the advice I'd give is if for any reason you get syllabi early, or reading assignments early, be smart about how early you start it. Start early to get ahead, but not so early that you don't remember what you read for when class starts. I really think it's a hard thing to prepare for practically, because you don't really know what to expect, so as long as you are reading literature, or engaging with whatever medium you like as your object of study, you will be in the best shape you could be. There is always a bit of a learning curve in the beginning with understanding the expectations, but I didn't find that I had a hard time figuring that out and doing well.

No problem! I think it just depends on what one wants to do at the end of it all. I think it's completely valid to put more emphasis on ranking, especially if a candidate is more focused on research, as having a PhD from a top ten will go a long way towards placement at R1s. Part of my research of the programs I applied to was tracking down CVs of the faculty I want to work with, as they usually have a section dedicated to dissertation committees they have chaired or sat on. I google the students and see if and where they have been placed. I applied to programs that range from top ten to the mid 60s in rankings, and based on people I want to work with, their placement rate for TT jobs have been similar (but again, for me all that matters really is tenure-track positions with slightly more emphasis on teaching).

For me, it was more of the culture of the program; I like being in a program where the graduate students can be friends and aren't at each other's throats in competition all of the time. Also, I don't really focus on rankings so much, as I've had professors from top ten program that I found to be highly unprepared to teach a graduate course (personally, since I'm really in this to teach, I care more about being in a program that will support that goal with focus on quality, rather than getting a job at a university with a certain reputation in ranking). There were specific people I wanted to work with there in my field, and that really has been the number factor in determining where I applied. Likewise, it was one of the universities that my advisor/letter writers really encouraged me to apply to, as they know that the faculty in my field would offer top-notch support on the job market, as they have placed others.

Someone had started a thread about conferences that I found to be really helpful in getting my mind off the applications that are now out of my control (and got me away, briefly, from the refresh button on the results page/my email), and I figured I'd pay it forward with this thread. So! What kind of things do you watch/read/listen to/play when you should be working/reading/writing, that you justify as "research?" My actual research focuses on two different areas: 1. neoliberalism and american 1980s-early 2000s teen films, and 2. nationalist cinemas of the middle east/postcolonial studies. So, typically I will justify any movie or television show that has a teenager in it as "research." I'll also justify watching my partner playing grand theft auto because I can critique the background narratives on the talk radio station his character often listens to. I also tend to justify reading anything on the internet or otherwise as working on my comprehension skills. Things I haven't been able to justify yet in terms of my actual work: Re-watching every episode of Law and Order: SVU over and over again; hate-watching Keeping up with Kardashians; Playing Euchre and Solitaire on my phone; Facebook. What about y'all?

I'm in the exact same position in terms of(possibly) choosing based on factors other than my #1 being faculty because of tough match-ups. Especially when there are so many other factors after that one that I'm having a hard time putting into a hierarchy of importance.

Im also out! Kind of relieved. If I got in I think I really would have wanted to go, knowing that I wouldn't be able to afford to live there.

Congratulations! Here's hoping we all hear back soon

I emailed yesterday to see when they would send out notifications since I got an offer with a looming deadline but to no avail. Radio silence.

I feel the exact same way regarding CU Boulder and how knowing you're on the top of a waitlist seems more worth it than waiting to be notified of possible rejection so late in the process. With CU Boulder, I'm pretty much also just curious at this point. The viability of me being able to afford to live anywhere near Boulder while also living the way I want/need to (I have 2 dogs, a cat, and a partner, so we really require the extra space of a small house with backyard, etc.) seems unlikely.

I just emailed them since I received an offer that has an approaching deadline, and I got this automated email response: Phd, MA and CRWR-MFA applications are now in committee for review. You should hear from us via email by no later than March 15th. Graduate Program Assistant University of Colorado Boulder Department of English Sooooo...2 weeks it is!

Thank you so much for your response! I will definitely do that if it comes to it! Congrats on your acceptances!

Hi Friends! So I was admitted to Binghamton's PhD program with a very generous funding offer. The program seems like a very good fit in terms of my research- there are so many faculty there that I'd like to work with that I couldn't fit them all in my SOP (I do postcolonial and nationalist cinema). However, the program only funds for 4 years, and if you are going in with an MA already, they specifically state that they only fund a maximum of 8 semesters. Also, I'm still waiting to hear back from multiple schools, and Binghamton's deadline to accept or decline is March 13th. I'm worried I won't even hear back from other programs by then. Is anyone else considering Binghamton? What do you think about trying to finish a PhD in 4 years? Pros and Cons I'm not thinking of? Other pertinent information? What about handling the accept/decline deadline? Thanks for all the support and help!