The Ister

Fortunately I've found something. I'll take over someone else's contract because they are leaving the city. I hope you'll find something very soon. Good luck to you.

Hi Matthew. I'm an MA student at Humboldt. I can try to answer your questions and throw out a few more things about Berlin and Germany education system. Please don't forget that these are just my opinion. Do not expect to be able to study critical theory in Germany in the same way you would study it in the US. This assertion needs a historical comparison of the philosophical and political traditions of the two countries, which I can't dive in right now, but what I can say is that the German education system is a bit tamed in terms of its approach to radical/marginal ideas. While it is kind of cool (or okay, if not cool) to follow a movement or theoretical stance, let's say poststructuralism, in the US, it would be rather regarded coltish in Germany. For example, in the US it would be okay to say to your supervisor "I am going apply Foucault's bio-politics to John Fowles' The Magus and analyse the book accordingly," in Germany, however, you would be advised to analyse the book first and then follow its lead before imposing a theory on it. This is, of course, a generalisation, a generic overview on the academic tendencies here. Nevertheless you can come across with some professors who would be totally okay with an American approach. There are some people like that at the Anglistik department at FU. The process looks more complicated than the US schools, but actually it is not. You apply through uni-assist and get an answer in June, I believe. Once you have a Zulassung, you apply for a visa with it. The school year starts in mid-October here. You would need to be around a couple of weeks before in order to matriculate at the school. You might hate the paperwork in the beginning, but you get used to it in time To be honest, I do not know how a degree from an American university is treated in the Anglistik department at FU. 3.6 should be enough though. I got in a program at Humboldt with 3.4 GPA from a European university. I had 2 American classmates, both with degrees from American schools that I had never heard of. As for Berlin, there are many things to say. It's an amazing city, you are going to love it. I literally haven't met anyone who doesn't like Berlin. Whatever it is you are into, you'll find it here. It is very different than the rest of Germany. One thing is that it is tough to be a serious student here. There is so much going on. You will have to have strong self-discipline to actually manage to divide your time into school-things and Berlin-things. If you get an acceptance, you should know that you are going to live in the most colourful, artistic, and liberal city in Europe. In my opinion, the best thing about studying at FU or HU would be living in Berlin. Let me know if you have any questions that I can answer, and good luck.

Hi Tennesseewilliams, It seems we will have to figure out all these by ourselves. Have you come to a decision with regard to housing? I've talked to a few people from the school, they didn't recommend on-campus options - and the available places on Craigslist seem awful.

I'm hoping to get some up-to-date info about Eugene. Anyone willing to share their ideas? It will be a huge move for me from the other side of the Atlantic. So I want to get a taste of what my life as a graduate student would look like in Eugene. I'm particularly curious about the intellectual and artistic life in the city. Are there a community of artists, literary activities (poetry readings, non-academic gatherings/conferences), old-school cafes, second-hand book shops, underground music venues, art galleries, etc.? The second question in my mind is about housing. After a quick search, I thought I might get lucky enough to find a hut in nature not far from the campus. Even the idea of this makes me happy. Do you think there would be such an option? Are there people living in huts? Would you recommend I go with off-campus housing instead? Finances is another issue. I'm trying to figure out what kind of a life a GE salary can afford. Please feel free to share how much you think is enough to live a decent life as a single person in Eugene. Any other info will also be appreciated!

Hi Jujubea, Thank you very much for this extremely helpful thread. It would be great if you gave me your opinion on my situation. I'm planning to start studying in a PhD program that I've been admitted to with full funding. It's an average university in the US. The salary I'll be paid as a graduate employee is enough to live on itself. I'm from a muslim-majority country (not one of the six) but I currently live in an European country, completing my master's degree. I came to Europe with a full scholarship (from the government of that European country) and the university I'm currently enrolled as an MA student is a quite prestigious one. During my time here, I also spent a three-months research stay as an assistant in another European country. So there is all those visas and work permits in my passport from two European countries (Germany and the UK, if that matters). The question I have is whether I should apply for the J-1 here in Europe or back in my home country. I want to go through the safest path to ensure that I start my PhD in the Fall. Do you have a piece of advice on this situation? Many thanks.

I've just got my rejection from NYU. Good luck to everyone who's still waiting to hear from them!

To you, too!

Perhaps! It's getting too late to send the first round of acceptances, so I hope to hear something solid from NYU this week. You've applied to Toronto as well, right? Let's keep each other abreast of tidings on these two fronts Yeah! I mean if we were rejected, I don't see why they wouldn't say it directly after I sent an e-mail. I don't know what to feel about CUNY though, but I'm pretty convinced that we still stand a chance at NYU and NW.

I've exchanged a few e-mails with them the other day. They say the admission offers go through the GSAS and we may not hear from them till the end of March. No word on whether they've sent a list to the GSAS. Also, CUNY said that they've sent out the first round of offers and some rejections, and every applicant who hasn't heard anything yet is in a wait list. I e-mailed to Northwestern as well. Though they don't explicitly talk about a wait list, my understanding is that whoever hasn't heard anything from them might still have a chance. This is the end of my e-mail bombardment story.

I understand why you don't want to pick up a job while studying. It usually means leading a double life, i.e reading and thinking in Hegel in the morning and worrying about cleaning a beer pull in the evening... Scholarship is often an available option when you dig it up. And yeah, there are plenty of MA programs in English in Germany. Germany has been trying to internationalize their universities for the past 5 years and that means abandoning German as the language of instruction most of the time. Especially when you intend to do your master's in Anglophone literatures or cultural studies, it is usually in English. On a typical website of a German university, you would usually find a page as 'MA programs taught in English.' An example of this: http://www.fu-berlin.de/en/studium/studienangebot/english/ You may check Freie, Humboldt, Ludwig-Maximilians, Freiburg, Heidelberg, Augsburg, Hamburg, Goethe, Konstanz, Cologne, Göttingen, Bohn, and Bielefeld universities. Keep in mind that, unlike US schools, programs at those universities do not accept students with funding. You would have to apply separately for funding to the university or an external institution.

Hope that makes you smile It seems humanities in French higher education have the only programs in Europe that still preserve their strong emphasis on critical theory and continental philosophy. However, I couldn't find any MA program with English as the language of instruction when I was set out to do my master's in Europe. If you are fluent in French, you may want to check this out yourself. If not impossible, funding is very hard to find, nevertheless you can easily pick up a student job and earn your keep. You don't pay anything to the universities except for a small contribution money each semester. It's around 250 euros if I'm not mistaken. I guess Yanaka would fill you in better on this. I'm writing this from Germany. Many people presume that humanities departments in Germany still work in German Thought and critical theory, but this is false. I believe German Thought is studied more in the US than it is in Germany. Very strange. Unless you study in a philosophy program where the language of instruction would be German, it is very unlikely that you will get to study in the continental tradition here. Unfortunately critical theory is something that is being collectively disregarded by humanities departments in Germany with a few exceptions. The one MA program that comes to my mind is English Literatures and Literary Theory at Freiburg -beware though, they don't fancy Heidegger and Hegel would be a long shot- However, if you would like studying in an interdisciplinary program with a focus on popular culture phenomena and you could bear working in a sort of rhetoric with preciseness and straight-forwardness given the utmost importance, there are plenty of programs that you might consider. Finding funding is easier in Germany. You may apply to DAAD or Alfred Topler. They are generous. If not, you could pick up a job and make the ends meet. You don't pay anything to the universities in Germany regardless of your nationality. Feel free to send a pm if you are considering Germany as a destination. I would however discourage you, if you wanted keep trying to read Hegel.

I'm not a Germanist, I've discovered Hölderlin thanks to Heidegger. I've only applied to comparative literature programs. What about you? What's your focus?

Thanks for sharing this! Now I have something more solid to look forward to. I'm not very hopeful to hear good news from them, but still excited to learn. Good luck to you!

Hi ya. I've been around for a while and just signed in to say I stand in solidarity with you. My understanding is that the majority of Comparative Literature programs send their notifications a bit later than English programs, seemingly early in february. However, it seems somebody has got an interview from Northwestern. (If this reaches you, hey you! Which 'home department' have you applied to?) I'm an international applicant and applied to Northwestern, NYU, CUNY, PennState, Oregon, and Toronto. Currently I spend my days reading Hölderlin in the uncanny German countryside. Congrats to those who have already heard positive things from the schools.