[How does Children's Literature Fare in Higher Education?]

Another key word you might want to start searching is "childhood studies," which is what a lot of people who are interested in children and child culture, but perhaps not specifically the literature of it, are branching into.

 

I was successfully accepted into a PhD program for children's lit/childhood studies this year.  I also finished my MA at a different institution and focused primarily on children's lit.  So, if you have any questions or want to pick my brain about what applying to this small field is like, feel free to PM me

[Texas A&M]

This was written last year by an upset student during a moment of internal departmental strife.  All departments have their issues - this person just made the choice to air their greivances publicly.  I am currently enrolled at this program - if anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to answer (fully and honestly!) via private message.  A&M has problems, as all programs do, but we have a lot to offer and you shouldn't write us off becuase of one person's stance.

[Christminster]

This legit made me laugh until I cried. <3 <3 <3. I showed it to 4 other people who didn't get it, but this seriously made my day.

[Texas A&M]

Congrats, Cquin! That's awesome news I'm getting my MA from there now, and would be happy to answer any questions that you have about the program. I've been quite happy here. Celebrate!!!!!

[Pittsburgh 2012]

I was one of the wait lists for Pitt. Unfortunately I don't have much news to share, except that I'm finishing up my MA from an American institution right now. The email didn't give much more information other than that they were placing me on a wait list and they didn't know when they'd be able to let me know more news. My specialization is 19th Century American literature, childhood studies, women writers and periodical texts. I'm sorry I don't have more info, but hope this helps :/

I will update if I hear anything else, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

[Reapplication]

I've been perusing this site for a couple of months now, and the amount of information I've found has been amazing. This probably would have been good to find when I was applying to PhD programs over a year ago... as is evident from the title of this post, I'll be applying again this season, so you can imagine how the last round of applications turned out for me.

I know that many programs ask applicants if they have previously applied to University X, and applicants can check a box for "yes" and a box for "no" - but my question is about SOP / Personal Statements, etc. For those programs that rejected me last time, but to which I'm applying again, do I acknowledge said rejection in my SOP or do I let the checked "yes" box speak for itself? Any insight from people who have reapplied would be much appreciated.

I'm going to be reapplying in the fall for a program because I absolutely fell in love with it throughout the application process and made it very high on their wait list though, alas, I did not eventually get in. So in a lot of ways, we're in the same situation! I dont know what will be best for you, but I will be letting the little checked "yes" speak for itself and using the limited space in my personal statement to talk about how good a fit I would be for their program. I think that they're going to make whatever assumptions they want to with or without a paragraph in your statement addressing the situation and that the space could be put to better use.

However, I think a good way of using this reapplication to your advantage would to be to (very politely) contact the director of admissions and ask him/her if they have any advice on how to make your application stronger. I've been in touch with the director at dream-school, and they've been really kind and encouraging.

Good luck!!!

[Texas A&M]

is first week of august gud enough for reaching there and looking for houses?? I am an international student and can not move there any time sooner

I thought it would be, but my dad FLIPPED OUT and insisted that we head down to texas (from Philly) to do apartment searching before the end of April. Apparently he did his research and a LOT of places fill up if you go too late. We did our research online and picked out 7 places to go look at and actually ended up signing a lease on a really nice apartment I'm very excited about - however, he was right. We even had to get on the "wait list" for this place I'll be moving to in August, and I get the feeling that that's not entirely rare. If I were you I'd find a couple of places I was interested in and at least get in touch with them to figure out whether or not the first week of August is going to be too late. Good luck!

If you want a list of the apartments I looked at and what we thought of them, I'd be happy to provide

Of course, feel free to ignore my experience completely. It was entirely the product of an overprotective father and his goal to get settled before we packed up and moved across country. I don't mean to make you paranoid - just letting you know what I experienced and heard.

[Texas A&M]

I'll be coming from Pittsburgh, so I feel your pain

PITTSBURGH!!!!! I did my undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh and I miss it SO MUCH! Oh Pittsburgh, you shall always hold a special place in my heart. Miss me some Oakland.

[Texas A&M]

Hey everybody, looks like I'm coming to A&M for English too I'm sending my acceptance tomorrow. Pumped to see you all there! I'm from Philly, so Texas weather is going to be a bit of a shock. What do you mean, no snow!?

[Is this normal?]

I'm still waiting to hear from UConn, U. Florida and Temple, which seems to be the three schools many other people are waiting on as well. But I agree with Icampb, I've pretty much stopped worrying about them and am lucky enough to have other offers to focus on. If they want me, wonderful, please call me! Otherwise, I have other fishies to fry.

[Year 3? On to 2011.]

Manatee, I've enjoyed this thread and your honesty and your willingness to put an unpopular post out there. I think it is a necessary check that we must all go through. That said, I've just gotta weigh in here:

For my first point, other people have already stated it well enough: we know. Ha! What an understatement! How well do we know! Much too much, I'd say. From what I can tell, the level of perspective throughout these boards is more than admirable. I really do believe that only a very small percentage of applicants in this community are ignorant or negligent, and we're all taking this on fully aware of the odds and risks and assuming responsibility for it. I take full responsibility for my broke ass and I'm not asking you or anyone else to pay my Stafford loans (assuming, of course, that I'm not independently wealthy ).

For my second point, I will admit to being somewhat annoyed by what smacks not only of what someone else called "elitism," but in your case specifically, it reeks of a very American elitism (you mention it yourself when you talk about the American love for branding, but rather than bring your international perspective to bear, you play what you seem to admit is a broken game). You've been abroad, and normally, I would congratulate you. This is the field I currently work in (sending students abroad for undergrad study abroad programs), and we like to pretend that the experience is, well, meaningful. Personally, the way you describe your time abroad is a little offensive to me. I can appreciate your viewpoint that this time spent overseas was not, perhaps, the most productive, and you're probably right. Certainly some experiences are more meaningful than others, I can't very well say that YOU did or did not find meaning in it all. But surely not all is a complete waste?! Yikes! Ouch! Speaking for myself, and I suspect for many others, time spent drinking on a Fulbright, teaching English, or spending money on Italian or Thai beaches is far from a waste. I can look you in the eye and tell you that I have squandered like the Prodigal Son abroad, and yet I found profound meaning in it. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that I'd never trade my unproductive, wasteful years abroad for anything (not even a PhD acceptance w/ full funding!). You admit that things shouldn't be taken so seriously, but your honesty/reality check for us all is not so tempered.

Now there is the issue of insecurity: for some of us, grad school may "never come to fruition. Hell, even if the grad school does come to fruition, there is no guarantee that you will get a job." And, again, you admit that most people aren't in this field for financial reasons (and if they are, they sure as hell shouldn't be!). Agreed. Of course. No kidding. But again, we all know this, and your unpopularity is the decidedly non-tempered-ness of your message. What it comes down to, I think, is a difference in worldview. You seem to be operating on a life philosophy that will productively maximize all your returns, at least as well as you can conceivably predict, but you're forgetting the other side of humanity that trades these rational calculations for (in our eyes) a far more important calculation, which is the peace of mind of knowing, once it's all said and done, what might have been. In other words (and I'm a family man), it comes down to a very realistic look at the bleakness of prospects and saying, "I'm going to find out." My wife and I are therefore prepared for "years of lost productivity" and even, ultimately, a less-than-ideal career, because there's no way (in this scenario) that I'll be in my current post in 20 years, relatively comfortably, wondering, "what if?" I'd rather be mopping floors in my 60's knowing that I couldn't have done anything else to make my dreams happen, than be doing the comfortable and secure and on the whole very good administrative work that I'm currently doing, all the while having some faint idea that something bigger and better is out there for me if I only had the - forgive my vulgate - balls to go after it. (And, speaking of "it" - creativity is certainly a key component of "it," but so are balls. I applaud our ballsy repeat applicants!)

Clearly, that is very idealistic (and offensively gendered!), but... well, what are dream-chasers and English majors if not ballsy idealists?! Come on, man! We run a serious risk of calling a kettle black, I do fear! And, I'm pretty sure that idealism in this day and age among such a community need not exclude the realism that you mention. Now, you may say, all very well and good. Chase your dreams once, chase them twice, but your point is not to do so ad infinitum. Agreed, but that point at which you say, "ok, I gave it my best shot and now I need to mop floors and support a family and do my reading and writing as a hobby," is going to be a very personal and individual choice, and I don't think anyone here is ill-informed about it. How do you say it's 2 rounds for one person and not 5 rounds for the 60-year old who spends another 20 years in complete vocational fulfillment and contributing greatly to what (s)he loves?! The 3-times rule is crazy (I'm just going to say it - crazy), especially given that we have posters here saying that they got in! All the ballsier for them that they stuck it out for this long, and my money is on them - not the people who get in on round 1 or who give up - living their dreams and full lives. They are the ones who know what they have... way beyond your American rationalism, they will know value much more intimately.

But... Manatee is right, I suppose. It's all about your values, and if you want your best shot at security and comfort, then dear God, jump ship now! I will be among the non-20-somethings, going for it in the late rounds, despite my better judgment. So help us all!

This made me dance a little bit on the inside. And on the outside.

[nothing, nothing, nothing]

Well at least I'm not sitting on nothing anymore. Got rejected from both programs at OSU and it looks like I'm going to be waiting another year. This wouldn't suck so much if I weren't also about to lose my seasonal position and the fact that the job situation in my city is just awful.

I'm so sorry, woolfie that's terrible news. I hope you'll pull through everything and apply again next year. I'm rootin' for you.

[Why Grad school, anyway?]

Reading this post actually gave me a really nice feeling. I moved home after my BA and am missing my academic family very much, mostly because I'm pretty sure I'm the only one in a 10 mile radius hoping to pursue academia as a career. My friends don't get it, they're concentrating more on building families than careers, my mom sees pursuing an academic degree as a death blow for my credit score and the most unpratical move a young woman can make, and dad is sort of ignoring it because he doesn't think I'll actually get in (though I already DID, so I don't know where he's getting these ideas...)

It feels like everyone is sort of shaking their heads behind my back because I'm taking this risk, and they're assuming I'm going to fail. I think a lot of it goes back to the fact that I'm a first-generation college student, let alone a first-generation graduate student, and my immigrant mother doesn't understand why passion and love of my job is more important to me than a steady financial future with which I can support myself. I don't think she understands that I'm cool with being poor for a couple of years, this is what I love, and for me that's worth it.

Anyway, reading this post really gave me a little boost so thanks to everyone else who is struggling with these issues. It's tough knowing that when I come home in tears of happiness with an acceptance my mom is just standing there with crossed arms and a death glare, but it's nice to know I ain't the only one.

Keep it classy, ladies and gents.

[Minnesota?]

I'm anxious to hear news, but not particularly surprised we haven't heard anything yet. I'm actually still waiting on 5 schools. I know for sure Arizona State and Purdue were waiting until at least March 7th at the earliest, so I'm assuming other schools are the same. My guess is we'll hear this week or next.

My subfield is Medieval Literature (concentration in Middle English, specifically Langland, if I had to choose), but I'm also interested in the Medievalism of the Victorian period (and Victorian Children's Literature).

Score for Victorian Children's Literature!!! That's pretty much my subfield, as well as Women's Studies, gender/sexuality and queer theory. Though they all just sort of mesh into one fabulous pile of interesting.

[What's on your reading list?]

Hurrah for Neil Gaiman! I'm really glad to see some Children's Lit showing up on this forum, warms my little heart to see that I'm not the only one interested in this genre, even if I am the only one I know of trying to pursue a graduate career in it. Anyone else? Anyone? If so, PM me, I'd love to talk.

Has anyone else discovered simplyaudiobooks.com? It's like netflix for audiobooks and I adore it. I'm currently going through the Chronicles of Narnia because I apparently missed out on them as a child, and I'm loving them. You'd be shocked how much "reading" you get done simply by listening on your commute. I definitely wouldn't have gotten through undergrad without it.

I've seen a lot of talk about Moby Dick on here. I think I'm in the same boat as the rest of you (Pun! har har) in that I've started it but am unable to finish. However, I have noticed that I'm way more interested in it when I'm down the seashore, so maybe I'll wait until summer at the beach to pick it up again.

Other things I've read recently that rocked my world:

Geek Love - Katherine Dunn : regarding a family of circus freaks and their crazy ass adventures in the world of "norms;" exploring preconceptions of love and beauty. Funny, poignant and thrilling.

The Bloody Chamber - Angela Carter. Reworking classic fairy tales in a manner most beautiful and uncanny. I can read this book over and over again and never get sick of it.

His Dark Materials - Phillip Pullman. Okay, so I haven't read this one recently, but I've read The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass so many times that I could practically recite them. Anyone else?

Really love this thread, by the way. Being out of school for a year has kept me out of conversation with book nerds, and I really miss it.

[OSU]

whoops sorry Posted twice...

[OSU]

Hello everyone! New to the forum and pretty much just made an account to post this message here. I was one of the Wait List-ers for OSU (Hurrah!) and I've been in contact with the professor who sent me the notification. Apparently OSU received a record FOUR HUNDRED applications this year and that they're cutting their entering class size nearly in half. Thus, I'm incredibly honored to make the wait list (I was so shocked when I got the email I couldn't move for a good 5-10 minutes) and hope that things work out well for me in terms of getting in. I just wanted to post this for everyone's information: I know people are curious about this sort of thing.

Congratulations to everyone who was accepted! To all those who are still waiting for good news: have heart! The universe will set things right.