crimsonsneakers

I just also wanted to say thanks to the Grad Cafe community. Like any other informal network (cyber or live), advice isn't always right, but I think by far you get more good than bad, and I'm always happy to put Mill's Marketplace of Ideas into practical effect. I've been around Grad Cafe for two application seasons. Between an initial attempt, the attempt that ended up with an MA, and then a quick dip, and this year, I've participated if four (FOUR!) app seasons. I know that if I'd found it earlier, I wouldn't have needed as many attempts. I am a first-time college student, let alone grad student, from my family. My undergrad institution is small, and lots of the English folk don't go on for graduate degrees. My profs were supportive and awesome, but it had been decades since any of them had been in a Ph.D. program. Needless to say, my first round of applications (including Harvard, Cambridge, and UPenn. .. yeah, unrealistic much?) didn't quite work out. I didn't learn anything from the process because I didn't get any feedback. I didn't do much to prepare for the next round, which included Harvard, Brown, UChicago, Notre Dame, and UW. I got an offer from Notre Dame (absolutely no idea why because my personal statement was aweful. . .) and an MA offer from UC. I know the debate about the MAPH program; I found it useful, but I can see the advantages of other programs. Anyway, I applied to UC, Princeton, Northwestern, and UIUC. I found Grad Cafe late in the game. This was right when the recession hit and programs cut their cohorts in half. Princeton said I'd have gotten an offer the previous year. UC said I was competitive (but they almost never take people from their MA to Ph.D.), Northwestern doesn't like UC migrants (learned that later), and I sent UC's personal statement to UIUC (oops. . I didn't want to go there and my subliminal mind deliberately sabotaged me . I took a few years for personal and family reasons and applied again, using lots of advice I'd acquired from the GC and others (including my UC profs). I had lots of state school success (UMinnesota, UUtah, UOregon, UKansas, waitlist UTA, UW in a personal phone call told me they loved my work but didn't have an advisor for me) but didn't get into my top picks (UChicago, Harvard, Stanford, Duke). I think my age, time out, etc., affected that (and the obvious wealth of really competitive applicants). Anyway, the point of this digression is to say that empirically, in my case anyway, Grad Cafe made a positive difference. Thank you all! I'm so happy for those of you who got in and hope to meet you as colleagues. To those of you who didn't: try again if this is really what you want. Ask for help here (take it with a grain of salt of course and everywhere you possibly can. I'm more than happy to read personal statements, share anecdotes, whatever. I wish you all luck!

And I can't say enough how long it has been since that Dec 1 deadline (UTA and UMinnesota for me) until now. I'm SO glad it is over!!!!

I was just accepted off the waitlist at Emory. I'm so excited! I can stop checking this forum and conducting results searches every 45 minutes. Best of luck to all the other waitlisters out there!

Not to be Johnny Stormcloud, but it's not looking very likely at Rochester now, either. There were two of us in my MA cohort on the UR wait list. The other one got a phone call today. She's going to think about it tonight and decide tomorrow. I doubt they'll take two people from the same (small) MA program.


EDIT--Then again, they might just call me with fantastic news just minutes after I was being all gloom and doom depressing on the Gradcafe...

True, perhaps not all the English undergrads at UCI are geniuses, but neither are all the English undergrads at any other given university. That's a really harsh generalization you're making, and as the bearer of an English undergrad degree from UCI, I find it particularly unjust and uncalled for. The PhD English program at UCI is nationally recognized as one of the top programs in the country, especially for Literary Theory & Criticism. In fact it's ranked number one for Lit Crit, far above Yale and Harvard, by US News and World Reports, should that mean anything to you (and I don't blame you if it doesn't): http://grad-schools....ticism-rankings.

The graduate program's quality inevitably trickles down to the undergrad program. I can testify to that by the quality of my TA's and my close interaction with the top English professors at UCI, who always taught undergrad classes in addition to graduate seminars. My classes were small, personable and engaging, conducted in more of a seminar fashion than in the style of a typical lecture, which is rare for large universities. I was fortunate to have close relationships with my professors through not only classes, but independent studies, advising, my Honors thesis and so on. I felt absolutely privileged and truthfully, surprised, to meet such incredible researchers and writers at UCI as an undergrad. Just to mention a few names, Richard Kroll, Victoria Silver, Andrzej Warminski, Richard Godden, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Michael Clark... absolutely brilliant (check out of their publications if you don't believe me). In the Humanities Honors program I met students who I am 100% sure could compete with English students at Harvard, or as you say, community college students. I would never doubt the intellectual capabilities of a student who chose community college for whatever personal reason, the way you're dismissing the whole of the English undergrad population at UCI because what, you encountered a few not so “bright” ones? Many Humanities Honors students at UCI had exceptional high school records and turned down other prestigious universities to attend UCI because of scholarships, funding, location and other personal reasons.

That being said, I do remember having classes with the occasional sorority girl who chose English as a major because it seemed "easier than like, Biology," and who would occasionally quip, "Yeah... that's like, ironic, right?" in class when she wasn't immersed in Facebook chat on her laptop. Did I resent such students for wasting my time and the professor's time? Yes. But did I from that point on assume ALL sorority girls were carbon copies of each other? No. (I like to think my education has taught me, oh you know... perspective... the conception of relativity, exceptions and outliers...)But on the exact opposite end of the spectrum, in my English classes I also encountered students who had seemingly memorized the whole of the English canon, students who read Alexander Pope for a laugh and could recite obscure references from who-knows-where without a moment’s hesitation... you know, the kind of students who enjoy making esoteric Latin jokes among themselves and chuckling in self-satisfaction when nobody else gets it...

Anyways, the point is: I don't think it's appropriate nor very “bright” to make such broad and unjustified generalizations about any university. The inherent diversity of an undergrad population (i.e. there are brilliant and not so brilliant students anywhere you go... acceptance into a top-notch university doesn't automatically = having a top-notch brain; see: UCLA student Alexandra Wallace) has no bearing whatsoever on the quality of the professors there and the kind of education you will receive. Don't discourage hopeful undergrads and grads from applying to what was and IS an excellent literature program (to these hopefuls: please disregard un-researched opinions about the English program at UCI like the one made by RockDenali). Acceptance to a school is largely relative, and so are our choices about which university to attend. Before writing off UCI as an option for economic reasons, if you find that the school is a fit for you and you’re attracted to certain professors and their research, then certainly apply. Fellowships and TAships, while they may have gone down in number just as they have at every UC, are still distributed each year.

What an odd and unnecessary insult to community college students and UCI students.

While everything everyone has said is very helpful, I feel obliged to point out, as my professors have done over and over again, that the job market is very bad, that despite the challenges of getting into PhD programs, many people do not finish their PhDs and many of those that finish do not find jobs they find desirable. So, I would encourage you to think very hard about what it is you think you would like about professing, and if there are other career paths that you might find similarly amenable. There are a number of careers well suited to academic types, in addition to college teaching: high school teaching, non-profit administration, grant writing, academic publishing, academic or student affairs, library science, various types of research, and the list goes on. Prior to going to graduate school, I worked as a researcher and then an editor for an academic press. That is a field in which jobs are also not plentiful, but they are more flexible in terms of location, they often pay more, and you have similar perks-- somewhat flexible schedules, work trips to foreign locations, smart colleagues. What is your internship in? Why aren't you considering that as a career path?

Getting a PhD is something I aspire towards as well, so I naturally understand your inclination. As an undergrad, I intended to go that route immediately, until I spent a year writing an honors thesis. I got burnt out on "the academy" and spent the next five years of my life working, until I decided to get an MA, which I love love love. Going to grad school right out of undergrad does have its perks, but I notice in my younger colleagues a lack of focus and energy that I feel I have, having surveyed the professional landscape before jumping in.

So, my advice is to take some time to really explore what else is out there, whether it's through internships, jobs, international study/travel, etc. Oh, and that's one thing I'd add to your pre-PhD to-do list-- study abroad. It is the best way to acquire a language, and will give you some transnational perspective on your own research.

I called USC today to find out when they're going to notify. The grad secretary said they'll start notifying at the end of this week or beginning of next week. So at least now we have a time frame. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Terribly rejected, terribly generic, terribly drunk. Congrats to the admitted...

I wrote up an exhaustive--and exhausting--list of questions before my visit last year and am pasting it below. Keep in mind that encoded within these questions are assumptions and preferences that are likely specific to me and what I was looking for. Also, though I asked many of these questions during my visits, I also found that, in the scheme of things, most of these questions--or, I should say, most of the answers--didn't really matter in my decision-making process. In much the same way that stats tell you something, but not necessarily something useful, about what programs are looking for and what your fellow applicants are like, these questions often tell you structural things about a department but not what it actually feels like to be there. Everyone's mileage will vary, of course, but I found myself not caring if, say, prelims were written or oral (though I had a preference) if everything else about the program was appealing. In the end, if it's a program you love, you'll jump through whatever hoops it presents. I highly recommend visiting schools, as there were programs at which my instinctive reaction told me everything I needed to know after about 5 minutes of being there. Additionally, visiting schools lets you make contact with people who will be important to your work regardless if you end up working with them directly. Good luck! It's an exciting, if unnerving time, and as difficult as it was last year to weigh the options, I found myself missing the sense of possibility after I had made a decision that I was (and am) very happy with.


-PLACES TO STUDY AND WORK
-Where do most people do their writing and reading?
-What study spaces are available? Do students get a carrel? Do those who teach get or share an office?

-LIBRARY
-What is the library system like? Are the stacks open or closed?
-What are the library hours?
-Are there specialized archives/primary sources that would be useful to my research?
-Are there specialist librarians who can help me with my research?

-FACULTY
-Are the faculty members I want to work with accepting new students? Are any of those faculty members due for a sabbatical any time soon?
-Are professors willing to engage you on a personal level rather than just talking about your work?
-Are there any new professors the department is hiring in areas that align with my interests?
-Students’ relationships with their professors – are they primarily professional, or are they social as well?

-FUNDING
-Is funding competitive? If so, do students feel a distinction between those who have received more generous funding and those who haven’t?
-How does funding break down among the cohort? i.e., how many people receive fellowships?
-How, if you don’t have much savings, do you make enough money to live comfortably?
-Are there external fellowships one can apply to? If so, what is available? Does the program help you apply for these fellowships? How does receiving an external fellowship affect internal funding?
-If people need more than five/six years to finish, what funding resources are available? (For instance, Columbia can give you an additional 2-year teaching appointment.)
-Do you provide funding for conferences or research trips?
-How often is funding disbursed? (i.e., do you get paid monthly or do you have to stretch a sum over a longer period of time?)

-COHORT
-Do students get along with each other? Is the feeling of the program more collaborative than competitive?
-Do students in different years of the program collaborate with each other, or are individual cohorts cliquey?
-How many offers are given out, and what is the target number of members for an entering class?
-Ages/marital status of people in the cohort – do most people tend to be married with families? Are there younger people? Single people? What sense do you have of how the graduate students interact with each other socially?
-Do people seem happy? If they’re stressed, is it because they’re busy or is it because they’re anxious/depressed/cynical/disillusioned?
-Is the grad secretary/program administrator nice?
-What is the typical time to completion? What are the factors that slow down or speed up that time?
-I’ve read that there are two kinds of attrition: “good” attrition, in which people realize that the program, or graduate study, isn’t right for them and leave early on, and “bad” attrition, in which people don’t finish the dissertation. What can you tell me about the rates of each, and of the reasons why people have chosen to leave the program?

-JOB MARKET/PROFESSIONALIZATION
-What is the placement rate? How many of those jobs are tenure-track?
-What are examples of institutions in which people in my field have been placed?
-How does the department prepare you for the job search? Are there mock interviews and mock job talks?
-Are the people helping you navigate the job search people who have recently gone through the process themselves?
-If you don’t get placed, is there anything the department can do for you? (e.g., can you stay an extra year?)
-How does the department prepare you for and help you attain conference presentations and publications?

-SUMMER WORK
-What is encouraged/required?
-If there separate funding/is the year-round funding enough to live on during the summer?
-Do people find themselves needing to get outside work during the summer in order to have enough money?
-Am I expected to stay in town in the summer, and what happens if I don’t?

-LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT
-What is done to help people who don’t have language proficiency attain it? Does the university provide funding?
-What is the requirement, and by when do you have to meet it?
-Given my research interests, what languages should I study?
-When do you recommend doing the work necessary to fulfill the language requirement? (i.e., summer before first year, summer after first year, while taking classes, etc.)

-LOCATION REQUIREMENTS
-How long are students required to be in residence?
-How many students stay in the location for the duration of the program? (i.e., how many dissertate in residence?)
-How is funding affected if you don’t stay?

-Incompletes on papers at the end of the term: What is the policy, how many students take them, and how does this affect progress through the program?

-TEACHING
-What sort of training is provided?
-What types of courses do people teach?
-Does teaching entail serving as a grader? Serving as a TA? Developing and teaching a section of comp?
-How are students placed as TAs? Is there choice about what classes you teach and which professors you work with? Do classes correspond to your field?
-How many courses do you teach per semester/year?
-How many students are in your classes?
-How does the school see teaching as fitting in with the other responsibilities/requirements of graduate study?
-How do students balance teaching with their own work?
-Is the department more concerned with training you as a teacher/professor or with having cheap labor to teach their classes?
-How, if at all, does the economic downturn affect teaching load/class sizes?
-What are the students like? Can I sit in on a course a TA teaches to get a sense of them?

-METHODOLOGY
-Is a theory course required?
-What methodology do most people use?
-Where, methodologically, do you see the department – and the discipline – heading?
-Is interdisciplinarity encouraged, and what sorts of collaboration have students undertaken?

-Typical graduate class and seminar sizes

-What should I do to prepare over the summer?

-Ask people I know: What are the questions – both about the program itself and about the location – I should ask that will most help me get a feel for whether this is the right program for me?

-Ask people I know: What do you wish you knew or wish you had asked before choosing a program?

-Is the school on the semester or the quarter system, and how does that affect classes/teaching/requirements?

-What is the course load for each semester, and how many courses are required?

-What kind of support is provided while writing the dissertation? I worry about the isolation and anxiety of writing such a big project. What does the program do to help you break the dissertation down into manageable pieces, and to make the experience less isolating?

-What do writing assignments look like in classes? Do they differ based on the type/level of class and/or based on whether you intend to specialize in the field?

-Ask professors: what have you been working on lately?

-Ask professors: What is your approach to mentoring and advising graduate students?

-How long are class meetings?

-How often do professors teach graduate courses?

-Are course schedules available for future semesters (10-11, etc.)?

-Can I see the grad student handbook? Are there any other departmental documents – such as reports on the program prepared for accreditation – that I can see?


-QUALITY OF LIFE
-Prices – how does the cost of gas, milk, cereal, etc. compare to other places I've lived in?
-Cost and quality of typical one-bedroom apartment.
-What does the university do to provide you with or help you find housing?
-When (i.e., what month) do people start looking for an apartment for the fall, and where do they look?
-Is it easy to find a summer subletter?
-How close to campus can—and should—one live?
-What grocery stores are there in town?
-How late are cafes, bookstores, malls, restaurants typically open?
-What do people do to make extra money?
-Does the town have more of a driving or a walking culture? What is parking like near campus (availability, ease, cost)?
-Where do most English grad students live? Most other grad students? Most professors? Where is the student ghetto? Do most students live near each other, or are they spread out far and wide?
-How far does the stipend go in this location?

Yeah, my boyfriend has threatened to block the site on the home network so I can't look anymore. I think that would just be cruel.
And I feel like some of them are late, too. . . . I just know that I have about two more weeks before the panic attacks start.
Of course, the flip side is that I can go another day saying, "Oh, well, no one's heard yet, so at least I haven't been rejected." It will be really hard when the acceptances start getting posted, and I don't hear anything. The whole thought makes me physically ill (I'm already there mentally).