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Hi folks! I'm sorry if someone's already made this topic. I thought it would be useful for people in the same boat as I am. Basically I have not been in school since January 2016, and I am nervous about getting back into the swing of things. I've had a full time job since then and what with moving to a new apartment, and dealing with some physical health issues, I just have not had the time or energy to read as much as I would have liked to. Which makes me verrrrrrry nervous. How are you all gearing up for grad school in the Fall? Are you reading more? What are you reading--novels, theory, articles? Do you have a list, and if so how did you compile it?

@RydraWong See you tomorrow! I won't be flying out til morning Also we should have a secret handshake or signal

Aaaaaand here go the acceptances on the board... Tryna stay calm....

Me neither @zombiekeats! It's still early though I think some schools wait until after close of business. No one's posted on the results page yet either!!

Yes she did! I was surprised but did not complain

Yes @Caien I do postcolonial, particularly Africa and the Middle East I don't know if this helps or hurts BUT I looked back at my emails with the DGS and she said they would "know the outcome by 3pm" It's 3:17 pm over here so they only just got out of their meeting probably!

Columbia's AdCom is meeting/has met today and so I am at the edge of my seat. Even though I know we may not hear til next week b/c they might have to go through Admissions first. But I'm feeling kind of selfish because I am already very happy with the choices I have. It would just be a dream to get in to Columbia!!!

This is really a great topic! I am thinking that I will have to be a super-note-taker because I am finding that my memory is not great when it comes to retaining facts about my readings. One thing my teacher had us do for a high school AP class was to have notes per paragraph, first summarizing the main point(s), and then a bunch of other stuff that I don't think is as important. It was grueling and tedious but I think it helped A LOT. As for notebook versus laptop, I am thinking I will want to ultimately keep all my notes on my Google Drive so that I can refer back to them... But maybe handwrite first? I don't know... My first semester will hopefully be a learning experience in that regard. (But I also might steal some of y'alls ideas)

I am wondering about this too! I have Arabic and basic French, so I think I could be exempt from the requirement, but I wonder if that's in my best interest? Like maybe I should take some French courses to become able to read comfortably again. But would that be too much coursework? Who knows ( I am hoping some of you folks) Sorry to reply to your thread with not-an-answer!!

Wowwwwwww I have only been out for just over a year and I feel this. It's a struggle. I try to do some self talk to bring myself back to reality. Because the reality is you know some things, and other people know some things, and only some of those things will overlap. Like a Venn diagram. And you have to feel comfortable with the fact that you will never encompass all of knowledge, because nobody ever will. All you can do is do your best to fill up your little circle, and learn from others from theirs. I hope that helps! I know it's kind of silly but sometimes (a technique I learned in therapy) what I have to do is think about what it is I'm really worried about, and take that to its extreme. So for this that's probably that I find out I'm really not fit to be an academic, I fall behind everyone else, I don't do well in grad school, and then I just... leave academia. And I have to remember that that is okay!!! I think we put a lot a lot a lot of pressure on this, and for me it made it hard to read books because I was always asking myself "Am I enjoying this?" "Am I thinking critically?" "Do I want to do this????" But it helps to think about how ultimately being a professor is a //job//, and grad school is //job training//. Do I have to enjoy all of it? Do I have to feel like I fit in 100%? Do I have to be the same as everyone else??? No!!!! Okay I will stop now I feel loopy

I'm afraid I don't have any wisdom in terms of NYU vs. Cornell, but I wanted to congratulate you! I am also deciding in between NYU and another program. Maybe we'll both end up there. I do Postcolonial work as well!

Congrats! I almost applied to Rutgers and took it off my list at the last minute. Can I ask if you applied to Columbia? I know you do Africana studies so I was curious to see if they did interviews for that field.

Thank you all! I really appreciate all of your input. Just to throw a wrench in my decision-making process, I have learned that I can do a joint PhD with African Studies at the Midwest school. Hmmm...... (but thank you again!!!)

I just emailed IU my decision. As you saw in my other topic I am weighing two other offers with (I think) far better fit for me. I want to say "all yours!" because I really wish it worked like that, but silliness aside I wish you the best of luck wherever you end up

Columbia's AdCom does not meet until this Friday, so that's the earliest we'll hear, but most likely next week!

Thanks everyone! I will be visiting both programs in March and hopefully that will help too!

@Yanaka thank you for your response! I think I am interested in broadening my regional interests. I am passionately interested I would say in the Middle East as a region, in addition to Africa, and so at the very least there is that! I do not know this for sure, but it may also be a good idea in terms of jobs to have that breadth. Smaller liberal arts schools might not have a position for an Africanist in particular, but for a single Postcolonial-lit scholar who has to teach Asia/Africa/Latin America/Middle East. So the breadth would help with that!

I second @Wyatt's Terps. I started doing this junior year of undergrad and it really helped. You can play around with the format of it, a spreadsheet, word doc, calendar, and other things can work. I have even used the "sticky-notes" app on my computer I think the master syllabus also helps you set fake deadlines as @fuzzylogician suggested. I know that for myself setting an arbitrary fake deadline wouldn't help because I would know it wasn't really the deadline. But if you know how long things take you to do and what other things are coming up, it can create the sense of urgency that yes, you really have to do this now or else you won't have time to do everything else that's due soon. Hope that helps!

Hi folks! I am struggling with a decision right now, and I recognize that I am very fortunate to be in this position. I have talked to different people irl about my situation, but really I think you folks would understand best because you're the only people who can relate to all the questions and variables that are at play. So here's my deal. I don't really know what I am looking for in terms of advice, but I guess it would be helpful to know what you would do if you were in my situation, and why! I have been admitted to two very good English PhD programs. You'll probably be able to find out which specific ones in other threads (or you can PM me) but for the sake of this thread let's say one is in New York City and one is in the Midwest. Some thoughts/details: Ranking/Reputation: Both are top 20 on US-News; the MW one is slightly higher-ranked, but probably not enough to make a significant interest in job prospects. The NYC school is perhaps more of a household name, but I may be wrong about that on a nation-wide scale because I live on the East Coast. Financials: Both offers are fully funded with a generous stipend, the NY stipend is a bit larger but taking into account cost of living, the MW stipend will probably go farther. Specifically, for the same monthly rent I could probably get a much nicer apartment in MW than in NYC, live in a nicer neighborhood, etc. Academics: Both programs have strong faculty within my larger field (Postcolonial), but the MW program is one of the best-known schools for my particular region of interest (Africa). The MW school offers both a PhD minor and a Grad Certificate in African Studies, which I could potentially use to broaden my job eligibility to include Area Studies departments. Academics cont.: That being said, the NYC program has a larger number of Postcolonial faculty, and so if I wanted breadth in Global Anglophone literature it may be the better choice. There was a faculty search this year for an Africanist in the English department, and results should be available soon. Depending on who this person is, my decision might become a lot easier. There is no minor or cert available in African Studies here, neither is there a cert or concentration in Gender and Sexuality (which is one of my thematic interests). There is an MA in Africana studies to which I did not apply (no funding), but there could potentially be coursework possibilities and/or cross-departmental faculty collaboration(?). Personal: I currently live in New Jersey, and I am engaged to a partner who also lives in NJ. My partner is finishing up school and will probably need to be in NJ for the next three years. They also have a part time job here that may have full time prospects, and so it is possible that they would want to stay in NJ long-term. We have been long-distance within NJ for 4 years, and it really would be nice to not have to do that anymore. However, they are understanding that this is a big life-choice for me and are willing to tough it out long-distance for as long as we need to. Going to school in NYC, one of my options would be to commute from NJ and be very close to where my partner currently lives. Personal cont: I deal with some depression and anxiety and my partner has been incredibly supportive and helpful and it would be a probably better mental-health choice to stay close. Even though we are currently long-distance, it's only an hour and a half drive, and we visit each other every two or three weekends. So a far cry from being a pricey plane ride away! I'm sorry for the long post, but I guess typing out the details helped me flesh out some specific questions: How important do you think the possibility for a "credential" in African studies (like a minor or a cert) would be in terms of being able to broaden my job opportunities? Do you think it is appropriate to contact the DGS at the NYC school to ask about the possibility of doing coursework within the Africana studies dept? Is it bad that I am partially basing this decision on my partner/personal life? It kind of goes against everything my mentors have told me, but it's not like I would be choosing a bad program to stay in NJ--moreso a program with a less exact fit, and potentially a less financially responsible option, but not impossible. OK that's all. Again, sorry for the long post............Can you tell I'm stressed out?

got into NYU! I'm stressed out because I have a hard decision to make, but I'm happy!!!

Holding onto hope from Princeton.... but we'll see...

Congratulations @yanicus!!!!!

Yes @yanicus! We are all anxious but we are all also happy for each other!!

I don't have anything on my admissions portal for Cornell. I guess this means rejection :(

My subfield is postcolonial! Yours? Honestly that might be a better approach. That way an acceptance will be a pleasant surprise and a rejection will just be anticipated (but still not fun)