Silabus

That results page is killing me. Where is my answer?! Yes, no, maybe, give me something here! Oooooh and that Florida State person! Jeeze! I didn't apply to the Rhet/Comp sector but still I want to know! And Indiana University, call me off the waitlist already! xD You know you want me, and I want you, so let's just make it happen already! All of these conversations about theorists are nice to read over though! Foucault is my man!

The first semester of my MA program we had to take a course called "Research Methods" which could also be known as "Intro to Graduate Studies." In it, we read Semenza's book: "Graduate Study for the 21st Century." I highly suggest you read this over the summer.

Professors at my Undergrad told me that it was not exactly frowned upon to get your MA at the same place you got your BA but it was better to go elsewhere---especially to a different state because it showed you were adaptable. Now, they did tell me that a smart idea would be to go get your MA at a place you want to get your PhD at because normally you have an easier time getting into the program. (Though when I talked to folks at the University of Houston they made it sound like many of their MA candidates did not get selected for their PhD program...so who knows.) Take that for what it's worth.

Ha ha! I appreciate the update! And the luck! And it sounds like you don't need any luck from me but you've got it anyway!

Okay! I'm going to give you advice that is somewhat like what others have said but also not. So you've asked us what we would do in your situation. I'd weigh how much benefit each program is to me first, and then factor in any personal feelings. What it seems like, from what you've said, is that the Midwest school is better for your research interests and even if they do change somewhat it sounds to me like there's a large faculty either way. The Grad certificate is a plus, a big plus. Everything you're saying seems to point to the Midwest school as the better option academically. However, that difference might be slight in the overall scheme of things. Just like it's hard to know how programs even figure out who to accept, there also does not seem to be any sure-fire strategy on how to get university's to hire you once you get your PhD either. It seems to me like you won't be making a bad choice either way. As for the personal stuff. It might be helpful to mention that 5 years is a long time. But also, 5 years is a very small amount of time in the bigger scheme of your life. It might be better to go to the school that's just a little stronger because the payoff will be better for all those years after your PhD. However, that part is a little hard for someone to come in and say how it should be done. You know you better than anyone else. Can you handle 5 years away from your significant other? That's something only you can answer really. On a personal note: I would looooooove to move faaaaaaar away to some part of the country I'd never seen before. So if I were you, and I'd live in NJ and the NYC area for a while...then I'd be psyched to move across the country and see the Midwest. New people, new cultures, new food, new weather, it would be a great way to expand your horizons. That's my thinking anyhow. Alright, I hope this was helpful! I wanted t give you another side of things to consider.

This is true! It could be a number of things. I guess I should point out my office mate applied there as well, she's interested in different areas from me, and she got the exact same letter. Who knows.

Also that single rejection posted by someone, with no other information, about Brandeis, is driving me crazy. I have no emails from them. What does this mean? Acceptance? Rejection tomorrow? Waitlist? I need to know! I really, really, really, want to work with John Plotz. Ugh!

The University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee not only sent me a rejection letter addressed to the wrong person (I had to call them and found out I'm still rejected) now they've mailed me another letter (this one is correctly addressed) telling me why my application was rejected. However, rather than being helpful, it just said that I met all the criteria--just that they did not think they had a faculty member to fit with my research. I was pretty sure there were three that I could work with. Oh well...I mean...telling me why I was rejected is, in theory, a nice gesture at least.

Ha ha ha! For a bit though, when I was only receiving rejection letters, I was like: Oh god, I don't actually want to have to go through with my backup plan! xD It wouldn't have been too bad though, I think. Do some teaching, work on my application materials, go swimming in the morning and the gym in the evening. That might have been nice.

I thought about it! I was thinking I'd get an alternative teaching certification and teach high school. But I'd definitely apply again for next year!

I mean, that's a great idea too! Talking to my professors. I think I'll do that too! And I'll try to arrange visits wherever I can. And then by April I hope I'll be able to come to a decision. Yeah, Mondays are good for me this application season! I like it!

Thanks! And yeah, you're right! I'll just have to remember I've got until April. And I've still got three more schools to hear back from too! I should see about visiting them too, you're right!

Whoo! Another acceptance! Ball State! This is where it gets tough. Ball State isn't as well-known as Texas A&M. Texas A&M also ha better funding, a bigger faculty, and...just a lot of pluses that Ball State doesn't. On the other hand I'm from Texas, I was happy to get away from the state for my MA. And now...it's like the state is sucking me back in. I really like the idea of moving to Muncie, Indiana.

I have to respond to you on two parts. Because I too come from a rural background. When I was growing up back home I had to get up early and do all the chores around the farm before I could go to school. A few times, I was so late I didn't make it to the bus in time and my mother had to drive me. Twice, I had to drive the family tractor to school. I wanted to join the football team but I let my father pressure me into bulldogging instead because that's what he used to do. I ended up being one of the few people in the family to go to college, much less finish a degree, and no one has ever gone to graduate school before. Anyway, what I'm getting at is my family very genuinely doesn't understand what I'm doing. They're nice enough to respect my decisions and the fact that I'm doing well is probably what's holding their tongues. That said, even as a man in the family there is pressure and an expectation that I should have already been married and at least have a kid on the way by now. Most of the girls I went to school with are married, or engaged, or wandered off to some distant countries called New York City or Los Angeles. In fact, last summer I tried asking a girl from my graduating class on a date and she turned me down because I was "too old"--we're the same age. However, you're right though. My parents met at some apple festival years ago. However, they had similar interests. I think through the course of going to college I'm too dissimilar from people back home. So yeah, you and everyone else make a great point about moving into a circle of academics where we all sort of understand each other better.

Ah ha ha! Oh this is great! I needed this! And you make a great point. It is a matter of priorities. Also the real world sounds awful if people only go to things like symphony's to show off. You've put things into perspective.

Oh that's so interesting! I use Salome in my thesis. Using his American Lectures and his work in The Woman's World is great too! Those works don't really get as much analysis put into them. That's wonderful!

I have to remember all of these things when I'm pushing the project forward! Once I get to a program I'll start working that out. Then I'll email people at Trinity like: Please let me come work with you and look at your stuff! Yeah when I think Wilde, I don't really see a whole lot of Irishness. But, somehow, I really want to! Maybe that's a paper down the road.

Oh your input has been really helpful! Thank you! What was your paper on OW about? I'm just curious.

Lord hoping, wherever I do my PhD, they'll help me work out some kind of research venture at Trinity. I sooooo want to go there! Desperately! And you're right, he's pretty Irish! However there are still critics that say if you read Wilde you're only Hibernicizing his texts. Dorian Gray is the centerpiece of my thesis on him! And yes, I've read his children's stories! I'm actually using The Happy Prince in my thesis. My thesis is on identity. In a letter to a correspondent Wilde once wrote: “Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry what the world thinks me: Dorian what I would like to be—in other ages, perhaps.” So the thesis explores identity as made up of these different aspects, the artist, the critic, and the art object. In it I talk about people being essentially creative producers, how being a critic is like being an artist of a kind, and how desire, what you desire and wanting to be desired, also plays a part in how you shape your identity. I use Wilde's works, critical, plays, short stories, to help inform this along with theories by Butler, Hegel, Dollimore, and others. I also reflect on other people writing art criticism at the time and who influenced Wilde, like Arnold and Pater--that's where Rachel Teukolsky (from Vanderbilt that didn't accept me T_T)'s book comes into play as well. It's not totally finished yet but it will be soon, I'm finishing up my MA this semester. It is funny! It's made me think Ireland really is a small world after all! Oh I love Stoker too. I've had a period where I studied Irish Vampires so Stoker and Le Fanu were my go-to's. Oh interesting! I know Fuller wrote gothic novels but I haven't read them. And I've read The Nun's Picture by Roche! But you're right, I've never studied either of them academically and they've never been mentioned. Actually, I've never had a professor who does any specializing in Irish Lit. The lady I work under now specializes in Trollope though.

You too?! I've only met one other person! HEEEEY! Let's be friends! Omg and you got into Notre Dame, GOOD ON YOU! *claps* My textual interests though. Well, I know Oscar Wilde is a debatable Irish Author, but he is from Ireland. My MA thesis focuses on him. Sheridan Le Fanu is great! Also, Lady Wilde (aka Spinoza). I'm also super interested in Victorian Medievalism, the re-telling of the Knights of Fianna in poetry and novels at the time. What about you?!

@Wyatt's Terps @becca11773 Looks like we all finally heard back! Rejection for me. I mean, getting into a program already softens the blows of these other rejections... However I would STILL give an arm and a leg to work with Rachel Teukolsky. Oh well!

Same! And yet I find myself being like: Yeah and once I get my PhD and I'm on the job market for like a year, I can live with my aunt. Then another part of me is like: Stop automatically thinking you're going to free-load from your family! xD I just can't help myself.

Oh I love this! Yes! It's a job! It's a career! I'm with you, my family and friends already don't get it and I am still dependent on my family. xD But you're right! Other PhD folks will understand! Also, yes, fresh and perfect is exactly the way to describe them!

Ahhh, I really needed all of this! You all have put life in perspective once again. There are also a lot of things I didn't consider until you all pointed them out either. The bit about moving into a new pool of people, academics. That being 30 isn't the end of the world...maybe...maybe it just seems that way when you're surrounded by undergraduates all the time? And yeah, looks aren't everything anyway! Again, maybe being surrounded by 18 to 21 year olds is slanting my perspective.

I sure am sorry about it too. Then I get accepted by A&M a week later! It was too funny! I'm really hoping to get an acceptance from Brandeis. John Plotz and his work with Thing Theory is my go-to for literary criticism. I would LOVE to work with him. Ha ha ha! I would think everyone to be single too! I know here in my MA everyone is single, minus one person who was in a relationship before she started her MA.