a_sort_of_fractious_angel

Hey, all - I'll be going to Pittsburgh to start CMU's LCS PhD. If anyone has knowledge of nice (or terrible) management companies they don't mind sharing, that'd be great!

Hey, friends - I just declined a spot at Delaware and a spot at Buffalo. I am really hoping that helps someone here get in! If I learn anything from the depts that is helpful, I'll be sure to pass it along, too.

You picked the right day to ask, haha! I can happily (and now officially) say that I'll be heading to Carnegie Mellon this fall.

Ah! I meant (earlier in the thread) to join the general ranks of the decided! I'm glad your visit went so well - from your note above it sounds like a fantastic place! Also, the campus really is just beautiful.

I attended two! CMU and Buffalo! I'm definitely glad I went - it was really enlightening (and fun!)

You are welcome! I'm glad it helped. That's a good approach to it - I hope the DGS gets back soon and with good news! And not at all! I declined Syracuse yesterday (while remaining on the funding wait list) but not because of the funding situation. It's a great program, but I do have another program that is a better fit across the board. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

Hey! I don't know if this will help a ton, but I was wait listed for funding at Syracuse for the Lit PhD. In the original email/letter (which I'm assuming you received as well), they didn't indicate rank (for me) - just said it was a wait list of about 10 people (I'm unsure if it was both PhDs and MAs or just PhDs) - and said that movement tended to happen in late March/early April. My past application cycles & general anecdata support that statement. It's quite possible for people to make decisions now (I'm doing that and there are definitely other people out there like me!) Some, however, (and sometimes most, depending on the year) hold close to that April 15th deadline. Accordingly, I'm not sure @ClassyBrat420, that there's any way to guess if/when you'll get off. I do wish I had a better response and I'll keep my fingers crossed for you! Obviously, funding is hugely important and you will need to know those details prior to committing. However, I think you @Cassifrassidy can do (and already have done?) some evaluation of the two programs. It sounds like Syracuse would be a great option for you - have you talked via email with current students or faculty there? Or scheduled a visit? If not, can you? I'm not sure at all what Syracuse's policy is for that, but they obviously want you (since you're in) and they might be amenable to helping you learn more about the program as you wait for funding, especially since you have another good offer. If I were in your position, I might email an adviser or letter writer to ask - they will likely have some insight on if/how to communicate with Syracuse and how to evaluate these programs without having all the data. I'd also do as much as possible to learn about the program and the area itself in the meantime so that (1) I could decide if I wanted to wait and (2) if I did wait and funding came in at the 11th hour, I could plug it into the rest of the equation.

Welcome! I'm glad to hear your visit was amazing. ? And I have! Once I contact all the departments, I will gleefully join you here.

Hey, y'all - I have declined Temple and Syracuse, so the wait list for funding is now shorter and I hope it helps someone here out!

CONGRATS!

I added CMU, Buffalo, and UDel (I am glad UDel check out with you, @punctilious, lol) and will soon go back to update the teaching loads via the handbook. My wait lists give nothing re: funding either. Hope what I have helps!

WOOO! CONGRATS!!!

Congrats!

Low stakes - I see a Lehigh wait-list (PhD) on the board. It's a tiny department. Can I assume rejection?

I'm doing nice thanks you notes since I'm in PA and my LWs are in VA - I know I can send those notes with minimal error. Larger packages make me more nervous.

I entered my MA prepared to study Faulkner and Joyce. I left with a project on contemporary Caribbean and Caribbean-American authors. There's flexibility within the PhD and even more so in the MA - you'll likely have to take 3-4 required courses that cover time period (only based off of my experience), so really the world is your oyster. As the above posters have advised, find your scholars of interest that first semester. Get involved with their research if you can. Get familiar with them.

Hopeful no longer! Legit now! ? Congrats!!!

Ummm these all look fantastic and I shall be adding them to my list! Thanks for sharing, @LibraryLivingJT

That's awesome to hear! They sound fantastic! I hope you get to chat with them

Also got a Dean's Fellowship from Buffalo - extra 1k for 4 years. I'm guessing others may have the same good news from Buffalo in their emails inboxes.

Accepted at Syracuse, wait listed for funding.

The French Book is a life saver. May I recommend, @punctilious, Richard J. Lane's Global Literary Theory to you guys - used it for my MA theory seminar. It combines excerpts with overviews and I found it SO useful for learning theory "broadly" as well as discovering authors/texts relevant to my particular projects. Norton is good too, although I cannot remember much that anthology touches on "newer" stuff. I'm going to bookmark this thread and come back to it once I've decided where I'm going. Until then, I'll be reading Paul Jay's Global Matters.

That sounds so exciting! I hope it works out for you guys

I would check it out! Or at least see if you can schedule it! I lived in graduate student housing during my MA - it was a bit of an ususual gig, but I went down in April to see what is was like and whatnot. Probably could have checked it out during the open house for the MA, had I gone. And it's pretty much the same as asking about the areas/neighborhoods grad students live in, right? I've been encouraged to check those areas out on my visits - a trip into Pitt's neighborhoods is actually legit scheduled for my CMU visit - so I think they'd probably be more than happy to give you info on how to learn more/actually see the place(s).

My first visit is this week and I've typed up all the questions I could possibly think to ask - to those who have already been on visits, is there anything you'd suggest a newbie like myself do or ask or look for? Stuff one wouldn't perhaps think to ask about?