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a_sort_of_fractious_angel

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Everything posted by a_sort_of_fractious_angel

  1. Thanks, friend! This whole thread is starting to glow like Daisy's dock. Nice! Congrats!
  2. Hi! So, I found some useful nuts and bolts kind of stuff, like - The semester-by-semester breakdown of expectations for the average time to completion - The semester-by-semester breakdown of expectations for an accelerated time to completion - when & how the department evaluates satisfactory progress - policies re: coursework such as distribution requirements, the transfer of MA coursework, and coursework outside the dept/university - dissertation policies (for example, can an external faculty member sit on the diss committee and, if so, what are the rules for that) - department-specific requirements, such as language requirements or special paper/presentation requirements - specifics on teaching load, preparation, and timeline
  3. For kindly non-ac people/friends/family, I've switched from version (1) "I focus on transnational identity formation at the intersections between contemporary Caribbean and 20th- and 21st century American literature" to version (2) "so, you know how you have a story you tell about yourself and your life? And maybe a story or two about your family - where you all came from and whatnot? I look at how people tell those kinds of stories about themselves and others through books." No one has ever knew what to do with version 1 but version 2 seems to go over OK with everyone who is not hip to the things. One time, my mom's friend cautiously offered up a book she had read for her book club as a kind of "I have read a book in which a person discusses their identity" and I was like, "yes. good. yes. brilliant. you got it." For the science people, I like to tell them that they do research and we do scholarship. At which point, many are like "so that is the same thing?" And I'm like "no, n00b, it is not. I am a scholar - I scholate things. You merely research them. Leave me to my books." If I have a book at hand, I toss it to them and say "you figure it out because, honestly, I'm not sure." For the drunk uncles - honestly, I just double down. They're always like "you're never gonna get a job" at which point I remind them that "where I'm going, I don't need jobs."
  4. Well, I'll be chasing the mail truck down the street tomorrow.
  5. Dope! Yea, I felt (and still feel, this isn't over yet, haha) overwhelmed comparing two of my programs until I realized that my work will shift somewhat while I'm there. So, I wrote down their strengths/tracks/areas of focus and am now thinking about which areas/tracks are most appealing to me. Also, looking at connected programs or centers may help - do your schools have a Humanities Institute or Center for American Studies [or something equally dope that will be useful to your professional and academic identity?] And hahaha, I figured - hopefully concrete annoying stuff will help, though. Even little stuff, like printing. Or the lounge situation. Some other concrete yes/no things I've been tracking down (some of which overlap your Qs)... teaching the first year; office hours space (shared office vs. library/open space); writing workshops/groups; coursework in other departments; coursework at other universities; and the possibility for an external member on the dissertation (if needed.)
  6. This is a great idea for a thread @jvvne - thanks for kicking it off! I'm starting to think about these things myself and I am looking at all the factors you list above. One additional Q you may (?) not have listed here: how will the department help you grow? Do you want to grow in the areas that the dept is strong in/known for? While gathering data/sorting through it, I've been thinking about what I really loved and really didn't love about my MA experience. Doing that has helped me come up with some hard yes/no opinions. I was surprised to discover these things post-applying, lol, and there are not many of them but they're helping me get a handle on how I want my academic life to shape up. Do you have anything you LOVE about your MFA? Conversely, anything you loathe that is tangible? Judging teaching styles/interpersonal stuff may be a bit tricky from a distance but location, money, free printing (I'm real hung up on that, haha) may be identifiable now and, in turn, helpful for decision making. Also, one other thing - can you see your programs handbooks? One of my schools does not openly share it but I emailed them with a Q and got the handbook in return and it's really helpful. I doubt any school would withhold information that you need/want to make a decision.
  7. Real late to the party re: the MAPH but, as someone who did an unfunded MA, the duration of the MAPH program is arguably (very) concerning. There are 1,000+ good reasons not to do an unfunded MA - I fully understand many of them having now experienced one. There are 1,000,000,000 reasons not to do an unfunded MA that lasts 2 semesters and is rigorous in coursework. Going into debt for what is two blinks of an eye in the academic world is high-risk. Doable? Sure, I had a peer who did the MAPH and (after taking a year off) got into several top 10 PhD programs. But, as @la_mod correctly points out, no MA program, no matter how fancy, guarantees anything - I had no offers when I applied during my MA and it was devastating. I did, of course, have debt. Great. Yes. Love it. *knuckles turn white* However, I also had two years of grad school under my belt and 3 reputable professors who remembered me when I emailed them a year and half after graduation (our MA was small - 12 people - so connections were easily made and grown over those 2 years.) Since I didn't do the MAPH, I can't prove anything about it but I really don't know if, had my MA been 9 months, my professors would have ever remembered my name much less spent months helping me revise the WS and SOP, and (now) with PhD decisions. All to say, don't do debt. If you do debt, do not pay for a name and a whirlwind tour - pay for time and intellectual growth and thoughtful advisers and professional connections that will last beyond the time you're there, as all of these things just might - MIGHT - get you into a PhD. And only do that if you've got a financial plan that works. Moreover, I have a friend who did a funded MA from a "no name" school who ended up at UPenn, so - not to hate on the unfunded MA people since I'm one of you - but, like, there's a lot of options out there .... Moving on from this rant. I'm gonna yell "BOooOOOO" at my computer for the rest of the week. This is too much.
  8. Love it. Send it. Rants are good - ESSENTIAL - to, like, this human thing. Definitely this grad school thing.
  9. Hey! So I moved home after my MA and have been living with my rents for 2 years. We were always close during college/grad school and the living-home part has re-established some (awesome) bonds that we're now (starting) to talk about "extending" to wherever I move. If you want to chat about it, shoot me a PM!
  10. I do! It looked like a 1 1/2 day visit - the 11th and 12th. Buffalo's is the same days so, already .... conflict. Lol.
  11. YAYAYAYAYAY! Also my cell service cut off twice, eek! She was so nice though. What a day!
  12. Semi-educated guess: you're on a short wait-list (a few spots out.) In a couple weeks, the program may have a better sense of what other applicants are doing (if they're turning down offers or waiting it out) and can tell you more about your particular position. Do you know if they've sent out acceptances? Could be wrong, FWIW, but that would be my guess.
  13. Phone call from unknown number - area code is Delaware. I don't pick up. No voicemail is left. Minutes pass. The sun moves across the sky. I wonder who called and for what purpose. Out of sheer boredom, I Google the number - it's the UDel English DGS number. I Google it again - new tab. Same results. I check my voicemail. Nothing. I check my email. Nothing. Did they accidentally call the wrong number? And realize when they heard my voicemail message? Did they intend to call me but, upon hearing my voicemail message, think ... "oh. no thanks." ... Do ... do I call back? *dials Delaware* "Hey ... it's me."
  14. At the beginning of all this, I split my schools into three groups (first choice, second choice, third choice) and had a "favorite" in each group - it was my attempt to minimize heartbreak and maximize joy. Now, I'm jazzed about the schools that have responded but am also itching to make a "decision" (which I cannot do) which leaves me a lot of time for thumb-twiddling. Choosing is definitely going to be difficult, @bumbleblu, and I'm curious about how things will change post-visit/contact; I'm so hopeful that seeing the place and meeting the people will help bring it all together (though I'm also terrified I'll just end up in a mental deadlock.)
  15. Waiting for him to say something ... to an Eagle ... to a camera ... gone he is, diminished into the West I suppose.
  16. I'm right outside of Philly and I'M NOT CRYING, YOU'RE CRYING!
  17. During my MA, I found that working out sometime between my last class and before dinner was the easiest to stick to schedule-wise. If I couldn't dedicate the time to get to the gym, I would take at least one twenty minute walk around campus. I also got one of those giant water bottles and drew my "hydration goals" on the outside, lol. Being outside/looking at dogs/other people/appreciating the wind helped me decompress mentally, too. If it was raining, I'd walk around other buildings that weren't English - check out their flyers/posters and sitting spaces - probably kind of weird in retrospect but it was fun seeing what the anthropologists were doing. I was also part of a graduate student living community and I made sure to make those monthly meetings/hang-outs, even if it was for 30 minutes. Our English dept had a grad student group too and I went to the meetings/social stuff - free food, yay! And I explored the university's student health/psych offerings and learned that - in addition to traditional counseling/psych one-on-one meetings - there was a group run by grad students (from all departments) that functioned as a space in which to talk about writing/advisors/all the stressful things that can build up over time. I went with a friend while we were writing our theses and it was awesome - getting some outside perspectives on my challenges was helpful.
  18. I want to adopt a cranky old man cat. I'm gearing up to bring an equine - if you want to swap notes on best practices, email or PM. Now that it is real, I'm getting nervous (lol) and would love to share ideas on how to make imagination morph into reality.
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