cowgirlsdontcry

When I moved from Denver to Louisiana, I used one of the U-Pack companies. The men they provided to load the ABF trailer were awful (had insufficient tools and were inexperienced-dropped armoire and broke leg). It cost me almost $5,000, as I had to also pay those bad loaders. That was in 2010. I won't be moving as much furniture, so the cost may be less in that way, although with increase in costs generally over the last seven years, it could still be a lot. My divorce was also nasty and my ex legally left me with many thousands in credit card debt, which I defaulted on because I was a student and simply could not pay, so I have had some concerns about what may be required up front. I spoke with a management company this morning and it seems likely that because the defaults were six years ago I may have no problem as they don't pull a credit score and only look at the last two years of credit, and as a result, I won't have to pay more than the deposit, pet deposits and first month's rent, plus whatever admin fees they charge.

I bought Magoosh in summer of 2014. It was $99 and I had use of it for six months. It prepared me for the way the test is made. A lot of the questions on the verbal portion of the test are somewhat tricky in that you think there could be more than one answer. Magoosh shows you why only one answer is correct and how to reason that answer out. I worked on it randomly and could pick up any time where I left off.

I was at UMass on an exchange for a year as an undergrad and was in the crappy old building that was condemned. We even had an outbreak of snakes come up through the toilets in the basement. They were working on South Hall when I was there. Great Victorian. I only met lit profs but they were great. Good luck! You will like it there.

If you're doing medren, why no Old English in addition to the Latin? Have you looked at language requirements for each of the schools you are interested in? I am beginning a Ph.D. in English with a literature track this fall at the University of Alabama, where they have the Hudson Strode Program in Renaissance Studies. Its language requirements are the same as for literature. That requirement is two languages (4 semesters each) with a B, passing of translation tests, or one language with advanced knowledge (2 semesters at the 400 level). I have six semesters for one language covered in undergrad French, but have only two semesters in Spanish, which means taking another two semesters of Spanish or trying to accomplish two additional semesters of French at a 400 level. Hmmmm. Sophomore Spanish is less stressful. So that will be my direction if my advisor allows it. A look at the language requirements should be your first step I think. It may be less stressful than you think.

I'm moving from Louisiana to Alabama and have a houseful of furniture. Going to get rid of everything except one-bedroom, living room and office stuff, which is just folding tables. I have arthritis in my lower back so I will be using movers. Expect it to cost approximately $3,000-$5,000. From the way leasing looks in the apartments I have viewed online, I may also have to put up costs in the neighborhood of $5,000. As a result, I could be sleeping in the apartment on a blowup mattress until student loans are disbursed because I have saved approximately $8,000, although I could be pleasantly surprised about move-in costs for the apartment.

I completed my FAFSA the last two years for grad school (MA English program) and used the "college" notation. No one has ever said there was a problem. The DOE knows I am in grad school because I no longer receive a Pell Grant and receive loans alone. That's my experience.

Stipends vary greatly from university to university and even from department to department within the same university. I saw in a post, under admission results on here, that someone received a stipend of $25,000 from an economics program at the same university I am admitted to for an English Ph.D. That amount is significantly more than I will receive. However, I also received a waiver of tuition/fees and a stipend for insurance, which the economics student did not mention. You have to sit down and calculate how much it will cost you to live in a particular city, by looking at average costs for apartments/utilities, insurance, car payments, etc. I have outside income so I am able to afford an apartment and am not confined to living with a roommate in an apartment this fall. Thank goodness!

First, the scholarship will be considered income when you prepare your taxes, but if it is below what is considered poverty level, you may be able to qualify for Medicaid. The county will ask about savings or money in the bank. You need to contact the county where you will be living to ask. Every state is different. Louisiana has the expanded Medicaid and the other GAs in the MA English program at my school qualified for Medicaid only by reason of the state having the expanded Medicaid program. I have outside income so did not qualify, but I have really good insurance so did not need Medicaid. Some universities provide an additional stipend for insurance. Have you asked?

It's also inexpensive compared to Princeton, etc.

I applied this session of admissions and noticed several of you are discussing the general GRE. For what it's worth, I used Magoosh online because I could work on it whenever I felt like it and there were little videos about the questions/problems showing you how to arrive at the answer, which was helpful. I primarily focused on the verbals as I had been told that's all that English departments really care about. Magoosh has down to a T the general test as to the style ETS uses in the real test. Once you are comfortable with the way a test is given, you do much better. Practicing put me at ease and I finished the test fairly quickly (2.5 hours), scoring high (93%) on verbals and well enough in the math to put my total score somewhat over 300. The other thing I will state about the test, is that it's all algebra and finite math. If you're like me, we used the TI 83 or TI 84 to compute the problems. I believe we could use those in the test, but it would be good to check so that if not allowed, you will have time to learn how to do them the long way. Good luck.

I'm finishing up an MA in English and will start a Ph.D. in the fall and have to hit the door running because it includes a teaching assignment. I remember all too well, the first semester stress (not that it has ever really disappeared and this semester came back in force, as I worked on thesis and had applications out), and I know it will be coming again in the fall. Both my supervising professor and my thesis advisor have been good listeners over the last 4 semesters. They probably know my thesis, as well as I do, because I have discussed various aspects of it with them. I have spoken with several professors about students they had last semester that I'm teaching rhet/comp II to this semester to make sure I understand what's going on with them. This semester I have only one class, but I'm also teaching a class and have six hours of thesis. It's a good thing that I have been doing research and reading for the three prior semesters because I only had seven weeks to write it and I did finish on time. Whatever you think about the workload of grad students as an undergrad, up that about 3x for a master's program and probably that again as a doctoral student. My MA level English papers went from being 12-15 pages (as an undergrad) to 20-25 pages in length. I have no idea how long the papers become in the doctoral program. Since I'm a literary scholar, I not only have to read the primary text, I need to read scholarship. It's hard to skim a novel and get any value out of it, but sometimes I'm forced to do just that because I run out of time and I'm a fast reader. On average during the last four semesters, I have read three novels and 8-10 pieces of scholarship total on those novels per week. You do get used to the amount of work. I have been rather terse and testy this semester, something like a prickly pear! I find praying about it has helped me to cope tremendously. If you're not a Christian or other praying religion, then meditation would be the equivalent, I believe. I still find time to read junky romance novels as my secret guilt pleasure. One cannot exist completely on a diet of literature. This is all creating a second career for me. Prior to returning to school, I worked in a law firm as a paralegal/legal assistant for a number of years. It's both a lot of work and stressful. But I know how to cope and get the work done one way or another. One needs to find the niche where it all comes together and it can be frustrating until you do find it.

How did you like your visit? I was in an exchange and attended UMass Amherst for a year as an undergrad. I liked it there. I'm a non-traditional student so not much of a partier, but there are some interesting coffee shops and a couple of good to great bookstores there. I loved going to the Tunnel Bar in Northhampton, which has great martinis. The bartenders like to guess your personality and create a drink for you. Let me know if you want more info.

I received a verbal offer on the 14th, with the formal offer to follow on Monday, April 17, and will likely be attending UA in the fall for my Ph.D. When I read through this thread, it seemed to match a lot of what I picked up just by browsing apartments on the Net. Scarlet and Yahm - have you located a place yet? Lesleo where are you attending? I applied to some of the same schools you did and did an exchange at UMass Amherst for a year as an undergrad. I liked it there. I am waitlisted at UTK and LSU.

I agree with nobraintrain, as I received a phone call and offer from a university late yesterday afternoon that I thought wasn't possible. I had not heard from the university since February 1, telling me my app was being sent to the department. Also have waitlisted schools that won't make a decision until next week. It's not quite time to give up because my situation is a perfect example of that.

I don't know about SLP programs, but if one plans on teaching where you go does matter. I recently read that Ph.D.s never get accepted to teach at higher ranked programs than that which they attended and usually get hired at lower ranked schools. Having said that, since we can only do our best and apply to many schools, the Ph.D. program we end up in depends in part on where we did undergrad and masters. I attended a tier one south regional university for undergrad/masters because I own a home here and money matters. As a result, I was pretty much limited to applying to the big flagship state universities, even though I have a high GRE and 4.0 GPA. That suits me well because I am interested in contemporary American lit and Southern lit and applied to many of the universities in the SEC.

I have been accepted to the English Ph.D. program at UA. Have only driven through Tuscaloosa going to and from other places.

Replying to the 43 yo about GRE scores: I'm 50+ and decided to change careers six years ago, from being a paralegal for over 20 years to aiming for a Ph.D. in English. I obtained a BA in English and now finishing up an MA in English--graduating in May. I took the GRE general test in 2014, scoring 163 on Verbals. Math not so great--50 percentile rank, but then I am an English major and most English Departments only look at verbals--combined score was still over 300. I used an online prep program that was relatively inexpensive because I live in a small town in central Louisiana and no "live" classes anywhere near. Older students can do well on the GRE. To Gonzosports: I agree that 30+ isn't older. I'm older!

I applied to 8 schools for Ph.D. in English (Literature and Culture). Received 5 rejections, 2 waitlists and 1 doesn't return emails about status. I'm in the middle of MA thesis revisions, as well as trying to get other assignments done and teach/grade a freshman comp class. Have had several meltdowns over the last few weeks and my ability to concentrate and write a paper is gone, gone, gone. I thought it would all be over by now, but of the two schools where I'm waitlisted, one states it has a good bit of movement around April 15 and the other won't even send second round admissions out until after April 15. So, I'm still waiting. If I don't get in anywhere, I really don't know if I can put myself through this again. Thinking I will just teach adjunct while I look for a fulltime faculty job.