CulturalCriminal

I feel this. All I've got to show for this round is a wait-list spot and vain hope that I'll hear back soon from my remaining program. Granted, I applied super-selectively within my area (partner has another year left on their degree).

Yep. There are two POIs at UT's AmStudies (waitlisted) that should have been on my SOP. I low-key want to email them and let them know, but that would be really stupid. Not my writing sample, but I presented a paper this weekend and found multiple really stupid errors. Needless to say, I did not win the grad paper award I applied for.

@Cotton JoeI’m currently in a TA position that doesn’t pay enough to cover debt and bills. I do content writing on the side. It’s flexible, doesn’t have a set office/times of work, pays decent, is a service that most places (especially law firms) need, and doesn’t risk running into students (checking out groceries for a student is not a position I want to be in). Plus, you can build it into a nice side career to supplement you through not just grad school, but also all the underpaying lecturer and non-tenure professors jobs that await us (yay).

In regards to rescinded funding, I’m not sure they can back out if you take the offer. That said, they can rescind admission. Back in 2008/9 (great recession+California budget crisis) I was admitted and had accepted offer to go to Fresno State with a housing grant. A few months later, I was one of many people who got a letter indicating that (due to the budget crisis) they had to rescind my admission to the university. Looking back, I realize things worked out and doubt I would even be interested in PhD (much less be finishing a lit MA and engaged to the love of my life). That said, I’m still a little sore about it. however, I doubt any program will have to take such drastic steps right now. It was less the recession’s fault than it was poor state governance at the time. Even then, I doubt UCs or CSUs turned away accepted, full time and funded grad students during that year.

@slouchingI’ve been checking the comm thread periodically, since theee are a few there that are Media Studies. I haven’t heard anything on the media Studies side, though Someone on comm thread posted that they called up and asked when UT’s Media Studies (RTF dept) was going to contact. Apparently they’ll start contacting in a few days.

Someone posted a question on the results for this program and my heart stopped cold before I realized they had no actual news.

It really depends on the program. Some will require you level-in by taking UG classes. Others won’t. Making the jump is not a big one though, especially if you’re a big theory person.

Students will respect you, if you are authenticity yourself, treat them like adults, and take lesson planning seriously (in my experience). There are those problem students ( two of my friends have had to deal with mysogonists), but they are not as common as you may think. I enjoy teaching way more than I expected, personally. You’re welcome to message me as well!

I feel the troll point. I got an email recently that said “Graduate Admissions” and my heart stopped. Turns out it was a recruiting email for some low-res MFA at a school I applied to while in high school (9 years ago!).

It really depends on methodology, which is where the humanities do significantly depart from other disciplines. For me, research is all about contextualizing texts with the socio- and geo-political discussion of identity in culture. Thus my research can (beyond a structural reading of a text) pull from social science data, archival research, and philosophical discussion (aka theory). For other people, research looks quite different. I know someone who does hard science research in conjunction with discussion of bodies in a text. That transdisciplinary variety is what I love about the field.

You never know, they could have done waitlist first. I have my fingers crossed for all you UMich applicants on here!

Exactly

That’s awesome! Have you been to Lubbock? I have lived in and around both UT and Tech if you want to message me.

Thank you so much, you brave soul! The wait is frustrating to no end.

Yes, I am here to defend the unranked MA (though, mine is unranked due to the lack of a PhD program; I can’t imagine we’d be lower ranked than certain other Texas programs I have some friends at). People from my little known MA program have made the jump to a # of prestigious places (Penn, UCIrvine, UCLA film, UCSC hiscon, UT, etc). Despite not having a PhD program here, there are professors that are kicking ass and taking names in their area of interests. The Assistantship program has shaped me into a far stronger educator. Most important though, my MA has allowed me to grow as a researcher. The quality of my writing has skyrocketed since coming here. Likewise, the mentorship relationships I’ve forged with professors are everything I could hope for (a little worried I want have similar dynamics in doctorate). There is benefit to getting an MA from an unranked university. That said, check the fit and snag an assistantship/fellowship. It also helps to have leftover GI bill or be in a state that exempts tuition for veterans and/or their children.

“I was either going to do my first Ironman and finish my dissertation, or dropout ABD from exhaustion”- actual statement made by a medievalist in my department.

If they don't ask, you don't need to tell (see what I did there). In all seriousness though, they don't need to know and you don't have an obligation to disclose it unless it is brought up. As for the 5 years question, you can vaguely discuss continuing your education (due to a desire to constantly seek improvement in your field) in a way that doesn't necessarily say "I'll be at a full-time PhD program where I'm studying [insert x thing not at all related to the job in question]." You wouldn't be lying; you really do see yourself continuing your education due to a desire to better qualified/knowledgeable for your chosen field. They just don't know that your chosen field is academia. Which connects back to my early statement: if they don't ask, you don't need to tell.

Congrats! Do you think that's your top choice, or is there another program you've got your fingers crossed over?

For skincare, even just body butter/scrub (depending on skin) after a shower every few days can go a long way.

I love how this thread sprung out of one of my posts from another thread. I should note that the point made before the quoted section was pointing the need of finding a hobby outside of lit/film/tv. That this thread has pointed to this need is really cool. For those trying to figure out food, my partner and I use HelloFresh. They have a student discount. I know folks who are happy with other similar services. Most meal prep services make the food question less of a hassle (just chop and cook). You get the rewards of cooking, variety in your diet, and save time. For other meals, we grab snacks (carrots, apples, pretzels, cheese)and quick options (soup, bag salad, frozen pizza).

aside from bath bombs and HelloFresh (they have a 15% student discount), selfcare rarely happens for me. I’m on a pretty good leg of working out regularly right now (been running at least three times a week for the last two months), but I’ve had a lot of false starts like that where I thought I was getting in a groove and next thing I know it’s been weeks later and the most activity I’ve gotten was walking around the English building.

Anybody have any news? Good, bad, lukewarm?

I'm currently working/proposing research on how American TV and comics reflect the way in which space and place works in tandem with intersectioning vertices of oppression in shaping criminality. About a year ago, I was presenting conference papers on the resurgence of folk horror in American film and comics. You cold say my research interests have changed a bit ?.

Anyone else already strategizing for next year applications, despite still waiting to hear back from at least one program?

Solid MFAs are a bitch to get into. That said, don’t give up hope if it doesn’t happen this year. You know how to write, put that talent to work to get you through the year (I make more off the minisicule content writing I do than I make from my MA assistantship). Meanwhile, sharpen your craft. Read as much as you can. Find a group to talk critically about literary form with. Do one-or two-week writer workshop camps. Never forget: an MFA doesn’t make you a writer; it makes you someone qualified to help other writers. Keep writing.