swarthmawr

Other than money and questions about department politics, what is off limits? Anything that isn’t obviously off limits but still good to avoid?

I thought it was just me, but after speaking with a number of other prospecive students during open houses, it’s clear that the much anticipated Visit can be an awkward animal at times. I’ve been to 3 so far, and they’ve all been vastly different, from hyper-structured (and thus physically exhausting) to incredibly free-form (and thus socially exhausting). I can’t seem to nail NOT feeling weird during these things, though, so I’m wondering if anyone has any advice to have the smoothest possible visit. Is it helpful to have written questions when meeting with prospective advisors? How have you transitioned from asking questions that an applicant would ask to asking questions that a *prospective student* would ask? And, if you happen to be one of those people blessed with the small talk gene, how do you do it so effortlessly? Maybe I’m the only hopelessly awkward one at these things.

What is NYU’s placement rate? I know Rutgers is around 87%. They’re both great top 20 programs so it comes down to the little things. But don’t forget they’re in a consortium, too!

There are also some programs that are open to less “traditional” literary projects, where your PhD can absolutely be paired with CW if you wish it to; like I believe USC and Denver have some element of creative writing in their programs (I think USC’s is a PhD in creative writing but it essentially entails what you’ve mentioned).

Shoutout to all of the GC folks I’ve met in real life (y’all are good people, can vouch), and also to all other prospectives who are honest about the awkwardness of “mingling,” and/or willing to make humorous comments about the overt schmoozing that goes on at these things.

I felt that way about Irvine and just emailed them— I ended up being on a waitlist. Some schools have “hidden” waitlists so it might be worth reaching out to see if decisions have been released yet at this point.

Got fed up and emailed Irvine about culture & theory— I’m waitlisted! If you haven’t heard yet, try emailing them to see if that’s the case too.

You’re so kind, @kendalldinniene, thank you for lifting my spirits 💕 YOU’RE the gem, if we’re being real, here.

Thanks for your help, @rr732 @spectrum-in! Even though I’m dressed as advised, the hotel they’ve put me up in is uncomfortably fancy, and I feel way too aware of my boots/age/race. I wish I were wearing a power suit just to talk to these front desk dudes...

I went to Bryn Mawr and my friends and I lived off campus for a while. We’ve had lots of luck in the past finding smallish but nice apartments above businesses on Lancaster Ave. You can get away from undergrads, and get a decent 1 bedroom for under $1200. Probably more affordable with a roommate, but the proper apartment buildings in the area are so saturated with undergrads (or the ones with older people are too pricey for grad students), that you’ll probably want to get a bit away from that. And the SEPTA train is pretty accessible from most of the mainline cities, so wouldn’t be crazy to find a place in Ardmore or another town a few train stops down from campus and commute. Totally doable. Edit: also, low-key, Bryn Mawr college owns entire apartments in some of the buildings by campus and rent them out only to TriCo students (probs at an up charge), so I’d avoid those buildings if I were you, like Mermont.

Any suggestions to dress appropriately in feet of snow??? A sweater dress? Where do we stand on boots? Hours away from my first visit lol. Procrastinated, as always. Want to be taken seriously— it’s a program where they haven’t admitted someone without an MA in years. Trying to appear like a grown-up.

Rutgers is still a really excellent school! I decided to apply to the English program when I had the same experience with AMST— they didn’t respond to my inquiry either. But don’t write it off as a school, their humanities programs are some of the best PhD programs in the country, and I’m sure it’s the same for sciences etc.

I didn’t apply to many top English programs! I think I would definitely NOT have applied to any American studies programs if I were to do this again— my degree is in English and it seems like English depts were more open to my project (lol pretty unanimous AMST rejections for me). So, in another world, I would’ve only done English programs and included more “top” programs on that list.

Results came out for Harvard and Yale. That’s it for AMST for me, guys. Good luck to everyone!

Rejected at NYU... maybe I should’ve applied to only English programs. Congrats to those accepted!