nichts
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Posts posted by nichts
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The cognitive dissonance was weighing me down anyway.
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@glg96 Glad to hear it, and thanks for the encouragement!
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31 minutes ago, glg96 said:
It's honestly been very helpful to just straight out ask schools what's up, especially if there's been a lot of activity pertaining their program on the results page. I hope everyone hears soon (with good news!).
Thanks for reporting back @glg96, I might take your advice on this one. Still only one decision (rejection) out of six and I could use some closure. Sorry to hear about Penn, but at least you have one acceptance, right? Is it to one of your preferred schools?
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I noticed 7 of the 8 are international. It might be a coincidence, but maybe English proficiency is a factor?
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@DatGuy No problem, yeah, it's remote. I saw an announcement for it on a listserv in my area of study. If you haven't already I recommend subscribing to one to keep up to date on funding opportunities, conferences, translation questions, etc. For example SASIALIT looks like a good choice for South Asian studies.
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Thanks, @Travala, that's a good point. It wouldn't hurt if I'm already accepted.
Thanks for the reply, @DatGuy. It's not associated with my applications, just an opportunity that's normally offered to grad students. And those are the three programs I'm still holding onto hope for (at least the wait list, in Harvard's case).
Edit: Here goes nothing.
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Congratulations, @immanentfields and @Travala! How exciting!
Would someone mind weighing in on a question for me? I just started a graduate-level internship that's relevant to my field and affiliated with an esteemed university. I don't want to inconvenience anyone but I'm also sitting on a good pile of implied rejections. Should I notify the universities finalizing decisions (Harvard, Penn, Maryland) and, If so, would program coordinators be the right contact?
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38 minutes ago, kaxtar1 said:
it's probably because of your deep insecurities
or they just overweight standardized tests and redundant pedagogical patterns that best match their own presumptions and biased projections
Don't worry too much, these boards have zero oversight, almost no laws governing their choices, and the visibility/press they get if they make continually biased decisions is nothing.
Hm.
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2 hours ago, FreakyFoucault said:
Or go to a gun range and shoot something?
This is such a good idea. Sign me up.
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Thanks, @DatGuy! I won't repeat exact information for the sake of discretion, but they asked the kind of questions you'd expect from a short interview. No grilling. My advice, and this goes to anyone who's given a brief interview, is don't think too hard about it.
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6 minutes ago, CulturalCriminal said:
“I was either going to do my first Ironman and finish my dissertation, or dropout ABD from exhaustion”
I was so excited—I read that as Strongman. Does no one here worship the iron gods?
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As a quick follow-up, the Penn interview was as expected. There are things I wish I could change about what I said, but the faculty were great. They said they'd be in touch in the coming weeks but didn't offer more information on the interview process.
- superfluouswoman and glg96
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4 hours ago, la_mod said:
omg this is perfect -- bless you
Glad to help, and good luck!
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4 hours ago, la_mod said:
What if they *do* ask?
If they do ask, I think an employer would be impressed by what you've said here—that you care about the company and understand it may not be in their best interest to train you for a position you can't keep in the long term, but the acceptance rates in this field are extremely slim and the position is a perfect fit for you, you're excited to move forward in the company, etc.
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@DatGuy and @glg96: Thank you for your kind words! There's definitely still hope. I was despairing yesterday over what I thought was my third implied rejection out of six applications, yet here we are. And for some schools only the first wave has passed. Anyway, I'll report back tomorrow night. Viel Glück to the other applicants!
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9 minutes ago, to_di said:
Also - don't automatically assume that they are very familiar with your file
Good idea, I'll prepare for this!
8 minutes ago, DatGuy said:so you may be able to understand why I'm dying for any information here!
I definitely understand. This is my only response after missing the first wave from Chicago and Northwestern.
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To anyone else who applied, previous years show interviews going out on more than one day. In 2016 invites were sent Feb 5 and 9, for example. They requested 15 minutes for tomorrow.
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I just got an email from Penn for an interview (posted on the results page). Does anyone know what these interviews are like?
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12 hours ago, midwest-ford said:
Hey, I know that this isn't what you want to hear right now, but lemme tell you a thing: MFA programs are hard as hell to get into. It's not just about being good, it's about being lucky as heck. [...] Again, I know this isn't what you want to hear, but the best possible thing I could have done at that time was take some time off and work a job (make money!! have money!! is so great!!) and figure out exactly what I wanted and why. When I went back for an MA, I was a much better student than I would have been if I'd come straight from a BA because I knew why I was there and I knew what life was like on the outside. I know that right now this feels like a giant sack of shit, and it is (because the academic industrial complex is a giant sack of shit), but I promise you that you're gonna get through it and learn a lot from this, no matter what. Keep your head up!!!
8 hours ago, CulturalCriminal said: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.
@Jacqui This is really great advice. I hope you don't mind if I add a few words.
Don't be disheartened. The results haven't even rolled in yet. But let's assume they aren't what you hoped for. You will allow yourself to mourn and, with time, move on. You will come to see this as an opportunity to read up on a historical period or philosophical school of interest, volunteer for a publication or institution, learn a language, move abroad, and otherwise roam a whole world beyond the ivory tower. In Man's Search for Meaning, which I recently read and highly recommend, Frankl suggests that we stop asking life for what we think we need and listen for what life asks of us. Embrace the freedom of responding to suffering in the way you choose—maybe even with dignity.
Edit: I also meant to say, don't forget about those professors who wrote recommendation letters for you. It isn't just family and friends who care about you; there are professionals in the field who believe in your potential and put their reputations on the line to encourage your success.
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17 minutes ago, renea said:
Haha, I got tricked on the last google doc that was floating around, but I'd *hope* that the funding for different tracks in the same department wouldn't be that vastly different for the same assistantship, but you never know.
Good point!
Let’s talk books
in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition
Posted · Edited by Jožin z bažin
"But then comes this singular sentence that for sheer stupidity has hardly the equal in world-famous literature: 'The candle was flicking out, dimly lighting up in the poverty-stricken room the murderer and the harlot who had been reading together the eternal book'" (Vladimir Nabokov, Lectures on Russian Literature).