jigglypuff

Got one rejection today, so--that's one less distraction. Hebrew's not that hard, but I'm an Arabic-speaking Arab, so the grammar is easy to wrap my head around. The script and orthography are probably the hardest part, so something ending in an 'ah' might be spelled with one of three different letters. Other than that, it's like any language: arduous at the beginning, and then increasingly familiar. And Duolingo remains fun. So what if all you can remember by the end of it is "Ducks don't drink beer": that may well be the portal to humanity. And if it isn't, at least you'll have passed through the eternal purgatory that is graduate admissions by the end of it.

I realised that I probably could have completed a semester's worth of intensive language-learning with the time I spent refreshing my e-mail, checking app portals and visiting this site. So I did two things: I started learning Hebrew on Duolingo, and I cracked open Musil's 1130-page Man Without Qualities. Both have proved engaging, even addictive, and have lessened my impatience.

Seems like many Oxford applicants have already received their decisions! I feel like one of the few who applied for the March round/deadline, and have no idea how anyone managed to wait two or three months.

Ahh so jelly! I got to know a couple of students doing the German stream of the MPhil last year, who were lovely, as were staff. Cambridge's German department seems to have a good concentration of graduate students. And Lucia Ruprecht has written a lot on Robert Walser, my half-century-deceased BFF. I don't think my chances are amazing, but I'm happy to have tried.

Hey Kat! I've applied to Oxford's MSt (March deadline round), Cambridge's MPhil in European Literatures, Birmingham (buzzing German Studies scene), and will be applying to the MA Deutschsprachige Literaturen at Hamburg. Universität Bern also has a highly unusual and eclectic German course offering - and the Robert-Walser-Zentrum nearby - so I wouldn't be sad to go there. Are you also considering the UK? (Edit: just saw that you're going to Penn State!)

Thanks for your help! I wasn't entirely clear about the two deadlines initially, so I'll explain the situation and ask if she can get it done by the earliest deadline for another program I'm applying to (beginning of March).

I anticipate getting a lot of flak for this, so I beg your forgiveness in advance. My situation is such that one of the programmes I'm applying to has two deadlines: one for normal applications (January) and one for late applications (April). My understanding is that after the normal deadline in January, applications are considered on a semi-rolling basis, with chances of funding diminishing as time passes. The late deadline, and the one I gave my professor, is in April - but would it be rude to ask her to submit her LoR before that if possible? Am I being unreasonable? Any other insights from people who have experience of late-round applications would also be highly appreciated.

I've applied to the PhD at NYU and M.A. at Columbia. If both fall through, I'll probably stick to Masters programmes in Germany/Switzerland/Britain.