maria

Thanks for responding, smert. I wasn't offered funding at first either, but I kept emailing and was later offered a fellowship for the first year. However, I've asked many times and they have avoided committing in any way to further funding, besides saying that all recent students have been funded. Your friend's experience makes me worry, a little. I did meet with a couple students, but only in the presence of professors, so it's hard to say if that's a good source. I was also admitted into the MA program, but I think that's what everyone is admitted into, and then later you can switch over to the Ph.D. with satisfactory progress/performance. I have no intention of only getting an MA though, and the fact that I'm not admitted directly into the Ph.D. program does concern me. The other program I'm considering is a doctoral program at a UC. I had originally thought that Illinois was a stronger program, but perhaps I should reconsider? The academic fit for me is about the same at both.

Hi all, I'm considering accepting an offer from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for comp lit. I visited the campus recently and loved it, and I think the program is a great fit for me, financially and academically. I've seen little mention of it on this website, so I'm wondering if anyone else is visiting/considering University of Illinois, or if there are any current students/alumni around? Maria