whatislife69

I find these visits consuming, tiring, emotionally exhausting, and anxiety-inducing. I am told to enjoy them but god I can't.

i.e. you don't seem to like (as in you don't see yourself being able to work with) your POIs, or cohort, or you just hate the town, or some racist/sexist/homophobic/etc things happened, etc anything that raises red flag really

and also whether my not-so-good experience was just a bad day/ coincidence or is it representative of the place???

I have had some not-so-good visits with schools that were among my top choices. Now with only a couple of visits left, I don't really know what to do anymore.

Let's say, if the professor signs their email with first name, and then you keep calling them Dr. xyz or Professor xyz for a long time, you might come across as too distant (happened to me before). but I also don't really know what's the protocol: should I switch to first name? should I ask? Asking is a little too awkward for me -- in that case i'd rather be too distant than asking. Switching to first name might offend people, but then if they introduce themselves by their first name or sign their email by first name, and then I call them as how they refer themselves, can they really blame me??? If a prof signs their full name, of course you should be formal. Ugh this is such a hot potato question

Donnnnnn't dooo itttt

I had one campus visit where i literally meet the whole comp lit department + some related fields. Don't worry. It's usually just very chill conversation. They are trying to recruit YOUUUUU now!! The table has turned

and u chicago

I don't think there were significant mistakes in my app but I turned in one of mine several hours late with a 500 words over word limit SOP... Still got campus visit invite lol Notes for future applicants: don't panic. What's meant to be is meant to be i guess

I haven't heard anything negative about the program. so if I were you, I would accept the UCR offer. Unfunded MA would not actually look that good on your CV. A chair of a comp lit department told me that unfunded MA is likely just a cash cow for the program, and usually don't give you a proper education. It might hurt your chances if you are considering reapplying after MA. Fully funded MA is another story. That's my two cents. Hope it helps.

I retook GRE for higher math score like wtf I am in the humanities. Stress does that to you

Wouldn't have wasted $$$$ to retake GRE!

Has anyone heard anything from UCLA comp lit yet? They have a dec 1st deadline and 3 months later still nothing....

Focus on your acceptance

omg it me. i am so bad at taking compliments. but YOU ARE GREAT WE ARE ALL GREAT!!

Brown MCM rejected wooooohooooo

I hope so! During app season, first I was like ok once i have all the materials in, I will be better; by the time i submitted all my apps, then interviews rolled in, and I thought to myself, once the interviews are over + if I get an offer then hopefully i'll feel better. And then I got accepted to a program, I was obviously happy but then I still felt really stressed: hmm maybe i'll feel better if I get into a program with xyz better things (funding and what not)... You get the idea. Will I ever celebrate? Or will the stress of existing crush the potential for celebration before we even know it?

I feel like my close friends/family are more excited than i am. I haven't really celebrated besides going out for a casual meal. It really didn't feel celebratory...seems like the stress of life keeps on coming and leaving me no time for celebration ?

I am not qualify to give any advice, but I would go for the cheaper one... can always transfer, worse to worse

My fellow comparatists: as we search for or trying to decide which program to apply/ attend, can someone comment on which programs tend to be more theory focus (rather than literature focus)? I know that this is not black and white, but I am curious to know what everyone thinks.