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havemybloodchild

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Posts posted by havemybloodchild

  1. Hello!

    I would definitely apply this year if I were you. I don’t think schools expect BA applicants to have much under their belts experience-wise. Your GPA seems fine. I wonder if you have a professor who would be willing to work with you on refining your WS and/or SoP? Or several? That experience alone might strengthen their abilities regarding writing rec letters. 

    It doesn’t seem like BA applicants are expected to have publications or presentation experience so I personally would just apply straight to MAs and PhDs, unless you’re not sure what you’d like to focus on, in which case is just apply to MAs.

     

    As far as addressing the past...I went to four different schools over fifteen years before I finally got my BA. I didn’t address it. Granted I didn’t get into any top tens. I do wish now that I would have mentioned how that experience impacted my research, but IMO it’s hard to talk about the past without sort of infantilizing yourself, when you really want to present the most polished and developed version of yourself as a scholar. I think one thing to note is that having a non traditional trajectory towards graduate school can be a good thing- it means you’re potentially contributing to the diversity of a department.

    I think the most crucial indicator of how your past has served you is really the quality of your SoP and WS. So I’d focus on them, rather than on trying to explain what is a trying time for honestly most students.

    Good luck!

  2. 1 hour ago, Bopie5 said:

    Random Q--in the past 6 months or so, I've gotten 10 poems published, which is super exciting! But now I'm not really sure how to organize them on my CV, because some of them were published in monthly issues of journals (e.g. May 2019) and some were published in "season" issues (Spring 2019), which makes organizing by date a little complex. 

    Should I organize them on my CV by:

    1) Publishing date (Most recently published to oldest published) (If so, how do I order month issues vs season issues?)

    2) Acceptance date (Most recently accepted to oldest accepted)

    3) Alphabetical by poem title

    Anyone have thoughts, advice, or experience here?

    I list mine by publication date ??‍♀️

  3. 1 hour ago, MetaphysicalDrama said:

    The real kick is saying that you're studying to be a doctor and seeing the heads that turn when you clarify it's a doctorate in literature. 

    My family is pretty anti-intellectual so it's been fun seeing their "that's not a real doctor/you're a cog in the liberal indoctrination machine" instincts clash with their very real pride and excitement for me ?

  4. 1 hour ago, illcounsel said:

    I heard they will be sliding into instagram dms !!!! (For real though, I hope they choose you!! Their early modern faculty is wonderful and a definite strength in the department)

    How long before there is just some kind of grad school Tinder where you super like all your fave schools and they laugh with their friends at you as they swipe a hard left?

  5. 10 minutes ago, CatBowl said:

    Yes, yes, 100 times yes. My mom saved a note in her phone so that she can pull it out when people ask what I'll be studying. I started by telling her "20th and 21st century American lit and ecocriticism," which turned into "20th and 21st century American lit," which turned into "American lit," which has now turned into "English." Let's just keep this simple. I find it so funny!

    HAHAHA

    My dad remembered the word "Chicanx" today (I was so proud), but when the person he was talking to didn't know what that meant and asked, my dad did a big sigh and was like "please don't ask me that.  It's just book stuff."

  6. @tacocat211 that's awesome news!  It's going to go great!

     

    On another note, anyone else struck by how funny it is that this one thing has been so all-consuming for you for so long, but no one else in your life (or maybe mostly no one else) really gets exactly what the hell you're on about?  Listening to my parents try to tell people what I'll be studying is always a hilarious reality check.

  7. Maybe this isn't relevant, but one of the things that swayed me to SMU was how dedicated the department is to growing its prestige.  The resources they offer students are unmatched anywhere else, IMO.  They want their students producing the best possible work, for the university as well as for themselves.  I personally believe that this mission of theirs means they are and will be much more invested in my finding a job than other schools may be.  Furthermore, while right now their placements are mainly in TX, they have previously mostly recruited students from TX, so it's likely many folks are not entering the job market upon graduation.  According to their new recruitment head, the school is actively looking to diversify its incoming cohorts.  I believe this means I have a good chance of getting support from the school when I do enter the job market with an eye to getting placed outside the region. 

    In short, the school may not be quite where I want it right now, but they are actively committed (or at least seem to be) to moving in that direction, and I believe my success will be viewed as a part of that movement- good for the school.  All I'm trying to say here is that there are so many more things to consider than just current ranking.  

     

    However, as @rhetoricus aesalon 's comment reaffirms for me, the market is in general shite.  We know there are many good candidates not getting jobs offers.  This is just the reality.  So I don't blame anyone for going with the top ranked program they get into.  We all have to do whatever we can to try to make ourselves as competitive as possible.

  8. 1 hour ago, Lowe said:

    @kendalldinniene

     

    i never thought about the funding differences between private vs public. I need to look into that. 

    I fell in love with the faculty and the place for the public school so I’m feeling down because everyone seems to be pushing for the more prestigious one (I’m still keeping an open mind). 

    I think if you're throwing the "L" word around you might be pretty close to a decision ;)  At the end of the day this is the next x number of years of your life, and I think you should trust your gut.  It's obviously done well by you so far. 

  9. I just chose a program ranked at 108, so I’d also like to see responses from folks who did this.

    One thing I will say regarding private v public- personally I’m very happy to be going to a private school. My time working in student gov in Oregon in undergrad showed me just how effed up state funding can be. I think private funding is a bit safer and perhaps more likely to have COL increases. This is just my hunch though.

    Congrats on your acceptances!

  10. So glad to see this thread! I have so many books and I’m not willing to part with...any of them. I was planning on renting a trailer and towing it but I’ll look into media mail- may save me some $$$ since without the books I probably wouldn’t even need a trailer.

  11. 10 hours ago, kendalldinniene said:

    Just sent an email to Loyola asking about negotiating funding, and let me tell you after years, honestly, of begging the gods to get into a program it felt INCREDIBLY awkward to essentially say thanks so much but you can you give me some more, please? I hope he responds quickly so I don't have too much time to re-read the email and sweat about it.

    Just FYI for future students, there’s no room for negotiating funding at Loyola besides a possible additional first year fellowship.

  12. I’ll say my convos with grad students have really helped. I’ve also reached out to a recent grad to ask about their experience in school and on the job market. 

    My main stressor besides my waitlist sitch at BU is that my folks, who bless them but they don’t know jack about my field, how grad school works in the humanities, what the job market is like, etc, keep bugging me to make the decision they want me to. They even talked to my little brother about it to try to get him to persuade me. Dude. I’m 31. W T F. It’s so frustrating to have the additional pressure. Also it’s kind of taking the joy out of my offers for me. I don’t want to have to justify my feelings or explain things-this is my life. Worse still (because apparently some part of my is 14 years old), the decision they want me to make is the one I’m leaning to anyway. But the petulant teen in me doesn’t want to acquiesce to their BS, haha. Regardless I think I know what I’m going to do, which is great. 

    I didn’t know how stressful this part would be. I think once I do accept an offer though, I’ll start to feel the excitement.

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