sacklunch

Good luck! I think that's how we all feel about our programs. I waver between feeling like I totally belong at ND and feeling like they probably let me in on accident.

And thanks to jdmhotness. My hope is that we'll all get in where we want.

Ah, culture shock and clash, but in reverse this time (well from my perspective anyways). Have you tried talking to your roommate and explaining your situation, perspectives, and feelings? What you read as one thing may be understood by her as another. For example, what you viewed as "a good chance for them to have private time," they perceived as you being lost due to unfamiliarity with life in America; both of these are exceptionally reasonable given the different contexts. Bottling up those different readings, or misreadings, will only adversely color your interpretation of other things. Ultimately, the best way to adapt to living in the US with Americans is to not worry so much. The misunderstandings, miscommunication, and misinterpretations are expected. Many people, not just Americans, will overlook many social or cultural blunders if you demonstrate humbleness and a willingness learn from your mistakes.

-Shi Wei (美國華裔/越裔)

PS: 你也不用有這麼嚴格的態度。 大部分的留學生都碰到這種的文化差別的問題。 只要你放鬆，什麼都慢慢地懂。 加油！

Well said. If I don't get a job after 15+ years of school then oh well? It's worth the risk, I think.

Indeed. I suspect you will be just fine, LateAntique!

I promised myself going into this that if I wasn't okay with teaching high school (or something else), I wouldn't do the Ph.D. Part of me thinks, "I'm here because I want to learn more and because it's interesting." Then I look at student loans and think, "I'm going to need to pay these at some point." At any rate, things have worked out thus far, so I'm sure they'll continue to.

To be honest, the immediate financial future is more on my mind than the long term prospects. I would go to a second tier school with reasonable funding before I would attend a poorly funded top tier program. Thankfully, at the PhD level, program strength and funding seem to correlate well enough. As far as the long term prospects go, I'm pretty unconcerned. If the nice tenure-track positions don't work out, private high schools might be an attractive option. If teaching doesn't work out at all, I'll just finally get a real job like the rest of the world and read Greek in the evenings. Academia is such a imprudent career choice that once I started on this track, I just stopped worrying about it.

Well said. If I don't get a job after 15+ years of school then oh well? It's worth the risk, I think.

Hello everyone (first post)

I am a senior in Sociology at the University of Illinois. The sociology program here does not require us to have a specialization but I am focusing on cultural aspects of immigration and globalization. I am debating with my girlfriend about the prospects of entering a MA program at one school before I enter a Ph.D program in a larger area. Prior to my decision, her professor remarked how his wife obtained her MA at one school and was not able to find another school willing to admit her into a Ph.D program because "they want someone to teach classes for free." Is there any truth to this statement, or is it just a one-off anecdote? tl;dr I want to enter a MA program before my Ph.D at two seperate universities. Is this more difficult than just going for a Ph.D at one university?

Thanks

One application to rule them all....

You might consider a postbacc program somewhere to give potential schools an indication of your new drive. Another option is finishing another BA at a different school?

I don't have any first hand experience with the main campus, but I have taken a class at their Boston campus, and honestly, was extremely disappointed. But I have heard their main campus has a lot more "academic" folks, while the Boston campus is mainly geared toward ministry. Could have just been a fluke, though? - BC student.

Well, it's about that time. Some of the early apps are due soon, so here's the thread to share in the anguish, the stress, the disappointments and even a few celebrations to come....

Not sure how this relates to graduate school.

Not sure how this relates to graduate school.

Not sure how this relates to graduate school.

Looking for defiant students in Los Angeles who are articulate, eager to express their thoughts to media, and believe their school is run like a prison. We are a publicity firm attempting to undermine schools by drawing attention to its primary focus of discipline over education. Participating students could get local, regional, and possibly even national attention. If you are interested, please email us at darren@popculturepr.com along with a sentence or two about what message you would most like to get across.

Not sure how this relates to graduate school.

Obviously there are other factors that go into getting accepted into a great Div school besides GPA. If it helps, I was denied at Harvard (twice - once from UG and once as a transfer) with a 3.75 cum. and a 3.9 major (theo/phil double major). It seems sort of hit or miss. I applied for the biblical studies focus twice, and from what I heard that field is fairly competitive at HDS.

good luck.

Do it anyway.

It's mainly for the DGS (director of grad studies) to see where they stand against other programs as a program, not trying to figure out if the applicant is really going to go elsewhere "better" or has "better fit". In other words, it's for records.

Professors are more likely to find out about your application to other schools through word of the mouth, especially if it's a VERY small field.

Those are a pretty diverse group of interests . I would consider doing a post-bac, if possible, and looking into specific school minimum GPA requirements.

They don't fund everyone, no, at least not first semester. I know multiple MA students who got funding at SLU, tuition remission plus either full or half stipend. What subfield are you aiming at? They are, I suspect, more likely to fund HT people due to that being the PhD program focus. A couple of PhD people I know started there with no funding, and the department was able to obtain it for them by the second semester, so there's that, too. The dept does control funding, it's not linked solely to GRE scores, so if your writing sample is really great you might be in luck. But you'd most likely get in, regardless.

If you are looking to stay in the Midwest, what about UChicago or one of the seminaries there? (Also Marquette, but Marquette is horrible for funding, and rude about it to boot). If money is more of an issue than geography, I was offered a relatively decent aid package as an MA applicant at the GTU (California), so you could look into that. Otherwise you can look through older threads to get an idea of what schools offer M* students funding.

Good to hear, Sparky. One of my roommates (who also went to SLU UG) got into their MA program with no funding. It was odd since she got into HDS, BC, ect, all with full funding offers. Perhaps things change year to year?

I was also offered a very generous funding package from GTU. Not only do they seem to give good funding, but their tuition is much cheaper than the other schools listed.

That's because in this case, there's a general trend that backs the elitism. The majority of students from top-10 or top-20 schools are much, much better prepared for graduate school than the majority of students at a second tier state college. Admissions committees know this.

They also know that just because the majority of students at an institution are better or worse doesn't mean that the individual student applying from that school might be better or worse than the average. There are plenty of cases of exceptional students form second tier state schools, and less-than-inspiring students from top tier schools.

Going with the educational trends isn't "conservative", it's a smart gamble if you need some way to sort things out.

<p>also, the html on this website can suck my nonexistent balls. for eff's sake.</p>
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This is an excellent point, one that I haven't yet heard. I guess that's one of the few benefits, besides reduced cost, of attending a small, non-elite university.

Then again, while talking to my adviser about graduate school, she mentioned that four or five other students had talked to her about graduate school (in English) in the same week. I thought, "Four or five other students? . . .the fuck?" I come from a small university of <3500 students or so, so four or five other English majors applying to graduate school is a major event.

More competition. . .damn.

I've definitely had experiences like that, but I'm so scared that when I present what I believe to be an awesome, original paper, I'll find out that it's actually old news. It's like that scene in the 1992 film Candyman when the grad student protagonist discusses her thesis with her (very smug) adviser, and he says, "Oh yes? Well you really must read the paper I wrote on that topic ten years ago." Cut to grad student's crestfallen face as she struggles to hide her embarrassment. I'm expecting that to happen to me, again and again with every application.