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mandelbulb

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Everything posted by mandelbulb

  1. part of me appreciates it. at least i know it wasn't XYZ that kept me from being competitive and if i hadn't been accepted elsewhere, i'd know what to spend the most time improving. on the other hand, clearly my application was competitive enough, so it just goes back to the whole subjectivity thing.
  2. ucsd! it’s a drag i hate the sun though
  3. ha. i don’t wanna be the one!! the first person who decided should go for it
  4. do we not have a decisions thread yet?
  5. seconding @kendalldinniene try to have lunch with a current student, sit in on a class, try to schedule a few meetings with faculty you’re interested in working with
  6. additional UC Davis intel: the DGS submitted all admission decisions yesterday in the application system so it's now up to the grad studies department to finalize and issue official letters. we should probably receive those in the next week.
  7. you have three choices. the one-year MA in ireland, the two-year MA in boston, and waiting another year and reapplying. if you're intending to do a PhD after the MA, here are some thoughts: the second option will leave you with probably more loans (i'm assuming based on cost of living in boston for two years alone would require a lot of money) or less time if you seek another income to support yourself so you don't have to take out loans. likely, though, you'll be able to make connections with your professors and really grow as a scholar in that time. your application will be strengthened just because of those two factors, but you'll still have to put in quite a bit of time strengthening your writing sample and statement, regardless if your letters are stellar. the first option means you get to live in an awesome place, but the room to grow as a scholar will probably feel a little claustrophobic. there has also been discussions of some european professors writing great letters that don't necessarily translate to US sensibilities, so the letters may not come across as strong as they are--also you won't have a lot of time to really ground your relationship with these professors in only a year. it'll be difficult to study in an intense one-year program, foster good working relationships with potential letter writers, and also strengthen your application. the third option will leave you with the most money to apply next year and likely more time to strengthen your application. will the loans be worth the cool location and intense nature of a one-year program in comparison to the loans you'd have to take out to attend the two-year MA that builds in time for strengthening your scholarship and building good relationships with professors? or would a break after the intense one-year MA make those all moot points because you'd take out less loans and also have time to strengthen your application on your own afterwards? if you're not intending to apply for PhDs after, then i'd say the one year MA program is your best bet (if the cost is less). if you're intending to continue onto a PhD, then i think applying again next year would be the better choice. tl;dr follow the money.
  8. as someone who completed a fully funded MA recently, i can't imagine doing it without a stipend and being as successful without becoming a mean, bitter asshat of a person working way too many hours and drinking way too much coffee and tequila.
  9. if you have the money, i'd encourage you to go if you want to be able to compare them on equal footing. it's nearly impossible to catch the vibe or feel of the school through description or a current grad student who's being completely transparent imo.
  10. i feel like my experience is a little different than what i'm seeing here, so i thought i'd share. i've only had one visit. i really studied the website and the PhD handbook, learned from someone who went ahead of the visit day, reached out to a current grad student in the program with a few spare questions i had, and grilled someone who went there for undergrad who reached out to me from here. a lot of the information relayed during the visit was something i'd already guessed because that's just grad school or stuff i'd learned already through my own anxiety-reducing research/interrogations. the two questions i asked specifically for the current grad students were about their relationship with their cohort and what their teaching loads looked like. so the visit for me wasn't information overload at all and i quite enjoyed my time. it was only a day, though, and i wish i would've planned to have just a day to explore the city a little bit and get a feel for how my life could be outside of the program. for me, it was pretty laid back. i enjoyed my time away from work/real life. i liked the long walking tour of the campus under the warm sun. i enjoyed the conversations i had with professors as i tried to get a feel for how it'd be like to visit their office hours. i didn't spend a whole lot of time socializing or smiling too much, but that's also just me lol i was also reimbursed within about two weeks, which was way beyond what i expected.
  11. i move to enact a march 15th deadline for all initial offers and rejections............................. and then an april 15th deadline for subsequent offers. please just put us out of our misery.
  12. i also emailed davis again. this time more pointedly to the DGS.
  13. i asked if any travel reimbursement was being offered it's totally normal to ask, though it's pretty all over the board how much each program will give you.
  14. this just goes to show how little difference there is between the students who were offered acceptance first and those who are waitlisted. both groups of students are wanted or they would've rejected you. this is also why no one should feel like an imposter if they're accepted off the waitlist. they wouldn't have accepted you if you were lesser in any way.
  15. @hgtvdeathdrive @Bopie5 no one has at least reported a late breaking acceptance but doesn't mean it didn't happen. also, i don't see any waitlist notifications on the board for this year when generally those have gone out. keep in mind, their website says they made 26 offers last year when on the board it seems only 3 people reported their acceptance... so there's a lot that's missing. it's not over until it's over, but if it is over, hopefully that can be soon lol
  16. they notified rejections last year so much earlier. i wonder what's been the hold up this year?
  17. @hgtvdeathdrive i emailed my POI last week and they forwarded it to the DGS... who has not responded. i also called probably two weeks ago to ask about their timeline, and i was told that admissions were rolling until april 15th. so i've got nothing really lol
  18. fit isn't only about research; it's also about having access to a lifestyle that will allow you to thrive. funding is definitely entangled with fit for me. what do you really need in order to get the most out of your program? is it a really close research fit? or is it a better financial situation that'll allow you the freedom from stressing about money to really engage with your coursework and your professors? what is it that you want to accomplish outside of your coursework in your program and will that be feasible (such as attending conferences)?
  19. i didn't personally make this move, but i have a friend who did an MA in philosophy and then did an MA in english. their experience was that they were particularly strong in regards to theory and critical thinking, but that applying theory to text was difficult because they hadn't had much practice. that said, they were pretty brilliant. benefits/drawbacks are -- i'm imagining -- about the same as a philosophy PhD. a big commitment paired with less-than-stellar job prospects in academia afterwards. i think the real question is why do you feel drawn to a literature PhD after your time getting an MA in philosophy and theology?
  20. the bottom line is that there are fully funded masters programs and unless it’s necessary to go this year, it’s usually a wider financial decision to just apply again the next year (unless you’re personally wealthy). there’s no program an maph from chicago will get you into that people don’t already get into without having an ma at all.
  21. i admire how much you're carefully considering your options i think these thoughts and feelings are normal for those of us who are attempting to choose between two programs that both feel like they could be good for us. at some point, it is splitting hairs. i hope someone can offer you more insight into these particular programs though! however, i did want to comment on you feeling like you don't know how to advocate for yourself. i feel strongly that - especially in grad school - it's an important asset to know you're fighting for yourself and no one is going to do that for you. if you feel like visiting would help clarify, reach out to the DGS and explain that you're attempting to make a decision between them and another program and that you've been offered to visit there. what can they do to help you visit? since finances is a barrier, can they reimburse you for part of the flight? can they put you up? some things you have to ask for, which shouldn't have to be the standard practice, but you get nothing if you ask for nothing.
  22. @kendalldinniene and @Matthew3957 biggest congrats. i’m so happy for both of you!! well deserved. go celebrate!!
  23. i had to complete one of these for additional travel funds for a conference i wanted to attend. here are some things i said: - talked about the conference and the conference’s specific mission. - wrote about how this conference is the perfect venue for growing my research ideas. also mentioned that the mixture of attendees will offer new perspectives on my research. offered that it can help me stenthen my paper and help me pursue publication for the paper. - talked about what other presentations happening at the conference (if you don’t know that yet, maybe just talk about the keynote speaker and check out past panels and presentations) that relate to my research and would help me further my thinking. also posed the possibility of networking.
  24. you could also check out brown modern culture and media. unfortunately, i’m not sure about the particulars of the strength of these programs or how well-regarded they are within interdisciplinary studies. sorry i can’t be more helpful!
  25. @wildsurmise student loans go back into deferral when you're in school, so you don't have to pay on them while you're attending grad school. if you do get tuition remission, then you won't really be going into further debt by going. you may want to see if there's any campus jobs you could take that'd be flexible with your courseload?
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