hopefulwoolfian
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Posts posted by hopefulwoolfian
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Thank you! Now just to find a place to live. I'm checking Craigslist and panicking that I won't be able to find a place.
Most stuff begins going on the market the first of June. It's an aggressive market for sure, but it can be done without completely losing your mind and you have some time.
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Officially going to be a Tufts Elephant! That sounds so silly, but YEAH!!!!!
Technically a Tufts Jumbo, which sounds even sillier. Welcome!
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I know in my program, at least, the students that come in with BAs have to take a Master's Exam and pass a language exam before getting their MA. The ones with MAs get to skip the exam and start teaching earlier, as they have a year less funding. Not finishing your MA may mean more work and requirements for you in the PhD program, and possibly with less time due to funding.
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Hello! I'm currently at Tufts and was in the same position when I applied- put on the waitlist, rejected that year, and then accepted the year after. Feel free to PM me with any questions about the program and the waitlist (I don't have any insider info about the admissions process, but I'm happy to talk about the program and my experience
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*waves* I'm at Tufts and while I'm not going to be submitting to this conference because it's too far outside of my area of interest, I've been to two of these in my time here and they're always a great, interesting discussion and event!
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Ditto to what everyone else has said. I took 2 years between my BA and going back for a Ph.D and it was no problem. I have a friend who worked five years in publishing in between her MA and the Ph.D. What matters is how strong an applicant you are coming in.
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A (PhD student) friend joked that I might have to work in a pizzeria to take care of rent and all, but I'm wondering if that might actually be a reality. I would hope to find teaching positions within my university or nearby community colleges, but I was wondering what others (plan to) do in their first summer, and whether that affects their housing decisions.
In my area, yes, that's a reality, especially if you're in your first couple of years (the one or two summer teaching positions and summer funding goes to the more advanced students). Some people save up enough from their stipends to make it through the summer, but I have members of my cohort who work retail or in the library to make ends meet. Personally, I'll be freelance editing this summer, which is more attractive, but I'm constantly worried about making enough money to get myself through the summer.
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Hello!
Just wanted to reach out to those of you considering Tufts and say that you should PM me with questions about the program! I'm a second-year there and vividly remember the hell of application season (was waitlisted the first try, got in the second. Tufts at least has stellar communication if you're waitlisted, I must say). I know nothing about the timing of application decisions, but I can definitely answer questions about what Tufts is like.
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Bumping this thread to ask a different question: has anyone been waitlisted and rejected one year and accepted the next? I was waitlisted last season at my dream school and hope (sooooo badly) to have better luck this time around. Success stories appreciated.
Yes, this happened to me. I was waitlisted, rejected, and then accepted the next go-around. I revamped my SoP and writing sample a ton. In my case, I found out later that the biggest reason they didn't take me was that my POI had just failed to get tenure and was in the process of leaving, so they had no one working in my specialty. By the next year they had hired a new British Modernist, so they had somewhere to put me. So keep in mind that sometimes the rejection has very little to do with your qualifications and a lot to do with departmental issues we don't see. That being said, do work on your SoP and writing sample, because being a more competitive applicant can never hurt.
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Hi everyone,
I'm currently in my first year at Tufts (and completely remember the madness of being where you are now last year!), so I thought I'd tell people to send me a PM if you have any questions about the program. I unfortunately know nothing about the timing of decisions, but I'd be happy to answer questions about the program itself.
Best of luck to everyone during this horrible time. I suggest lots of walks to avoid the inevitable refreshing (and refreshing.... and refreshing...) of the results page.
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I attend Tufts and it's really great in terms of teaching. The first year is a fellowship year (which is where I'm at now) with no teaching while you get used to coursework. You serve as a TA and take a pedagogy course for the first semester of your second year to get you used to teaching, with additional mentoring over the next summer. Then starting in the beginning of your third year you teach one section of basic writing a semester. It's capped at 10 students and I've been told you have a lot of leeway to design your own course. I haven't started my teaching yet, but all the more advanced grad students say that it's really supportive- you can always go to faculty to get advice, but they don't hold your hand or force you to teach a certain way.
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I don't remember if she does much ethnic American lit, but have you checked out Cathy Carruth at Cornell?
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I found this community right at the end of my unsuccessful application season last year... just in time to start checking the results boards obsessively
. I don't post a huge amount, but I've gotten a lot of wisdom from the previous posts. I'm so glad this resource exists; it was extremely helpful for me this time around and it was so good to commiserate with others when my RL friends and boyfriend got tired of hearing me obsess over the wait. I'm so happy for the people that have found a spot this time, and those who didn't shouldn't give up- I've been there! I'm planning on sticking around, because I know everyone needs support during this hellish process! -
Any modernists who might still be waiting on UMD- I got offered a surprise MA/PhD funded spot today (considering they told me I only got the unfunded MA, it was quite the shock), but I'm already committed to Tufts, so I'll be turning it down tomorrow. I hope it goes to a GCer!
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If anyone is still waiting on Notre Dame, I got an unexpected waitlist e-mail from there this morning. They didn't BCC (classy!), so it looks like there are ten people in the running. I'm already going to Tufts, so I'll be taking myself out of consideration. I'm a little annoyed to find this out the day before the 15th, but Tufts is a better fit for me, so it's okay (though my Catholic grandma may be sad I'm not going!). Hope this helps someone!
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I met a grad student who did his MA at CUNY. He said it was very difficult to make ends meet teaching there and they threw him into teaching two 35-person classes after a week of orientation. He finished his MA there, but took a PhD offer somewhere else because of the difficulty of balancing teaching requirements, working non-university jobs to afford the cost of living in NYC, and his classwork. I got the feeling from him that the academics there were great but it was severely hindered by the crazy teaching conditions/lack of stable funding. It did get him a funded offer at a PhD program, however.
From my own personal experience, I declined an unfunded MA from NYU last year because I didn't want to go into debt for an MA. I worked very hard on my reapplication and got a funded PhD offer this year. Waiting another year did suck, but it put me in a much, much better place. So it's definitely possible to recover from a bad season!
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Thank you! I had to read the email a few times before I could believe it.
Good luck to everyone. I feel like a living reminder that perseverance and hard work really can pay off! I had such a terrible application season last year, and such an excellent one this year. Don't give up if you really want it.
Congrats, Tortola! That's so fantastic; and I know how good it must feel after a disappointing season.
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Repeats of what many people have already said, but I will not miss:
-My soul-sucking job (and having people look down on me both for taking the soul-sucking job because it was cushy and for complaining about the soul-sucking job. In this economy, I know I was lucky to find work, but it didn't change the fact that I disliked my job).
-Feeling like a failure because I didn't get into grad school (I'm a second-rounder. And I don't say this to imply that not getting into graduate school is something that should affect one's self-worth, but it did affect mine, even though I knew it shouldn't).
-Being semi-LDR with my boyfriend after I lost my soul-sucking job and had to move back in with my parents.
-Only feeling intellectually stimulated very rarely.
-The uncertainty of not knowing what the hell I'm doing (I expect this to make a healthy return partway through graduate school
).I will miss:
-Time to read whatever I want to read.
-My friends and family being close.
-My current location, especially the beautiful weather.
-Working at my internship in publishing, even though it's unpaid.
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Please advise me. How bad is it to turn down a funded offer if you begin to realize that your subfield might be too narrow or if you simply have grown less and less keen on the idea of a phd (especially in this economy) or if you do not want to relocate to a new city (or all of the aforementioned)? How bad does it look if you also got your ma from that same institution, given that there may be a desire to apply again to other schools in the future and you might need to turn again to your letter writers (imagining that you would not reapply to this same school again). My struggle with moving away from where I am currently living is contributing to my ambivalence, but certainly this struggle has more components to it than simply anticipating homesickness (death in the immediate family; impossible for my boyfriend to relocate with me; a host of other reasons). I am of course aware that I may never receive the great luck again of getting into a phd program. Any advice? More generally, anyone here ever turn down a funded offer with no other offers on the table that year? Wish to share your reason(s) as to why? Thanks.
I can't really speak to how badly it looks, but I've been advised by multiple people to not go for a PhD unless you are very sure it is something you want to do. Programs can be so difficult and isolating (again, not based on personal experience yet) that if you're having serious doubts already, it will only get worse. If it was only based on worries about moving away (though I do realize that is a very important factor), that would be less of a red flag, but if the PhD is definitely looking less attractive to you for academic reasons, you really might want to take some time to evaluate it, because it's going to be 5 to 7 years of your life. Is there any option to defer for a year?
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My mother is rather interesting...when I do something "right" (what she wants me to do), boy she can't wait to tell the whole world that HER daughter did this or that and HER daughter is so smart and talented and did she mention that she's my MOTHER? But I do something I want to do that doesn't line up with what she feels is right, I get told how dumb I am, how I have no common sense and instructed on how to do things "right." She hates her job so much (working with EKGs at the hospital) that she forced me to go to college so I would have a better life than her. Hell, she tried to discourage me from doing art until I got to high school when my art teacher told her to knock it off. Now she thinks me doing art is some kind of cash cow that will land me loads of money. Of course, I got back at her by picking an undergrad college six hours away. But that backfired when I found out that my first college was a diploma mill and some employers specifically will not hire grads from my last school because we are taught so badly.
I likely will need professional help because Mom's been training me to be obedient all my life. Screaming, passive-aggression, guilt trips, crying...basically making it sound like I'm causing her some kind of suffering by daring to stray from the path she has chosen for me. And she will not go to counseling because she feels she is doing what is best for me and therefore her behavior is justified and correct.
But honestly, I want to thank everyone for being supportive and offering constructive advice. Some folks I mentioned this to before have told me things like, "Just be grateful she's making you go!" and "Just get up and move out!" like it's the easiest thing in the world. It isn't. I know she has messed me up in the head very, very badly, and I do hope at some point I am able to get help. Not only to learn to break this cycle of mental abuse, but also so I don't turn out like her when I get older. My friends keep me sane, but I know I need a professional to listen and tell me how to reverse the damage that has been done as well as how to prevent further mental breakdown at her hands. I love my mom and I know she does a lot for me...but I wish she would just let me make my own choices. By the time I'm old enough to live my own life, I may be too infirm or too old or too in debt. At this rate, I can maybe look forward to lining my clothing with my diplomas while I live behind a dumpster.
Too bad I didn't major in psychology (which I did strongly consider)...I could give myself therapy.
My boyfriend's dad is rather similar- only wants him to get a PhD, despite the fact that he's happier (and making more money!) working for industry. As a pretty passive person, I know how hard it is to stand up for yourself- I am a people-pleaser that avoids conflict at all costs. Perhaps you can take a more roundabout way? Don't tell your mother that you don't want to get an MFA, present it as wanting to work a few years so that you'll be not burned out and more committed to school when you eventually go. Then once you get a job and the ability to move out (and I know that's much easier said then done, both due to the economy and the hold your mother has on you), you can freely decide not to go, without it being tied to your housing and financial stability. Making a stand is a great idea in theory, but in this situation doing it quietly and gradually can be more to your advantage (and less scary. And there is no shame in taking baby steps
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I will most likely be accepting Tufts (or maybe Loyola Chicago if I get off the waitlist; conflicted right now). So to anyone waiting on a funded offer from Temple, I'll be declining them this week. I'll also be declining a most-likely-funded MA offer from Kentucky. I also declined an offer at American and will be declining Maryland, but they are unfunded MA spots, so not sure what the waitlist situation is.
Best of luck to everyone! I was in waitlist-Hell last round, so I completely know what you're all going through.
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I just got informed via post that I've been waitlisted. Surprised as hell, as I wasn't invited to the visit weekend. I'm not particularly hopeful about getting in, but it's nice. It also nicely complicates things, as I was planning on accepting Tufts next week (Tufts is a better school/more funding, but working with Pamela Caughie would be awesome). And I know they're lucky complications to have!
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Beware the Ides of March?
Nice!
Yeah, NYU and Loyola Chicago are really the only programs I have left that could change my decision from Tufts if my visit this week goes well. I know I almost certainly didn't get into either (no visit weekend invites), but I want to be positive before I say yes. It's doubly annoying because Temple's trying to force a decision from me earlier than April 15, plus I know from last year how horrible it is to be waitlisted and want to decline offers as early as I can out of consideration for other people. So give me that no already, NYU, so I can put you out of my head!
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That link was very helpful! If I don't hear from Temple before the 18th about funding I will definitely consider politely requesting a bit more time from the other university as they are indeed part of the CGS.
Oh good, I hope it helps! This process is stressful enough without schools trying to force earlier deadlines.
Taxes
in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition
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I paid on my fellowship my first year and ended up paying something like $450 in taxes (partially because I have side income for the summer). Some others in my program didn't report their fellowship and turned out fine, but I didn't want to risk it (especially since I've messed up on my H&R Block form and the IRS came after me for an entire $5.00). This year, mostly because of the rent credit, I actually got a $350 refund, so make sure you're using that!