wanderlust07

"We suggest you find another place to do good."

MoJingly, although I generally worship you as a goddess of the fora, in this case Idek what you're on about. It is clear that the OP is correct in every respect. Furthermore, ^

Houston is the only city in which I ever broken a lease in order to get the hell out. Sorry. I can see how it would really suit some people, but I am a pretty liberal, outdoorsy person, and I had a number of beefs. I lived in the Museum District (renting a quite nice townhouse with several others). Cost of living is very low in Houston, which is good. This includes, rent, food, gas, etc. It also has amazing Mexican food and barbecue. Houston has some public transit, but is really only doable with a car, I would say. i never really felt unsafe, although I wouldn't do downtown proper at night without at least a small group of people. Downs: It took me an hour, ONE WAY, to get to a park that didn't have a golf course in it. This park was flat as a pancake. I went stir crazy. The pollution is also pretty bad and had a tendency to kick up my asthma. Traffic does suck. A half hour commute in rush hour is considered short. Every city has its quirky relationship to the laws of traffic. In Houston, people very politely don't block the intersection on a yellow or red light, make sure to drive the speed limit on Sunday mornings (really, they drove noticeably slower), but didn't have any problem turning illegally into the far lane EVERY time or --while stopped at a red light-- opening the door to dump trash by the side of the road. Further, heavy constant rain causes frequent flooding on many major roads (because Houston is cleverly built in a bayou), including freeway offramps (usually in hurricane season). This is considered an acceptable excuse not to go to work. My car once floated down a street. It was also once ticketed when parked in front of my own house. You will be assumed to be Protestant. Even at your place of business. I had a hard time getting a recycling bin at all, and curbside recycling of glass (because what college age person needs to recycle bottles?) was unavailable.

I love that tonight I am going to a "grading party," because the people in my program totally get that sometimes facing student essays requires pizza and communal support. This will also raise student grades. I love that one of my struggling students sat in my office for half an hour last week going over his first draft and insisting that my (required) comp. course is important to him, even though he's working 20+ hours a week to pay for school. I love that even though my health sucks this quarter, my advisor is more worried about my ability to get the care I need than my ability to turn in my papers. I also love that she's genuinely pleased about my admission to another program for next year, even if it means I have to leave. I love that I can watch crazy, surreal, batshit insane German cinema and call it "homework." Ditto for indulging in long, jolly Trollopean novels and campy scifi shows.

I think you might be surprised by how many applicants DON'T tailor their SOPs to specific schools very well... That said, you do want to best those fellow applicants who DO. I agree with Mr. Tea (nice handle btw) that you should feel free to address resources in and around the department. These might include (in my field, at least), specific archives, lecture series, student/faculty reading groups, journals, consistent funding for important conferences in your subfield, groups/activities that indicate like-minded people (that's kind of vague, so for example I do a lot queer theory and disability study. This means I'm interested in evidence that the campus and department are LGBTQ friendly, equal access, etc. This could include anything from social groups to film series to interdepartmental research groups). I also looked around for things like interdisciplinary certificates or the chance to do interdisciplinary coursework (since a lot of my work bounces out of the English department and into places like Philosophy, Women's and Gender Studies, etc). I wouldn't necessarily be afraid of saying something like "faculty at Awesome U are doing research in X interesting subfield." As long as you are being focused about your interests and paying attention to the nuances of theirs, I think they prefer direct and to the point (I would after reading a couple hundred of these things) rather than hunting for flowery phrases. Yes, they know what they research, but they still need to know that YOU know, and that that's why you're interested. If you're worried about looking presumptuous, you could try phrasing your connection to their work in terms of their helping your (further) explore X, etc. If you are not doing exactly the same thing as they are, they will hopefully be as excited as you to welcome fresh ideas. If you've done your homework, a close alignment of your interest with numerous faculty can open surprising doors. This is especially true if your writing sample showcases the areas of interest you name (I speak from pleasantly surprised experience). I chose not to name specific faculty (I am not sure if that was the right move or not, and you'll see varying opinions here). My two cents on tone is to let your enthusiasm for your own work and their program be clear without crossing the line into creepy/excessive fangirling.

Shot in the dark (from another discipline): if this is a 2 yr program, is it possible one/both of them will be on sabbatical during your time there, and they split the time between them? I currently have one formal advisor and a couple more unofficial ones for various purposes and fields. I wasn't assigned an official one at all until several months into the program (we n00bs all shared the DGS for a bit). Do you have some sort of split specialty that would benefit from two advisors? I really wouldn't worry, though. In my experience, as long as you have faculty you feel comfortable talking to openly, and you can get an occasional signature, the official advisor is sort of a formality (again, this may be field specific).

crop circle

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw. *spins in desk chair*

"On the other hand" used to transition when one has not already used "On the one hand." They come as a set...

If there had been options for "completely baffled" of "humbly propitiating" I would have picked one of those.

No idea if it varies by department (I kind of doubt it), but I received an invite via email to a department recruitment weekend, and my wolverine access page is the same as it has ever been (link for "application status" that doesn't actually take me anywhere involving a "status")...All the info. I've received since has come straight from the department. Sorry.

THIS. Also shutter vs. shudder. *twitch*

My current one from students is eliminating the -ed on the adjectival form of "bias": This source is bias, because... (cue twitch). I also dislike wandering commas. Students frequently drop, for example, the comma that should help join two independent clauses. It then mysteriously appears on ONE SIDE (why?) of a non-restrictive element or as a comma splice. Another pet peeve is people attempting to begin or end a quotation with ellipses directly inside the quotation mark. I just...the quotation mark means it's an excerpt!! What do you think it's doing? The little dots do not tell the reader anything new. In vain I try to convey this information. I could go on (perhaps because I'm staring at a stack of essays).

I will also be there toward the end of March, for the better part of a week.

dead ringer

Ha. Indeed, all of my sports spectatorship has been confined to the Pac10 and Mizzou, which are perhaps their own brand of crazy. I'm not generally in places where the hockey ends in anything other than slaughter...

Really, I just prefer not to commit sight unseen, no matter how thrilled I am by the offer. I can't imagine that I would receive a better offer in my field or subfield than U-M, but I do prefer to get a feel for the department and campus in person before agreeing to spend the next 6 years of my life in Ann Arbor (or anywhere else). re. football and undergrads....eh. Calling U-M home to raucous football fans is sort of synonymous with calling it a Big 10 school. I am now adding "far from the stadium" to my list of apartment criteria to avoid the home game effect on my work, but other than that, it's impact at the grad level is really pretty minimal. I don't know if it's true of Ann Arbor, but a strong athletic program can give a town a very cohesive, close-knit feel. (or a creepy Stepford one...)

Seriously contemplating as I wait for the remaining chips to fall. But you knew that I will be attending my department's recruitment week in late March.

feather touch

show boat

All quiet on the western front. As my dear, departed grandmother used to say, "Well, shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit."

Whether or not a school in English can admit you off of their waitlist may well depend on your subfield (and whether someone in it gives up his/her spot)--this means the waitlist might not be ranked if the school is looking for a loose grouping of subfields or wants to strengthen one in particular this year. I also feel obliged to point out that -- aside from wannabe's excellent point that many of these students are likely to have more than one appealing offer -- these students are unlikely to be making this decision based on something like "Ivy" vs. "not Ivy" which really says a lot less in English than an institution's reputation, placement record, research resources or publishing history, etc. in any given subfield. If another school is a better fit -- ivy or not -- a student will withdraw the application, leaving you a spot. If your schools all share the April 15th deadline, you'll know if you have a spot by the decision deadline anyway...

Yes! This is, in fact, a fact I wish I did not know...

shotgun wedding

If you are quite certain School B is out of the running (ie their fellowship and warmth, even combined with a disastrous visit to School A could never sway you), it is quite permissible and IMO courteous to them and other candidates to let them know you are respectfully withdrawing your application. This can be phrased without presuming a pending offer.