wreckofthehope

Last year, my acceptance came on the exact day that they had gone out the previous year (23rd Feb) - I'd imagine a similar date for this year, although the earlier than usual rejections could suggest otherwise, I don't know...

It's an interesting topic to consider... I'm a British student already in a program in the States and I've been slightly surprised by how very insular American academia is. I found that in the UK, my professors and fellow students were, for the most part, very engaged with scholarship from outside the country, particularly from elsewhere in Europe and from the States - I did, however, do my MA in a very international and interdisciplinary department (and my MA was not in English but in a sort of comp-litty interdisciplinary area so I imagine that will have shaped the way I experienced things). Here, I've been working in mostly American Lit, which again will be making a difference to how the lay of the land looks to me; the large size and vibrancy of the field in the States is probably part of the reason that it doesn't engage outside of itself that much... I find it odd and frustrating at times but I suppose it is not that surprising. Another thing that I think contributes is the inflexibility of the academic apparatus here - you can't work outside of the narrow field in which you do your dissertation without difficulty and then that narrowness is re-inscribed by a tenure process that doesn't reward risk - I think these things tend to close down the academic conversation a bit. But... I haven't been here long and these are only initial impressions, perhaps my perspective will change upon taking some more internationally oriented options (i.e. poco lit)?

Last year, I contacted faculty at one program before realizing that, contrary to the UK norm, it was actually really not required for US applications. I didn't get into that program. I was accepted elsewhere, having made no contact, and was also waitlisted at a couple of places, also having made no contact (I'll add a caveat here, which is that I was waitlisted at a Canadian university where I suspect it may actually have helped to have made contact as they seem to be slightly closer to the UK way of doing things...just to drop a small spanner in the works of our neatly delineated ayes and nays).

Not BC - the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis? I still get them all the time and I'm firmly ensconced in a program. They started after the GRE... I blame ETS and their amoral practices.

I find that the numbers on there are often kind of misleading. For my own program,for instance, it just gives a number that is approximately that of ALL the graduate students in the department without dividing them into Masters and PhD students (it also does this with admissions numbers)... just something to keep in mind if you're looking at a department that has a terminal MA program as well as a PhD program. EDIT: sorry, I was thinking of Peterson's... sorry for maligning you, phds.org!

I don't have any experience with that program particularly, but I can share what I know of the English department: It's a very respected department, always scores highly on research and teaching ratings; it's well known as a very left-leaning, highly theory oriented place, very 'intellectual' in that Continental Philo way. I know a lot of people who have studied there and absolutely loved it; my MA supervisor suggested it as a place for me to apply for the PhD, and I would have done so if I had wanted to stay in the UK, it's considered a very modern and forward thinking department.

When I applied for my MA in the UK, I sent in my app on a Monday and had an offer on the Wednesday. British universities have FAR fewer applications than those in the US and accept much larger percentages of people from the application pools. The quality of resources tends to be poorer at UK uni's outside the top ten (ish... and even then Oxford's resources, for example, don't compare with Harvard's). However, the standard of teaching and scholarship is pretty fantastic at most uni's in the top 30-40 in the UK. So, they might be less competitive to get into, numbers-wise, but you'll still be getting a quality education... as to whether a PhD from a UK uni will get much recognition if you want to teach in the US, that's a different story.

You'll make yourself crazy thinking like this! You can't take much away statistically from the results board - they're partial numbers at best. I've just looked up last year's results for the program I am in and they paint a much more positive picture than the actual numbers would give you: 15 applications, 2 acceptances and 13 rejections. Those numbers suggest an acceptance rate of 13% when I know the actual acceptance rate was around 5% ( was in that 5% and yet rejected from schools who accept 20%...). Departments' own statistic are, of course, more reliable but they don't really mean anything as a way of measuring your own chances -- your acceptances and rejections rest so much more on things that cannot be measured (i.e. the quality of your SOP in comparison to those of this year's application cohort) that it is almost pointless trying to predict your results. All this is much easier said than done, of course... but yeah... just try your hardest not to think about it

What about IT Uni in Copenhagen?! Or DTU? (not sure if they teach CS)

I'm not a big football supporter... but I come from North East London where The Hammers are omnipresent, so I suppose I'm a supporter by default... supporting anyone else (except maybe Leyton Orient) would be unconscionable!

Completely unrelated to your post, but: I kept thinking I was imagining a Hammers crest on this board out of some strangely manifested home sickness... but no... you actually do have a West Ham avatar. Where are you from?!

Conferences committees themselves often offer some, usually competitive, travel funding for students and/or non-tenured and/or part-time academics... maybe check if the conference you're attending has anything like this? I'm sorry.... I have no idea why I just totally ignored the part of your post where you said you were checking with the conference that you were attending...I'm so tired from writing papers my brain isn't working properly.

Ha - sorry to have inadvertently insulted your driving! Yeah - the D is great, and at Cleveland circle you can easily get that into town; I would love to live on the D, but finding apartments in a good price range is a lot more difficult as the neighbourhoods along the D are more family oriented and pricey. Living somewhere on the southern side of Beacon Street between Cleveland Circle and Washington Square (lots of nice roads behind Beacon Street) leaves you close enough to the D to make use of it for trips into town but also close enough to the amenities on Beacon. But it depends what kind of neighbourhood you're looking for... I'm a fully fledged adult in a long term relationship with many years of full-time work behind me, so I would prefer a less studenty environment. If you're younger, you'd probably enjoy Cleveland Circle more because it tends to be where a lot of BC grad students live their first year. Oh, and the student rate for a monthly T pass is around $49, I think (you have to buy them by the semester, rather than monthly and it's around $200+). I never get one as it doesn't seem to work out cheaper than paying per-ride for me but if you were planning on being in the city every day then it would be worth it.

I'm living in the Cleveland Circle area at the moment - it's great. Not the most aesthetically pleasing, but incredibly convenient for BC and great transport links. The T stops at around 1.30ish... or the last T arrives at Cleveland Circle at around that time, so I presume it leaves from downtown just before 1am or so. I would look for apartments that are closer to Beacon Street than to Comm Ave (to be closer to the C, rather than the B - and also to be closer to the supermarket and restaurants), and also further along Beacon Street towards (or in) the Washington Square area is also a great place to live if you're at BC - there are a lot of nicer cafes and restaurants in that area - Cleveland Circle itself has most of what you need but it is more basic and fast-foody. I wouldn't even entertain the idea of driving in Boston unless you absolutely had to... the public transport is great, and the drivers are insane...no contest.

Hmmmn, I like reading Foucault... of all the big theory names I feel like his writing has the most clarity and simplicity (you know, comparatively). I had to read quite a lot of Sandor Ferenczi for my MA, whose writing is probably aggravated by the more-than-occasional of-the-wall craziness of his subject matter, but yeah... it made my brain squeal for mercy. Heidegger; not that it's bad writing, just that it's hard.

You're right - international students aren't eligible for SSHRC; but apparently there are other scholarships in Canada you can apply for - so, for example, if you are going to an Ontario university you can (or have to) apply to OGS. Also - if there are any scholarships in your home country that would apply to your circumstances they would expect you to apply to them. But, you just have to apply...if you don't get them, you still get funding from your department. Obviously this means that international students are a little bit more of a pain than local students to fund because they are less likely to win outside funding and I'm sure that does come into consideration when they are admitting people, but at the same time international students bring a whole load of other benefits that departments are keen to partake of, so I think it's difficult to quantify how much being an international student might disadvantage you or not at a Canadian university (I have heard that in some programs Toronto has only a certain number of spots for internationals, often one spot... I don't know how true that is).

I applied to three Canadian universities last year - Toronto, UBC and Simon Fraser. I'm not from the US so I suppose I have a somewhat different perspective on things - I'm from the UK and a Canadian PhD from the top 10-12 would be looked at just fine (I suppose it helps that our systems are somewhat similar). UBC was top of my personal list and I was very keen to go there (I was waitlisted and then ultimately denied ). In terms of funding: the information the departments provide seems to suggest that funding isn't totally guaranteed but, from the research I've done, I've come to the conclusion that basically you will get funding every year... there will be small fluctuations in TA salaries, sometimes you might get a fellowship or some special department award (basically funding is less uniform and more adhoc) and you will have to apply for outside fellowships every year to remain eligible for department or university funding, but they are not going to suddenly stop funding you. I'm pretty sure Toronto, UBC and SFU give ballpark funding packages for your entire time there when they admit you. As far as working goes, this is where Canada is AWESOME: as an international student you can work off campus or on without a work visa, I think you may have to get something signed by your university but it is not a difficult thing to do. So, should something totally disastrous and unlikely happen such as government funding for all literary subjects being suspended, you can go out and get a job and support yourself. As far as application tips go: something I wish I'd done for UBC was get in touch with professors... it is actively encouraged there and I think it can help your app. There is a long running debate on this forum about whether this helps or hinders an app to US universities and that discussion influenced me in not contacting people for most of my schools (probably a good thing for my US apps). However, I think Canadian scholars and schools tend to feel quite differently about this issue and certainly I regret not contacting people at UBC. If you wanted to ask anything else that I might be able to help with feel free to PM me. I'm a C20th/Contemporary person with a space/place/ecocritical approach.

I got in the 22nd (now lowered to 19th, thanks to this year's test takers) and I got accepted. Maybe it factored in at some of the top 10 places or the public schools I applied to (?), I don't know, I don't believe it made much of an impact on the strength of my application overall.

I've just discovered the Uchida LePen.... they're really nice

Ha - we're at the same school I also usually get soup, but the ramen-type bar thing is also really yummy.

Pilot VBall, Black, extra fine (the original vball, not any of the needlessly tinkered with iterations!) And this thread just prompted me to go and order some more!

Do you have UK residency, or are you an international student there? I ask because the normal UK route would be to do a Master's degree before the PhD anyway, and since they are only one year there (rather than the usual 2 yrs elsewhere) it could be a good idea to do a Comp Lit MA (UCL has one) there and then apply to PhD programs in the States. If you're an international student there, though, the cost may be prohibitive. What IS your proposal? - if it focuses on space and place, I actually think your architecture background could be an advantage (as long as your literary skills are up to par with the rest of the applicant pool - as evidenced by a great statement of purpose and writing sample), particularly as many Comp Lit departments are interdisciplinary by nature and are very welcoming of outside theory etc. If your planned work has hardly anything to do with issues of space then I think you'll have a pretty tough job to articulate your intellectual preparedness and path thus far in an adequately convincing manner in your statement of purpose.... I'm a space and place person - PM me if you want to chat further.

Thank you - it's great to have that corroborated! I've been trying not to get too hopeful about it in case it wasn't going to happen.

I'm in a similar situation -- my school's HR office implied that I would get the tax back but I haven't been able to find any concrete information on whether that's true or if I need to do anything to get it -- did you get any of it back?

I believe that both Dartmouth and Rochester have standalone MAs in Comp Lit (no idea about funding).