Angela Merkel

MillerS: Enhorabuena por la aceptación a la U de Connecticut. También tienen un muy buen programa graduado en historia latinoamericana y, si te apetece, podrías tomar alguno que otro curso ahí. Una profesora cubana de español se fue para la U de Pennsylvania. Asumo que le ofrecieron más dinero y hay gente para la cual eso es lo principal. De Arizona no sé nada pero las dos la U Estatal y la U de Arizona tienen buenísima reputación en literatura.

Caromella: responding to your comments... Yes indeed, some programs pay quite high stipends and half of the time the graduate student does not have to teach. Most people/applicants are interested in the money as the main factor. I am in a program that pays very little stipend yearly and one has to teach every semester. But two other aspects balance the economical one: One, the ambiance or environment has to be conducive to postgraduate studies, including fully supportive and ego-controlled faculty members. I gave up admission to one of the programs mentioned here in the chat this year. The amount of money was ridiculous (too much), but my instincts told me that I would not feel comfortable there. I ended up in another program that was a Master's level one, in a public institution, but with a very hostile environment for graduate students and for even some faculty members. The supervisor under which one had to teach was a micro-management witch on wheels. In my current, program (doctoral), and this is my most important point, the stipend is very low, yes; however, not only are the faculty members VERY supportive (although the expectations are very high, as well as the amount of work), but you are expected to teach about 8 different courses at various levels by the time you are finishing the dissertation. That is an enormous advantage in terms of teaching experience by the time you are going into the job market, where there might be applicants who have taught only two years and maybe the same course (which might not be at the introductory level and thus not seen as the wide teaching experience that most places look for, at least in the USA). And finally: in the case of Chapel Hill, they find academic positions more often than many so-called Ivies or Near-Ivies, from what I have seen. This is just an opinion, but it might provide some insight for some applicants.

Felicidades. Buen programa, excelente universidad y ciudad para vivir. El Estado... eso es otra cosa.

¡Excelente!

I am not in that program or know anyone personally, but there are rumors that the program in Spanish is hostile and very political like Yale's.

Si yo fuera tú, le enviaría copia del mensaje al director de estudios de posgrado en el departamento académico al que estás solicitando, solicitando ayuda. También a la oficina a cargo de estudiantes extranjeros de la institución. Eso no es usual sino hasta cuando una persona se va a matricular en persona, hasta donde yo sé. Como yo soy estadounidense, no te puedo ayudar más.

Miller: a diversity statement should not be too bad if you are from Brazil (which I am assuming). Your life experience in one of the most racially and socio-economic diverse countries "inform" (they LOVE that word!) your perspective and analysis. ? Good luck.

"Do you believe TOEFL scores are relevant to the Comittee or it's only necessary to meet the required minimum?" In my experience, it has very little weight for an admissions committee, but a lot to the Graduate School/Graduate College/College of Arts and Sciences, depending on the degree-granting college or unit. Each institution is different. As long you have the mininum score required, it is a non-issue. Preview interview: some of the snobish ones, but not necessarily excellent programs or faculty, require an interview. Some high-quality programs do not have interviews at all. Yet, be prepared to pay homage to the current leftist, politically correct agenda of some departments. A friend of mine had an interview with one of the "prestige" schools where he was asked how he would bring his race (as a Latin-American) to the doctoral study of Renaissance/Golden Age Spanish Literature! I am not sharing the name of the institution, but you can see how politically-driven the approach to the study of literature is in some places in this country. Also, it is very fashionable to talk about marginalized groups of any sort to satisfy these illogical questions that bear very little on your qualifications for research and writing. Altough I have not heard that they openly discriminate like the University of Chicago's English graduate program. (You can find the information in the news in academia.)

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LDGS: Lamento informarte que eso suena como el mensaje estándar que le envían a todos los solicitantes. Para la persona que es nueva en estas cosas, suena muy bien, pero es solamente eso. Buena suerte en tu búsqueda de beca.

U de Illinois en Chicago debería informarte de su desición en marzo. Yo recomendaría que les exigieses información sobre una beca (o 'assistanship') para mediados de marzo y POR ESCRITO, aunque sea un mensaje electrónico (que tiene validez legal) del director de posgrado. Cuando no te dan la 'asistencia' económica, eufemismo para trabajo temporero, la tendencia de ese departamento es NO informártelo, aunque sí te informen de admisión.

LDGS: It is a good thing you clarified that. As I said, I have seen "Directors of the Graduate Program" making mistakes of all sorts, sometimes including money that applicants should have received or at least should have been considered for (and they did not). ?

EVERYTHING should be in writing! I have experienced significant cases of mistakes on the part of individuals involved in this kind of process. Long story.

LDGS: I would recommend that you require clarification on this "MA/PHD" label. As far as I know, that institution, if it is the U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign that you are referring to, admits to both programs individually, not at the same time.

I am certain you will like Lincoln. My brother went to school there. He liked it. Besides, I have always read positive things about Lincoln and Omaha, which are very close. I did some research about the place as well. They fanatically vote for ultra-conservative politicians and government, with very few exceptions. HOWEVER, the general attitude is not the stereotypical Republican mindset at all. For example, 73% of the electorate in Nebraska approve of same-sex marriage in a professional survey around 2015 or so . And that is as high as in Massachusetts, which introduced the "the issue" to this country as Canada, Spain and others were doing it (same year). I visited rural Nebraska about four or five years back and I found it politically conservative, but with friendly people in general. Returning to my premise: cities are generally different and significantly more liberal and open-minded than rural areas or small towns. I did not find anything particularly worrisome (for me) about Lincoln and the University when I was heavily researching them. And Amtrack (train) connects both Lincoln and Omaha easily. Public transportation is one of the most important issues for me. (I told you I did a lot of reading.)