joanlba

Mejor que no los cojan... jeje.

Flying in 2 days, so I still have some time to post before that.

Yup. If they ask I'll do it. But, I still believe it means I have passed a first round review. You don't call all your applicants to discuss their applications, just those that you might have interest in. Well, as said before, I'm going to go for a week away in the next couple of days, so I'll have some rest about this whole thing. Without knowing it, I booked a trip to the only country in the Americas where Internet is not a given thing in an hotel (or elsewhere, for that matter). I won't be around the forum, but will report after that!

December 31st. Nope, just a call bc they are doing a first review.

Yup. I see 2 other posts, besides mine. Probably the silent observers? You are most invited to talk, if you want to.

Hay algunas escuelas que enseñan català. Se que Notre Dame ha comenzado a ofrecer cursos en su M.A. Pero quizá quieras apuntar a una escuela que tenga un programa de verano en Catalunya para eso (esto es más probable).

BTW, I'm online in the chat right now. Had a small chat with nuclear! Join us, or lets plan a day when we all can do it! Why I'm being paranoic: post 19).

Nuclear, to update on what you said earlier: You actually have a quite good spanish from what Im reading in your sentences. The lower grade on your test might be then due to the fact that you only speak it in practical situations (and that you learned it).

If you wanna talk tonight and remember the old days of the Internet, I created an IRC Chat Channel: https://chat.mibbit.com/ The channel is: #spanishapp

Wasn't expecting it, I can tell you that. I'm helping my parents move; when the phone rang I was just taking a break, and didn't had any notes at hand. Had to rush to my computer and started checking my notes.

I rather not say names, just to be on the safe side. Sometimes DGS lurke around places like this. It was an ivy league university.

Just had my first interview. Completely unannounced. My phone was off, I turn it on and boom, US number calling. About 20 minutes of explaining my future career plans, explaining my SOP. They told me it was a informal interview because they've just started reviewing materials. All I can say is that I wasn't planning this type of interview. Overall, I think I managed to do well but nevertheless, but I was kind of shaking during the whole thing. Let's start getting nervous.

Algo que lei hace algun tiempo: Scene. It's a fine sunny day in the forest, and a rabbit is sitting outside his burrow, tippy-tapping on his typewriter. Along comes a fox, out for a walk. Fox: "What are you working on?" Rabbit: "My thesis." Fox: "Hmmm. What's it about?" Rabbit: "Oh, I'm writing about how rabbits eat foxes." (incredulous pause) Fox: "That's ridiculous! Any fool knows that rabbits don't eat foxes." Rabbit: "Sure they do, and I can prove it. Come with me." They both disappear into the rabbit's burrow. After a few minutes, the rabbit returns, alone, to his typewriter and resumes typing. Soon, a wolf comes along and stops to watch the hardworking rabbit. Wolf: "What's that you're writing?" Rabbit: "I'm doing a thesis on how rabbits eat wolves."(loud guffaws) Wolf: "You don't expect to get such rubbish published, do you?" Rabbit: "No problem. Do you want to see why?" The rabbit and the wolf go into the burrow, and again the rabbit returns by himself, after a few minutes, and goes back to typing. Scene: inside the rabbit's burrow. In one corner, there is a pile of fox bones. In another corner, a pile of wolf bones. On the other side of the room, a huge lion is belching and picking his teeth. Moral: It doesn't matter what you choose for a thesis subject. It doesn't matter what you use for data. What does matter is who you have for a thesis advisor.

Hey! I've been away for a couple of days but I'd like to say something about changes of deadlines: I had them for 2 of the departments I was applying. In one of those, the department actually moved their deadline earlier so I had to make one of my professors write an early LOR and then moved it later again. I think its due to number of applications received. Yeah, we will start hearing about interviews in about 2 weeks. Take some time off, go climb a rock. I'm going for a week ago during the peak time of application nonsense. No internet connection, no computers.

nope. usually 5 days to a week if by phone. otherwise I would consider the department extremely unprofessional (but it has happened here before, check the other forums).

Good post LKS. I just noticed that y'all were talking about interviews during campus visits. Since I'm abroad my experience has always been either on the phone or via skype. That might affect my suggestions. What I would like to emphasize is the fact that during personal interviews with POI some professors that are native speakers of English privilege using English over Spanish. This is something I cannot comprehend completely because you are supossed to be a part of a 'Spanish' department. But, this happens with some areas and some professors (usually old professors or professors who were taught by hispanists at a time when Spanish was not the main language of teaching at the graduate level). The last semester of my MA I regularly met with a professor that taught me a course the previous semester to go over her comments on a large final paper I presented (over 40pp, so it was like 3 or 4 one hour meetings) and we did them in English (even though its not my native language or the native language of the course. it was funny, switching between English and Medieval Spanish) because she liked that better. I don't know, this might be too specific for the interviews but my only final thought about this is that you have to learn to measure (like, medir, conocer) the professor you are talking to. They won't mind that your Spanish is not perfect (same for English when you are a Spanish speaker). You are a student after all. But they do expect that you can conjugate the verb to be. PD: Beatriz: sentido del humor. Eso suena como una escena de Loco por Mary.

Don't worry about interviews. From my experience there are 3 scenarios about language usage: 1. A English native-speaker: Introduction in Spanish and then fold back to English. They usually feel more cómodos in English, as any native speaker would. 2. A Spanish native-speaker: Spanish or English, and will give you a chance to codeswitch if necessary (remember that they teach to undergrads and it is common for that to take place in advance lit classes) 3. Several professors: Mixture of 1 and 2. (Actually I had a terrible experience with this, yo creía que me entrevistaría con un profesor y cuando me llamaron por teléfono me dijeron: Joan, we are going to put you in the speaker. Conmigo está el profesor X, director de estudios graduados, el profesor Y, coordinador del programa, la profesora Z, el profesor K, etc. Be prepared for that!). By all means, they will ask you first which language do you rather use but of course a section will be in Spanish just to check your level (remember, you will be teaching it during the next few years). They understand that sometimes the students feel more comfortable discussing academic ideas in their native language. I know several american professors that had classes of Spanish Lit in English because they actually liked it better that way (hispanistas, usualmente medievalistas). Also, they understand you are under stress during the interview (unless you forget Spanish completely, you'll do fine). And finally, remember, codeswitching is OK. It happens all the time in informal discussions, classes and lectures. Y, como comentario de lado para quienes hablen español, recuerden que del mismo modo que intentan determinar cuán bueno es el nivel de español de los estudiantes angloparlantes (even though they had to submit a piece of work in Spanish) harán lo mismo con nosotros sobre nuestro inglés (a pesar de que enviemos un TOEFL) porque mucha de la vida académica será en inglés. Puede que te entreviste un argentino, chileno o mexicano, pero en algún momento te dirá: OK, So, what do you think about X or Y. Y quieren una respuesta en inglés. Pero usualmente dirán esto al principio de la entrevista claramente: la vamos a hacer en dos idiomas, yo te aviso cuándo cambiamos. Another 2 cents.

Yup.

From what I read at the ACTFL website and their descriptions of each stage, Advanced Medium and Low are a step above basic skills adquired during a year 1 Spanish course in the university (I taught that for 2 years). By all means you speak some Spanish and are able to talk to Spanish speakers about normal everyday situations. But it is not advanced really. I think that at that level (by looking at the samples provided in their website or each stage) you might not be able to use Spanish for critical thinking or philosophical discussions (or overly complex creative, literary language that can be sometimes used in narrative and poetry). The good news is that you can improve it during the first semester (or year) if you choose to. Also, knowing another romance language might serve you to be a faster learner. About the feeling of being a Medium instead of Low, its a matter of perspective. Personally, I don't like the "feel" expression because it might imply that you deserve something based on effort and not really on your skills (not trying to be a jackass here). I think that grading in the US educative system is too inflated and that leads to students thinking that they should have higher grades than they do (also talking from experience as a professor). But, on the other hand, it might be that since you speak French you think that you have better understanding of Spanish that you do (bc is romance). That happened to me when doing Portuguese, I thought I had it easy (a common error to Spanish speakers). About the type of exam I think it might be actually better for really determining your level of Spanish. I have taken the TOEFL twice and I didn't feel that the scores really represented my level of English at first. The first time in '09, scored 111/120. After that I did a MA and when I took it again I believed it was going to change somehow, having lived in the US for 2 years, doing most of my daily live in English. 2 months ago I scored 110/120. The scores were consistent by section (listening, writing, speaking and reading) to the '09 exam. From this experience I gather that even though my level of English improved in fluency I tend to commit the same mistakes (and I have actually tested that with native friends) all the time. The test identified my mistakes both times. My 2 cents.

They always can be improved. My writing sample kept evolving everytime I did a final spell check. Don't worry. They will now better, even professors get multiple re-writes on articles. Waiting is easier if you are, like me, in the southern hemisphere and its summer time.

ND. Yo estudié mi MA en español ahí. I'm just asking because of your interest in literatura caribeña. I pressume you will want to work with Tom A.?

¡Qué bueno que tengamos más personas por aquí! Veo que alguien en el grupo está aplicando a mi antigua alma mater. Fernando, are you going for the PhD in Lit in ND or the MA in Spanish?

Spanish Lit. It is the wait that kills you. I have done this 3 times, counting this one.

Hey! Glad that there are some of us here. About you interests, I know its late but it depends on the specific area of Latin America (north, central or south) and its subdivisions (Southern Cone, Brazil, Andean, Caribean, etc). I'm going for a PhD after doing my masters in a school in the midwest. Doing Columbia, Princeton, Brown, Michigan, Minnesota and UNC. Not in any particular order. No safety school, no dream school. I like all the programmes for different reasons and I would gladly go to each one. I think I learned that after applying for the MA. I had a dream school and ended up going to the one I had not heard about at all but just liked the town and the vibe. Good choice. All applications already sent and just have to play the wait game now. How about all the silent readers around here? This thread has been read 200+ times, it is either one of the 5 of us with serious OCD or someone else that is just shy! Come out! #

yo me voy de retiro espiritual a south bend! now that i have made my choice, this were my universities: a. michigan state u (accepted w/funding) b. princeton (obviously rejected) c. notre dame (accepted w/funding) d. tulane u (i'm at the top of the waitlist, and the dgs emailed me a few days ago saying that i will probably have an offer latter in the month) pero me decidí por ND, algo sobre hacer el master en un pueblo chico me gustó. I had a previous offer from a very smalldepartment (a kind of safety school that I was accepted since October but wasn’tplanning on attending, only in the worst case scenario). It is on Wisconsin, so,you might know why I didn’t accept