skeletonkeys

Hi! I'm just going to address the area. I'm a native North Carolinian, and I love my state. Raleigh is a great city with tons of cultural opportunities, especially when you include nearby Chapel Hill. Raleigh alone has great museums like the NC History museum, NC Art museum, and African American cultural complex, some of my faves. There are also things like the NC symphony, theatre, and even ballet, if that's your thing. It's definitely a smaller city, with less of a hopping downtown area than Charlotte or Atlanta, but there's a certain laid back charm to the slower pace. As for the cost of living, living in the Northeast for several years has given me a new appreciation for the low cost of living, even in a city, in the South. Apartments are fairly cheap, even nice ones. Anecdotally, I know people with 1-3 bedroom apts in the 500-900 range in Raleigh and Chapel Hill. It may be getting pricier, but compared to most parts of the country, you can get a large space for a great price. But the quality of life here in NC is the real draw. That and the wonderful BBQ Hope that helps!

Oh my gosh, these clothes are so awesome! Thank you very much for sharing this!

That might be the melancholy talking. I was really sure I'd get in somewhere, at least a super-safety, so the rejections were quite difficult to process. I do think I'll give it one more shot, but at 26 I feel like I should have a "real job" by now, not just temp work and massive loans in perpetual deferment. I just don't know. In a few weeks I might feel differently. I love love love teaching, but I can't take any more adjuncting and being poor with all my bills. I guess I'm having a quarter life crisis right now, since I feel like I'm not good enough for academia. Anyway, thanks for the positive words...I need some of your positive thinking!

Congratulations!! That's awesome!

I was also rejected. I am very depressed now.

No, that wasn't me that posted on the results page, unfortunately!

Hi everyone! I'm also anxiously awaiting to hear from Brown, my top choice. I thought I'd let you all know I begged a current Brown student who is taking a class with the DGS to ask about decisions. They know who they're admitting to their phd program as of today, and they are admitting 16 people. This may be common knowledge, and if so sorry! Since they already know we should know tomorrow. I hope! I don't know why they would not just email us!! Good luck to everyone!

I'm not sure about this, but I think the U of Rochester has quite a few people doing work with science fiction. Definitely check them out, if their deadline hasn't passed.

Oh, and the thing about Davis...my advisor wants me to apply there precisely because of their funding, which, as I told her, seems absolutely ludicrous (for any UC school). But she insisted, and an acquaintance who was accepted last year seconded, that they offer strong fellowships. Of course, this could be for like 5% of accepted students, and the rest get nothing. I will definitely look into that more before actually applying. No doubt one should be wary of a UC's funding, but I got my hopes up because I'd love to go there.

Soxpuppet, Thanks for mentioning all the contingencies involved in funding. I assumed most programs were similar to where I got my MA and where my SO is doing hes phd-- if you're accepted, you the get the same package. And as private schools, state budget problems play less of a role too. It scares me to think of how iffy funding might be at public schools. It seems as if many schools I'm applying to are not this clear about funding, at least in what they post on their websites. So to change the question a bit: would many of you even attend programs without guaranteed funding for 5 years? It seems like an obvious answer, no, but not everyone will get into Ivies or tip top programs who can definitely give you 20K a year. I'm thinking of schools like UMass, where it seems to be a year by year process and it's not even the Eng department or grad school that determines funding, but the writing center and need for instructors. Theoretically, this could work out, but then again maybe not. Sorry if this is rambling...I'm stressed out about student loans and $ in general, and the idea of a precarious financial existence in grad school terrifies me.

So I've been thinking about whether or not to apply to CUNY because of their rather poor funding record (see CUNY funding post), and I thought it would be interesting to share info on which programs offer the best and worst funding. From what my MA peers told me about last cycle, Vanderbilt offers wonderful funding (at least 25K a year + possible extra funds) while UCIrvine offered students <15K and poor housing options for Orange County. Other schools I've heard good things about are Northwestern and UC Davis, and schools I've heard are stingy and/or not forthcoming are CUNY (obvs) and UMass. Cheers!

Tina's response is great. I'd add that if you have any kind of tutoring experience, paid or volunteer, discuss that. For my MA teaching fellowship I had no teaching experience and talked about my tutoring experience instead. How do you approach working with students/tutees? Do you use (or plan to use) a holistic approach, where you address content issues before sentence level errors? Good luck! Teaching philosophy statements are just as hard as sops if not harder!

One more note: I'm sure you have heard this, but you might want to add some schools to your list that are not top 10/15. Not to say you're not a strong candidate, but I'd add some ranked 15-50 as well as funded MA programs.

Hi Tails! I will try to answer your questions. 1. I'm not sure if the MA hurts or helps; it depends on the school. Some programs prefer to have "fresh blood" to mold as they see fit; others value the experience of an MA; still others seem to have no preference. I have an MA, and all the students in my cohort who applied last fall got into programs (some very good ones and some so-so ones). There are many discussions of this on the forum that may be more useful than me. 2. Your ethnicity will not help you gain admission nearly as much as in say law school. It shouldn't hurt and *might* help at some schools, but where it could definitely come in handy is for fellowships, but that's only after you're admitted. I'm thinking of a friend who is coincidentally also Puerto Rican American...s/he said it wasn't so useful in the admissions process, but Vanderbilt offered them a great funding offer (in part b/c of some diversity fellowship). Perhaps others can add their own experiences. 3. Everyone I know has not found having their recommenders give them an advantage at their alma mater. The schools I know this has been the case with are Cornell, Harvard, and Berkeley. In one case 2 of 3 LOR writers got their PhDs from Cornell and the student was still not admitted (to Cornell). I would guess other kinds of connections are more helpful, for example, if a prof is very well known and/or has friends on the ad comm, I'd bet that is more useful than a lesser known prof who is nonetheless an alum. Bear in mind this is all anecdotal. I am interested in seeing others' experiences as well. PS Go Tarheels! I'm a Carolina girl and my brother is currently an UG at UNC.

Thanks, Chumlee! The info on assessing and expressing fit is especially useful. Everyone check it out!

JMA, thanks for the info. I was also wondering about Stony Brook. Sadly, Brandeis is one of my top choices, and I was hoping they'd have better funding. I (we) sure picked one of the best years to apply financially speaking. Some of these programs would be great if only they guaranteed a living wage.

I think what Chumlee said is important: "I'm heavily invested in feminist theory, so it seems natural and not as though I'm throwing a name in for the heck of it." If you are just throwing theorists in they'll probably be able to tell, but maybe this approach is the key to doing it "right." I still would caution against naming lots of theorists, though, but perhaps that's a personal quirk.

Chumlee: Thanks for sharing what your professors told you. I'm currently leaning towards not applying. I forgot it was CUNY that had the outrageous 125 app fee! I have only been to NYC once, and LOVED it, but I doubt I'd love it living on 18K (and that's if I'm lucky)! I'm also from a very rural area and the cost of living in big cities just astounds me. I could rent a house in my hometown for what it takes to rent a closet in NYC.

Thanks for chiming in, Medicine. I can't believe some students teach 4 classes a semester! As an adjunct after I got my MA I taught 3 a semester (writing intensive) and waited tables and thought I was going to die! I can't imagine teaching 4 and taking a full load of classes. The fellowship sounds OK...but I'm still a bit wary of teaching 2 classes a semester + grad classes, though perhaps I'm being snobby.

Thanks so much for the information! I hate to hear CUNY's funding is so lacking. I just don't know how I feel about lots of teaching from day one and possibly still not making ends meet. Any other experiences with CUNY?

Does anyone have any knowledge of CUNY Graduate Center's track record with funding, especially last year? Their website's info strikes me as ambiguous; they say students are eligible for some enhanced 18K fellowship but also that students without that support themselves through adjunct work. That's a S*%# load of teaching! So, to reiterate, I'm wondering what the normal award is...if it's rare to get full funding I'm saving my 100$ application fee!

I don't think this is a problem at all. In fact I don't know if I've ever seen a sop that mentions specific critics. I do however mention faculty members and their critical approaches in my sop. You can (should?) discuss your theoretical orientation/methodology, but I do not believe you are expected to talk about well known critics (Judith Butler, DeMan, etc.) Someone correct me if I'm mistaken please!

Hello! I'm not sure about (traditional) English Phd programs that would be a good fit, but wanted to ask if you've considered a PhD in creative writing...my understanding is you take both lit and CW classes and some interdisciplinary work. That sounds like a better kind of program than Brown (not as familiar with UNH). At Brown, it would be the MFA program that would enable you to do creative nonfiction, not their PhD program. Just a thought! If you're more interested in Rhet/comp, off the top of my head some good schools are Purdue, Ohio State, U Louisville, Ball State, UMass, several schools in Arizona, and U Wisconsin. I would look especially closely at Purdue. Hope this helps!

Pamphilia, you don't sound like a jerk at all! That is sound advice. I've pretty much accepted the fact I'll be revising my "fit" sample to *hopefully* become my best work in a few short weeks. I'm still worried it won't be as strong as it could be, but of course short of a lifetime project any piece could always be stronger. I appreciate your input!

I would second Chumlee's advice. I wish I wrote a thesis for my MA (it wasn't an option even, oddly enough). Since it is your strongest piece, you want to discuss as much as possible. Can you tell us more about your thesis? Is it that far removed from your outlined interests? I would guess a more "traditional" (canonical) writing sample is not *always* the best way to go.