marginalia

I was very impressed by Syracuse University when I was trying to make my final decision. Their department works very hard to make sure their students get a good deal of teaching experience. I don't know how they fit with your interests--I'm mostly Victorian lit focused--but I do know that they have a close-knit department and the professors I spoke to seemed very in-touch with their students' teaching options outside of their TAships at the university (summer jobs, etc.) They have a pretty great website too: http://sites.google....te/teachingets/

I think it probably just showed them you're well-rounded! The professors and students at the weekend probably enjoyed getting to talk about something other than lit theory for a couple of minutes. (How boring would it be to have someone in your program with no outside interests?)

Oh, right! The sharing part-- I for one managed to hold an incredibly nervous conversation with a grad director I ran into again at the airport and follow it up by tripping, fairly dramatically, over her colleague/traveling companion as I fled the scene. (This is really the tip of the iceberg for me, unfortunately. I truly am mostly normal when I'm not nervous, but good gracious am I grateful I was accepted to schools before my ability to unintentionally sabotage first impressions had its wicked way with my future!)

Nothing compares to the mortification-potential of major life choices, so I figured I'd start a topic for folks to get things off of their chests. Grammar mistakes in front of POIs? Why yes! Nervous twitching, forgetting Derrida's name in front of potential future classmates? Ghastly, embarrassing things happen to the best of them, but sometimes it's nice to share and be reminded that other people are in the same boat and that everything will be ok. Go for it, nervous future grads!

Hey, potential Madisonians! This forum has been pretty quiet since the visiting weekend and I just thought I'd drop a post to see how the decision process was going for other people. I'm fairly sure Madison is the place for me-- the students I met seemed happy, though, and the professors were great, so that makes a big difference. Anyone else suffering from last-minute major-life-decision nerves, or have most of you Madison-bound folks already sent your acceptances?

I just got the email about visiting and it mentioned that we had information about the weekend in our admissions packet... Has anyone else gotten that packet yet? I ask because my roommate has long suspected that someone is stealing our mail and I have long suspected that she is delusional, but of course waiting for an admissions packet is enough to make me just as paranoid. Should I stop teasing her and jump on the bandwagon be worried?

I just got an emailed acceptance (yay!) but with an added "Unfortunately, we have a limited amount of funding we can offer our admitted students, and we are not presently in a position to offer you any funding." Apparently there's a funding waitlist... Fingers crossed!

Hooray- website update today says PhD visiting days are officially March 6-8! This is good news! I like having something to plan for.

Nothing concrete! Last year's acceptance forum does mention a visiting weekend-- people started posting about receiving info packets around February 20th and I'm pretty sure they were referring to traveling times in mid-March... (Which is to say that I am basing things mostly on over-excited conjecture. Part of me is really grateful that Madison informs so early, but that part keeps getting drowned out by the part of me that really dislikes being so in the dark about everything!)

I hope so--- I keep hearing from grad students (from other schools) whose funding is great the first year and then fizzles a bit. Maybe knowing we're there for the long haul will help! The visiting weekend sounds exciting- are there any any current students out there with insights on what to expect for this one?

I have just a BA as well and want to specialize in Victorian and Gender Studies. Their professors' publications seem really fascinating!

I've been doing a lot of hovering by the mailbox for Madison. Good gracious I hope they make an early year of it and inform us soon! My Madison friends have been sending me pictures of the Snowpocalypse to try and keep me from getting too anxious, but the shock factor will only work for so long!

I'm interested in graduate minor programs but have yet to apply- hoping to see if I get in to any of my PhD programs to apply within the schools themselves, if they offer courses. I would love to hear about the process!

PhD programs: Brown Princeton Syracuse IU Bloomington Northwestern WashU U Iowa I'm hoping to specialize in Victorian lit and gender/sexuality studies.