lechatgris

bamboo shoot

This is a very real problem. When I started my MA, I just grabbed a bag of stuff, shoved it in my car, put everything else in storage, and drove to my new apartment 3 states away. It was 2 months before I'd saved up enough for a moving truck and plane ticket to go back for my furniture, clothes, books, etc.. I still shudder every time I see an air mattress. This would be immeasurably more difficult with children. My friend moved just in time for school and her husband and daughter followed after about a month. She accepted the full loan amount offered to her and, once the school payed her, used most of it to move her stuff and family across the country. This time around, I have my husband with me. He is already researching where to start job searches in all the places to which I've applied so that he can send in resumes as soon as I get an accaptance.

Christmas bells

stinky diaper

mad men

my poor puppy has been sorely neglected for the past couple weeks, but I've checked out all the puppy training books from the library. the goal is to teach him some manners before the decisions start coming in.

bee keeper

spelling bee

dancing queen

Fortunately, I don't do maths, but 10 different schools and multiple application attempts must come out to an ugly sum. Also, why is it that (for English deptartments, anyway) nearly everyone admits that the GREs are not a reliable indicator of an applicant's potential success, but nearly all still require it? Unfortunately, my degree will never earn me a substantial salary. Good thing my brother is pre-med.

horse feathers

I realize that this is only ennabling our common sickness, but I've discovered that some of the departments to which I've applied allow public online access to their faculty calendars . . . meaning I've looked up when adcomms are meeting and, for some, when they're discussing application decisions. Somehow, I'm relieved to know that they can't have rejected me yet. I am completely insane.

gear up

I rewarded myself for finishing apps with a re-read of the Harry Potter series. In addition, I'm enjoying a collection of Victorian and Edwardian short stories, which are nearly all creepy and/or depressing. I love it!

I'm adding UVA to the list because I am still working on the second writing sample. That's right, they can't take the 25 page article I'm sending to nearly every other school; instead they want 2 short papers that add up to 25 pages. What a ten page paper could tell them about a potential English Ph.D. candidate is beyond me (except perhaps that I have the mental fortitude to hack at my longer work unceremoniously until it fits--like Cinderella's step-sisters cutting their toes off to wear the glass slipper). And I second the snarkiness toward the ApplyTexas system. A&M would somehow like me to print off their transcript form and attach it to the signed-across-the-seal, sent directly from the Registrar transcripts I've ordered from multiple states. It's like a really crap logic puzzle. I was on the phone with the Registrar's office at one of my past schools for 20 minutes, trying to talk the receptionist through the Texas website to get to the form herself (ok, see that grad menu? Hover your mouse on it, then click on the third item on the list. Click the second tab. You don't see it? Ok, go back one page. Then scroll to the bottom and click the link that says "click here." All right, you're almost there . . . ). The second school listened to my request, said, "We don't do that," and hung up on me. Thanks, Texas, you've made this experience delightful.

If you're curious about the admissions process, I liked The Gatekeepers by J. Steinberg. The book follows an undergraduate admissions officer at Wesleyan, which might sound boring, but I couldn't put it down (in the interest of full disclosure, I couldn't put Dombey and Son down either, so my judgment might not be very trustworthy).

running. and full-contact sports.

I finally found a phone that can dial the number 6 (long story) and called. The lady I spoke with was very polite, checked all my info, and confirmed that my materials were in (and gave me a code number, but I have no idea what that's for). I told her I didn't get a postcard or email and she said many of them haven't gone out yet. I think they might divide them up by region and deal with them that way (I have no data to back this up except that she asked for my state of residence before she asked for my name). Totally irrelevant side note: during this conversation, I was picturing the US Dept. of Education as one tiny old lady sitting at a card table in someone's basement, surrounded by musty folders, 12 cats, and a card catalogue . . . and waiting for the typewriter to "warm up."

Let's vent. What's the worst application you've dealt with so far? Oregon's unsavable "department form page" was the front runner for me . . . then I got to Rutgers' multiple sub-applications--every time I thought I was finished, I got an email saying, "Oh, hey, don't forget to do this other inane thing . . ." . And LSU, for which I must submit BOTH an online application to the grad school AND a paper application to my department. I have to send all my supporting materials to both. And then there's Colorado, who asks me to upload forms I do not have, for which they do not provide a link, and that are apparently unsearchable on their graduate website. Grrr! Man, I feel better already.