ryanweb

This is a great thread. I'll add a few things:

1) Gregory Semenza's book "Graduate Study for the Twenty-First Century" is excellent for humanities folk. It has motivated me in many ways to make the most of my time during the MA. Read it!!

2) Don't blather on with personal stories during class discussion. Keep your comments focused on the course material and avoid derailing the whole conversation just so you can chat about your ancestor who was in the Civil War or your visit to the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, or whatever. Yes, now and then a personal story is appropriate, but keep it short. Avoid becoming "that person" who only wants to talk about him/herself.

3) Participate in department events, like end-of-semester dinners, important guest lectures, and so on. You don't have to attend every single thing, but be a presence so that others know you care about the department and are taking advantage of the resources offered.

4) School is now your job, so you should treat it like one. Do not miss class without an excellent reason, do not turn in assignments late, do not whine about the grades you are given. (I've seen other first-years making these types of faux pas... they tend to be here straight out of undergrad.)

5) Advice above re: sleep is great, even if I haven't taken it myself. You might barely function with four hours of sleep each night, but give your brain a chance to rest with a good 8 hours so you can work at full mental capacity!

Stupid me. I'm so new to this board- I just gave myself a minus. What the heck.

Buffalo is fantastic! (I had to resist the temptation to bust out the all-caps to make my point.)

I'm actually living in Buffalo now, though I didn't get accepted to either the PhD or MA program. I'll be headed elsewhere this fall, but I just wanted to take a brief moment to dispel any doubts or preempt any potential naysayers. After a little over six months now, I really love it here. Maybe compared to some college towns or big cities, it has a little more grit or is on a strange borderland between the East coast and the midwest. But it's really a fantastic place to live: it's excitingly diverse with a strange small-town/blue-collar sort of candor; it's close to some wonderful natural scenery and places to visit (not just Niagara Falls!); and, for literary/artistic purposes, it's pretty unbeatable. Perhaps it would be a let-down if you're coming from NYC or or Chicago or some such place, but if you take a look at the events listed on the Just Buffalo literary calendar or find some of the arts and music listings, you might be surprised how much gets packed into a month or even a week. I've heard people from places like Baltimore or Philly compare one month of Buffalo events to an annual listing of events in their home town. And it seems that the University has been doing a pretty good job of engaging local organizations and cultural groups with their resources and events, in spite of the quasi-modernist campus being isolated out in the inner-ring suburbs.

All in all, I'm rather bummed to have to move away! I hope those who are headed to UB this fall or still considering it will engage this place and the wonderful people living here. I think you will find it a good place to be.