Two Espressos

Hm, well I recently set up my new school email address and paid my enrollment deposit. And my future roommates--one of whom is the ever-awesome It's (Not) About Me-- and I are searching for an apartment/house to move into this August. All very exciting stuff! I still need to send my official transcripts, enroll in the graduate student health insurance plan, send in my medical history, register for classes, etc.

Part two:

You guys! I just found these on my computer. This was from last year, I think. Could one of the more seasoned Grad Cafe members guide me to the thread in which these hilarious photos were originally made? For those who haven't seen them before, enjoy!

Exactly! I did as well, and while I'm still like this a lot -- -- I do realize that fit was the critical factor for me: the department fits like a glove. Thankfully my acceptance came after having visited the program in question, which helps kill any lingering it-was-just-a-fluke-and-you're-not-grad-school-material thoughts.

Yes! I'm not familiar with Go Pro, but Tim and Eric Awesome Show: Great Job! is my favorite TV series. Tom Goes to the Mayor is pretty great too.

This will do nothing to better your chances for a Ph.D. in English literature. Sure. DO ALL THE MASTERS

I wouldn't worry too much, OP: you might just have senioritis! I'm feeling extremely lazy and burnt out as well-- I'm days away from finishing my B.A. degree, and while I'm trying to stay motivated and invested in my coursework, all I can think about is ditching this shit and beginning to read and research the stuff I hope to work on when I start my Ph.D. program this fall. So while our circumstances aren't exactly the same, my initial guess is that you're just feeling regular academic burnout. But as other posters suggest, taking time off might be a good idea to ensure that that is the case!

Yeah, many of their placements--TT or otherwise-- are in southern states. I wonder if that has anything to do with UNC's reputation in the South as compared with the country as a whole? Yeah, UNC mentioned something similar during my visit weekend as well! Given the state of the academic job market, I think it's important for programs to provide this sort of assistance.

What did I just read? I know we on Grad Cafe like to compare graduate school admissions to the lottery, but it's not really an accurate analogy. The sentence "someone has to get into these programs, just like someone has to win the lottery" doesn't make sense to me: merit largely accounts for your chances, unlike in the lottery, wherein you subject yourself to the laws of probability without being able to affect your chances beyond buying more lottery tickets. If you have excellent credentials, getting accepted to grad school becomes much more probable-- still not guaranteed, but much more probable. In the anecdote I provided above, my LOR writer was "actually friends" with both scholars she contacted. I feel in retrospect that "slightly annoyed" was too strong a word for the one scholar's reaction: the person in question is good friends with my LOR writer, so while she did in fact react negatively, I highly doubt it was reaction that would have affected their relationship in any way. Note also that my LOR writer briefly told me about this months ago, and I didn't really inquire too much into the specifics. But I agree with what has been said above: 1) Don't ask a LOR writer to pull some strings for you, but don't worry about nepotism if she or he does decide to do so; and 2) Don't expect a professor to try this with anyone except close friends.

I'm glad you asked! Here are placement rates from a few programs, more or less detailed depending on the particular school: http://www.english.upenn.edu/Grad/job_placement_record http://english.uchicago.edu/node/109 http://english.wvu.edu/gr/job-placement http://englishcomplit.unc.edu/english/job-placement-record WVU isn't a "top program" by anyone's metric, and over 70% of its graduates are getting TT jobs. UPenn, UChicago, and UNC-Chapel Hill are all top-20 programs. I can provide more placement stats if you'd like (really, they're only a google search away), but I'm short on time at present. I stand by my earlier statement: attending a top program in one's field is not a death knell by any means if you're fully funded. One may not find a TT job at the end (indeed, this is increasingly likely!), but there are much worse things to do with one's life than reading, researching, and writing about a field you love for 5-6 years.

I disagree with #1, although the latter two points are true. To the OP: one of my LOR writers had personal connections with scholars at two top-20 programs. She tried to put in a good word for me at both schools outside of just writing the letter. One scholar thanked her for personally contacting him and said he'd be on the lookout for my application; the other seemed slightly annoyed that my LOR writer had contacted her, perhaps thinking doing such was unfair or in some way wrong. I was actually rejected from both programs. I happened to be accepted at another top-20 program, in my opinion the best possible one for my interests of all the programs to which I'd applied. I had no connections to anyone in the department prior to applying, and neither did my LOR writers. I provide this anecdote simply for its own sake. *shrugs shoulders*

Congrats again! You were one of the posters whose final decision I most wanted to know. But yes, the Boston Marathon bombings really put a damper on things. My thoughts are with Boston residents today...

Congrats! You've got lots of great options. Can't say I envy the crazy-fast decision-making you've got to do in the next few hours!

WHAT words don't even--

Could you say more about this? No... just no. Maybe if we're talking about lower-ranked institutions, but being admitted into a top program at a state university isn't any easier than anywhere else. Think of all the insanely competitive and well-regarded Ph.D. programs in English; many of those are at state schools: UC-Berkeley, UCLA, UC-Irvine, Michigan, UNC-Chapel Hill, UT-Austin, Wisconsin-Madison, etc.

So, what's the consensus on the best way to move stuff across the country? Uhaul? Upack? I don't have tons of money to throw around. I'm moving from PA to NC, by the way.

The article is hilariously melodramatic. Here is terse and much better advice: only attend a well-regarded program with strong placement stats that fully funds you. I'm calling bullshit on those stats. Can you provide a source? The 9.5 years thing is true at some places, but mostly at those schools that abandon you, like dazedandbemused notes above. The ~60k debt and 5-15% chance of an academic job stats are simply false. Look at top programs' placements. And it's not like "average" humanities Ph.D.s--even from middling institutions-- aren't getting jobs: the issue is that they're getting non-TT positions. But the best programs still place their best students in TT jobs. Again, completely false. UNC, for example, places a major emphasis on teaching. Many other programs are similar. I completely agree with Swagato's posts as well as dazedandbemused's: they're closest to reality.

It's my perception that the difference in reputation between UNC-Chapel Hill and UT-Austin is so marginal as to be insignificant: they're both two of the best state universities in the U.S., their English Ph.D. programs both have reputations for being very collegial and supportive, they both have respectable placement stats, they both have good international reputations, and they both offer less funding than peer institutions (one of the only downsides). Obviously there are differences between them, but at this point, I'd say that fit becomes the most important factor. Really, UNC-Chapel Hill and UT-Austin are both top-notch programs. You can't go wrong! Oh, and were you at the UNC open house? I'm headed there this fall, so obviously my take on the program is a little biased. As deciding notes above, fairly comprehensive placement stats are listed on UNC's website, but they much harder to find than they should be. ETA: Also bear in mind that UNC is in the Research Triangle, so you can take graduate courses at other local universities, most notably Duke. I'm not sure if UT-Austin has something similar or not? Another thing I like about UNC-Chapel Hill is that its graduates go on to acquire TT positions both at SLAC, state schools, and community colleges as well as major research institutions like Rutgers. It's a nice mix.

Really? If that's the case, then that's awesome.

I know exactly how you feel, dazedandbemused. UNC couldn't be a better fit for me, and various faculty members, students, etc. said as much when I visited in March! When you find a great graduate program like that, it's just beautiful.

If a program looks down upon your LGBT activism, it's a program you probably shouldn't be attending anyways. So no worries! There, fixed that for you.

Nice! I'm heading to UNC this fall, and I plan on taking some courses at Duke Literature and/or English, so maybe I'll see you around?

I just formally declined my offer at Georgetown. I applied for Pitt's post-bac fellowship as well, and I asked to be withdrawn from consideration for that too. Good luck to those still waiting! Being on a wait list is brutal.

My visit weekend was very similar: most of the people I talked to said they were definitely going to UNC, so I was really worried that I wouldn't be accepted off the wait list. But look what happened! So to those on the wait list: don't lose hope! It's not over 'til the 15th, and acceptance offers could come at any time!

Hi everyone! I'll be starting a Ph.D. in English at UNC this fall. I've already made some friends in my incoming cohort, but it would be cool to get to know incoming students in other departments!