Two Espressos

Congrats, thestage! Now you have two (possibly) funded offers at two of the best English M.A. programs in the U.S. I considered Villanova but ended up not applying.

True, but these rankings are for programs in 2013, not 1980.

Exactly. The manner of posting is just fucking weird. My face reading this thread: Oh, and OP: you never answered my question about Bauerlein.

I have that book on loan from the library. I'll let you know what I think when (if?) I read it.

I know I'm entering a minefield here, but I want to hear more about this. What's wrong with Bauerlein?

Exciting stuff! Now UNC just needs to admit me off their wait list so I can accept too. (Well, I won't say I'd accept for sure, but I probably would.)

Congrats, Datatape!

I'm not in a position to pontificate about the discipline, but Yale's English department never struck me as being particularly cutting-edge re: theory. They seem kinda traditionalist to me. But I know nothing about History of Art or Film Studies at Yale; they may very well be doing state-of-the-art theoretical work in those departments. I'm sure Yale English has theory scholars, but the fact of the matter is that practically every program has theory scholars, so for a program to really stand out as one of the best theory departments, they'd need a comprehensive theoretical research program, something I think Yale English lacks. Again, I'm by no means an expert; perhaps someone else can chime in?

Yeah, these new rankings are boring and poorly designed: averaging scores from two time periods was a terrible idea, and they definitely could tweak the way they solicit participants. I don't feel like these rankings accurately reflect the sense of the discipline as a whole; for example, why is Yale listed as one of the best programs for literary criticism and theory? Who on here, when asked about top programs for theoretical work, honestly thinks, "Ooh, Yale!"? I'd like to see an English academic create a separate system, perhaps like Brain Leiter's rankings for philosophy. Unlike others on here, I do think that rankings, while to a degree subjective, possess some value and shouldn't be disregarded entirely. But these U.S. News and Word Report ones are just shitty.

Of course! That's the best part.

Looks like NYU finally sent out rejections. But goddamn, the "Butler-and-Foucault-spouting dipshits" post was lame. There's nothing more pathetic than a self-loathing humanities student.

I'm curious to hear you expound upon this.

I'm pretty sure living in D.C. proper would be impossible on the 10k stipend, which only a very small percentage of admitted students receive anyways. I guess I'd have to live outside the city and commute. So the biggest challenge, I suppose, would be to find an apartment near a metro line that isn't expensive (which, again, may be impossible: I'm not that familiar with the area. I hope it's not impossible. ). I agree with you that living on Georgetown's stipend would be incredibly difficult, but I'm committed to making it work in the case that I do receive it.

Yeah, I don't think anyone has heard anything yet. Maybe next week?

You underestimate my ability to live frugally. I'm poor and likely will remain poor my entire life, so Georgetown's pittance, were I to receive it, wouldn't be so daunting. I would do everything in my power not to take out loans for Georgetown. And if I don't receive a funding package, I am certain I'll decline the offer.

I am emphatically against unfunded graduate work in the humanities. My short, long, and every length answer: no.

This is wonderful and so very rare. You're extremely fortunate. Major congrats!

Blah, of course Georgetown's visit day conflicts with my other visit weekend. I'd love to visit both places, but I've already made a commitment to attend the other open house.

I don't think Yale will leave you hanging. Maybe students stay on as TAs or instructors for low-level courses?

This is great! Merci beaucoup.

A somewhat-related question: do any of you know good websites for nice clothes on sale? I've never had much luck with thrift stores, and I need to purchase some new stuff for my open house later this month. http://www.bluefly.com/ has good deals on occasion, though some of the items on there are exorbitantly priced.

Yes, I'm wondering how I should dress for my visit weekend too. I'm typically a very casual dresser, so I'm thinking I'll have to buy some dressier stuff. I do have a nice blazer that, when paired with black jeans, serves as ersatz style, but I still probably need nicer clothes for certain events (namely, a cocktail party).

If you haven't already read it, Elaine Scarry's The Body in Pain is really interesting. It's from the '80s, so I suppose it's old enough to be considered a "classic"?

Admissions statistics: http://english.georgetown.edu/programs/graduate/apply/13062.html Funding info: http://english.georgetown.edu/programs/graduate/studentfunding/ I divided 7 into the 89 students accepted in 2011 to get the < 8% figure.

I'm in at Georgetown too. I don't know much about funding and haven't heard anything as of yet, but from what I got from the website, somewhere around 1/3 of accepted students get a funding package of some kind. I'll share the following, which you may already know, but either way it'll be instructive to any visitors: Some of these are fully funded (stipend + tuition); others are simply offers of tuition remission. Some of the funded positions are extremely competitive: two years ago, 89 people were accepted, 30 of those ultimately matriculating; Georgetown only selects 7 students total for the two Graduate Writing Associate programs (GWA-HUMW and GWA-SCS). Those are odds of < 8%. I'm on the waitlist at a great Ph.D. program which may convert for me, but I'm really hoping that Georgetown offers me full funding. I won't be able to attend otherwise, and I think their program is awesome, so I'd love to go.