mrfuga0

I start my PhD in the fall after having done two master's degrees (one quite long and one short). I'm curious about a certain situation. I have migraine headaches, which is pretty common and kind of boring, honestly. What's not common or boring is the syndrome I have along with them, which is called Alice in Wonderland Syndrome. It often occurs preceding a migraine or in place of one and is a visual hallucination of sorts that lasts for a short period of time. I'm usually pretty aware of it happening, but it can be disturbing for me and for those around me because I am in sort of a trance while it happens. It's very strange and not at all as fun as it sounds. My question is this: Should I tell my professors about this in case I zone out during class? I fear that such a revelation could end up making me look like a whiner who wants special treatment. I didn't mention it during my first master's (the long one) because I didn't know about the syndrome. I mentioned it to a few professors during the second master's, but always felt like that one student who always asks for extensions and special treatment because they have some sort of disease no one has ever heard of. Not that I asked for extensions, but you get the point. Any advice? Should I mention it? Not mention it and wait to see if it happens? Pretend like I'm not feeling as tiny as Alice did after she drank what was in the bottles?

In English or Creative Writing? Usually the funding for incoming MA, MFA and PhD students is in the form of a TAship and they will often wait to tell you if you got one based on the numbers of enrolled freshmen. It's not uncommon to hear this info in April or even later (I think I didn't hear until May). I'm not an official anything (except graduate), but it's usual for students to get funding as a TA. There's usually one or two people who don't get a TAship for one reason or another, but it's often some sort of oddball thing like a late admission or independent wealth or something. If you were up for a university fellowship, those should be in by now, but I'm not totally sure what this year is looking like. If you have any questions about U of A or anything, feel free to PM me or ask on this board, although I'm less of a lurker these days.

Honestly, I have lived here for seven years as a grad student and I don't think the post above is an accurate reflection of the graduate student life. It seems like a pretty narrow-minded view of what's available. As I've posted before, Fayetteville is a small town and one shouldn't come here assuming there will be tons of stuff on the level of New York or Boston. On the other hand, its great college town and I, for one, have found lots of great stuff to do over the years. Try thinking outside the box and looking for nightlife off Dickson Street, go bowling, look for movies that might be playing for just a couple weeks, try out new restaurants, go go-karting, check out the trails and camping opportunities, get involved in the green movement, keep up with the stuff going on at the public library, get involved in the free swing lessons, break-dance lessons or martial arts lessons at the fitness center, volunteer to be an english conversation partner, etc. There's lots to do if you don't get yourself bogged down in how Fayetteville is a small town. Don't come in with a negative attitude and don't leave with one. That's the best advice there is.

I got a rejection from Johns Hopkins many years ago that read as follows: Dear applicant: This year we received many qualified applicants for our MFA program. Unfortunately you were not one of them. I hope you have made other plans for your future. Sincerely, X I kid you not.

I've reapplied to different schools at different times. My current school that I've been accepted to is a three timer (one rejection, one wait list and now one full press courting). Before that, I had applied to another school four times and some others a couple times. It definitely boils down to fit -- I did do a master's at one school I had applied to four times, but the DGS and I had a good conversation and it just isn't the school for me and we both knew it. I kept sending that application in, though! The school I'm in at, however, jut needed me to get everything together and present it well. Which took me a little longer than I thought it should have. But that's my issue, not theirs. I'd say that you should take a good look at your app, get some advice from your LoR peeps (advice you DON'T want to hear vs. car waxing) and then really evaluate the schools you are looking at. Make sure they aren't rejecting you because you just don't fit in with what they need/want in a student. Then reapply away. It didn't kill me and I did it four times, not including the apps for my MFA back in 2002. Here's a good tip for when people ask what you are doing and it's sort of embarrassing: just say you are working towards a PhD. No one has to know that you are working towards it on your own. I've been pawning that one off on my grandma for four years now.

I used my award for a study abroad program that had the tuition paid but the living expenses were not. You might be able to use it for travel expenses or conferences. Check with your state coordinator. Also, best of luck to everyone who is trying to claim their award. I had tons of trouble, as AmeriCorps was floundering at the time my award was available. My state senator (the honorable Mitch McConnell) had to get involved. It was bad news all around.

I'm assuming from the few acceptances up on the board that Indiana has notified their people and apparently sent them a lovely evite as well. Has anyone gotten a waitlist or a rejection?

Hi Moro, Rogers will be about a twenty minute commute depending on the time of day you are driving in/out and Farmington is probably about ten-fifteen minutes. That said, neither one is really a necessary commute, as the price won't be any different and the quietness won't be any different than living in Fayetteville. The key to finding a quiet apartment complex in Fayetteville is to live in one of the ones further away from campus. I'd suggest The Cliffs or the Links for quiet, but not necessarily price. The less expensive complexes will be closer to campus, but they may have more undergrads. I really don't suggest living out in Springdale, Rogers or Farmington just to get a cheaper place -- they won't be any cheaper.

Oh man, I'm a posting maniac today. That's what happens when you sit at a computer nine hours a day. Accepted with fellowship at University of Missouri-Columbia. Rejected at WUSTL (yeowch). Two others on the burner. I study contemporary literature from places of long-term ethnic conflict and compare images of violence from ex-patriate writers and national writers. There's a much more eloquent way to say that, but it's 4 pm on a Friday. Sorry. I do have a lady-crush on Andrea Lunsford, so whatever she says, I'm good with.

I was specifically thinking of the Loyola poster, although I didn't want to call them out. Since someone else did, I'll be happy to elaborate! I was struck by how silly it seemed to consider a top ranked school that only takes 6 admits a year "a safety". It's great to be academically confident (all this research I'm doing suggests a correlation between academic confidence and persistence rates, so there's something there), but it's another thing to consider yourself so good that you only apply to places that take 1% (!) of their applicants. And then to assume that you will definitely get in. It seems very bizarre to me. That said, I've applied a couple times to schools that are totally out of my reach (UCLA, WashU, BU and NYU only in one memorable year). I guess after going through the process so many times with disappointing results several of those times, I'm curious why anyone would consider themselves in the top 1% of all applicants without batting an eyelash. I'm STILL stunned that I got accepted anywhere, never mind at a well-ranked school that fits all my needs. Maybe I'm just old. The folly of youth and all that?

As a veteran of this process (this is time #4 for PhD applications and I FINALLY got in to a great school), I'm curious how people view the term "safety school". I've seen more than a few board posts that list only really top tier schools (Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Berkley, UCLA, etc.) and results posts that say things like "Got rejected from Stanford, my safety school!" Maybe I'm naive, but I was always of the opinion that a safety school is a school that you can get into no matter what, not a top twenty name-check school. Perhaps I'm carrying over an old-school idea from undergraduate education (I HAVE been doing a lot of higher ed research at work this month ...) wherein you always apply to one school that you wouldn't necessarily WANT to go to, but you WOULD go to, because, really, what's the alternate if you don't get in to an undergraduate institution? Be an unemployed 18 year old who still lives at home? So, the question on the table is: Has the term "safety school" changed when it is applied to graduate school? Does it still mean a school you KNOW you will get into because it is lowly and not worthy of your love? Or does it simply mean a school that is not your #1 choice? In that case, is there a better term for this idea than "safety school"?

Wow! Good luck with your case! Sounds like your company got greedy and hoped no one would challenge them. It definitely takes courage and persistence to stand up to that. Best of luck and let us know how it all turns out.

This is kind of a silly question, but any suggestions for what to wear on a Welcome Day visit? The one in question involves a breakfast, a campus tour, a colloquium, meeting with professors and students and then some informal dinner/party type stuff in the evening. I'm comfortable wearing business casual type stuff -- trousers and a sweater or trousers and blouse, but if there's no chance to change for the evening, I don't want to seem uptight coming to a party wearing my pinstriped trousers and a silk blouse, you know? Would a nice pair of dark jeans and a blouse be appropriate? Sorry to ask a somewhat silly question, but I'm kind of a fashion freak, and I like to strike the right note if I can. PS: I'm obviously a woman, but I assume that advice for men would be appropriate too.

I'm not sure what's clueless about saying that if Texas is at at-will state, then getting an actionable suit going would be difficult. It's not impossible: if the company did something illegal along the way (racial discrimination, sexual harassment, etc.) which we're not aware of, then the original poster may have a case. Unlikely, but possible. I work in an at-will state and currently have an EEOC case against my employer. Just because they can fire you at-will doesn't allow them to fire you because of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, etc. Not that this post sounds like that happened, but since we don't have the facts, you can never know. It costs nothing to post at LegalMatch and the advice they offer will probably say that nothing can be done. Nevertheless, it can soothe a troubled mind. Basically, when people get fired (and trust me, I get fired a lot and I've been in the real world longer than I care to mention) they want a little bit of time to rant and rave. It doesn't hurt anyone and this is a good forum to do it. It keeps your significant other/parents/roommates from wanting to kill you, at least So, original poster, go ahead and vent if you like. And bear in mind that you do have something fun to look forward to. Living with your parents may not be the most fun thing to be in the meantime, but you got in! Hooray! I'll have a celebratory drink on your honor tonight!

It depends on the conditions of the MA. If it is unfunded, then I don't suggest it. Going into debt for an MA is a bad proposition -- it's just not a good idea, especially when there is so much money out there for MA programs. I say that having gotten (and taken) a funded MA offer in 2007 for a PhD program I applied to. I have a suspicion you got the same offer I did, based on some previous posts you have made, Yellow #5. If it was at a certain Catholic school in the northeast that is well known for their English program, then feel free to PM me. That school's MA director will tell you straight up not to accept an unfunded MA offer. Of course, he'll say that only after you've matriculated there. That said, I feel that my MA (which I finished in a year, so that may have influenced things for better or worse) allowed me to get into a PhD program eventually. I came from a background where I didn't have an undergrad English degree and I had an MFA, so I really needed the extra help to show committees that I was getting the info that I needed and that I was serious about getting a PhD in English. However, some places like Yale, for instance, want you virginal and pure from undergrad. It's a toss up and one I'd suggest you discuss with the MA director at the school that offered you the position -- be brutally honest with him/her about your background/aspirations/shortcomings/strengths/etc. But be aware that even a funded offer only pays your tuition -- I still worked 40 hours a week on top of classes and ended up taking out a loan for summer classes. It was worth it in the end, but it's still a burden that I'm going to have to pay back.

Cool! Do you know anything about the town or school? My parent went to school there, but that was about 35 years ago, so I'm sure things have changed.

Try posting at the LegalMatch discussion threads. Some lawyerly types haunt there and usually can give you decent advice, although they do tend to be fairly pessimistic. I, too, will be collecting unemployment (again, for the fourth time in three years) until I start school in August. Yes, you have to be looking for a job. You don't HAVE to take a job, however. And there are lots of temp services, especially now that companies have laid off workers and don't/can't hire full-time people with full-time benefits. If you do get an interview, just either a)be honest and say you are leaving in August or don't and know that this company, like all others, will find someone very quickly to replace you. Another option is to freelance if you have any skills that lend themselves to that type of work. Could you edit engineering theses and dissertations? Can you consult for some company in Austin that needs an engineering type person? Why not try working at Trader Joe's for six months? My brother did that and thinks it might have been a better education than his grad degree from MIT. The goal is to stay busy and collect money for six months, not necessarily to build a career. Give yourself a week to be angry and then decide if you can actually pursue legal action. If you can, awesome. Good luck. If not, find something -- anything -- that will fill your time and pay your rent until August and focus on the positive: YOU got into grad school! YOU will eventually get tenure and never get fired again!

I'm not making any final decisions yet, but any one else headed to MU-Columbia, especially in English PhD?

Is Texas an at-will work state? If so, you'll probably have a really hard time getting an actionable suit going. Sorry to be a downer, but this just happened to me, too. It sucks. Any chance you are starting school in the fall and can collect unemployment until then? My condolences.

Medianerd, I have faith in you. And, from someone who has spent some time off (BA, year off, MFA, year off, MA, year off) -- don't worry too much about taking time off if you aren't prepared to fully commit to the program that accepts you. Life has a way of working itself out -- I've been fired from more jobs than I can count, I've been on unemployment four times in the last three years -- but my eye have always been on the ultimate prize. And it does work out if you look at those rejections as an opportunity to figure out what went wrong and to just get better every time. You can do it. Now, if I can just figure out how to stretch these unemployment dollars until August, I'll be all set!

If you want to add my MFA rejections from 2001 to my above total of 19, then we can up my total to 26 I'm just happy that I'm accepted now to a place I like (one of my top choices). I like to say I'm a model for persistence and determination (or stupidity).

I've applied for PhD programs four times ... excluding this year, I was accepted to only one program (which I turned down because no one in that department taught my subject and it was ranked somewhere south of 200. Seriously). So my rejection total is (drum roll, please) ... 19! That doesn't include this year's applications, although I finally have one acceptance at a school that's top 20 with people who do what I study (thank God!). Let's do some math. 19 applications, plus the two that I got accepted to, plus three more that are out = 24 applications at roughly $50 each = $1200. Add to that the GRE subject test twice (plus late fees, oops) = $170 x 2= $340, and the GRE twice = $340 and postage on each at about $4 = $48. Total cost of applying to grad school? $1928 so far. And that doesn't include my MFA applications back in 2001. That went a little better, thankfully. Wow, that was depressing.

True dat.

Hi guys, I'm in pretty constant contact with the DGS at BC, as I'm a former MA student. I'm 99% sure they will be accepting the same amount of students in the PhD program this year as they have been the previous years. This isn't particularly encouraging news, as they generally only take about 4-5 PhD students each year (and sometimes one of those students has to fit into a specific area of study, per the funding guidelines), although they generally offer several (15 or so) MA spots to qualified candidates, some of which come with first-year funding. The MA (if it is funded for both years) is a really good way to get some face time with the professors in the BC program and is a great jumping off spot for the BC PhD program, as well as other really good programs. I know recent graduates have gone/have gotten into Boston University, WashU, Vanderbilt, Maryland, Brandeis and other great places. As for the timing, I'm also 99% sure they are still making decisions. I know that they *try* to call even if you are waitlisted or rejected, so give the mailman a day off, if at all possible. The area code you'll be looking for is 617. Helpful? Let me know if you have any questions about the MA program. Like I said, it's pretty awesome, but I really suggest the fully funded for two years route, unless you just love loans, are independently wealthy or are a glutton for punishment.

Thanks for the info everybody! We'll definitely check out the ice cream and pizza places. And we love movies, so all the movie place suggestions are right on target. Thebeard, are you still in the MFA program? I finished my MFA in 2006 and now I'm getting ready to do my PhD this fall. I was just curious how the community is within the department there. Do MFAs and PhDs hang out together or is there an unspoken divide? Our MFA program was pretty cool and also in a small town so everyone hung out and there were lots of house parties and things to do, but when I did my MA, I was in a bigger town and it was very weird. No real togetherness, all the going out was at bars and happened very seldom, the students were all very young and the division between the MAs, the PhDs and the rest of the crowd (no MFA program there) was very sharp. My boyfriend is also an MFA/writer and we definitely love to hang out, go to bars, go to movies, talk to other writers, etc. We're also a little older than the typical grad student (I should say: we're older than the typical MA/MFA), so I was curious about that mix as well. Thanks for the advice. Can't wait for some of that pizza!