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sausundbraus

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  1. This week I'll be turning down funded PhD offers from UCLA and University of Chicago.
  2. I told them I wasn't going today. I was accepted on the 19th c lit / theory track(s), so a spot should open up in one or the other. Good luck. The literature program at Purdue has so many fantastic people in it!
  3. My acceptance letter had the following statistics attached to it: 560 applications 45 spots 8% acceptance: "one of the largest and most competitive applicant pools ever" This is a rough year for applications.
  4. I've taught at Harvard Extension for the past couple of years, and so, even though I'm involved with the college its in a tangential way. I can tell you, however, that Harvard is very LGBT friendly (at least socially, I don't know about institutional policy-wise) and Cambridge is even LGBT friendlier. Although on 24,000 a year with an international (?) partner, it's going to be a bit tough to live without roommates near the campus. I live in an area of town not terribly convenient to get to Harvard, and if you're afraid of missing out on the grad community by not living on campus (though living on campus seems constricting to me!), it would make no sense to recommend moving out to the cheaper (and more interesting) places Boston has. However, if you're interested, places to look that are affordable and LGBT friendly and somewhat accessible to campus: 1. Jamaica Plain: a great neighborhood, no longer dirt cheap, but still better than most parts of Cambridge. It's a slog to get to Harvard from here, but a lot of people do it! 2. Arlington: On a bus line to Harvard Square, charming and small town-y while being closer to Harvard than most places in Boston. 3. Inman Square: A moderate walk to Harvard, but not directly on a subway line so cheaper than some other neighborhoods. Probably the highest concentration of hipsters and the greatest amount of youthful energy in a someone flagging city (Boston as a whole, I mean). I dislike it there, but I'm curmudgeon-y. There are other neighborhoods that are less safe, farther away, and less LGBT friendly (or about whose friendliness I don't know). But those would be my first three choices. In any of them, its possible to find a two bedroom apartment for 1000-1100 a month (although for that price in Inman it might be a bit rundown). There are places in Somerville that run this price as well, but be careful when looking at Craig's List: Somerville is spread out. People tend to think of it as Davis and Porter Square, but it is also post-industrial and high-crime, as in the area near Everett. And Craig's List is widely used in Boston, so it's a good place to look. Good luck! I'm sure others might disagree with my take on neighborhoods, and my guess is that my three choices are a bit too narrow. But it should provide a place to start!
  5. It's looking more and more like I'll be going to Emory. I hope to see you there!
  6. I just received an offer from Santa Cruz. No word on funding yet (though there appears to be some). Campus visits the weekend of April 8th.
  7. I saw two acceptances for UC Santa Cruz. Does anyone want to supply information? Outside of those particular postings, I'm curious as to what funding is going to be available next year. But, really, funding be damned! I can't believe that UCSC isn't the hardest school to get into in the country. It's so beautiful there!
  8. I think it's a question of what you are capable of teaching when you are a first semester grad student who is having to adapt to a new academic environment. I've been adjuncting for several years now and really love it; I completely agree with you that an allergy to teaching would suggest to me that the humanities provide a problematic career choice. However, having a year to get your bearings as you prepare for a lifetime of teaching makes a lot of sense to me (something like a proto-sabbatical between college and TA'ing). That being said, a PhD program that offers no teaching experience isn't doing any favors for its grad students.
  9. And this is depressing news (but appreciated).
  10. I taught from the first semester in my master's program, and while I'm glad I did for the experience, I think it would also have been helpful not to have had to worry about it. In terms of going to the school that's in the top of your field:; well, there's certainly obvious advantages to doing so. But academic jobs only come in part from the academic reputation of a candidate's degree-granting institution. I really feel that we should all be going to the school where we think we can do the best work. "Doing the best work" happens when you have a supportive department and you have the time to work (maybe for some it comes from teeth-gnashing competition, but that just makes me want to sleep). That doesn't always happen in the best schools, which can often make you feel you should be grovelingly thankful for having the honor of being admitted.
  11. I got here after the initial post was taken down, so my reconstruction of it might be faulty. But I have to say, I think the question is a good one, even if its tone might have obscured its goodness.Receiving a first year fellowship can mean several different things (certain schools, for instance, call their Freshman funding package a 'fellowship,' though it is not exclusive), but if it means that a school is really pitching themselves to you, even if that school is lower ranked than another, it makes a lot of sense to consider it. Not because the other school in which you'd be TA'ing is a bad idea. But a lower ranked school that is extra-excited about you might take extra steps to promote your work while you're in school, could potentially look for publishing opportunities for you, etc. In this scenario, the fellowship could be more significant for c.v. development than a first year of teaching. And having the name of a fancy fellowship on your resume does help you find a job. Of course it does! I think to say "show 'em what you got" is a nice sentiment, but it doesn't really apply here. After all, schools offer (certain) fellowships precisely for this situation: to entice students who might have been accepted to more prestigious schools. If I got the gist of the original email wrong, my apologies. But if I didn't, I think it makes sense to bring this problem up, and I don't think there's an easy solution. My suggestion (based, again, on a reconstruction), would be to get in touch with the faculty at School Fellowship and tell them you're excited about working with them etc (that is, if you actually are excited about working with them...), and try to gauge the actual level of enthusiasm for you and your work. If your fellowship was received only because of high GRE scores, for instance, then the advantages you might have will probably be less significant.
  12. This is the information I received about a campus visit: We invite you to visit our campus for a program of events that will take place April 4-6. You will have an opportunity to visit the Huntington Library in nearby San Marino, attend a departmental reception, attend graduate seminars, and meet with faculty and students in your field of interest. Please inform us of any professors you would specifically be interested in meeting. You will also be welcome to visit Weyburn Terrace and Hilgard House, graduate student apartment complexes which have opened adjacent to our campus in recent years. I wish UCLA was reimbursing travel expenses, because at this point Los Angeles is almost unimaginable to me (I've lived in New England for nine years). So, in answer to another question posted, UCLA is hard to think about attending. Although, I imagine after a couple of years in Chicago I'd be questioning my priorities....
  13. Hi, I applied to Emory. Interviews during recruitment weekend occurred last week, and the initial round of offers occurred last Tuesday. I've been told that it is most likely the incoming class will be made up of those who have already been interviewed, but I think there is still a small chance for others. They are taking four students this year.
  14. I've heard (fairly reliably) that the incoming class will be between 15-20 students. I don't know if everyone will be funded or not. My funding is 21000 a year, teaching beginning in the third year. I hope this helps!
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