Amalia222

Well, i'm over my shock now. I have moved into the thrilled/excited phase ("ROAD TRIP!!"). I actually was born in Texas and spent the first six years of my life there. At the end of the day, I feel so blessed to have gotten into grad school when so many others on this board (and people I know) are being forced to try again next year due to the economy and the tough competition. I would have gone to the moon if it meant finally getting my ph.d!!

star crossed

what is this thing, "make up"? I am a student. I don't have time to put crap on my face when I have to read the complete works of Chaucer by sunrise.

well, if you're ever in Texas, you can come say "howdy" hehe!!! I have lived in several foreign countries, and it's weird but it never felt so important as this does. Those were just teaching jobs for a year or two, but this is my....well, future! So I go through alternating feelings of elation and terror. But I am also thrilled to have made it through the applications gauntlet. My GREs were about to expire, I had no employment prospects, and my Plan B was nonexistant. But I know how you feel moving to a foreign country. Luckily for you, the US has a lot of similarities with NZ, and at least we speak the same language! You'll probably only miss the food, because as far as what my kiwi and ozzie friends tell me, the food here sucks. Expect to gain the freshman 15!!!

farm boy

barn raise

running late

Things I will not miss: *living with my parents. I love them ...but. *hopeless job interviews for minimum wage jobs where they won't even hire me because I'm "overqualified". *the 'burbs. *the relatives/friends who told me to be realistic about my chances of acceptance *the GRE (NEVER AGAIN!!! HALLELUJAH!!!!) *thinking about applications 24/7

Hi all! Well, it all happened today. I clicked on "send" with the email that determined the next five years of my life. "I am writing to accept the offer of admission...." It's an amazing feeling, but also terrifying. I'm moving out of State, away from my family, for the next 5 years or more. It's a huge, HUGE change in my life. I don't know a single soul in the whole state. Anybody else have post-acceptance "hit with a ton of bricks" feelings?

It feels like all we read these days is how bad grad school is, how there are no jobs, how academia sucks.... What's interesting to me is that I had a terrible experience in my Master's program, and yet now I am going back for more. However, it was partly my own fault. I graduated from college at 21 and applied for grad school thinking I wanted to be a professor. I didn't understand the whole specialization thing, so I did the most logical second step: I told each school exactly what they wanted to hear. If they specialized in 18th century British lit, say, I said that I was mad for Milton. As it happened, I ended up at a school where 17th century American was all the rage--and I hated it. Only belatedly did I realize that not only was I not interested in that topic, but that I was more creative writer than academic writer at my core. Oops. I graduated anyway, but not before I was completely fed up with the obligatory ass-kissing of professors. As an MA student, I was given no mentor, and no guidance whatsoever. I was forced to beg, BEG for people to be on my committee, and was so desperate I had to get one committee member from another department just to graduate. Was it their fault or mine? I wasn't who I advertised myself to be. I also had unrealistic expectations about grad school, like the article states. It's true---at 21, I thought it would be like my undergrad, but more fun. I wish! That's why I think it's better when you know what you're in for. That's how you can be one of the "happy few" he mentions in his article. Yes, you can read dozens of articles about how bad it is---but at the end of the day, the corporate world can be much, much worse. Yes, you have to suck up to professors and you are at the bottom of the academic food chain--well, it's better than spending 8 hours a day at a job you loathe. In my case, I am thrilled to have another crack at grad school, because this time I know what it takes. Oh, and I actually knew what I wanted to do this time. For the next 5 years, I get to study literature, write stories, and teach. And I will break even, not going one cent into debt. To one person, a TAship is slave labor for the university. To someone like me, a TAship is priceless job preparation and experience, as well as a means to pay for my education. A fair trade off, if you ask me. I do admit, though, that the academic jargon gets annoying. Seriously, who on earth actually ENJOYS sitting around discussing critical theory??? Not me.

given a choice between unemployment and academic inbreeding, I'd say let the incestuousness begin!

faint hearted

even though I find the first video amusing, it does not deter me in the least. I have been broke for years. I am used to eating ramen. I am 32 years old and still live with my parents. I made less than $3500 last year, because I don't have a teaching credential and so am only legally allowed to work part-time in California. The public school system is a mess, and I wouldn't want to work in it even if I had a credential. The job market is abysmal. In the last year, I applied to about 50 jobs. Since all my experience is in teaching, no one would even offer me a secretarial position because I didn't have a "typing certificate" (even though I can type) and no administrative assistant experience. People with 20 years in the industry are applying to jobs I used to get in the summers off from college. To me, 5 years in grad school in creative writing is a dream come true. With my stipend, I can afford to have a small apartment, and it is plenty of money for me if I am frugal. 5 years to read and write and teach? awesome. To even make an adjunct's salary would be more than enough to support my creative writing. I don't particularly care about tenure-track positions, as research is not my main focus. I don't have kids, so I have no problem moving "to the middle of nowhere, nebraska". hehe. But I do think it's important for us to be more realistic. I am beginning to believe that people live in la-la land about the life of professors. The world is changing, and tenure track jobs may be a thing of the past, IMHO.

great comeback!

Well, I guess if you're really paranoid, you can have someone else there when you interview them, and then ask to see their student i.d. to make sure they really are a student at the school. Your best bet is to get a roomie through the school. When I went to UCSD, they had a "board" where people could post up roommate requests. I found 2 roomies that way. Other schools have an online roomie search. Those are pretty consistently safe, since only students use those web sites ( i think). I think craig's list in general can be sketchy, but just write down their student i.d. # and confirm that they are a student at the school, and that should work out. Or if you want just a random person, I guess you could write down their driver's license #?

student loan debt is becoming a real crisis for people now. With the job market as it is, a lot of people are losing everything when unable to pay it back (and you can't default on a student loan debt). So I say, you're much safer to take the money.

ravenous hunger

I posted this in another thread but it is so funny I think the people in the humanities forum need to see it. It's awesome.

sex symbol

Congrats, karen! I just found out via email that I am "very high" on the "short list" and that they are waiting until March 25, their admission deadline, before sending out more offers. I've kind of got my heart set on Texas A&M though, not sure if Bing. is better....

I'm still kinda hoping to get into FSU, which is the last school left of my "top" choices. They told me letters wouldn't go out till the end of the month (!!) which means I can't really make a decision until I hear from them.

Okay, so I was just told I am "very near the top" for the short list at Binghamton, so I don't know about funding yet, but I am trying to decide which school I prefer if I get an offer. (if they don't offer me funding, this issue will be moot, because Texas A&M is offering me tuition waiver + stipend for 4/5 years) Texas A&M and Bing. are both in small towns, both quiet, both relatively small, "intimate" English departments. Bing's English dept. is ranked #58 on the US News and World Report Rankings, Texas A&M #63 Texas A&M just started offering the creative dissertation within the last couple of years, so it's quite new, but I am a good fit for the department as far as my academic specialization (transnationalism, 20thc. world lit) Also, heavy emphasis on teaching, which is what I want to do. Bing. has more emphasis on creative writing, which can be problematic, if you think about preparation for the job market, but good, when you think of having more time to write. Bing. doesn't do transnationalism as a genre, but they do 20th c. and postcolonialism, which often amounts to the same thing. Both have a literary magazine, both have a slew of published writers as faculty or former students. Helllllp! Anybody been to Binghamton who can comment? I've talked to former students at Texas A&M, but I'm curious about Binghamton, since they have very little info on their website.

email the DGS and ask if there is a current/former student at Cornell you could speak to for advice.

plus sized

ouch.