radicaliterata

So, I'm having a real hard time deciding what exactly I'm going to do. I was admitted into several great programs, among them being UCLA's Department of Comparative Literature PhD and Dartmouth's Masters program in Comparative Lit. Both programs are offering me funding (Dartmouth is also only a one year program), and both will allow me to do work around critical prison studies. I took a tour of the UCLA campus and program last week, and will go to Dartmouth in about 2 weeks to get a feel for their program. My overall feeling is that UCLA would allow me to do interesting work due to the extensive resources they have available on campus and through other departments, and their campus is obviously aesthetically pleasing and lively. My ultimate goal is to receive a PhD and teach at the university, but I'm not sure if it makes sense to establish a base at Dartmouth, and broaden my academic network while honing my project, and, then, either re-apply to UCLA and go there, or potentially receive placement from a top program. This is a tough decision because I live in the SF Bay Area, so am partial to California, but was also highly invested in the idea of being in New England and at an Ivy for a year. Obviously, this decision is ultimately up to me, but I'd be really interested in hearing what people --especially in the Comp. Lit./Humanities fields -- have to say.

Columbia and NYU FTW but it definitely depends on funding, where you want to live, who you want to study with, etc...

anyone? this is killing me.

please send that out....amazing!

your letter (postal) already came? seriously this is taking forevvvv' i've got nada :?

It's up there; even if it is only a masters So, right now it's between UCLA's CompLit and Dartmouth's... NYU got the boot with lack of funding; now I'm just waiting on Stanford, Irvine, and Columbia you??

haha, ya i thought the same when i read it..

I applied in the Spring(and heard back in late december/early January),so that I could consider the program next to the rest of the Fall Apps I submitted...Isn't their fall admittance not due til like July or something crazy? Or did you apply for Summer?

DARTMOUTH! AM CompLit...anyone? gooo funded masters programs.

I actually got into this program; I liked it because of the interdisciplinary approach, and accessibility a wide range of faculty. I think the program has a potential to be great, but that's also up to the individual student. When I spoke with a Grad Rep, she definitely made it sound like you have a lot of leeway, but that you are also somewhat on your own. She also indicated that a student's application for PhD really has to stress why it is an interdisciplinary Masters caters to their project and how it will facilitate work at the doctorate level. Also in terms of funding, this is much like any other traditional Masters in that it is not funded...at all. So if cash is a general issue, in addition to expensive NYC living, that is worth considering.

which program did you apply to? and, did you already find out, or is this mostly stemming from paranoia? i wouldn't look at it as being overqualified if you don't get into a masters program. Plenty of promising applicants don't get accepted, but it has more to do with whether an admissions committee sees your areas of interest and potential for graduate study as a good fit for their faculty and program.and if the applicant pool is 200+ for 8 spots, then that adds a whole other level of ridiculousness. I applied to a fully-funded masters program at Dartmouth, and I rank it within my top three because Dartmouth has a prison writing project, which is something of significant value to my desire to pursue comparative studies of incarceration from critical, literary, and feminist standpoints. I'm right with you with the prep value of a masters program before PhD, especially if you feel that t best addresses your project--so just keep your head up if you haven't heard back just yet--that could be a good thing.

I got this nondescript email at like 1am, directing me to log-in to the "decision status" realm of the application website. Definitely felt like an impending no! I wasn't surprised about Berkeley either, I spoke to numerous faculty members on campus, and found that the Rhetoric dept. was so much more supportive about my application/potential--too bad their literary focus is lacking... Hedgefunds, did you have to accept to find out about funding? I'm still waiting on other apps, and wasn't sure what the most appropriate next step was.

anyone else get their acceptance letters via email? pleasant surprise after my rejection letter from berk.

I mean, I heard March-April is pretty standard...right?

I've visited -- great undergraduate small, new england town feel, but what do grad students think?