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Ryzhaya

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Everything posted by Ryzhaya

  1. Hooray for Vasily Grossman! I think he definitely deserves to be more widely read. I'm hoping some day to expand on an essay I wrote on a short story of his (Старый учитель - - which is absolutely heartbreaking and will make you cry on the bus in front of everyone) and some other short works by Ehrenburg and Rybakov. And I am also currently reading Жизнь и судьба (about 50 pages in) - - what a bizarre coincidence! I'm hoping to follow it up with Rybakov's Тяжёлый Ресок if I still have the emotional strength - - those two right in a row could be a bit much.
  2. Большое спасибо! (And I always feel weirder using вы with my peers anyway - we're all friends here ). And I'm so glad you commented, because I've certainly been creeping on your posts and wondering where our interests might overlap. And I must say it's nice to see someone with similar interests getting into a PhD program at Yale! I've only read Жизнь насекомых by Pelevin - - what is your #1 must-read by him? Also, have you read much of Tat'yana Tolstaya? I adore her stuff, and she certainly seems to fit your interests, especially Кысь. Ahhh it's so nice to nerd out on stuff that's actually in my field - - no offense to all you English folks!
  3. So glad you recognized Бегемот! That book was the whole reason I started studying Russian. Besides being interested in Bulgakov (obviously), I'm interested in 20th Century Russian lit in general (particularly Soviet-Jewish authors), the history of Jewish thought, literary theory (especially Bakhtin), and representations of space and the body in literature. And yeah, I applied straight from my B.A., not counting my two very productive years of waiting tables after graduation What about you?
  4. I'm in the same boat with one of my acceptances. Their initial email said that would get back to me with funding info, and when I wrote back several weeks later asking when they expected funding decisions to be made, they replied with a nebulous "later in the semester" and assured me they would let me know . . . I've received another offer with funding, and I'm tempted to write to them again, letting them know about my other offer and that I won't be attending their university unless they're able to provide me with a similar level of support, but I don't want to sound rude or pushy. And perhaps they're waiting on university-wide fellowship info or something like that? I'm not sure how long I should wait or what exactly I should say. Advice, anyone?
  5. Just received my acceptance to the Comp Lit MA program with a TA-ship. Super excited because it's the best funding news I've heard so far. Any and all information on the program (or the university and town in general) would be most welcome! Sorry you weren't accepted, Enzian, and congrats on the UNC admit with funding - - as a fellow Slavic-type, I hope we'll be seeing each other at conferences soon
  6. Congratulations, inciragaci, and thanks for responding! I guess that means I can start considering Penn State an implicit rejection . . . ah, well. What other Comp Lit programs are we all waiting on? I'm still waiting on U Mass Amherst (and someone got an early notice on the results board, so I'd imagine their decisions are coming soon); Colorado (should be coming out next week, according to an earlier email); and Toronto's MA program.
  7. Yup, me too. Ah well. And with that, I'm officially moving out of California . . . weird!
  8. San Francisco State's MA deadlines for both Classics and Comparative Literature are May 1st. I don't think they offer funding, although I seem to remember some folks TA-ing. You can also take one class per semester at Berkeley. PM me if you have questions.
  9. I can't help with most of your questions, but as a fellow UIUC Comp Lit admit, I figured it was worth mentioning that they view all of their admissions as PhD applicants. I sent the graduate director an email asking about the usual timeline for a few things, and he mentioned in his reply that they "do not admit students who do not intend to continue on to the PhD." Just figured I'd share! Also, congratulations - - and perhaps I'll see you in Urbana this Fall!
  10. So I've just been accepted to Dartmouth's one year Master's program in Comp Lit (with a tuition waiver, but no fellowship, unfortunately). Is anyone else considering this program, or does anyone have any relevant information to share? I'm hoping for a better-funded alternative, but I'm excited to be admitted (Ivy League, whoa!) and will certainly consider it. Also, I know that funded MAs are generally seen as more prestigious than paid ones - - any ideas on whether the tuition waiver might make future ad comms look upon my MA more favorably, or does this idea only apply to fully funded offers? Thanks, and best of luck to everyone!
  11. I'm still waiting on 6 of 8 schools, and for funding information on my one admission, and AAAAAAAAGHHHH GOD I JUST WANT TO KNOOOOOW ALREADY!!! Ahem. Pardon me. As you were.
  12. Congrats to the Penn State Comp Lit acceptance, whoever you may be! Anything you'd like to share with the rest of the class?
  13. Speaking of airplanes . . . is anyone else freaking out about the idea of moving? I was lucky enough to get an acceptance very early on, but it's certainly given me plenty of time to obsess over the fact that this is really, actually definitely going to happen - - and soon! Add to this that I only applied to one school in my home state, and that I almost certainly will not be able to afford to visit programs before April 15th, and that I have quite literally only seen snow three times in my entire life . . .
  14. HaruNoKaze, I'm in Comp Lit, not English. I'm assuming all the Comp Lit letters came from Salgado in his capacity as Graduate Advisor for that department, because I'm not a Latin Americanist.
  15. MyshkinLit, don't let these English folks freak you out - I'm sure Comp Lit is just set up differently. I'd recommend just sending them an email and asking when they expect funding decisions to be made. I emailed this question to the program to which I've been accepted, along with a few other questions about the program and a request to be put in touch with some current graduate students, and they responded promptly and helpfully.
  16. I received an email directly from Cesar Salgado informing me that I had been placed on a "short waitlist" (although it looks like at least two other folks were as well - - I wonder just how "short" we're talking here??). I'm pleased to have been considered eligible even if i don't end up attending. Congratulations to everyone who was accepted, and I hope everyone hears from them soon!
  17. Oh, well I'm soooooo glad all you English folks are feeling relieved! Meanwhile, us Comparatistas get to officially begin freaking out . . . plus, from the name, it sounds like the OP is also a Russian lit type . . . eeep! Anyway, I don't have much info to offer, other than that I've heard good general things about the program, Austin is a great city, and - if you are indeed going for Russian literature - their Slavic department seems strong. Congratulations!
  18. Oh man. I somehow managed to put this entire process out of my head after I submitted my applications, but after receiving my first response (acceptance! yay!) I am right back on the obsessing train. If anyone feels like distracting themselves, I would love to hear about your experiences in M.A. programs. How did it help you? Do you regret anything about it? Any specific advice on getting the most out of the experience?
  19. From what I've heard, diversity statements are also sometimes used to determine if you qualify for certain kinds of financial aid. While a personal history statement seems more about discussing your background and your unique personal qualities, I believe diversity statements are more or less supposed to be tearjerkers. I dashed off a quick draft for the one school I'm applying to that requires it, and frankly I'm having trouble editing it because it's embarrassing to read. I am having the hardest time discussing my personal struggles without coming off as manipulative or self-pitying, but again, that may be sort of the point behind a diversity statement.
  20. Texas will allow you to upload documents after submitting your general application.
  21. I don't get it . . . unless you guys are writing about his early Russian novels in translation, isn't Nabokov considered an American writer? I would certainly consider Lolita an American novel.
  22. Don't despair indalomena! I am also totally confident in my writing and consider one of my greatest strengths, and I scored a 4 on AW (48%)! I was honestly shocked to get such a low score; I don't think I wrote great essays by any stretch of the imagination, but I feel like I did what was asked of me well enough. I guess it was a case of overconfidence . . . ah, well. There is certainly no point in dwelling on it now, and I'll third the idea that few programs take the AW score very seriously. Why give any weight to standardized test essay when an actual example of your academic writing is sitting right in front of them? Anyway, my other scores were 170V and 151Q. So at least I have my verbal score to keep me warm at night!
  23. Verbal estimated: 750-800 Actual: 170 (99%) Quant estimated: 610-710 Actual: 151 (58%) AW: 4.0 (48%) I am quite surprised by the low analytical writing score, but like Daniel O. McClellan I didn't bother studying for it at all (or put a great deal of effort into actually writing the thing, for that matter). Fortunately it seems like most of my potential programs don't really give a damn about the GREs.
  24. Thanks for your reply. And yes, of course I have written essays before, and in fact my process is quite similar to yours - - three cheers for painstakingly detailed outlines. I guess what I'm getting at is that writing an essay completely outside of an institution of higher learning is proving to be a new and different experience for me; in my undergrad, my ideas were always born out of the courses I was taking, with avenues for further research and areas for clarification suggested in discussions with classmates or professors. While I have faith in my essay writing abilities and I do think my argument is interesting, having formulated, developed, and begun writing this project in a complete vacuum makes me a little . . . nervous, I suppose, or downright pessimistic in certain moods. I have always been wildly hard on myself, though. I am still wary of asking my professors to read over any of my drafts. They are all extremely busy people, and I am no longer their student. One professor explicitly offered to edit ONE draft of my SOP, which certainly seems to imply that he wouldn't be able to edit another much longer work as well. I do have a few grad-school-lit type friends, and I suppose I just need to track them down and beg You're probably right that I need to put down the theoretical texts and put all my energy into completing a draft. I suspect I'm overthinking the whole process . . . I just really want this to be a great essay!
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