LOLhedgefunds

Grad student w/ facial hair, taking questions

Dunno re one round or not, I would expect that that's the case. My 'concrete evidence' is based on a conversation with a faculty member about 6 weeks ago, so things may have changed in the interim. I do know that before the CURRENT ECONOMIC CRISIS they used to shoot for cohorts of around 12-14, and the 2009 entering cohort of 7 is seen as too small to maintain the size of the department. so if they cut it down further, i guess we're 'so fucked'. Also they just hired a bunch of faculty. 2-3 seems redic. although art history is now around that size, so maybe i'm totally off. good luck to everyone, and again, don't 'lose hope' if youre on the wait list. i would encourage people on the waitlist to respond to any personalized emails with thoughtful (but concise etc) things about their interest in the program, and to try to stay in touch with whoever emailed you, especially if you are about to commit somewhere else.

where did you hear this? I heard they were shooting for a cohort of 10-11, vs the current 7, for which they accepted, I think, 12 people. 'FWIW' I got in off the waitlist last year, at the last second, so 'don't lose hope'

I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has lived in LA while doing graduate work at UCI. Quite a few of the professors with whom I met lived in Echo Park. I liked UCI a lot and would love to go there, but feel that it would be quite important to live in LA: I have a diverse social network there, and it is very important to me that my social and intellectual life do not become 'captured' by the academy and that I can do academic work while situated in a context that I find stimulating in a variety of ways. Has anyone done this? Know people that have done it? Would one year of coursework and then 4 years of studying be doable (as opposed to being there for two years of coursework)

Anyone had experience getting reimbursed for car rental? Im visiting a school in LA - they paid for the plane ticket but I will basically have to rent a car. One caveat is that I am staying there longer to visit another school...

I would second all of the advice from the recent posters. Though I am perhaps a bit nostalgic for what was a wonderful undergraduate experience, I really thing that St. Louis is one of the best places to go to school. Live in U-City - it is extremely cheap and extremely convenient. I shared a huge 3 bedroom 5 minutes from campus (I recommend living West of Delmar - much cheaper and not much further from campus), and my share was $300/month. You do need a car. You might also want a bike - if youre in good shape, you can bike to a lot of cool places from U-City, and the beautiful architecture in the CWE and surrounding areas is fun to bike through. I never found safety to be an issue (although a cop was murdered point blank at the intersection of Delmar and Midland last year...) - our apartment was never broken in to and no one I know was ever mugged, despite often leaving our door unlocked and walking home at 4 in the morning. WashU and U-City cops patrol frequently (especially along Kingsland Avenue - there is a police station a few blocks West of Delmar on this street). Re looking for a 'liberal, green' community - St. Louis has its fair share of this, you just need to seek it out. There are great places to eat, hang out, and shop in South City and Soulard. There is really good 'ethnic' food - good Asian and Mexican grocery stores and restaurants, a couple of good cheap Ethiopian restaurants, etc - and a fair amount of 'indie' culture.

Has anyone done this? If so, could you describe your experiences? Did you go on to a PhD program in the US? What were your interests going in to the program? I'm debating between this and comp lit at a California school. I'm especially interested in anyone who did something theory-oriented after being at Oxford (i.e., falling more under the American definition of what constitutes study in "English" as opposed to the more restrictive vision of the discipline that I imagine would exist at a place like Oxford). Did having a more traditional, text-based and exegetical introduction to graduate work prepare you well for more theoretical work later? Thoughts on 'prestige' are appreciated as well - will this help with getting in to a program later? Is it worth turning down good funded offers at less-'prestigious' institutions in the hopes of further 'prestige' down the line? This question applies both for the attainment of a TT R1, etc, job and for related non-academic jobs.

UPENN = PWNAGE STOP CALLED TODAY STOP IF HAVENT HEARD THEN NOT ADMITTED STOP SUXX FULL STOP

What programs have that kind of placement rate? even among HYP etc I thought that they were lower than that for humanities? that's ill

You referenced UPenn mailing decisions on the 16th, and you (I think this is you) posted on the results board something about them having a 'second round of acceptances' that will be released at the same time. On what are you basing this information? I had the impression that they had already notified _all_ of their admits. I hope I'm wrong

Can u bargain on named fellowships? I.e. - suppose a school offers you a fancy named fellowship, but another school offers you a bigger fellowship. you want to go to the first school with the fancy fellowship; this first school also has other fellowships that pay more, although this one is specific to your department. can you bargain in regards 2 this? TYIA

I don't really agree with this. I think academic work should be somewhat self-referential, because when you try to make it "accessible" (to the point where it needs to be understandable by the entire literate or even reasonably well-educated community), ideas often become more cumbersome and less incisive. I don't want to drag this point out but basically - for work to be "for everyone" (this part I agree with), it does not need to be immediately accessible to everyone (i.e. those without a specialist training). To make it thus accessible implies a wider public sphere to which academic arguments are not really addressed.

Again - wouldn't one *hope* for this? My most interesting (and, it should be noted, most well-respected) professor did his dissertation on 19th c. German lit (I think), then worked on Weimar film, then wrote on post-Wall German aesthetics (incl. contemporary art). He now curates exhibits at his universities' art museum. The idea of staying put in your little corner is depressing, and if you're good, you should be able to move around (not necessary from period to period or genre to genre but this is a possibility). I had a prof who did her dissertation on British Modernist Poetry and now does 19th C. American... So even after the PhD, there's room for change!

This kind of thing makes me 'vom in my mouth a little bit' as well. If you are applying to grad school and you 'already know' the 'tertiary texts' for your dissertation (indeed, if you even believe that this is a hard-and-fast category), you are not intellectually curious, and you are why grad school is filled with extremely uninteresting people who participate in the reproduction of an intellectually eviscerated, irrelevant academy.

I think you should ask your recommenders what's up. If they were telling you you were going to get in to these programs, they are not lying about having written you strong recommendations (unless they are trying to mess with you). I think it really comes down to have a focused, well-tailored research plan which is backed up by a focused, tailored and well-edited writing sample. I'm surprised that you've had such bad luck given what you've said - it sounds like you are much more focused than I am (I wasn't even planning on applying this year, but panicked when the job market tanked (LOL!)). See if you can get advisors/recommenders to read and comment on your SOP.

Has anyone lived in Silverlake, Los Feliz, Eagle Rock etc etc and commuted to UCLA? Do a lot of grad students do this? How does it work?

I think "lotf629"s post is excellent. I would second all of that. This is coming from the perspective of someone (i.e., me) who did not get in to the Ivy League schools to which he or she applied. My additional advice or suggestions based on my own experience: I was rejected from Ivy schools, probably because I applied to comp lit programs with only one foreign language (and with mediocre grades in that language - probably around a 3.5 GPA in 300 and 400 level classes), as well as a lack of attention to the criteria mentioned by the above poster. I got in to 2 decent state schools with very good fellowships, and am on the waitlist at a top-10 non-Ivy program (for English). I attribute that success (which I would call limited but I realize in the grand scheme of things I should be grateful for) to strong recommendations from moderately well known faculty, a good writing sample, and a high GPA/high honors. While I didn't make an elaborate effort to show how my background fits with the programs to which I applied, I think that the programs which accepted me are closest in orientation to my undergrad work. My impression, from speaking to those who got in to or currently attend such programs, is that for Ivy schools you really need to have connections with faculty. Usually you get these by having already attended an Ivy league institution, where your professors know other professors at other Ivy league institutions. Most important of all is the extreme attention to tailoring your writing sample to the faculty's interests - which among other things, demonstrates your understanding of the program and thus your 'genuine' interest in being in that specific program - as mentioned by the above poster.

Does anyone know when the admitted students visiting weekend (or whatever) is?

I, too, am waiting to hear back from "The University of Columbia," as I referred to it in my SoP. Things aren't looking so good though.

No, haven't received a letter, but the letter posted on the website is dated 2/12. The graduate program assistant said via email that someone would be in touch by tomorrow. Does anyone have a sense of what UCLA funding packages generally look like? This report http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/asis/report/ar0506sect4.pdf says that funding for comp lit averaged $26k in 2006, but I find this hard to believe - I suspect this must include 'tuition remission,' etc.

So - having heard nothing, one should assume the worst?

Has anyone who's been accepted to this program heard about funding? I found out over a week ago that I got in (letter dated Feb 12th), and was told that someone would call me with funding info, but I have yet to hear anything, and an email to the department is as yet unanswered.

so who here's on the waitlist? i am, and i saw someone else post something about this. would love to go there but they said they won't be able to tell me anything until after april 15. ;-(

I got this email - if they offered you fellowships etc do you still need to fill this out? s000 confused about the FAFSA

Saw one acceptance via phone for each of these programs. Has anyone else heard? If one has not heard is this PURE OWNAGE?