JKessler

Hello, I completed my undergrad a year ago at Rutgers, and still live in the area. I would be more than willing to offer people any insight about the New Brunswick area, life around Rutgers, etc. PM me if you have any questions. -Jeff

Everyone should read Kenneth Burke, regardless of field in lit, comp, or rhetoric. He is a genius mind and a great stylist.

Anyone else going to IU-Bloomington for English should join the facebook group a couple of us set up, just to share some resources, tips and such. PM me if you can't find it. -Jeff

I am coming from Central NJ (Rutgers). I am flying out to Indiana Thursday afternoon. -Jeff

Hello All, Anyone interested in any aspect of education should watch this talk by Ken Robinson: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html Not only does it stir up the academic mind, but he is frightfully entertaining. Enjoy! -Jeff

Got two while at work: Wants PhD, not job. Will travel. My gap-year justified: Finally admitted. -Jeff

I was admitted to the IU graduate program in English Lit. Anyone going to the Admitted Humanities Students day on March 27th? -Jeff

Well, I got a response: Deny. At least I have offers from Indiana and Penn State. I hope people still waiting get something positive. -Jeff

Still Pending. -Jeff

Agreed. Let's think about this even more depressingly: We're all competing for meager fellowships where making $20,000 a year is considered a good stipend. The programs demand upwards of 60 hours of work a week, learning extra languages, teaching, researching, writing, et al. After struggling for 5-8 years as a poor grad student while your peers drop out around you. Then you face a shrinking and more difficult job market, where hundreds are applying for a single tenure track position, another few years of "publish or perish" until you finally are reviewed for tenure...which you might not get because your research is "not up to critical and professional standards." This makes Sylvia Plath sound more like Walt Disney. Good luck everyone. Stay sane, or at least as close as you can. -Jeff

Hello, I was admitted to the Penn State Grad program last month. I was told that the entering class averages about 15-20 people. -Jeff

Still "Pending" on the UVA website. They have rejected a lot of people though. I wonder if they are just determining a waiting list or something. -Jeff

I don't know much about the on-campus grad housing, sorry. Off-campus, there are tons of options from real cheap run-down stuff that undergrads living on the cheap inhabit to luxury apartments downtown and everything in between. I never had much difficulty with professors during the semester and truthfully, probably took up too much of their time as an undergrad in office hours. -Jeff

I was an undergrad for four years and did not have a car for three and a half of them. This is an area of New Jersey that is laid out to survive without a car. NJ transit has a stop right next to the Rutgers campus, which connects to Newark Airport (35 minutes) and New York City (50 minutes). It is also one transfer away from Philadelphia (90 minutes via Trenton). Rutgers has a free campus bus system to travel around the other campuses (though the English department is on the main campus). There aren't bike lanes, but the area is pretty bike friendly. The weather is cold in the winter, hot in the summer (the weather is comparable to NYC). As for the library, it is vast, and there are 27 (I believe) libraries in the Rutgers University system, varying from Art History to Jazz studies. In addition, since Rutgers is close to Princeton, NYC and Philadelphia, travel to other libraries for special material is quite easy. Alexander Library, the main one, is a little run down, but the "graduate students only" area is a wonderful place to work (I got special permission to work on my honors thesis there). If Rutgers were in the middle of nowhere I would have gotten a little stir-crazy, but being able to escape to Princeton for the afternoon (the Princeton Record Exchange is probably the best place to buy music ever) or to NYC for a night out is great. -Jeff