dgobox

I go to UF now as an undergrad. They don't care about anyone. I got into a doctoral program in Plant Pathology at UF and turned it down after they refused to send me an official letter of admission. Going to Cornell in the Fall and can't wait to leave Gainesville. Worst city ever!!! Though, Ithaca isn't too far from the cattle heard lol.

The cattle heard what?

I went to UF as an undergrad for a year, and while I left because I did not like it, it wasn't very much different from any gigantic public university. Pretty sure that was just a troll, but thought I should add that.

According to the Chronicle of Higher Ed, the average age for a doctoral student in the US is 35.

Sounds like an unfortunate situation. I would only suggest you be wary of saying things like:

"He is actually an adjunct professor from Germany. So he feels insecure about himself,I later found."

The somewhat implicit if-then (conditional) statement there is kinda unwarranted. I mean...you're an international student yourself and you probably don't think a similar description necessarily applies to your self. Right? Just my opinion. Good luck resolving this!

You do say "I later found"....so maybe my suggestion is unwarranted. In any case I think it should be brought up. I do wonder how it could be that you found such a thing out.

Sorry to hear that dgobox. I haven't heard anything from Florida since March 15th. It's not shaping up to be a very good week.

I'm a Floridian and lived in Gainesville for a year attending UF; if you have any questions about things there, I might be able to answer.

(I don't have work for a few days, so I'm just laying around reading, haha.)

I just turned down a fully funded offer from U of F's PhD in English Lit. Hopefully that helps some of the people here! Good luck

I'm the anonymous admit--thanks for the congrats
I'm likely going to decline the offer; I want to consider it a little before I decide, but I'll try to do so as soon as possible for the sake of others on the wait list. I was also offered the Kirkland fellowship, so I hope that it will go to someone on here. Best of luck to all!

In the other thread concerning PSU it is noted that the department secretary told an applicant that postal mail rejection notices are forthcoming.

I never heard anything either, but like some of you, I assumed that I was rejected because I was never emailed (or whatever else) about a waitlist, and it sounded like everyone who was waitlisted was quite aware of it.

As a current PhD student of Comparative Literature at UC-Irvine, I find it my duty to warn you NOT to enroll in a University of California campus in the HUMANITIES. Our French program was cut, and the other supporting programs in literature are on their way out as well. This is, as you may well know, due to the horrible situation of the California budgetary economy. Even though UCI Comparative Literature will be ever so happy if you enroll in our program, they will not tell you what a bad idea that would be -- the program has gone through a serious, serious decline in quality and a near fallout in funding.

Thank you, and I hope you choose wisely.
-Blop

See my other posts. If the quality of UCI undergrads is any indication, UCI is not a good place to go for English studies. I don't know; maybe it's different for PhD students. But I know community college students who are brighter than UCI English undergrads.

And to the poster talking about the wonders of UCI English . . . fellowships, travel grants, world-famous guest lecturers . . . These are things any graduate program should offer. I agree that they indicate a finanically healthy program . . . but nothing more.

The UCs and Cal States are in a mess at the moment, and it's sure to get worse. My Cal State MA was de-funded at the beginning of year two. Bye, bye tuition-waiver, hello stipend reduction.

Why else would I (and many like me) be moving away from this beautiful weather to pursue graduate studies elsewhere? If the OP is legit, he/she is to be lauded for some honesty.

True, perhaps not all the English undergrads at UCI are geniuses, but neither are all the English undergrads at any other given university. That's a really harsh generalization you're making, and as the bearer of an English undergrad degree from UCI, I find it particularly unjust and uncalled for. The PhD English program at UCI is nationally recognized as one of the top programs in the country, especially for Literary Theory & Criticism. In fact it's ranked number one for Lit Crit, far above Yale and Harvard, by US News and World Reports, should that mean anything to you (and I don't blame you if it doesn't): http://grad-schools....ticism-rankings.

The graduate program's quality inevitably trickles down to the undergrad program. I can testify to that by the quality of my TA's and my close interaction with the top English professors at UCI, who always taught undergrad classes in addition to graduate seminars. My classes were small, personable and engaging, conducted in more of a seminar fashion than in the style of a typical lecture, which is rare for large universities. I was fortunate to have close relationships with my professors through not only classes, but independent studies, advising, my Honors thesis and so on. I felt absolutely privileged and truthfully, surprised, to meet such incredible researchers and writers at UCI as an undergrad. Just to mention a few names, Richard Kroll, Victoria Silver, Andrzej Warminski, Richard Godden, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Michael Clark... absolutely brilliant (check out of their publications if you don't believe me). In the Humanities Honors program I met students who I am 100% sure could compete with English students at Harvard, or as you say, community college students. I would never doubt the intellectual capabilities of a student who chose community college for whatever personal reason, the way you're dismissing the whole of the English undergrad population at UCI because what, you encountered a few not so “bright” ones? Many Humanities Honors students at UCI had exceptional high school records and turned down other prestigious universities to attend UCI because of scholarships, funding, location and other personal reasons.

That being said, I do remember having classes with the occasional sorority girl who chose English as a major because it seemed "easier than like, Biology," and who would occasionally quip, "Yeah... that's like, ironic, right?" in class when she wasn't immersed in Facebook chat on her laptop. Did I resent such students for wasting my time and the professor's time? Yes. But did I from that point on assume ALL sorority girls were carbon copies of each other? No. (I like to think my education has taught me, oh you know... perspective... the conception of relativity, exceptions and outliers...)But on the exact opposite end of the spectrum, in my English classes I also encountered students who had seemingly memorized the whole of the English canon, students who read Alexander Pope for a laugh and could recite obscure references from who-knows-where without a moment’s hesitation... you know, the kind of students who enjoy making esoteric Latin jokes among themselves and chuckling in self-satisfaction when nobody else gets it...

Anyways, the point is: I don't think it's appropriate nor very “bright” to make such broad and unjustified generalizations about any university. The inherent diversity of an undergrad population (i.e. there are brilliant and not so brilliant students anywhere you go... acceptance into a top-notch university doesn't automatically = having a top-notch brain; see: UCLA student Alexandra Wallace) has no bearing whatsoever on the quality of the professors there and the kind of education you will receive. Don't discourage hopeful undergrads and grads from applying to what was and IS an excellent literature program (to these hopefuls: please disregard un-researched opinions about the English program at UCI like the one made by RockDenali). Acceptance to a school is largely relative, and so are our choices about which university to attend. Before writing off UCI as an option for economic reasons, if you find that the school is a fit for you and you’re attracted to certain professors and their research, then certainly apply. Fellowships and TAships, while they may have gone down in number just as they have at every UC, are still distributed each year.

Comparing UCI students to CC students - expecting that, under normal circumstances, university students would be more intelligent than CC students - is incorrect and rude.

No, only to UCI students. I went to a community college for a year and currently teach at one.

Nearly all graduate programs in the U.S. have been hard hit by the economic crash. 1 trillion dollars headed overseas to fight wars on multiple fronts does not a good economy make. But am I mistaken in my understanding that funded is determined upon acceptance? In my case, I was offered a certain amount of funding with my acceptance, and I can either take it or leave it. Thus, if the graduate program at UCI does not offer funding, then you don't have to accept their offer. You can always go somewhere else. Many of my friends are taking offers at lower-ranked schools simply because they offer funding. I think it's terrible that funding is being cut, and I wish the U.S. in general had a "more books, less bombs" philosophy, but I also am a product of the UC system (I did my BA at UC Davis and my MA at UCSD), and I had excellent experiences in both places. I also believe one's experience in grad school has a lot to do with attitude and perception. You can make the most of it, or hate every minute. It's the graduate Choose Your Own Adventure book.

This. Ubuntu is a force to be reckoned with. I don't do the same type of work as you do (philosophy and critical theory) but I've used linux distributions for around two years now and won't be returning to proprietary software. Android smartphones have already put a linux distribution in the hands of millions, and I expect more and more people to realize the merits of the open source solution in the years to come.

However, as both this poster and LJK, the best thing to do might be to inquire of the program itself (or students who are there, or POI).

This. Ubuntu is a force to be reckoned with. I don't do the same type of work as you do (philosophy and critical theory) but I've used linux distributions for around two years now and won't be returning to proprietary software. Android smartphones have already put a linux distribution in the hands of millions, and I expect more and more people to realize the merits of the open source solution in the years to come.

However, as both this poster and LJK, the best thing to do might be to inquire of the program itself (or students who are there, or POI).

Incidentally, I do already have an MA. I don't know if they have a limit for how many students they'll accept with an MA, but I didn't get the impression that it affected my application negatively.

And I understand (and share) your frustration, but I have to keep in mind that last year, when I was rejected across the board, I would have wept with gratitude for a post-April 15th offer. As much as it sucks for those of us that have other offers and want to make a decision, I do think it's nice that they're doing this in a way that will allow them to extend the maximum number of offers possible.

EDIT: clearly multiple graduate degrees haven't prevented me from confusing "afffected" and "effected"

I'm also wait-listed at UT, and they told me in their letter that they do replace turn-downs with students in similar fields, to maintain the balance of their "cohesive" incoming class. UF apparently has some sort of ranked wait-list (whereas UT does not rank), so I'm not sure if they use this system or not, although it would stand to reason since they can't overload one POI or one reading group, etc.

I guess we'll all find out soon!

DamianD, you just got accepted to Rice and you never heard of UH??? and you're interested only in brand names?? wow, I'm just amazed at how people judge schools nowadays. Now, believe me that if you attend Rice, you will be seeing a lot of UH too....

Fall 2009? Hi, we're in 2011. I don't believe you.

Right, but the OP posted in 2011. Doesn't this seem a little fishy? I don't really understand the motives if it is - slander? Munchausen? - but I really don't understand why someone would post an honest rant, 2 years too late. Hopefully the OP will come back and clarify.