Magdalena
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Posts posted by Magdalena
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Two things:
You can definitely continue working and publishing while receiving a stipend from a university. Most stipends pay you for either teaching or assisting the department in other ways.
If you aren't interested in gaining teaching experience, you should look into programs that don't require that you teach. Some programs (like Michener) offer very cushy fellowships with absolutely no demands on your time outside of attending classes.
People pursue MFA degrees for many reasons. The teaching experience is a perk or a burden depending on how you look at it.
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I've got rejections from UC-San Diego, Minnesota, and WUSTL.
Some more are presumed rejected.
Iowa started notifying yesterday.
If you have any questions about specific programs, I can relay some information from the facebook group.
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Hi fireflies,
It looks like the acceptances and waitlists have all gone out (according to someone who spoke with Michael Martone). Sounds like those of us who don't have rejections, will get them in the mail soon enough.
I know it's been a while since you've posted, but I wanted to offer an update for anyone who is looking around for info.
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Debbie Downer there is a doomsday troll. Please ignore.
I do think that I would have made some different choices if I hadn't gone to college right out of high school, but I am overall satisfied with what my education got me. I chose to go to a private school and am about $28,000 in debt, but I got out of my education exactly what I wanted - small classes, lots of attention from professors, opportunities for research and meaningful activism on campus, staff support, and nice recommendations for grad school. However, I was relatively lucky in that I knew that I would want to pursue further degrees beyond undergrad, and my particular school was good. That's what made it worth it for me, but I recognize that my situation is special.
So much about higher education is about reputation and what we are "supposed" to get out of our educations rather than reality, so I don't blame people for getting in over their heads. My sister went to a private college (before dropping out, thankfully!) which cost the same amount as mine but which was a total piece of shit school. And her debt is way too high for it. She was mistreated or ignored in almost every possible way, but how could she have known before she went there?
For the folks that have a lot of debt, I would emphasize that it doesn't mean you are in terrible straights, even though it feels like this thing is hanging over you. I think about my debt sort of like a benign health condition: I need to be able to make enough money to pay for my "medication" (loan payments), which does limit the choices I can make (for example, as long as I have my "health condition" I cannot spend money on travel). However, I don't resent or fear my debt; it is a reality of the way I will have to manage my financial life for the next few years, but I will "heal" from my condition at some point.
Beautifully said.
As for me, I have 55k after undergrad. But I'll echo what some have said: I'm happy with the experience I received. Could I have done it for a bit less money? Probably. But this is all of the education debt I plan on taking on. Tutoring and other jobs allowed me to save up some money, and all I really need to do is make payments before I can defer again.
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Anyone know how many apply to Germany and how many are accepted?
I am looking at the Max Plank institute to do research on a particular type of protein. However, I could easily do that research in the U.S. or Canada. Does my application have to be on something only possible in Germany? Or could I say I will run a blog on Germany vs US and stuff to cover the needed differences.
Here's a helpful link for acceptance statistics from last year:
https://us.fulbrightonline.org/statistics_country_europe.html
And Kendall,
I've heard not so great things about applying for the ETA program at-large. My former FPA said that the committees worry that someone applying after a year or two of floundering about and then no concrete plans for the future just wants the experience. My thoughts are that I'll kind of explain how a Fulbright year would affect what I would do in grad school, but I don't know if I have enough room for that.
Croatia is on my list of potential countries. But right now, Slovakia is top.
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Since asking this question, I have found out that it is in an area called Mount Greenwood. But I'm not familar with Chicago, so that still doesn't really help me. Does anyone know anything about Mount Greenwood? Is it is a nice place to live, is it expensive, how is transportation?
Mount Greenwood is a neighborhood on the periphery of the city. Your transportation options for getting downtown are okay. I've never taken the Metra from there, but I had friends who used to live in Beverly and travel to the loop (essentially) for high school, and their trip took an hour and a half. Your other options include taking the Pulaski bus to the orange line and the orange line downtown, or you can take the bus to the red line.
The neighborhood itself is quiet and residential. Expect to be living near many police officers, fire fighters, and teachers (city workers who want to be near the suburbs). But Beverly, Mount Greenwood's neighbor is a bit livelier, and one of the few neighborhoods in the city where residents are racially diverse. Most of the homes are single family. I bet you could find two and three unit buildings as well. Rents will be cheaper than neighborhoods on the north side of comparable safety. I have to say that the biggest draw back of this old, tree-lined, and quiet neighborhood is its lack of transportation options.
Students at St. Xavier, I've gathered, usually live in the suburbs and travel to school by car.
Hope this helps.
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ETA applicants- I'm curious to know what you are proposing to do with your time outside of the teaching assistantship. I don't need specifics just wanted to see what everyone was thinking!
I'm applying for the ETA in Poland or in another slavic language country, partially because that's where I was born, and it's the language I speak. But honestly, my side project proposal might have something to do with my continuing research for the short stories I'm writing about the immigration experience. I don't know how it would promote cross-cultural understanding unless I managed to get a collection published. So, in short, I'm not sure.
What were you thinking?
University of Florida (Gainesville)
in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition
Posted
Creative writing acceptances and waitlists have gone out according to someone who got accepted a few days ago (source: facebook group).
They notified creative writing by phone, but I know it's probably different for the rest of the English department.
I'm going to assume myself rejected for now.