Eddie Kant

So, after a few rejection letters, I have decided to expand my horizons by looking into programs abroad, particularly in Europe. This also makes sense because I am interested in continental philosophy and the programs that specialize in that are limited in the US. My question is, does anyone know of any programs overseas that are conducted in English? Also, and I'm sure this depends on the country and the institution, but can anyone give me a general sense of what the funding for international students is in say Europe? I would appreciate any input and direction to other resources. Thanks!

Thanks for the reply Andean Pat! Your response was helpful in a number of ways. It helped to clarify for me that the challenges that I experience have less to do with the planning of an essay's substance and more to do with the planning of its execution. I think that I need methods for time management and the creation of structure. Your suggestion about working backwards is super helpful. The problem I have is still figuring out what are reasonable periods of time to have certain tasks completed by, e.g. when research absolutely must without exception be completed no matter how incomplete I suspect my thesis to be . But, again, that is really helpful. Thank you! Hopefully others have some more insight for the organizationally and standardizationally challenged grad folk here.

I hope you all can help me with the serious end-of-the-semester freakout that I'm having. I'm in my second semester of a MA in Literature program and while drad work was certainly a shock compared to my expectations coming into the fall semester, I did well and received good grades. The workload increased significantly in this spring semester though, and now I'm freaking out about all of the paper writing that I have to do (approximately 50 pages). I'm sure there are many out there who are saying to themselves, "Fifty pages? Is that all?" Or, "Fifty pages? What did you expect?" After last semester, I told myself that I would start on my papers early this time around. Although the effort was there this spring, it was not systematic. And, now I find myself significantly behind (I've been looking at time management strategies on Study Hacks such as the autopilot schedule to improve this in the future. Any other advice or input regarding time management and the structuring of worklife is greatly appreciated). I just turned in my first of three papers and had to ask for extensions on the remaining two, which were granted. Other than the lack of a systematic approach, my problem is that I work slowly. This is my nature. However, I think that my perfectionism and fear of having myself/my work judged is what's getting in the way of me completing work on time. I think I expect masteripieces. Everything I write has to sound smart. On a good day, I write 2-3 pages. Some days, I spend my time working around roundblocks that present themselves in line of argumentation that I'm pursuing. By very rough estimation, I took me 2.5 weeks of doing nearly nothing else to write a 15 page paper on a topic very similar to one that I had already written on previously. Please, please help me. How do people approach the paper writing process in grad schoo? I know everyone is different, but how long should a 20 page paper take to research and write? How many pages per day? Words per hour? What can I do to make writing come easier? How do I get past what I think is likely the culprit here, i.e. my unrealistically high standards? Someone please echo the rational voice in my head that tells me that it is the substance of the material and not the language or perceived sophistication that is used as the benchmark for measuring quality work. Please share your experiences. I'm sure there are many out there that would benefit beyond just myself. Thank you in advance!!!

I have similar concerns (and similar scores) to those of the Mosby. I'm finishing up my first year in a MA program in Lit and have realized that my interests lie primarily in continental philosophy. I'm hoping that the Ph.D. programs in philosophy that I apply to will not emphasize the math score as much given that they will be less analytically-oriented. However, it does not sound like this is a reasonable expectionation I'm going to retake the GRE this summer, but do not think that a big jump in my math score is realistic. Is there anything that can make up for this in my application, or am I just not going to make it past the initial filter of the GRE?

I applied. I was excited before, but now it sounds even better based on what others are saying. Lots folks there addressing posthumanism too, which is something I'm interested in. I think they said notification of admission would be in March.

Lol R Deckard. I am also teetering on the brink of a mental breakdown. It's so overwhelming. In undergrad, I had plenty of work to do, but I never felt that it was insurmountable. I was never quite sure if I could get my work "just right," but it always turned out well. Now, I'm just breezing through as much as possible knowing that there is no way I'm going to finish everything. The amount of reading is impossible. I've heard the idea that "they do it by design" a couple of times. What is the rationale behind this? On a related note, I was freaking out about TA'ing, but it's turned out fine.

Thanks for posting Frozenroses. I have been in a mad panic since I found out that I will be teaching writing classes as a TA (my avatar pretty much sums it up). The fact that it is a great opportunity does not stop me from worrying about how I will perform in this role. I also think there are numerous excellent suggestions/perspective checks above. I will add that I am joining toastmasters to prepare for this experience. My first speech was an epic fail (in my inexorably distorted opinion). I'm going back though. Teaching/public speaking will probably not be a life or death scenario. I am reminded of this if I consciously give thanks for the life that I have and that I do not suffer as an inhabitant of Syria or Sierra Leone during the 1990's.

Went there for undergrad. Basically, say goodbye to the sun for 8-9 mos of the year. People get Vitamin D depression up there. In terms of winter, think Buffalo--lake effect snow, brutally cold, high, bone-chilling winds blowing over flat land, etc. Rochester's economy was undergirded by Kodak. Kodak is in the pooper. Rochester is a financially depressed area. That being said, it's beautiful in the spring. It's a community event when the good weather returns. It's really humid in the summer. There are definitely some artsy nooks in the city. Yah, and it depends on the school. The most important thing...garbage plates. Google it.

First, congrats on your app season, myriadways! Second, thanks for responding to what I later realized was a ridiculously vague name for this thread. I appreciate your input. My poor performance was generally across all domains and so was my success when I turned things around. This is why I am attending an M.A. program this fall: provide more proof that the positive upward trend will continue if I were admitted to their Ph.D. program. It is still encouraging to hear that you achieved very positive results from your applications with a similar GPA. Not everyone that that graduates from a top 20 program is a competant scholar and instructor. I looked at a few of my professors in UG and asked myself, "How? How do you hold the position that you do?" That's why my hypothetical above assumes I do everything in my M.A. super-awesome-totally-the-best! I would ask my UG advisor, profs, and recommenders about this, but I graduated 2 years ago. So, this forum has been my advisor (an invaluable one). The sentiments in this oft-sited article http://chronicle.com...Go-Part-2/44786 and this thread are driving me to realistically appraise my opportunities in academia. Attending an M.A. this fall is a sound decision for me for a variety of reasons. However, some programs are more conducive to careers in academia than others. So, your story is inspirational, myriadofways. Hopefully others have similar experiences and/or helpful input

Trying to make a realistic appraisal of my potential in academia beyond my Master's because this assessment will have a huge impact on where I decide to go this fall. I graduated from a Top 40 school with an undergrad GPA of 3.0. It took me two extra years to graduate. Let's assume I ace my way through an unranked Master's program, get excellent letters of recommendation, and write a strong thesis (big assumption, yes). In that case, what would be the chances of me catapulting myself into a Ph.D. program whose ranking and reputation would be high enough to give me a good chance of landing a tenure-track position at some point in the future? I know the employment landscape in the humanities is quite bleak and highly competitive. Top 20 schools are likely out I would think. Am I out of the top 50 as well in that scenario? All thoughts are mucho appreciated!

When I began the last application season, I had a really hard time wrapping my mind around what exactly the "purpose" of the statement of purpose was and what it should include. After countless hours of scowering these boards for answers, I compiled various bits of advice and guidance that I found helpful. I put it all in a word doc that you can download here, http://www.mediafire...wzi178xsmc1m1hj This forum has been an indispensible tool for me throughout this process. Hopefully this helps others.

Tool concert. Eyebrow piercing. \m/

Lol, I feal you anthroDork. I got into my #1 school. Now that I'm haggling with them, I'm worried that I will somehow alienate them and cause them to revoke my admission offer. Bah.

Yeah, I think the basic structure to your message is on target bgreenster. I'm also going to get in contact with professors and current grad students and ask to some questions to prove my interest (I didn't target any POI's in the process). Yeah, worst case scenario is they say no and you have a fallback. That's why you've gotta ask.

Bump to this thread. I've been accepted into two programs, one with and one without funding. IMHO, I think anyone is doing themselves a diservice if they don't try to get themselves as much support as possible. However, in my position, I'm worried about working over my one admit with funding and having them call my bluff, e.g. "'X' school is offering me $15,000... yada yada." Although, I forsee myself fighting with drifters for spots on park benches with my $10,000 offer.

Yeah, I have definitely been at full-speed-ahead toward the "Here's my project" angle. I know that you should be even further away from that for an MA. Yet, those successful SoP's seem to have a similar structure, like: Cite problem/interest History leading up to interest Status quo of the interest Questions you have based on status quo How others have attempted to answer those questions How you differ/agree with various analysts, what your approach will be, and how that's a new direction or walking on new ground within the field. Anyway, I won't belabor the point any further. Thanks for all the input.

Thanks for the input folks. My inclination is "knock it out of the park" so to speak, and my vision of that is being as specific and detailed as possible - that's why the best Phd SoP's do. The MA SoP is a different animal. I just don't want to be too broad. I don't want to write a "Hemmingway was a pretty cool dude. I like his writing. He drank a lot and was badass. More Hemmingway please" SoP. Why am I not getting this... Back to the drawing board.

Here are a couple I found helpful. http://www.mediafire.com/?9kx33co5wrjedff http://www.mediafire.com/?o6ylvj01dwu8boy I also have a link in my profile to a lengthy doc entitled "About the SoP."

Really? Hmmm... I'm doing research to inform myself about a topic that, although it is what I want to focus my research on in grad school, is not something that I studied in depth in undergrad. I want the questions that I am seeking to show an appreciation for the field in which I want to study. To do this, I have done more research to inform myself. Even if I'm not quoting or paraphrasing while looking at the text, my understanding of the topic is formatted in the language of those resources. So, don't I need to cite those? I'm confused.

Another question that I have regards citing sources in your SoP. Although there have not been many, I have run into some SoP's that had bibliographies. I have not studied my research interests in depth, and think some background research would be useful. That would prevent me from talking out of my arse and making clear to the adcoms that I do not have a solid grasp of the field. Maybe if it is clear that I don't have a lot of research experience in these areas, adcoms will not expect the questions that I want to answer to be super-specific or in-depth. Not sure. I can imagine that even if I was fairly well versed in a topic area that I would want to brush up on that interest. Wouldn't you need to cite these sources? Maybe I'm not approaching the discussion of my interests correctnly. However, the alternative to this approach that I see is talking about how much you love the idea of research interest 'X' without contextualizing it within the field. Thoughts?

Good to know I'm not the only one who has had problems uploading files to this site. Took your advice ThePoorHangedFool. Let's see if this works. Here go http://www.mediafire...0the%20SoP.doc. bdon19 - I've found similar advice to that offered by ThePoorHangedFool above. If you give the adcom something too specific they may find themselves thinking, "Well, if you know all the texts you want to use, and the thesis you want to prove, then why do you need us?" Safferz - That's reaallly good advice. That definitely helped me refine my approach. Thank you!

So, ya both.

Lol. The writing should be professional. Don't try to be cute or funny. One, you might not be as witty as you think you are. Oops! That cutsie hook you loved so much didn't go over and now your app is in the less desirable of two piles. And two, it's kinda like interrupting in the middle of a job interview with, "So, have ya heard the one about the priest and the rabbi..." It's out of place. You want to be considered a serious candidate, and that becomes evident when you are serious about your interest in graduate studies. With that said, you're SoP should also be revealing. Don't tell the adcom you collect marbles. But, in answering why it is that you want to pursue graduate studies, and the research area(s) that you are interested in, you're going to have to talk about yourself a little. Not too much. You want the focus to be on the interests themselves, what you hope to accomplish through your research, and what skills you possess to make that possible. Look at it this way, outside of the SoP, all the adcom has to go on is numbers, awards, and some academic writing (unless you're applying for a MAF). Also, it should NOT be written in academese, so to speak. You are not expected to have mastered these issues yet. Don't showboat yur fancy lingo sonny. Don't try to impress them with all the big words you learned from the GRE flash cards you bought on Amazon. They won't be. These folks are pretty smart, you know. Seriously, this is pathetic. How do I upload a doc? I have a 12 pg doc on SoP suggestions that I compiled that hopefully could be at least marginally useful.

Well I think I've answered a lost of my own questions just by googling "graduate statement of purpose." Uggghhhh.... Anyway, a lot of departments (English specifically) and career centers have advice on this topic. I'd been compiling a list of tips just by cutting and pasting. When I went back through, I developed a clear picture of what a good SoP looks like. I'd love to upload the file to make some contribution to the community. But, I was not able to figure out how to do that from the help section on posting. I guess there's a "choose" button somewhere, but I don't see it. I think I've turned off all relevant blocking software.

Thank you ThePoorHangedFool. That makes a lot of sense and gives me a much clearer picture of what adcoms would expect to see from a candidate like myself. Essentially, I was getting ready to write a thesis proposal. Then it occurred to me, "Could I GET 50-75 pages out of this topic to write a thesis?" It felt like I was going off the deep end so to speak. Any other thoughts until this thread goes to bed?