TripWillis

See you guys at the open house. Corduroy jacket, glasses, mustache. You will probably be disappointed with how little I resemble James Baldwin.

I want MY letter now.

Yeah, you're probably right. Thanks jma.

Wondering if I should shoot an e-mail over to the DGS to check on the waitlist. It's been a couple of weeks. Then again, maybe I should wait until after the open house. Thoughts? Don't want to be a nuisance.

It is, but don't let one person's negative experience stop you. Many people there seemed pretty happy.

? <--- sunglasses to hide "I don't get it" face

WOO! I really really really hope it becomes an acceptance, lolo!

An outside one. We'll see how the visit goes.

There were no details in my call. It was very brief. She said I'd know more soon.

Also, my current grad deputy went 1-9 and... well, he's the grad deputy and is publishing his second book through Columbia UP this year.

Look at it this way: if you were accepted at one, I'm willing to bet you were in the running at the other 9. You probably would've gotten a bunch of bronze medals and fourth place ribbons if they gave 'em out. Does that help?

I got hired today by the Writing Program! Anyone else get a call?

I might also note that a school's placement on those rankings is sometimes spot on. I have heard dreadful things about some of the ones outside the top 100, and had a particularly bad experience at a conference hosted by one of those schools.

I'm gonna just put out there the notion that rankings, at least inside the top 50 or so, mean nothing. For instance, Stony Brook is like 78th, but they are an extremely competitive program that only takes 3-4 people a year. You have to take a lot of things into account that the rankings don't. I think UNSW just rates "quality" or "satisfaction" or some vague and unimportant statistic like that. Unfortunately, you really have to do the research yourself by comparing websites, asking questions, and garnering general impressions from your mentors and colleagues. Now, if given the opportunity to go to Harvard over CUNY, would I? Probably, but I don't think that has anything to do with the USNW rankings. And, speaking honestly, CUNY is a much better fit for my interests. It depends: does the perception of the top 20 program and its job placement statistics outweigh the appeal that the other program has for you?

Would you gain anything by holding out? I'm not sure you would. Up to you, of course.

Oo I hope it's in my mailbox when I get home today. Exciting!

I am actually on Rate Your Professor. I have no idea how they got my information (the school sends it?) but no one has yet rated me. I'll be curious to see if anyone does.

I like looking up famous people on there; I imagine many of them are unavailable for students. I looked up Homi Bhaba and Henry Louis Gates Jr. the other day. That was good for a laugh.

So, how/where are people with Rutgers these days? I know the visit day is next Tuesday, but I won't be going. Would love to hear a report of what it's like!

I am almost certain that my teaching experience broke at least one tie. I think especially with a program that's as pedagogy focused as Amherst is, teaching experience got me in. Maybe the same with CUNY, since their TA load is so high -- I imagine they want students that they think can thrive under that sort of constraint.

We've also been invited to the preceding Friday Forum event. I was tempted to go to last week's because someone from Rutgers was speaking and I thought maybe I could ask him for info on the Rutgers waitlist. That wouldn't be stalkerish, right? haha, I'm just kidding! So is anyone going to the Friday Forum or the informal after-party thing?

I say do it. Why not? Structure your CV in a way that puts the most important details first (education, teaching experience, student English organizations, conference experience, publication) and then put that stuff later down the page. The CV is essentially a 2 page supplemental document for all the really important stuff anyway, so I can't imagine they expect to find anything on it that they consider integral to your application. Might as well just give them as much as you possibly can. Like I said though, frontload it. You'll want tiebreakers in case it's between you and someone else who is equally matched in your field of interest.

I second this big time. It looks like they did this last year too, according to my searches. If anyone is turning down Rutgers, let me know! It won't really tell me much, but it'll make me feel good. I will do the same for any of the schools I end up declining.

In my interview they said that they start notifying as soon as March 9th, but throughout the month, and that we'd know by the end of March.

And Princeton too, apparently. At least for waitlisting.