TripWillis

I think all three of us have similar interests, don't we? I'm curious about all those things too, myriad. My visit to UMass is going to go all day pretty much. But, I'm sure they have something organized. What kind of questions are you guys bringing with you to the event? By the way, I like your new Dumas avatar.

Anyone attending the open house this friday? I'm super excited!

I think the way you did it actually reflects European punctuation style though. Am I right on this? Don't they put the punctuation outside the quotes sometimes?

I understand just what you mean. I think you should go for it with BU -- that sounds like an incredibly supportive and interesting program and it sounds like they are pretty choosy about who they offer the spots too. There has to be SOME kind of support you can find -- general scholarship applications, grants, work study, etc. I would schedule an appointment with a scholarship counselor as soon as possible. That really helped me. Part of the nice thing about work study jobs/tutoring/teaching is that the jobs are designed with the student employee's best interests in mind. If there were ever an academic event, professionalizing thing, etc. I needed to take care of, getting work off was no problem. At my job, I regularly have nothing to do and sit and study most of the time. When someone does come in for tutoring help, it's also pretty invigorating. I love working on papers with people. It's exciting to see them make progress and be able to recognize their own writing issues independent of my criticism. Having a campus position also puts you in a wider networking situation. You will meet more people and gain more knowledge. Teaching is a little more work intensive (says the person who can't seem to grade a 3 page essay in fewer than 20 minutes)

I understand exactly what you're going through. My limbo period between graduating from my B.A. and getting into an M.A. was just like this. I waited tables, got rejected from MFAs, and felt like my life was being rapidly flushed down the toilet with no purpose. Fortunately, I got accepted to an unfunded M.A. and went. But the uncertainty is just CRAZY. My suggestion is that you find employment while in your one-year M.A. that is very very closely related to your field or beneficial in some way to you. You may need some funding to make it through, but if you can do any of the following: -Tutor -TA -Assistant Admin in Dept. -Teach -Intern -Work as page/archival assistant in library -Work in scholarship/fellowship writing office You will have one thing others applying do NOT have. In the following year, you might have to scrub floors, but you never know; maybe any of the above could become something semi-stable until you make it into a PhD. That's at least how it's worked out for me. Not necessarily sure if it's fair to go by my experience. Good luck! What M.A. is it?

I incorrectly attributed a book to a faculty member at Maryland who *ahem* did not write it. I could've sworn he had, and then I pulled it off my bookshelf like a week later and went, "Whoops." So, definitely not surprised I didn't get in there. I also put "App ID Number:" in the letterhead of some of my SoPs thinking it would be beneficial to them in sorting and organizing my file. About halfway through submitting them that way, I realized that it was probably a totally pointless move and stopped. I bet at least a couple of them were like, "What? Why is this here?" Oh, I also remember one unnecessary comma in my writing sample, but no typos otherwise. I read it out loud like 5 f-ing times. I knew there was no way.

This was fun to read. You have a tough choice to make, but I'm with you on location and funding -- I really, really love Boston, and I'm a little sad I didn't get into any schools there (especially Harvard, ha). To be honest, I'd want to live across the river in Cambridge, or maybe in Brookline. Allston... Allston is not exactly my favorite place ever. SP, I am also getting more excited every day! It feels really great to be in this position, no matter where I end up. To be honest, this is kind of the first time I've really gotten what I wanted since I was 18 and got into music school. I've sort of just been floating around the 10 years, but now I finally have something solid nailed down. It feels awesome.

Yup, my acceptance to [X University] read: "Your Admnission to X." Maybe I actually got admonished to the school.

I bet it'll go down dramatically after March. I had an eventful application season.

Had a good paper the other day where a student was using their knowledge OF Thoreau's Walden as familiarity WITH it. Sorry, there is no character named Walden and it is not a novel. Can't say I blame them for trying. It was a good paper otherwise.

Is it weird that I want my Harvard rejection just so I can see something with Harvard letterhead that's addressed to me?

Not sure how I should be feeling about this.

I wish I could let go of my bottom choice sooner, but I just gotta make my visits and be sure. I'll try to do it as soon as I can to help people out!!

Oh, you mean the one in my wildest dreams? It was lovely. Just lovely.

I have been lucky enough to know it's "Bart" since undergrad, but many people still say "Barth" or "Barthe-s" around me and it always makes me second guess myself. I remember the time I was in a class sophomore year and pronounced "Flaubert" as "Flaw-Burt". I used to also always mix up "infer" and "imply." Oh the shame!! On the subject of dropping and adding r's, I once had a misogynist boss when I worked retail in Boston. He was from Brockton, MA and he said sentences like this: "That chick gettin' out of the cah ain't got no brar on!"

Isn't the 25th a sunday? I fear you'll miss everyone.

I think I just read through the single worst paper I have ever had to comment on. My brain feels like it's twisted in a knot. Well, looking forward to 5-30 more years of that!

The 27th-28th. Maybe I'll see ya!

I feel like you really should visit if you can, but I understand what you mean. Getting away from school/job has been pretty tough for me. I had to make a lot of schedule room to get to Amherst later this month. But, it'll be nice to know more about the program so I can make an informed decision. That said, UNC looks awesome. I really really wish I'd applied there! Say hello to Mae Henderson for me.

Honestly, when it comes to teaching comp, I think I'd like having someone else do the syllabus and writing prompts for me. The less preparatory stuff that's on me while I'm doing coursework, the better it would seem. Developing a syllabus, writing prompts, lesson plans, etc. takes up a lot of time, but it seems like the Writing Program streamlines everything for their fellows. Neat. Maybe a little constraining, but whatever. BTW, see my PM, stately.

Good luck! We're all rooting for you!!!

They are being very generous and courteous. I shall say no more!

Got a couple of pretty interesting e-mails from Amherst today. Anyone else get those?

Wow, SP, you're really making me look forward to my visit at the end of the month! How exciting!

I was. I quit when I started my M.A. almost two years ago. I'm never goin back, y'hear? Never goin' back, see? I did used to have server nightmares. Still do every now and then. They are so freaky. Someone should do a study on them.