TripWillis

Best of luck! If the funding doesn't pan out, it's still a PhD program, and getting into one of those is super tough and totally cool when it happens.

One of the things that intensifies the issues I will have on the job market is that my primary focus is Af-Am and I'm white. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I also know white Af-Am professors who have walked into job interviews and been told straight away, "I'm very sorry, but this position is our only chance to hire a PoC in our department." It is, of course, a worse injustice that this kind of situation has to exist in the first place -- if there weren't such massive diversity issues in academia (btw, that's one of the things I love about Rutgers), there'd be no problem. It's possible that as my PhD progresses, I'll make Af-Am my secondary focus and broaden my interest to general 20th C American or put more emphasis on queer studies. After all, I am LGBTQ, so there ya go -- that's their chance to hire a queer in the humanities; obviously, there are not enough.

$25,000 a semester?? I've never even paid 1/5th of that for a semester of college. That's crazy. I agree now; finding a cheap/funded M.A. would be better. Mine was unfunded, but I eventually got them to hire me as an adjunct and a writing tutor and I won a scholarship my second year, so the second year was basically paid for. Still in a lot more debt than I'd like... ugh.

See, if it were in-state, I'd bite the bullet for the first year, but try to reapply as a transfer student for the 2nd year. I wonder if one's application gets more noticeable with a PhD acceptance already in hand.

Huh, based on what you guys are saying about rhet/comp there, I must've just had a bad day or bad exposure to certain people. Oh well.

I have to say, I sort of loved how it was basically in the middle of the New England domestic picturesque.

CONGRATS! I've heard that too about the funding. I hope it comes through for you. I went there last year for a conference and... well, I'll just be honest -- I had a very negative experience with the students and faculty. BUT, others greatly enjoyed the conference! Best of luck!

It's still waitlist, but I have a good feeling. My signature is basically a reflection of how dumbfounded I am to be faced with 3 excellent choices at the end of this crazytrain of a process.

My CUNY fellowship is doable, but considering it's only about $2000 more than what Amherst is offering for NYC cost of living (plus a 2/2 in years 2-4), it could be better. That said, I don't think it's bad per se, just not nearly as good as Rutgers.

Being 1 of 4 would make me feel incredibly special. Yes, I would pick Rutgers over CUNY as of now, but I'm not 100% decided. I think CUNY is a slightly better fit at this stage, but Rutgers' support package is just much much much better. Toughie. Good luck with your remaining schools, and with those waitlist choices too -- more choices is never a bad thing, right? My panel is "Intellectual Spars and Rival Texts in 20th Century African American Literature" and it takes place in Highland Room B on Saturday, March 17th from 3:15-4:30.

Likewise! "Cold Drinks" and "Chili Can Be Served /w Cheese" are also amazing classics.

Wish I could see your panel, but I'll be at the CUNY open house that day. You probably shouldn't bother checking out my panel -- I am just chairing, not presenting. No original work, just a topic I'm curious about. No news on Rutgers, except the DGS called me earlier this week and told me that I'm #1 in my subfield and very high on the absolute list. She spoke like she expected me to get in, but eh... you never know. Maybe she's just trying to keep me interested. So, I just need some 20th c americanists to bow out and hopefully that'll do it. Congrats on Stony Brook! Don't they take like 1 person a year or something? Crazy. I'd be super proud of that.

I didn't read this thread, but to answer your question: (kidding! Don't kill me)

CUNY and Pitt are two examples of programs with a huge emphasis on interdisciplinarity and cultural studies.

Thanks for the tip!

So, is anyone on GC going? I'll come check out your panels. I'm getting there on Saturday and staying through Sunday. The train ticket and hotel were so fucking expensive. Vomit. At least my school is reimbursing me for most of it. Awkward, I suppose, but I'm still open to room sharing on Saturday. If someone is interested, PM me.

I really want a celebratory starting the PhD new laptop this fall, with the hope that it will carry me through the whole program. Are there any laptops out there that have automatic dissertation writing features? As for celebrating my acceptance, um, I already did... can anyone tell me what happened in February? I was kinda blackout drunk the whole time...

Keep hope alive, lolo! We're all rooting for you!

Likewise! Glad bespeckled is out of the 0-fer club, and in STYLE!

Thanks, and enjoy Yale! That must be really exciting.

NOW they tell me. Thanks a lot, Guardian. Well, wonder what I'm going to do now that that's cleared up... I could go back to waiting tables: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPEsOg3xyGE

I went with just straight Am. Studies, though I was tempted to do the American/Af-Am bridge program. The problem is, my areas of interest are still a little too broad at this point to dive into that, so I expressed interest in it, but ultimately went with just a straight American Studies slot. At any rate, I'm not surprised I didn't get in in the least. 1) It's Yale; 2) I probably sounded kind of all over the place in my SoP

Yale finally got back to me:

Yale = Zoidberg: "Your application's bad and you should feel bad!"

You could just accept all 8 and become the new and improved James Franco.