coffeecurls1

Ok.. So just as i almost sent off my letter to NYU, I hear from Bloomington saying they might have a spot open for me . Funding in Bloomington is through teaching starting first year, whereas, at NYU, one has the Mc Cracken Fellowship which allots full funding for five years ( If i choose to, i can teach from the third year onwards and accumulate funding for a sixth year). but the faculty at Bloomington is great for Victorian Studies ( NYU is not too far behind). also, its New York City vs. Bloomington (Im an international student and have seen neither yet , but NYC sounds very interesting) I can really do with advice on this...

@everyone-- thanks a lot! this was really helpful. It is reassuring to put the whole thing in perspective. though some of my favorite profs do have great ratings on this site... some others, whose work I really admire ( and whom i always dreamt of working with), got horrible reviews.. what upset me, i guess, was that.. at this point, when everything seems to be coming together.. after working so hard all of last year with the applications and stuff...it all began to feel so alien and slightly scary... I really want to go to a place feeling good about it. and getting the above responses really reassured me. thanks a lot, everyone.. really!

@vordhosbintwin and unlikeleygrad-- thanks a lot. this really puts things in perspective. the posts on ratemyprof do look really over the top... and they did trouble me a bit, because these are the people i will be spending the next 5 years of my life conversing with... but this really helped. thanks p.s.-- I love Jameson's work.

I was just looking at the reviews for a prospective school at rate my professors.com. And some of them are very scary ( "so and so is rude, unhelpful, and a very tough grader" or "WORST teacher on the planet" types)... feeling very unsettled... How does one take such reviews? Also, who else is looking through such stuff? And even if silly at times, is it entirely dismissable, especially if there is no other way to gauge the faculty? ( my profs do not know the ones at this school)

@aeplo- oh no... no issues. I understood. And many congratulations again. I think very highly of the faculty at IU... but the funding is a bit of an issue, right?) I am yet to hear anything further than "you are on our waitlist" from them- but do write to them with any queries that you may have.

aeplo-- wow! im still on the waitlist-- so this must have been someone else. Many congratulations -- have you decided on taking this up?

@aeplo- sure.. UCLA, CUNY,NYU, Brandeis, Berkeley, Penn, Chicago, UVA, Michigan..and Indiana, Bloomington

@Royo-- WOW! this is fabulous! just sent you a PM.

Anyone who is thinking of foregoing their offer to Bloomington, (Victorian Studies specialization)? I have been waitlisted, and have offers at other universities. but i am very interested in Bloomington, and it would be great if a Victorianist who decides to decline the offer, can let me know.

@Antecedent, Stately Plump and Phil Sparrow- Thanks a lot! I was thinking of learning French ( My area is Victorian). I am looking only at fulfilling the language requirement, since I am fairly well off (Used to read literature in that language in school, and did all-right by way of comprehension, and speak it very fluently) with Hindi, which I am guessing I might need to look at some of the documents for one part of my thesis ( which is post colonial in orientation)

@anxious_aspirant- thanks a lot. That really put me at ease. I feel much better now @Datatape- Yes, that makes perfect sense. Thanks

@anxious_aspirant, sparky- thanks a lot. My case is something like this-- My specialization is Victorian British and Post Colonial Indian Writing. I can read primary material in Hindi, and speak it very fluently. I'm guessing most of my material will be in English, and at most perhaps I will need to look at a few papers in Hindi. The school i plan to attend gives me the chance of opting for one language at an advanced level. Now, im wondering if i should just start reading Hindi (just getting myself to read at a comfortable pace for I haven't read high Hindi literature in a while) for this. Also, if I am advised to take a second foreign language, I'm hoping to do French.. if only to make better sense of the many French terms thrown into the novels of Victorian England. I did take beginner's French a couple of years ago, but thats just basic, and I'm guessing il need some more tutoring before actually taking on an exam. I would be very grateful if you guys could let me know what you think of my chances, given the above scenario.

Dear All, I would really like to hear about how feasible (or not) you think it is to learn a foreign language from scratch to meet the language requirement. I do know one modern language, but i'm wondering about the second. It would be wonderful to hear from people who have done this in the past, and how they went about it. In my specific case, the graduate school that accepted me does provide free language tutorials, but I'm also looking at how to manage these with the graduate coursework that one will have to do.

@eoyarbidem- They notified me through email.

@Tripwillis and Aubergine-- wow! thanks a lot! This looks really nice!