rufzilla

Sorry, but I think ranting on the OP's supposed jealousy and blah blah blah is stupid. Yeah, maybe s/he is motivated by her jealousy towards the girl and her seemingly better chances at getting into the same graduate programs, but I don't think she is wrong in any way for reporting it to her department head. Should she be devious and underhanded about it waiting until the girl gets into graduate school? Hell to the no, but its a good thing that she alerted her department head and the department head should notify his staff, past and present (or any professors that the girl had taken classes from) that this kind of action occurred. Even if she is a good student wrong is wrong. What she did was unethical and the professors who "wrote" her letters should be notified that their names were signed to something that they did not approve of or know about. Basically, in my eyes, that's identity theft -- which is a crime.

You can add University of Hawaii to that list. They offer 3 different funding packages (to my knowledge) 1. 1/2 time Full funding as a TA for 2 years = free tuition (only pay for the fees), and a good stipend 2.1/4 time Full funding as a TA for 2 years = free tuition (again only fees), and an okay stipend 3. Partial funding as a mentor for 2 years = 1/3 (I think?) tuition off and an hourly wage

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I was wondering if any of you feel there is a stigma about going to graduate school where you got your BA from. I'll be going for my MA at my undergraduate institution and, because I want to live and work in my home state, am thinking of also getting my PhD from there. Is this a bad thing? I've looked at my department's website and see only a couple (maybe 2-3) professors have gone straight through (BA to MA to PhD) at my institution. Does this negatively impact you when looking for jobs? Ideally I'll want to work at the school I'm at now anyway, but I've heard that sometimes a school won't want to hire someone that done all their schooling there in fear that the student/ prospective hire is too "indoctrinated" in their way of thinking or can't bring anything new to the table. Any one else heard of this? Any thoughts? Like I said, I want to do my whole career at my undergrad institution, but also have to seriously consider looking elsewhere (for my PhD) if staying might hurt my employment possibilities.

I agree that I won't study like a fiend (I am enjoying being a bum), but what would you guys recommend I read if I'm going to try and go into early modern lit? My school focused on more close reading than theory, so I know some of the authors I want to get familiar with (although suggestions would also be appreciated) but no theorists. Any suggestions on what theorists/ theories I should be brushing up on before I am overwhelmed by the smartiness of grad school?

Hi all, So I'm really new to the whole idea of grants and fellowships and was wondering if you guys could help lead me in the right direction and give me some information on the whole process. I'll be entering graduate school for my MA in Literary Studies this Fall and don't really know what grants/ fellowships I should be looking at. I try to look for them on the internet and get overwhelmed by all of the different ones and stipulations they set forth. Can you guys give me the names of some I could look into? Thanks in advance!

I also have a question about thank you gifts: For those of you giving thank you gifts after receiving notice about which school you got in, how did you initiate the gift-giving? Did you just drop it off at their office hoping to catch them (possibly just having to drop it off at the department office)? Or did you contact them prior to make sure they would be there so that you could give the gift in person? I'm a little nervous about having to arrange a meeting and having to sit for a long time (their smartness intimidates me a little), but I don't want to be rude considering these are the people that played a large part in my acceptance. Thoughts?

But, its not impossible to do and therefore is an option in circumstances where it is called for. Yes, the OP will need permission from the school to do so, but what school would want to force a person to stay if, in the end, they don't want to be there?

Honestly, and although people might not like my opinion, I don't think 2400 is wrong, amoral, unethical, whatever for being in the situation s/he is in and possibly having to rescind an offer. 2400 wanted to go to both school (obviously with a preference in mind -- but don't we all have preferences?) and is now in a very hard, very agonizing position between going to school A (which the person obviously likes because s/he applied to it) or waiting and going to the slightly better school B. I say do what you have to. There's a reason that rescinding is an option -- because this kind of situation happens every admissions cycle and the adcomms know it. I say look at it like possible jobs -- would you feel bad about giving up one job offer if a better one came around? I know I wouldn't because at the end of the day you got to take care of you. Now, I know that a lot of people will say that this is selfish thinking, people should think about the waitlistees, blah, blah, blah, but you know what? That's life. You have to do what is good for you or you won't be of any use to anyone. I also wouldn't worry about burning any bridges. I really don't think that, after how many years of school (I'm assuming you'll also be going for a PhD), the professors and people on the adcomm will even remember your name. They won't be holding grudges and making 2400 voodoo dolls because you rescinded your offer. Have you emailed the adcomm to ask for an extension yet? If your situation is purely financial I would let them know why you want to wait around for Oxford. You say that they can only offer an X amount, but who knows? Maybe if they know that X amount of dollars is all that's standing in the way of your decision maybe they'll fess up more money. It's worth a try right? In the end, I guess, do what you got to do and take what the haters are saying with a grain of salt. They have a sympathy/ empathy for the waitlisted (I do too-- to a degree), but I really think you have to do what is right for you.

I would definitely shell out the extra $200 for a mac. I've been a mac user all my life and have owned 3 laptops (2 iBooks and my current MacBook) and I have loved all of them for a variety of reasons: 1.) They can take a beating: I am not computer friendly by any means - I drop my computers, pick them up by their screens, and my dog walks all over it trying to give me kisses. The only reasons the first two died were because I let one iBook swim in soda (don't ask) and the other one fell from my desk onto our tile flooring (but it took awhile for it to kick the bucket). 2.) They're idiot friendly: I am not a computer person by any means, but I can navigate my mac with ease - installing, downloading, etc. is pretty simple and straight forward. 3.) They're tech support is the best: Genius bar -- need I say more? 4.) They're* pretty: I'm a girl so what do you expect? 5.) They last a long time: If I hadn't drowned one in soda and dropped the other one I wouldn't have ever needed to replace the first one. I know money can be tight (and it is with me), but I am so happy that I shelled out the extra cash to get a MacBook. It is so portable and can do everything a PC can from the convenience of my own lap! I've never had a desktop and don't really worry about it. So, even if money is an issue, I would definitely consider a Mac. *happy now? Geez...

I've also heard the horror stories of professors back-stabbing students and writing bad/ mediocre letters of recommendation. I was told (and followed through with the advice) that I should a) ask the professors if they can write me a positive LoR, and hint in my request what I wanted them to write about me. Doing this not only reassured me that my LoR writers were going to write (at least) good letters, but it also gave them an outline of what I wanted the adcomm to get out of their letter. For example, I tutored a group of students in a comp lit class and basically told the professor that I wanted him to talk about my teaching/ tutoring abilities since I wanted to be considered for a TA position. Then, if the professors agreed (on writing a positive rec and what I wanted them to talk about) I knew my letters were as good as gold. Actually, my LoRs were the only thing I was not worried about through my whole application process and I never even got to see them. I can't stress enough, though, how important I think it is that you ask the professor if they can write you a positive LoR and not just say "hey, can you write me a letter of recommendation?" because this gives the professor free liberty to say what they will. Sure, if they can't most professors will say they can't write you a good letter, but let's be real -- there are some dicks out there that will write you a LoR, albeit a bad one. It's what you asked for right? It's not like you were being specific (not meant towards anyone, just generalizing). We are all entering the competitive field of academia and I'm sure some professors are dick-head enough to slyly kick their competition in the balls if they don't feel the student is worthy, etc. At least if you specifically ask about them writing a positive LoR and they don't it's their bad (and their dick head-ish-ness) and not your's. For what it's worth.

I would look at your school's website and see what they say about RA workloads. Generally speaking, I think that all RA's and TA's are employed at 50% Full Time, so that means they can work a max of 20 hours. I'm not sure how strict your school will be and if your PI will make you work more, but I know that for my school any person that works over 20 hours in their RA/ TA position may have their position revoked. However, if you and your PI agree (or if he forces you to agree) I think that a student can work an "overload" amount of hours maxing out at 40 hours/ week. I believe this means that you will get your usual stipend PLUS whatever the hourly rate for a RA is. I'm not sure how intense your professor is and what the guidelines are at your school, but I'm sure he would still have to abide by all of the laws concerning employment and compensation. You may have to work nights, but at least you'll get night differential and won't have to go back to work for another 12 (?) hours.

As graduate school approaches and I sit at home like a bum (I have a semester gap between graduating and graduate school and barely work 10 hours/ week) I get increasingly nervous about being able to handle the coursework and classes. I have always been a good student -- went to class, took good, detailed notes, etc., but being away from academia for 9 months (including summer) is kind of starting to freak me out! I haven't picked up a book since I graduated, my longest paper written so far (since graduating) has been my SoP, and I just feel plain dumb. So, I am wondering (and hoping too, honestly) if other entering grad students feel just as rusty as me? If you do, what are you doing so that the transition from "bumming it" to school will be easier? Are you doing anything academic-ish in the mean time? I'm thinking of getting Rosetta Stone and learn some Latin and continue with my Japanese and (hopefully) catch up on some reading (Milton, Chaucer, Spencer) during my hiatus away from school. What about you guys?

It really all depends on your study habits and if you can push yourself to really study the books diligently. Like the above poster I just bought some of the Barron's GRE books and brushed up on my math skills and studied the vocabulary. I didn't study much and really just crammed a week or so before the test and got a decent score of 1200-1250 total, so not so bad. But, at least for my case, a class would have been good because it would have kept me on task and really pushed me to learn the material and soak it in rather than just skimming it. Also, if whether you just get books or take classes make sure to study how to take the test. I'm not the greatest test-take (I just try to get it over with as fast as possible), so I think that if I learned how to take the test more effectively I definitely would have gotten a better score. Also, and I'm not sure what discipline your getting into, but as an English major, the writing section of the test was very different and difficult for me. It has to do more with having sound logic than being super eloquent, so also study how to do that section as well.