antecedent

I made the decision to pursue a PhD two years ago, but I have really committed to it during this past year. I can thank my Masters degree, my course mates, the department faculty, and linguistics culture generally for encouraging me to take every opportunity I see to become a better student, researcher, and academic. I will be submitting my second round of PhD applications this Fall on yet another year off between degrees. 
 
My problem with the paradigm of 'real world' jobs is that to me they feel like the opposite - the university feels like the real world to me and the other jobs I've worked have been in-Limbo place-holders, even the ones I've enjoyed. The work* I do when I'm 'in academia' is the only work I've ever done that doesn't force me to consistently lie to myself. Every other job I've done includes lying to myself or others about my enthusiasm, passion, strengths, motivations, and qualifications. I'm passionate about my academic work, I'm highly motivated to keep learning and improving, and I'm good at it - I'm really fucking sick of apologizing for that.
 
...can you tell I've been job searching recently? I'm looking forward to being in a PhD program and not having to worry about this for a while. Sorry for the emo 'academia is the only place for meeeeee' post. I never thought I would be that kind of student/applicant/whatever, but in the end that's who I seem to have become.
 
*In 'work' I am including: research, writing, reading, teaching, advising, and participating in academic culture and service.

I made the decision to pursue a PhD two years ago, but I have really committed to it during this past year. I can thank my Masters degree, my course mates, the department faculty, and linguistics culture generally for encouraging me to take every opportunity I see to become a better student, researcher, and academic. I will be submitting my second round of PhD applications this Fall on yet another year off between degrees. 
 
My problem with the paradigm of 'real world' jobs is that to me they feel like the opposite - the university feels like the real world to me and the other jobs I've worked have been in-Limbo place-holders, even the ones I've enjoyed. The work* I do when I'm 'in academia' is the only work I've ever done that doesn't force me to consistently lie to myself. Every other job I've done includes lying to myself or others about my enthusiasm, passion, strengths, motivations, and qualifications. I'm passionate about my academic work, I'm highly motivated to keep learning and improving, and I'm good at it - I'm really fucking sick of apologizing for that.
 
...can you tell I've been job searching recently? I'm looking forward to being in a PhD program and not having to worry about this for a while. Sorry for the emo 'academia is the only place for meeeeee' post. I never thought I would be that kind of student/applicant/whatever, but in the end that's who I seem to have become.
 
*In 'work' I am including: research, writing, reading, teaching, advising, and participating in academic culture and service.

For some reason this thread was exactly what I needed to get my ass in gear in regards to applications next year. I overhauled my GRE strategy this weekend, registered for the test, and have started drafting my SOP. 
 
I'm glad to see everyone is alive and well
 
...aaaand back to my dissertation. 

Hey! I don't have anything very helpful to add, I just wanted to say that I'm glad to see someone else with a sub-4.0 GPA applying to American PhD programs. I haven't tried to figure out the conversion yet, but I assume my GPA will also be somewhere around 3.5. I feel pretty good about my application other than my numbers, so I hope my grades won't damage my chances too much. I just registered to retake the GRE in the fall, so we'll see how that goes too...
 
Anyway, good luck!

For some reason this thread was exactly what I needed to get my ass in gear in regards to applications next year. I overhauled my GRE strategy this weekend, registered for the test, and have started drafting my SOP. 
 
I'm glad to see everyone is alive and well
 
...aaaand back to my dissertation. 

I just wanted to say that after seeing this thread, I have spent the last day or so asking myself "Am I okay?" in the style of the I <3 Huckabees mantra "How am I not myself?" So far the response I keep coming up with is "I am okay" which is pretty good I guess.

Training for a half-marathon has saved me yet again this spring. There are actually several people in my department running the same race, so we compare notes and share tips and stuff at lunch which can be fun. I also go running with a girl from an adjacent department. I'd say it's been absolutely crucial to my mental and physical health this term - I didn't have any regular activity outside of school last term and it was bad news.

Training for a half-marathon has saved me yet again this spring. There are actually several people in my department running the same race, so we compare notes and share tips and stuff at lunch which can be fun. I also go running with a girl from an adjacent department. I'd say it's been absolutely crucial to my mental and physical health this term - I didn't have any regular activity outside of school last term and it was bad news.

I just wanted to say that after seeing this thread, I have spent the last day or so asking myself "Am I okay?" in the style of the I <3 Huckabees mantra "How am I not myself?" So far the response I keep coming up with is "I am okay" which is pretty good I guess.

I just wanted to say that after seeing this thread, I have spent the last day or so asking myself "Am I okay?" in the style of the I <3 Huckabees mantra "How am I not myself?" So far the response I keep coming up with is "I am okay" which is pretty good I guess.

I just wanted to say that after seeing this thread, I have spent the last day or so asking myself "Am I okay?" in the style of the I <3 Huckabees mantra "How am I not myself?" So far the response I keep coming up with is "I am okay" which is pretty good I guess.

Hi Everyone,
 
So now that the dust has settled and people are more or less committed for next year, lets start neurotically planning for the fall! 
 
What schools are you planning on applying to? MA or PhD? Do you still have to take (or, in my case, retake) the GRE?
 
General application excitement/dread/banter/questions here!

Hi Everyone,
 
So now that the dust has settled and people are more or less committed for next year, lets start neurotically planning for the fall! 
 
What schools are you planning on applying to? MA or PhD? Do you still have to take (or, in my case, retake) the GRE?
 
General application excitement/dread/banter/questions here!

I officially committed to a funded MA at Loyola Marymount U! See y'all LAers.... (pssst... let's meet up! Show me around town!)

That is definitely a valid reason to give up but you should keep going because Spike.

When I tell people I'm going to study English Language in Scotland they say "Scotland?! They don't even speak English there!"

I know we're "two countries separated by a common language" but come on, people. It's ranked in the top 10 in the world for my program, and is the alma mater of J.M. Barrie, Thomas Carlyle, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Ian Rankin, Sir Walter Scott, Alexander McCall Smith, Robert Louis Stevenson, David Hume, Adam Smith, and Charles Darwin. I think they can speak English there.

I think the problem is you're spending too much time thinking about them in comparison to each other, so here's what my advice is:
 
Tomorrow, spend all day thinking about going to Buffalo.  Think about every single good thing and every single bad thing.  Don't even let West Virginia cross your mind.
 
Sunday, spend all day thinking about going to WVU.  Think about every single good thing and every single bad thing.  Don't even let Buffalo cross your mind.
 
At the end of Sunday, think about which one gets you more excited and which one gets you in a better position for what you want to do.  There should be one that comes out on top, even if it's not by much.  That's where you go.  Then send off your emails, click "accept" for one, "decline" for another on the websites, drink a bottle of gin and go to bed.

Yaaaaay phonolog! My heart was breaking for you, I'm so glad your story has a happy ending.

Accepted Yale's offer.

Good times people, good times. But no one bothered to address my question about how long a streak of hotness lasts in the profession.
 
I started this thread, I'm smart, I can handle things, not like everyone says, like dumb--I'm smart! And I want respect! I'm your older brother, ZincWillis, and I was passed over! Answer my questions!

Probably right around the time you decided to go to Purdue, amiright amiright?

The thing I don't like about these "hot" "new" "fields" is that they aren't new, they are only hot because people are attracted to what they perceive as novelty, and they have every appearance of weak minds taking a point made by (for example) Heidegger, and trying to spin off a brand of theory from it.

I think I'm going to specialize in puppy studies, because puppies have so much to teach us about literature. And about life, people. Puppies understand what it means to live.

OMG i love puppies.

By the way, the notion that queer studies is about looking for "what could be gay" in literature is somewhere between laughable and offensive.

I actually did my bachelor's in Political Science (theory, specifically!) and while I am obviously heading toward a more humanities-based discipline, I think this is an unfair caricature of Political Science (and of quant methodology which is, you know, actually valid and I don't think any more dominant in the field than it was 50 years ago). Well, what asleepawake said. The people I know in Literature who are actually currently doing this aren't working with it in the same way that an IR person is, they just aren't. That's what makes it interesting. We (as someone whose interests dovetail game theory) DO value the qualitative -- that's why I'm here -- and I think we're all capable of using math responsibly (because we actually also respect math! Which shouldn't be so outrageous!).

Is it bad that I kind of wish there was a column for 'avatar' in the google doc? I seem to associate users more with their avatars than their usernames
 
Anyway, congrats everybody! You made it

You should think terribly of Harold Bloom.  He is a misogynistic narcissist.  He is not even in their English Department.  They gave him his own department of Humanities because no one could frackin' stand him.