Hypnertomachia

I turned down Northwestern a few days ago. I'm glad the spot went to someone who is excited! I'm excited you're excited! Congrats!

Yes, I'm an early modernist! However, I'm not so sure that you should judge anything based on my acceptance, since I was admitted to a lot of other comparable programs as well. I think this has more to do with something about my individual application (I'm still trying to figure out exactly what) rather than with the committee's supposed preference for Renaissance people. Though I do focus heavily on the history of the book, and UPenn is particularly well known for this sub-field...

Hey litgirl, just curious, are you still considering CUNY or have you accepted another offer? And what's your sub-field, if you don't mind me asking? I'm still considering it (bureucratic nightmare all too true) but the fact that it's in New York City is also all too true and important for me. I do late medieval and early Renaissance Italian (and Italian cultural life in this country is concentrated in NYC), with a side-gig in German 20th century poetics.

I wouldn't go unless you have no other option. I did English there as an undergrad and transferred out before the end of my first year to an Ivy. Case is a small place with a small faculty comprised of small-minded people. On the other hand, if the package is generous, I would take it for a year and if you don't like it, there's always the option of transferring or of opting-out after the MA. The place doesn't have a great reputation probably because it's a top-four school for engineering and therefore the university pours money into that leaving the humanities to languish in the worst buildings on campus, with little conference funding, summer stipends, and so on. And people tend to be really territorial both when it comes to the students they're supervising and the courses they're teaching. Would it help to know that their undergrad retention rate is about 60%? Most of my friends left with me that year. I too only went to Case for the funding, but decided that student loans was a better option than having to live in a place like that for four years. And Cleveland is well.. brutal in the winter. Though it's by no means a bad program. Especially if you're doing comp lit or languages, in which case, email Per Aage Brandt, who is head of cogni-sci but does a lot with comp.lit. he's amazing and well-regarded and super-nice.