djl2288

a few hours after i wrote the above post, i got into georgetown with funding so in answer to my second and final question, no, schools make their decisions independently of one another and there is just no way of knowing or anticipating what is to come but that actually makes me very hopeful! as for my question on funding, im still really curious and would appreciate any insight into that ie schools where funding isnt guaranteed. thanks again!

hi all - congratulations to everyone on their wonderful news! ive been checking on here periodically but havent had much to report myself until a few days ago. i was accepted to the university of texas without funding - or at least without funding at this point in time - and i have to say that im really disappointed by the lack of funding so the juhu! has been somewhat overshadowed. im mostly concerned about my chances at the other schools to which ive applied. can anyone shed some light on what kind of thinking goes into determining who receives funding? and does this actually have any bearing on the future of my applications to other schools? thanks for easing my mind!

hi - just to confirm what FranzisKaner! has already found out: i got a DAAD study grant (LMU) a few years back and i received my acceptance email at the very beginning of april (april 2nd if i remember correctly). hope this was helpful - and good luck to you all.

hi - thanks for the link! the interview is on tuesday - supposedly it's only 10 minutes "in German and/or English." i intend on telling them what i'm doing currently, the impetus behind my suggested research topics and how that all relates to their work in the department. still have to work on preparing some questions though - i really think that will be a key part of indicating my own interest in the program but right now i'm kind of at a loss because im nervous/anxious.

did anyone else apply to utexas at austin? i just got an email a few hours ago that they would like to have an interview. i'm now wondering what kinds of questions will be asked and how i can prepare. anyone have any advice?

olta = alter, and you're right, it does essentially mean dude or is simply just an expression of wonder a la bill and ted yeinalem - i wanted to thank you because i was retroactively able to include my cv with my cornell application and now i feel much (read: slightly) more confident about my application. i really appreciate harvard giving its applicants a timeline - i wish i knew what to expect from the other schools i've applied to. does anyone have any idea how small/large a german phd applicant pool generally is?

hi coffeeplease - last year i worked with ruth klueger's texts ("weiter leben" and"still alive"). i was really excited to find her memoir because she is from vienna and her writing very naturally includes some dialect. my grandparents are from vienna and ive always struggled to understand them - we have to speak hochdeutsch together so it was really exciting to study it and then simultaneously talk to my grandparents and have them give me their two cents. i ended up in wolfsberg doing a fulbright teaching assitantship. my dad is from vienna and my mom is from boston so ive always been caught between those two cities and that was the first time i ventured out and i really love it - its definitely worth a visit but the dialect is wild...i struggled at first but after three years i have finally beat it into submission and that is true about piefkes! do germans curse a lot? austrians do a lot of swearing i think. im trying to break myself of the habit - i think it would be embarassing if i said "olta" during an interview for university!

no i did my ma (dartmouth) as well as my ba (uvm) in the us - the program was intense but thats what i liked about it! im also applying to the karl-franzens universitaet in graz for a phd in amerikanistik because i thought that might be interesting but im not as serious about that application as my others...plus funding is really strange here ie non-existent so that makes things a bit difficult. i started a masters in german at middlebury this summer but really didnt agree with the program so i quit and hightailed it to austria. if i dont get into school ill be pretty disappointed but i think ill just stay here and find more serious ie steady work...but for right now im doing okay minus the constant email checking and interpreting of silences as for the test scores, when i look at my own account, the test scores have been received so i dont know where my email contact is looking...time will tell on that one...but my gre scores are not awesome so if they get lost along the way it might be for the best :/ vertige - how long have you been living in germany? and may i ask what kind of work you are doing there?

hi coffeeplease! i'm really interested in austrian post-war literature and more particularly the role of dialect within it so it's funny you should mention that i did a masters in comparative literature last year that made me realize german studies is for me - my thesis focused on self-translation/dialect/jewish studies in austrian (war) memoirs (in both the original german and english companions) and i'd love to do more thorough research and writing within those realms. anyone else here applying to georgetown? i'm really excited at the prospect of living and working in washington, dc - but i think the school takes its time reviewing applications because my gre scores still havent been uploaded despite my sending them in november. where all are you living and working? i'm in southern austria working as a part-time english teacher and freelance translator and visits are more than welcome

Hi all! and thank you yeinalem - that's good to know...i wonder if i can pass my resume along after the due date...doesn't hurt to ask no princeton application for me vertige. i did get an interesting email from the university of michigan that might give us all some perspective. i started an application there but didn't finish it because i decided i wanted to stay closer to home. anyway, the coordinator of the program emailed me after the deadline to say that she would be happy to extend the deadline for me and that my recommenders can take all the time they need....that seemed really odd to me because i didn't fill out most of the application so her inquiry had nothing to do with my stats, etc...it would seem to me as if the german depts at the top schools are still rather desperate for competitive candidates so good luck to us all and thanks for sharing your tips and experiences

hi everyone - it's really encouraging to find this online community! i also applied to german studies programs this year: georgetown, harvard, cornell and utexas. i'm really excited/nervous...waiting seems to be the hardest part. it sounds like it doesn't take the departments too long to make their decisions (ie harvard will be making its short list after one week of review) so i hope we will all know what's going on soon! does anyone know if cornell grants interviews? i was surprised that the application didn't require a resume/cv so i'm sort of hoping they do require an interview. i am currently living in southern Austria - anyone ever come out this way?