myriadways
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Posts posted by myriadways
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Vanderbilt for me
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FYI to anyone waitlisted, I declined my offer today, so hopefully it goes to you!
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Somebody should organize a drinks night in New York, where we could all panic and commiserate in person. (Also, I want to see what Cquin and TripWillis actually look like.)
I vote this Friday post-CUNY night haha. And I second your latter point.
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myriadways, are you going to the UW-Madison welcome events too? I'm curious: what is your specialty, and which way are you leaning between the two programs?
I am! I go Maryland->CUNY->Madison in short succession this week. It'll be a whirlwind. I'm Af-Am lit and Af Diaspora (so I'd be doing the Afro-Bridge program at Madison). Between the two, I have no clue. They both frighten me funding-wise, so in that sense neither really stands out against Maryland or Vandy. Again, no clue. Absolutely. No. Clue. AARGh.
I think all three of us have similar interests, don't we? I'm curious about all those things too, myriad. My visit to UMass is going to go all day pretty much. But, I'm sure they have something organized. What kind of questions are you guys bringing with you to the event?
By the way, I like your new Dumas avatar.
No idea about questions yet, that is my project for tomorrow. Any suggestions aside from the usual? I guess my main fear is being too bold with the questions I ask to faculty or students. What's too prying? What's not prying enough? Feel it out? I dunno.
Thanks! He's a handsome devil. I would so much rather be buried in Monte Cristo right now than attending class or thinking about grad school. New project: read it in french.
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I am, and am both excited and freaked out for it. I am rather sure somehow I'm going to appear an idiot. I wonder how long it will go into the evening, too, and how it's structured. All my other visits are over two or three days, so I don't have a clue what they'll be able to get through in a few hours with tons of question-asking prospectives milling about. Anyways, see ya there!
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I am legitimately concerned about how logistically challenging it is going to be to ship my yogurt maker and food processor to Scotland, if I end up in Edinburgh. I know it sounds dumb, but I literally do not know how to feed myself without these two items.
I am having similar issues regarding my Staub and Le Creuset sale-buys and my KitchenAid stand mixer, and as such am seriously considering taking my highest funded offer without considering anything else, simply because I'd have the money to move properly rather than leave everything behind and start from scratch.
Curse you, FoodNetwork, for making me so interested in cooking with nice things. By the way, re: taking stuff to Edinburgh, I'd look into whether or not your appliances will work there...maybe I'm crazy or ill-informed, but I'm not sure an adapter will do the trick with something as energy-sapping as an appliance. Might need a transformer, which would be annoying.
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I second everything you ask. I have to consider a few things outside of the norm, like what the different regions are like regarding employability for when my spouse comes down and needs a job, but aside from that I'm using all the typical measures and coming out with no real idea of what to do. The problem is that all of my programs are SO different in SO many ways. If they were comparable, it would be a different story. I guess things will become clearer (I HOPE) when I do my first few campus visits this coming week, but who knows. My husband has been engineer-y enough to make me some kinda funky spreadsheet thing that compares all of my choices logically and with numbers...but...it has numbers...soo..... ya.
When I said I wanted to add a column called "feel" he laughed at me and my ignorance in thinking I could quantify such a thing. SILLY ME.I too, Dorinda, would love love love it if someone just told me where to go.
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I am not actually in academia yet, but I'll add my two cents. I think your various questions will depend on a number of things, not the least of which would be your GRE scores and your ability to write compelling SOPs etc., but also what your transcripts look like. I am coming from my BA with a similar AGPA, but my first two years were in biological sciences and were incredibly dismal. My English/Arts grades, on the other hand, are not. So, they might pay attention to the spread of grades that would bring your GPA down to 3.0 for your undergrad (and if the spread is across all years, and not just the first couple, then you'll have to rely on a strong MA GPA to make a big difference). I know one of my POIs, when I spoke to her on the phone after being admitted, actually laughed about my transcript because it was so easy to read the story of my life via my grade trajectory, despite the 3.0. So, on those grounds, top 20-30 schools might not be out for you.
All that said, I think a lot of what you ask will depend upon the quality of work you put out in an MA, and then in a PhD--ranking does count, but only for so much. A person could graduate from Yale with an inaccessible, disjointed dissertation and receive no job offers, just a nice pedigree. Of course, no one will be able to give you any hard and fast answers, you'll have to just try and see what happens. You'll probably have to be very flexible about what sorts of programs you apply to and most importantly where they are, but I don't think your possibilities are completely erased at this point. Try Canadian programs maybe?(fewer applicants, usually well-funded MAs and PhDs, etc.) These are all things you should be asking your current professors, too, perhaps more so than the people on this site--we haven't made it yet!--and make sure you insist they answer you honestly and candidly with absolutely no sugar-coating. They'll know best.
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I wish I had less stuff, but that just isn't realistic for me. My husband and I have 10 years worth of stuff we've accumulated together, and there is no way I can get rid of all that, so I'm going to have to pay for the UHaul and the gas for said UHaul to take my stuff 2500 miles. FML
If I were you I would seriously consider getting a quote from an actual and reputable cross-country/international moving company before committing to U-Haul. I've looked into how much U-Haul would cost for about that distance, and with gas (and not even including the motel/hotel/B&Bs you'll have to stay in along the way or the food/other expenses you'll incur), it came to a good $3000 for the mid-size U-Haul truck. Maybe that's just what the Canadian site quotes, though, and maybe if you're in the States it's cheaper, but I can tell you definitively a moving company would weirdly be less for an equivalent amount of stuff (if you don't add on the packing service). I also shied away from the U-Haul option because of security--when I go through my stuff to see what I want to keep, undoubtedly I'll want to keep my books and more expensive items (or wedding/other photo albums, knick-knacks we've picked up on trips, and assorted other sentimental items), which I do not really want to leave in a not very secure truck at night when I'm staying goodness knows where.
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Oh wow, the MOVES. My potential moves right now are only about 2000 miles (ha, ONLY), so I guess I can't complain (lucky I live in the middle of the country, I guess).
Still, um. I am in the boat of: how the hell do I MOVE?
This! A small part of me wants to take my offer with the most funding just to offset moving (or leaving/trying to sell everything and buying all new furniture) costs. Plus visa costs, airfare, damage deposits, blah, blah, blah.
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Oh, and I second Black Books and Black Mirror, though Black Mirror is genuinely frightening, the way no horror film could ever be...
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If we're on a roll of British shows, WATCH LUTHER, and Misfits too. They are truly fantastic. I have a love/hate relationship with my anglophilia, as I want more than anything to live in the UK, but my research interests stopped me from applying anywhere there. Sadness, and despair. At least I have the BBC, E4, and ITV.
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For me, I always go with, "I didn't apply to a back-up; I want to go to each and every program to which I applied, for different yet similar reasons." And I say this b/c it is true, and also b/c, as I do not like to be considered a back-up candidate for any school (I want to go the one that really wants me rather than the one that kinda wants me), I now extend that same sensitivity and tact towards my prospective programs. I also try to extend that same sensitivity towards others and refrain from name-calling, etc. when I don't agree with someone.
I'm afraid I must still hold that personally considering certain schools back-ups for oneself does not in any way display insensitivity or tactlessness toward those schools or programs. It's a preference, that is all. If you go with that statement, then that is great, because, as you said, for you it is true. It may not be the true way of imparting information for other people. Of course no one one wants to be considered a back up candidate, but many are (waitlists...) and still attend those programs happily if accepted, just as people who have backup schools happily attend those if they are not admitted to their top-choice schools, as they would likely not have applied to such 'backups' at all if they did not hold a strong interest in attending. A lot of people have one, ideal, perfect program in mind, and the others they apply to they have researched well and they believe to be good fits for their interests, but nonetheless would thus consider them backups if they were rejected from their top, ideal choice.
As for 'name-calling, etc.', I don't see a single point in my argument where I name-called or was rude, I simply stated my point of view. I do not in any way mean to say that your point of view regarding your preferred way of considering the schools you applied to is incorrect. Instead I meant to, and mean to, address the fact that you made rather totalizing statements about people being insensitive, tactless, and offensive when that was not at all their goal (and I very rarely come to the conclusion that the people on these boards are indeed exhibiting those sentiments, as this is a very open and respectful community).
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In fact, I think it's best not to refer to anything [in general, even] as a backup, safety, etc., which is not only insulting but doesn't exist when you get to this level.
I think that this might be a little bit too sensitive. For example, I applied to the MA programs I applied to as 'back-ups' because of where they are located, and the fact that my personal preference is to (ideally) attend a direct-entry PhD. I think referring to schools or programs as back-ups reflects personal preference that could be based on a host of different things including location, fit, and funding, all of which have to do with the preferences and experiences of a particular person, and are almost never meant to condemn or belittle those who consider the same programs or schools to be exactly what they want. When I say the MA programs I applied for were my back-ups, I say it because given my situation and my personal preference, they are not my first choice. That is not to say that these programs are not fantastic and amazing and anyone would be lucky to attend them, it is simply saying they were not right for me. If I were interested in staying in Canada (where there are very few direct-entry PhD programs), then they would have been my first choice, but I am not, so they were my backups. I think eoyarbidem and ahembree were coming from the same place, in that for them PhD programs were first choice, and MA programs second. Not that MA programs are terrible and unworthy and only deserving of the lowest rank on everyone's radar and consideration. Many people, and rightly so, find that MA programs are perfect for them because of the particular needs of theirs that are met (honing down research interests, gaining teaching experience, getting a taste of grad life before committing to a PhD, the list goes on), and others simply don't, and that is just fine.
Just trying to lend some perspective
- insideoutside, ahembree, pinkrobot and 1 other
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Yale finally got back to me:
Stupid Yale. Were you just Am Studies or Af-Am studies or a joint program? I'm still waiting to hear about the combined English/Af-Am, called again today and they apologized for taking so damn long, results in the next week. Stupid, slow, Yale.(I now retract that 'stupid' in an effort to appease the forces of the cosmos which I believe, in my dilapidated state of mind, may actually affect Yale's decision via some sort of karmic retribution)
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Out of curiosity, myriad, what are your 4 funded MA programs? I have Wake Forest and FSU who are giving me a full ride, and Brandeis who's giving me partial funding. Aaand I have no idea what to do. I'm trying to tell myself that, ultimately, where I receive my MA is not as important as where I receive my PhD (right, y'all?) but I'm still going crazy making a decision.
I'm from Canada, so they're all Canadian schools: Queens, UAlberta, Dalhousie, and York. I applied to them as back-ups in case I didn't get into any American PhD programs (I'm in Af-Am and Af-Diaspora lit, so being in the States matters), so I've declined them all. Still waiting to hear from UToronto. I'd say where you take your MA matters, but it matters more what sort of work you produce and what kind of recs you garner while you're there. Not that I know, as I haven't taken one, but that's what I would guess. Go-Pro-Con-List-GO!
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You could just accept all 8 and become the new and improved James Franco.
This is a possibility. Or, I was thinking I could just say yes to all the money, and no to actually attending....non?
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Follow the placement rates!
Oh, and the fit...
Yep. But also make a pro-con list, and then, like me, potentially find yourself more confused than before
. But actually do it, it helps a bit. Include where you'd rather live, cost of living, how many professors are at each place in your area of concentration (they do move schools/retire/etc., so you want to make sure that you don't only have one POI at a school and face the possibility of being stuck somewhere with no one to advise you, or having to transfer), funding, placement, fit, archives/libraries/proximity to others/consortium resources, dissertation year grants, summer funding, travel funding, years of funding, completion rates, ranking (if you care about it) etc etc etc. I too, am very tempted to follow the money, but I'm trying to remove that from the equation in my head, at least until after I've completed my campus visits. It's too distracting a variable, and too tempting to ignore many other important factors in favor of being a little more comfortable financially (though I acknowledge that is SO important too). Sometimes, I just want someone else to choose for me. Any takers?
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I can't tell you how much I would love to be decided right now so I can stop the madness.
There. Is. So. Much. MADNESS.
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I've been a little intimidated from the opposite side of the spectrum. I guess coming into the process I just assumed lots of people would be applying straight from undergrad, but I now am realizing that's definitely not the case. Imposter syndrome will really sink in when I realize I'm one of the youngest in my program, I'm sure. I'm at the point in my life when I still, well, to put it nicely, indulge in undergrad culture. I'm ready to "grow up" in the sense that I'm going to be throwing myself into graduate studies, but in terms of things like marriage and family...not at all on my radar at this point.
I'm kind of in the middle of the spectrum, I suppose. Married for three years but in my early twenties and coming straight from a BA, (and I took no time off after high school, either) so I've got some incredibly aggravating imposter syndrome feelings coupled with a fear that there will never really be a good time for us to have kids. Too many things on my radar!! Aaargh! I've spoken to a number of profs about the whole family thing, and it seems as though their opinions vary as drastically as their own situations. Some are tenured and waited until they were to have kids (which puts them at late-30s for the first kid), and one had 3 (!!) during her MA/PhD years. Both had reasonably good experiences. I suppose we'll all just have to see where life takes us.
Oh, and Trip, so jealous about Bjork. If it were Sigur Ros, though, I think I would have to somehow teleport to NYC.
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WTF do my dietary preferences have to do with you? I simply don't like them, and I get by just fine without. Would you call out a vegetarian like that? I hope not.
If you truly thought your dietary preferences had nothing to do with the readers of this forum then WHY ON EARTH would you post them. And as for your language, tone it down, this is supposed to be a supportive community of people looking to go to graduate school and asking for honest advice. Your original post was insulting and ignorant, so you reaped insults in return. Oh, and good luck finding a place that does not serve fruit or vegetables of some kind. And good luck with the eventual plethora of diseases and disorders ahead of you for eating nothing but junk and antibiotic-ridden meat. Perhaps you are a "hungryhungryhipster" because your nutritional requirements are not met by your current, obviously lacking, diet. Perhaps, indeed, these lacking nutritional requirements could help to explain your apparent social interaction difficulties as well.
Have a nice day!
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A couple of good spots in west Harlem. Also, an expensive place I've never been to down by NYU.
I was recently at a Senegalese place called Keur Sokhna on Adam Clayton Powell. That was some delicious stuff. Went with a friend who lived there for two years and she was having nostalgia-flavor-orgasms, figuratively speaking.
Thanks! I also checked out The Queen of Sheba (quick google search), seems good. I neeed ethiopian when I visit next month haha!
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Any good Ethiopian in Brooklyn / anywhere in NYC? I am a little bit obsessed. And now hungry. Damn you all.
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Haha! Exactly. My fiance is getting his PhD in molecular and cell biology. He wants to cure AIDS, like you do. What is it with science and literature peeps getting together? I hear it a lot. I'm totally counting on him to make the bulk of our subsistence, which is completely in contrast with my feminist self and the fact that my mother and aunts have always drilled into me how important it is to have your own money. Alas, I don't expect to make much as an English professor. If I ever even get to become one.
Mine's in engineering. Once upon a time, looong long ago, in a land (head-space and level of determination) far far away, it was ME who was going to be the bread winner, with lofty Med school goals. Alas, alack, all I can do, apparently, is read. I don't care anymore. I embrace the fact that if I hit the job market and come up 0, I will at least be able to eat/feed my children/live in an actual home. I have tricked myself into thinking that my feminist impulse is alive and kicking because I chose to be potentially supported by an awesome guy who is very tolerant of my spending habits involving Frye boots.
Final Decision Thread
in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition
Posted
Thanks! I hope I will, I really enjoyed my visit there. Me too
and likewise, I'm sure we'll meet again eventually! Also, sending good vibes your way for Rutgers, though I know CUNY's a great option too! I can't imagine the waiting agony at this late stage in the game 