anxious_aspirant

Everyone's different with languages - some have an instinct for it, others have a tougher time. I think, sometimes, that already being bilingual helps, since you're used to language-switching when necessary. That said, I've asked professors similar questions, and they've said they were able to start a language from scratch and fulfill the requirements easily. I've definitely heard more people saying it's not too hard than people saying it went poorly. I even had professors tell me to just not worry about it. For all it's worth!

I can't speak from experience, but I've been concerned about similar requirements. I think it's a good idea to get the details from your particular program, as they seem to vary from school to school. There have definitely also been some threads where the topic came up - can't remember which ones off the top of my head, but I'll try to find them and link them for you later. My take on it has always been this - since you don't have to be a great speaker, only a reader and writer, go with a language closest to the one you already know. For example, if the language you're already confident with is a Romance language, do Latin or another Romance language, because the syntax and cognates that carry over will do half the job for you. (I suggest this because the foreign language I'm most comfortable with is Spanish, but from studying a lot of art history and just lit in general, I come upon French text fairly often and can skim it somewhat. I have to put in more work to be passable, but it will be easier than a totally new language. That said, I couldn't pronounce anything in French for my life. It always sounds like Spanish...which is just weird, I know.) EDIT: I also don't know your concentration, but choice of a language to pursue might also depend on how useful it is in that field.

Presidents, really? Too many suits for a "costume" party. I hereby formally propose that we form an association, provisionally called United Literature-Themed Party Enthusiasts, though that's a cumbersome name. Back to the wait-list stress conversation, though: I found my second gray hair today. And by gray, I mean white. This is a product of stress and anxiety, right? I'm too young for this!

Well done, Thunderpaws. I'd answer that add in a heartbeat. Last semester, I tried to get my Brit Lit class (mostly high school seniors) into the idea of having an Orlando party (the last text we read). Said party is one for which each guest chooses a time period / gender, and together, we all portray the multiplicity of Orlandoes, cross-dressing clearly encouraged. I might have nailed the coffin on the idea when I said, "AS LONG AS I GET TO WEAR THE RUFF. I'll make one out of newspaper if I have to!" Needless to say, there was no Orlando party. I made them tea, though. Rule Britannia! Just think: if our wait lists work out in our favor, we'll be around others who would be equally excited about elaborate, literature-themed parties for the next 5-7 years. (At least, I would hope.)

I wish a cursory glance through the want ads would show more employers seeking "Renaissance Man." Can't I just be well-read and articulate, and have that really be the most significant requirement for a position? (...I also wish there were an appropriately gender-neutral term for Renaissance Man.)

Thanks...glad one of us was brave enough to call. It's the last school I'm waiting on. Still hoping...though cautiously, for sure.

Does anyone know the placement stats for UMass grads & TT positions, etc? I remember someone in some thread (specific, I know) posting a link to find such stats for schools. I'd be curious.

Thanks for the update, Stately. Sounds awesome - though I'm not a Renaissance person, I'll take your observations as indicative of the overall dept. I've emailed some professors whose work interests me and might fit well with mine, and they've been very gracious & willing to share. I've been really happy with all of my interviews/conversations/etc. with UMass. Here's to hoping that some of those 10-15 other acceptees decline their offers so we can be cohort-mates. @Hogs of War - I do agree about the temp thing...I went in Feb, and Bartlett was about eight thousand degrees. My interviewer even apologized for it. Small price to pay, I guess, for an inclusive & caring faculty!

I getcha; I ask because I already have an MAT and will be moving on to the English MA. Even if I don't need the "full" MAT, I have it, plus state licensure. Definitely not necessary for community college, I assume, but I was hoping to play it up on resumes/applications, if the opportunity arises. Thanks for your insights.

Congrats, bigrelief! The rest of us will consider your story inspirational, and use it to bolster the hope. Thanks for sharing.

In your experience, do you think having 2 MAs, one in education, one in English would make someoneone pretty marketable in this field? (Might make me a bit more eager to accept my MA offer!) Thanks.

I think I watched too much X-Files as a child, so consider the conspiracy theorist gene activated as you peruse this post. But do you think our adcomms read TGC and easily identify us as we discuss all our details? Logically, I'd think that's way too much effort to go through for all of your hundreds of applicants. But I was getting a tad paranoid about us waitlisters, who are much fewer in number. Isn't it kind of...a terrifying thought...? I don't see any of us posting much that's suspect, except for major love of our potential schools, but I suppose the words "too" and "eager" are paired up every once in a while.

Ditto...I don't know which is better form - to be totally up front with my MA acceptance and say I'm holding out for a waitlisted PhD position, or to just keep stalling as vaguely as I have been... Also super awkward if I put the administration at my school through the heaps of paperwork to approve a one year leave, then get into the PhD, and say, "See ya, folks. I'm outta here." Though I wouldn't cry about that one for very long.

All of this. I wish such emails/communications were more readily taken at face value - I do really just want to keep in touch, let them know they're still my top choice (implicitly, in some way, that I still love them...). Especially because I have to make decisions about my MA acceptance, applying for leave from my job...and...I still love them... *ahem* Not as creepy as I sound, I swear. I like your attitude, rainy. I might use it as an excuse to break down and send that email...I know, as an educator, I love seeing people show interest. There's not much of a downside unless I unnecessarily take up tons of their time, and I haven't contacted them in about three weeks now.

@venti - I think I'm going to cut them out and invent my own season 3 in the interim. Like seriously.

Okay, thanks! Just checking. Hope you all enjoy my state

Does anyone know if/when UMass has a weekend for admitted students? I want to save my emails to Clingman for afterward, if there is one, so it doesn't seem I'm banging down his door to be let in. Also just anticipating he'd know more by then. Thanks!

Weird question, but wondering what you guys think: I was offered admittance to an MA program at my undergrad/grad institution (you'd think these folks would be sick of me by now!), and their official letter only says that I should let them know as soon as possible if I will be attending. No April 15 deadline noted. But I'm a waitlisted applicant elsewhere - and let's face it, who wouldn't choose the security of an MA/PhD over an MA, even if I love my undergrad and it has a great department? They don't have a PhD option, and I'd be doing this all over again in a year or two. The MA offers tuition remission, but no additional funding to cover other expenses. Point is, I feel awkward keeping these folks hanging (especially when my recommenders are profs in the department) because I'm waiting on a wait-list. News of which could come as late as April! I might have to defer a year anyway, if that's what it takes to get a sabbatical approved at work. But still...shouldn't they have given me a deadline??

I, too, am waiting to hear from one school, and I've written it off as a rejection considering the radio silence and that there have been acceptances posted. I can't say that I know much about unofficial wait lists from the administrative side of things, though I echo your question. Isn't this what some people were saying UConn is doing? From my look through past boards, the school I'm waiting on has acceptances/rejections posted from mid-February through late March - quite a range.

Again, my frustration comes from the fact that 2.5 pages must magically: 1) Defend/explain one's background (at least for me, as a former visual arts student) 2) Tailor statement to the school's focuses/faculty/courses 3) Actually propose something halfway decent, which to me also means showing that I have very specific texts and theoretical underpinnings in mind (considering the background thing again) 4) Adequately connect to other pieces of the application, WS, etc. 5) Ultimately distinguish you from most other applicants. And I'm plagued with chronic verbosity. My newest iteration, anticipating next year's cycle is already 2.5, single spaced, sans school tailoring. The "fit" thing is even more elusive for me because the schools from which I've heard the most positive feedback expressed interest in my pretty atypical proposal, and my research about the programs didn't really show that they were more inclined toward the interdisciplinary than others. Conversely, schools whose sites, course offerings, and faculty touted cross-disciplinary research were outright rejections. What gives? The most nebulous advice I received about the SoP was that I should write a statement that makes your application figuratively "float up" in the pile rather than "sink down." This from my former professor / undergrad dept. chair. The sticking point being that such a task requires a good understanding of what most other SoP's look like (fairly impossible).

Necessary share, considering the conversation: http://www.vulture.com/2012/02/print-out-vultures-downton-abbey-paper-dolls.html Also, ditto about the new Galactica (especially if you never watch that last episode; kind of wish I could take that back, but whatevs).

Also, mini-poll: low long have your statements of purpose been? (To see if I'm the only oddball who habitually cannot keep to a given page limit...)

*Apologies for my continuous and unhelpful rants in threads of this nature* Felt the need to say so since the "rejection" conversation induces this complainy form of logorrhea from me. Great to hear all the feedback and compare notes, though. Thanks, all.

The short answer is that I don't know. I'm wondering if I'm deluded for even applying. The thing that gets me down, too, (drawing on Ahab's post) is that I do have the GPA and GRE scores that I'd hope would make the initial cuts, if schools have them (not sure about the subject test, but I didn't feel badly about the score - the averages for it are so low that the percentile sounds okay even when the actual number doesn't). Yet, with some schools, I very clearly was part of their first "round" of rejections, considering the timing. I can only imagine that they saw I didn't have an official undergrad English major and cut me out of the running, or that the SOP was that bad. I'm more confident in my writing sample, based on professors' feedback, but the thought I'm left with is that I'm deluded about all of it, and maybe even my professors are too. The round 2 thing is just me thinking about maybe only applying to my wait-list school again, that way I can be more hopeful and spare the emotional and financial burden of applying elsewhere. Or I could do my (second) MA, this time in English rather than English education, and apply again after that. But if the odds are still so bad, even with an MA, I'll have backed myself into a corner in terms of my financial future, so that option sounds pretty crappy, too. I guess planning for "next time" gives me something to do. This year, thinking that I might be going back to school in the fall has made it a tad easier to deal with my job and its dead-end-ness; so, considering abandoning ship (which I totally am considering), is upsetting. Fiona, I'm sure you've said this elsewhere and I just don't remember - are you applying directly from undergrad, from the working world, from grad school, etc?

Is there anyone else out there who feels they would find it difficult to write a new sample simply because they don't have university resources anymore? I can't imagine doing the research necessary for such a paper, even if the end product would be a better fit, if I can't access critical sources through my undergrad/grad institutions. (Or maybe I'm in the minority applying 2 years after graduation). I'm definitely going to contact my wait-list school when all is said and done, that way I can get feedback from them. I figure that won't be too soul crushing - there was something they liked about my application - but I can figure out what it lacked or what might give me an edge next time. I'm thinking of going to a different professor for SoP and writing sample feedback, that way I'll be able to see if there's any major difference in the way two people (who know my work well) respond to the application materials. I think I relied to heavily on one person's feedback this time around, thinking he was the professor with the most experience and had seen me as a student in many courses.