nhswrestle

Can any Microsoft Word experts help me with a footnote problem I am having!? For some footnotes in my writing sample, there are two lines between the footnote and the body text, but for other footnotes there is only one line. I can't figure out how to resolve this problem and I have to upload this writing sample to my apps by Wednesday Night. If somebody could look at my writing sample and try and resolve this problem for me, I would REALLY appreciate it!!!!!!!! It's REALLY stressing me out! Thanks, Nhswrestle

Do you know anything about Milwaukee's placement into PhD programs? There is no info on their website. Moreover, I e-mailed two people in graduate admissions and neither person got back to me, or rather, the DGS got back to me and forwarded me to the other people who never got back to me. This lack of information/communication has dissuaded me from applying.

This is most likely overboard paranoia and it seems like you're creating stress for yourself. In any case, call the dept. after you submit your application to make sure they have everything.

Do you agree that we should put our future interests before our preparation? Does it matter?

I just took the GRE a second time and got a 65% on the verbal, after months of studying. At first, this score made me want to quit this application season out of fear that I no longer have a chance of getting into any of my prospective programs. After some reflection, I have decided to hang in the race. My school list is almost finalized, as is my writing sample and personal statement. So, I am just going to apply and hope that graduate programs can overlook what - in my opinion - is the least relevant indicator of future success in grad school.

My statement is two pages. It is about a 50/50 split between past and future research. My DGS at my undergrad school read my statement and thought this was an appropriate way to handle my line of research.

Yeah, I agree. If I were to take it again I wouldn't waste any time on it that could be devoted to other aspects of my application.

Just retook the GRE for the second time after four months of studying daily. Scores were almost exactly the same. 155V 152Q. Needless to say, I am furious at the amount of time and money I have wasted on this exam. Considering taking it a third time, but the thought of wasting another $175 is less than appealing.

My advice: Contact the DGS at schools your interested in and ask if your research interests would fit.

Has everyone finalized their Personal Statements and Writing Samples yet?

x2. My professor gave me the same advice.

FAR too many is right. I'm planning to take the GRE twice if necessary. I feel like it's a toss-up when you take the test: you might be questioned on a lot of words you know or a lot of words you don't know. Right now, I'm just trying to run train on the Barron's 1000 List when I'm not working on my PS and Writing Sample. BTW If you have any questions regarding UMass's English department feel free to message me. I did my undergrad there, and although my focus was literature I tutored in the Writing Center and took multiple courses in Rhetoric and Composition theory.

Thanks for the comment! That's kind of how my personal statement is written right now. I discuss my own interests and then relate them to work being done in the department I am applying to. Outside of DeLillo though, the connections are usually broad (i.e. I want to work from a Marxist/Cultural Studies perspective and "Professor X" and "Professor Y" do research in Marxism and cultural studies). That's a great point. I think I'll take your advice and emphasize DeLillo and mention the other topics as supplementary/future areas of study. This will certainly align my interests more with the departments I am applying to. Thank you. I agree with you. I've only contacted one department so far about my interests (oddly enough the DGS expressed interest in working with me and his personal area of speciality was something completely different) but I think I'm going to contact 1 person from every school I apply to to get a better sense if my proposed field of research will be supported there. Also, looking at the class listings is great advice. Thanks!

Personal Statement Question: My proposed field of research - broadly speaking - is the relationship between advertising and postmodernism. I hope to study this from a cultural studies perspective, using both literary and non-literary sources. In my personal statement the authors I express interest in are Don DeLillo, Brett Easton Ellis, and Chuck Palahniuk. I also express interest in the stand-up comedy of Bill Hicks and George Carlin, the music of Rage Against the Machine, and the OBEY Clothing Company. All the schools I am applying to have strengths in cultural studies and DeLillo Studies, yet only two programs have faculty with interests in BEE or Palahniuk. Am I digging my own grave by mentioning such non-canonical material? Something tells me Rage Against the Machine and the OBEY Clothing Company might not appeal to the professors reading my application...At the same time, everything I mention is very relevant to my area of research and the popular culture of the time period.

Do any of those CSU schools offer full-funding?

Thanks!

Just sat down to write mine tonight. Reeaaally struggling with a hook/intro.

Also, if possible I would change the heading of this thread to "Postmodern American Fiction" or "Late 20th-century American Fiction." People may think your talking about early 20th-century texts when you say "Modern."

I also plan on doing work with late-20th century texts. My interests and current schools I am applying to are in my signature. What schools are you planning to apply to?

Where did you find a rankings database that includes schools outside the U.S.?

Thank you.

Three F's?

Some of my favorites: Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange Stanley Kubrick's The Shining David Fincher's Fight Club Mary Harron's American Psycho Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet

I would recommend living in Northampton or another surrounding town. Amherst and Noho have buses running frequently back and forth.

I would be weary of the apartment complexes in Amherst; especially Puffton, Hobart, Salem place. The residents of most of these places are rowdy undergraduates. Not an ideal place to live as a UMass graduate student.