neverstop

Sparky: since #4 seems to apply to me directly let me just say that I don't think of myself as more deserving or to be making some great noble decision/future-sacrifice. I've spoken to students in the program and they've given me great sources to look for internal funding, and I plan on working my butt off to find it if possible even while I know it's an obscene long shot. And maybe (definitely if I don't find funding) I'll apply again next year anyway if funding isn't offered. However, once you finish your classes and you're ABD (which is 2 years in my program) you have only a few hundred to pay to keep yourself enrolled and then you can go anywhere in the world and teach while you write your dissertation. Yeah, I know finding a teaching spot is difficult in this job market, but I've spent 2 years looking for a job and there are a lot of colleges (not TT or research institutions obviously) looking for ABD students to teach. There are more of those positions available than for terminal MA students. Finally, what the hell do we do people? With a BA in English and History and a MA in English I'm not qualified for ANYTHING. I live in a rural town where the majority of the jobs have been sent overseas, and I can't move elsewhere because I live with my family due to the lack of respectable job that would allow me to pay my gov't student loans and live in a small apartment. Moving to another city where I know no one and would have to live on my own while paying my exorbitant loans is more of fairy tale than getting in to a program next year. I have numerous friends who went to school and graduated with education degrees and licenses and they can't get a job teaching pre-school. There's not a lot of hope out there for those of us not living in cities where there are publishing companies and newspapers, etc. galore. We're stuck working in jobs that people with no education at all are also working. The highest salary in my area is approximately $11.00/hr. I have 2 jobs. So, do you jump off the freaking bridge toward the possibility (and Sparky, it's not out of ridiculous optimism... I've received straight A's my whole life and I knew I wanted to teach since I was in elementary, and eventually that decision went to teaching college and writing research in 8th grade when I started college thru advanced programs... but I didn't get into that Ivy I worked for, I didn't get into the private out-of-state schools I applied to for my BA, when I applied for my MA I only got into one school without funding and that turned out to be a freaking nightmare, and now I've spent $4000 on app's over the last 3 years to get into this joke of a situation for a PhD... I don't expect FATE to make the rest of my life easy) or do just live miserably all the while barely keeping your head above water? Yes, I looked at #3 and it's scary as hell. All but 5000 of my debt is federal, and it feels like I'm in one of those countries that won't let you leave until you pay back your debt. But I'm not. And I've always wanted to teach out of the US anyhow, so if I have to teach in Asia for $25-35k/yr for awhile I will. Let me repeat... I'm not ridiculously optimistic. But does anyone else out there living in the Midwest with loans to pay back already want to tell me just what they hell there is to do? Should I wait the next 15 years to be out of debt before pursuing a PhD, and then be told I'm too old? Seriously, I'm not ranting here? What are the options... because I'm well aware that when August comes around and I haven't heard that I received one of those internal funding options I may very well back out.

This was my third year applying after my MA and this was my only offer (though I still haven't heard from 4 of 16 schools). I've heard from everyone that I shouldn't accept, except one professor whose response was "I hope their not expecting you to pay for tuition"--I never responded I'm really glad to hear there are some professors recommending this course of action. I can tell you that once you've established in-state residency the bill is usually cut nearly in half, and that I've already got $70,000 in loans if that makes you feel better. I've also heard that a lot of schools test their students for the first year and you're more likely to receive it after. So, if you only take $30,000 out in loans for your entire education you came out way ahead of most of us. If you're a BA entering an MA/PhD combined program, it's unlikely you'll get funded anywhere for at least the first few years from what I can deduce (unless you get into one of the top tier schools, like the Ivy's with large endowments). However, if you have your MA and your entering a PhD I've been told that if you work your butt off and publish like crazy you may be able to swipe a funding spot the next year. However, after talking to students in my program they say that's unlikely for me. I'd suggest you talk to some people in the program and feel them out about the program's funding situation.

Anyone accepted an unfunded position this year or in the past? Any words of wisdom that go beyond "the job field sucks, don't borrow for a PhD", and if that's all you got how 'bout any specific examples as to why you're so hardline on that position? BTW, for me, it's Purdue (pretty good school) and it's an interdisciplinary PhD (Philosophy and Lit).

This was my third year applying. The first and second year I applied to 9-11 schools (and at least half of them overlapped). The only thing that changed was my writing sample--and I LOVED my first writing sample, but I wasn't sure if it expressed how involved I am with theory in my research and writing. I was waitlisted in two programs the first year and I heard nothing from them the 2nd year. This year I applied to 16 schools (about 4 were re-submits) and I've heard back from almost all of them. I received an acceptance from 1 school (a school that waitlisted me the first time), but no funding AND after talking to a few students it sounds like it's unlikely I'll get funding. This is a program I really love--it's interdisciplinary and would allow me to focus on the philosophy I'm so found of on the theory side and literature. When I applied this time I returned to my first writing sample (which got me waitlisted and encouraged to re-apply). Essentially I'm still in the same boat I was in last year if you look at the overwhelming advice to not accept a position without funding. However, I'm going dude! First: I suck at the GRE and the thought of taking that confusing bastard again makes me nauseous, Second: there's nothing I can do about my average M.A. GPA, those professors at Binghamton are egotistical bastards that are looking for nothing more than a mirror and damn anyone who makes an effort at an original thought, and Third: I've spent about $4000 on applications, waited tables/ cashiered/ and became a banking analyst and I can say, without too much drama, I will never be happy in any job that isn't this one. So yeah, by the time I finish my degree I'll owe the equivalent of a small mortgage, but I won't have a house over my head. And yeah, the job market sucks (and interdisciplinary degrees can be confusing to some employers)--I don't mind living like a pauper if it means I get to hang out with people who get me and wake up every morning happy to be struggling to survive at something I love. Also, there is an upcoming market in exporting professors; for example, Indiana Univ. has a branch in China and there are usually many openings to teach at branches. It doesn't pay as well and it's not TT, but it's a job that will hold you until you can find that TT job in the States or Western Europe. For me it comes down to being happy. I live in a small rural town in the Midwest and everyone around me works because they have to pay bills and they have kids because somewhere at sometime they were told it was the next step after graduation. No one understands someone who wants to work and hang out with their colleagues after work, they don't want to travel, and they don't understand why you would want to stay in school forever (even as they bitch about their 8a.m-5p.m/5 days a week cubicle job that gives them backaches/headaches and puts them on autopilot with those children they couldn't wait to have). This is a unique job that requires a unique person, but if you are that person I don't see how you can be happy until you find a way to attain that job. Keep trying! Try not to let pride get in the way. There are a lot of offers going out these days without funding, ask yourself if you'd be willing to accept one of those if it meant--though you would still struggle--you'd have the chance to make your dream a reality. If you would, then keep applying because this is the job for you.

ComeBackZinc--could I take you up on your offer? I was made an offer for the Philosophy and Literature program but there is no funding. He was forthcoming that he didn't see it for the first year, but I would be considered for funding after that. I get the feeling that the program(s?) are lacking in $, but if I accept is it pretty much a given that people receive funding thereafter? I've heard that quite a few schools aren't giving funding to first year PhD's, but they receive it after. I really like that program, location, and people, but I already owe quite a bit and out-of-state tuition is roughly $30,000/yr so I'd slam myself into the 6 figure range for debt after just one year. I'm willing, I admit it, to spend the $ because I've just spent 2 years out of school working menial and terrible jobs. Becoming a prof isn't just something that fits because I love to read, research, and teach, but I HATE routine 8-5 5 days-a-week, cubicle dwelling, bipolar-former-beauty-queen-boss jobs--no matter how good the $ was. This job (and we all know it's not a "job", but part of your personality and who you are--academics just see the world differently and we like to be surrounded by people who are similar) is really all I've ever pursued, so yeah, I'm going no matter what next year, but I'd like a little good news about the tuition and teaching situation there. Or, if failing that, are there nearby community colleges I could teach at on the side? And if I haven't rambled enough--how's the living situation there? Are there plenty of jobs and apartments around $500 or less? Thanks!!