dazedandbemused

Yeah, I don't know why comp lit's website has it worded so badly. It's much more clearly described on the English page.

Just wanted to clarify, that they use the statement "tuition assistance" instead of "tuition waiver" because we do have to pay some tuition here. Comp Lit students usually have TA-ships in other departments, and if you're a TA and you register for in-state tuition, you're actually paying about $270 a semester for tuition. It's not free, but it certainly isn't $100k.

The only school I know of that won't let you reapply is Temple. In general, programs are very willing to let you reapply; some (like UT) encourage it.

My first week was AWESOME. I haven't really gotten into the nitty gritty of school yet, since classes started on Wednesday, but the last few weeks have been pretty boss. I met the professor that I desperately wanted to work with, and she's amazing and really friendly. I'm still a little awed at how much time everyone spends hanging out together here, but I love it. I'm definitely not missing Pittsburgh right now.

In my experience, you're more likely to regret that you spent money on schools that obviously weren't going to accept you. I've known people who applied to 6 or 7 schools and were accepted to 3 or 4 of them because they were extremely focused on proper fit. I applied to 12 schools last year, but I don't think more than five of them were a good fit for me and UT was, without a doubt, the best. YMMV.

University of Pittsburgh has a dedicated Children's Lit specialty. They're definitely serious about it there. http://www.childrenslit.pitt.edu/

I'm practically giddy about classes starting. I've been rushing about buying things/unpacking but I finally got my TA assignment today, and I can't wait. Austin is, of course, super hot, but I can totally work with it. It still feels like school is too long away, but orientation starts Monday!

I can't believe I'm finally headed to Austin in 7 days. It's now a mad dash to get all of my belongings shipped! I've been agonizing over which books to bring with me and I'm waaay behind the packing curve as a result. I just got an email about the current weather situation down there and I'm beginning to realize that my supposed love of summer weather is totally amateur. I don't think I'm built for 100-plus degree days!

http://db.tt/Mb38dGPl

Same here. I'm kind of in a state of paralysis when it comes to getting my belongings from Pennsylvania to Austin. I've never had to move outside of an easily driveable distance. Plus, it's not even the kind f stud that I can sell here and re-buy, as my life is sadly lacking in furniture.

Two things I learned in the last year: 1) if you're choosing based solely on ranking, you're gonna have a bad time and 2) if you can't write your fit paragraph fairly easily, that application is basically garbage (by that I mean that you should throw it out because it will be useless, not that you suck or anything). I applied twice, and I still made the mistake of applying to a couple that I felt very little about, which translated to a few courteous rejection letters. For my SOP for the program I'll be starting in the Fall, I couldn't stop thinking of things to write. Take that as you will.

That's awesome! I'm really into homecooking, and the kitchen in my future apartment is miniscule, so I'm jealous. Meanwhile, I feel like my summer is distinctly lacking in the preparation and planning department, since I had to be that guy and find an apartment back in March. I'm not even pretending to be scholarly either.

Oh wow, I definitely have your blog bookmarked, although I don't remember when that happened. I must have enjoyed it at some point though! I'll definitely look forward to your future stuff.

Related question: for those of you who do blog, how anonymous are you? I've been thinking about starting a blog in the fall, and I'm debating whether I should use my real name, but keep my institution hidden, or use a pseudonym but name the institution, or just keep it totally anonymous. On the one hand, I'd like my friends and family to be able to read it, but on the other I want it to be readable for people who don't know me. Any thoughts?

Unless that's a typo, I think you just answered your own question. That due date is almost four months ago.

The OP specifically said that the people s/he is dealing with believe that STEM fields are the only ones worth pursuing. How does that read as accusing people of not having enough education? Plenty of well-educated people have said essentially the same thing to me.

Honestly? I wouldn't keep my hopes up if I were you. It's already May and English programs tend to have their new students completely figured out by mid to late April. It's quite possible that they simply forgot or chose not to inform people who are rejected; I had a school do that to me when I applied last year. I would still call just to find out, though.

There are a good number of posts in the results search, actually. It looks like most people were told they'd hear by the first. Have you tried calling them?

A quick look at the website turns up a 40% acceptance rate into PhD programs, which doesn't sound at all bad considering that many of their students were probably aiming for other careers. I agree with asleepawake; take the money and run! And congratulations as well; I'm glad your MA apps went well.

Bfat, great post. I fully intend for my time in the PhD to be me living my life as a young adult in the live music capital of the world; I'm not holing myself up in the library for the next six years. While working toward being hired and then tenured is very important to me, the fact of the matter is that I might not get it, so why not use the time I have wisely? The WB, I don't know if that's a viable position to take on age.There is definitely an age bias in academia; while search committees aren't "made up of 30-somethings," they're looking for the future of the discipline, and many people consider the future to be young up-and-comers. It certainly isn't fair, but I think it's important to be aware of the possible limitations ahead of time and be able to work against them.

Yeah, I heard about the god-awful time to completion at Berkeley too. I spoke to a professor recently who finished his PhD there in the last few years, and apparently that has a lot to do with the coursework requirements. I think it's one of those programs that requires a certain number of classes in a variety of fields, which can make it difficult to spend enough time on coursework within your field. I applied to a few programs with those requirements, but for the most part I definitely wanted schools where my coursework was largely left up to me. I think it's quite possible that the national average time to degree is still around nine years, but there are many programs where that is no longer a reality. Also, make sure your program is, in some way, willing to support you past your guaranteed funding. One of the schools that I was seriously considering only guarantees five years funding, but in the last few years everyone got sixth year funding if they wanted it, and almost as many were able to get seventh year funding. Even if they might not have longer funding, see if you can get a vibe for what happens to students who are no longer funded: do they disappear into adjunct hell, never to be seen or advised again? My program is six years of guaranteed funding, but it's an MA/PhD. I know at least one person in my cohort said they fully intend to take seven years. Me? I want to be out of there in six, five and a half if I can shift it. I don't want to be in school at 30 (I know it's younger than a lot of others, but that's the arbitrary goal I've set for myself).

Yeah, every summer I think about applying to work at summer camp, but then I remember that kids between 6 and 18 are THE WORST.

I think 9-month stipends are pretty common. My plan is just to save enough money from my stipend each month so that I can pay rent over the summer and then hopefully I'll be able to find a job to pay for food and other stuff. Luckily I only have to worry about that for the first summer because summer funding kicks in after that. As for the housing question, I think it's quite possible to sublease your apartment out if you have somewhere where you can live during the summer; I got my realtor to find someone to take over my lease this summer and I'm moving home to save money for my move in August.

Nope, I meant matriculate. It was someone who hadn't gotten first year funding and they said that the school enrolls almost twice the amount that they fund. Complete insanity. I just think programs like that should be ashamed of themselves. Hopefully the funding spreadsheet is helpful to you guys for stuff like this though! A surprising number of schools don't really outline the funding situation on their websites.

I'm of the opinion that as long as the stipend is big enough for cost of living, it's acceptable. What' I'm talking about is schools that accept more than they can fund (I think someone said previously that their school matriculates almost twice the number they can fund??) or that don't even attempt to give enough funding to their students. I take that kind of thing very seriously because in this market, I think it's irresponsible at best and mercenary at worst. When I think of programs that require 2/2 teaching load for under 13k, I have a hard time feeling generous toward them. If they can't afford to pay their PhDs for the work they do, then they really shouldn't have PhDs.