dazedandbemused

I know this discussion has been had countless times on this forum, but I think it's ridiculous to limit oneself to the top twenty. Instead, limit yourself to the schools with the best tenure-track placement at the kind of institutions that you want to end up at. This was my second application season, and though I think my applications "fit" much better this time, I wish I had thought to focus on placement. There are a good number of schools outside of the top 20 who have placement rates much higher than the national average of 40% and there are schools in the top 20 that have the majority of their students placed in lectureships. Plus, when we consider the ridiculous arbitrariness that is the rankings system anyway...better to have a name on your diploma that will get you a job than a name that will impress people. Of course, if you can get both, even better.

I've only recently heard of most of these programs, and never heard of the rest, but since you say they're MAs, I'm not nearly as down on your options as planesandtrains. I don't know how much people really care about the prestige of an MA though; on a certain level it's more about the work that you do in it than the name, I would think. I don't think prestige is the right question; if you're eventual goal is to get into a PhD you should be asking whether MA students from those students generally have success getting accepted to PhDs and what kind of programs they end up in. Are the majority of their students intending to continue in academia, or are they more geared to people who just want an MA? Do you get a lot of teaching experience, but not too much? That kind of thing.

How are ya'll finding apartments? I've tried google searches, real estate websites, and craigslist, but something tells me that the cheaper stuff is going to be elsewhere.

Biggest factors are faculty and program fit, as well as location. Having spent the last year in Pittsburgh, I know that as much as I love it here, I'd have a hard time being productive because of--and this might sound insane--the weather. I get the WORST seasonal affective disorder, and the constant grayness, mixed with the isolation of a PhD program, is a bitch to try and overcome. I really like the program at UT as a whole, and I think it has a lot of resources that Pitt doesn't. Also, I'm not satisfied with Pitt's placement numbers for lit people.

It's actually an MA/PhD program and the 13k is only for the first two years. It's not nearly as dismal once you get to the PhD stage and I honestly don't think it would be difficult to live off of once you got to that point when you include the summer funding. It's really just surviving the first two years that I'm worried about. Planesandtrains: I definitely believe that Texas being a red state has a lot to do with the funding. I'm trying not to blame UT for it

I don't know, I wouldn't really consider it that competitive. I mean, 13k while doing a masters isn't the worst, but considering the cost of living in Austin, and the funding that you would get at comparable programs, I don't think it's very good.

Yes indeed. I'm leaning strongly toward UT, but as I said before, I refuse to take on loans and if I can't figure out a way to make it work without them, I won't be going. I'm hoping the visit will assuage those fears. I know someone from my undergrad department is currently at Florida, so I think I'll try to get in touch with her and get some views on the place. I don't think Michigan State is happening though, I just haven't taken the time to turn them down yet.

So, I'm apparently in at Florida; just got the phone call. I'm really, really surprised right now, because I had just assumed they were going to be a no after all of the acceptances a few weeks ago. If anyone's still waiting to hear from them, I was told that they still haven't contacted some people because they've been trying to figure out the supplemental funding information, like extra fellowships, but the process has been slow. They should be done for certain by next week, apparently. Since they're integrating their MA into their PhD program they definitely have my attention, though it would probably take a whole lot for them to pull me away from my other schools.

That's good to know. Did you have to spend awhile looking in the city? I get the feeling Austin is one of those places where the deals are on the ground, not online. I spoke to an apartment locator who told me that I would never find a one-bedroom within Hyde Park or walking distance that would be less than $795. I refuse to believe that. Primarily because I desperately want to come to Austin and I definitely won't be able to if the rent is that high.

That sucks datatape, I'm sorry. I felt the same way when I got outright rejected from Buffalo after a waitlist last year (also on a much weaker application). Like proflorax said, I just chalked it up to arbitrary randomness and took comfort in my acceptances. It sucks that it's your first choice, but I hope your own acceptances make you feel better.

Yeah, Craigslist had been surprisingly useless for Austin. I've found much cheaper stuff through random googling. I found places in the lower 700s and even some below that. Of course, those numbers are still pretty high for the stipend, but nowhere near doom and gloom.

That sounds insane and I can't imagine how that is possible. In my cursory attempts to find apartments so far, I've been finding places that would consume about half of the stipend, and I fully intend to find a place that's even cheaper than that. Hopefully the apartment locators can help me with that, but if the visit goes as well as I hope, I am more than willing to live farther away to save money.

Oh I would never claim that most, or even a lot, of programs admit exactly the amount of students they hope to yield. I was just responding to what you said about not hearing of any programs that did so, which I think I read as an absolute statement, because I have heard of programs that have 1:1 acceptance/waitlist ratios. No offense meant.

There are actually quite a few programs that simply can't afford to accept more than their target number because if they did so and everyone accepted decided to matriculate, they'd have a lot of budget issues to deal with. Better to have a long waitlist in that case. This is, of course, just general word of mouth knowledge.

So, has anyone here been in contact with relevant professors at Austin? I know their system is more about the students as members of the department as a whole, rather than students being accepted to work with POIs, but I've been wondering whether it would be weird to make contact with the one's who I'm particularly interested in working with. I'm guessing we all got the email with the schedule and it mentioned making appointments to meet with professors; would it be strange to make first contact ahead of time? Anyone else have plans for the visit? Also, I'll be arriving early on Thursday afternoon, so I was thinking about exploring the campus; if anyone wants to join me, I'd love to meet my fellow internet peeps.

Wow, congrats! I've heard it's really difficult to get first-year funding at Madison, so that's pretty amazing. As for your other schools, how do you feel about them? Would you choose any of them over Madison? Even if you would, you still have a month to come to a final decision. I wouldn't rush it; it's always good to take the time to let the euphoria settle down and look at your options rationally.

Methodology? What methodology?

In regards to Pitt, I think you imagined that. They were at 34 before, so it's a slight dip.

Wow, that's unbelievable. Hopefully facing their former colleagues and advisors at conferences from now until the end of time will be punishment enough. Then again, some people can't feel shame.

I was really close to my recommenders, so I pretty much emailed them within the hour of the first of my acceptances. It was even better because I didn't get into a PhD program last app season, so their excitement was twice as high. I think my BA advisor's response to the news had at least 40 exclamation points in it. Honestly, if you're as close to this advisor as you state, he'll probably be unbelievably happy for you. One out of ten is success; don't let yourself feel any differently. Also, I bought them amazing mugs as thank yous. Try cafepress for cheaper literary stuff.

I'm really curious about why you picked SMU. I assume this is Southern Methodist? I've only heard little tidbits here and there about the program, but it doesn't look to be old enough to have any graduates yet. I would be terrified about the sheer youth of the program. The funding package does look amazing though!

You might have better luck if you ask this over in the literature rhetoric and composition forum.

I don't know about anyone else, but I've never written one. I didn't have to write one for my fellowship. Maybe you're asking the wrong group of people?

Ooh, good point. I'm coming in with a BA , so I know there's a bit more wiggle room for me.

I didn't put any names of professors in my SOP on the advice of the DGS at one of my schools and my current academic advisor. Like girl who wears glasses, I saw myself as fitting into a department, rather than choosing to work with particular people. Maybe that's why I wasn't as successful as some others, but I'm ok with it. I think both of my acceptances were receptive to that. It really depends on what kind of department you're working with, I guess.