warmclay

Thanks for the advice It really helped in my decision. There's nothing like having the support of people who can see over your personal maze. It definitely makes all the twists, turns, and dead ends a great deal easier to navigate. Delaware...here I come.

Thanks lintseed2008. I've heard things here and there about budget problems and funding stuff, but I had no idea if it was affecting the English department at Florida. It's good to get insider's information Since you've attended, you'll probably know the professor (Phillip Wagner) who contacted me. He seems like an awesome guy, and I'd hate to pass up the opportunity to work with him, but Delaware seems to be in the opposite situation in that they have overflowing coffers and seem only to be getting more and more financially stable. Dag blasted monetary concerns... As far as advisers go minnesotan, the people in Florida are right up my alley. Most of their focus is centered on speculative fiction-ish contemporary studies/ literary and political/cultural theory. Their program is pretty much the opposite of traditional, while Delaware's isn't, in many respects. They have a strong emphasis on material culture and the history of the book. Still, there are a couple people with whom I could work. I guess, at this point, I'm leaning toward doing the MA at Delaware and re-applying for the PhD in Florida. My problems with that are: 1. I'm not by any means guaranteed a spot at Florida for the PhD. If anything, getting in will be more difficult, because they give preference to already attending MA students. 2. One of THE guys I'd most like to work with (Phillip Wagner) is in Florida. I have a couple more hopefuls at other schools, but those schools are probably even harder to get into (Pitt, Rochester, Vanderbilt...) 3. I'd miss out on forming a bond with people I'd eventually have to work with/colleagues I'd eventually be bouncing ideas off of. 4. I'd also be missing out on the weather....I'm a summer baby. Rankings aren't really my top priority as, now, many of them, (save the staples) are probably in flux anyway. Still, it'd be interesting to know the difference between Florida and Delaware, in that regard. I have a feeling that Del will be moving up in the near future, as the department is really getting legs under it and making financial and administrative moves toward greater selectivity. Anyone know their standing relative to each other? All in all, despite my inclinations, I'm still on the fence with this one...inundate me with suggestions. My banks are arid from a lack of sober advice.

Alrighty. I'm in a pickle. I've now heard back from all of the schools I applied to. Out of the 11, I was accepted to 3. The fact that all of the rejections came before any of the acceptances notwithstanding, I feel more than privileged at the moment. Honestly, I'm sitting here waiting for the someone to contact me with apologies for making the mistaking of sending an acceptance letter to the wrong person. So far, so good. Self deprecation aside, I'm in need of advice. I'm trying to decide between two programs: The University of Florida and the University of Delaware. Before you give any suggestions, let me paint a picture for you... Both Delaware and Florida are MA programs with the option of possible PhD admittance after reapplying through an internal application. Judging by what I gathered from the professors I talked to, getting admitted to the PhD program is pretty much a given if acceptable progress is made during the MA. The problem lies in the differences in funding. U Delaware invited its prospective students to a recruitment weekend to meet the current grad students and faculty. They paid for travel, hotel stay and meals. They also had a discussion panel, provided a tour of the library and museum and held a reception dinner for us at a nice little brewery (booze included). U Del offers a $14,600 assistantship and a guaranteed $4,500 summer research fellowship. As far a U Florida is concerned, the professor who I would be working with contacted me with all the details about his research interests and funding specifics. He initially told me that U Florida gives a $9,200 assistantship, that the department did not have funding to for a specific recruitment program, and that, if I could make my way down to Gainesville, he would arrange for me to meet some graduate students and faculty. He told me that he liked my research interest and that he was using Octavia Butler (the author of the primary text in my thesis) in a chapter of his next book. After expressing my problems with funding, he later intimated that the committee decided to offer me an extra $3,000 a year for the next 3 years (assuming I would continue on for the PhD). After visiting Delaware and getting to know the people who I would be sharing classes with for the next couple years, I was blown away. The place was beautiful, the faculty was friendly and the prospective students were amazing. In them, I felt an overwhelming sense of geniality that put me at ease and made me less apprehensive about the whole thing. From what I gathered in the conversations and short overnight stay, we seemed to click rather nicely. I've had no such experience with Florida because I really have no way of getting down there. They don't provide any sort of compensation and my parents are acting shady with their funds...they're really,really rooting for Delaware. The professor in Florida admitted that it would be very difficult for me to get into the PhD program If I was not already there because of the internal application for attending MAs. Still, if I chose Delaware, that would probably be what I'd eventually do. I wanted to know what you would suggest. I haven't talked specifically to the person I would be working with at U Delaware, but the funding package and recruitment weekend is making me feel like they really value their students. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure that the university of Florida is better know for their department, especially in what I may be doing in the future. I could be wrong though, as I have no specific way of knowing the relative standing of any English department. I'm stumped. What say you?

I'd also like to know this as I'm trying to decide whether or not to take U Florida's MA offer. Is it really bad down there?

Thanks totallyfreakingout. I was thinking of taking up pole dancing, but gambling seems a great deal less...involved...good call. Lets see now, I've been rejected from WashU (assumed) and Northwestern and am being ignored by pitt. Two and a half down, eight and a half more to go. Anyone up for a game of poker?

Congrats to all. So dedalus, you've heard from pitt have you? Excuse me while I find the nearest bridge...

Thanks. It's good to hear that my interests aren't as idiocyncratic as I first thought. Now, if only i'd upgraded my mind-trick ability to "persuade" the adcoms... Whatever happens, you guys and gals will be (some of) the first to know. Now there is an idea I just might steal... Thanks for the welcome. Where did you apply?

Can I have a pocket version of you? I think i'm in love...

I'm new to this place, and I like it, so I figured I'd throw my towel in with the rest of you. Let's see now...I'm applying to 11 schools, which I thought was a ridiculous amount (so much for that). UChicago (Ha.) Vanderbilt (What? No takers?) Penn (I used to live in philly...) UDel (but now i live in delaware) Northwestern (Because Chicago wasn't enough, apparently) Duke (Because I'm a masochist) WUSTL (Great Placement & Funding) UFlorida (...) UPitt (ah...pennsylvania) UMinn (they have sci-fi/fantasy conferences that I would, otherwise, have to travel to attend) UWisconsin (right...) I didn't take the subject test because I had neither the time nor money to do the blasted thing the way I wanted to. That sure narrowed my choices I also didn't realize that Wisconsin needed the subject test until I sent everything in. Ha. Geography would be a major selling point for me if I thought any of the schools were sold on me to begin with. My top choices right now (because they seem to fluctuate by the hour) are WUSTL and Vanderbilt. I want to look at works of fantasy/sci-fi that use a synthesis of literary and political theory to question humanity's fundamental need for hierarchical governmental structures. Butler, Orwell, Clarke, Asimov, (Phillp K.) Dick...stuff like that. Was the "nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking-chairs" comment a reference to what rogue said in the 90's x-men cartoon, or am I just ridiculous?