1Q84

Come join us in the wait list thread if you have any more questions!

I agree with everything that has been said thus far. I did want to point to this advice, though: While I agree with the reasoning provided by eyeDK for avoiding administration, I thought I'd play devil's advocate and provide a reason why you might want to make that contact: if this issue does escalate further (Dean, media, external (legal) authorities), you'll want written proof that you made reasonable efforts to resolve the conflict through school administration. This is really, really, really important. It will provide due cause for you to have escalated the matter. After your attempts fail, the onus then falls on your advisor and the administration for being unreasonable, discriminating, blocking your dissertation, etc. and you seem like the victim. All that being said, I think your best bet is to avoid escalating the situation. To that end, Eigen's advice is soundest and you should work to resolve any misunderstandings at the advisor-level first before you push the issue further.

Not sure why you were downvoted but I have no idea as to the relative draw or not of English programs for international students (saying this as an international student myself). The only thing I can imagine is that an English doctorate is much less transferable/useful for overseas students than one in the sciences, let's say, which might explain why those programs are jampacked with internationals.

Count me in as a UT hopeful!

Indeed, the point has been made clear so perhaps I'm misunderstanding what your advice actually is; to me, it seemed to amount to something like "chase your dream and be comfortable with it." Your unfunded MA situation seems too different from his to offer any reasonable comparison (and I would not be as vigorously opposed to it if he had presented an offer such as the one you took). If OP is comfortable taking on the debt (because of parental safety nets, etc.) then so be it. It seems, however, that OP is only okay taking on the debt because he has lower-than-average undergrad debt. That, to be honest, doesn't seem like a very sensible reason to take on more, as others have said. As well, the concern about being perceived differently (as a cash-cow or as less deserving of attention because of nonfunded status) is real, too. Many times over it's been stated on TGC that MA students at schools that have Ph.D. programs get short shrift. It's also been said that adcomm members are wary of unfunded MAs from prestigious schools because of this very reputation of being a "pay to play" student. I'm not saying that's fair, but it's a condition that exists. In the end, I'll just say I'm not really understanding what the arguments for accepting this offer are so I'll just bow out here.

With all due respect, I'd like to push back on this type of advice. I don't think anyone in the thread is disallowing OP from celebrating the acceptance. Indeed, it's a great achievement. But the "chase your dream because debt deferral" method of thinking about higher education is just... irresponsible. This isn't a pittance of debt we're talking about here, it's approaching six figures (at least when you start factoring in living expenses in one of the most expensive cities in America). Six figures for an MA with miserable chances of getting a job decent enough to pay it off afterwards. Granted, I don't know anything about OP's financial situation or support from family--I could be way off base here but from the information we've been given, this is not a moment where we should be mindlessly cheering the "academic dream." Please don't get me wrong, drownsoda, I'm not trying to dump on Fordham or you. But it pains me to see this: as a rationale for taking on $60,000 of debt.

Good to hear! TGC is a wonderfully supportive (and enlightening) place, especially when we compare our life trajectory to those of others. That being said, as someone who has dealt with recurrent histories of depression in my immediate family, I would encourage you (not condescendingly or paternally but gently) to consider the assistance of professionals as you continue your journey. As I think we can all attest, life throws many setbacks our way and can send us on a real rollercoaster of triumphs and miseries. It's not a bad idea to have a professional at your back to be an ear or to help bolster coping mechanisms. Best of luck moving forward!

Anonymous LORs without institutional identifiers (though probably impossible to implement) would make an entire world of difference.

Ah, for those of us sitting on the reject pile today:

Wow exciting! Congrats Must be nice to be able to celebrate so early... and on a Friday too!

Same. Love the delayed release punch in the face. You're right... a simple extra line in the rejection letter would help immensely. I'll be honest: I barely ever read rejection letters. The whole thing hurts too much.

I don't know, like you said, the number of applicants makes it impossible to provide feedback. I'm sure if you requested feedback on your app individually, the adcomm would try to respond. I look at it in the same way with my students: it's unreasonable to expect me to leave detailed feedback on every student's 20 page paper that I grade and surely 90% of them would just chuck the essay without reading the notes regardless of how detailed or insightful they were. So I always announce to the class that I'm more than happy to provide mounds of feedback and suggestions for improvement one-on-one during office hours. I feel that type of interaction is more helpful than form-feedback anyway.

Mine's still not... guess they have a lot coming through the pipeline...

Stanford sent a "results are out" email and told me to check my page....... but it hasn't been updated from "submitted". Thanks for making a rejection even more difficult, guys

Please do keep this appointment (I'm assuming this is a school counselor?) and make one with a psychiatrist or therapist as well. I'm hoping your campus has such resources or at least can point you to somewhere in the community with the necessary resources. Your frustrations are not without foundation but I'm sure the combined efforts of an academic counselor and a therapist can help you through this rough period and get you back on the right track with medications and an academic plan. Please call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) if you're feeling low or desperate over the weekend. I'm also in LA so feel free to PM me over the weekend if you need an ear.

Oh lord the first Stanford admit is posted. Here we go rollercoaster of emotions...

Yes, I've heard the same from my profs. One said explicitly, "Whatever you do, do not concentrate on theory only," with an explanation similar to yours. On the other hand, I think it would be wise to seek out faculty who are strong in theory/cultural studies if that's where you see your focus shifting.

OMG congrats hreaðemus, margeryhemp, and universitydays!!! (Drinks are on you guys, right? )

$60k for a humanities MA? Please god no.

Have there really been no additional offers of acceptance or wait list for UCI English? So strange.

I always thought doing graduate work at Chapterhouse would be amazing. Imagine having a Reverend Mother as your adviser! Well, US News' rankings list is from 2013, if that helps.

Short answer: you have violated your ethical responsibilities. Long answer: you have violated your ethical responsibilities--but you can put the brakes on it now and salvage whatever professionalism you can until after the class is done and you two no longer have any professional relationship besides being students at the same school. If I were you, I would not bring this to your professor. I would simply follow up in a text (read: in writing somewhere; start creating a paper trail in your favor) that considering the professional relationship you two are in as TA--Student, you think it would be best to put a stop to any and all romantic interactions. This, hopefully, should put you in the clear to assess her work again.