1Q84

I already kind of created a thread about this in the English forum, so apologies for making another one but I figured this place might be a bit better for specific questions on deciding pros and cons. Things seem a little more complicated for me because I'm really unsure about the MA timeline/scheduling/system in comparison to the Ph.D timeline. I know that Ph.D folk have until April 15 to make their decisions but I haven't been given any such guidelines for the MA. Is there generally a date when MA students need to make their decisions? LMU has offered a Teaching Fellowship and possibly a scholarship but has sent me a "committment form" that I should fill out "as soon as possible". The Graduate Director also emailed me and said that she needs to know whether or not I will accept the TF "as soon as possible". See what I mean by being a bit vague? I hate to keep them waiting, but I don't have all the information from Calstate LA yet. However, and I know this should have no real bearing on my decision yet it does, the director has been extremely warm and attentive to me throughout this entire process. I feel like that says a lot about the attention and resources they might be able to give me if I attend. Calstate LA has only offered admission so far. I applied for the full tuition waiver and will apply for the TAship as well. On the whole, if I receive both of those, the funding package will far outweigh what I receive from LMU. The problem is that the tuition waiver disbursement happens in late May. Not to mention, from the research I've been able to do, it seems like Calstate LA's English Department has a little more of a reputation. So am I "allowed" to keep LMU waiting for that long? Can they rescind the offers if I keep them waiting too long? And do MA students generally have the leverage to "counter offer" for more funding? I've read that some Ph.D students are able to do this but I gather that's not generally done in MAs. I'm an international student, so pretty much all of this is new to me. Any guidance would be appreciated! I'm meeting both grad directors of both schools this week so I'll hopefully be able to get some more direct answers from them but it'd be nice to go into the meeting knowing what I can or cannot ask/say/do. Thanks!

Thank you for creating this thread! I need to get on my (M)A game too this summer.

I think Bennett's advice is very sensible! FWIW, I'm Chinese and was born in Hong Kong (but am now a Canadian citizen) and just received acceptances to two graduate programs (MA) as an international student. I know it's not the exact same situation as yours as I received my undergraduate degree from a somewhat prestigious school in Canada but I think with a little gumption and the proper pieces of your application (as detailed above), "anything is possible". Good luck!

There definitely seems to be a lot more disclosure in this sense on the Calstate LA website... I'm doing a lot of digging on the other front and I'm not finding much! Who do you think I should ask? The grad director? Advisement officer?

Ah good idea... but I forgot to mention, however, that I'll be an international student (I'm from Toronto) so my recommenders had "heard" of the schools but don't know much about them.

Apologies for starting a new thread. I couldn't quite find a thread that deals specifically with MA programs. I have two California schools to consider now, which brings up a whole new set of anxieties. If anyone could contribute, I would be grateful: - How do I find out about the respective "reputations" for those schools? Most graduate ranking sites tend to be for PhD programs and/or not for English programs. - On that note, how does one assess "reputations" of schools anyway? - Are there any good resources for MA program placements? Calstate LA lists some places where their graduates teach or go onto PhD programs but I can't find much on Loyola Marymount ETA: Is it even kosher to ask about comparisons of two schools like this? I'm kind of new to this... especially US/California rankings because I'm Canadian! Anyone who is or was at Calstate LA or Loyola Marymount want to share his or her experiences? Thanks in advance!

Well, shucks, I can't wait to be the next proflorax! (And five years ain't that long ago!) AND just received admission to Loyola Marymount University! Hooray!

Thanks so much! You're too kind! At the moment, kicking back only one leg as I'm still waiting on LMU. After that, I can kick back both Hope your UCR acceptance becomes "damn official" very soon!

I just received an acceptance in the mail for an English MA at Calstate: LA! Yipee!

Solidarity! Sending you some good vibes...

So USPS lost my teaching fellowship application even though I sent it by Registered Mail. Wonderful! Luckily the Grad Chair has been lovely and amazing and very accommodating (so far) about it... but needless to say my "Good" Friday was spent in a particularly frenzied mood. I wish it was all over like it is for pretty much everyone else on the board!

I guess you're right! There's not much to do but to bother him... I have no alternative. I'm just worried that he'll write me a crap letter in return for me hounding him.

I never thought I'd be telling a flakey prof story but here I am... Although the grad director said that she would allow a week or so for late references, I'm still really worried. I talked to my prof months ago about writing a letter and he was super kind and supportive and he has written for me twice before in past years. He registered on the website and everything saying that he would write. I wrote a reminder followup email to him a couple weeks ago just gently saying that the due date is Mar 15. I wrote another one earlier this week to remind him again of the due date. No reply to any emails. I called him on Tuesday and he picked up, sounding very harried. I apologised for bothering him but said I wanted to follow up about the letter. He said yes of course, he apologised and said he should have sent it a long time ago. He said he was very busy that very moment and seemed like he wanted to get off the phone so I didn't press it. I said if he wanted to wait until Mar 15, that was fine and he said no I'll send it today. It's Wednesday and he still hasn't submitted. I'm worried that I bothered him too much. It's just strange because although I'm not super close to him, in all the years I've known him, never has he been so scattered or flakey or irresponsible. What should I do? I don't have any chances at a backup referrer but I also don't want to keep bothering him to the point that he'll write me a crappy letter to get me off his back.

Hey thanks! Yeah, I did need a cover letter for that current position but I just looked back at it and it's way too specific to be applicable to this one. I guess I really will just have to sit down and bang it out. I'll PM you.

Sorry, I didn't mean to come off as demanding. I was merely surprised that there were no replies! I have a B.Ed and I'm currently teaching College Writing at a local college... think that might be a leg up?

Really? No one? I thought everyone was done applications and would have all the time in the world...

No, I'm not asking anyone to write mine for me... but I feel very lost as to how to draft one up. What's the format supposed to be? A typical business letter? Similar to my SOP? This is for a Writing Teaching Fellowship for freshman core courses. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Same! I mean I gather from the age thread that I'm not as old as you but I still feel like everyone entering PhD programs is at least 5-7 years younger than me...

I'm wondering that too. That's why I said there's conflicting information.... but I guess there are early admits? Pretty sure the grad chair said that they're making ongoing decisions.

Does anyone want to claim the "Loyola" English MA acceptance? Is that Loyola Chicago or Loyola Marymount?

Don't know if anyone else is applying to Calstate LA. I talked to the graduate chair and he said they're looking at apps an ongoing basis. The admissions clerk said that departments need to report back admissions to the admissions office by Mar 1 so decisions will start rolling out after that. I did some weird conflicting information but I think after Mar 1, I can start feeling a lot more anxious than I am now.

I'm having a mini-stroke because the online status of my application at Calstate LA is stated as "incomplete" although I did get a letter a long time ago from the department stating that my application was "complete" in their eyes. The online site has 3 different categories: incomplete, complete and accepted. Why am I incomplete?! <existential crisis?

I didn't think it was budget increases so much as a bandaid fix to ensure that current levels of funding are maintained. California is still in a dilly of a pickle.

I don't know about that generalisation. Knowledge is good, yes, but the way they seek to present it in this case, however, is a bad thing. I mean Dal has a point in that it can be used practically and realistically but the Democratic co-sponsor of the bill already stated that it's not about a neutral gathering of and compilation of information but an "introduction of market forces." Commodifying all of higher education in such a cynical way is bound to have terrible consequences for funding allocations, etc. I mean I'm under no illusion that many already see it as such but if it's being introduced into law and shoved down people's throats...

Although I gather this will affect undergraduates, it still says a lot about how the US is choosing to perceive and deal with higher education. I find this highly disturbing for many reasons... the least of which is the complete backwardness of "introducing some market forces into the academic arena." Not to mention the fact that the statistics won't include grads who moved out of state, work for the US government or are self-employed. I can imagine this is probably hurting the brains of the statisticians among us right now. Read the rest here.