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smithigans.wake

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  1. Thanks, everyone, for your insight and comments. I think I've pretty well decided to accept the offer. The deciding factor for me was one of the five program options one can pursue within the MAPH, the writing option. (I read about these options months ago, but somehow I forgot about them until just a few days ago, when I encountered them again on the MAPH website.) I think I'd like to pursue creative non-fiction in the writing track. The money question still worries me a bit, but I feel more secure accepting the offer now that I have this focus. This way, I'll have a more definite goal with the degree, rather than just taking a hodgepodge of fun classes without any idea of the career I'll pursue afterwards. I feel like I can better justify the expense with this goal in mind. I plan to be at the Campus Days events next week, so perhaps I'll see some of you there.
  2. "whizzo"--yes, please do share some more insight if you would; it would be most helpful to me as I try to make this decision. Do other MAPH students have similar experiences? What, specifically, did the program directors tell you to do, despite which you weren't able to get accepted into a PhD program? Despite the rejection, do you feel the MAPH has given you any alternative career possibilities?
  3. (I posted the following in "The Bank" forum, and thought that it would also be relevant in this thread.) Hello all, I wonder if anyone has seriously given thought as to whether they should even go to graduate school. At the moment, even though I've been accepted to a phenomenal school that was one of my top choices, I find myself asking just this very question. I've been accepted to Chicago's one-year Master's of Arts in the Humanities Program. If money were not an issue, I would go in a heartbeat and I am sure I would love every minute I was there. But, as we all know, money is definitely a very big issue. Of course I am grateful and proud of the fact that I got into Chicago, but what sense does it make for me to add on $45000 to my already-existing undergraduate debt, when this degree won't lead to any assured job prospects? I'm going to love the next year, but what about the subsequent years it'll take to pay it off? I might not enjoy the year at all, with all that debt looming over my head. With these prospects, I'd almost be smarter to enroll in McDonalds' Hamburger University in nearby Oak Brook... I read student and alumni bios on the MAPH page and find a common theme: many people come to the MAPH not knowing what their next career step will be, and they expect that the year at Chicago will help them sort this out. What I don't understand is how Chicago expects such students to have this career uncertainty while shouldering all that debt. They offer tuition remission to only a handful of students. What are the rest supposed to depend upon? All I know at this point is that I would like to embark on some sort of writing career. I know I have potential as a writer, as I've received encouragement from professors and friends who've read my work. And I have truly enjoyed the academic work I've done up to this point. I am just not sure what my next step should be. I am not sure if I want to keep writing for the more specialized audience of academia or for a wider audience as a sort of freelance journalist or critic. I wonder if it would be smarter to actually find a job at a magazine or publisher and do some field work before I go back to school. Anyone else giving grad school a second thought?
  4. Um, the above posting was mine...thought I logged in, but this website seems to "forget" that a lot...
  5. I agree with you that the frat boys and the football game days are rather annoying. But I almost never go to bars, and I've never felt that there's a lack of things to do in Athens. If I happen to want to go to a bar, I go to a sensible place where I can actually have a conversation with the person sitting next to me, like the Globe or Copper Creek. I don't mean any offense--please don't take it that way--but I'm just curious as to why you think there's nothing to do in Athens. What's your idea of "fun things to do on weekends" that Athens lacks? And what sorts of barriers are there to interactions with non-students, if you so choose? Just curious.
  6. Hello all. I was wondering if anyone could share some advice regarding the advantages and disadvantages of being in a one-year versus a two-year master's program. I've been accepted to Chicago's one-year MAPH and SUNY Buffalo's two-year MA in philosophy with a speciality in aesthetics. The two programs are very similar in that they both give you the freedom to "roam," to pick and choose a variety of humanities classes to complete the degree. Besides the cost, the one thing I am not sure about is the comparative merit of going for one or two years. Going for one year has the advantage of being quick, so you can move on to other things quickly if you find that the program wasn't right for you, for whatever reason. Drawbacks to the one-year degree are the fact that you are at the mercy of the schedule for that one year, so that classes you would want to take from past schedules might not be offered during that one year. Also, the program chairs advise against applying for a PhD for the year immediately after you leave, since you won't have had enough interaction with letter-writing professors at the point in which you would need to send the application, in addition to not having even started the thesis. The two-year degree has the advantage of giving you a lot of time to mull over your career plans and how the degree will fit into your overall education, but you are also stuck longer if you find that the degree isn't really what you want. Can anyone think of other pros and cons for each?
  7. About minorities. The situation is better nowadays, but UGA's history with blacks and other minorities is, unfortunately, not a happy one in many respects. For example, I was in a debate club, Demosthenian Society, which is one of the oldest UGA institutions. It has been alleged by some historians that a major race riot that occured over integration at UGA in the 60's was instigated by Demosthenian members at the time. We recent members have had trouble attracting Afro-Americans into the society because of the lingering memories of that time. Now, that said, things are DEFINITELY not as bad as they were in the past. There haven't been any hate crimes committed since I've been at UGA, and I would venture to say in decades. The main thing is numbers--there just aren't a lot of minorities at UGA. Being white myself, I can't really speak for their experience, but I think a lot of them just feel that they are underrepresented. Especially given the inordinate amount of influence the Greek community has over student government and affairs. But, to sum up, I think that as an institution, UGA is still trying to come to terms with its past, and it is steadily improving. The apartments are not far from campus. Buses can take you to and from in a matter of minutes. Bad crime stories are few. The last major incident was a freshman who died this semester from cocaine and alcohol abuse.
  8. The most I ever payed for an apartment was $400 a month, and you can definitely find decent places for less. Sometime over the next couple of months to find housing should be fine, I think. As for Atlanta, I've always found everything I need here in Athens. Unless you want to go to a Braves game or something else you can get nowhere but Atlanta, it's not worth the hour-and-a-half drive. I find Atlanta overwhelming--Athens is more like home to me. Again, I don't really know any grad students, except the ones I've had as TA's...perhaps that means I live in a "bubble," I don't know. :oops: During your visit, I would recommend just looking around downtown. Downtown Athens is what I generally think of as being "Athens." It's what separates Athens from just being another Atlanta suburb. Get a Flagpole guide to Athens (which are free and available just about anywhere) and check out the restaurants and music landmarks. A couple of other points. I don't know what student government is like at other schools, but the one here is pretty ineffectual because it is largely controlled by the Greek community, which leaves everyone else generally apathetic about it. And as for the poverty that the other poster mentioned, it turns out that Athens-Clarke County is the 5th-poorest county in the nation. There was a story about it in the student newspaper (the Red and Black) a few weeks ago, and I found it shocking because I didn't know it was that bad. That said, crime is not a huge problem, and I have never felt especially threatened. The campus has its own police force (like many other large schools I would imagine).
  9. I was quite pleased with my education at UGA. I found my professors (as an English and philosophy major) to be generally sincere about helping students and improving the academic standing of the University. The library is fantastic, in my estimation; it's a huge collection, and anything the library doesn't have, you can order from another college in Georgia and it will arrive within a few days. The only bad experience I had was with the Honors program, which is a joke, but I don't know if you'll ever deal with it as a graduate student except perhaps on a volunteer basis. As for the cultural scene, there's probably something for everybody. A couple years ago, Rolling Stone named Athens "the best college music scene," or something like that, for whatever it's worth. Lots of popular bands have been here (Wilco, for instance, a few nights ago). There's usually an opera that comes here once a year; in the past, there's been Madame Butterfly and The Barber of Seville. There are a couple of decent movie theaters that show films other than standard blockbusters. Politically, the campus is definitely not homogenous--I'd say it's pretty evenly divided between liberals and conservatives. However, there aren't a lot of minorities at UGA. Most of the student body (including myself) comes from the white suburbs of Atlanta. Yes, there are a ton of good coffeeshops in Athens...Hot Corner, Jittery Joe's, and of course Starbucks. As for bookstores, the on-campus bookstore (which is run by eFollett) is pretty nice, and there are other places like Borders and Barnes and Noble. Jackson Street Books is a nice used bookstore. I'm not a huge football fan, so I hate game days...it's next to impossible to do anything or go anywhere on game days, and the football fans trash the campus. Not having been a graduate student, I don't really know anything about grad housing and such. Like everywhere else in this state, the city is definitely geared more towards drivers, but one year I got around just fine by bike and bus, as well as bumming rides off my friends. Anything else?
  10. I earned my undergrad degree from UGA. What do you want to know? What discipline are you pursuing?
  11. I am also considering an offer from Chicago, so any information would be appreciated. I've never lived in an especially large city before. Is the cost of living high there?
  12. No, I don't think you are at all naive. I have applied to other, less prestigious schools I would still be quite happy to attend, so I will wait and see what other offers I get.
  13. That last post was mine...new to this board. :?
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