Fall 2018 German

[CHAO_O]

10 hours ago, KatVW said:

Hello! 

Has anyone else heard from Penn State? I applied to their German program and had a skype interview with them about two weeks ago? This is my first time applying for schools and I'm trying not to let my nerves get the best of me. 

 

I had skype interview in late Jan. Got offer on 1st Feb. They invited me to visit the campus 22nd Feb.

[jigglypuff]

I've applied to the PhD at NYU and M.A. at Columbia. If both fall through, I'll probably stick to Masters programmes in Germany/Switzerland/Britain.

[KatVW]

18 hours ago, jigglypuff said:

I've applied to the PhD at NYU and M.A. at Columbia. If both fall through, I'll probably stick to Masters programmes in Germany/Switzerland/Britain.

Oooooh!! What programs are you looking at over there? Specifically in GB?

[jigglypuff]

Hey Kat! I've applied to Oxford's MSt (March deadline round), Cambridge's MPhil in European Literatures, Birmingham (buzzing German Studies scene), and will be applying to the MA Deutschsprachige Literaturen at Hamburg.  Universität Bern also has a highly unusual and eclectic German course offering - and the Robert-Walser-Zentrum nearby - so I wouldn't be sad to go there. Are you also considering the UK?

 

(Edit: just saw that you're going to Penn State!)

Edited February 21, 2018 by jigglypuff

[avraven]

@jigglypuff I'm currently doing the MPhil in European Literature at Cambridge. It's a great program, good luck with all your applications!

[jigglypuff]

Ahh so jelly! I got to know a couple of students doing the German stream of the MPhil last year, who were lovely, as were staff. Cambridge's German department seems to have a good concentration of graduate students. And Lucia Ruprecht has written a lot on Robert Walser, my half-century-deceased BFF. I don't think my chances are amazing, but I'm happy to have tried.

[avraven]

@jigglypuff Everyone in the German department is really lovely. I also didn't think I had any chance but apparently you never know! All your other programs sound excellent as well.

[Glasperlenspieler]

4 hours ago, jigglypuff said:

Hey guys! I've been accepted to the Masters programs at Columbia and Oxford and haven't heard about funding yet. I expect zero funding at Columbia because of standard procedure (tuition: $54k, 2-year program) and partial funding at Oxford (tuition: $33k, 1-year program), but even without funding Oxford remains substantially cheaper. Columbia is my first choice, but I'm not sure how I can justify two years in New York, with all the expenses that entails, when Oxford is an option. 

My question is whether I'd have a reasonable shot at getting into Columbia's PhD program if I applied from Oxford's MSt. I imagine my application would be much weaker if the only addition was three months of a master's program, with a correspondingly vague letter of recommendation, and I don't want to have to skip an application cycle/take a year out just to bolster my PhD application with stronger LoRs. 

Honestly, I'd be very wary of accepting either of those offers and proceed with caution. I think it's unwise to go into debt for graduate school in the humanities. With the German job market being what it is, even if you get into a top PhD program after your masters, the odds of getting a tenure track position are slim at best. 

In regards to the 1-year masters, I think general procedure is to take a year off afterwards and apply then. I'm not sure applying during the masters would hurt your application, but it probably wouldn't help it much either. 

If I were you, I'd take a year off now and apply again next year to funded MAs and PhD programs next year. Or even better, find a way to get to Germany and spend some time there reading, honing your language skills, and improving your writing sample. It also might be worth looking at German MAs. Not sure the exact timing for application to those, but at least they'd be low/no tuition, so you'd just have to worry about living expenses.