2020 Applicants

[vvolgate]

27 minutes ago, gooniesneversaydie said:

Wow. 

My intimidation of entering academia is starting to *slightly* decrease. Dumpster fires and hot messes. Still for it!

As someone who has been in academia for a number of years... my friend, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but our entire profession is a dumpster fire and hot mess. 
 

Love it to death regardless but... yeaaaah. 

[spikeseagulls]

3 minutes ago, tinymica said:

This is about UC Davis right? I was waitlisted by them, too, and they notified me about that via email on 2/14. Must've been a gross oversight that they didn't reach out to you.

Wowwwwww. ?I figured they forgot about me!

[merry night wanderer]

I would just like to state, as someone in corporate world, it's also a dumpster fire and a hot mess. It turns out most humans (beyond, like, the Dutch or Korea and such I guess) don't actually organize that well?? Despite being capable of making the Internet. A constant marvel to behold.

[Brown_Bear]

I've been accepted to 5 English MA programs so far--none are fully funded. One of them gives a stipend which nets me around +$3,000 per year.

They are good programs, but I don't know about the finances. I'm already about 40k in debt from undergrad. Is it worth pursing a 2-year MA if I need to take out graduate loans? I want to go on for a PhD and become a college professor one day. Any advice? 

[meghan_sparkle]

Honestly, this is misery and I regret ever complaining about my empty inbox lol. Getting over 10 emails a day now—everything from current students making themselves available for a chat, replies from DGS's, professors reaching out, admins reaching out, admins requesting additional documentation (for the THIRD TIME) for reimbursement for a nonrefundable flight for a cancelled visit (which I'm starting to think I'm unlikely to ever see, which means I'm out $400). And I spent like 2 and a half hours over the weekend on the phone with the DGS and then a POI for one of my programs. And instead of feeling more informed, it honestly just created another list of things to research and people to contact. At a time when the last thing I feel is on top of my inbox, productive, or motivated. Also, despite the deluge there are still a lot of important POIs who just ... still never responded to my email, and I feel like it would be really impolite to follow up again in the middle of a world health crisis.

This is just so much time to invest, on so many different fronts, and I constantly feel 10 steps behind. I said in a previous post I wasn't sure going through all the motions for virtual visits/phone calls (for the 4 schools that had to cancel visits) would lead to me feeling like I could make an informed decision compared to the two I got to visit ... but at this point I'm not even sure I can keep doing this for even another couple weeks, let alone til April 15th.

[meghan_sparkle]

Also is it just me, or do virtual visits/phone calls really just feel like disembodied voices trying to persuade you of things and giving you advice?? It's all a little too close to Chaucer's House of Fame for my liking!

[WildeThing]

1 hour ago, Puurple said:

I've been accepted to 5 English MA programs so far--none are fully funded. One of them gives a stipend which nets me around +$3,000 per year.

They are good programs, but I don't know about the finances. I'm already about 40k in debt from undergrad. Is it worth pursing a 2-year MA if I need to take out graduate loans? I want to go on for a PhD and become a college professor one day. Any advice? 

Honestly? I would say no. A lot of people do this and a lot of people jump from paid MAs to funded PhDs (and I assume some then make the leap to paying jobs that would not have been available otherwise). But, given the academic world and job market, it does not seem like a good idea to put yourself further and further in debt. That said, this topic has been discussed here before and perhaps others have expressed the various views more eloquently than I, so I would search through this forum.

[caffeinated applicant]

1 hour ago, Puurple said:

I've been accepted to 5 English MA programs so far--none are fully funded. One of them gives a stipend which nets me around +$3,000 per year.

They are good programs, but I don't know about the finances. I'm already about 40k in debt from undergrad. Is it worth pursing a 2-year MA if I need to take out graduate loans? I want to go on for a PhD and become a college professor one day. Any advice? 

I'm with @WildeThing here. Do what's best for you, of course, but my thought is that an English PhD doesn't nearly so often lead to a job that will pay off those loans the way an MD or JD does. Would you be okay with paying off loans when you're 40 or 50 or even beyond? Some people are, some aren't. 

If it were me, I would study up, take whatever job I could that would give me the most time to study in off-hours (temping is often full-time and reliable hours, and I know a few people who prefer restaurant work because then they can write during the day and work at night), and apply again this fall.

I remember from a couple months back that you're interested in teaching; I had a reasonably good experience in college working for a private tutoring company--some of them are really good money. Private schools also have different requirements for teaching certification, so there might be something there--I've got a friend, for instance, who taught for two years at a private school between college and applying for PhDs, with no prior teaching experience that I'm aware of whatsoever, including no certification. I was recruited for teaching, too, from a private school placement company that advertised new teachers not needing certification. 

[The Hoosier Oxonian]

Just got word that Cornell expects to reach their desired number of acceptances, so I won't be getting off the waitlist. Guess that makes the nightmarish decision process a little easier.

[tinymica]

Finally heard back from BU re: acquainting admits to the program (they’ll be trying to schedule online or phone chats with faculty). I’m relieved but wary about how that’ll go...

I know it’s been said but I’m just really bummed I couldn’t visit either of the schools. I feel like it’s so important and it makes me very nervous to choose “blindly.”

[Emailchecker]

2 hours ago, tinymica said:

Finally heard back from BU re: acquainting admits to the program (they’ll be trying to schedule online or phone chats with faculty). I’m relieved but wary about how that’ll go...

I know it’s been said but I’m just really bummed I couldn’t visit either of the schools. I feel like it’s so important and it makes me very nervous to choose “blindly.”

I am sorry to hear that. Perhaps revisiting your original reasons why you applied to each may help. (sad tip on what I would do If I had offers to contemplate). 

[gooniesneversaydie]

15 minutes ago, Emailchecker said:

(sad tip on what I would do If I had offers to contemplate). 

My heart hurt reading that  I hope you get some good news soon. Or, if you have to reapply next cycle, you get so many amazing offers your head explodes. 

[tinymica]

34 minutes ago, Emailchecker said:

I am sorry to hear that. Perhaps revisiting your original reasons why you applied to each may help. (sad tip on what I would do If I had offers to contemplate). 

Thank you, yes I will definitely be reflecting on what I've learned. I'm so sorry you're going through this right now; I don't mean to be insensitive to you by complaining. I hope good things come your way soon! Also, I know that this probably doesn't mean much coming from someone with offers, but being shut out doesn't mean you aren't deserving of getting into a program. It doesn't mean you aren't talented and intelligent and hard-working. And it doesn't mean that you won't be successful if you decide to try again another year. Be nice to yourself, my friend. I think you deserve some kindness.

[mobydickpic]

is anybody else afraid that incoming cohorts will be forced to reapply, if programs are suspended/schools don't open normally in the fall ..?

[Cryss]

5 minutes ago, mobydickpic said:

is anybody else afraid that incoming cohorts will be forced to reapply, if programs are suspended/schools don't open normally in the fall ..?

I was thinking if things keep going this way, they may offer or require incoming students to defer a year. And if that happens, it will royally screw with next year's application process for sure.

Edited March 18, 2020 by Cryss

[The Hoosier Oxonian]

3 minutes ago, mobydickpic said:

is anybody else afraid that incoming cohorts will be forced to reapply, if programs are suspended/schools don't open normally in the fall ..?

I definitely have concerns that schools won't be reopening normally in the fall and that this year's cohorts may have to start late or online, but it wouldn't make any practical sense for schools to just rescind this year's offers and make everyone reapply. What seems more likely if we're in a true state of economic depression and this year's cohorts end up starting late is that next year's prospective cohorts will pay the price - schools may not extend or may severely limit offers for the 2021 cycle because 2020 acceptances have ended up starting then instead.

[meghan_sparkle]

As a current Princeton 5th year just told me on Skype (to my horror), it's also not just whether schools will open online in the fall vs virtually and how that will affect an incoming class of graduate students ... it's also—more subtly and perhaps more importantly—the fact that given current events, we are almost undoubtedly heading into a multi-year global recession that will cripple an already heavily struggling academic job market. It's impossible to say precisely what things will look like in 3 or 5 years, of course, but even at this early stage, it's certain that it's going to be bad, very bad. So everyone facing a decision should be asking programs how they plan to support and meet student concerns, even if (justifiably) no one will likely have a plan yet.

[gooniesneversaydie]

1 minute ago, meghan_sparkle said:

 So everyone facing a decision should be asking programs how they plan to support and meet student concerns, even if (justifiably) no one will likely have a plan yet.

Would you mind elaborating on this? Do you mean what support they'll provide towards navigating the impacted job market?

[meghan_sparkle]

Just now, gooniesneversaydie said:

Would you mind elaborating on this? Do you mean what support they'll provide towards navigating the impacted job market?

Sorry my phrasing was vague—I just mean getting an idea of how readily and intensively they will support students' particular concerns about placement and the market. Because this is all so new and no one knows what the impact on the market precisely will be yet, no one will have an action plan. But you can maybe get a sense of which programs will be more responsive to the challenge than others. 

[WildeThing]

I would be very surprised if schools just cancelled incoming classes, though none of this is exactly normal. My guess is that things will return to "normal" for the fall, perhaps starting a bit later or earlier to accommodate changes. Alternatively they might push for another semester of online classes. That said, I am trusting that authorities will get their shit together and shut everything down so we can wait this out and that that will allow for everything to get going during the summer. Anyone with any familiarity with politics, national or local, will know that that trust is probably really fucking stupid and naive.

Don't stress yourselves out just yet, basically.

[MichelleObama]

I'm hopeful that the incoming fall cohorts will be forced to delay moving and will be online for the first semester--worst case scenario (I HOPE). I've been laid off from both of my jobs and am waiting to see if my unemployment application goes through, but I am absolutely relying on the practice of scholarship & the receipt of stipend to get me through this mess ? Applied for unemployment for the first time in my life, and the last application I sent was for Yale ?

Edited March 18, 2020 by MichelleObama

[meghan_sparkle]

I mean, having spoken to several DGS's and professors at a few of the programs I'm looking at in the last few days, most of them are not treating a return to in-person, on-campus classes as a likelihood, though it's far from an impossibility. The next two months or so will tell, and I think everyone's preference would be physical classes for so many reasons (everything from 'zoom sucks' to 'residential life is so important to the university community and we were all genuinely heartbroken to have to send students home'). 

I post way too much on these forums lately for my own good, but I'll end with one last big picture ominous thing (and maybe someone much smarter than me can offer opinions and/or reassurance). If the economic impact of the virus on the US economy is as bad or worse than the 2008 crash, then that's bad for . . . well, not just the job market, but also universities as a whole, whose endowments are often comprised of substantial investment. Princeton lost 25% of its endowment in the 2008 crash; Harvard lost 27%, or 8 billion.

Does something like that touch graduate students, or does it amount more or less to mowing the lawns every other week instead of every week? Who knows. It's probably the case that state schools already under pressure (like the UCs) will be the hardest hit by budget cuts. And maybe it's way too early to speculate, possibly counterproductive. But I think it's worth thinking about, as we contemplate devoting ourselves to an institution and making it our home for 5-6 years. The ability to access funding through the department for all kinds of things (travel, conferences, research, emergencies, fellowship opportunities, other projects), to count on funding packages staying the same and properly adjusting each year for inflation . . . all of that is really important and sorta dependent on how well the institution as a whole is doing. Anyway. Something to consider. (Disclaimer: this all comes second to the general economic devastation on so many Americans right now and the inevitable loss of life we'll be seeing, ofc. Compared to that, so much of this seems miniscule. Hoping you all are safe, well or recuperating, and self-isolating.)

[meghan_sparkle]

2 minutes ago, MichelleObama said:

I'm hopeful that the incoming fall cohorts will be forced to delay moving and will be online for the first semester--worst case scenario (I HOPE). I've been laid off from both of my jobs and am waiting to see if my unemployment application goes through, but I am absolutely relying on the practice of scholarship & the receipt of stipend to get me through this mess ? Applied for unemployment for the first time in my life, and the last application I sent was for Yale ?

❤️❤️❤️ I don't know whether gradcafe frowns on expletives or not but I just typed several and backspaced. You are incredible and I'm so upset this is affecting you

[meghan_sparkle]

26 minutes ago, MichelleObama said:

I'm hopeful that the incoming fall cohorts will be forced to delay moving and will be online for the first semester--worst case scenario (I HOPE). I've been laid off from both of my jobs and am waiting to see if my unemployment application goes through, but I am absolutely relying on the practice of scholarship & the receipt of stipend to get me through this mess ? Applied for unemployment for the first time in my life, and the last application I sent was for Yale ?

Also oh god somehow I forgot about the MOVING part; my lease in the UK is up in July and I have already said I’m not extending and told my job that’s when I’m leaving. I assumed I would move from there to the city of whatever program I was attending with possibly a few weeks/a month in between ... if I can’t do that uh ?

[onerepublic96]

3 hours ago, Cryss said:

I was thinking if things keep going this way, they may offer or require incoming students to defer a year. And if that happens, it will royally screw with next year's application process for sure.

As someone for whom reapplication next year is starting to look likely, I just felt a shiver go down my spine...