University of Hawaii Reputation?

[darjeelingtea16]

I struck out this time around, but am trying again for next year. I'm compiling a list of possible schools and supervisors, and the University of Hawaii-Manoa has some interesting POCO people, but I haven't really heard anything about the reputation of the English Department at UH. Does anyone know if their English department has good standing? I guess I'm a bit concerned because I've heard some terrible things about parts of Hawaii's public school system. I know that universities can do really well despite what's going on with the public school system, but if anyone has any info about the department's reputation specifically, I'd greatly appreciate it.

[DisneyLeith]

I think your best bet would be to get information about their placement, particular for PhD graduates in your field. Whether the placement is good or bad should be the best indicator of the program's reputation.

I struck out this time around, but am trying again for next year. I'm compiling a list of possible schools and supervisors, and the University of Hawaii-Manoa has some interesting POCO people, but I haven't really heard anything about the reputation of the English Department at UH. Does anyone know if their English department has good standing? I guess I'm a bit concerned because I've heard some terrible things about parts of Hawaii's public school system. I know that universities can do really well despite what's going on with the public school system, but if anyone has any info about the department's reputation specifically, I'd greatly appreciate it.

[dgobox]

Yeah, I agree with the sentiment above. I would not base your understanding of Hawaii's reputation off of the (very relative and subjective) perceptions of other applicants. However, if someone turned up who was an alumnus or current student in the program, you could perhaps take their account with at least a bit more confidence. Even that should be kept in check though, at least in my opinion.

So, looking at placement data would, indeed, be a much better criterion with which to ground your understanding.

[darjeelingtea16]

Yeah, I tried looking into the placement data, but I was having some trouble finding it. I think I'll have to go ahead and ask them about it directly, which I hope doesn't look bad. I don't know why asking that would look bad, but given my recent experience with applying, I might be over-thinking everything now. I was just wondering if anyone heard good things about them. I have seriously not heard anything about them and I don't know if that's a good or bad thing and I'm trying to figure that out before I try to apply later.

[fall-11]

Yeah, I tried looking into the placement data, but I was having some trouble finding it. I think I'll have to go ahead and ask them about it directly, which I hope doesn't look bad.

That's easy -- just make up a name and an email address, and write to them under the assumed name

[darjeelingtea16]

That's easy -- just make up a name and an email address, and write to them under the assumed name

That's brilliant. Why hadn't I thought of that?!

[dgobox]

I wouldn't say that asking for the information (whether it is provided on the site or not) is anything to be ashamed of. I don't know why you'd want to use a pseudonym and go through the trouble of setting up an alternate account.

Honestly, any program that acts as if you don't have a right to ask for their placement data is probably not anywhere you want to be. Just my opinion.

[darjeelingtea16]

I wouldn't say that asking for the information (whether it is provided on the site or not) is anything to be ashamed of. I don't know why you'd want to use a pseudonym and go through the trouble of setting up an alternate account.

Honestly, any program that acts as if you don't have a right to ask for their placement data is probably not anywhere you want to be. Just my opinion.

err, I was mostly joking about that, but I definitely do agree with you that if asking for that is an issue, then perhaps that's not somewhere worth applying to.

[stillthisappeal]

Programs tend to look fondly towards applicants who are mature enough to take placement data seriously. There's nothing to be ashamed of. Reputation aside, I think your primary concern should be access to opportunities on the mainland (or for that matter, a Pacific rim country). Flights are expensive, and my gut tells me that Hawaii English, with its dated website, doesn't have a lot of cash to shell out for research travel.

Also: how willing will search committees be to drop hundreds more on your plane ticket when they can fly another candidate in for cheap? Would you be satisfied teaching at a smaller school in Hawaii, or at a university in Australia or New Zealand? It's possible that Hawaii places a lot of their graduates in positions there.

Edited April 10, 2011 by stillthisappeal

[darjeelingtea16]

Programs tend to look fondly towards applicants who are mature enough to take placement data seriously. There's nothing to be ashamed of. Reputation aside, I think your primary concern should be access to opportunities on the mainland (or for that matter, a Pacific rim country). Flights are expensive, and my gut tells me that Hawaii English, with its dated website, doesn't have a lot of cash to shell out for research travel.

Also: how willing will search committees be to drop hundreds more on your plane ticket when they can fly another candidate in for cheap? Would you be satisfied teaching at a smaller school in Hawaii, or at a university in Australia or New Zealand? It's possible that Hawaii places a lot of their graduates in positions there.

I'm also concerned about distance. I will be focusing on mostly SE Asian postcolonial lit, so the distance thing could go either way in terms of being beneficial or detrimental, as it's pretty much halfway between SE Asia and mainland USA. I still haven't decided whether that's good or bad. And yeah, the website is really dated, which is part of what inspired me to ask about the department's reputation. I've emailed a couple people in the department asking some questions about placement data, as well as the general environment in English department, student and department conference participation info, etc. We'll see what they say, but just looking at their dated site and not having heard much about their department, I'm starting to lean towards perhaps not applying there. Kinda unfortunate 'cause I mean, who wouldn't want to live in Hawaii for 5 years?! But of course location isn't everything, and is certainly not the most important factor in making these decisions.