vertige Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 they have a GSAS admissions hotline, they deal specifically with materials questions (though it's manned by undergrads who seem to answer a lot of questions a priori rather than really fully checking things...) the number is 617 496 6100...wow I just did that from memory. How is that seared into my brain already? Gaw I need this to be over ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vertige Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Yale just e-mailed me, they said my app is complete and is being reviewed. Anyone else get this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vertige Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 PS am I cursing myself by openly sharing every little tidbit of my interactions with programs? Sorry I'm just so freaking nervous and pessimistic, my internal filter seems to be broken haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeeplease Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 They emailed me too. I *knew* it would be nothing, but that didn't stop me from hoping it was something more substantial. ARRRRGG! I also had a dream where a POI sent me a very condescending email basically ripping my SOP to shreds. Knowing me and how I handle waiting out stuff like this, it won't be the last of such dreams.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ontolome Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 freaking out here too does anybody have any idea what the rate of acceptance is for any of these programs? somewhere on the Yale website I found "3 enrolled" out of "22 applicants".... i am hoping that's the worst. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vertige Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 (edited) Well welcome to the thread Ontolome, pull up a chair. I think it depends on the year. I think 25-30 is the high water mark, and this year and last, things have been receding slightly (probably a bit to do with the economy). I wanted to extrapolate a bit as far as total number applying, so I asked my mentor from Penn who is the Comp. Lit. Chair, and he said applications there are down 10% (which means 90 down from 100 applicants for like 4-5 offers - fellowship support remains the same). This ebb and flow, it seems, is somewhat constant among the humanities...? Take from that what ye will. coffeeplease: I just started teaching at Wall Street English in Stuttgart, kind of hilarious. I shadowed a super spritely South African woman today wearing neon pink, who kept misusing a particular construct ("I prefer reading than writing" in lieu of "I like reading better than writing" or "I prefer reading to writing".) She said it was British English, and I just nodded and smiled. Thank God these kids don't have to take the TOEIC... Anyway, anyone else have tidbits about German admissions this year or from years past? Edited January 13, 2012 by vertige Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeeplease Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 I found these helpful statistics from Northwestern's website (pdf warning!). I thought I had seen some statistics from Princeton that looked similar to Yale's but now I can't find them anywhere, so maybe I'm imaging things. I wouldn't be surprised, actually. Also, as I started typing this, I got an email from Harvard saying that they will be notifying us re: interviews on the 23rd and 24th. @vertige: I had to read what you wrote twice ("I prefer" etc) -- teaching English has made my English worse. I just had a discussion with a teacher at my school about how we'd started adopting students' constructions for expediency's sake -- like saying "write a test" instead of "take a test," etc. Also, they insist that all the kids learn British English, so some of those idioms have crept into my usage ("different to," "at the weekend" -- the other day I seriously had to think about what preposition we use in the U.S.). A friend of mine summed things up nicely: "So you're not getting better at German so much as incompetent in two languages." vertige 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vertige Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 (edited) I got the e-mail too, it definitely made my stomach drop! I'm pretty sure everyone gets the e-mail (though I was looking for some sort of language that might indicate that a first cut had already been made....doesn't seem to be the case, however). It's crazy how formal the process is and how straightforward they're being - there are so few humanities programs that actually interview candidates before making final decisions. From what I've seen in the past, it is possible to be admitted during the Skype interview, but they could also weigh a few candidates in a given day against each other and send the decision e-mails a bit later. Either way, I'm spending my next week watching lots of German film/tv and spending lots of time with a friend who speaks Hochdeutsch but no English, so that I'll be somewhat habituated if I get the e-mail for an interview! Best of luck to everyone obviously! And holy god Coffeeplease, those numbers for NW are rather....encouraging I had another class today and it was pretty hilarious - we actually talked about "at the weekend" which I had never seen. It makes no sense! And it's definitely not on the TOEIC (though that's an American exam haha...). Either way I'm just excited to be focusing on conversation courses and not pure grammar as before. Teaching's fun Edited January 13, 2012 by vertige Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeeplease Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 For some reason I hadn't even considered the possibility that the interview might be in German. Better brush up.... Were you able to get your NW application in, btw? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vertige Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 (edited) I thought I was getting part of my paycheck today, but I didn't so I might not be able to pay the fee - it's only $75, but I've been jobless for so long and I only just signed my teaching contract Wednesday, so it looks like I might miss the app deadline (Sunday night, right?). Thinking about pleading with the DGS there to see if they can do anything... Edited January 13, 2012 by vertige Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltedgiraffe Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 So basically, this means we will know by the 24th if we've been accepted or not. Ahhhhhhhh! Soooooo nerve-wracking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeeplease Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 So basically, this means we will know by the 24th if we've been accepted or not. Ahhhhhhhh! Soooooo nerve-wracking. So close and yet still so far away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ontolome Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 (edited) got those e-mails from yale and peter burgard at harvard too. i didn't consider them indicative of good or bad news... what is a bit funny is that burgard is one of my recommenders (as well as another member of the same dept, judith ryan), since i did my undergrad work there. i can assure you that they are great people still, makes the harvard app somewhat awkward for me. he gave me a bit of general advice as to which schools i should look into, and as an afterthought suggested i include a few "safeties" in my list as well. thanking him nicely, i began to panic inside, worrying that he didn't consider my app good enough for top schools. everything about this process really just f*cks with one's mind and ego-- perhaps one's judgment as well, considering that i sent him a picture of a lolcat to thank him for the recommendation funny that nobody else on this thread seems to have applied to U Chicago this year (?). yesterday i was overjoyed to receive an e-mail from a prof at chicago saying they were impressed with my app and that he wants to meet me in munich next week. so, after a few weeks of feeling horribly crummy, i am finally in a very, very good mood. not an official decision by any means, but i didn't expect to get any (positive) signals this soon.... perhaps i will not end up a homeless loser after all. btw, i applied to u chicago, harvard, yale, columbia, and j hopkins. good luck everyone! Edited January 15, 2012 by ontolome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeeplease Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 funny that nobody else on this thread seems to have applied to U Chicago this year (?). yesterday i was overjoyed to receive an e-mail from a prof at chicago saying they were impressed with my app and that he wants to meet me in munich next week. so, after a few weeks of feeling horribly crummy, i am finally in a very, very good mood. not an official decision by any means, but i didn't expect to get any (positive) signals this soon.... perhaps i will not end up a homeless loser after all. Not 5 minutes ago I was thinking to myself that I SHOULD have applied to U Chicago... I even applied for a transfer there as an undergrad (denied, sadly). Somehow it never came up in talking to my UG profs when discussing my interests, so I didn't think to add it to my list after deciding not to apply at the beginning of this whole mess. Also, ontolme, what are your thoughts on Harvard's German department? Just curious since you have the insider info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ontolome Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 harvard's german dept was a quiet, small, and cozy place. maybe that has to do with the fact that it is located on the 3rd floor of a building with lots of windows and tends to get warm... kind of like a nest. lol! the barker center (name of the building) is a really nice location, not like the horrifying dungeon-like sever. and the profs with whom i had the most/only contact, judith ryan and peter burgard, are very personable and enjoy the rapport they have with undergraduates. this can't be said of all profs at harvard however i have no authority to speak of graduate life in the department. so that you will have to find out for yourselves (with luck)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djl2288 Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 hi everyone - it's really encouraging to find this online community! i also applied to german studies programs this year: georgetown, harvard, cornell and utexas. i'm really excited/nervous...waiting seems to be the hardest part. it sounds like it doesn't take the departments too long to make their decisions (ie harvard will be making its short list after one week of review) so i hope we will all know what's going on soon! does anyone know if cornell grants interviews? i was surprised that the application didn't require a resume/cv so i'm sort of hoping they do require an interview. i am currently living in southern Austria - anyone ever come out this way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eklam Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Hi djl2288 I was also surprised that Cornell did not require any resume. I contacted the Department and they said I could email it. It will be attached to the application. Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vertige Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Yea, who would have known German would be so popular this year! Considering the generally small number of applicants for the top schools, seeing you all on here either means there are far more applicants than usual, or we're all just "downright dippy for all things digital" as Stephen Fry would put it Also...am I the only person applying to Princeton besides Coffeeplease? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djl2288 Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Hi all! and thank you yeinalem - that's good to know...i wonder if i can pass my resume along after the due date...doesn't hurt to ask no princeton application for me vertige. i did get an interesting email from the university of michigan that might give us all some perspective. i started an application there but didn't finish it because i decided i wanted to stay closer to home. anyway, the coordinator of the program emailed me after the deadline to say that she would be happy to extend the deadline for me and that my recommenders can take all the time they need....that seemed really odd to me because i didn't fill out most of the application so her inquiry had nothing to do with my stats, etc...it would seem to me as if the german depts at the top schools are still rather desperate for competitive candidates so good luck to us all and thanks for sharing your tips and experiences Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeeplease Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Hello djl, welcome to the thread! What are your interests? I'm hoping to get to Austria sometime between now and graduate school, although after years in Norddeutschland I'm worried I won't be able to understand a word. FWIW, in my limited interactions with the departments, I've also found them to be quite understanding -- the advantages of small programs I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djl2288 Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 hi coffeeplease! i'm really interested in austrian post-war literature and more particularly the role of dialect within it so it's funny you should mention that i did a masters in comparative literature last year that made me realize german studies is for me - my thesis focused on self-translation/dialect/jewish studies in austrian (war) memoirs (in both the original german and english companions) and i'd love to do more thorough research and writing within those realms. anyone else here applying to georgetown? i'm really excited at the prospect of living and working in washington, dc - but i think the school takes its time reviewing applications because my gre scores still havent been uploaded despite my sending them in november. where all are you living and working? i'm in southern austria working as a part-time english teacher and freelance translator and visits are more than welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vertige Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 hi coffeeplease! i'm really interested in austrian post-war literature and more particularly the role of dialect within it so it's funny you should mention that i did a masters in comparative literature last year that made me realize german studies is for me - my thesis focused on self-translation/dialect/jewish studies in austrian (war) memoirs (in both the original german and english companions) and i'd love to do more thorough research and writing within those realms. anyone else here applying to georgetown? i'm really excited at the prospect of living and working in washington, dc - but i think the school takes its time reviewing applications because my gre scores still havent been uploaded despite my sending them in november. where all are you living and working? i'm in southern austria working as a part-time english teacher and freelance translator and visits are more than welcome Very cool, did you do your M.A. in Austria as well? I can't imagine the intensity...maybe I'm thinking too much of Michael Haneke's "The Pianist" (based on Jelinek's novel)...in any case, you are a brave one! Crazy about your test scores - I would say you should ask if you need to resend! They should only take a maximum of two weeks ot be received and updated on your checklist...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djl2288 Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 (edited) no i did my ma (dartmouth) as well as my ba (uvm) in the us - the program was intense but thats what i liked about it! im also applying to the karl-franzens universitaet in graz for a phd in amerikanistik because i thought that might be interesting but im not as serious about that application as my others...plus funding is really strange here ie non-existent so that makes things a bit difficult. i started a masters in german at middlebury this summer but really didnt agree with the program so i quit and hightailed it to austria. if i dont get into school ill be pretty disappointed but i think ill just stay here and find more serious ie steady work...but for right now im doing okay minus the constant email checking and interpreting of silences as for the test scores, when i look at my own account, the test scores have been received so i dont know where my email contact is looking...time will tell on that one...but my gre scores are not awesome so if they get lost along the way it might be for the best :/ vertige - how long have you been living in germany? and may i ask what kind of work you are doing there? Edited January 17, 2012 by djl2288 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeeplease Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 hi coffeeplease! i'm really interested in austrian post-war literature and more particularly the role of dialect within it so it's funny you should mention that i did a masters in comparative literature last year that made me realize german studies is for me - my thesis focused on self-translation/dialect/jewish studies in austrian (war) memoirs (in both the original german and english companions) and i'd love to do more thorough research and writing within those realms. anyone else here applying to georgetown? i'm really excited at the prospect of living and working in washington, dc - but i think the school takes its time reviewing applications because my gre scores still havent been uploaded despite my sending them in november. where all are you living and working? i'm in southern austria working as a part-time english teacher and freelance translator and visits are more than welcome That sounds really interesting! Any writers in particular you work on? (Also a fan of the Austrians here ) A student of mine told me that Austrians call Germans Piefkes, after the Prussians' hats (I think)...I found that really amusing. I'm in Hamburg, also teaching English. How did you end up in Wolfsberg? PAD? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djl2288 Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 hi coffeeplease - last year i worked with ruth klueger's texts ("weiter leben" and"still alive"). i was really excited to find her memoir because she is from vienna and her writing very naturally includes some dialect. my grandparents are from vienna and ive always struggled to understand them - we have to speak hochdeutsch together so it was really exciting to study it and then simultaneously talk to my grandparents and have them give me their two cents. i ended up in wolfsberg doing a fulbright teaching assitantship. my dad is from vienna and my mom is from boston so ive always been caught between those two cities and that was the first time i ventured out and i really love it - its definitely worth a visit but the dialect is wild...i struggled at first but after three years i have finally beat it into submission and that is true about piefkes! do germans curse a lot? austrians do a lot of swearing i think. im trying to break myself of the habit - i think it would be embarassing if i said "olta" during an interview for university! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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