Considering a PhD in German. Need Advice!

[vertige]

How did Yale notify you Ontolome? Congrats btw!!!

[ontolome]

a prof wanted to call me to inform me, but since i didnt provide a phone number in my app (i dont have a phone), he sent an email

[vertige]

Hey Partyleute, hope everything's going well on the app front. I am happy to have one acceptance, but that hasn't stopped me from experiencing mildly violent moodswings this weekend. Luckily NW came through with my funding package and a ticket to Chicago (my first time in the U.S. in 18 months!) so this has cushioned the anxiety a bit.

One thing to make y'all aware of is Vanderbilt's program (yes, this is my Tennessee voice). Especially those of you who haven't heard anything and might wish they had applied to more programs - you should apply to Vandy. The deadline was Jan. 25, but the website says that if you contact the DGS, they will often make exceptions for late apps:

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/german/graduate/application

If you apply online it's free! The base stipend is $20,500, which is amazing for Nashville, and they have a number of top-off options through Max Kade, etc., which means some students get upwards of $26,500 to $30,500 in stipend....for German Studies. In beautiful, warm Nashville. I personally would apply if I weren't slightly too queer for the South (even being a starving student at Northwestern, I'd have plenty of dating options, and my mother would die of happiness since she lives in a neighboring state).

Just thought I'd share that - I had no idea Vandy had a German program, let alone one that's so well-funded! (And almost all students get paid to finish their MA during a third year in Berlin...sexy, geh?)

Now to get back to my Kracauer/Benjamin presentation for class tomorrow...you know it's bad when you wake up at 7:30 on a day you don't have to be awake until 2 PM and you start to freak out and cram hours of reading in so you don't have to pull an all-nighter....glamorous. My life is glamorous.

PS I loved the Superbowl Half-Time Show - this B is 53 people! Enroll in your local Yoga studio today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czFXEQ8loZg&feature=share

Edited February 6, 2012 by vertige

[ontolome]

shocked. just got informal news of acceptance to harvard over skype. this decision will cause my head (and ego) to explode.

what i have learned from this process is that the writing sample may well be the most important component of the application. harvard, yale, U chicago, and JH have all cited my 10-page WS as the main factor.

that is, in spite of several Cs on my college transcript, no masters, and a horrendous incomplete thesis (which, needless to say, did not serve as my WS). i had good reasons to worry about not getting accepted anywhere. but a single essay can turn your application upside down.

[marocchino]

Hey... did you get your formal letter already....? I did the Harvard interview as well and I am wondering if I am out... I guess I am. I am happy for you ...Thanks for sharing ur experience. Who knows maybe I get to see you during a conference one day and you can tell me about your WS... I am curious now.

[ontolome]

i don't think it means you're out.

a prof wanted to check in with me right before the final decision meeting because he wanted to ask me a final question before going in to make the decision. since i had spoken to him just before, he let me know the decision right afterwards. i think i just got to know very early because of that last-minute concern of his. if there were no last-minute concerns about the other applicants to be admitted, then they probably just didnt bother to call.

oh, and he said they werent meeting with the deans for another two weeks, so the official decisions are coming out quite a bit later, i think.

Edited February 7, 2012 by ontolome

[coffeeplease]

@marocchino -- Hello! Welcome to the thread! *waves*

@ontolome -- That's good to know....DID have a mild heart attack earlier, but I guess that will just toughen me up for the real decision.

[marocchino]

Yeah did not hear from them today either... so I guess I am out. I would say ....latest by tomorrow and if there is no email then one is out. Oh, well. Let me know if u hear anything. Have not heard from Princeton, NYU, Columbia or Cornell but they seem to post around the 15th or so. Waiting is horrible... I wish one could just call and get on with their lives. Congrats to u by the way... I still think u are an overachiever... you pretty much nailed this app process.

[fgreen27]

I got into U Penn! With lots of money! (that's me on the results posting). SOOOOO HAPPPY!!!!

good luck, everyone!

[vertige]

congrats Coffeehouse and fgreen27 on getting good (or relatively good) news from both of my Alma Maters fgreen27, if you want to talk about Penn at all let me know - I took a few courses in the German/Comp Lit. Dept. as an undergrad, and it's a fantastic school for the humanities (despite Penn's overall professional leanings). I could give you tips on both the academic and social experience, if you're interested

[fgreen27]

hey vertige--thanks so much for the offer! I will definitely take you up on it in a few days--I just got a wisdom tooth out yesterday and am in miserable amounts of pain.

I took two courses there myself because Bryn Mawr is in the Quacker Consortium with Penn, so I know the department and the professors pretty well, but I'll still have questions for you I'm sure.

[djl2288]

hi all - congratulations to everyone on their wonderful news!

ive been checking on here periodically but havent had much to report myself until a few days ago. i was accepted to the university of texas without funding - or at least without funding at this point in time - and i have to say that im really disappointed by the lack of funding so the juhu! has been somewhat overshadowed. im mostly concerned about my chances at the other schools to which ive applied. can anyone shed some light on what kind of thinking goes into determining who receives funding? and does this actually have any bearing on the future of my applications to other schools? thanks for easing my mind!

Edited February 11, 2012 by djl2288

[djl2288]

a few hours after i wrote the above post, i got into georgetown with funding so in answer to my second and final question, no, schools make their decisions independently of one another and there is just no way of knowing or anticipating what is to come but that actually makes me very hopeful! as for my question on funding, im still really curious and would appreciate any insight into that ie schools where funding isnt guaranteed. thanks again!

[coffeeplease]

Congratulations!

Funding seems to be very department and school specific. My understanding is that it depends on the resources that they have available and the number of students they admit. Some schools offer fellowships of their own which seem to be based on GPA, test scores, or whatever other credentials, and the department recommends admitted students for those fellowships.

I was accepted to a program that didn't guarantee funding; a few weeks after I got in, I got a very nice email from the DGS telling me that they were in the process of working on funding an that I could expect 5-6 years of support (which they offer to all grad students). No word yet if that's TAships or fellowships or a combination. It was a very pleasant surprise, though, since I was unsure if I should be happy about the acceptance or not. (No idea why they wouldn't advertise that!) It also seems like the financial side of things needs to be cleared with the Graduate School separately from admissions, which is why it will take longer to get the offer, even though I already have my official letter of admittance (I would guess that this is the case for UT, too).

In terms of UT, your best bet is to either ask a POI or the graduate director informally ("when can I expect to hear?" kind of thing), or to contact other grad students and ask about other experiences, should you know any. And congratulations again! (If you visit Georgetown, check out Kramer Books in Dupont Circle -- adorable bookshop/cafe...DC is really nice )

[vertige]

Yea, the funding question is always a bit school-specific; public schools tend to have a bit more bureaucratic red tape and waiting time, but professors have the power to allocate funds to specific students in order to compete with private schools. Northwestern got me my funding package within a week, and everything was nicely tied up in a bow. They've already offered to fly me there...but they don't give extra top-up funding, so I'd be struggling to live within my budget in Chicago. After getting word from them, none of my other schools have given a peep, so I definitely lost any sense of momentum I had after getting an acceptance. I have definitely gotten very comfortable with it as a Plan B, however. I can imagine myself as a Chicago pseudo-hipster having brunch at the Austrian Bakery and jogging on the shore, shirtless in the summertime (though everyone says not to go swimming so I'll just slather on a lot of tanning lotion and read some Kleist while trying not to spill diet coke on my ipod). Not a horrible image

With UT I imagine that they'll offer you something; they tend to promise money to a couple of students from the start, but those students often get a more attractive offer. If you don't hear anything soon, I'd let them know about Georgetown - it never hurts to try and get schools to bid on you. And if they do give you a funding package, definitely try to get them to match whatever you get at Georgetown. This will be one of the few times in our lives as academics that we'll have the ability to bargain, especially for money.

Congrats again and good luck to everyone!

[quiltedgiraffe]

Last week I was waitlisted at Brown, and just now I got an email from Princeton. I've been accepted! I'm in shock, complete shock, as I wasn't expecting this at all.

Edited February 13, 2012 by quiltedgiraffe

[vertige]

Congrats!! I got a big fat "no", so I'm pretty let down. I had a particular interest in Princeton's program, I have to say. But I had a few freak out moments last week that prepared me for this, so I'm going to take solace in my one acceptance and hope at least one other program works out. Good luck peeps

[quiltedgiraffe]

Congrats!! I got a big fat "no", so I'm pretty let down. I had a particular interest in Princeton's program, I have to say. But I had a few freak out moments last week that prepared me for this, so I'm going to take solace in my one acceptance and hope at least one other program works out. Good luck peeps

Oh, I'm so sorry! I was hoping we would all get in. You seem so well-prepared. Who knows what ad coms are looking for. (I only have an undergrad degree, but my interests are completely different than yours.)

Anyway, does anyone know if Princeton does a visiting weekend or anything like that? Or would it be weird to email the DGS and ask if I could visit the department?

[vertige]

Thanks QG - yea, I thought I was well-prepared for the program, and noticed more than a few professors whose work really interested me. But I do have some shortcomings in my application that I can't change, and which I'm sure some programs won't be able to overlook, despite my last two years of hard work. I also know one of the assistant profs in the department, and he didn't read my file, but said that I am such a "textualist" that something like Yale or Northwestern (Nägele or Fenves) would be a better fit for me, so I trust that the rejection was mutually beneficial (I would hate to agonize over turning down Princeton if I visited but found out it wasn't the program I thought).

I'm sure Princeton has an admitted students weekend, and that they'll give you more information in the coming weeks (which should be easy to attend given your proximity). But you're in, so I'm sure it wouldn't be inappropriate to e-mail Peter Jennings (or whomever the contact person is, Wegmann perhaps), with any questions. Congrats again!

[ontolome]

hey vertige, that is very interesting re: your conversation with the princeton prof.

when i was trying to narrow down my list of places to apply, prof. burgard told me not to bother to apply to princeton because he was convinced i would be unhappy there, whereas yale would be a much better fit. i originally wanted to include northwestern in my list as well because of fenves and dastur.

so yes, if it is of some consolation to you, these profs seem to consider the interests of folks who would want to work with nägele or fenves to be irreconcilable with princeton's.

Edited February 14, 2012 by ontolome

[coffeeplease]

I have to say, having spent the last 6 weeks or so biting my nails and spending too much time on TGC, I have nothing but respect for Princeton for letting everyone know on the same day, regardless of whether it's good news or bad.

[eklam]

Congratulation for those great news!

I was (still am...) busy with papers to really focus on the application decision. About a couple of days ago, I found out that UW-Madison recommended me for admission with funding (though the decision is still pending), that U-M made a decision but that I will be informed later (now I am curious!).

Otherwise, Yale turned me down. So if you haven't heard from them today, maybe it means you're in the good pool!

Best of luck to everyone!!!!

[fgreen27]

I got into Cornell!!!! Now I've been admitted by my top two choices. Definitely going to be a hard decision.

[marocchino]

That is wonderful! Congrats fgreen27!! - Hey Ontolome, I got a call from Harvard last week as well.. with an informal yes. Did they send you an admission letter or email already? I hope to see you there. I also want to thank you for your kind words last week. - funny maybe I really get to read ur WS one day.

Have a great weekend!

[ontolome]

hi marocchino,

congrats to you too on your informal harvard acceptance is it your top choice?

i do not have the formal letter yet. prof. burgard told me it would probably not arrive until mid-march.

however i think i am leaning towards yale for the time being...

and waiting to wake up from this awfully nice dream.