0% Confidence of Acceptance

[sadthatthisdefinesmylife]

Here are some other things we could fight about: Is the study of literature at risk of being consumed by an ever expanding definition of Cultural Studies? What would Roland Barthes think of 50 Shades of Gray? Do you think he would wink and use the term "jouissance" when describing it? Who has the most embarassing story about misprouncing Derrida's name? Hypertext fiction. Is it likely to become relevent? Who loves Oxford Comma's more than me? Should we regard Dixie Flatline's post death computer reemergance in "Neuromancer" as a being that has innate humanity? Should we care if Case releases him? Does it matter? Where did Huck Finn get that straw hat? Why is it that I always see "Kiss of the Spider Woman" on street corners where people are giving away books? Don't you think that Brecht would hate the fact that people take off their hats when they come to see his plays?  Who was taller H.L. Mencken or Mr. Ed? What would happen if H.D. and R.L. Stein got together? Could Proust write a sentence so long that even he couldn't read it? Why isn't there a super hero called "Mr. Subaltern"?

[practical cat]

On 2/9/2013 at 8:40 PM, sadthatthisdefinesmylife said:

Here are some other things we could fight about:

Is the study of literature at risk of being consumed by an ever expanding definition of Cultural Studies?

What would Roland Barthes think of 50 Shades of Gray? Do you think he would wink and use the term "jouissance" when describing it?

Who has the most embarassing story about misprouncing Derrida's name?

Hypertext fiction. Is it likely to become relevent?

Who loves Oxford Comma's more than me?

Should we regard Dixie Flatline's post death computer reemergance in "Neuromancer" as a being that has innate humanity? Should we care if Case releases him? Does it matter?

Where did Huck Finn get that straw hat?

Why is it that I always see "Kiss of the Spider Woman" on street corners where people are giving away books?

Don't you think that Brecht would hate the fact that people take off their hats when they come to see his plays?

Who was taller H.L. Mencken or Mr. Ed?

What would happen if H.D. and R.L. Stein got together?

Could Proust write a sentence so long that even he couldn't read it?

Why isn't there a super hero called "Mr. Subaltern"?

THIS IS NOT FUNNY BECAUSE IT DID NOT TALK ABOUT ME OR MY CONCERNS.

[champagne]

 Is it likely to become relevent? Who loves Oxford Comma's more than me?

 

I, for one, do give a fuck about an Oxford comma.

[asleepawake]

I, for one, do give a fuck about an Oxford comma.

 

[bfat]

Wishing everybody the best from someone who knows exactly what you're all going through

 

Thank you. You win at the internet.

 

 

ETA: This thread is totally fun again.

Edited February 10, 2013 by bfat

[chaucerettescs]

What would Roland Barthes think of 50 Shades of Gray? Do you think he would wink and use the term "jouissance" when describing it?

 

Haha, well, he did say that it is intermittence that seduces (that flash of skin between two edges of fabric, that place where the garment gapes) so maybe 50 Shades would be too much flash, not enough edge for him.

[InHacSpeVivo]

THIS IS NOT FUNNY BECAUSE IT DID NOT TALK ABOUT ME OR MY CONCERNS.

 

WHY AM I OUT OF UPVOTES?! /sadhat/

[InHacSpeVivo]

 

Again, REALLY upset about being out of up votes.

 

bfat is right, this thread is fun again!

Edited February 10, 2013 by Pericles II.ii.48

[practical cat]

Thank you for this.

This thread is a roller coaster but the highs are so delicious.

[not ready for prime-time]

More comma fun - one day we'll all be Harvard men (even the women are Harvard men at Harvard)!

 

http://thebottomline.as.ucsb.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/oxford-comma.png

Edited February 10, 2013 by not ready for prime-time

[asleepawake]

What are the rules for up-votes, anyway? It feels like I use one and they are gone, and that they magically return at random times.

 

This is my way of saying I have none but I quite enjoy a number of posts and I would like to express that!

[jmcgee]

I will fight all y'all over the Oxford comma. She belongs to me!

[BookGeek]

I, for one, do give a fuck about an Oxford comma.

 

Have you perhaps also seen some English dramas, too?

[DontHate]

Vampire Weekend is totally rep'ing CU

[Swagato]

Right, well, now that one admit has been posted for cinema studies at Chicago, I'm completely flustered because they rarely admit more than 2-3, so perhaps 4-5 offers and I don't know if they'll waitlist this year. The lack of any news for me from there (thus far) has seriously shaken my confidence in this whole second round. Although each of the places I've applied to is a very good fit, some are obviously better than others. Chicago is one of the places where my research interests have a fantastic fit--go figure, since Chicago is the place where my interests emerged and formed. And it isn't just the CMS department, but the way things are done there, the new arts initiatives the place is undertaking, etc...it is just a place I really, really see myself at. Plus, I've had communications with my profs there since 2010 (when I began the MAPH) and developed my application materials with their guidance. To be flatly rejected (I assume...) is just a very big blow right now and makes me question the fate of the rest of my applications. There is not a whole lot I can do to drastically upgrade my application profile. My SOP and essay were crap last year. I fixed that this year--fixed to a standard where POIs/faculty vetted the material. Short of publications/presentations, and redoing my whole fucking Bachelor's, I don't know what else I'm supposed to do. Just how fucking good does a bloody student have to be to even be admitted to a PhD? Because I sure have seen graduate essays worse than the writing sample I sent in. 

 

This is not how I wanted to end my evening. 

Edited February 10, 2013 by Swagato

[asleepawake]

I have definitely heard that it is harder to get into a school where you did you BA or MA for the PhD much of the time, because of the whole academic incest thing, at least at the most competitive of schools (which no doubt includes Chicago). I would certainly not take an implied rejection from there and assume it speaks to your chances elsewhere.

[asleepawake]

Vampire Weekend is totally rep'ing CU

 

You're just a cruel professor studying romances!

Edited February 10, 2013 by asleepawake

[chaucerettescs]

I have definitely heard that it is harder to get into a school where you did you BA or MA for the PhD much of the time, because of the whole academic incest thing, at least at the most competitive of schools (which no doubt includes Chicago). I would certainly not take an implied rejection from there and assume it speaks to your chances elsewhere.

 

Yeah, I'm applying to the school where I just earned my BA and my rec writers/professors told me point blank that it is going to be even harder for me to get in. I think the academic incest argument is a bit ridiculous (the thing that might save me is that I only spent the last two years of my BA at Michigan), but I understand that I could get tossed for that alone. I wouldn't even assume a full rejection from your alma mater means you won't get in anywhere else.

[TripWillis]

You're just a cruel professor studying romances!

How am I supposed to pretend?

 

(I'm pretty sure it's "full professors studying romances")

 

Edit: Just checked. I'm wrong. I blame projection, since I want to be a full professor.

Edited February 10, 2013 by TripWillis

[Two Espressos]

Just how fucking good does a bloody student have to be to even be admitted to a PhD?

 

The answer: really fucking good.

[Swagato]

The answer: really fucking good.

I know. Last night I lost it for a bit. It's a mixture of factors--a year spent really, really working to develop a fantastic application, the lack of any good news thus far, the silence from Pittsburgh, and then the prospect that my Chicago application basically vanished down the rabbit hole. I guess in many ways I feel that that was my strongest application, because of how closely my essay's topic and thinking draws from a mix of departmental work at Chicago. In any case, I know that my writing sample is at least good enough for the kind of departments I'm applying to. How do I know this? Faculty feedback. Of course, that alone doesn't guarantee anything, but last night I was doing a bit of wallowing, so I was all but convinced that my essay is fluffy crap. 

[Swagato]

I have definitely heard that it is harder to get into a school where you did you BA or MA for the PhD much of the time, because of the whole academic incest thing, at least at the most competitive of schools (which no doubt includes Chicago). I would certainly not take an implied rejection from there and assume it speaks to your chances elsewhere.

 

 

Yeah, I'm applying to the school where I just earned my BA and my rec writers/professors told me point blank that it is going to be even harder for me to get in. I think the academic incest argument is a bit ridiculous (the thing that might save me is that I only spent the last two years of my BA at Michigan), but I understand that I could get tossed for that alone. I wouldn't even assume a full rejection from your alma mater means you won't get in anywhere else.

 

Yes, this is something I have wondered about. The thing is, MAPH at Chicago regularly sends graduates into the PhD programs at Chicago. Conversations with various faculty members consistently resulted in the indication that academic incest was not nearly as much of a concern as it is in other, "regular" cases (i.e., BA -> PhD at the same institution). 

[waparys]

What do you mean you look American?  

 

I mean that even when I'm in the US on a non-immigrant visa (or if I were to be there permanently in the future) I an not discriminated against visually as some people sadly are (e.g. various immigration "papers" laws in TX, AZ, etc.). I also dress and act like an American (as opposed to my people, the Europeans, for example). 

 

This post wasn't meant to offend. I just...blend in. It can be a blessing sometimes. 

[InHacSpeVivo]

I know exactly how you feel, Swagato. I'm in a very similar situation myself and it's incredibly hard not to get down on yourself (it probably happens at least once a day for me). Here's holding out for Pitt...

[Troppman]

I know. Last night I lost it for a bit. It's a mixture of factors--a year spent really, really working to develop a fantastic application, the lack of any good news thus far, the silence from Pittsburgh, and then the prospect that my Chicago application basically vanished down the rabbit hole. I guess in many ways I feel that that was my strongest application, because of how closely my essay's topic and thinking draws from a mix of departmental work at Chicago. In any case, I know that my writing sample is at least good enough for the kind of departments I'm applying to. How do I know this? Faculty feedback. Of course, that alone doesn't guarantee anything, but last night I was doing a bit of wallowing, so I was all but convinced that my essay is fluffy crap. 

I post only to affirm your angst (implicitly, and necessarily, for narcissistic reasons as well). Hopefully this post can help others...  I, too, have received only bad news this season. My writing sample was flawed, sure. But it was well received by my advisor, and also by a large audience at a major conference (in slightly different form)--even invited to a journal. My undergrad transcript is not-so-hot, but it was also not-so-hot working full-time, being an athlete by vocation, and losing immediate family members to tragic causes. I was not partying as an undergrad. I was working, and dealing with constant phone calls from the ICU and ER. My MA is from a lesser known program, and yet I still managed a 4.0 here while presenting at several conferences and publishing a handful of pieces (book reviews, reviews, full-articles) in various peer-reviewed journals of immediate relevance to my proposed doctoral study. In addition, I made a point of undergoing language training (2 languages, for a total of 30 hours [summer immersions]) while enrolled in my MA program.

Although I didn't receive a TA or RA position (they are scarce here), I was still given many opportunities to guest-speak/lecture at multiple campuses during my two year MA program. All of this to say that I really don't know what I could have done better this season. Perhaps my SOP--drafted a million times and very relevant to current faculty interests at each program--didn't evince a sexy-enough project? I contacted professors and current students at each program to get a feel of fit and camaraderie--maybe I shouldn't have? I only applied to schools that I found to be a great match given faculty and student projects--maybe I should have just shot for the top ten or something? Perhaps being so ambitious as a neophyte reflects poorly as it could indicate that I am not so malleable. Wouldn't that be ironic? Either way, I am already proofing another article and submitting multiple abstracts (As well as scouting funded 1-year-MA programs with rolling admissions [they do exist]) in preparation for a round two. I could also pull my GRE scores up a tad and find a better letter writer... I still haven't heard from three programs (none of which are represented yet on the boards), so I'm still in the game per se...

Edited February 10, 2013 by StephanieDelacour