karablythe Posted January 16, 2012 Posted January 16, 2012 Hi everyone. I know this is an incredibly relative question--and depends wholly on the unique portfolio of the applicant--BUT, in general, what are some high quality English/Comparative Lit "safety" schools? Programs that are perhaps less well known and have more than a 10% acceptance rate and give out decent financial aid packages? My interest is critical theory and 20th century lit if that makes a difference. Any advice would be highly appreciated!
TripWillis Posted January 16, 2012 Posted January 16, 2012 The thing is, there's not really any safety schools... which sucks. LLajax and wreckofthehope 2
Grunty DaGnome Posted January 16, 2012 Posted January 16, 2012 (edited) First of all, the whole reason a school's acceptance rate is above 10 % is probably because they have less than great financial Aid. UMASS - Amherst comes to mind. I think their stipend is around 14k. CUNY's is around 16k. Still, both are quite good department and fairly competitive. I don't know the exact numbers. Probably many fewer applicants than Brown or NYU, but they are far from safety schools. Edited January 16, 2012 by Grunty DaGnome
lolopixie Posted January 16, 2012 Posted January 16, 2012 To reiterate what has been previously said, the "safety" schools might have a 15-20% acceptance rate. Far from safety. Any Ph.D. program is going to be at a good school with good research facilities and professors. I also believe that the reason these schools have a "higher" acceptance rate is simply that they have less applicants. Maybe 150 instead of 500. Still, that is a LOT of people applying for a very small amount of spots. I don't believe that any program is a safety school. I feel like we are all a part of Willy Wonka's master plan. We are SEARCHING for the golden ticket, and when we get it we are going to be licking grapes off the wall!!! Tybalt, rubyrunner and Two Espressos 3
rawera Posted January 16, 2012 Posted January 16, 2012 We are SEARCHING for the golden ticket, and when we get it we are going to be licking grapes off the wall!!! This forum is getting pretty good.
lolopixie Posted January 16, 2012 Posted January 16, 2012 This forum is getting pretty good. My anxiety is running on warp speed today. I think I might already be licking grapes off the wall
indalomena Posted January 16, 2012 Posted January 16, 2012 I'm just licking the wall, it sort of looks like ice cream No but really. Safety schools? If you excelled at your BA/MA school, then they're probably keen to keep you. I know this is the case for my MA school, so I'm pretty sure I'm going to have at least one option
karablythe Posted January 16, 2012 Author Posted January 16, 2012 Hey everyone. Thanks for the responses. I figured I get a lot of "there are no safety schools" responses, but I figured I'd still ask. indalomena, unfortunately my BA school doesn't have a graduate program so I can't rely on that. Guess I will just continue the hunt...
Two Espressos Posted January 20, 2012 Posted January 20, 2012 Others have already answered your question, but I will confirm it: there are no "quality" safety schools. The only safety schools that exist are the ones you probably don't want to be attending, lol.
snes Posted January 20, 2012 Posted January 20, 2012 WE ARE THE DREAMERS OF DREAMS! wreckofthehope, Two Espressos and coffeeplease 3
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