SUNY Albany

[Dagny1984]

Has anyone heard from SUNY Albany?

[GodzillaGrad]

Has anyone heard from SUNY Albany?

I haven't seen anything on the board as of yet . . .

[lascosmo]

I got an acceptance email yesterday.

[Dagny1984]

I got an acceptance email yesterday.

Thank you for info. Congrats!

[Timshel]

That seems awfully early since the results history shows that responses never went out before March...

[TripWillis]

Great queer studies focus at Albany... Jealous.

[fedupofthewait]

Hey lascosmo, congratulations! Were you the one accepted for the creative writing Ph.D.?

[lascosmo]

Oh, maybe some more detail will help contextualize why I was notified early --

I applied to the English Ph.D. with a creative dissertation (so sent in fiction + critical writing).

I'm sure it's likely they're still reviewing for English Ph.D.s in general, so best wishes for you!

I really like that their creative dissertation option seems so integrated with academics --

and their courses seem very interesting.

But could you guys tell me what impressions you have of the English grad studies there in general,

perhaps what motivated you to apply there?

[fedupofthewait]

Thanks lascosmo. I guess they might still be reviewing the English applications.

I applied there especially to work with one person.

[lascosmo]

Oh, may I pry and ask who? I understand if you'd rather not tell.

[fedupofthewait]

David Wills!!!

[GodzillaGrad]

David Wills!!!

I giggled when I read this . . . perfect response. Have you seen the "potential" upcoming course selections? I have to say, very excited (and tentatively planned my courses for the next year . . . if I'm accepted. Big if.).

Edited February 26, 2012 by GodzillaGrad

[fedupofthewait]

ohhh yesss . I am guessing we might be hearing within the next 2 weeks. Good luck Godzilla!

[GodzillaGrad]

ohhh yesss . I am guessing we might be hearing within the next 2 weeks. Good luck Godzilla!

Same to you.

As for hearing something in 2 weeks: I sure hope so. The anxiety is killing me as I'm waiting on several of my best "fit" programs. There is only so much wine in the world and I can no longer distract myself with my completed thesis (is it odd that I actually miss it now that I'm done?).

[mono411]

I am currently attending here for undergrad and I love it! The dept though is going through many changes. And I'm pretty sure David Wills is leaving since the French dept is closing after this semester. My professor also told me they got close to 200 applicants and only are accepting 5-7 students.

[fedupofthewait]

I guess it is a good thing that I have an acceptance from my top choice. I would still like to know though.

[lascosmo]

mono411 - do please share more about what Albany is like! Right now, my greatest curiosity is whether the grad students have any trouble extending the G.A. funding from their 4th year on,

but I'm really eager to hear any other info about the faculty strengths, etc.

What are some of the changes the department is going through?

Edited February 27, 2012 by lascosmo

[Dagny1984]

I am currently attending here for undergrad and I love it! The dept though is going through many changes. And I'm pretty sure David Wills is leaving since the French dept is closing after this semester. My professor also told me they got close to 200 applicants and only are accepting 5-7 students.

Thank you for the info. I was wondering if the 5-7 is for the Creative dissertation spots or if that number includes the all English Ph.D. spots.

[lascosmo]

Dagny1984, the SUNY website says "Each year, the graduate program awards teaching assistantships to six to ten incoming Ph.D. students." (i.e. all English Ph.D. students, I presume)

- so maybe mono411's info was about funded Ph.D. positions in general.

[Dagny1984]

Dagny1984, the SUNY website says "Each year, the graduate program awards teaching assistantships to six to ten incoming Ph.D. students." (i.e. all English Ph.D. students, I presume)

- so maybe mono411's info was about funded Ph.D. positions in general.

Thank you lascosmo.

[mono411]

Okay, so the SUNY schools are going through some mega funding issues and the Albany campus in particular has had to cut 5 programs (Theatre, Classics, French, Spanish, and Italian). So because David Wills is primarily in the French department, and since his wife is leaving for a professorship elsewhere, I'm not sure that he will be here next year. The amount of people admitted to PhD programs in the humanities has definitely gone down due to these monetary issues. Also, we are building a new business building as well as a new nano something-or-other building (even though we already have both of those builings already), and that seems to be where all of our money is going.

For Americanists, the department isn't in excellent shape at this moment. One is retiring, one is leaving for columbia, and one is gone for a year at least. The other one is almost tenured, but not just yet.

The department does have a lot of faculty that do creative writing (LYDIA DAVIS, Lynne Tillman, Edward Schwarzschild, Tomas Noel, Don Byrd). But we have a pretty good strong hold in Renaissance and Modernism, too.

If anyone has any more specific questions about professors, procedures, or anything like that, feel free to private message me.

[lascosmo]

Thank you so much, mono411!

That's really helpful.

I may PM you soon.

My interests are creative writing & modernism, so I guess I got doubly lucky.

Edited February 28, 2012 by lascosmo

[Timshel]

Has anyone heard anything positive from Albany? I see that a bunch of rejections went up, but that's it.

[cread]

I haven't heard anything either way yet, and I'm on pins and needles! My husband was accepted to their MFA Studio Art program a month or more ago, and we're just waiting to see if I have a spot in the English dept.

[Timshel]

I haven't heard anything either way yet, and I'm on pins and needles! My husband was accepted to their MFA Studio Art program a month or more ago, and we're just waiting to see if I have a spot in the English dept.

You should email to find out when we will hear. I would, but I already had correspondence with them earlier to some errors with transcripts...I feel weird emailing again...