A Perfect Storm

[booksareneat]

This perfect storm does not star George Clooney or Mark Wahlberg. Rather, does anyone else get the impression that our fantastic economic breakdown is going to make this year's applications a wash for many very smart people? It seems like applications are up (do Wisconsin and Washington always get 500-600 applicants) because the job market is crap and if you get funding then you at least have some sort of employment for 5 years. In addition, schools like Brandeis put their endowments on the 6th horse in the 5th race (I think her name was Chips Ahoy!) and now they realize they can only let in half the students with funding. Loyola Chicago is offering funding to 6 students (6!). I don't care how confident I am with my application materials, I think whether I get into a program or not is based on some sort of cosmic deity who has not yet been discovered and for whom there is no religion (but you can bet I'll find that religion and beat you bastards to it). My consolation as I wait to hear from schools is that it's not me, it's the economic climate, but that isn't the sort of consolation that makes you feel better. It's the sort of consolation that makes you want to give in and work for the CIA, because, seriously, it has to be easier to become a spy than it is to become an adjunct professor of contemporary literature at a branch campus of some midwestern state college.

Ugh.

I feel better.

[lyonessrampant]

I think you're dead on that the current economic climate is having dramatic consequences on this year's applicants. I've heard and friends of mine have been told that they'd have been admitted last year, but the school is cutting the cohort and funding, so sorry! A prof I know at UC (who has cut their admissions by 1/2 this year) said that the economic situation is simultaneously spiking the number of applications and forcing programs to cut the number of slots. For many people who would have gotten in previously, this now means waitlists or no offer at all. I think I'm going to try one more time. One thing this prof pointed out is that if the economy recovers in a few years, there may be a dirth of qualified people to fill positions at universities because this year, last year to some extent, and at least next year too there will be fewer people admitted (therefore fewer people graduated later). All of this means that for those who get in over the next few years, it may be easier to get a job upon completion at the Ph.D. and maybe even at a really great institution. Of course, he also said that universities may just learn how to subsist with tightened purse strings. . . but I like to hope for the first option

[engguy]

Things are tough all over. I'm not saying that just to be callous. But there are a lot of people suffering right now. Losing their life's savings. Losing their homes. It's tough to feel too sorry for applicants who might be having a bit tougher time than usual getting fully funded offers for higher education. That said, there are plenty of offers -- good ones -- being made. The cut-off this year in relation to applicant pool might be a bit higher, but only a bit -- have yet to hear any utter horror stories of programs absolutely slamming the door on funding for students. But stick around; next year might be even tougher.

Then again, it might not. Things might improve, and you might just be the victim of bad timing. But consider this, too: how would you like to be at the END of your five-year funding package right now? Out on the market, looking for work? There, my friend, I have heard some horror stories.

What I would suggest to those who don't get satisfactory offers this year is, get creative. I have a friend who taught English in Korea for a year, came back, and got great offers from a number of good schools, including the top-20 program she's currently in. Me? I chose to uproot my family last year and move cross country (at the height of the gas crisis, natch), taking my wife away from a good and well-paying job. It's been a real struggle, and if I had known then what I know now, I might have chosen to stay close to home, where I was also offered a good deal at a very good school. But it looks like things are going to work out...

Hang in there, and have some perspective, is what I'm saying.

[booksareneat]

engguy,

I was being pretty flippant (I thought referencing a Wahlberg film and a Hold Steady song would signal that). I know plenty of friends who have lost their jobs and it sucks. But investing years and lots of money to find out that next fall I could be job hunting whilst investing more money in applications, that sucks too. All it means is that this process is not for the faint of heart (or the casual of mind, perhaps). The drag is that often times getting into a program is a crapshoot (is that how it's spelled? I don't think I've ever written that expression.) with it being not always about how good you look, but what the programs needs are that particular year. This year, it becomes even more difficult. I am taking all this with my eyes rolling and tongue-in-cheek the best I can, but the fact is--this year is a b*tch for everyone.

As for being creative in the meanwhile, I am considering sending a CV over to the CIA. They have to have a use for a guy who's read as many Graham Greene and Cormac McCarthy books as I have, right?

[orinincandenza]

My dad -- who came to this country in the 60s and has no experience whatsoever with higher ed, but who has been insanely supportive of me nonetheless -- repeatedly suggests that if things don't work out, I should apply to work for the CIA. Not sure why, really, but I can say that it's something I sometimes think about and wonder if I shouldn't be so dismissive. If I weren't intent on this whole Lit Professor thing, I'd probably want to be a detective. The only thing stopping me is the requisite however many years you have to be a regular cop first. I think that would suck. But to be a homicide dick -- and I'm thinking here of Morgan Freeman's Somerset in Seven, who solves grisly crimes with the help of Chaucer and Dante! -- sometimes I think I'd be real good at that.

[booksareneat]

Orinin,

You're on to something. Perhaps someone should start a program that is dual literature and detective/spy training. There could be a class on mystery solving including, obviously, Sherlock Holmes and also In the Name of the Rose. There could also be a Graham Greene class about international espionage/Catholic existential crises. Any other suggestions?

[the_lisbon_girl]

hahaha, i love you for quoting the hold steady. I suggest an alternate back up plan, just so I can quote my favorite line ever penned by craig finn (albeit in lifter puller and not THS), "These English majors wanna be some super-genius novelist, they end up music journalists, the chicks ain't that into it."

but i totally agree with your general point about the economy. they numbers of total applications schools have been reporting have been ridiculous this year.

[booksareneat]

hahaha, i love you for quoting the hold steady. I suggest an alternate back up plan, just so I can quote my favorite line ever penned by craig finn (albeit in lifter puller and not THS), "These English majors wanna be some super-genius novelist, they end up music journalists, the chicks ain't that into it."

but i totally agree with your general point about the economy. they numbers of total applications schools have been reporting have been ridiculous this year.

Here's one for you, then, Lisbon Girl:

"All the clustered up clever kids. Hold steady."

That fits, I think.

[hadunc]

It's definitely a bad year. But I've heard rumors that the stimulus package that was just passed may in fact make next year a much easier one. And my friend, who's an IR major and has had to take tons of econ, told me that some economists think that things will turn around by the end of next year. But even if she's right, that still leaves me looking for a job with a BA in English this summer in a climate where people with MBAs are not able to find work, assuming of course I don't get in off of the wait list at Loyola (which seems to be a strong possibility). I just hope things do turn around because I don't think I could handle another year of rejections :cry:

[lyonessrampant]

I hope you're right hadunc. I've heard and at times believe the same thing. I have an eclectic background that includes a lot of poli sci and econ, and there is indeed a potential for the stimulus package to help with higher education, as there are specifically earmarked funds for it. However, on the flip side, most of if not all of that money will be directed toward the sciences, particularly alternative energy tech and R&D. Yet, some more money into those areas might mean transfer of funds back to the humanities, and if the economy as a whole picks up, then donations and philanthropy will likely increase as well. Anyway, this year sucks, and I'm just hoping/praying to the Ph.D. admit god (what shall we call this cult?) that next year will be better.

[MDLee]

Rather, does anyone else get the impression that our fantastic economic breakdown is going to make this year's applications a wash for many very smart people? It seems like applications are up (do Wisconsin and Washington always get 500-600 applicants) because the job market is crap and if you get funding then you at least have some sort of employment for 5 years.

Can I just vent that I am totally livid at the number of people who had no academic interest until RIGHT THIS MINUTE...and I've been working my tail off for six years so that I could get into a solid PhD program. Now everyone and their grandmother wants to be an academic! Are you kidding me!?! Come on people, if you hated school before you're going to hate it now. Leave those of us who actually WANTED to be here alone and rescind your applications already! ...sigh.

::steps off soapbox...again.::