What Do You Guys Think Of CUNY?

[mostlytoasty]

CUNY Grad English... only.. accepts 2 recommendation letters, amiright?

I was stressing out over only receiving 2/3 interfolio requests and then I realized it said 2 recs. Whhhhatttt

[thequeenofpigeons]

CUNY Grad English... only.. accepts 2 recommendation letters, amiright?

I was stressing out over only receiving 2/3 interfolio requests and then I realized it said 2 recs. Whhhhatttt

Yes! I had to check this a few times to make sure.

[waparys]

Where schools accepted more (i.e. up to 4), did you send more?

[mostlytoasty]

Where schools accepted more (i.e. up to 4), did you send more?

Nope. The only exception was UCSB because they explicitly said you could send a 4th from a teaching supervisor if you had teaching experience. Everywhere else I just went with 3 because they said 3, even if there was a space for 4 or if there were just endless spaces to add.

[waparys]

Nope. The only exception was UCSB because they explicitly said you could send a 4th from a teaching supervisor if you had teaching experience. Everywhere else I just went with 3 because they said 3, even if there was a space for 4 or if there were just endless spaces to add.

Some schools said, specifically, "up to four." So two of my apps included four recs...if they don't want to read them I guess they don't have to?

[WithDoubt88]

Everyone will be funded going forth.

 

 

Everyone will be funded going forth.

@TripWillis: Thanks for the information about funding at CUNY! I'm Comp LIt, but do you know from your experience in the program at all whether landing an interview is a strong sign that you'll be accepted or whether there still a lot of deliberation after this process is complete? I have one coming up and while I think it's positive, I'm a wee bit nervous.

[Gwendolyn]

Actually, no one ever asked me my reason for applying to any of the schools I chose. People just assume things, don't they, Snarkystsnarkypants?

I don't refer to the US News rankings at all. In fact, I doubt they even exist for my field. What I call a "top program" is a program considered strong by people in the field, like professors and hiring committees. CUNY has a very strong comparative literature department, in the top 15, and also Gregory Rabassa, who's basically translated every important contemporary Latin American writer. Also it's in NYC, where most of my family and friends are. I'm wondering what other people know about it?

I hope not take this thread off track, but I'm curious to know what your list (assuming you've compiled one from "people in the field" or one already exists ) looks like. 

Edited February 21, 2013 by Gwendolyn

[marlowe]

Fall '13 entering students. And the new fellowship is $25,000/yr, 1/1 teaching years 2-4

 

Jesus, that is WAY better than it was last year.  Is that the package you've got, Trip?

[TripWillis]

Jesus, that is WAY better than it was last year.  Is that the package you've got, Trip?

Nope :-\

 

Also, withdoubt88 -- I should scale back what I said, or rephrase it. Everyone will be funded going forth eventually. I'm not necessarily sure that it will be true of this year. I know that they are really trying.

 

Oh, and English has no interviews, so I couldn't tell ya.

Edited February 22, 2013 by TripWillis

[ZacharyBinks]

I know this is a terribly broad question, but does anyone know how their waitlist works generally? Do they generally have a pretty long list and do those accepted off the waitlist have less funding than those accepted outright? They sent me an email last week informing me that I am a "finalist for admission" which I take to mean "you're on our waitlist," so I've been curious. Thanks for any help!

[marlowe]

I know this is a terribly broad question, but does anyone know how their waitlist works generally? Do they generally have a pretty long list and do those accepted off the waitlist have less funding than those accepted outright? They sent me an email last week informing me that I am a "finalist for admission" which I take to mean "you're on our waitlist," so I've been curious. Thanks for any help!

 

I was on an official wait list last year, and the funding information was really quite ambiguous.  If you hadn't won one of many English department fellowships (correct me if I am wrong here, Trip), then you'd be on a waiting list for funding.  The people on the waitlist proper weren't really given much information beyond that.  They gave me very little information, so I just ignored them after that.

[ZacharyBinks]

I was on an official wait list last year, and the funding information was really quite ambiguous.  If you hadn't won one of many English department fellowships (correct me if I am wrong here, Trip), then you'd be on a waiting list for funding.  The people on the waitlist proper weren't really given much information beyond that.  They gave me very little information, so I just ignored them after that.

Thanks for the help! Their whole process seems pretty ambiguous, which frustrates me. Like I said, the email I received just told me I was a finalist for admission and that they hope to let me know about admission and financial aid soon. I would much rather appreciate a frank response like "You're on the waiting list, we don't know about funding yet." At least then I would know exactly what I can expect and it would make my deliberation process much easier.

[WithDoubt88]

@Don'tHate - Have you heard from CUNY at all? I was told I would hear something last week, but nothing yet....

[ZacharyBinks]

Is anyone else on CUNY's wait list ("finalist for admission") here? Any news? Obviously if I haven't been contacted then I'm not in yet, but I'm trying to decide how to diplomatically ask about my spot on the wait list (especially since they didn't really refer to it as a wait list).

[DisplayCancel]

Is anyone else on CUNY's wait list ("finalist for admission") here? Any news? Obviously if I haven't been contacted then I'm not in yet, but I'm trying to decide how to diplomatically ask about my spot on the wait list (especially since they didn't really refer to it as a wait list).

No news yet... I've not been in contact, apart from saying I wasn't attending Open House. Let me know if you find out your place on the list!

[ZacharyBinks]

No news yet... I've not been in contact, apart from saying I wasn't attending Open House. Let me know if you find out your place on the list!

 

I just emailed Dr. Carrie Hintz, so I'll let you know what she says whenever I hear back.

[ZacharyBinks]

An excerpt from her response:

 

"There has been very little movement so far, so I am not in a position to predict how many candidates from our finalist list (which is basically a waitlist) will be admitted.  Last year, there was a great deal of movement and we were able to offer admission and funding to many candidates right up until the April 15^th deadline.  This year, our fellowship packages are much better than in the past, which means that more applicants with initial offers may accept them in the past—we simply have no way of knowing."

 

She did mention that they will be in touch with everyone in early April with an update if we don't hear sooner. This is pretty much the ambiguous answer I expected.

[TripWillis]

Is anyone else on CUNY's wait list ("finalist for admission") here? Any news? Obviously if I haven't been contacted then I'm not in yet, but I'm trying to decide how to diplomatically ask about my spot on the wait list (especially since they didn't really refer to it as a wait list).

 

 

No news yet... I've not been in contact, apart from saying I wasn't attending Open House. Let me know if you find out your place on the list!

 

I wouldn't expect to hear too much until after the open house. That's generally how these things go.

[Drol Noryb]

Is anyone here going to the open house?

 

(I've been lurking around GradCafe for a little while, but this is my first post.)

[DisplayCancel]

Thanks ZacharyBinks for posting the response- and thanks Trip for the info. I think we've got a way to go yet...