UT-Austin

[antecedent]

Have any of you waitlisters heard from Dr. Lesser outside of his initial email?

 

Last year I seem to remember he was just not really into responding to emails. I also remember someone telling me that would be the case, and they were right! So don't worry, it's him, not your admission status. 

[featherrocketship]

Nope, not me. I emailed him twice but never got an answer.

Same here. Exactly the same.

[gwarner13]

I have officially declined my UT offer-- hope one of you gets good news soon! I know all too well the misery of the waiting game.

[Two Espressos]

And of course, their placement rate is nothing to shake a stick at. According to Dr. Lesser, and I have no reason to doubt him, UT has the best job placement record of any school in the top 20.

 

Really?  If that's the case, then that's awesome.

[Globalist]

Sorry if this is a repeated question but does anyone know exactly what the tuition and fees comes to?  I'm trying to get an actual number for what I'd be getting financially to live on next year and am having a hard time finding specific info.  Thanks!!!

[ghijklmn]

Sorry if this is a repeated question but does anyone know exactly what the tuition and fees comes to?  I'm trying to get an actual number for what I'd be getting financially to live on next year and am having a hard time finding specific info.  Thanks!!!

 

I don't know to the number, but I was told by grad students that it comes down to about $800 a semester after the tuition reduction.

[deciding]

Thanks for all the great info about the program! Congrats to all who were accepted. Austin sounds fantastic.

Does anyone know how UNC Chapel Hill compares to Austin in terms of reputation and job placement? I'm trying to choose between the two. It seems that U.S. News ranks Chapel Hill's English program slightly higher. On the other hand, Times Higher Education ranks Austin higher overall and ranks them higher in the humanities as well. ARWU also ranks Austin higher overall. QS ranks Chapel Hill higher. Any thoughts? I really want a school with a good international reputation so I can work abroad. I am so far from making a decision! Did you guys have this much trouble deciding?

[dazedandbemused]

I don't know to the number, but I was told by grad students that it comes down to about $800 a semester after the tuition reduction.

Wow, $800 sounds high. Dr. Lesser told us that they're hoping to make it so that the department absorbs the extra tuition costs, but at worst it will probably be around $100 a semester.

[Globalist]

I don't know to the number, but I was told by grad students that it comes down to about $800 a semester after the tuition reduction.

 

Thanks for the info.  This helps.  Still nervous though.  Hard to go from full-time employment to the stipend - but from what everyone is saying it sounds like Austin is worth it.  Deciding by tomorrow. 

[dazedandbemused]

Thanks for all the great info about the program! Congrats to all who were accepted. Austin sounds fantastic.

Does anyone know how UNC Chapel Hill compares to Austin in terms of reputation and job placement? I'm trying to choose between the two. It seems that U.S. News ranks Chapel Hill's English program slightly higher. On the other hand, Times Higher Education ranks Austin higher overall and ranks them higher in the humanities as well. ARWU also ranks Austin higher overall. QS ranks Chapel Hill higher. Any thoughts? I really want a school with a good international reputation so I can work abroad. I am so far from making a decision! Did you guys have this much trouble deciding?

 

Well, I think there have been a number of conversations on here about whether or not the rankings are bullshit. But even if one does choose to take it seriously, I have a hard time believing that there's a significant difference in prestige, if any at all, between schools that are so close in rankings.As for placements, UNC doesn't seem to have them listed on their website, which I find suspicious. The way I calculate placement record is to look at how many people are accepted per year, how many graduate, and how many have jobs. I've seen programs who graudate five people a year, two of who might get TT jobs, but they accept 15 a year; where did the other ten people go? UT's placement statistics are online, and they're surprisingly comprehensive:

http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/english/graduate/placement/graduates-phd.php

[deciding]

Well, I think there have been a number of conversations on here about whether or not the rankings are bullshit. But even if one does choose to take it seriously, I have a hard time believing that there's a significant difference in prestige, if any at all, between schools that are so close in rankings.As for placements, UNC doesn't seem to have them listed on their website, which I find suspicious. The way I calculate placement record is to look at how many people are accepted per year, how many graduate, and how many have jobs. I've seen programs who graudate five people a year, two of who might get TT jobs, but they accept 15 a year; where did the other ten people go? UT's placement statistics are online, and they're surprisingly comprehensive:

http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/english/graduate/placement/graduates-phd.php

Thanks, that helps a lot, I didn't know about that site. I just found the job placement site for UNC - it was hard to find for some reason. It's not half bad. Surprisingly, Comp Lit has a better job placement record than English.

http://englishcomplit.unc.edu/english/job-placement-record

[ErnestPWorrell]

I was told to budget around $1000 per semester for tuition by current grad students, just fyi.  

[dazedandbemused]

I was told to budget around $1000 per semester for tuition by current grad students, just fyi.

I'm just passing on what we were told during the visit, but I got the impression that they're really making a push to cut the tuition payments because its just not competitive compared to other fully-funded programs. I have no idea what the actual amount will be, though. Maybe one of the resident first years around here could weigh in?

[ErnestPWorrell]

I'm just passing on what we were told during the visit, but I got the impression that they're really making a push to cut the tuition payments because its just not competitive compared to other fully-funded programs. I have no idea what the actual amount will be, though. Maybe one of the resident first years around here could weigh in?

Yeah, that's cool. I didn't mean to sound like I was starting shit or whatever.

[Two Espressos]

Thanks for all the great info about the program! Congrats to all who were accepted. Austin sounds fantastic.

Does anyone know how UNC Chapel Hill compares to Austin in terms of reputation and job placement? I'm trying to choose between the two. It seems that U.S. News ranks Chapel Hill's English program slightly higher. On the other hand, Times Higher Education ranks Austin higher overall and ranks them higher in the humanities as well. ARWU also ranks Austin higher overall. QS ranks Chapel Hill higher. Any thoughts? I really want a school with a good international reputation so I can work abroad. I am so far from making a decision! Did you guys have this much trouble deciding?

 

It's my perception that the difference in reputation between UNC-Chapel Hill and UT-Austin is so marginal as to be insignificant: they're both two of the best state universities in the U.S., their English Ph.D. programs both have reputations for being very collegial and supportive, they both have respectable placement stats, they both have good international reputations, and they both offer less funding than peer institutions (one of the only downsides).  Obviously there are differences between them, but at this point, I'd say that fit becomes the most important factor.

 

Really, UNC-Chapel Hill and UT-Austin are both top-notch programs.  You can't go wrong!

 

Oh, and were you at the UNC open house?  I'm headed there this fall, so obviously my take on the program is a little biased. 

 

Well, I think there have been a number of conversations on here about whether or not the rankings are bullshit. But even if one does choose to take it seriously, I have a hard time believing that there's a significant difference in prestige, if any at all, between schools that are so close in rankings.As for placements, UNC doesn't seem to have them listed on their website, which I find suspicious. The way I calculate placement record is to look at how many people are accepted per year, how many graduate, and how many have jobs. I've seen programs who graudate five people a year, two of who might get TT jobs, but they accept 15 a year; where did the other ten people go? UT's placement statistics are online, and they're surprisingly comprehensive:

http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/english/graduate/placement/graduates-phd.php

 

As deciding notes above, fairly comprehensive placement stats are listed on UNC's website, but they much harder to find than they should be.

 

ETA: Also bear in mind that UNC is in the Research Triangle, so you can take graduate courses at other local universities, most notably Duke.  I'm not sure if UT-Austin has something similar or not?

 

Another thing I like about UNC-Chapel Hill is that its graduates go on to acquire TT positions both at SLAC, state schools, and community colleges as well as major research institutions like Rutgers.  It's a nice mix.

Edited April 12, 2013 by Two Espressos

[dazedandbemused]

As deciding notes above, fairly comprehensive placement stats are listed on UNC's website, but they much harder to find than they should be.

 

Ha, good to know! I couldn't find it anywhere and after two application seasons of scouring English department websites, I've noticed that programs with good placement rates tend to have very comprehensive websites while the programs that aren't doing well tend to have very uninformative or nonexistent placement stats. I didn't know y'all had the same funding issues as us. At least it goes up after a couple of years though!

[marlowe]

Looks like first semester I paid something like $1100 in tuition, and I got refunded $400 a month later.  Much of the remaining bit, I think, was withheld for taxes (or paid as taxes?), and  I got most of it back in my return.  Second semester it was about $1000 even and I got the same amount back.   

[dazedandbemused]

Oh, so you're not actually losing all of that $1000? That's good I know.

[Sursie]

Though it sounds like students might have to run up some credit card debt if they don't have the cash on hand...

[dazedandbemused]

That's true. I had planned to set some cash aside over the summer for it, but I hope they tell everyone ahead of time. It would suck to have large charges like that come out of nowhere.

[ophelia9]

quick note: if you don't have the funds to pay the tuition bill upfront, you can take out a short-term loan from UT for the full amount and then pay it back near the end of the semester after you've gotten paid. I think you end up paying like ~$20 in interest. I've done it both semesters and have had no issues. So don't let that be the reason you turn down UT : )

 

more here: http://www.utexas.edu/business/accounting/sar/il.html

Edited April 14, 2013 by ophelia9

[ComeBackZinc]

Re: placement rates, check this out

 

http://chronicle.com/article/An-Open-Letter-From-a-Director/64882/

 

I've talked about placement rates before, but as I've read more and more stuff like this (and there's a lot in the Chronicle to be read) I'm more skeptical about talking about them. The problem is that no two programs have consistent methodologies for determining their placement rates. I'm not saying don't look at them, just try to take them with a grain of salt.

[GuateAmfeminist]

I just want to say that I love being in grad school at UT. I am currently sitting in a house in Antigua, Guatemala, with my airfare, lodging, and transportation paid for by the university for a week. I saw a historic genocide trial, foresnic evidence that made me cry, and documents that few, if any people have seen. Where else could you make something like this happen in less than a month? I am not one to gush about much, but I don't believe that I could be happier doing anything else right now.

Edited April 14, 2013 by GuateAmfeminist

[dazedandbemused]

Re: placement rates, check this out

 

http://chronicle.com/article/An-Open-Letter-From-a-Director/64882/

 

I've talked about placement rates before, but as I've read more and more stuff like this (and there's a lot in the Chronicle to be read) I'm more skeptical about talking about them. The problem is that no two programs have consistent methodologies for determining their placement rates. I'm not saying don't look at them, just try to take them with a grain of salt.

 

Yeah, I've read that article. I agree that you probably should take low placement rates with a grain of salt. I will still reserve the right to be extremely impressed with UT's numbers

 

I just want to say that I love being in grad school at UT. I am currently sitting in a house in Antigua, Guatemala, with my airfare, lodging, and transportation paid for by the university for a week. I saw a historic genocide trial, foresnic evidence that made me cry, and documents that few, if any people have seen. Where else could you make something like this happen in less than a month? I am not one to gush about much, but I don't believe that I could be happier doing anything else right now.

 

This sounds amazing. I'm so jealous/excited.

[ComeBackZinc]

Yeah, I'd feel very comfortable about UTs track record! I think it's a good example of how general perceptions and anecdotes can corroborate the numbers.