CUNY or Re-apply?

[ComeBackZinc]

^As a general point for any school, I second the interest in actual stats rather than a vague notion of reputation. Hiring rate, graduation rate for those who pass exams, and time-to-degree are super important.

 

Edit: but as Fishbucket says, so is context.

Edited March 3, 2013 by ComeBackZinc

[yellow.wallpaper]

I think the data for CUNY may not be particularly representative of a new student's experience anymore, because as Trip Willis says they recently completely changed their funding packages in order to graduate more students faster. So a lot of the reasons for attrition may have been fixed.

 

 

I have to agree with this. CUNY professors are working hard on students in order to help them graduate faster, so they can acquire more students and train them better.

[TripWillis]

Also, they used to only fund like half their students. That's why the attrition rate/time to degree was so out of whack.

[marlowe]

If y'all have been paying attention to the dynamic trajectory of this particular poster's three name changes thus far and her posting history, you would have a better idea about what she is really asking here.  I think she initially underestimated the difficult and random nature of this entire process and naively assumed -- as many of us have done before, including myself -- that they would be far more successful in the applications process than results later demonstrated.  CUNY is the lowest "ranked" of the schools on her application list (and not as prestigious as her undergraduate institution, where she was not accepted for the PhD), so she feels as if CUNY is a step below her pedigree.  She also spent much of the Fall trolling the boards and not inconspicuously humble-bragging about the schools to which she was applying.   

 

Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

So, to answer your fair enough question (and one that many of us have considered at one point or another):

 

1) You wouldn't have applied to CUNY if it wasn't a brilliant program and a good fit.  

2) Their funding package is absolutely amazing compared to last year (assuming Comp Lit has a similar scheme to English in place).

3) It is a great program in a top city with top scholars.  

 

In hindsight, it is easy to think that you might have been (or will be) accepted at better places and to know that you would be successful at those places.  But this whole process is unpredictable and stupid, frankly, and you will be as well-trained and challenged at CUNY as at most other schools in the country.

[Fishbucket]

Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

You are wrong. I never humble-bragged about the schools where I was applying. I just applied to programs recommended to me by my advisors, who perhaps have a narrow field of vision since they mainly associate with other academics at top programs. I never naïvely assumed success, but I did apply with the assumption that I would re-apply if things didn't work out. Now instead of re-applying I'm considering CUNY, a school I added to my list at the very end. That is all. 

[Fishbucket]

Well speak of the devil, I've been waitlisted at Columbia. Goddamn it!

 

whoops, meant to post this in the waitlist thread. gonna go do that now

Edited March 3, 2013 by Fishbucket

[Timmy_the_Tooth]

Remember that one time DontHate aka Fishbucket posted that annoying thread about betting on grad school acceptances? Trollz gotta eat. . 

[Two Espressos]

Remember that one time DontHate aka Fishbucket posted that annoying thread about betting on grad school acceptances? Trollz gotta eat. . 

 

  Fishbucket = DontHate?  Am I the only person who didn't get that until just now?

[dazedandbemused]

  Fishbucket = DontHate?  Am I the only person who didn't get that until just now?

 

Nope. I just thought we were dealing with a ridiculously high concentration of trolls this year.

[ishmael]

What's with the name-change? Weird.

[Katzenmusik]

I'll be honest, this place is a lot more lively when DontHate is around.  She was (is?) a bomb-thrower.  I don't agree with everything she said, but the discussions that were happening around here were a bit more intense and honest as a result of her presence.  

 

I like the encouraging, positive vibe of the Grad Cafe overall, but every once in a while it's good to have some abrasion. 

Edited March 3, 2013 by Katzenmusik

[Swagato]

Yup, likewise. I've nothing against Don'tHate--their comments typically are smart, if not the most tactful. However as we all know, this is a game in which luck plays a large part, so if (I hope not!) they do not have a successful round, I would expect them to play fair. 

[TripWillis]

I'll be honest, this place is a lot more lively when DontHate is around.  She was (is?) a bomb-thrower.  I don't agree with everything she said, but the discussions that were happening around here were a bit more intense and honest as a result of her presence.  

 

I like the encouraging, positive vibe of the Grad Cafe overall, but every once in a while it's good to have some abrasion. 

I disagree. I think honest dialogue is good. But, I've had plenty of rigorous debates on here without bomb throwing. I also don't get how Don't Hate's posts were "honest" when they seemed more like naked provocation. The only thing intense about her presence was that she was acting, under circumstances of anonymity, the way that no one would act in real life if they wanted to have collegial relationships with people.

[asleepawake]

Suddenly everything makes sense in sockpuppet-land.

 

I do believe at least 5 accounts are all the same person...

Edited March 3, 2013 by asleepawake

[Fishbucket]

I don't have more than one account. This is my only account.

 

To explain further, I asked the mods to delete my previous account, mistakenly thinking it would help me go cold turkey on my gradcafe addiction. Unfortunately, the devil over my left shoulder reminded me that I had posted once a while back using a different email address. Hence, fishbucket. I just can't quit you, gradcafe!

 

And quite frankly, Trip Willis, I DO talk this way in real life, and I get along with everyone in my department just fine. The trolling threshold on this forum is set extremely low, due to people's naked insecurities. Anything that isn't anodyne, blindly optimistic, identity-politics-policed pablum is downvoted to hell. This includes sarcastic jokes that go over people's heads. In real life, or perhaps just in my life, people have more self-awareness and a better sense of humor than many of the posters on this board.

Edited March 3, 2013 by Fishbucket

[asleepawake]

The trolling threshold on this forum is set extremely low, due to people's naked insecurities. Anything that isn't anodyne, blindly optimistic, identity-politics-policed pablum is downvoted to hell. This includes sarcastic jokes that go over people's heads. In real life, or perhaps just in my life, people have more self-awareness and a better sense of humor than many of the posters on this board.

 

 

Your humor is just so complex and nuanced that most of us can't comprehend it. Oh, the irony of you claiming the rest of us need self-awareness. 

 

Anyway, I do want to congratulate you on the news from Columbia, because hells yeah NYC. Buy CUNY is also a great choice. Even if you sometimes/often say things that make me roll my eyes, I do think you deserve it.

[Fishbucket]

thank you. is a waitlist good news? at least it's not a rejection, that would have hurt my feelings.

[practical cat]

  Fishbucket = DontHate?  Am I the only person who didn't get that until just now?

I noticed a while ago and am ridiculously glad that I didn't have to be the one to point it out.

[Fishbucket]

 

 it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring 

 

[Swagato]

Eh. A waitlist, as you yourself said to me (I think) just means that they would've accepted you if they could afford to (financially, or otherwise). 

[gatz]

 

 it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring 

 

yep interesting people love trolling around on the internet well known fact

[ComeBackZinc]

Typically, people who talk about other people's naked insecurities are trying to mask theirs. I don't mind a little abrasiveness. And I do think that this forum needs more pessimism. But you seem to constantly psychoanalyze people in a way that could just as easily be applied to you. Now congratulations on the CUNY acceptance and the Columbia wait list. Think of how good they feel, think of how bad rejection hurts, and then consider whether the attitudes on this board that you dislike so much stem from the intensity of those emotions. People here are sensitive because they know how good and bad this process can feel. Is that so difficult to understand?

[Fishbucket]

it just makes it hard to get any useful information 

[asleepawake]

I think a wait list is good news... or at the very worst, it's a lack of bad news.

[TripWillis]

I don't have more than one account. This is my only account.

 

To explain further, I asked the mods to delete my previous account, mistakenly thinking it would help me go cold turkey on my gradcafe addiction. Unfortunately, the devil over my left shoulder reminded me that I had posted once a while back using a different email address. Hence, fishbucket. I just can't quit you, gradcafe!

 

And quite frankly, Trip Willis, I DO talk this way in real life, and I get along with everyone in my department just fine. The trolling threshold on this forum is set extremely low, due to people's naked insecurities. Anything that isn't anodyne, blindly optimistic, identity-politics-policed pablum is downvoted to hell. This includes sarcastic jokes that go over people's heads. In real life, or perhaps just in my life, people have more self-awareness and a better sense of humor than many of the posters on this board.

I wish you all the best.