shortstack51 Posted February 20, 2014 Posted February 20, 2014 So I received a very generous and exciting offer from UConn, as I see several others did too. I'm pumped! However, my fiancée did not get into her program at UConn and is getting into one in a different part of CT. This means we would be doing a crazy commute around both new haven and Hartford traffic in either direction if I went to UConn. UConn's deadline is March 15th- would it be appropriate to say that I need extra time for logistics? I am apparently also getting accepted to Washington State but it will take time due to my being at the top of the wait list. (I have also heard of departments helping to grandfather spouses in- my fiancée applied to an unfunded MA in a different department at UConn) Help??
ke6904 Posted February 20, 2014 Posted February 20, 2014 Wow, I'm surprised UConn's deadline is March 15. This is my first application season, but aren't most deadlines universally April 15th? I think it's fair that you need more time to decide, but I have no clue how that will go over with the department. Maybe try speaking with Mary Udal? My experiences with her have been very pleasant. You're already in, so it can't hurt to just ask them.
mikers86 Posted February 20, 2014 Posted February 20, 2014 Huh, I must have missed the March 15th comment in the letter. Time to look over it again.
shortstack51 Posted February 20, 2014 Author Posted February 20, 2014 It was in the last few sentences of my letter. And yes, it seems incredibly early. I'll try writing to Mary Udal - she seems very pleasant and helpful. Thanks!
mikers86 Posted February 20, 2014 Posted February 20, 2014 I saw it after you mentioned it. Granted, it said "preferably," so there's likely wiggle room. In terms of early decisions, that's not the worst I've seen. If I recall, URI requests you to decide by Feb. 28.
shortstack51 Posted February 20, 2014 Author Posted February 20, 2014 Wow! That's crazy. So many programs don't get back to you that quickly. My current school's PhD program won't be getting bak to me until mid Marxh
ke6904 Posted February 20, 2014 Posted February 20, 2014 Yeah, I'm waiting to hear back from UConn regarding the MA program, but I also applied to a few programs that probably won't get back to me until that March 15th deadline.
Horb Posted February 20, 2014 Posted February 20, 2014 I'm pretty sure I"m going to turn down my offer. I got more funding and a fellowship from a better university, but I still want to check out the campus.
shortstack51 Posted February 20, 2014 Author Posted February 20, 2014 The campus may scare you off for good Horb! Depending on your tastes. The campus itself is very expansive and has a lot to offer in terms of on-campus food, housing, technology, services, etc., but it's in the middle of nowhere in Connecticut. There is literally a cow farm right next to campus. I'm from the hills in CT so it doesn't bother me at all (it's a bit comforting), but it isn't exactly for everyone. It is, however, not far from either Hartford or Boston (less than 2 hrs from Boston), so there are plenty of places to go and do things on weekends and whatnot. I'm writing to Mary Udal with the DGS CC'd, so hopefully I will get an "extension" on my decision.
Horb Posted February 20, 2014 Posted February 20, 2014 The campus may scare you off for good Horb! Depending on your tastes. The campus itself is very expansive and has a lot to offer in terms of on-campus food, housing, technology, services, etc., but it's in the middle of nowhere in Connecticut. There is literally a cow farm right next to campus. I'm from the hills in CT so it doesn't bother me at all (it's a bit comforting), but it isn't exactly for everyone. It is, however, not far from either Hartford or Boston (less than 2 hrs from Boston), so there are plenty of places to go and do things on weekends and whatnot. I'm writing to Mary Udal with the DGS CC'd, so hopefully I will get an "extension" on my decision. I currently go to UMass Amherst so I'm pretty familiar with large campuses in the middle of nowhere. I'm not an excellent sprinter having to run from one end of campus up the massive hill to the other.
shortstack51 Posted February 20, 2014 Author Posted February 20, 2014 I currently go to UMass Amherst so I'm pretty familiar with large campuses in the middle of nowhere. I'm not an excellent sprinter having to run from one end of campus up the massive hill to the other. Excellent! I sadly got rejected from Amherst, but I was excited about building up my sprinting abilities there. As far as I can tell, most of UConn's English courses should be concentrated in one building. There are certainly plenty of hills to practice on as well. (I've gone to UConn for conferences and I've had friends there; they always complain about getting from one building to the next, haha.) If I may ask, where is your other offer from? I remember you saying but I seem to have forgotten. I'm apparently getting into Washington State, but their stipend is much smaller. But the cost of living is also way cheaper out there...
Horb Posted February 20, 2014 Posted February 20, 2014 I was accepted into Tufts (I am beyond thrilled!). I'm sorry about UMass. The department is full of amazing professors and all of them are super nice (My advisor was just unreal in terms of how nice and helpful she was). But I've heard wonderful things about UConn.
shortstack51 Posted February 20, 2014 Author Posted February 20, 2014 Congratulations about Tufts!! One of my undergraduate mentors did her PhD at Tufts and adored it. I was pretty disappointed about UMass at first, but UConn makes up for it. That and their 80% placement rate, haha. I'm also counting on getting into my current institution for PhD, which has a $22k/year stipend. I'm attracted to my West Coast possibilities, but there is a part of me that never wants to leave New England. Sidenote, to keep this post relevant to the topic: I am still waiting to hear back from Mary Udal and the DGS about the March 15th thing. For those interested, I am also visiting campus the weekend of March 22/23 (I'm attending an LGBT conference there that weekend). We should do an informal GradCafe visit weekend
mikers86 Posted February 20, 2014 Posted February 20, 2014 The one drawback for me with UConn was the "8 semesters of funding." Maybe others received different packages. Even with an MA, it takes about 5 years to finish at UConn, and though you can find other types of funding, that just struck me as a possible negative.
shortstack51 Posted February 20, 2014 Author Posted February 20, 2014 Yes, I noticed that as well. As far as I know, the standard is usually 5 years? From what I've been told, and this is a very rudimentary understanding, funding usually lasts until you finish coursework, exams, and some teaching. After that, you're All But Dissertation, at which point you're contractually free to seek full time employment elsewhere (a professor at my undergraduate school was married with 2 kids and taught as full-time ABD faculty for forever because she had no time to finish her dissertation- not tenure track, of course). Other than that, there are typically fellowships available. It does kind of stink that UConn's is one less year than seems to be the average, but I'm hoping that means they have other opportunities available, or that if it really only takes 5 years, that you only have one year as ABD. My current school's PhD program has you as ABD with no funding for 2 years (6 and 7--you don't start teaching or submitting your proposal until year 4) unless you get a teaching or research fellowship.
shortstack51 Posted February 21, 2014 Author Posted February 21, 2014 Just so everyone knows, Charles Mahoney sent me a very nice e-mail saying it's fine if I take longer. He also then did a lot of things that boosted my ego (ie talk about the ideas in my writing sample, offered to set up an itinerary for my visit when I head up, etc). He is swaying me to UConn through inflating my ego! Clever man! (In all seriousness, he is very nice and helpful if you need anything.) mikers86 1
mikers86 Posted February 21, 2014 Posted February 21, 2014 I'm probably visiting earlier than you. It will be hard to choose UConn over Duke, but I'm giving it a fair chance.
arober6912 Posted February 21, 2014 Posted February 21, 2014 I too was concerned about this early decision date. I'm accepted to several places and am waiting on my partner to complete interviews for jobs at UCONN and the other schools before I can officially make my decision. It sounds like, from shortstack51's experience, that they are willing to be flexible on this deadline thankfully. Now I have to weigh sunny CA with cold and wet New England! Those of you with experience in and around UCONN, what are your thoughts on the environment? I'm getting the feel that the actual campus is crawling with party hard undergrads but the surrounding areas are quaint and nice. I just don't like the idea of driving a half hour for groceries!
shortstack51 Posted February 21, 2014 Author Posted February 21, 2014 You certainly won't need to drive a half hour for groceries (maybe 10-15 mins depending on location), but it is small town New England so there won't necessarily be a lot to do. I find small town New England appealing (cheaper rent, cute old houses, pretty surroundings, outdoorsy stuff to do) but it won't necessarily be for everyone. My experience with the campus has generally been positive. I find the undergrads at my current school (small private catholic school) to be much more obnoxious than the average UConn student. Granted, most of them are from CT, so they won't exactly be the most worldly and they'll still be obnoxious. As for parties, they certainly happen, but should be easy to avoid if you live off campus and don't spend a lot of time there late at night. I'm not sure how it rates as a party school compared to other state schools or the ivies (upenn for instance is known for its ridiculous parties that happen at all times of the day). Something to look into, though.
Horb Posted February 21, 2014 Posted February 21, 2014 I went to UMass Amherst which is similar to UConn in many ways: large state school in the middle of nowhere. If you don't live on campus, it is fine. And even if you do, unless you live in the Southwest of UConn, which I bet they don't put grad students there, you're fine. Most things probably close early anyways in town, so you won't really need to worry about that either.
allysekn Posted February 21, 2014 Posted February 21, 2014 I too was concerned about this early decision date. I'm accepted to several places and am waiting on my partner to complete interviews for jobs at UCONN and the other schools before I can officially make my decision. It sounds like, from shortstack51's experience, that they are willing to be flexible on this deadline thankfully. Now I have to weigh sunny CA with cold and wet New England! Those of you with experience in and around UCONN, what are your thoughts on the environment? I'm getting the feel that the actual campus is crawling with party hard undergrads but the surrounding areas are quaint and nice. I just don't like the idea of driving a half hour for groceries! I grew up in NE CT (where UConn is). It's adorable. It's quaint. But Storrs does not even qualify as a college town, which is something UMass Amherst has, at least. If you like the idea of rural New England, go for it. But if you value some sort of cultural vibrancy, it's not there.
back2black Posted February 24, 2014 Posted February 24, 2014 Anyone else wait listed at UConn? They sent me a nice e-mail saying I'm on a selective waiting list! This is pretty amazing because my POI's work is all over my MA thesis and it would be incredible to work with her. Any ideas how the wait list works? Does everyone get wait listed (as opposed to outright rejected) or is the wait list truly selective? Is the wait list organized by specialization? It would be great if this changed to an acceptance before March 15th so I could get an invite to their open house, but I'm not too optimistic.
mikers86 Posted February 24, 2014 Posted February 24, 2014 Anyone else wait listed at UConn? They sent me a nice e-mail saying I'm on a selective waiting list! This is pretty amazing because my POI's work is all over my MA thesis and it would be incredible to work with her. Any ideas how the wait list works? Does everyone get wait listed (as opposed to outright rejected) or is the wait list truly selective? Is the wait list organized by specialization? It would be great if this changed to an acceptance before March 15th so I could get an invite to their open house, but I'm not too optimistic. To the best of my knowledge, there is no official open house. At least not that I was made aware of (please, someone correct me if I'm missing out on an awesome planned event). And the date is flexible, but they obviously would like to know sooner rather than later so they can go to their wait list earlier.
Horb Posted February 24, 2014 Posted February 24, 2014 Mikers86, I too did not receive word on a particular visiting day. I'm waiting to hear back from a few schools but UConn is definitely competing for my heart. I'm debating driving out and seeing the campus, but if I fall in love it might be hard!
back2black Posted February 24, 2014 Posted February 24, 2014 (edited) To the best of my knowledge, there is no official open house. At least not that I was made aware of (please, someone correct me if I'm missing out on an awesome planned event). And the date is flexible, but they obviously would like to know sooner rather than later so they can go to their wait list earlier. Thanks mikers-- I wasn't sure if there was an English event/open house planned. I would love to visit, but it seems premature, as I'm only on the wait list. I also would love to e-mail my POI, but again, it seems too soon-- ah! Edited February 24, 2014 by back2black
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