FingersCrossed12 Posted January 12, 2015 Posted January 12, 2015 (edited) How are you guys dealing with the wait? I'm spending time trying to forget about some small mistakes that are on my application. I learned my lessons about re-reading what has already been submitted and won't be doing that again? I think it's awesome that everyone has been so helpful on here about interviews and program questions. I haven't posted in a while, but I just wanted to say thanks I am working on preparing some answers for interview questions for my MA, have any ideas what kind of questions I can expect (or what you guys were asked)? My Spanish is a little rusty because I've spent almost two years exclusively studying Portuguese and I use it more frequently than english at this point... I know I can still speak Spanish relatively easily because I took two classes last semester, but I speak portuñol when I'm nervous so I want to prepare! Good luck to all! Let's hope these weeks fly by! Edited January 12, 2015 by FingersCrossed12
xolo Posted January 12, 2015 Posted January 12, 2015 FingersCrossed12, Bom dia! There, I've now exhausted my Portuguese vocabulary. I'm so used to waiting that it doesn't seem so bad. I'm a little amazed that it only takes a couple of months to hear back on an application. But it is a little anxiety producing. Hi Natiyrm, Yes you are probably right about other students, you are unique. Have you already taken the DELE? I think it might be a little late to take it for the Fall 2015 cycle. I took it right after it was updated to the EU common model a couple of years ago and managed to pass at level C2. It did, however, take the Cervantes Institute 3 months to grade the thing! In my SOP I do mention that I have it. It's not a major part of my SOP, in my opinion. Doesn't UAB require B2 as a minimum of all students in order to attend?
BeatrizBear Posted January 12, 2015 Author Posted January 12, 2015 I should have gotten some kind of certification. I took graduate level Spanish literature courses so I thought that was sufficient but who knows. Did anyoneelse get an email from Indiana confirming that your application is complete?
xolo Posted January 12, 2015 Posted January 12, 2015 Don't worry BeatrizBear, certifications aren't as important as my missing literature classes!
BeatrizBear Posted January 12, 2015 Author Posted January 12, 2015 Don't worry BeatrizBear, certifications aren't as important as my missing literature classes! Have you not taken any lit courses? Haha, that's really all I've taken...
FingersCrossed12 Posted January 12, 2015 Posted January 12, 2015 BeatrizBear. I got an email from them last week saying that they needed my international transcripts, but it turns out that they weren't needed. Nothing about having a complete file yet though
BeatrizBear Posted January 12, 2015 Author Posted January 12, 2015 BeatrizBear, I've applied for UCSD, UF, UMD and Columbia. I will also apply for UAB of Spain. I was going to apply to Cornell and Columbia but eventually decided against it. The Ivies are really theory based, right? I didn't like that in the coursework. My top choices are NYU and Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh seems to have a reputation for having a top notch program for Latin America. BeatrizBear. I got an email from them last week saying that they needed my international transcripts, but it turns out that they weren't needed. Nothing about having a complete file yet though I emailed the admin to ask about it and she didn't reply and instead I got an email saying that my file was complete so it was probably because I asked that I got the message. I'm getting nervous that my transcripts got lost in the mail or something since I haven't yet gotten any verification that my file is complete for my other applications.
Natiyrm Posted January 13, 2015 Posted January 13, 2015 ***, I took DELE C1 in November and haven't got my grades yet, yes they work slowly... I did my exchange year in UAB, they don't require DELE grades from Spanish major students and enroll a lot of Chinese students (economic crisis...). So far it's my only safe school. BeatrizBear, I haven't studied in US before and got all the information from the websites of the universities... I would really like to go to UCSD, though
SDB Posted January 13, 2015 Posted January 13, 2015 (edited) Hola! Yo también estoy solicitando para los programas de literatura española! Quiero especializarme en poesía judía hispanoamericana contemporánea. He solicitado también a BU. La verdad que el proceso de esperar es muy complicado... ¡Sobre todo cuando uno lee en las páginas de los departamentos que empiezan a llamar para las entrevistas en enero! Muchas suerte a todos. Edited January 13, 2015 by SDB
BeatrizBear Posted January 14, 2015 Author Posted January 14, 2015 I saw these guys talking about the prestige of the school you go to and how it affects your job prospects. Any opinions on how this relates to our field?
joanlba Posted January 14, 2015 Posted January 14, 2015 I saw these guys talking about the prestige of the school you go to and how it affects your job prospects. Any opinions on how this relates to our field? Algo que lei hace algun tiempo: Scene. It's a fine sunny day in the forest, and a rabbit is sitting outside his burrow, tippy-tapping on his typewriter. Along comes a fox, out for a walk. Fox: "What are you working on?" Rabbit: "My thesis." Fox: "Hmmm. What's it about?" Rabbit: "Oh, I'm writing about how rabbits eat foxes." (incredulous pause) Fox: "That's ridiculous! Any fool knows that rabbits don't eat foxes." Rabbit: "Sure they do, and I can prove it. Come with me." They both disappear into the rabbit's burrow. After a few minutes, the rabbit returns, alone, to his typewriter and resumes typing. Soon, a wolf comes along and stops to watch the hardworking rabbit. Wolf: "What's that you're writing?" Rabbit: "I'm doing a thesis on how rabbits eat wolves."(loud guffaws) Wolf: "You don't expect to get such rubbish published, do you?" Rabbit: "No problem. Do you want to see why?" The rabbit and the wolf go into the burrow, and again the rabbit returns by himself, after a few minutes, and goes back to typing. Scene: inside the rabbit's burrow. In one corner, there is a pile of fox bones. In another corner, a pile of wolf bones. On the other side of the room, a huge lion is belching and picking his teeth. Moral: It doesn't matter what you choose for a thesis subject. It doesn't matter what you use for data. What does matter is who you have for a thesis advisor.
nuclearves Posted January 14, 2015 Posted January 14, 2015 Bienvenido, SDB, Tuve mi primera entrevista hace unos dias. Fue algo de casi inesperado y me cambiaron la hora de entrevista unas veces, pero al fin de cuenta,valio la pena. Nice story on the rabbit and the lion. So the pen really is mightier than the sword?
BeatrizBear Posted January 14, 2015 Author Posted January 14, 2015 Bienvenido, SDB, Tuve mi primera entrevista hace unos dias. Fue algo de casi inesperado y me cambiaron la hora de entrevista unas veces, pero al fin de cuenta,valio la pena. Nice story on the rabbit and the lion. So the pen really is mightier than the sword? For which school did you have an interview? Are you applying for a Comparative Literature program or in the Spanish department?
BeatrizBear Posted January 14, 2015 Author Posted January 14, 2015 Very well said LKS! I agree with you. I've been kind of looking around the forum and it just seems like the people in the English department are really negative about the whole thing.
joanlba Posted January 14, 2015 Posted January 14, 2015 Just had my first interview. Completely unannounced. My phone was off, I turn it on and boom, US number calling. About 20 minutes of explaining my future career plans, explaining my SOP. They told me it was a informal interview because they've just started reviewing materials. All I can say is that I wasn't planning this type of interview. Overall, I think I managed to do well but nevertheless, but I was kind of shaking during the whole thing. Let's start getting nervous.
BeatrizBear Posted January 14, 2015 Author Posted January 14, 2015 What program, Joan? And so they're just going to interview everyone without giving them notice? O:
BeatrizBear Posted January 14, 2015 Author Posted January 14, 2015 Does our department get much less applications than other departments? http://www.petersons.com/graduate-schools/indiana-university-bloomington-college-of-arts-and-sciences-department-of-spanish-and-portuguese-000_10030531.aspx http://www.petersons.com/graduate-schools/university-of-pittsburgh-school-of-arts-and-sciences-department-of-hispanic-languages-and-literatures-000_10031551.aspx http://www.petersons.com/graduate-schools/washington-university-in-st-louis-graduate-school-of-arts-and-sciences-department-of-romance-languages-and-literatures-000_10034548.aspx I was looking at this website, which lists some admission rates, and compares to some other Humanities departments, it just seemed like we get a lot less applicants. But I was surprised that some schools got less than 100. Maybe I overestimated how popular the major was.
joanlba Posted January 14, 2015 Posted January 14, 2015 I rather not say names, just to be on the safe side. Sometimes DGS lurke around places like this. It was an ivy league university.
BeatrizBear Posted January 14, 2015 Author Posted January 14, 2015 Oh man, that would have made me super nervous. Also, I tend not to answer the phone when I don't recognize the number so I probably would have missed the call unless I knew that it was coming.
joanlba Posted January 14, 2015 Posted January 14, 2015 Wasn't expecting it, I can tell you that. I'm helping my parents move; when the phone rang I was just taking a break, and didn't had any notes at hand. Had to rush to my computer and started checking my notes.
EuQuero Posted January 14, 2015 Posted January 14, 2015 Wow! Interviews that is exciting. nuclearves, how did yours go?
BeatrizBear Posted January 14, 2015 Author Posted January 14, 2015 Congratulations to everyone. I think the rest of us should be hearing something in a week or two. Late January and early February seems like a busy time for admissions.
nuclearves Posted January 15, 2015 Posted January 15, 2015 Mine was a university that I really want, but not Ivy League. It was comp lit, not Spanish. They scheduled it with me ahead of time, very informal, but it was a very positive experience. I applied to TA in French or Spanish.
joanlba Posted January 15, 2015 Posted January 15, 2015 If you wanna talk tonight and remember the old days of the Internet, I created an IRC Chat Channel: https://chat.mibbit.com/ The channel is: #spanishapp
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now