English 2007

[FreakingOut]

I'd go with Purdue simply because of the name/reputation of the school. If it were a Ph.D. program where I'd have to live in the area for 5-6 years, I would, however, choose Florida.

[FreakingOut]

For everyone that's waiting for UMass, I received a waitlist e-mail today from them. There are about 45 names on the e-mail, yet they still called the list "very short." They need to see how many more TAships they can get before offering admission. Don't e-mail the secretary to ask where your're placed or how many people from last year's waitlist were admitted. She doesn't know. You need to contact the director....but UMass is on spring break right now, so he won't be back in the office until next week. I doubt that he'd have the waitlist at home.

[lindenscoopers]

Just curious: why would you choose Florida if it were a PhD, FreakingOut? (I'm an international and know near to nothing about the reputation of schools besides maybe Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, etc., so anything, ANYTHING about the place, reputation, faculty etc. would be very very helpful to me). *DESPERATE*

[FreakingOut]

Linden---Florida is just a better place to live...more to do and stuff.

[UGAdawg]

Does anyone know if Florida has sent out acceptances for the Ph.D. applicants?

[Minnesotan]

Florida's a swamp. Drugs, guns, and poisonous reptiles are the high points of living in Fla. heh

[foldingtime]

linden--

i'll tell you first off that i'm waitlisted at purdue, so take my advice with two pounds of salt.

having said that, i would look at which school is better for you, for your interests. for me, purdue is much better than florida at medieval, so i would easily choose purdue over florida. what is your field? florida is ranked above purdue in overall rankings, but to me placement record is more important. if you feel comfortable, ask the schools what their placement records are. to me, purdue is much better than florida, but that's because i'm a medievalist. i know many who think florida is much better than purdue (just look at the results page of this website: tons of people apply to florida, how many apply to purdue?)

so you need to look specifcally at what field you're in. as far as money, i can tell you fairly certainly that both places are fairly cheap to live. this is gainesville, not miami. also, you need to take my advice with salt here. i love cold weather, so i love purdue over florida. most people love florida because it is always warm. gainesville is a bigger city, but purdue is only an hour or so from either indianapolis or chicago. take all of these things into consideration. if it were me, though, i would put most value on academic considerations, namely, which department is better in your area of specialization? which school has more professors that would you like to work with? keep in mind also that, because this is MA, if you end up hating the school, you can go somewhere else after two years (of course, it will be easier to go somewhere that is good at your area of specialization if you have a good MA in your area of specialization)

[lindenscoopers]

Like you, I also love a place that is sufficiently cold in its winter season. I guess, in terms of faculty, Florida is the better one right now, but when you take what that article says into consideration, then I think the prospects of Florida maintaining its quality are dim.

I had really already told myself "OK, so Florida offers less money, and you have to teach 3 classes a year instead of 2 for Purdue, BUT it has better faculty and better prospects for doing the PhD so don't even dare to choose Purdue just because it offers more money and is close to really cool cities like Chicago and has a decent winter......" But then I read that article and BAM.

On top of that, everyone I asked said that Purdue has a better name. I wonder why this is so when Florida ranks higher for almost everything? One of the people I talked to said that he only knew University of Florida because of the Gators...

[lindenscoopers]

Oh, and are you waitlisted for the MA program or the PhD program? Because I got admitted only to the MA program. I do hope you'll get in, and if you do, I'll see you in August.

[foldingtime]

that's a crazy article--- i mean, why would anyone want to go to florida now? i'm an MA for purdue, so we'll see; hopefully some medieval people turn them down and i can go there.

[FreakingOut]

I liked this quote in the article: "The faculty is here by choice, he added, and could go elsewhere."

We all know how WONDERFUL the job market is for English Ph.D.s.

[englishgirl]

foldingtime--how did you find out you were waitlisted for Purdue? I've applied to the MA program and have heard nothing!! I am going crazy.

[foldingtime]

englishgirl-

i emailed the admissions coordinator--- i forget the email address, but her name is jill quirk. she said no news until april (which, now that i look at the date in the bottom corner of my screen, dosen't seem so far away (how long has this process been going on? i began studying for my gre lit in july!)) i wouldn't feel too nervous if i were you, though-- i'm pretty sure most non-waitlisted people received rejections already. good luck!

[lindenscoopers]

For those who are interested in Purdue's MA program: I've combed through their requirements for graduation and it seems to me that Purdue's "distribution requirement," which requires you to take at least one course in each of the 5 periods they designate (medieval, 18th century, 19th century etc.) is a bit prohibitive to real in-depth study in the area you want to specialize in. For me, I want to focus on 20th to 21st century works, but if I have to take at least 1 course in the other 4 time periods, plus the 2 core courses they require (intro to english studies and intro to linguistics), plus the 2 courses you need to take in order to teach composition... then there isn't much left for me to take the courses I want to choose.

[englishgirl]

Thanks for the info foldingtime. I emailed Jill Quirk, and she told me that they had sent out the first round of offers already and that they would not send out another round until april...i wonder just how many people are on this waiting list and how they decide who gets the spots when--or if--they open up! april is going to be a long month.

[grilledcheese]

I applied to Harvard, PhD, English. They've been telling me (for the past week now) that the letter is 'in the mail.' There's no letter yet. Does it mean an implied rejection if they're this late sending out letters? I understand that at most schools the director of grad studies calls accepted applicants.

It's almost April and I just want to get on with my life.

[Optimistic]

I know this is kind of random, but what foreign language is the best for an English major to study? How do you determine what you should study? Does it differ according to your area of interest, or does it really not matter much? I don't have much experience with foreign languages, but I have to study one for grad school and I don't know what the best would be.

[englishgirl]

I think it mostly has to do with your area of interest. for example, if you are 19th century brit then i would go with french...

[anonscribe]

yeah, german and french are best if you're into critical theory. latin i hear is a must if you're a medievalist. french is probably the safest all around, but because of that it's the most frequently studied. you could always work an interesting angle by learning arabic, or some other neglected language in the west, and using it to your advantage in scholarship.

[megfern]

Has anybody heard from NYU? ANYBODY???? AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

[Dan87]

yeah in response to optimistic, like other people have said, French is probably your best bet, and after that German, unless you're a medievalist, in which case latin (and old english, and french as well probably).

As for NYU, I know that they have accepted their initial class, but don't know if they've sent rejections yet. I haven't heard from them, but whatever, I wouldn't go at this point anyway.

[englishgirl]

hey foldingtime (or anybody waitlisted at Purdue), have you heard anything yet?

[foldingtime]

yeah, i was rejected from purdue--- they wrote that they admitted a class of twelve (they only admit those that they can fund). i was quite disappointed (im never sure how to spell that word).

[Minnesotan]

i was quite disappointed (im never sure how to spell that word).

And to think you were rejected from a graduate program in English!

[automaton]

You're a jerk, Minnesotan.