Any current UPenn or Rutgers Ph.D. students out there?

[Lauren Hemingway92]

Hi all, I submitted all my applications a few weeks ago, and now I am playing the waiting game. Although I am confident in my knowledge of the application process, I would really love some feedback from actual cohort members at UPenn or Rutgers. 

Currently, I live in NYC, and, upon admission  (hope hope), I will be commuting to campus. Does anyone else do this? Anyone particularly interested in 20th century American or Latin@ literature/ affect theory?

 

Any advice or comments are appreciated. I'd love to fillabout two months with conversation to avoid waiting and freaking out (also, when do you remember getting your acceptances?)

[kurayamino]

Hey Lauren! I'm currently a Rutgers PhD student and also live in NYC. I'm not sure which borough you're in, but I'm coming from Staten Island and know people who commute from the other boroughs as well. If you're coming from Brooklyn/Manhattan it seems like it's about 1 1/2 hours, from Queens it's a little more. I drive from SI so it takes about an hour. Commuting is definitely doable, although they do ask for you to establish residency within a year (or provide a good reason why this would be unfeasible).

In terms of your interests, there are a lot of modernists at Rutgers. I'm not sure of how many that study Latin@ literature, but I do know there are some affect people.

They notified me in the middle of February by phone call, but honestly I don't know if that's typical or not. All I can suggest is to try and do anything to take your mind off of things because the waiting will drive you crazy!

Best of luck! Let me know if there's anything else I can help with.

 

[Lauren Hemingway92]

Kurayamino,

Thanks for your reply! I'm in Queens, so I wouldn't tremendously mind the commute. I worry about what's constitutes as a good enough reason for not establishing residency. How did you get by that? (If you don't mind me asking)

[Metaellipses]

Hey, another Rutgers student here (hi Kurayamino!). As far as I know, establishing residency is for those people who live in New Jersey already. A lot of people live in New Jersey and attend, but never get around to registering to vote or doing other things that establish state residency. As a result, the department actually ends up paying high tuition rates for people who have been living in-state for years. If you're not living in-state, that should be reason enough. I've never heard of someone being required (or even strongly encouraged) to declare residency when they're currently living out of state. It's more of a courtesy to the department so they can free up more money for fellowships. It's done on a completely voluntary basis.

As for modernism and Latin@ literatures goes, there are two students in the department in that area of study, one that focuses mostly on Mexican and South American literatures and one interested more in Latin@ and Caribbean literatures. We also have a new faculty member who specializes in Latin-American modernism, specifically Bolaño. His faculty page is here: http://english.rutgers.edu/department/faculty/3993-lawrence-jeffrey.html. 

[kurayamino]

1 hour ago, Metaellipses said:

Hey, another Rutgers student here (hi Kurayamino!). As far as I know, establishing residency is for those people who live in New Jersey already. A lot of people live in New Jersey and attend, but never get around to registering to vote or doing other things that establish state residency. As a result, the department actually ends up paying high tuition rates for people who have been living in-state for years. If you're not living in-state, that should be reason enough. I've never heard of someone being required (or even strongly encouraged) to declare residency when they're currently living out of state. It's more of a courtesy to the department so they can free up more money for fellowships. It's done on a completely voluntary basis.

 

Thanks Metaellipses for answering my anxieties as well as Lauren's questions!

[echo449]

Just to chime in to the Rutgers chorus, I'm a first year 20th century americanist and can answer questions w/r/t that over PM if you have any specific ones beyond what has already been answered. One thing that I can add is that next year will be particularly good in terms of courses offered for anyone interested in 20th century american or world lit. 

[Lauren Hemingway92]

Thank you everyone! You've all been great help