Applying to grad school...

[MicktheGreat 1]

I'm in the process of applying to graduate school. One of the most important things to me when I was considering schools was the city/town in which the school was located--since I'd be living there for 2-3 years (at least) and I'd rather enjoy the town than hate it...

 

ANYWAY, do any of you have any opinions about the following places (i.e. have you ever lived there, visited, have relatives that live there, etc.) and can give me some feedback as to your impressions of the location itself???

 

Here you go:

 

West Lafayette, Indiana (PURDUE)

Fayetteville, Arkansas (ARKANSAS)

Oxford, Ohio (MIAMI OF OHIO)

Tuscaloosa, Alabama (ALABAMA)

Notre Dame, Indiana (NOTRE DAME)

 

The other places I applied to, I'm more familiar with. But any help/opinions about the above locations would be greatly appreciated...TIA...

[Quickolas1 80]

quality of education not important i gather?

[MicktheGreat 1]

quality of education not important i gather?

 

It's important enough.

 

Although I have a few "safety" schools that I feel I could get into for sure, most of the programs I'm applying to are solid...

 

But, thanks for your concern...

[Trip McNeely 0]

quality of education not important i gather?

 

 

Last I checked, Notre Dame and Purdue were pretty decent schools

[frank 2,153]

 

 

Fayetteville, Arkansas (ARKANSAS)

Tuscaloosa, Alabama (ALABAMA)

 

 

 

Fayetteville:

 

pro: If you can read this, you would be the smartest person in town

con: Deliverance was not filmed here because the town is not sophisticated enough

 

 

Tuscaloosa:

 

pro:

con: retardation might be contagious

[ProfessorZ 0]

It's a tip that it's FAR less important where you go to grad school than it was for undergrad. In undergrad studies come second to poossy and beer. In grad school you have no life. You sit at home and read or sit in a lab and do work. If you get out once a week for a few beers, count your blessings.

[joneo 529]

Are you white or black?

[MicktheGreat 1]

Fayetteville:

 

pro: If you can read this, you would be the smartest person in town

con: Deliverance was not filmed here because the town is not sophisticated enough

Tuscaloosa:

 

pro:

con: retardation might be contagious

 

Wow...fond memories of these places, I assume???

 

It's a tip that it's FAR less important where you go to grad school than it was for undergrad. In undergrad studies come second to poossy and beer. In grad school you have no life. You sit at home and read or sit in a lab and do work. If you get out once a week for a few beers, count your blessings.

 

Not sure if you're referring to location or school prestige...

 

As far as location goes, I'm not sure that I agree. I know that there is little occasion for social life in grad school; however, in researching the whole process, I've heard sooooo many horror stories about people who absolutely hate the location of their school (i.e. they from the big city and are bored to death in a small-town school or they don't like masses & masses of people and are stuck for a number of years in New York or something like that...); and as a result, their studies suffer. For most people, grades will improve if a certain level of morale is maintained (and that's obviously influenced by location)...

 

I do agree with you though in terms of prestige (to an extent). There are a few really great prestigious programs; however, after those few, most schools aren't all that different (as long as the program's been around for a little bit and doesn't have the reputation of over-exerting its students)...

 

Are you white or black?

 

I'm white.

[Riddlen 1]

area of study?

[MicktheGreat 1]

area of study?

 

I'm going for the MA in English.

 

Eventually, I want to teach at the collegiate level, which would require a PhD or (for some schools, depending on what I end up teaching) a combo of an MA & MFA...

[ProfessorZ 0]

I'm going for the MA in English.

 

Eventually, I want to teach at the collegiate level, which would require a PhD or (for some schools, depending on what I end up teaching) a combo of an MA & MFA...

 

I have an MA in English Lit. and an MFA in Creative Writing. I also teach collegiate English (yes, I'm actually a professor).

 

What's your area of interest and where are you applying?

[MicktheGreat 1]

I have an MA in English Lit. and an MFA in Creative Writing. I also teach collegiate English (yes, I'm actually a professor).

 

What's your area of interest and where are you applying?

 

I'm applying for the MA at the University of Tennessee, MTSU, Ole Miss, University of Alabama, University of Arkansas, Notre Dame, University of Miami (Ohio), and Purdue University. I tried to stick to schools that are sort of near the region that I already live. Plus, most of these schools also have an MFA program (which I'm considering...maybe after the MA), so I figure it might be a smooth transition from the MA to MFA (if that's what I decide to do).

 

I applied to one MFA program--Vanderbilt. It's a relatively new program, it's located in a city/region that I'm comfortable with, and I like the creative work of a couple of the teachers in that program (Mark Jarman & Tony Earley).

 

As far as interest goes, I like a good deal of modern/contemporary poetry (namely, Stevens, Eliot, Cummings, Bishop, Heaney, etc.). As far as prose goes, again, I prefer more modern stuff--notably satirical/comedic writing (i.e. Vonnegut, DeLillo, Kafka, etc.).

 

Where do you teach??? And what kind of classes do you teach--lit. or creative or both???

[Riddlen 1]

I'm going for the MA in English.

 

Eventually, I want to teach at the collegiate level, which would require a PhD or (for some schools, depending on what I end up teaching) a combo of an MA & MFA...

University of gheys and worthless degrees?

[resser2 0]

Why not do on-line courses rather then on campus? I am sure most of the schools you listed have on-line programs.

[cortezthekiller303 0]

I'm going for the MA in English.

 

Eventually, I want to teach at the collegiate level, which would require a PhD or (for some schools, depending on what I end up teaching) a combo of an MA & MFA...

 

umm...does Purdue even have an English department?

 

sortofnotreally

[hoytdwow 202]

ITT Technical Institute is pretty greta

 

HTH

[DanXIII 8]

Fayetteville:

 

pro: If you can read this, you would be the smartest person in town

con: Deliverance was not filmed here because the town is not sophisticated enough

Tuscaloosa:

 

pro:

con: retardation might be contagious

 

This coming from an Aw-barn fan

 

Take Auburn University out of the "town" of Auburn and you have, literally, Mayberry.

 

Tuscaloosa and Fayetteville are both great college towns with rich traditions. You'll have a blast at either one (not that you're there to have fun or anything).

 

Why not do on-line courses rather then on campus? I am sure most of the schools you listed have on-line programs.

 

That's a good point. If the whole "college experience" doesn't mean a whole lot to you this is a viable option. I know Penn State has at least one master's program (iMBA) that can be obtained 100% though online courses.

[Jessy 0]

In grad school you have no life. You sit at home and read or sit in a lab and do work. If you get out once a week for a few beers, count your blessings.

 

Pffft. I got out and drank all the time when I was in grad school. And I was going 3/4 time and working full-time. If I'd only been going to school, I can't imagine what my life would have been like.

[mmmmm...beer 691]

Pffft. I got out and drank all the time when I was in grad school. And I was going 3/4 time and working full-time. If I'd only been going to school, I can't imagine what my life would have been like.

 

Yeah but don't party girl dirty whoowa's have different priorities?

[SigEp316 0]

it's a focking TIP that KNOXVILLE

[MicktheGreat 1]

University of gheys and worthless degrees?

 

 

Why not do on-line courses rather then on campus? I am sure most of the schools you listed have on-line programs.

 

That's a reasonable suggestion. But I sort of want the experience of attending school in-person...

 

umm...does Purdue even have an English department?

 

sortofnotreally

 

Yeah...it does...

[Jessy 0]

Yeah but don't party girl dirty whoowa's have different priorities?

 

I would say most wouldn't go to grad school.

[MicktheGreat 1]

This coming from an Aw-barn fan

 

Take Auburn University out of the "town" of Auburn and you have, literally, Mayberry.

 

Tuscaloosa and Fayetteville are both great college towns with rich traditions. You'll have a blast at either one (not that you're there to have fun or anything).

 

Good to know. I've heard mixed things about Tuscaloosa, but I've heard that Fayetteville is actually a pretty cool place to live...

 

it's a focking TIP that KNOXVILLE

 

Now, I have been to Knoxville before. It's OK--nothing special but not bad either...

[DaWeffa 0]

I'm in the process of applying to graduate school. One of the most important things to me when I was considering schools was the city/town in which the school was located--since I'd be living there for 2-3 years (at least) and I'd rather enjoy the town than hate it...

 

ANYWAY, do any of you have any opinions about the following places (i.e. have you ever lived there, visited, have relatives that live there, etc.) and can give me some feedback as to your impressions of the location itself???

 

Here you go:

 

West Lafayette, Indiana (PURDUE)

Fayetteville, Arkansas (ARKANSAS)

Oxford, Ohio (MIAMI OF OHIO)

Tuscaloosa, Alabama (ALABAMA)

Notre Dame, Indiana (NOTRE DAME)

 

The other places I applied to, I'm more familiar with. But any help/opinions about the above locations would be greatly appreciated...TIA...

 

fayetteville is a great place....lots of fortune 500 business there because of wal mart etc...good sec school...fast growing area...very affordable....what more dcan you ask for....it is in the ozarks so it is very beautiful.....city is small enough to not be trashy and yet big enough to have evrything you need....overall i think that fayetteville is a great place....but i dont know anything about the rest...i would not to alabama....tuscaloosa is trash....

 

i guess the main question is where are you coming from and what are you looking for in a school? be specific and i could maybe give you little more of what info you might be looking for...

[ProfessorZ 0]

I'm applying for the MA at the University of Tennessee, MTSU, Ole Miss, University of Alabama, University of Arkansas, Notre Dame, University of Miami (Ohio), and Purdue University. I tried to stick to schools that are sort of near the region that I already live. Plus, most of these schools also have an MFA program (which I'm considering...maybe after the MA), so I figure it might be a smooth transition from the MA to MFA (if that's what I decide to do).

 

I applied to one MFA program--Vanderbilt. It's a relatively new program, it's located in a city/region that I'm comfortable with, and I like the creative work of a couple of the teachers in that program (Mark Jarman & Tony Earley).

 

As far as interest goes, I like a good deal of modern/contemporary poetry (namely, Stevens, Eliot, Cummings, Bishop, Heaney, etc.). As far as prose goes, again, I prefer more modern stuff--notably satirical/comedic writing (i.e. Vonnegut, DeLillo, Kafka, etc.).

 

Where do you teach??? And what kind of classes do you teach--lit. or creative or both???

 

A couple suggestions, Mick -

 

1. Forget about the town. If you're a serious English student you'll be doing exactly what I said: 6 days a week sitting in your apartment reading like mad, 1 day unwinding (Sunday/Saturday football) and 1 night drinking with other students who need to get shitfaced as badly as you. If you do any more drinking than that, you'll regret it when you graduate. However, if you set up your schedule well, you should be able to let loose your last semester. I wrote my MA thesis over my first summer, touched it up and added to it during my third semester, then took the thesis credits (6) my last semester and spent 4 nights a week in the pub celebrating.

 

2. English MA programs are often weeding out periods for prospective PhDs. As such, they tend to HAMMER you your first year. Just keep this in mind, ok? Like I said, 6 nights a week inside reading. But if you truly love literature, this isn't such a bad thing. It can be stressful though. Jerk off a lot. Or if you're lucky like me and live with a smoking hot woman, I recommend lots of sex.

 

3. Graduate school is all about what you're interested in. What period, author, etc. I can't emphasize this enough: don't go to a school because it's a "backup" that has little to do with what you're interested in. It won't be worth it. I haven't heard much about the programs you've mentioned except Notre Dame. They're supposed to be very strong in modernist studies; James Joyce is their god. Also, their MFA program is supposed to be pretty good as well.

 

With your interests I'd take a hard look at The University of Buffalo. They're a top 20 English program whose strengths are in contemporary/experimental poetry (they may be the best program in the nation for this) as well as contemporary literature in the vein you love. They have one of the leading postmodern lit scholars working there, a guy named Joseph Conte. The man knows his shiit.

 

4. Realize that where you do your MA work will likely not be where you do your PhD or MFA. Unless you develop a close working relationship with a faculty member (and most don't have time to be personal mentors for MA students), it's better to diversify your degrees.

 

5. Realize the field you're considering is the worst in the world for job opportunities. Academia is a nightmare right now. Unless you're a wunderkind with a published book upon graduation, you will NOT get an assistant professor gig in a university. The labor pool is THAT flooded with PhDs. I was extremely lucky to land a gig at a junior college, and that had more to do with its pipeline with my MFA school. They know and respect the program, so I was given an interview. Before that, I applied to 20 assistant prof positions and didn't receive 1 interview because all the other applicants had 2 or 3 years adjuncting experience.

 

I remember reading dire warnings like this when I was in grad school, and I just brushed them off. Why wouldn't I? People like us are used to beating the odds. I was 1 of 30 people who were accepted to my MA program. I was 1 of 8 people (out of 350+ applicants) who were accepted to my MFA program. So I was convinced I'd buck the odds again. But the brutal truth is the humanities labor pool is so flooded now that the odds are nearly unbeatable. Keep this in mind if academia is your goal. Go for the MA, sure, you can use that for a number of things, but remember this warning when considering an MFA or PhD.

 

6. Go with an older, more established MFA program than a new one. MFA programs are already highly competitive and even corrosive. New programs are too eager to prove themselves, which only worsens the atmosphere. Getting accepted to an MFA program is a major accomplishment and that kind of acceptance is just what struggling young writers need. But they rarely do anything for a writer's development. After going through a very good program I can say I would have been better off not going or spending a couple years in a PhD program reading. And as far as teaching jobs go: PhDs are a much more valuable degree. You can write a novel and get a job teaching creative writing; you don't need an MFA. But you'll need a PhD for most assistant professor gigs.

 

Best of luck. If you have any more questions, feel free to fire away.

[frank 2,153]

A couple suggestions, Mick -

 

1. Forget about the town. If you're a serious English student you'll be doing exactly what I said: 6 days a week sitting in your apartment reading like mad, 1 day unwinding (Sunday/Saturday football) and 1 night drinking with other students who need to get shitfaced as badly as you. If you do any more drinking than that, you'll regret it when you graduate. However, if you set up your schedule well, you should be able to let loose your last semester. I wrote my MA thesis over my first summer, touched it up and added to it during my third semester, then took the thesis credits (6) my last semester and spent 4 nights a week in the pub celebrating.

 

2. English MA programs are often weeding out periods for prospective PhDs. As such, they tend to HAMMER you your first year. Just keep this in mind, ok? Like I said, 6 nights a week inside reading. But if you truly love literature, this isn't such a bad thing. It can be stressful though. Jerk off a lot. Or if you're lucky like me and live with a smoking hot woman, I recommend lots of sex.

 

3. Graduate school is all about what you're interested in. What period, author, etc. I can't emphasize this enough: don't go to a school because it's a "backup" that has little to do with what you're interested in. It won't be worth it. I haven't heard much about the programs you've mentioned except Notre Dame. They're supposed to be very strong in modernist studies; James Joyce is their god. Also, their MFA program is supposed to be pretty good as well.

 

With your interests I'd take a hard look at The University of Buffalo. They're a top 20 English program whose strengths are in contemporary/experimental poetry (they may be the best program in the nation for this) as well as contemporary literature in the vein you love. They have one of the leading postmodern lit scholars working there, a guy named Joseph Conte. The man knows his shiit.

 

4. Realize that where you do your MA work will likely not be where you do your PhD or MFA. Unless you develop a close working relationship with a faculty member (and most don't have time to be personal mentors for MA students), it's better to diversify your degrees.

 

5. Realize the field you're considering is the worst in the world for job opportunities. Academia is a nightmare right now. Unless you're a wunderkind with a published book upon graduation, you will NOT get an assistant professor gig in a university. The labor pool is THAT flooded with PhDs. I was extremely lucky to land a gig at a junior college, and that had more to do with its pipeline with my MFA school. They know and respect the program, so I was given an interview. Before that, I applied to 20 assistant prof positions and didn't receive 1 interview because all the other applicants had 2 or 3 years adjuncting experience.

 

I remember reading dire warnings like this when I was in grad school, and I just brushed them off. Why wouldn't I? People like us are used to beating the odds. I was 1 of 30 people who were accepted to my MA program. I was 1 of 8 people (out of 350+ applicants) who were accepted to my MFA program. So I was convinced I'd buck the odds again. But the brutal truth is the humanities labor pool is so flooded now that the odds are nearly unbeatable. Keep this in mind if academia is your goal. Go for the MA, sure, you can use that for a number of things, but remember this warning when considering an MFA or PhD.

 

6. Go with an older, more established MFA program than a new one. MFA programs are already highly competitive and even corrosive. New programs are too eager to prove themselves, which only worsens the atmosphere. Getting accepted to an MFA program is a major accomplishment and that kind of acceptance is just what struggling young writers need. But they rarely do anything for a writer's development. After going through a very good program I can say I would have been better off not going or spending a couple years in a PhD program reading. And as far as teaching jobs go: PhDs are a much more valuable degree. You can write a novel and get a job teaching creative writing; you don't need an MFA. But you'll need a PhD for most assistant professor gigs.

 

Best of luck. If you have any more questions, feel free to fire away.

 

 

Jeebus, somebody has some free time today!

 

Not to hijack the thread, but I wonder how many professors we have here? Not that I believe anyone else or that you should believe me, but so far..

 

ProfessorZ

frank

[ProfessorZ 0]

Jeebus, somebody has some free time today!

 

:shrug: It's morning coffee time. I also wish someone would've said this to me when I was starting out.

 

Not to hijack the thread, but I wonder how many professors we have here? Not that I believe anyone else or that you should believe me, but so far..

 

You're a prof? What field?

[tony hardware 0]

 

Notre Dame, Indiana (NOTRE DAME)[/b]

 

 

You mean South Bend, IN? Mrs. H is from Chicago and went to high school at a prep school in Culver, Indiana about 25 miles south of South Bend. I've driven through it and it's not much to look at. You're about 1.5 hours from Chicago (without traffic), not too far from the Indiana beaches on Lake Michigan. A good 2.5 hours from Indianapolis (maybe more). Life pretty much revolves around Notre Dame. I wouldn't expect much else. My impression of South Bend was that it was a little run down. But, I guess you can expect this from most of the towns on your list.

[MicktheGreat 1]

You mean South Bend, IN? Mrs. H is from Chicago and went to high school at a prep school in Culver, Indiana about 25 miles south of South Bend. I've driven through it and it's not much to look at. You're about 1.5 hours from Chicago (without traffic), not too far from the Indiana beaches on Lake Michigan. A good 2.5 hours from Indianapolis (maybe more). Life pretty much revolves around Notre Dame. I wouldn't expect much else. My impression of South Bend was that it was a little run down. But, I guess you can expect this from most of the towns on your list.

 

Whoops...my mistake. Yes, I mean South Bend...

 

Thanks for providing your impression of the place.

[MicktheGreat 1]

A couple suggestions, Mick -

 

1. Forget about the town. If you're a serious English student you'll be doing exactly what I said: 6 days a week sitting in your apartment reading like mad, 1 day unwinding (Sunday/Saturday football) and 1 night drinking with other students who need to get shitfaced as badly as you. If you do any more drinking than that, you'll regret it when you graduate. However, if you set up your schedule well, you should be able to let loose your last semester. I wrote my MA thesis over my first summer, touched it up and added to it during my third semester, then took the thesis credits (6) my last semester and spent 4 nights a week in the pub celebrating.

 

2. English MA programs are often weeding out periods for prospective PhDs. As such, they tend to HAMMER you your first year. Just keep this in mind, ok? Like I said, 6 nights a week inside reading. But if you truly love literature, this isn't such a bad thing. It can be stressful though. Jerk off a lot. Or if you're lucky like me and live with a smoking hot woman, I recommend lots of sex.

 

3. Graduate school is all about what you're interested in. What period, author, etc. I can't emphasize this enough: don't go to a school because it's a "backup" that has little to do with what you're interested in. It won't be worth it. I haven't heard much about the programs you've mentioned except Notre Dame. They're supposed to be very strong in modernist studies; James Joyce is their god. Also, their MFA program is supposed to be pretty good as well.

 

With your interests I'd take a hard look at The University of Buffalo. They're a top 20 English program whose strengths are in contemporary/experimental poetry (they may be the best program in the nation for this) as well as contemporary literature in the vein you love. They have one of the leading postmodern lit scholars working there, a guy named Joseph Conte. The man knows his shiit.

 

4. Realize that where you do your MA work will likely not be where you do your PhD or MFA. Unless you develop a close working relationship with a faculty member (and most don't have time to be personal mentors for MA students), it's better to diversify your degrees.

 

5. Realize the field you're considering is the worst in the world for job opportunities. Academia is a nightmare right now. Unless you're a wunderkind with a published book upon graduation, you will NOT get an assistant professor gig in a university. The labor pool is THAT flooded with PhDs. I was extremely lucky to land a gig at a junior college, and that had more to do with its pipeline with my MFA school. They know and respect the program, so I was given an interview. Before that, I applied to 20 assistant prof positions and didn't receive 1 interview because all the other applicants had 2 or 3 years adjuncting experience.

 

I remember reading dire warnings like this when I was in grad school, and I just brushed them off. Why wouldn't I? People like us are used to beating the odds. I was 1 of 30 people who were accepted to my MA program. I was 1 of 8 people (out of 350+ applicants) who were accepted to my MFA program. So I was convinced I'd buck the odds again. But the brutal truth is the humanities labor pool is so flooded now that the odds are nearly unbeatable. Keep this in mind if academia is your goal. Go for the MA, sure, you can use that for a number of things, but remember this warning when considering an MFA or PhD.

 

6. Go with an older, more established MFA program than a new one. MFA programs are already highly competitive and even corrosive. New programs are too eager to prove themselves, which only worsens the atmosphere. Getting accepted to an MFA program is a major accomplishment and that kind of acceptance is just what struggling young writers need. But they rarely do anything for a writer's development. After going through a very good program I can say I would have been better off not going or spending a couple years in a PhD program reading. And as far as teaching jobs go: PhDs are a much more valuable degree. You can write a novel and get a job teaching creative writing; you don't need an MFA. But you'll need a PhD for most assistant professor gigs.

 

Best of luck. If you have any more questions, feel free to fire away.

Thanks for all the advice.

 

Yeah, I know that Notre Dame is a good program. As far as the other programs that I applied to, some I know more about than others (in fact, a couple on my list are "safety" schools that I'm 99% sure I'd get into in the event that every other school rejected me). UT apparently has a program on the rise (from everything I hear). And the programs at Arkansas, Purdue, and Miami are supposed to be solid. Ole Miss is probably the best school in the nation when it comes to southern lit (another area that I greatly enjoy) and their program is improving as well in regards to treatment of their grad students (i.e. they had a bad rep for awhile of putting too much on their grad students, in terms of class load, grading, etc.).

 

As far as the location thing goes, I guess it's just a personality quirk of mine. When I feel comfortable in my environment, I am MUCH happier (or at least, much more relaxed) and my academic/creative work is noticeably better. I imagine that everyone has outside influences that affect their academic performance, just as people have things that influence their occupational performance (whether it be relationship status, social opportunities, etc.)--that just happens to be one of mine (as I've learned over time).

 

And I wouldn't want to give you the impression that I'm not considering the PhD. The PhD is my ultimate goal. I'm just unsure about the path I want to take to get there (if that makes sense).

 

If I have anymore questions pop up, I'll definitely ask...

[ProfessorZ 0]

Ole Miss is probably the best school in the nation when it comes to southern lit (another area that I greatly enjoy) and their program is improving as well in regards to treatment of their grad students (i.e. they had a bad rep for awhile of putting too much on their grad students, in terms of class load, grading, etc.).

It's the place for Faulkner studies, definitely. Which is ironic considering his relationship to that place.

 

As far as the location thing goes, I guess it's just a personality quirk of mine. When I feel comfortable in my environment, I am MUCH happier (or at least, much more relaxed) and my academic/creative work is noticeably better.

Agreed 100%. I came to LA for an MFA program with an idea for a novel in mind. I intended to spend those 2 years writing the novel. Good plan on paper. But I hated the progrm and hate LA even worse. As a result my creative work has suffered terribly. I have to force what creative spurts I get, and then there's long dry spells of nada. Writing has never been like that for me; these past 2 years have been terrible. As a result, the novel is only half done. So your "personality quirk" isn't idiosyncratic; it's the way most creative people work.

 

ETA: this totally contradicts what I said about "forget about the town," LOL. I guess the difference for me was the creative focus of the MFA made me more sensitive to environmental influences than the analytical focus of my MA. Plus my MA work was done in a small town, and LA is the first major city I've lived in. I now know I hate living in big cities.

 

 

Best of luck.

[frank 2,153]

:shrug: It's morning coffee time. I also wish someone would've said this to me when I was starting out.

You're a prof? What field?

 

psychology