what the fuck am i getting myself into with this grad school stuff

Okay, I feel like a massive fucking idiot for not even knowing about that Goldsmiths Contemporary Art Theory program, because I'd probably have applied to it.

xp well i have no idea then

i know it looks unbelievable right?

Oh, I didn't even see that the deadline is march 1. To be honest, I'm so burned out on applying to schools that I'm probably not going to bother.

omg reading admissions essays they are hella cheesy, do they all have to be inspirational stories.

― plax (ico), Wednesday, January 5, 2011 11:43 AM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark

might be a US/UK divide thing - I remember reading a book about cambridge admission essays and being surprised at how staid and straightforward they were

From what I can tell (at least from my very recent personal experience applying to UCL and the Courtauld's Art History MA programs) British schools are especially straightforward with respect to stuff like statements of purpose. I think what you want to keep in mind is letting them know you have something particular in mind (something you'd hypothetically write a thesis on) and that you can deliver the goods (i.e. that you have you've been thinking/writing/been educated about it etc. already) and not bother with fawning inspirational stuff. It's also a good idea, for these schools, to highlight the role of particular subjects that are offered and that you intend to take (especially if the program is focused around one or two subjects).

I don't know what to say about $$$, because I don't know what things are like for British/EU citizens, but AHRC and tuition increases and all don't make it look promising.

"My husband often likens me to a flower. Not some delicate and fragile blossom that droops in adverse environments, but a strong and hearty plant that can make the most of what is offered and bloom anywhere."

im assuming bc it is goldsmiths and bc it is postgrad that the price hike is gonna be as minimal as it can be under the circumstances, but yeah.

yeah i assumed it would be something like what you guys are describing and then i actually looked for samples and they are all about the moment that somebody's friend died and they realised that life is precious and urban planning is their vocation

"My husband often likens me to a flower. Not some delicate and fragile blossom that droops in adverse environments, but a strong and hearty plant that can make the most of what is offered and bloom anywhere."

― plax (ico), Tuesday, January 4, 2011 11:08 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I hope, for everyone's sake, that this application was throw out upon reading this.

If you want I can even send you one of my statements of purpose.

whoa i would v v v appreciate that! i mean i feel like if i knew what one of these things looked like that wasnt from one of these shitty sites i would be a lot less anxious about it. i've written a list of what i want to cover i just

my email is t14rn4nmcd0n0ugh at gmail btw [with letters instead of numbers - mod.]

personal statements are the worst u just write w/e like fuck u, just accept me, ill be great

thats how i got in ne way

Sent.

I think these things are much easier when you've seen a real statement. Granted I haven't been accepted/rejected from anywhere, so I don't have legitimation of whether my application is good or not.

Plax, who are you angling to study under? VVG friend of mine is on the staff there.

(best of luck BTW but I'm sure you've made yours out of all kinds of awesome)

is it a little early for thinking that way? idk im asking, I dont have any friends who are trying to move into this kind of academia so there's lots of conversations I haven't had. I read up on the staff list and there were plenty of mentions of feminist and queer and postcolonial approaches so that made me p happy...

Also EDB i am a LOT happier having read your statement and Ive started a first draft.

i don't think it's too early for thinking that way, so long as you don't fix your ideas now - not rly sure how it is at Gsmiths but friends of mine doing one-year Master's had to decide their dissertation topic and supervisor after one term, or a term and a half. Which is really soon! So it's worth picking out a few topics where you have deep thoughts etc.

Obviously you can't predict the conversations you'll have and the ideas that will spring from them but it's good to show that you've thought about potential conversations, that you're not just interested in feminist and queer and postcolonial approaches as abstract stuff you want to learn from them about but as dealing with questions that you already think pretty hard about on your own, in which you already feel an engagement, and which you think this course specifically will help you navigate.

i am in a funny place here tho as the only masters application i've done was for a research masters - that was like 50% 'what i want to write about' 40% 'why your course is great' 10% 'hi i am a person who exists'. I am v v lol britishes about these things but I do think you want to address yourself to them as an intellect that happens to have a personality, rather than a person who happens to have an intellect.

also that course sounds a ma zing (and now i am reading everything i can find from 3yal w3izman)

Thinking of starting a thread called "what the fuck am i getting myself into with this postdoc stuff"...

subtitled - indentured servitude pt. II

Perhaps you could start with a 'how the fuck I get into this post-doc stuff?' - it's a world proving resistant to my charms at the minute.

viva passed w/o corrections today

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUVAxBZojWQ

Woo! Congratulations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz9q9UZS4M0

congrats caek

congratulations

feeling particularly chilled out right now in a bar by oxford station.

Never done the postgrad thing myself but no corrections sounds pretty exceptional! Congratulations.

when do you get your floppy hat and wizard regalia?

congratulations!!

Good work Dr. Caek.

Fabulous, caek!

http://i.imgur.com/st5hK.jpg

i am gonna be so fucking rich now

Congrats Bnw!

woo, congratulations to both of you.

come on down

http://www.usajobs.gov/

thanks guys and congrats to bnw!

Uhhhh, anyone know what to do when your (physical, snail mail sent) grad school application hasn't arrived 5 days after the deadline, even though you sent it 20 days ago? I just sent an email explaining the situation, and will call tomorrow. I really hope I'm not fucked, since this was kind of my top school :(

did you send it w/ a tracking number? maybe they're just inundated, or are slow to update their system?

Well this information comes from the post office, who says it just arrived in the UK (from Canada) this afternoon; meanwhile the stated deadline for the application was the 7th. I'm not sure exactly how strictly deadlines are enforced (not that I'm going to take chances one way or another), I just don't want to spend the rest of my life cursing myself about this.

yeah I would call to see if the deadline is for postmarks or for receipt of application. either way I would put up a stand!

also worth noting the massive snowstorms etc. etc.

Yeah, I was planning to bring that up...

thank, y'all. and grats back to caek.

taking and passing the classes was not that tough, but I did do it part-time while working full-time so felt some bragging in 2011 was in order :D

uuuuugh the ploddingness of writing statements and shit. that and the churning dread at the thought of once again not getting funding that the whole process amplifies.

dude I know it is awful but be strong! you have yr masters under yr belt, with a well-received dissertation and all: you are a stronger candidate than you were this time last year.

huh, I forgot I posted that! That's ILXing at half past three in the morning for ya. Anyway I am a 1st class fuckup and didn't realise that I had to have not only the application, but also my transcript etc to them by today's deadline in order to be considered for scholarships, ooops. So I am now doubling my fun by both trying to weasel out of it and by deciding I didn't want to go there anyway and getting in touch with more other places. #yaycognitivedissonance

(I did, however, submit a journal paper today, which I thought was pretty good and so will be annoyed if it's not accepted. Although I'll MLA style you. Not only did it take me forever to convert, but my personal custom citation style is also way better and more appropriate for the material.)

Argh I ordered this transcript six weeks ago and the university just sen it out now, one day *after* the deadline for getting things out. They charged my credit card for it way back then so I'd assumed they'd sent it! I hope this does not fuck me over.

I was accepted to this same university as a grad student before. The grad school itself has my official transcripts already. They sent copies of them to the Ed. dept. I am applying to – and they have seen my transcripts already and said I have the right kind of credits to be a good fit for the program. I just think, in this kind of a situation, they are looking for any excuse *not* to accept me. And this seems like it could definitely qualify.