(no subject)
Now that I've sent in my grad school responses, I feel perfectly free to announce to all y'all that I'll be spending the next five years working my ass off for a doctorate in the French division of the Romance Languages department at the University of Pennsylvania.
My decision to go to Penn surprised me a little. I'd gone in with Columbia as my first choice school, with a lot of encouragement from Jim and my dad, both of whom wanted to see me in NYC. But when I got to Philly to make my campus visit, I really fell in love with the department and the people in it. The faculty and grad students have such a good rapport that the sense of community is almost overwhelming. Some other great aspects of Penn:
-the stipend will go a lot further in Philly than Columbia's would in NYC
-only two years of teaching instead of the standard three
-a faculty member who has directed theses on my favorite French poet of the 16th c.
-a beautiful campus
-a year to work on my dissertation in either Paris or Geneva
So what I want to say is that I'm glad I've finally got the grad school decision taken care of. Princeton still hasn't told me if I've moved off the waiting list, but even if I got in at this point, I wouldn't want to go. I'm thoroughly satisfied with my choice to go to Penn. So yay!!! Now all I've got to do is find a summer job and an apartment for the fall.
My decision to go to Penn surprised me a little. I'd gone in with Columbia as my first choice school, with a lot of encouragement from Jim and my dad, both of whom wanted to see me in NYC. But when I got to Philly to make my campus visit, I really fell in love with the department and the people in it. The faculty and grad students have such a good rapport that the sense of community is almost overwhelming. Some other great aspects of Penn:
-the stipend will go a lot further in Philly than Columbia's would in NYC
-only two years of teaching instead of the standard three
-a faculty member who has directed theses on my favorite French poet of the 16th c.
-a beautiful campus
-a year to work on my dissertation in either Paris or Geneva
So what I want to say is that I'm glad I've finally got the grad school decision taken care of. Princeton still hasn't told me if I've moved off the waiting list, but even if I got in at this point, I wouldn't want to go. I'm thoroughly satisfied with my choice to go to Penn. So yay!!! Now all I've got to do is find a summer job and an apartment for the fall.