Spanish graduate programs

[KendraSevilla]

Hi everyone,

Im a Canadian undergraduate with two more years left in my degree, at a small newly named Canadian university, and in a new Spanish program there. The past few years I have played around with the idea that I should go to grad school in Spanish/Hispanic studies after I graduate. I know the state that the Humanities are in universities, that its going downhill with the economy, but I still like the idea of going to grad school to do research and to teach, and have a career in that. I even see it in my own program, where we only have four PhD's that teach the higher level classes, and one PhD that teaches a few Latin American studies courses. Because we have few profs, and the program is new, we basically have no freedom of choice when it comes to courses in our major, and we have to take what is offered that semester. My current GPA is a 3.2, and I do realize that I need to bring it up before the time comes to apply to grad school. I have studied aboard in Sevilla (January 2010-June 2010), and have always been more interested in Peninsular culture and literature. I hope to take a year or two off before applying to grad school, and be a language assistant in Spain, and hopefully to narrow down my interests and to beef up applications.

My main question is, what are some good Spanish programs in the US or Canada? I have tried to see if there is a list of schools, but have not found such a thing. I also have been looking at various universities to see if I can find faculty that share similar research interests, and sometimes it is hard to find people. So far my list of schools has been: U of Toronto, UBC, Queens University (in Ontario), U of Western Ontario, Stanford, Brown, U of Colorado Boulder, U of Minnesota Twin Cities, John Hopkins. Some of the schools I have had in mind based on course listings and faculty that share research interests. I very much like Catalan and Andalusian culture, and the medieval period, so I tried to look for schools that had any of those.

My second question is, how competitive is it to get into Spanish graduate programs? I know for fields like English and History it is super competitive, and not to get your hopes up when applying to big name universities even if you do have a stellar application. I have no clue what it is like in Spanish, if it is like that or much toned down and not as many people apply.

I have tried to ask my profs about this stuff, but two went into grad school for Education, one went to grad school in England for Spanish. They are just not familiar at all with Spanish programs in Canada or the US. I am glad to have found this forum, and have read a lot of the posts and to read of people's experiences applying to Spanish programs.

[cafeomuerte]

Hi everyone,

Im a Canadian undergraduate with two more years left in my degree, at a small newly named Canadian university, and in a new Spanish program there. The past few years I have played around with the idea that I should go to grad school in Spanish/Hispanic studies after I graduate. I know the state that the Humanities are in universities, that its going downhill with the economy, but I still like the idea of going to grad school to do research and to teach, and have a career in that. I even see it in my own program, where we only have four PhD's that teach the higher level classes, and one PhD that teaches a few Latin American studies courses. Because we have few profs, and the program is new, we basically have no freedom of choice when it comes to courses in our major, and we have to take what is offered that semester. My current GPA is a 3.2, and I do realize that I need to bring it up before the time comes to apply to grad school. I have studied aboard in Sevilla (January 2010-June 2010), and have always been more interested in Peninsular culture and literature. I hope to take a year or two off before applying to grad school, and be a language assistant in Spain, and hopefully to narrow down my interests and to beef up applications.

My main question is, what are some good Spanish programs in the US or Canada? I have tried to see if there is a list of schools, but have not found such a thing. I also have been looking at various universities to see if I can find faculty that share similar research interests, and sometimes it is hard to find people. So far my list of schools has been: U of Toronto, UBC, Queens University (in Ontario), U of Western Ontario, Stanford, Brown, U of Colorado Boulder, U of Minnesota Twin Cities, John Hopkins. Some of the schools I have had in mind based on course listings and faculty that share research interests. I very much like Catalan and Andalusian culture, and the medieval period, so I tried to look for schools that had any of those.

My second question is, how competitive is it to get into Spanish graduate programs? I know for fields like English and History it is super competitive, and not to get your hopes up when applying to big name universities even if you do have a stellar application. I have no clue what it is like in Spanish, if it is like that or much toned down and not as many people apply.

I have tried to ask my profs about this stuff, but two went into grad school for Education, one went to grad school in England for Spanish. They are just not familiar at all with Spanish programs in Canada or the US. I am glad to have found this forum, and have read a lot of the posts and to read of people's experiences applying to Spanish programs.

Hi KendraSevilla,

In order to have higher chances with your application, you need to increase your GPA and enter the Honours program, it is not mandatory but it will put you above other candidates. As an Honours student you will conduct some research and figure out what to study for the Master's or PhD; as well, you'll be able to narrow down the universities that offer you the possibility of conducting such research accordingly. I have very different research interests so I have no idea which universities have faculty who shares yours, but usually when I read an article or a book of someone who's still active I Google them to see where they work and check the other members to know if I'll have more than one option within the same department in case those particular professors are not available to be my supervisors (so far I keep getting Berkeley, U Pittsburgh , U Minnesota, Brown, Cambridge, Duke and Stanford).

"What are some good Spanish programs in the US or Canada?" As you already mentioned, it will depend on your research interests so do the Google thing and you'll figure it out. I think, however, in your case Brown has the best Spanish program. http://brown.edu/Dep...Studies/people/

It is also important to compare how much money you would get if you get accepted here or there and to inform yourself regarding the TAships because sometimes the "scholarship" you get is more like an exchange for your work and they'll squeeze every single penny they pay you. Always consider that.

"How competitive is it to get into Spanish graduate programs?" VERY. Not as competitive as for English, History or Comparative Lit programs but it is not as easy as some want to believe. You can see this chart from Yale http://www.yale.edu/...hportuguese.pdf, it is true that it being Yale might have something to do with the numbers, but it is like that in every good university.

You said that you would like to take some time off before going to grad school, just make sure you do something productive or related (being a language assistant is a great idea), or maybe learning Portuguese, French or Latin. Anything that will help you build up your application.

And last but not least, I would recommend that you do a Master's before trying a PhD, it will prepare you and help you acquire more research experience -also you might be a research assistant or a TA and that will give you extra points .

Hope this helps and good luck!

[KendraSevilla]

Hi KendraSevilla,

In order to have higher chances with your application, you need to increase your GPA and enter the Honours program, it is not mandatory but it will put you above other candidates. As an Honours student you will conduct some research and figure out what to study for the Master's or PhD; as well, you'll be able to narrow down the universities that offer you the possibility of conducting such research accordingly. I have very different research interests so I have no idea which universities have faculty who shares yours, but usually when I read an article or a book of someone who's still active I Google them to see where they work and check the other members to know if I'll have more than one option within the same department in case those particular professors are not available to be my supervisors (so far I keep getting Berkeley, U Pittsburgh , U Minnesota, Brown, Cambridge, Duke and Stanford).

"What are some good Spanish programs in the US or Canada?" As you already mentioned, it will depend on your research interests so do the Google thing and you'll figure it out. I think, however, in your case Brown has the best Spanish program. http://brown.edu/Dep...Studies/people/

It is also important to compare how much money you would get if you get accepted here or there and to inform yourself regarding the TAships because sometimes the "scholarship" you get is more like an exchange for your work and they'll squeeze every single penny they pay you. Always consider that.

"How competitive is it to get into Spanish graduate programs?" VERY. Not as competitive as for English, History or Comparative Lit programs but it is not as easy as some want to believe. You can see this chart from Yale http://www.yale.edu/...hportuguese.pdf, it is true that it being Yale might have something to do with the numbers, but it is like that in every good university.

You said that you would like to take some time off before going to grad school, just make sure you do something productive or related (being a language assistant is a great idea), or maybe learning Portuguese, French or Latin. Anything that will help you build up your application.

And last but not least, I would recommend that you do a Master's before trying a PhD, it will prepare you and help you acquire more research experience -also you might be a research assistant or a TA and that will give you extra points .

Hope this helps and good luck!

Thanks Cafeomuerto for the response, I really appreciate it!

Unfortunately my university does not offer an Honours degree in Spanish. All the other BA programs have the honours option except for us. My program really got the short end of the stick on a lot of factors, and my fellow students and I have not had the best times with it. They also have French classes, and there's a minor, but the way they have it set up to have it at a minor is weird (there's the beginner and intermediate levels, then "univeristy level French", and they only start counting from the uni level for the minor) and there's no time to squeeze it in as a minor because of this. Also there's no Portuguese courses at the two universities in my city.

Deep down I think I should focus on programs that offer Catalan, such as Brown, Stanford, U of Toronto, Queen's, U of Colorado Boulder. Enric Bou, Joan Ramon Resina, and Robert Davidson are fantastic. Catalan studies is such an interesting field, and really under researched. I already know some Catalan, but Im no where near fluent like in Spanish. I should save up money to do a summer course at the Univeristat de Barcelona. I hope that for when I apply for the language assistant program that I can end up somewhere in Catalunya, Valencia or the Balearic Islands, and better my Catalan for 9 months.

"I would recommend that you do a Master's before trying a PhD": This is my thought exactly, as well with your other comment on getting more research and teaching experience. In Canada, you cant go straight into a PhD program, you have to have a Masters first in order to apply. So if I end up going to a Canadian school, it will be for my masters first.

Thanks for letting me know about the competitiveness of Spanish programs, it was just one of those things I had no idea about even after some research.

[cafeomuerte]

Thanks Cafeomuerto for the response, I really appreciate it!

Unfortunately my university does not offer an Honours degree in Spanish. All the other BA programs have the honours option except for us. My program really got the short end of the stick on a lot of factors, and my fellow students and I have not had the best times with it. They also have French classes, and there's a minor, but the way they have it set up to have it at a minor is weird (there's the beginner and intermediate levels, then "univeristy level French", and they only start counting from the uni level for the minor) and there's no time to squeeze it in as a minor because of this. Also there's no Portuguese courses at the two universities in my city.

Deep down I think I should focus on programs that offer Catalan, such as Brown, Stanford, U of Toronto, Queen's, U of Colorado Boulder. Enric Bou, Joan Ramon Resina, and Robert Davidson are fantastic. Catalan studies is such an interesting field, and really under researched. I already know some Catalan, but Im no where near fluent like in Spanish. I should save up money to do a summer course at the Univeristat de Barcelona. I hope that for when I apply for the language assistant program that I can end up somewhere in Catalunya, Valencia or the Balearic Islands, and better my Catalan for 9 months.

"I would recommend that you do a Master's before trying a PhD": This is my thought exactly, as well with your other comment on getting more research and teaching experience. In Canada, you cant go straight into a PhD program, you have to have a Masters first in order to apply. So if I end up going to a Canadian school, it will be for my masters first.

Thanks for letting me know about the competitiveness of Spanish programs, it was just one of those things I had no idea about even after some research.

Hi KendraSevilla,

As per the languages, have you ever heard about the Explore program? It's a program that allows you to study French intensively during the spring and/or the summer session, that way you don't get distracted during a regular semester. As a Canadian citizen or resident you have the right to do it for free (you actually receive a scholarship that covers everything BUT transportation). My own experience was GREAT. I did it in a very small city called Chicoutimi in the North of Quebec so I really got to live in French. They have all levels, if you only speak one word or if you majored in French there will be a group for you. That would be a good way to acquire a fourth language. A summer course in Barcelona would also be great, of course, as it will be more ad-hoc.

I am doing my M.A. here and I can assure you that experiencing this made me realize that I wasn't ready for a PhD... best decision ever! I also have the impression that in the US it's way harder so this is certainly training me for what's next.

Have you considered doing your MA in Spain?

Take care!

[KendraSevilla]

Hi KendraSevilla,

As per the languages, have you ever heard about the Explore program? It's a program that allows you to study French intensively during the spring and/or the summer session, that way you don't get distracted during a regular semester. As a Canadian citizen or resident you have the right to do it for free (you actually receive a scholarship that covers everything BUT transportation). My own experience was GREAT. I did it in a very small city called Chicoutimi in the North of Quebec so I really got to live in French. They have all levels, if you only speak one word or if you majored in French there will be a group for you. That would be a good way to acquire a fourth language. A summer course in Barcelona would also be great, of course, as it will be more ad-hoc.

I am doing my M.A. here and I can assure you that experiencing this made me realize that I wasn't ready for a PhD... best decision ever! I also have the impression that in the US it's way harder so this is certainly training me for what's next.

Have you considered doing your MA in Spain?

Take care!

I have thought about programs in Spain, and have asked professors about that rout and even the representative from the Ministerio de Educación that lives here, and they all say its not a good idea because "the system is so different there". They usually dont fund students there for MAs, so I would have to pay for full tuition (and international student fees) and living expenses for a year, and not be able to work there legally because Im not a EU citizen.

The Explore program seems really good, and I have a friend who went as well, and she liked it very much as well. I'll look into it, because I really do want to learn French more for personal interest.

I've also been looking at Linguistics/Hispanic linguistics programs for Sociolingistics and Applied Linguistics and also a MA in Humanities Computing at the U of Alberta that can have a focus on Spanish. I've been looking at the reality of the Academic job market and its not pretty, so I have been trying to find programs that might be more "practical" than specializing in literature and culture and never land a job at a university because of an overflowing applicant rate. I could always get a teaching degree and teach kids if things dont work out in the Academic world.

[Origin=Goal]

"What are some good Spanish programs in the US or Canada?" As you already mentioned, it will depend on your research interests so do the Google thing and you'll figure it out. I think, however, in your case Brown has the best Spanish program. http://brown.edu/Dep...Studies/people/

It is also important to compare how much money you would get if you get accepted here or there and to inform yourself regarding the TAships because sometimes the "scholarship" you get is more like an exchange for your work and they'll squeeze every single penny they pay you. Always consider that.

Hi cafeomuerte,

My emphasis is Latin American (particularly Spanish language) lit. I've been researching the Spanish departments of the comp lit. programs I'm interested in, and I was curious what about Brown's program makes it so exceptional, in your opinion? I'm not arguing the contrary, just curious if they have a particular reputation I'm not aware of; I couldn't help but notice that they only have three tenured faculty members and 1 TT professor in the department (only one of which is involved with the Comp Lit core). It seems to me that the Portuguese/Lusophone studies department (which I had heard of-- I hope to go into to Portuguese as my secondary) easily eclipses the former in terms of resources, reputation, etc, is this incorrect?

[cafeomuerte]

Hi cafeomuerte,

My emphasis is Latin American (particularly Spanish language) lit. I've been researching the Spanish departments of the comp lit. programs I'm interested in, and I was curious what about Brown's program makes it so exceptional, in your opinion? I'm not arguing the contrary, just curious if they have a particular reputation I'm not aware of; I couldn't help but notice that they only have three tenured faculty members and 1 TT professor in the department (only one of which is involved with the Comp Lit core). It seems to me that the Portuguese/Lusophone studies department (which I had heard of-- I hope to go into to Portuguese as my secondary) easily eclipses the former in terms of resources, reputation, etc, is this incorrect?

Hi Origin=Goal,

In that particular post, when I said Brown was great I was referring to KendraSevilla's interests.

In my case, I find it to be a great department for their emphasis on Transatlantic studies. I didn't really consider the number of tenured faculty members (although I probably I should), but on who would be the perfect research supervisor (which in most universities I still cannot find).

As per the Portuguese and Brazilian studies program, this is the first time I hear about it, so I don't know the first thing about its reputation or resources, sorry.

I'm leaving you link where you can set your priorities to rank phd programs, for Spanish the rankings vary a lot so it's not like you'll get the same top universities all the time, I hope you find it useful. http://graduate-school.phds.org/rankings/spanish/rank/__M_____________________________________________________________U

Sorry I cannot be more helpful

[BrandiAlexandra]

I see this was posted awhile ago, BUT... if you're still looking for a good spanish MA programme, I go to Concordia university in Montreal, and am currently doing an undergrad in Spanish expression and culture (minor in linguistics). I know they offer a fabulous MA programme in Spanish studies, and I know all the profs involved, and they're really wonderful. As well, the cutoff GPA is a 3.2, so you would have a good chance. http://cmll.concordia.ca/ma-hispanic-studies/ check it out!

[KendraSevilla]

Hi BrandiAlexandra,

Thanks for your message.  This year I had planned to apply to Concordia, as well as other schools around Canada, but decided to take a year off to teach in Spain before doing gradschool full-time.  It was too difficult to trying to finish off my last year of undergrad and trying to organize gradschool applications at the same time.  Plus my interests were all over the place and I wasn't 100% sure what I wanted to specialize in, but Im starting to figure that out, so I will use this year to teach and go deeper into my narrowed down interests.