Magical Realist

I've heard something from four programs, but applied to 15. So still waiting with bated breath for the vast majority..

It's definitely hard telling, but it'd be nice to know at least someone here made the Berkeley list. I'm just hoping to get all the results over and done with so I can start thinking about the rest of my life. On the bright side, I got my first official offer today (it was the official version of earlier this weeks' unofficial version), but that has not assuaged my need to refresh continuously. I keep telling myself "just a few more weeks"... And to ghi..., I wish you the best of luck with the Penn State interview. For me, I'm now more excited about the program than when I was applying. Here's hoping (maybe we'll be classmates! )

So got my official (though not unexpected) Berkeley shutout. 3 down, 12 more to go.

I had mine today. My interviewers were incredibly friendly, and it wasn't too bad. Lasted about 30min with the kinds of questions you'd expect. But they appear to select interviewers based on shared interests, so yours maybe different.

Thanks, ghi... And if you haven't had your interview, good luck. If you have, hope it went well (and do you have any tips? ) And to all the Comp Lit departments out there in general: Dear god, please start sending a few more results our way. We're dying here... I wondered what all the talk was re: decisions. Then, for fun, I searched "English." Instantly I was jealous. On a related note, I'm fantasizing about all the free time I'll have when I'm not logging in to 15 unique applications three times per day.

I'm hoping my fine command of Japanese pause words will be impressive to the faculty:). The email said language(s), so I'm hoping my primary foreign language will be the only foreign language we speak in (but considering the strength of the Asian studies department, I doubt it). I did get my first acceptance (!), so feeling a little more at peace, but not to the level I'd hoped. Penn State would still be pretty much awesome.

Yes. Very much. Skype always makes me a bit uncomfortable, and also, I'm learning that the interview will include speaking in the languages of our literatures. One I'm not worried about, one I very much am. Ahhh! It'd be quite nice to have at least one acceptance prior to this, so that maybe I'd be a bit more relaxed...

I think she's wrong here. I agree with Brandeis, but my sources are saying Brown will also come through for you, Waitlist comes from Rutgers.and Wisconsin.

Your assessment, though generous, makes me doubt your alleged "gift." But if it does play out like you're predicting, I'm gonna suggest we go into business together telling potential applicants in advance which schools will admit them, and then splitting the difference on the money saved applying, sending GREs, etc. I did a short stint in marketing, so I really think this could work out.

I, for one, am down for a little tongue-in-cheek wagering. OP: I'll say your list is solidly lofty, so my "money" is on one. And for fairness, here are the wholly irrelevant stats: 170/160/5.5, 3.75 from large state school with solid programs in my undergrad majors. I posted my specific list on the other thread, but 13 total, 3-4 Ivy, 5 or so well-ranked state, and some largely solid states to round it all out. It's all in the hands of the adcoms now anyhow; let's have some fun with it.

Not really a positive contribution here, but I must say, the idea of having "access" to italics made me giggle quite a lot.

Berkeley does look pretty sweet. Cornell's another big dream school for me. I think Northwestern's program would be an awesome fit, but what takes it out of "ideal school" status is nothing more than geography; I've lived in the Midwest my entire life and I'd like to get away from that for awhile, at least. Of course, there's a not-so-small piece of me that hopes i get into one, and only one, school. Donthate, what are you planning to study?

Oh man, I'm indecisive. But, I could see myself at all of these programs for one reason or another (and really, isn't comp lit all about being academically indecisive, in a sense) What follows is the list of "high aim, wide net" schools: Berkeley Harvard Duke Columbia Irvine UCLA UT Austin NYU Northwestern Penn State Yale Cornell Oregon

Oh me me me. I'm going to be away for most of January, and this time of year gets pretty busy, so I've submitted most of my apps (and I've applied to a whopping 13). So now I'm back to the forum, whiling away my time waiting...

I'm always on board with Murakami! Also, I like to revisit Auster's New York Trilogy and In the Country of Last Things from time to time. And, has anyone else read any of Jasper Fforde's books? They're incredibly silly and not too deep, but a lot of fun, too, but I don't know how you could begin to get much into it without some substantial training in literature.

I'm up for as many pair of eyes as are willing to peruse. PM me yours and I'll absolutely do likewise.

Thanks, evageline and Dr. Stario! And darth vegan, thanks for the reality check. Here's hoping you're right; there's enough to obsess with in this process as-is. -a

Is there anyone else out there that feels adrift in regards to Berkeley's famous "personal history statement" (or any other university's incantation thereof)? Perhaps one of you may be interested in a little reciprocal feedback situation? Or perhaps there's a voyeur among us who's just interested in knowing others' so-called "personal history"? In short, is there anyone willing to provide feedback on my aforementioned statement? Even after reading a number of examples, plus having read the prompt somewhere on the order of 1034989 times, I'm stlll not sure I'm doing this right. I've got really thick skin, so I want to be sure to provide as solid a statement as possible (as, I'm sure, do you all). I'm applying for comp lit, but I believe they all (particularly the humanities) use the same prompt. Pretty please! I'll be so eternally grateful, and I'll provide the most thorough feedback to any sent to me as I can. -a

Although this isn't contributing really, I'd just like to say how reading everyone else's paranoia is making me feel a bit less alone. My current bouts with paranoia include: 1) Oh my god, what if one of my recommenders secretly hated me but pretended to like me all those years ago, and is just now exacting her revenge (this is, obviously, ridiculous, and I'm obviously giving myself way too much import in the minds of others). I'm looking for the most minute markers of subtext in every single email. Ridiculous. 2) My writing sample is a part of a larger thesis. I'm wondering do I provide an abstract for the missing chapters. Also, should I use my cover page and table of contents still, to provide some context for what's missing. If so, how do I format this? (I'm fairly confident this won't make or break my application. In my mind, however, it will). 3) For my "major GPA", do I select the strongest GPA of my majors, or the GPA for the major that seems most relevant? (Since they'll have my transcripts, it's probably six one way...). UGH! I'll be so glad once 2013 rolls around, and my apps are done.

My $.02 here, but I would guess that you should mention it under the following circumstances: 1) Your program has a language requirement that you don't yet meet and/or 2) You have a specific, realistic plan for acquiring the language while completing the degree at-hand and 3) You can explain clearly and succinctly in the SOP why it's critical. Or, perhaps better, your proposal itself obviously and apparently demands a knowledge of Haitian Creole. It seems you'd want to ensure you appear ambitious and come with a plan, rather than the vague "I want to..." (but don't really have any idea what the execution actually looks like). I'm just an applicant, too, and I 'm not in your field, so again, take it with the necessary grain of salt. -a

For what it's worth, I just went to pay a visit to the DGS at a fairly large and well-respected institution. We were discussing my comp lit application, and she had made a suggestion to apply to a couple English Departments with Comparatist bent as well. One thing she mentioned there was that my language skills would be more distinguishing in an English department. Also, to bring it back to the initial thread a little, I would suggest looking for tutors, etc online. Many will do it via Skype. I am currently working with one such tutor to strengthen my 3rd language. Her fees are more reasonable, and she can be responsive to my needs and learning style. Plus, at least for me, paying a lump sum out-of-pocket for a class at a local institution was unreasonable, and most classes in my language of interest were only offered during daytime hours. Needless to say, my boss would not have been pleased (or accommodating). As such, this is a great substitute--I use the same textbooks, and my syllabus is loosely modeled after college-level classes, and, I pay a month at a time. A win, win, win.

Thank you all for your thoughtful responses. Since posting this, I traveled back "home" to my undergraduate institution to speak with a few professors. The DGS did mention the work experience more generally as a definite strength and something that should be touched on, both in terms of undergraduate part-time jobs and post-undergrad employment. Her perspective, which I offer for anyone who can use it, is that many institutions (particularly coastal schools) are too attuned to the economic realities [of those of us who were raised and schooled in the midwest, though I think this applies for anyone with an economic hardship], and ergo may be more impressed once they are made aware. And also, EsMussSein17, touching on all of that in 700 characters or less is no less than a feat of verbal gymnastics. Brava:).

I'd like to put in a good word for Indiana. I did my undergrad there, and though I wasn't a comp lit major, because I of the majors I did have, I had a number of classes with the CL faculty. They were great, the overall offerings of the university were great, and the town's pretty great, too. If I could respectably go back and do graduate work there, I would.

As I'm completing my applications, I'm finding quite a few have prompts such as below: Stanford University regards the diversity of its graduate student body as an important factor in serving the educational mission of the university. We encourage you to share unique, personally important, and/or challenging factors in your background, such as work and life experiences, special interests, culture, socioeconomic status, the quality of your early educational environment, gender, sexual orientation, race or ethnicity. Please discuss how such factors would contribute to the diversity of the entering class, and hence to the experience of your Stanford classmates. [This particular application allows a 700 character limit for your answer] I'm of many minds on how to approach this (and similar questions). I'm afraid it's a bit of a "gotcha" question (as Sarah Palin might say). Perhaps I'm being hyper paranoid, but I feel like if I answer with something about my lesbian identity, for example, that would point to me as being over-simplistic about identity in general. That being said, I have had some unique experiences as a result of my queerness. But also, I sense that potentially (for a number of reasons I won't get into here), those identifying as queer may be over-represented in literature and the likes, so maybe that might not be such a valuable contribution to my application anyhow. I also considered writing a bit about my current career, as I've been out of undergrad for over half a decade, and I'm currently working in social work (but applying for comparative literature). I think this perspective (in terms of working with a truly diverse population sociopolitical economically, culturally, etc) brings a richness to my perspective, and I don't think previous careers in child welfare are particularly common amongst comparativists. However, given my interest in postcolonialism, I think there's some concern in regards to sounding exploitative. I'm somewhat tempted to leave it blank, but of course, that looks lazy. Has anyone else wrestled with a similar dilemma whilst filling out applications? What was your experience/course of action?

@1q84-- I'm in the same place you are in terms of the process, so I don't have any advice in terms of having "been through" it, but I can at least confirm you're not alone. I'm applying for PhD programs in comparative literature, and will be 29 at the start of fall semester, 2013. I never intended to wait so long to apply, but a number of factors outside my control (and a few more I could have controlled) precluded me from applying any earlier. There are times where I'm a little freaked out about being a bit older than my (hopefully) soon-to-be peers, but I think those fears are far eclipsed by the benefits of waiting so long to go back. I'm glad I waited because 1) As an undergraduate, my interests were all over the board (I had 3 undergrad majors because I couldn't make up my mind). Even now, narrowing my focus is a struggle, but at least I'm confident I've made the right decision. I'm not certain that would have been the case 5+ years ago. 2) A lot of past and present grad students I know with "real world" experience bemoan the lack of professionalism amongst their colleagues. Being "professional" is a bit of an art, and I think having those skills refined from the get-go really helps in terms of networking (which you're doing from Day 1). 3) Because I've had a professional career that hasn't proven to be fulfilling to me, I'm going to appreciate school much more than if I'd never known differently. I'm certain you, too, are a much better candidate than you would have been 5 years ago. Considering how important the work we produce and relationships we build over the next few years will be in terms of our futures, I think in some ways, we've got the advantage.