Deadinthewater

Bill Brown, WJT Mitchell. Looks like I am among adversaries.

Are you applying to Chicago?

Okay, DonutHate (who hates donuts?): GRE: 169V/162Q/3.5AW GPA: 3.9 from large state university with OK english program BAC: .21 Applying to: Penn State, Chicago, Columbia, NYU, Florida (MA), WUSTL, Irvine

I chatted with donthate for a while and I (among others) was laughing pretty hard. I imagine DH to be the type of person whose abrasive personality opens as many doors as it closes. But if someone has the time, could you critique the opening of my SOP? "Like Foucault, Derrida, and the intellectual giants before me, I have positioned my academic development alongside an intensely personal investment in The Grad Cafe. In the words of Jameson, 'forums were really important for my growth as a scholar.'" Tips?

Here are some of my stats: GRE: I love to read books! GPA: I will add a lot to the department! SOP/WS: I would be a great professor because (I drink). Undergrad: I am undersocialized! Applying to: I wake up in strange places without knowing how I got there! Taking all bets very seriously.

This has been helpful. I spent a good portion of last night trying to draft a reminder email without using the word "motherfucker."

Three words that I haven't been able to get out of my head since about September.

How did you "connect" to Penn State in your personal statement? Is this asking too much? You said, "ask me almost anything...."

Wow, thank you. I think I will just emphasize that I'm interested in [x] movement, and that I wish to supplement this interest with theory (I want to study theory primarily, but I also want to get into a good program without lying—what's the point in that?). I'm applying to Florida + Syracuse + NYU + Buffalo + Irvine + Columbia + Penn State + Penn + U Chicago, which is a list that, for the most part, steers clear of Formalist University of Formaltown. I hope. Thanks for the response. Made me feel much better.

Is it dumb to develop a writing sample and SoP that indicate a more particular interest in theory, cultural studies, aesthetics, etc. in general (and uses these to comment on authors, movements, individual works) as opposed to focusing on movement, period, or postcolonial/gender studies (and supplementing these studies with necessary theory)? I am worried that giving primacy to theory over literature will exclude me from a lot of programs. To be more clear, is it impractical to say (for a very random example), "I'm interested in cultural studies, and specifically how postmodern, post-industrial means of production have fundamentally altered the possibilities of aesthetic experience?" This, in opposition, to something like "I'm interested in postmodernism, and particularly these authors and how they affect aesthetics....blah blah blah." Does anyone have any input?