Pamphilia

Yes--a professor at Michigan suggested that I apply to two related but separate programs in order to, as she put it, "increase my chances of acceptance to the school." I didn't end up applying to the second program, because while it was related to my interests, it was a little too divergent for my tastes.

Well, obviously there are practice tests and all, but you must remember that the actual computer-based test is adaptive, so if you miss a couple of questions early on, you really hurt your score. That's why practice test baseline scores can be deceptive.

Basic SOP content questions/issues: 1. Have you done any work with Tolkien's literary criticism? I feel that could be extremely relevant to your studies as well as your SOP. 2. What foreign languages do you have under your belt already? As I understand it, medievalists have to come in to grad programs with a LOT of language skills (one of the reasons I focused on early modern in my own applications rather than my interests in medieval lit: I only have French and a little bit of Latin). If you already have relevant foreign language skills, do emphasize them in the SOP. Also, I hate to say it but I feel like an admissions committee may question your readiness for graduate study in medieval literature if you are not already very well versed in Middle English.

Same here. As a dancer/musician, listening to any genre of music causes me to rock out uncontrollably, which is somewhat distracting while I'm trying to do anything that requires concentration. I did take mini dance breaks when I was feeling a little too stressed about the process, which actually helped a lot! Almost always with Arabic music, sometimes classical Arabic but often contemporary, sticky-sweet pop (I've been really feeling Nancy Ajram's most recent album, though I was never that into her earlier stuff).

I agree. This smacks of bad juju to me.

25, and 26 very shortly thereafter.

High five! (Two words, sorry. I'm a rebel.)

I'm in English and I had a lot of success contacting professors (well, we'll see HOW much success really when admissions decisions are made). But I would be cautious about putting profs on the application who haven't contacted you back. I don't know...to me it just seems desperate at best and disingenuous at worst to say you've contacted (in other words, been in contact with) faculty when all you've done is emailed them, not managed to initiate a conversation. If those professors happen to sit on the adcomm, they might look at your application and say, "This person has contacted me? I don't know who this is." Just throwing it out there. Still, take this as you will. I'm a measly applicant, too, so I'm just guessing in the dark here.

Well, that's a really good question, and honestly I never really got a straight answer to it. The PhD students with MAs, it seemed to me, tended to think the degree made it harder to get into programs because they were held to exponentially higher standards. Generally, those with MAs believed the degree was "worth it" because most of them took MAs due to a lack of research as an undergrad, a not-so-rigorous undergrad education, lack of English coursework, undergraduate shenanigans, and so forth. However, they all advised me against pursuing an MA because there seemed to be fewer spots in PhD programs for MA-holding students, and due to those extra, extra high standards. My professors advised me against pursuing an MA before the doctorate for a few different reasons. Financially, they didn't think it was worth it for a student to pursue what is largely an unfunded degree if her goal is to attain a PhD eventually. They also seemed to think that English PhD programs sort of like to "grow their own" without having too many students come in with preconceived ideas from other graduate programs. I likewise got the impression that they looked down on the fact that getting an MA from elsewhere risks making a lot of your work as a PhD student redundant (which makes at least some sense, I guess...). They also referred vaguely to there being fewer "spots" for applicants with MAs. As I said, I heard this advice from every PhD student in the program and every faculty member I spoke with about the topic, but I never got a truly definitive answer as to why. They just seemed to....not like the idea. Basically, the advice was: only pursue an MA first (in English) if you really need one--because of a less-than-stellar UGPA, lack of research experience, etc. Obviously, if you aren't a competitive undergrad, you need something of a boost. But, holding an English MA for an English PhD application can also hinder your chances for a number of non-specific reasons. Of course, this issue is VERY discipline specific, and even program specific. And it doesn't hold true for everyone. There are a ton of people out there, and here on the Grad Cafe, who have English MAs and proceed to get into badass English PhD programs. For everyone you meet who says s/he got turned down for having an MA, you will meet someone who got in because of it. I personally could not tell you at ALL how much of a difference the level of your degree makes; I'm an applicant, not a grad adcomm chairperson. I'm just poorly relating the incredibly vague advice I received. I should also note that my professors said that English programs really dig it if you have an MA in another subject, or an overseas MPhil or MA in English. So this apparently only holds true (if it even does--which it may not) for those holding American MAs in English applying to American PhD programs in English. Yes...this seemed to be a significant part of my profs'/TAs' rationale.

I got more or less the opposite advice from all of my undergraduate professors and current grad students at my undergrad. They all said that (in English, at least) it is MUCH harder to get into a program if you already have an MA. Of course, over on the Lit forum, this is a hotly contested issue, and you'll hear both sides. But from people at my actual undergrad program, I never heard anyone argue--ever--that an MA made things easier. Even the grad students who had MAs coming in (and yes, these were people with MAs who still managed to get into a top English PhD program) said that they recommended I forgo the MA first.

Yeesh, 20+ credits? Sounds heavy to me. Perhaps it depends on how you phrase it--I mean, I don't think 16 credits a semester would necessarily count as "heavy," but if you if you specify those semesters with more than 20? Totally.

So that would be like eleven courses a year, and five or six a semester? I don't know about your school, but at mine that wouldn't be a heavy course load, as students took on average five courses a semester, but often six, depending on the credit hours for each. I think it depends on the average course load at your own institution, though.

Great googly moogly. She JUST submitted her letters. I called her up today (the deadline) and she was like, "Well, yeah, of course I'm finishing them right now! Don't panic!" I wanted to say, "Good god, woman! Would it be so difficult for you to respond to ONE email instead of going totally silent for three weeks????" But instead I went on about how it's ME and I'm so paranoid and am just a worrier, etc. I was...pretty annoyed though. By the way, this is like my favorite person of all time and I want to BE her when I grow up. Only more timely and organized. Phew. At least they're in.

Agh. The whole time I was reading all of these sad flaky-LOR threads, I was thinking, "Oh, poor things! Good thing I have three solid and dependable letter writers!" And now it is the evening before my first deadline, and one of my letter writers has not submitted her letters, nor responded to my emails for weeks. She said over a month ago that she was working on my letters and almost ready to submit. Then silence. Nothing since. All of my applications are finished and submitted, with the exception of this one person's letters! I'm about to pull all my hair out.

Yes. Ha. No.

Hello! Well, I don't know what an Emory application code is, so I didn't put one in either...but Melanie Tipnis (Grad Program Coordinator, super nice lady!) told me that the Grad School is waiving fees for all applicants this year.

Props to you if you write have a strong idea of what kind of writing you like in your SOP. But, as Ridgey points out, "I hope" and "I believe" are not passive constructions. The subject is still doing the action (of hoping or believing) not having action done to it.

Okay, so I just had this really long and totally brilliant response all written and ready to post, when my computer crashed. Gah. The long and short of it is: the passive voice can be effective if used sparingly and deliberately (see this clause), but if you use it too often or unconsciously, it will significantly weaken your writing. There are, also, some venues and genres of writing in which passive constructions are not only acceptable, but necessary (see the science example given in this thread). However, those are specific styles and genres that require passive constructions--once again--for a reason. A statement of purpose is a document in which I would avoid using the passive voice unless you use it for a really specific reason. It can be hard to avoid these constructions, especially when we're all trying to write this mask of seeming humility while flaunting our accomplishments. The above example about chocolate is, in fact, a very weak construction because it lacks personal agency. That is, the speaker here has declined to take responsibility for her/his scholarship: "The effect of chocolate will be studied..." by whom? It makes it sound like the speaker will just sit back and allow the effects of chocolate to be studied rather than taking any initiative to study them him/herself. And, imagine if we were to add the personal agent to this construction: "The effects of chocolate will be studied by me." Super awkward! If you want to avoid the "wishy-washy," you need to say something like, "I will study the effects of chocolate." However, depending on your palate, this may be a little too bold. Thus speaketh the editor.

Applying to: Princeton, U. Penn, Penn State, UVA (my alma mater), UNC, Duke, Emory, U. Michigan, WashU, Northwestern, Stanford, UC Davis, UCLA Why? They're all programs with strong early modern/gender studies My current first choices are Penn, Northwestern, and Stanford...though I'm excited about all of these schools and my "first choices" shift daily. If I don't get in anywhere? Er...I'll probably apply next year for combination MA programs in English/Education and try to teach high school. NO idea what I'll do in the meantime...maybe go overseas again. Biggest fear? Not getting in anywhere, or not being offered any funding. BOOKS awesome enough to distract: The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. READ it. I'm working on some Rushdie now, but my brain is so fried in the wake of finishing my apps that I can generally be found vegging out with an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer rather than reading a book.

Wahoowa!

DUDE. There is a secret Diversity Statement for UCLA. It's buried deep within the fellowship application, and you can't even see it until you fill out like three pages of other questions. Cheap shot, UCLA.

Twelve. It's a lot of work, and expensive, but I'm spreading my seeds.

Ah, sorry, I paraphrased you poorly. Personally, I didn't echo this sentiment at all, because per my mentors' advice, for English at least it is important to apply to/attend a program that has a lot of faculty in your area of interest rather than just one. I have no doubt you were very tactful, given the response(s) you received!

I know for sure that UVa requires official transcripts (I called to confirm they really needed me to mail one, considering that I did my undergrad there, and the response was affirmative). Pretty sure Duke requires it too, or I wasted some money sending mine to them.

At least in my (US) undergrad program, that wouldn't be considered an "honors" thesis, but a "senior thesis" or something of the like. Some departments at my undergrad required their students to do senior theses--for Comparative Literature majors, for example, it was mandatory (I was an English major; it was not obligatory for us). My thesis was an actual honors thesis, as in I had to apply to an honors program in my third year in order to be allowed to do the independent research project, on top of my other coursework, in my fourth year. Not everyone was accepted to the honors program, and once you completed the thesis, it was not a given that you would receive "honors" credit for it. I know a guy whose thesis wasn't up to snuff, and he didn't get his "honors" after doing all the work of the independent research project. I have extra honors on my diploma for doing the honors thesis (technically, my degree is a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction). Some people ended up with "High Distinction." By the standards at my undergrad, THAT was an honors thesis. Though they all wrote theses, the Comp Lit people did not complete honors theses unless they also applied for the honors program. That said, JerryLandis, if your school calls your thesis as an "honours dissertation," I don't see why you can't refer to it as such in your application. Especially if somewhere you are able to give a description of what the project entails.