tingdeh

I really wish I found this thread earlier. Best of luck to all you beautiful people! I applied to the same program as my crapshoot program. Best of luck to you! It honestly looks amazing and if either (or both...) of us get in, I'd love to hear and get reports on experiences.

I applied to Berkeley as well (humanities/social sci) and I'm wondering how it works on this end of the academic spectrum. Waiting is totally killing me! I hope you're having a better time at it -- but congrats on the recommendation!

Daily Planet

Just got it back today, too. 580. Hopefully this slides through with the rest of my strong written application...

Need some honest opinions. Just got my GRE subjects back and they aren't looking too pretty. Program: English BA (June 2014 expected) Interests: ethnic American literature, immigration, postcolonial/transnational Applying to: Harvard (English with an ethnic studies focus), UCLA (for Filipino and Pacific Island literature), Columbia, Stanford MTL, UMich English, Duke English, Case Western General GRE: 159V 151Q 5.5A Subject GRE in lit: 580 cGPA: 3.25 GPA in English courses: 3.85 Additional: Strong writing sample (received a 98 percent for this paper and additional edits), two research supervisors and the Dean as letters of recommendation, research experience through fellowship and travel grants, symposia and conferences, Sigma Tau Delta, graduating from top 20 school. Really appreciate some advice moving forward. I'm currently writing my personal statements! Thanks everyone.

Thanks a lot -- I contacted Victor Mendoza to see what he has to say regardless. Berkeley's looking good, too, in terms of their graduate dissertation history, a lot of work on Asian American literature. On a somewhat related note: how specific do Statements of Purpose have to be for such schools in terms of the project I'd want to conduct when I'm there?

I am so glad I discovered this forum. Gearing up for Fall 2014 applications has been nothing short of hectic...so thank you! I'm doing an undergraduate project under a fellowship on the literature of the Filipino American diaspora, and I am working on an article on Teju Cole and the Nigerian American diaspora. I really want to carry this theme into graduate school and have begun looking at programs. Initially I went the top 20 route, but I've slowly been learning that program of best fit is the way to go. So far, Duke and Columbia have been on my radar. I contacted a pretty notable professor in Columbia working on my field and she said their program is a good fit. What are some other programs to keep in mind for diaspora/transnational work? I've got decent GRE general scores and a stellar CV...and working on the daunting process of the SOP.

When I first started the program, my first instructor (a Modernist graduate student) profusely urged me to stay away from applying. After a couple of years, a Mellon fellow and a full professor ended up encouraging me to go into it. So it really is that weird test of perseverance. I'll be applying this year from undergraduate, looking into good programs on diaspora and transnational literatures (I've done work on Filipino and Nigerian literature in the diaspora, under a summer fellowship). Initially I wanted to apply to UC programs, but after some lurking I found stories of the funding cut woes in California. So I'm trying to rejig my options.