hj2012

Good luck to everyone! I likewise feel that this upcoming week will be bringing lots of news.

Hard to say what your chances are without knowing more about your writing sample, personal statement and letters of recommendation. Those will be the far more important parts of your application. However, from the information you've given us, you seem well-qualified. School recommendations would depend on your fields of interest (e.g. Colonial period, women writers, comparative poetry, etc). Regardless of ranking, I would apply to the programs with which you can see the best fit with the department.

Looks like acceptances went out about this time for the last couple of years, though no one's posted anything about Berkely comp lit in the results survey yet.

What exactly is this score used for? Is it a metric for admissions somewhere?

Comp lit? Interesting. What texts are you looking at? I think the problem with your current thesis (and topics of interest) is that they're way too broad. An argument that Islam is a "feminist" religion could range from an exegesis of 18th century Maghreb philosophers to a discussion of the blog spaces currently occupied by Muslim women bloggers to a close reading of Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis. Furthermore, an academic thesis (especially one that's ~50 pages long) isn't the place to make such a large argument. Instead, I'd really try to focus specifically on a text (or a set of texts) that intrigue you. Rather than focusing on an overall point (let's overcome stereotypes about Muslim women!), choose a book or a writer or an event that illuminates some of your themes and sharpen the focus, e.g. the role of memoir in shaping Islamic feminist discourse, as evidenced by the reception to Leila Ahmed's A Border Passage. I'd also suggest reading some articles in your subfield(s) to get a general sense of the theoretical expectations. As you're in comp lit, I don't know if there's a requirement that you work across linguistic divides or that you look at primary materials in certain languages. That might be something else to keep in mind.

Yeesh. I'd reply back and tell them that you've contacted your undergrad university about the notarized, translated copy, but because you are living abroad, you are afraid that it would be difficult to have those prepared by the end of the month. Ask for an exemption, and if there's anything else you could do to verify the diploma (email from the graduation office, another set of transcripts, whatever). Hopefully they'll be accommodating. Best of luck to you!

Goodness gracious....small town, high rent, feral dogs! I'm curious, where exactly do you go to school? I want to know to make sure I never go there. On a more serious note, I agree completely with the door-locking thing. The small fridge is a good idea if you can afford it. It seems that you've tried dialogue with her a few times, to no avail. At a certain point in time, if you are absolutely committed to sticking out the lease, I would simply cut off all communication with her and, to the extent you can, pretend she doesn't exist. It's better than constantly fretting about her behavior and having that cloud hanging above you. HOWEVER, please continue to document EVERYTHING that happens. I would write down, for example, any damage done to the apartment by her dog, etc. You shouldn't be stuck with expensive refurbishing fees at the end of this because of her irresponsibility. I also want to second rising_star's suggestion about finding a new place to live. It may be worth the money for your peace of mind.

Seems tricky. I think you could probably argue for an exemption, though I don't know how willing the university would be to work with you on that point. However, if you were to get your diploma notarized, your first step should be to contact your university. If they release diplomas in Latin, they might also release notarized and translated copies. (From a quick google search, it seems that UPenn and Brown, for example, offer this service.)

That modcloth dress is SO. CUTE.

There isn't much you can do about your uGPA. However, the GRE (though a huge pain) is a highly learnable test. With your interest (and qualifications) in the field, I think you'd be doing yourself a disservice by not giving it another try.

How long will your paper be? Also, what is your discipline? A sociology thesis will ask a very different set of questions from, say, an English thesis.

This was the standard guide at my undergrad program: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0226823377 Good luck!

That's awesome! Congrats!

Wow -- totally meant to say UC Santa Cruz -- was on my phone and not thinking correctly.

History of Consciousness at uc santa barbara. It's a sweet program.

If you're feeling burnt out, jumping into a PhD program (with a commitment of 5+ years) might not be the best idea. My undergraduate advisers have assured me that taking time off before further graduate school would definitely not count against me. Also, looking around these forums, it seems that there are plenty of successful candidates in English/Literature who take time off between degrees. No idea about your second question, though. Best of luck to you!

Man, that's definitely nerve-wracking! I haven't heard anything from any of my schools, and according to the search results, I shouldn't be expecting decisions until mid-February (ish). I'm jealous of those of you who are hearing back early!

I guess they really want to build up the anticipation, eh? Although at this point, I think they just might be teasing you... Sending good vibes your way!

Welcome! UVA is my alma mater too! (Wahoowa!) Are you planning on taking the lit GREs as well? I ended up not taking them, which automatically crossed some schools (like UVA) immediately off my list. If you're looking at MA programs, I've only heard good things about Georgetown's English MA program -- though I don't know about their strengths in 20th-c American poetry.

I also would advise against asking that professor again because of the risk that the letter will be mediocre. If possible, I'd ask one of your current Korean instructors or another professor at your current Korean institution, especially if you've taken coursework in Korean history, literature, society, etc. Certified translation might be your best bet.

I would have to echo mppgal's concern about your English writing ability. You already have a lot of decent work experience, so the best thing you could do for yourself to make yourself a competitive candidate is to have stellar scores on the GRE and the TOEFL.

Congratulations to you both!

I must second what other posters have said: if this is a matter of mental health and safety, you must prioritize your own wellbeing. That said... Are you interested in academia or international relations or any other field where you expect Fulbright to be a big plus on your resume? If that is the case, I must caution that quitting early will not do you any favors. However, if your dream is to go to into, say, accounting, I question how much an employer would know or care about the length of a Fulbright grant year. Having also lived abroad for a few years now (starting, incidentally, with a Fulbright grant), I agree that culture shock and anxiety are a normal part of the transition process. If you can stick it out, I encourage you to do so.

There's already an established thread in the Literature forum, where you'd probably find more active participants.

Congratulations! That's amazing. How many more schools are you waiting on, and when do you expect to hear back? Also, how common are scholarships in your particular field? For PhD programs, funding is particularly important, so it would be worth delaying a formal acceptance in order to compare funding offers. This may not be the case for the programs you applied to. In some cases, I know it's possible to ask for an extension of the formal acceptance deadline, but I find it unlikely that you'd be able to delay this from mid-February to mid-April. In your situation, you may be best off accepting the offer of admission (though I still wouldn't until as late as possible, in order to hear back from more schools) and paying the deposit. If I were to receive a more generous offer from another school further down the line, I feel that I would have few qualms foregoing my deposit in order to go to the better funded school -- though other opinions may vary.