hj2012

Hi! I have a quick question -- would it sound strange / desperate if I described in my SOP a program as "my dream school"? I won't say it in every single application, but for the school in which it's true, I want to really emphasize that I'd love to go there...

You referred to the school as "WashU/WUSTL," (the common moniker for Washington University in St. Louis) whereas University of Washington-Seattle is usually referred to as "UW/UDub." It is a bit pedantic, but I've seen people mix up the two schools all the top, both IRL and on these forums.

If letters of recommendation are a problem and you're not looking to enter a Master's program, would it be possible to audit some classes at a local university? That might help you make connections that lead to more letters.

If the DGS said it was fine, then I wouldn't worry about it. I doubt they'd tell you to go ahead and submit, then turn around and throw your sample out. (That would be very malicious!) I'd just make a note on the cover letter that it's a thesis chapter and there wasn't a version with instructor comments available.

Ooh! Me too! I'm in Ethnic Studies, but I think the personal history statement should swap OK across disciplines.

Agreed! Maybe Northwestern? Notre Dame? Washington University in St. Louis?

I'll PM you!! I'm applying to Ph.D. programs in English Lit and American Studies. Anyone else who wants to swap, let me know.

I'm also struggling with Berkeley's personal history. Why, why, why??? I found an example personal history online (from a history phd applicant), and reading it just gave me more angst.

Loric, this reply made me laugh, especially your fake email. How I wish I could have sent something like that... Luckily, the other professor I contacted very swiftly replied and agreed to write my letter. Whew! One crisis averted!

So, to answer creffecreve's original question, it seems that it's useful to look at median GREs at schools and use that as a launching point. If the median verbal scores at UVA are indeed that high, then I can probably surmise that my scores will likely prevent me from being a competitive candidate at that particular school. Ditto for Columbia and Berkeley. However, I have heard that some top ranked programs (U Chicago, for example) don't really emphasize GRE scores at all...so maybe it's less about instituting arbitrary cut-offs based on rank (top-10, top-20) and looking at each school individually.

I was advised that a 550+ was a "competitive" lit GRE score.... which meant that after taking a practice test and seeing my score, I promptly made the decision to only apply to places that don't require the lit GRE. However, I want to caution that my adviser (and my undergrad department in general) is kinda old school, so they might place heavier weight on silly things like the lit GRE than most programs...

You might also look at the MA in Liberal Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center or the MA in Cultural Studies at Stonybrook.

Thanks for the input, dazedandbemused. I really appreciate it! Also, not to be all stalkerish, but I see that your location is Austin, TX....are you by chance at UT-Austin?? They're up at the top of my list!

Hi everyone! I'm new here and had a question about the SoP... It seems that the general consensus (from lurking and reading through threads) that it's a good idea to mention a few professors you're interested in working with at the end of the SoP. However, I got my statement reviewed today by one of my professors, and she strongly recommended me to NOT include names. Her reasoning was that: (1) you don't know if that person is accepting new Ph.D. students, (2) you might mischaracterize / misrepresent their work, (3) there might be someone who fits your interests better at that school that you somehow missed and (4) you're pigeon-holing yourself... However, at the same time, some programs explicitly list in their SoP prompts to include specific faculty members that they're interested in working in.... I'm just a bit lost. Help!

There are strong master's level programs at Harvard, Columbia (Teacher's College), Stanford and U Penn.

Maybe look at UVA? James Loeffler is doing some work on modern Jewish history and human rights. What are your theoretical / methodological interests? There are also some people working on transatlantic discourse that might be interested in advising a project such as yours.

Thank you for the feedback, everyone. I really appreciate it. I'll contact a new professor ASAP.

So, the title basically says it all, but one of my recommendation writers just emailed me to tell me that she won't be able to write my recommendation, saying that she doesn't feel comfortable recommending me for graduate school when she feels morally opposed to sending students to Ph.D. programs in the humanities. I'm obviously irritated, as I wish she told me her reservations when I asked her for a recommendation over a month ago. Guys, my first deadline is December 1st and I'm freaking out! There is another professor that I can ask, but I feel really bad doing so this close to the deadline. Did anyone have anything similar happen to them? When emailing a potential letter writer, do you think I should explain what happened (I secured a letter, but the letter writer backed out) or just not mention anything at all? I don't want a letter writer to think I'm irresponsible and didn't ask ahead of time, since it's so close to the deadline... but at the same time, I don't want to be badmouthing another professor. Help!