Francophile1

I can tell you that alot of schools do that. They do not want to have many email inquiries. Rejections or acceptances will be sent by mail.

First of all so glad you are in Ukraine (my half home)! and are interested in Slavic studies. I am in a foreign language Ma/ phd in a different language and just wanted to give some advice. I have been told by many people that comp. lit programs are extremely competitive and if you want to teach language or culture in Russian or whatever other language it is advisable to get a Phd in it as Comp. lit is very broad. especially if it is not your first language! Enjoy Ukraine! What city are you in?

wanted to reply back. I have heard that in humanities definitely most classes are after 4pm however this really depends on the program as the previous poster mentioned. And I would also agree that your PhD money would go a longer way in a smaller town/where things cost less. I am in NY..and it is definitely tight!

yes you should look into others that focus on French Cultural studies. Such as NYU program, Tufts U...and I'm sure there are others.

Well, I am glad you are exploring this early on! First you must decide if you want to pursue grad study in French or Rhetoric/Eng. writing. If you go with French, you need to be very fluent in it, and unless you are half french or have a lot of exposure to the language you can only get fluent by majoring in it and studying abroad. This may sound a bit harsh but I have been there and believe me grad school will expect alot out of you. Studying abroad isessential, if possible for a year which will increase your fluency drastically. I am currently in grad. school (French), and we are expected to write everything in French, scholarly paper 25 pges/class. With that said there is a nother option: if you are not looking to teach in colleges, you could get a teacher certificate/MA in french, which might be easier to get into (with a minor in French). Many MA or Phd programs expect you to teach (college classes) as part of the experience but there are some which don't expect that. Basically my advice is look at your options, if you cannot major in french, look into MA/certification programs. Good luck, and if you have any questions ask away! P.S As far as applications go, all applications MA or PHD require: Statetement of purpose GRE scores Writing sample (10-15 pages in French) and other misscelaneous items.

Hello all I wanted to get everyone's input on the following programs, if you are familiar with them or simply have some input please respond! Thank you! My interests are: 19/20th ctry feminism, travel literature,Women in francophone lit (AFrica) My list is: Northwestern U of Penn Columbia Cornell Harvard NYU CUNY Also looking in comp lit: UT of Austin UCSB

Wanted to reach out to students who have transferred after MA. What was your timeline? Did you take the comp exam at the end of 4th semester? I really want to apply to PhD programs after, so am trying to find out the timeline of others. Thanks

Yes it is possible however you must be aware of the following. A fully funded PhD usually involves either fellowship or teaching appointment. Each university is different but basically the concept is the same. Your tuition is waived, most of the time you are given health insurance. If you have a teaching appointment you will get a salary but you must remember that taxes will be taken out and it won't be a huge amount. I don't know what is your field but for humanities it is usually $10,000-$25,000/year. If you are lucky they will offer you a fellowship for the first 1-2 years, this means you will be paid a sort of salary as well (same amount usually as a TA). Each university varies, but for example mine is like this: Either: 1 year fellowship (tuition waived), insurance 4-5 years assistanship/ teach 1-2 courses/per semester Or Full 5 years Teaching. You should also know that not all your MA will transfer, many universities here only allow to transfer 4-6 courses. So look into each program. You won't usually know before being accepted their full financial package but you can expect something like I've described above. I wanted to be thorough here because I have seen international students who come here expecting a good income but then realize that they are really short on money! Remember you will most likely will have to pay for your own housing on/off campus and taxes will be taken out from your salary if you are teaching. As far as visas, you will need a student visa but I am not sure if it is F1 or F2. Domestic students can also get government loans here but YOU WILL NOT be able to. So if you decide to apply you will have to rely on your fellowship/TA job for income. And any savings that you may have. If you have questions about anything else, feel free to ask or message me, will be glad to help! P.S keep in mind also that probably as an international student you will not be permitted to work off campus and many universities only allow you to teach and to not hold another job while in grad school. As far as kids, there are of course free schools everywhere, but you will need to look in the visa requirements (I know when I traveled abroad with my child) they wanted me to show them that I can support him while abroad). Keep in mind also that most PhD classes are in the evening and if you teach it is during the day, so you scheduling will be tight and you will need to invest in extra help with the kids or daycare after school. I know this was kinda long, but as I said earlier I traveled to europe to study with a child, so I know how important it is to know everything possible! Good Luck!

I am in foreign languages but I heard that composition is a tough market to get into. Try being flexible and maybe being more open to what you want to focus in for the MA/Phd

No what I meant there are alot of departments that have separate MA/ phd (not combined), and although it is true that combined MA/Phd offer better aid you can find some that are separate. If you are interested look into Florida State, Boston College (MA only), colorado and Rutgers (more competitive combined). Of course it all depends on what you want to study as well.

Yes I applied to a few. Basically you are better off in looking at programs that have an MA and PHD in french, more chance there of funded programs.

Definitely time management between TA and courses

Hello all! Just received one of my grades for a lit class, and it is a B, and after having read many forums on how B's are bad, really frustrated! I am in a foreign language department, but we do not have here A- grades, so our options are A, B+, B, C+,C. This is my first semester in the Ma program. How bad is this? This class was taught by a foreign professor from abroad and it was not clear at all (as other students noted as well). But what is done is done. I just need to know now if this is really as bad as I think it is. ANy advice? From humanitities fields or others?

Bonjour! I am already in a Master/Phd program but since you are applying to some of the schools I applied to I wanted to provide my input. Boston college- I applied there, didn't get in...actually it's an interesting story....apparently they do not accept a lot of students because the program is small, and in fact they didn't even tell me at the end that i was not accepted...I just sort of figured it out on my own. I applied to all other schools, and they all have either provided an acceptance or rejection letter, but not this school. Was pretty frustration! Also I got into Florida state and U of Florida. I decided to head east instead, but can tell you that Florida State's French Department is very diverse and I would recommend it over U of Florida. The campus however is preety rural and there is not much to do there (except study of course!) Hope this helps!

Thanks all, actually I already submitted it so I guess we will find it out soon. The professor told different things to different people in our class, as we did not all have the same topic (each person wrote a paper on different topics books.

I am wondering about this too. For us we just have either short writing or presentations during the semester and final papers that's all

Hello all, I hope all are surviving the final weeks of Fall 2013! I had a quick question. I know grad papers are usually 15-20 pages in most Lit programs, however I was wondering if anyone has ever submitted less? Is that considered really bad, if let's say you submit 10 pages instead of 15 (required) but your analysis is still deep and covers the topic. Has anyone come across this before? From any field?

I am working way less than the people above - only teach 1 course and there is absolutely no time for another job! Maybe only during summer. Lesson planning takes a long time especially the first few years!

As for your question regarding differences in GRE scores I think they are weighted the same. It just really depends how many applicants they have

I had the same Verbal and I think 4 or 4.5 on the essay part, math was lower (but they don't really care about math) As far as fellowships go, it depends on department rules. Fellowships are usually reserved for Phd applicants and sometimes the department determines who to give them to or the grad. department. I know for a fact that in public schools (like mine) fellowships are hard to come by and only 50% or less of admitted applicants get them.

Hello! Glad to find this thread! I am looking to apply in 2 years as I am now in an MA. Can anyone recommend any particularly strong comp. lit departments in feminism/ multilingual authors (French, russian)?

Are you familiar with Penn's comp lit department at all?

Hi! I am in a foreign language MA/PHD and I applied to 9 schools with similar scores. Got into 7 of them. I can basically say couple of things: 1. It depends whether you are applying to MA or PHD, as MA requirements are more flexible as far as GRE goes 2. As mentioned before for 1st tier schools you need higher scores. As it is often said that: GRE scores can't get you in but they can keep you out! Very true 3. Of course other materials matter way more, but if it comes down to choosing between similar applicants they might eliminate you based on a lower score. 4. I got in to most 3 tier schools with this score and some 2nd tier very good ones too. You have to make sure that your writing sample and other materials are stellar 5. As far as funding goes for PhD most of the time if they accept you you will be funded, this does not depend on the GRE. Good luck, and if you have any questions just ask away!

thanks! If any one has any other input please let me know. Also does anyone one know if I want to study French and Russian feminine authors in France Is this something that a comp lit department would have more flexibility of offering or is it possible to study such a thing within a French department? Do foreign language departments mostly just focus on that language and lit and don't allow much flexibility?

ok so do you think it is considered a terminal degree still if that is not stated as such. After ma exams they "recommend" us or not into the PhD.