Swagato

Ha, no, it's just that most people end up using that contraction of my name.

Yes?

I reached out to my MA advisor, who I have remained in fairly close contact with since graduation in 2011. They have consistently been extremely supportive and generous with their time and advice (despite me striking out completely in the previous round of PhD admissions), and I wrote to them recently. It was a very short, very polite note to the effect that, basically, if they are comfortable saying anything about my application, that would be very welcome. I debated over this for quite some time, and honestly, ended up writing simply because my revised application was guided extensively by this person, and I felt our relationship is at least adequate that they would not simply get annoyed at me. What do you think?

Anyone want to claim the Northwestern interview? Other details would be appreciated.

Would like to pile on to the "really early but feels so far along" group. I've only had one confirmed rejection, and it is still quite early for the vast majority of my other 12 targets. Still, as February 5 comes on, I'm going nuts.

Not all departments do interviews in film studies, as far as I know.

Does anyone have *any* idea about UChicago?

You have no idea how much I envy you guys for at least hearing back something, by now. Over in my area, there are 2 departments I'd applied to who (last year) already notified admits and interviews by this time, but are completely silent this year. And another 2 departments are right in the zone for notifying, but are also silent. I could slice the tension in the air around me with a knife. Next week had better be stuffed with news, or I might do bad things to my cats.

Ah, that explains things a bit more. Still, 429 applications isn't so abnormal. Columbia's Dept. of English specifically states that they receive ~700 applications (and I don't think Columbia makes it free to apply).

I'm not in English and so do not know the details of the English academic community, so could someone offer a summary of the aura surrounding Vanderbilt? Is it one of the stratospherically-highly rated programs, and similarly difficult to get into? Why is Vanderbilt the Powerball?

As someone who has been on the red end of Brown's Modern Culture and Media mass-killings before, I'd like to offer sympathies to the fallen Vanderbilt warriors.

Northwestern and USC, yes. UChicago is right in the zone...last year a notification went out on the 29th, I think.

Bah. Made an overly compromising post. Let's say the top few programs will admit ~5 out of ~200 applicants.

Between now and, say, mid-Feb, we should hear from: USC, Berkeley, UChicago, Northwestern, Pittsburgh.

This is really helpful and a bit terrifying. I'm very invested in Pitt (English+Film Studies). You would not know anything about how they handle the English-only versus the Eng+Film applications, would you? Or whether they are nearly done with their final lists? A Feb-15-or-thereabouts date suggests they may be nearing their final selections but not quite there yet. Also, the announcements the DGS referred to--it sounds like these are the official graduate school notifications? I wonder if POIs may reach out before that...

Excellent news! The MAPH is definitely a fantastic program, but if you're receiving good funding for Austin's MA program, it's a great choice too. Your other targets--are they for MA, or PhD?

Except that you don't, you can never, know who you are up against. Your application may well be "top 25 material"--in a year that you simply get edged out by a particularly good pool of applicants. This is not a process wholly within our control--we can only try and ensure that we're doing our best to fit what (we think) department X may deem worthwhile, while ensuring a natural research fit, etc. If I'm confronted with a situation where I am indeed the 26th person on a list of 25 (absolute) admits, then yes, I will feel rather put out.

Well, I guess I can write off USC then. Unless things are still moving--but if they were notifying people that early, I assume it's over by now. Edit: I contacted the department. Not all notifications have gone out yet. "Through the end of February."

To echo this, rems. I have a sub-3.0 GPA from a modest liberal arts college. I was an international student, first-generation, etc. back in 2005. By the time I graduated, thanks to a wonderful advisor who remains a close friend, I managed to get my major (English) GPA above 3.0, with the last two years showing heavy course overloads and significantly improved grades. My hope going into this second round was that everything since 2009 will serve to amply prove that my undergraduate cumulative GPA is no longer representative of me. My MA from Chicago ended quite well for me--not a 4.0, but a GPA that I see regularly from PhD admits to top-level departments. I have a very high GRE score (not that that means a great deal), but most importantly--I completely revised and refocused my PhD interests and writing sample. I benefited hugely from faculty and grad student critiques and commentaries, and I truly hope that both those documents reflect this guidance. By all accounts I've presented a timely and (dare I say) intriguing statement of purpose, and my essay--something that can always be improved--should be good enough for the departments I've applied to (at least some of them, I mean). Most importantly, though, the sustained relationships I've cultivated with my undergrad professors and my Chicago faculty have, hopefully, resulted in rock-solid recommendations. I'm sure all of this will still not get me through at many of my targets. I cannot do anything about that now. I applied widely, but each of my 13 applications are to highly competitive places, because as I've said before--there is little point in doing a PhD at a department that is not conducive toward pushing me forward in my pursuit of a tenured academic career. I really have slaved over this the past year--through major moves, a marriage, a new cat (much tougher than the marriage!), and two jobs. None of that is relevant to my admission, of course. Still, I'm already considering how I might reposition myself for another round. I really hope it does not come to that.

Excellent. Do post more information when it is available! Edit: You don't have any update yet regarding your UCSB application? That may well be a positive indicator.

Nobody that I know of, from here. USC is late too, apparently. Last year things began emerging around 13th/14th.

I'm in the middle on this question. On the one hand, the departments I'd *really* like to be at regularly admit no more than 2-3 each year. On the other hand, there aren't exactly a huge number of film studies departments in the nation. Moreover, I don't just want to get a PhD; I want to do a PhD and use it as a stepping stone toward a future academic career. A tenured one. That means I can only afford to do my PhD at such departments as will be conducive toward that goal, while also contending with the fact that out of 200-300 applications, there will be less than 5 admits. So, neither is it wise to simply apply to the 5-6 departments where I'd be a fantastic fit, nor is it wise to simply spam out applications blindly. I've tried to for breadth while ensuring that there is at least a reasonably positive response to the question, "Would I present a decent fit at this department with my research interests?" I applied to 13 departments.

To be fair, #1 is fairly well known if you've had even minimal conversations with advanced graduate students or faculty members at these departments. #2 I cannot comment upon. My impression was that such 'quotas' were more common in the sciences than in the humanities. I also think/thought that it is often the case that a certain professor cannot take on more PhD students, and...well, what happens to any applicant whose profile is an obvious fit for this professor?

Congratulations to those who are receiving good news. Incidentally, how terrible is a very basic grammatical slip toward the end of one's SOP? "The research of X and Y are..." (should be "is," obviously).

To be honest, I doubt the AW score on the GRE is a major factor in English/similar fields. Everyone knows that the GRE essay is highly formulaic and is not at all a measure of your academic writing capabilities. Adcoms have a 15+ paper in front of them that'll give a much better sense of that potential. I'm happy about my GRE (V800, Q680, AW4.5), but I wish I had encountered the two works that allowed me to drastically improve and change my writing sample before the Dec. 1 round. I'm confident that I put my best foot forward for roughly 9 out of my 13 applications--and I wish I could've said that for all 13.