boomah

Hi guys, I have many varying interests, and I'm curious if I can find a doctoral program that will allow me to combine: 1) Modern Middle East history and contemporary politics, with 2) Islamic theology and philosophy or intellectual history. It seems that many Islamic Studies departments offer the latter as it's mainly religious studies, whereas the former is based either in the History department or Middle Eastern Studies or sometimes even Int'l Affairs/Poli Sci. Do you know of any departments which offer both of these together? I really can't decide between the two and thought if I can find a combination, that'd be ideal. Thank you.

I'm assuming Wendy is applying to the Comparative Literature program at Harvard, which requires four languages and doesn't set a minimum for the GRE, unlike the English program, which asks for around 166 Verbal at least.

Thanks for the replies, everyone! So it seems to be mainly an issue of "fit," along with showing a potential of producing good work (and having nothing horrible in your record). Hmm.. So about fit... I guess I should get to work on that!

So there's been a lot of conversation on here recently about program rankings, and whether that matters (apparently it sort of does), and on how everyone applies to Berkeley and Harvard but no one gets in. What I've been wondering is: how do you get in? I understand that they have hundreds of applicants and can offer only a couple of seats, so I guess they look at: - undergrad/MA performance - grades should be stellar - recommendations - should be amazing - GRE's - very high scores in both general and lit - SOP - should show a very strong fit with the dept. - publications - you should have a few - conferences - you should have presented at several Anything else? It seems that so many people with all of the above apply and still get rejected. So is admittance just random? What is it that marks some students above the rest?

Hey! I'm also interested in this program and hope you could answer the following questions: 1- What do they mean by this requirement? The successful completion of an independent writing project or honors thesis I don't have an actual honors project but do have writing projects of about 25 pages. Works? 2- How competitive is the funding? Do most students get at least tuition covered? 3- Do you need to have a specific thesis etc. before you apply? Or can you have just general fields of interest?

Hi everyone! I'm applying for a Master's in English and had some questions about the Statement of Intent. 1- I understand that for PhD SOPs, they'd like a detailed proposal. Is it the same with MA statements? I don't have anything specfic planned out yet! 2- The MA program is mostly coursework, with a thesis at the end. So would it make sense to talk a lot about my specific area of interest? Or should I talk about literature in general? 3- Should an MA applicant point out potential advisers (even though it's just a 2 year program w/ mostly coursework)? If so, should I contact them first? That's it for now... I may have some more later. Thanks in advance!