mudlark

You can also poke around for lecture series, colloquia, research groups, or publications that are housed at the school and related to your interests.

I was a successful applicant in English last year, and I used the same template that I used for research grant applications. 1. Introduction of field: what time period, which authors, what focus, and why? 2. Research Questions: what questions are you hoping to answer with your research? 3. Literature Review: what has already been said? where are you intervening in the conversation? where are the research gaps? 4. Methodology: what approach will you be using (marxist/feminist/cultural studies/new historicist/material culture/print culture)? how is this choice justified by the preceding elements? 5. Project Outline (optional): if you have a sense of what your diss will look like, what sections/chapters will it be organized into? This is probably more useful for grant applicants who are further along in their programs than it is for applicants, but hey, if you know, go for it. 6. Preparation: what courses have you taken that have prepared you for this project? how does it relate to any major projects you have written, or conferences you have participated in? do you have any useful languages? 7. Future Preparation/Fit: what does the PhD program offer you that will complete your preparation? are there specific courses you can use? languages you will learn? archives, libraries, or research groups you can use? who are the key professors you want to work with and why? This is a rough version of a template that was given to me by my old grad chair when she was teaching us how to write grants. I think it works because it lets you show that you know the field, you know the criticism, and you have something important to say about both. The 'Fit' section can easily be swapped out for each university. It takes some work to get through all of this in the allowable word count. It can be done, but the result is sometimes that by getting everything in, you end up glossing over important sections. So when I went back to my SOP to edit it for this year's round of grant apps, for example, I ended up deleting my old project outline (#5) in order to spend more time clearly explaining my methodology and research questions. I've seen dozens of SOPs written on this model, and it seems to have served a lot of my friends quite well.

1. Very few people publish good, reputable humanities research in their undergrad. It is absolutely not a requirement for admission. 2. Nobody cares about your extra-curriculars. Don't count yourself out before you even apply! Looks like you're in fine shape.

I think that the distinction between whether they taught you at the undergrad or grad level is more important than the reputation of the professor (especially since you have one decent rec from a well known person). A prof from your undergrad can only talk about your potential for graduate work, not your accomplishments at the graduate level. Most people I know only use recs from their most recent degree. In order to keep using my honours supervisor as a letter writer, I made a point of going and taking a grad class with her on exchange (well, for that reason and for the amazing class, of course). I vote you go with your grad instructors.

I submitted my SSHRC (Canadian federal funding for social sciences and humanities students) a few weeks ago... trying to let it go and not stress out.

If all that's left is your letter, I say just do it. A lot of scholarship applications are shots in the dark, anyways. It's good to get in the practice of just dashing off an application for anything remotely possible. And good luck!

It's not. Absolutely, 100% not ok. If you handed in this SOP as a "Why I chose my major" essay in second year composition, it would be... what... a C+? Maybe a B-? I say this as someone who has graded literally hundreds of junior papers. It is not graduate level writing, and it does not show preparedness, motivation, or focus. But yeah, you're almost certainly a troll. So thanks for the fun read!

This is so right. I only asked my 'extra' recommender to send letters where they were required, since my other writers were specialists in my area who had supervised me on major projects and my 'extra' prof had only had me in one class.

Do you have some rare breed of super duper high maintenance kitty? I have two cats, and in the two years since I started grad school, they've had plenty of love and attention. In fact, since I do a lot of work from home now, one of them gets to sit on my lap all afternoon a few times a week. I know tons of grad students with pets. In fact, one of my favorite profs strongly encouraged every beginning grad student to get either a cat or a dog to see them through the rough patches. It's absolutely doable. Frankly, I'm really surprised that you think it'll be a problem. Except for finding temporary homes for them during periods spent abroad, I don't see why caring for pets during grad school would be any harder than caring for pets with any other job.

I agree with the comments above. Try to get funding for your MA. Graduate school should be something that pays you money (albeit not much ), not something that costs you money. $50 000 is absolutely too much money to spend on an MA. All academics juggle work and research. It's a good habit to get into. You may also be surprised at how rewarding TA or RA work is compared to other jobs, and how well it (ideally) can work with your research, instead of detracting from it. There's one thing about your last post that confuses me, though. You say that you're going to apply to PhD programs after your MA, but you're buying a house? What if the only PhD program that funds you is on the other side of the country? Heck, what if the only MA program that funds you is on the other side of the country? That's only money. You also have to think about fit and the reputation of the program. If you move for either degree, and it's almost certain that you'll have to move for one or the other, you won't have lived in the house for long enough to make it worthwhile. Why are you limiting yourself geographically at exactly the time when you're most likely to need to move for your education?

Hrm... well, I see the posts saying that you're not likely to take criticism, but I'm looking for an excuse to procrastinate, so I'll reply anyway. I haven't read your last thread, so I have a fresh set of eyes. Think about what this paragraph is saying to your potential program: "I may have occasionally frowned on the impending exam and accompanying hours of requisite study" = I don't enjoy work and don't have a strong work ethic. "Teaching high school mathematics was fulfilling but the deviants and lengthy at home preparation took the enjoyment out of it" = I also dislike teaching and only want to do work that I enjoy. Is this really how you want to present yourself to people who are looking for passionate, energetic researchers and teachers? By saying that you don't like either research or teaching? The comment about a mailman also needs to go. Disliking one job does not prepare you for another. Imagine going in for surgery and asking the doctor about his qualifications only to hear, "Well, I really hated working at Foot Locker, so I decided to become a doctor." It's irrelevant and shows bad judgment, even if it's meant to be funny. You absolutely need to cut this entire paragraph. Right now, all you're doing is telling professors what they already know: that their field has many applications. Why waste important space reminding them about the basics of their own field? Here's how to save this section. 1. Pick ONE of these career paths. 2. Detail specific elements of your graduate training that will help you get there (courses, work, support systems, labs). 3. Find out which professor is best suited to support this path and mention him/her by name. This is utterly irrelevant. Cut it. Ok, this part has some promise. Again, though, you're reminding people with advanced degrees about basic truths. I'm sure your professors are aware of population growth. Assume that they know the basics, and get into specifics! Instead of talking about how the program will give you a general foundation to solve a large scale problem, go into details about exactly what you're going to do. "I am applying to this program because its focus on X, Y, and Z skills will allow me to (produce a final paper/construct prototypes/do lab work/build structures/extend existing research) that deals with (a very specific problem)." Whoa, there! You're all over the map. You're interested in five different jobs, the beauty of the golden ratio, solving the land shortage problem, and now algebra? You don't come across as a person with a specific goal in mind for graduate school. You need to connect the various parts of your application into one coherent narrative. Ok, but a bit ho hum. You may be an excellent student and a wonderful human being. But that's not coming across in your SOP. Readers of this essay will come away from it feeling like 1. You are interested in grad school more for the fun extracurriculars than for the work (paragraph 1). 2. You don't have a clear career path in mind (paragraph 2). 3. You don't have a clearly articulated research interest (paragraphs 3-5). 4. You don't have a compelling reason why the specific elements of this program are a good fit for you. Nobody will admit you to graduate school so that you can enjoy the community and casually browse various topics. You need to show drive, goals, and fit. If you don't yet have a goal in mind for graduate studies, you might want to wait until you have one.

*waves* I didn't contact a single soul and got 100% admits. I know of a few other people who didn't make contact and were also accepted to multiple good programs. My past and current grad chairs both said the same thing: that most people don't make contact, and that if contact is made, it's usually not useful without the rest of the application. I do know of one case where someone scuttled their application by being rude in a contact e-mail. He came across as very entitled and overbearing. The professor who received the e-mail noticed that he had gone to the same undergrad as one of her current advisees, and asked about him. Her advisee spilled multiple stories about his rude behavior in the past. He was not accepted, despite getting in at comparable programs.

As a new PhD student, I'm doing a slightly different dance of anxiety: "Woohoo! I'm in, I'm funded, nothing left to worry about!" "It must all be some cruel joke... they'll figure it out and drop me."

Don't be! They wouldn't let you in if they didn't think you could do the work, and in the long run grades are not as important as your actual research. As far as full time vs. part time goes, I've seen some really compelling stats (although I can't remember where for the life of me) showing that part time students have much lower completion rates. I know that at my school, the funding goes to full time students. The federal grants that we apply for are also for full timers only. I think part time study makes sense if you're doing a professional master's and have serious work or family commitments. Otherwise, you're more likely to be well funded and finish in a timely manner as a full time student.