queennight

From the opposite end of the spectrum - I certainly have not started my applications early, and will most likely experience all of the aforementioned negative side effects of having to cram the entire process into a couple weeks. But in the words of my most honorable homeboy Drake, yolo.

Past language exams on Harvard's website: http://english.fas.harvard.edu/graduate/resources-for-grad-students/#exams The French exams seem ridiculously easy. One of them looks like simply a short poem? Admittedly, I'd need a dictionary beside me to translate it, but I feel if you took a summer intensive course or even just a program at a local community college you would be fine. One thing I'm confused about is how to list my language skills as (basic, intermediate, advanced): as I was raised in the Canadian school system, I studied French up until grade 9 for 6 years, and I previously thought this meant that I could list my skill as intermediate (having conversational French), but now I'm confused as to whether I should list it as basic as I never obviously took an undergraduate course in French. I also studied Latin for 2 years back in high school, so I'm going to write that one as 'basic' - and now I'm studying graduate level Old English/Anglosaxon, which I would assume would place me as intermediate for that language. It's all so confusing and I'm scared that I'll 'oversell' my language skills - leaving me in a dry panic over the summer, and probably causing me to tear through Rosetta Stone so I don't look like a total idiot if I make it into an actual program.

I should have used Kessel oh well! Mine is just a small piece of art that I found on tumblr; I'm still trying to figure out which visual artist made it!

What schools are everyone applying to and why? (Broad question for this season of applications!) Personally, (please ignore my signature which changes almost every week), I'll probably be applying to about seven schools. I am constrained financially, so I've restricted my list down to that; if I get even just one waitlist, I'll be content! Right now, most likely I'll be applying to: Duke, UCLA, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, and Cornell. Additionally, will most likely add in Brown depending on the research I finish up doing on the programs by November. I'm really interested in Duke, particularly for their literary theory (hence Brown as well), while other more historicist programs like Stanford are also attractive to me as I come from a Romantic/Victorian place of interest. My GRE Subject is most likely going to be weak, which is why I'm also sticking in Columbia; the fact that they don't use the score is a sense (albeit slight) of relief.

Wyatt (as I already mentioned to you), you literally have been such a light through this entire process! Thanks again for keeping us all sane. (Truly.)

If ETS asked us all to write an essay on relating this application process to Sisyphus, I feel we could all potentially ace this!!!

Okay my minor mental breakdown is over sorry guys going to go cry into my Princeton book now

I ACTUALLY HATE ETS I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THESE TESTS ARE EVEN NECESSARY A;SDLKFAWH;EOIFY;XOICYB It just seems to me like such a waste of effort and energy. The GRE General is bad enough (it literally is a bizarre vocab test mixed with a strange computer marked essay), and then the GRE Subject comes along and shoots you in the face with what feels like a metal hockey puck. Not to mention that the Subject test is teaching us to study summaries rather than read the entire books/works discussed (if you have the luxury to take the time to read these books before the exam, I envy you) - as much as I love ThugNotes like the rest, it's such a foolish way to appreciate the classics. You could spend a year or two studying for this exam and never finish reading all the books. I understand schools are looking for well-rounded entrants, but memorizing the Canterbury Tales when I'm interested in Romantic/Victorian poetry seems absolutely ridiculous to me. NOT TO MENTION THAT I'D LIKE TO HAVE A LIFE TOO BUT OH WELL I'M COOL These exams have done my head in. I guess that's the point, but I'm insanely burnt out. This process is exhausting! Not even potential medicine students take TWO STANDARDIZED EXAMS just to apply. Not to mention the three references, the VARYING WORD COUNT (because standardizing essay sizes for schools would be too much to ask for), the personal statement, etc ... at this stage, it feels like an uphill battle. I UNDERSTAND SISYPHUS SO MUCH NOW

I'm available as well!

This is actually the story of my life. You know you are stressed when you make a point of making sure the bubbles are dark enough.

I'M INTERNATIONAL TOO AND IT'S SO EXPENSIVE, I completely echo this. The cost alone makes me worry just about the expense of applying to these schools!

This gave me such a breath of fresh air. I'm currently in a panic cramming for the subject test (where I'm scoring very, very poorly - haven't had any time to study with the start of my MA), and it's SO GOOD TO HEAR that we don't have to be perfect on these absolutely stupid standardized tests that say nothing about whether or not we have interesting ideas. Thank you for this.

Yay! A Canadian! I can't contribute anything, as I'm not applying to the English school system, but I do have a question for you - with your SSHRC scholarship, why not consider applying to American schools? Is it a location preference? Are you considering applying for a Rhodes as well for funding, or do you have independent money secured?

I'm kind of relying on them thinking that my proposed thesis is potentially workable; realistically, I completely understand what you're saying about having a backup plan. I'm also applying to law schools, so I hear what you say about professional realism. I started off in science as well - glad to see that you also came from the dark side! I agree though, it is a complete and utter shit show. Not to mention that the applications alone are insanely tedious! But ah well, here's to a dream

Thanks to everyone who put in their two cents - it's good to know exactly what to expect, although it is hard to predict where the economy will be in say five or six years from now. Adjuncting seems like a cruel but likely future for the majority of us, so I figure that stampeding into the process with full knowledge of this will save me some tears down the road. I think it really does go back to the question of research or teaching: and I am very interested in the fact that rhetoric/composition is such a burgeoning field. I'm also wondering how exactly the job market will expand to include multicultural fields of study (Asian American lit, queer theories) or comparitive literatures, especially with the so-called 'decreasing' potential of tenure track jobs. An economist really should do a study.

I actually want to smash my head into the table for starting writing these all out by hand. Thank you so much! This is a great resource!

I think I love you. Thank you.

That's super interesting - which 20th century women poets?! Are you interested in American/British/other?

I'm not sure exactly why you wrote this on a forum for English students applying to a vast array of programs. It can come off as quite offensive and sour. As Wyatt politely told you above, saying that people who apply to large numbers of schools "for fun" is incredibly demoralizing and rude. I'm paying for my applications out of the scholarships that I've won just to pursue graduate study (and before I knew that I had the scholarships, had to limit myself financially because of the high price of applications), and also work full-time throughout the summer to support my education. I love what I am doing, but I don't think that being demeaning towards those of us who have lofty dreams is quite the right way to approach introducing yourself to a forum. That being said, you sound like a very interesting person (especially with your interest in pedagogy), and best of luck in this application process! Please take care in the way that you come off, when you make comments that attack other people's desires - especially over the internet, where it can be difficult to discern facial expressions . I'm painfully aware of my weak chances at the schools that I am applying to (despite solid grades and solid GREs, the numbers are simply against me), so rubbing salt in wounds can be harsh at this point.

As some of you might be aware, I'm currently applying to English Ph.D.s this season but I'm also very cogniscent of the hiring situation for those of us who are lucky enough to even be accepted. After six/seven years of studying, the fact that I might end up jobless is quite frankly a bit terrifying - although my passion is deep enough to carry me through the Ph.D. itself, I am concerned about what I would do if this process doesn't end up with a tenure track job. I'm not wearing rose coloured glasses - I'd expect to sessionally teach for a couple of years after a post-doctorate, but I am extremely concerned about the professional future of what we're all so eager to go into. Any advice/thought about this topic? I know it's a harrowing one to consider or even discuss, but it's one that has been weighing on my mind recently. I'm applying to law schools as a back-up, even though the thought of going into a career that I'm not 100% about is definitely a bit nauseating. I just wish that the public (in general) could appreciate the need for fine arts, but alas, that is life.

Wow, this is all great! Thanks to those who have shared!

Wyatt - I tried to quote your signature, but for some reason this system won't let me. Either way, the fact that it's now changed to "Officially Applied to" both excites and nauseates the crap out of me: here we go!

Also to add: if you have a firm outline, you will do well. My creativity suggestion hinges on the fact that you already understand exactly what it is that ETS is looking for: a mundane, boring - as - hell essay outline that mimics what we were taught an essay should contain back in high school. Once you have that, you should be solidly set - also use the GRE vocab words!! There are going to be very few times in your life when you can casually drop a bombshell word into your argument ("I really feel like a Starbucks latte is specious in regards to pricing" - you might get punched in the face by your less than impressed friends), so you might as well maximize the usefulness of the largely useless (let's be frank) GRE verbal during this section.

Thanks for the shoutout Wyatt! ^This is basically an excellent summation of what I found to be effective. Also handy - if you buy the GRE Princeton book and take their online tests, they will actually grade you for the writing portion (a free service they offer, with somewhat lethargic and uninspired comments on how you can improve). It's a little bit useless but also a little bit handy. On my GRE, I scored a 6.0 in the writing section (while scoring 5.0 on my practice online graded tests). It's my personal belief that the reason why I was graded a 6.0 was because my GRE essay was one of the wildest things I have ever written - I pulled out all the stops. At one point, I literally wrote "dreamers never die" and then referred to the fact that a 13 year old Indian girl climbed Mount Everest back in June. This being said, I solidly think I lucked out with a bored marker who was maybe interested by my crazy style - it is a risk to be creative, but so long as you follow the standard arguments you're taught in the prep books (and just add dashes of creativity to each point you state), it might be a risk that pays off.

Following the language study advice in this thread, I've decided to (foolishly) take Old English during my first semester of my MA. Any tips from you medievalists who are well versed in the area? I am generally speaking quite atrocious at languages, so I'm mainly taking it to boost my language background because I know nothing about linguistic identity that is not English - I feel like Old English is at least a start, albeit a very, very, difficult one to master.