Dr. Old Bill

AHHHH. Wish I could upvote this a dozen times. Palpable relief. Thank you!!

Yeah, I'm still really worried about OSU. My one LOR-writer said she'll be able to finish sending her letters off tomorrow, though OSU's deadline is (was?) today. Sigh.

I like wine as a gift because it's reasonably inexpensive (I capped it at $25 a bottle), and you can tailor the kind you buy to the professor's personality. One of my LOR-writers is Italian, and very refined and elegant, so I bought her an "elegant and refined" wine from Italy. Another is Spanish and much more flamboyant, so I got him a lively and fruity wine from Spain. But it all depends on the relationship you have with your professors. A couple of years ago, I bought one letter-writer a nice leather-bound journal, another a bottle of single malt scotch, and the third a more personalized gift (a Maori carving) from New Zealand, as I'm part New Zealander, and one of my professor's personal interests was in Maori culture. So it really depends on what you feel is appropriate. No, I wouldn't ask that. In some cases, if you have particularly good rapport with your LOR-writer, they may choose to personalize. I know in my last cycle one professor told me she would personalize when she knew a lot about a particular program, but I think that's the exception, rather than the norm. I don't think it's considered necessary at all. In a very real sense, it's a part of their job, after all. But I do appreciate my LOR-writers' willingness to write for me, and I figure a $25 gesture of gratitude for each one is simply a nice little courtesy...but NOT an expectation, by any means.

So...if your final letter-writer starts uploading her letters, leading you to finally go out and buy all of your letter-writers wine...only to see that she stopped after four uploads...do you withhold the wine? Asking for a friend.

Not sure about reverse translation dictionaries, but wouldn't "decivilized" work?

And they say that brevity is the soul of wit...

Sorry you're going through this, @klader! It is indeed a very tough time of year, and this past Sunday I felt close to crumbling myself (I was literally catatonic for several ten-minute stretches...which was VERY odd for me). My one, take-it-or-leave-it scrap of advice is this: give yourself one day -- one FULL day -- to do NOTHING related to school. Your brain is going to rebel against this idea, but do it anyhow. Go and see a double-feature in the theater. Play a video game. Go ice skating. Do a pub crawl with friends. Whatever you find entertaining and mind-distracting, do it. There's a good chance that this will truly allow your critical thinking centers to rest, only to have them rarin' to go the next day. It's hard advice to follow, but I firmly believe (from first-hand experience) that it works. Hope you can manage to do it!

Dammit. This is really, really shitty. Do you have a potential backup LOR writer? Someone who you have a good rapport with whom you can turn to in a crisis? If there's anyone, then you can explain the situation. It's a very busy time of year, but you might find some legitimate sympathy. Writing letters for good students is literally part of their job. So long as you've been good to your LOR-writers, there's no good reason for them to not write for you in a timely fashion. Really sorry about this, BR.

Augh! I'm in the same boat! You have ALL of my commiseration! I've sent several emails to one of my recommenders over the past few weeks, and she has been unresponsive. Worse still, I received an email from Northwestern asking about my lack of uploaded letters, since their deadline is tomorrow. Apparently Northwestern is one of the programs that doesn't give a lot of leeway to LORs being submitted after the deadline. It makes sense, given that they traditionally make their decisions in January, but it's a bit frustrating nonetheless (although Nathan Mead is one of the best graduate admin people out there, IMO -- always on the ball and pleasant to deal with). One of my three recommenders has now uploaded her letter, but it's been radio silence from the others. If they don't get their letters in this weekend, I can likely kiss Northwestern goodbye. I could go on a mini-rant about having application deadlines at the busiest time of the academic year...but that's a post or thread for another day.

I mentioned this in another thread a few days ago, but mine looked like: My Name Writing Sample University of __________ 2017 Ph.D. Application MLA format etc., so kept last name and page number in the top right corner.

Good to see you again, Ashley! And don't worry about the scars...I hear they add character. I had some pretty major flip-flopping on which WS to use, as I've mentioned elsewhere in recent days, but what I ultimately wound up using was a piece that started as a 12-page term paper, and became a 19-page writing sample that probably could have been much longer. In other words, I took an existing paper and revised it extensively with my prospective line of study in mind. In other words, I made sure that all of the programs I was applying to had at least two POIs who would be interested in the content of the paper and its methodologies. I further ensured that my SOP worked hand-in-glove with the paper. It feels a bit like I have pigeonholed myself, but so long as I've applied to the right coops, I'm hoping that won't be a problem. I'm not saying my way is the right way, but I do think it's important to demonstrate consistency across your materials and with the POIs you would like to work with...though conventional wisdom also suggests that you should use your "best" writing sample regardless. If you can find a way to easily reconcile those two, then you should be set. If not, it may be in your best interest to match your SOP and program choices to your strongest WS, rather than vice versa. I'm no expert, of course -- just another loony in Bedlam, as they say -- but it's advice nonetheless. Good luck!

Yeah, I imagine that must be a major pain, and it's something that is easily avoidable. I had a master folder set up for the main version of all of my documents (CV, longer and shorter WS and SoP etc.) and folders set up for each one of the programs I applied to. For every application, the first thing I would do is take my WS and SoP and save them with a program-specific name in a program-specific folder...and changed the heading information immediately. Only after everything was safely saved in its program-specific folder with a program-specific heading would I make changes to length, fit paragraph and other program-related variations. I think it's a pretty good (if rather intuitive) method.

Thanks! You are correct -- we're both return customers! Good luck to you as well!

My two cents (I'm bolding and underlining this, since it seems to have been missed by someone in another recent thread...): I think your contributions are implied (if not stated directly) in the body paragraphs of your statement. If you talk about the kind of research you do and what methodologies you employ, you're already telling them what you'll bring to the department. In my case, anyone who reads my SOP knows from the body paragraphs that I'm positioned as an early modern book historian with a particular focus on the transmission and reception history of editions. They're going to know the kind of research I'll be doing, so I didn't feel the need to spell out my strengths, per se, in the fit paragraph. Instead, when I could make a direct link between my research and certain POIs, I did (i.e. so-and-so's research on blank helped refine my thinking on... etc.). But I've also read successful SOPs with fit paragraphs that do both, or just mention POIs on the fly. Again, this is just an amalgam of what I have read, heard, learned etc., so don't take it as authoritative. ETA: cross-posted with Metaellipses!

My thoughts are rather similar to @Caien's. I had five potential referees. Two were never in doubt, while a third was a no-brainer for awhile until things got...complicated. I won't go into detail about the complications, but suffice it to say that in September, I decided to shift my academic focus slightly (from one avenue of early modern historicism to another), and use a different WS than I had originally planned. The third LOR-writer did not like my original WS, and while he was incredibly supportive, he said he could only write me a "good, but not great" letter. This caused me to look for other LOR-writers prior to my change of WS / focus, and I had two who were more than willing to write me a positive letter (one in the ballpark of my field, and the other a reputable professor in a different field entirely). Fortunately my original third LOR-writer was a lot more bullish on my other WS, and he insisted that he would be "happy to write" for me. After meeting with another professor entirely to get her objective opinion, she pointed out something that I never would have considered myself: my two no-brainer LOR-writers are both women, as is the other potential LOR-writer in the ballpark of my field. The "good-but-not-great" then "happy-to-write" LOR-writer is male. When presented with my options, this objective professor (who is also a woman) said "choose the man." She pointed out that there are tacit significations when a man only has letters from female professors. I hate that she has a point. I really, truly, honestly hate it. And yet, despite the distastefulness of it, I suspect it is true on some level. These sorts of biases still exist, as much as I wish they didn't...but having a blend of genders writing positive letters might be more advantageous than having three from one gender. Ultimately, I have no idea if the third (male) letter-writer I chose will write me a better letter than the other potential third (female) letter-writer would have done, but the gender factor is what swayed me in the end. I was already leaning toward him in the first place, but that consideration made my decision. So I guess the takeaway here is that there can be more factors in play than just the obvious scholarship-related ones.

The feeling immediately after submitting the last of your thirteen (!) applications: The feeling from approximately thirty seconds later for the next three months: Stay strong, friends. It's a long and emotional ride.

Just my two cents, but in 2014, I applied to nothing but Ph.D. programs. I was already well into my thirties, and only had a B.A., but figured I was mature enough and dedicated enough (etc. etc.) to be in a Ph.D. program. I didn't wind up getting into a Ph.D. program, but at least I was able to get a Master's with full funding and tuition remission...and now that I'm going through the cycle again, I feel ten times better than two years ago. I still think I could have succeeded in a Ph.D. program, but the M.A. has allowed my focus to both deepen and broaden, if that makes any sense, and has given me a far better handle on the tenor of academic conversations. It goes without saying that I "know more" than I did two years ago, but doing graduate study at the Master's level goes even farther than that. I have no idea if that will translate into better fortunes when it comes to my Ph.D. applications in this cycle, but even though I've carried a very small sliver of bitterness about still being at the M.A. level, I truly can't deny that it has made me a much better (more rounded and more aware) scholar. As to your main question, what I hear through the grapevine is that Ph.D. programs are tending toward preferring candidates with M.A.s. Places like Penn State still prefer to admit their Ph.D. candidates from the bachelor's level, but there's just so much less risk when you admit someone who has demonstrably performed well at the graduate level. YMMV as always -- a great candidate with only a B.A. will usually get scooped up by a Ph.D. program -- but the trend seems to be moving in a more B.A. -> M.A. -> Ph.D. direction.

Good job, @erosanddust! Can you believe that in the application cycle two years ago, I submitted many applications on the day they opened? Big mistake, in retrospect. I thought I was being efficient, but I could have spent so much time refining and getting feedback. I really should have known better, but mea culpa.

Yes! Definitely relieving. I haven't officially clicked "submit" on anything yet, but I started most of the apps on the day they became available, and populated all of the fields other than WS and SoP. As such, knowing that all I have to do is upload my written materials and pay the fee makes me rather giddy... And good to know regarding the font issue. It makes sense, really. Oh, and I don't blame you for reducing your font size. I'll be doing the exact same thing for one of my "under 15 pages" apps... It's not cheating, it's critical thinking! Hang in there, and welcome! Glad you delurked. For me it's mostly a function of time allocation. I've got a few days off for Thanksgiving break, but have a couple of big papers due on December 6th and 14th, a presentation on the 5th, and have to grade 18 of my students' 8-10 page papers starting on November 29th. Getting all of these applications out of the way now while I'm still sane and not overwhelmed just feels sensible to me.

Ah, yes. Always defer to specific program guidelines. I hadn't come across any that don't allow letters after the deadline, but it (almost) goes without saying that program guidelines are the be all, end all here. It really varies. I, for one, don't use Times New Roman, and haven't for a couple of years. It's not an MLA format requirement, and I find fonts in the Century group (I use Century Schoolbook) to be far more readable...which is why they are used in legal briefs and other similar documents. Font choice probably won't affect your application one way or another, but they can have subtle effects on readability and presentation. In my WS, I have a full-page image, as well as two images that take up a third of a page. I wouldn't count those against a page count, per se, though if your paper is 18 or so pages with the image, and the requirement is 20-25 pages, I wouldn't worry too much. From what I understand from professors etc., it's more important to not go over the stated page limit than to not go under. It also goes without saying that works cited doesn't factor into total page count either. Epigraphs are typically single-spaced in MLA. As for other formatting, in the top left corner of the first page I have it thus: My Name Writing Sample University of ___________ 2017 Ph.D. Program Application There's probably no one right way to do that, however, and I would assume you're not going to get passed over for a technicality. If there happens to be anyone reading this who is currently in a Ph.D. program, it might be helpful for you to weigh in on some of these formatting questions, however. I'm no expert, and my advice is only based on what I've read and heard...so YMMV. P.S. I just took a quick look at the successful statements of purpose I have (I've collected several from English majors who have gotten into Ph.D. programs), and two of them were in Cambria font -- one 11-point, one 12-point. So take that as you will.

It's okay! It's safe to say that it's the easiest of the documents to put together, and also the least important, by most accounts. You can DO it! Yes! This! And I wish I knew what they were going to say. I heard a horror story yesterday from someone who is on the History adcomm at UMD. A few years ago, one of the LORs said something like "He really isn't a very good student, but he begged me for a letter, so here it is." I can't imagine what kind of monster would do that, and yet it obviously happens from time to time... That, um, doesn't mean anything for YOU, however! Yeah, this is my second cycle as an applicant, and my third on GC in total (I was just a cheerleader last year). I can tell you that the flip-flopping is par for the course. I truly had an hour or two of existential dread after my first two drafts of my SoP. I was so focused on making my WS as good as it could be that I was somehow dismissing the SoP as being a "short and easy document," despite knowing full well that it is in some ways harder than a 20-page paper... I feel good about it now, after rewriting it from scratch with a different approach, and having a dozen sets of eyes on it, and putting it through nine revisions...but who's to say, right? As for the letter writers, I think pretty much all programs allow the letters to come after the application deadlines. I know that's small solace for us as applicants, but it's solace nonetheless...

The time is finally upon us! The first of the U.S. programs look to have application deadlines of December 1st (Northwestern, for one), and the rest fall irregularly in the days afterward. Surely we're all in the final stages of preparation, making those last little tweaks to our statements, CVs, and samples, and anticipating the long, excruciating wait for acceptances and (inevitably) rejections. So how are we doing? Nervous? Scared? Nauseous? Hopeful? Confident? Excited? A blend of ALL of these? I really feel like a blend. There's no way that one can be fully confident in this process, as there are just so many factors that are out of our control. But even though the stakes are so high and there's obviously no way to be even remotely certain of even a single acceptance, I can't help but feel a little giddy regardless. In three months I might be in the depths of despair, but for now I have a bit of a "completion high" going. Am I alone in this? Anyhow, we've had a bit of a quieter GC cohort this time around, but thanks to those of you who are here and are applying for the first or second time, and for the erstwhile support of Those Who Have Gone Before.

Yes, my reaction was quite similar to @knp's. The OP's metrics are stunningly good, and when I first read this thread, I was honestly wondering for a second if it was a vanity post, since those GRE scores are quite literally the best they can be. I know it's not, but there is certainly nothing wrong with a 3.71 undergraduate GPA and a 3.85 MA GPA. Even if the former is slightly below typical, the latter is strong enough to make up for it. I don't think there needs to be an explanation sheet. In fact, an explanation sheet might suggest a lack of confidence (I could be wrong about this). Ultimately, your astronomical GRE scores will weigh in your favor, your GPA will probably not affect things either way, and your WS and SoP and "fit" with each program will most likely be the more determining factors. You really have to put yourself in the mind of an adcomm though. I know I made a long "roleplay" post about that a couple of years ago, but the gist is that you can imagine polite deliberation over various aspects of your application. In other words, so long as your writing sample and statement of purpose are sound, and so long as there's a place for you in the program, your GPA isn't going to hurt you, and your GRE scores might help you a bit.

It's so hard to give a brief overview of strategies and tactics. The Princeton book has some merit, but not much -- the big takeaway there is to eliminate one guaranteed wrong answer, then make an educated guess when stuck between four possibilities. I would quibble and say that is more effective when stuck between two or three, but either way, the advice that "guessing helps" is sound. And the book has a few other tips and tricks, as well as overviews of major works of literature...all of which are somewhat helpful. The big problem is that the format of the test has largely changed. Most of the passages are now quite long -- sometimes four or five paragraphs, with five or six questions related to each. As English majors, we are trained to read critically, which usually means close-reading and interpreting / analyzing as we go. Sure, we skim when we have to, but just for the gist of an article or work. The major disconnect between how English studies actually work and how the test works is rather astounding. The expectation is to be able to skim through the large passages and glean the answers to all of the questions...because you literally don't have time to actually read every passage. 230 questions in two hours and forty minutes means you have roughly 42 seconds per question. Take away the seconds it takes to make sure you've selected the right bubble on the sheet and have completely filled it in, let's call it 35 seconds per question. When these questions have to be answered based on long passages, it's easy to see that it may not be an impossibility to adequately read everything and answer most of the questions, but it's surely an implausibility. One strategy that the Princeton book suggests is to just read the first sentence or two of a passage, and if you don't recognize it, move on. That might be sound, but they also say that if you've wound up reading three or four sentences, just read it all...but that's no longer sound advice. For a long passage, don't waste two minutes unless you really think you can get the answers right sans familiarity. Reading the questions first is usually a good strategy, but it can also be suggestive, putting names of authors or works in mind that suddenly occlude the real name of the author or work. I suppose I haven't provided much in the way of tips, but beside the usual "broaden your knowledge" advice, I suppose learning to better skim or speed read is perhaps your best bet. Again, it goes contrary to any legitimate literary analysis, but it helps to think of this test as something completely different. It's not even trivia or cocktail party knowledge anymore. It's just a blend of arbitrary and tangential canonical knowledge, with a few nuggets of theory and non-canon thrown in for good measure.

I'm really loath to talk politics on forums etc., but in light of Trump's largely unexpected victory, I think it's perfectly relevant to ask: what does this mean for us as applicants? And what does it mean for us as future English scholars? These questions are only partially related, of course. The first one addresses whether or not a Trump presidency will have programs pre-emptively reducing the number of applicants they accept in anticipation of major cutbacks to education. There are thousands of similar concerns people will be raising in the coming days and weeks, but since this one affects us directly, I'm curious to hear your thoughts. My second question is broader, and speaks to the fact (and it really is a fact) that this election was primarily won by the sheer number of white Americans with limited education coming out to vote. In a very real way, Trump's win was about appealing to the masses who have either had limited access to, or a pronounced disdain for higher education. It's impossible to know what is going to happen over the next four years, but how do we persist in the face of a majority that undervalues education? I recognize that these questions are both speculative and political, but they're also legitimate. I won't claim to be non-partisan, but I hope that regardless of political persuasion, discussion in this thread will at least be civil and slightly academic. I'm guessing most of us are really hurting right now, but we might as well start giving some serious thought to how this is going to affect us in the near- and long-term.