Dr. Old Bill

I'm starting to feel the first twinges of stress. Fortunately I've already got all of my applications off, so it's too late to start actively second-guessing things, but considering that I rarely feel stressed, it's a little odd to me to have that feeling now of all times. I'm hoping it doesn't get worse the closer we get to February, so yes...some nice de-stressing tips would be helpful! I just can't stop thinking about how my whole future life is riding on getting accepted to a Ph.D. program. I was completely confident with all aspects of the application process, and am still confident that I'm a solid candidate...yet now that I'm essentially "idle" on the whole applying-to-grad-school front, I can't help but reflect on the ramifications of not getting in etc. Just one of those silly things that humans do, I suppose! And now I want Chinese food.

Nope, AW doesn't seem to matter much. 4.0 is fine. After all, they'll have a lengthy sample of your analytical writing right there in front of them. 160-165 verbal is perfectly fine too. Good enough to apply pretty much anywhere, at least.

I don't have much to add except for a unilateral endorsement of Unraed's comments above. I have a line in my SOPs about my plan to "learn Italian prior to matriculation, which shouldn't be difficult given my current reading knowledge of Spanish." Or something like that. It's just a line, but what it does is remind them that I already have one language, and show that I'm aware that learning Italian is almost essential to my proposed course of study. It also has the subliminal aspect of showing them that I'm proactive, and am not just going to wait until I start their program before I begin to learn the language. But if languages aren't a big part of your proposed studies, it's probably not too important to highlight any you can read / speak as -- like Unraed says -- it's all going to be in front of them on the form portion of your application anyhow.

Yeah, there are a few programs I applied to that imply (at least, this is how I take it): "If you did really well on your GRE subject test and you want us to know, then please, by all means, send it! But if you didn't do well, we don't really want to see it." Suffice it to say, I only sent my score to the places that required it.

It's pricey, but I'd say it's worth a retake. Others might completely disagree though. My total score is 310 (yep, I suck at math too!), and even though it should be a "safe" score, I occasionally consider retaking it.

Yeah, from what I've read on GC and elsewhere, it seems like the AW score isn't factored in to the total. Complicating matters is that most programs don't overtly mention cutoffs. SUNY Buffalo posts 313 as the funding cutoff, but few other schools do the same. 310 or 300 are (admittedly apocryphal) scores to shoot for, and even those are typically (again, apocryphally) stipulations for certain state schools. I'd suggest that if your combined V and Q scores are below 300, and/or if your V score is below 160, you should retake it while there's still time.

I agree that the subject test is stupid, pointless, and [insert synonym here]. However, at the risk of sounding like a defender of ETS (I assure you I'm not!), the problem is more with programs that still require the subject test. There are no doubt some good reasons for this. I suspect that most of the places that require the subject test are routinely inundated with applications, and the subject test just adds one more layer of "weeding" to the process. In other words, if 400 people wanted to apply to a certain tippy-top-tier institution, having a subject test requirement might dissuade 100 or so of those people (i.e., those who might apply on a whim...like "hey, maybe I can get into Harvard, hyuk hyuk"). There has been a steady decline in recent years of programs requiring the test, but as it stands, if some of your best "fit" programs have the lit test as a requirement, you can't really boycott ETS without effectively boycotting yourself, unfortunately.

Maybe this will sound callous and insensitive, but...I would have no problem asking. Give it a couple of weeks or so out of respect, but unless this professor is taking the rest of the semester off for bereavement purposes, he will almost certainly be able to reconcile his personal life with his professional life. While I don't strictly see LORs as "part of their job," per se, it is definitely in the same ballpark. And like others have mentioned, they usually create a single LOR and tweak it as needed.

This doesn't answer your question at all, but out of curiosity -- why do you want to get a Master's before you go for your Ph.D.? Are you definitely decided on going for your Ph.D. at some point, or are you planning on using the Master's to test the waters, so to speak? I'm guessing, based on your location, that you'd be thinking of George Mason?

I can't speak to the UC question or comp lit in general, but I've got this funding spreadsheet bookmarked and refer to it often. The info is a bit outdated (two years), but it should give you a ballpark estimate of what each program's funding is like.

That's odd... I can understand a Writing Sample having a title (mine does), but giving a SOP a title just seems strange to me.

Completely for what it's worth, I did not give mine a title. I did give my SOP an MLA-esque header with my name and "Personal Statement" clearly labeled, but didn't provide an actual title. Frankly, I just can't imagine what a SOP title would be. I'd be curious to hear from anyone who has given their SOP a title though.

Yes. I mentioned it in another thread recently, but even though I'm married, 35, and am just finishing a Bachelor's degree, I don't necessarily see it as being a disadvantage. Do I have regrets? Sure. But there's really no substitute for life experience, even if it's not all good experience (perhaps especially if it's not all good experience...) As a Ph.D. candidate, having that time off gives me perspective that some (just some! Don't worry younger folks, not all of you!) other candidates just won't possess. There's sure to be a bit of agism along the way, but the experience and focus that comes with simply having lived longer and seen and done more things, by and large, is probably worth the trade-off. The downside is that a lot of advice one reads doesn't really pertain to someone in my situation. It's hard to find facts and figures on acceptance rates based on age, or based on people who have taken years off etc. Apocryphally, it seems to be more of an advantage than a disadvantage, but as with most aspects of this process, it's hard to say definitively.

No, I'm pretty sure it doesn't. Recommenders often take their time, and other than a gentle reminder every once in awhile, you just have to let them do their thing. If they have your SOP, WS, and even your CV, there's really not much more you can do unless they ask for other items specifically. I had one ask for a couple of my essays with his comments on them, as he had lost his grade book from last semester. But generally, they'll write and submit your recommendations when they have the time to do so.

Ah, I hear you there. I'm in a similar boat, really, as my wife has a good job in her field up in D.C., so pretty much wherever I get in (unless it's UMD) will make for a major upheaval in our lives. She is willing to move, but only if she can find a job in her field wherever we go. This is, incidentally, why Penn State would be the worst of the options of the schools I've applied to, even though they have a strong, complementary program for my own interests. It's also why I only applied to one place in California -- my wife has no interest in California for various reasons. So I totally understand the personal concerns. Having said that, I talked with my wife a lot -- one might even say ad nauseum -- before I started the application process. We've lived apart before, but I wanted to make sure that she was 100% on board with all of my plans. And she is. We're both realistic about the possibility of having to live apart for a year (or years) until she finds a job in her field, but we both figure it's the cliched-but-true "short term pain for long term gain." But the significant other factor is not inconsiderable, so you certainly have every right to limit your selection for those reasons. If she's at Penn State, you can probably safely add Ohio, West Virginia, and even Virginia to the list of possibilities though.

Yes, Oldmangandhi's advice is spot on. I also want to emphasize the comment about location. When I read the first post, the location comment was the first red flag. Don't get me wrong -- there are some fantastic schools in NY, MD, and PA. I've applied to a few myself. But unless there is a very important reason for staying in that reason (and there may well be), it's important to consider all of your options...and many of the best options will probably be outside those three states. The process is quite limiting as it is; don't limit yourself even more, if it can be helped.

1. Hooray for .gifs! 2. It's funny, because it is common to read "I will argue that..." in academic papers. Yet every time I read that sentence, the thought goes through my head: "Then just argue it!" Trust me, I've written my fair share of "this paper will establish that..." and similar sentiments, but a lot of the time I think it's rather silly. If you're going to make a clear argument anyhow, what's the point of prefacing it? Just get to it! Again, I recognize that this is standard, and sometimes even expected in some cases. I just don't understand why.

Here's a fairly comprehensive article from UNC-Chapel Hill (perhaps not the best authority on writing standards these days, mind you...) that sums up what a lot of us have been saying, and provides a general academic perspective on the matter. I still think that "when in doubt, take 'I' out," but it looks like there are many shades to, and perspectives on the issue.

You all just made my point far better than I apparently could! Yes, what I've been getting at is that there's always the risk that an "I" will sound a little too haughty or imperial coming from a 22-year-old undergrad who (in the eyes of many a learned professor) knows too little to be able to proffer a first person critical opinion. The default then, if there's any doubt, is to avoid using first person, unless you're confident enough that no one will interpret it as being a touch too hey-look-at-me-I-can-write-like-Harold-Bloom-too. In theory, would-be graduate students should be able to navigate the wild world of "I" usage, but I personally find it quite easy to avoid it...and so do. That won't be the case forever, of course. I just felt it best (for me) that I kept the "I" out of my writing sample, just in case someone on an adcomm interpreted it as though I was on the same level as Helen Vendler when it comes to analyzing Shakespeare's sonnets (since it's a highly analytical close-reading paper).

Others can correct me if I'm wrong, but I've always maintained the idea that you have to earn the right to use first person in a paper. Once you get your "academic laurels," so to speak, and are in a position where you're recognized as someone who can speak confidently--and individually--on a topic, then go I-crazy! But as someone who has never used first person in a major paper, I just don't see the reason to do so unless it is an opinion paper, or unless there is no other way around it (like relating a significant personal experience that has major bearing on the topic). I've had some professors say "it's fine" to use first person, and others (usually older) who are vehemently against it. When there are so many easy work-arounds, why take the risk? As for the Junior1919's other points, I think it's vital that your writing sample (and just as importantly, your statement of purpose) match your intended course of study. If you have no intended course of study, Proflorax's advice seems to make the most sense. Frankly, it's pretty late in the process (five weeks before many applications are due) to be thinking about a Ph.D. when you don't know what you want to do and where you want to go. I don't mean that to sound harsh...just my two cents. An M.A. is probably your best bet.

Perhaps not...but on the other hand, neither is selecting from five pre-ordained "objective" options in what is an inherently subjective process (interpretation, that is).

This is all valid, and I don't disagree with any of it, really. Here's the thing though: even if you know the material intimately, you can still wind up screwing up several answers. There's an instance on the September test in which I know got four answers wrong. I had narrowed the passage down to two possibilities, and they were both works I had studied extensively. I just simply couldn't remember which of those two works it was! As a result, I made an educated guess, and three (maybe four) questions about that excerpt basically had options that would have applied to each of the individual choices of that first question. I won't say the question specifically, but here's a good analog: you're given a pre-death speech, clearly from a play. You know it's Shakespeare, but you can't figure out if it's say, Cleopatra from Antony and Cleopatra, or Juliet from Romeo and Juliet (okay, so the example is a bit far-fetched, but bear with me). If you think it's Cleopatra, you select "Cleopatra," and then you see that the rest of the questions have options about Egypt or about the Capulets etc. You go down the string, choosing the ones that are most in line with Antony and Cleopatra. Well, if you're wrong about the first question, you're going to be wrong about all of them! This, as I recall, is a difference from the practice exam...and there may have been more instances of this on the September exam. The fact that some GC folks got good and even incredible scores on the September test (no names named, but you know who you are!) shows that it's not a hopelessly flawed test. But I still think that it's not something you can really study for. Those with great memories are going to do far better than those who might be great analysts, but don't have a mind for diverse and disparate details of literature. In any event, it's all over now for us...which is great. Here's hoping that none of us get shut out this year and feel compelled to retake it in April!

Another vote for Nabokov being fantastic. In so many ways.

It honestly depends. Typically, page counts don't include works cited, appendices etc., but one DGS I contacted basically said that the adcomm doesn't want to read more than fifteen pages...period (the page count has 15 as the maximum). Having a WS that is around fifteen pages (not including back matter) seems to be a good idea, as it allows you to trim or expand by small portions, depending on the program you are applying to. And you can only be so creative with font and margin sizes.