hypervodka
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Posts posted by hypervodka
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I would stress very strongly that your advice applies only to R1 schools and other research-focused schools. I know many other universities that offer (unofficial) "teaching emphasis" options in their Ph.D. programs, so a candidate with that interest applying to those schools would be well-served by mentioning their teaching experience in their SOP.
I agree. Only one of the schools that applied to had this v. obvious teaching focus, so, for them, I made more an effort to emphasize my teaching experience and my "hands-on attitude" in the SoP. For every one else, I paid it dust and relegated it to my CV.
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SHIIIIIIIIIIT!!! I just submitted the first half of an application yesterday and today I discovered there was a limit to the SoAP, and I had been trawling their website for a clue to this (but clearly forgot to look the most obvious place). I feel so stupid, mine is like twice the length. I've contacted them about it, but I have the worst feeling in my belly that this will end badly.
If it was due the 15th or the 16th, then they aren't going to be looking at any of the applications until at least Monday, but probably later. All of these graduate directors understand that mistakes happen (a lot) and that sometimes it takes a while for the dust to settle completely.
For my part, I emailed several schools a month after the deadline in order to update my application and most allowed me to do it. If the committee hasn't convened yet, they are very often going to be accommodating to mistakes like this, because they're human and you're human.
I do not think this is dire. AT ALL. Just revise your SoAP now, so that you can email it to them instantaneously when--yes, when--they agree to accept the updated document.
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Earlier in the week, I had a really rewarding (and long!!) phone conversation with a POI, so I'd just like to cast another vote for reaching out to faculty members and graduate students at the universities to which you're interested in going. Particularly at this school (UCLA, but this could apply to Emory or UMD as well), I had two POI who gave me valuable insight--and not just information about the graduate program.
They gave me suggestions for developing my writing sample, puzzled out the obstacles in my research and offered strategies to tackle them, told me about their own experiences in graduate study, managed my expectations for graduate school and scholarly work, recommended points of contact at other universities I'm applying to, and suggested faculty members in other UCLA departments who would be of further use to my research. All of that goes a long way, not just in preparing an application to UCLA (because, obviously, the deadline has now long passed), but just serves as a way to hit the ground running in your scholarship, rather than simply playing the waiting game.
I'm probably looking at POI contact this way because I've been out of school for awhile, so when I email POIs, I really appreciate any advice they can and do give me on my current research project--basically, they're professors, and I'm emailing them so that they can teach me something. I know hreaðemus's advisor at UC Berkeley has... not exactly cautioned against reaching out to POIs, but definitely downplayed their value. But I think it actually really is helpful (especially if you're not just emailing them: "Hi! My name is Stan and I'm applying to Northwestern. -Stan").
For the record, in the case of this POI at UCLA, HE actually asked ME what schools I was applying to, told me those professors that would be useful, and strongly encouraged me to email them and drop his name. And vigorously emphasized how important it was to talk to graduate students before choosing a program. So, obviously, POI contact is important to him as well.
- angel_kaye13, jhefflol and hreaðemus
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YOU DUMMIES POST HERE FIRST DAMMIT
YES, please do... if only so that you actually get the chance to announce it yourself
. The acceptance WAS me, actually. They were having trouble finding my GRE scores, so I just assumed this was a follow-up email. Apparently not.I guess the time really is upon us...
- unræd, Dr. Old Bill, lyonessrampant and 2 others
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well..........hm..... hmph.........HMPH
I'm kidding--this town's big enough for the both of us. Right?
I never thought about this! I'm not sure how directly we'll be competing, actually. For example, at Emory or Rutgers, Jewish-American literature seems a little more separate from Afro-American literature than the two are at, like, UMD. That, coupled with the fact that you're looking at this literature through a completely different critical lens... I mean, I think our materials will probably always be laid in front of the same 20th c. committee, but I don't think it'll ever be either/or. I can't imagine anyone thinking of a post-war critic in direct competition with a critic buried in the long nineteenth and the early 20th.
Or maybe we're archenemies! We should bring the old GradCafe back. [Personal attack]! [Personal attack]!
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early 20th century, mainly, but anything subaltern and postbellum
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I wonder whether some schools other than maybe Rutgers could have experienced a reduction (if only small) in its applicant pool size...
Hm, Emory said that they've had upwards of 170 applicants this year--but they don't have any info on the website about rates from past years.
Here are the statistics from Northwestern: 136 less people applied to the program two years ago versus five years ago (376 vs 240), which is definitely a steep dip.
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Ooooh... it's so rare to see USC applicants around this year. Did you apply for the English program or something else?
Very strange, too, considering that USC has one of the best stipends I've seen ($30, 000), and a flexible, FUN program. I applied for English literature (Literatures of the US), though one of my letter-writers pressured me to apply for Creative Writing.
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hypervodka, you're an AMAZING candidate, and I'm rooting for you all the way...Heidegger? On point. I love how eclectic and dynamic your areas of interest are! What are your programs/schools of interest?
Emory, UCLA, USC, UMD, Rutgers, Vanderbilt, UConn, Boston U.
Very different from you, though, because you have POIs at each of your schools that are intrinsically linked to your research interests, which I just don't have. That seriously helps..
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STATS
- School: Very Small State University
- Major: English Literature
I took upwards of 15 literary theory and history courses at my alma mater, which may be a little unusual, not sure. - Minor: Creative Writing
- Major GPA: 4.0
- Cumulative GPA: 3.83, magna cum laude
- GRE Scores:
V: 166
Q: 157
AW: 5.5
Subject: 670
WS
Conjoins psychoanalytic discourse on the construction of the joke (in terms of joker, joke-object, and joke-subject) to the similar triangular figuration of the performance of passing (passer, dupe, clairvoyant spectator), charting the Heideggerrian communities of building constructed around those able to accurately race the ambiguous body.
PS/SOP
- Introduction: My personal experience with a concept known in communication theory as "idioglossia," which I relate to construction of collective language in literature.
- Discusses my interest in performance theory, mentioning several papers presented at regional and national conferences. Depending on the school, also mentioned my target university's experience with performance theory. Relates that interest to my interest in discursive performance, ambiguous bodies (transvestism, costuming, passing). Discusses professional research experience in this arena.
- Details my intended graduate research interests and explains my writing sample. Relates my interests explicitly with POIs and students already in the program. Mentions members of the faculty in the history department, philosophy department, and African-American studies department as applicable.
- Conclusion: areas I'm further interest exploring in my research: mathematical theory, digital textual analysis, and literacy in law and literature
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First of all...congrats!
Second of all...I've been thinking about this, in the unlikely event that I were to get called for an interview by any of my prospective schools. What I would do is bone up on the ins and outs of the faculty members of the field you are interested in. Get a solid understanding of their publications and their perspectives, if possible. The more familiar you are with the kind of work they are doing, the more it will demonstrate that you have a vested interest in the field AND Emory in particular. The usual "take this with a grain of salt" caveat applies, of course, and maybe some former Emory interviewees will be able to chime in here to give a better first-hand account. But I have to imagine that "fit" and "demonstrated knowledge of field" have to be two of the bigger checklist items in an interview like this. Good luck!
It feels like I've been studying for six months straight at this point... so I guess another two weeks of cramming can't hurt...
hypervodka: how did you get the interview call? Via email/phone call etc? I hope that does not mean that I was automatically rejected.
It was via email. It was BCC'd, though, I'm not sure how many people were emailed. They said sixteen people would be selected, but I don't know if they have chosen them all. I wish you SO MUCH luck.
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Emory's interview acceptance came out today! Good luck everyone! I'm ecstatic--but have no idea how in the world to prepare for the interview, especially since so few schools do them.
- queennight, ProfLorax, Dr. Old Bill and 2 others
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Of you list in particular, I know for sure that Vanderbilt, Emory, and UMD are all looking at the applications this week. They said as much when I asked to submit an updated version of my writing sample a couple of days ago (I know, I know; for the record, though, 5 of the 6 schools I asked actually agreed to take the latest version).
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Woke up to two emails from UConn and an email from UMD that turned out to all be form letters or application inquiries. Moderate heart attacks all around.
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Thanks a lot. It's just a really frustrating (read: terrifying) message to get at this point, especially since I've already submitted to that POI's school. Just trying to remind myself that all of his criticisms are things that I actually fixed several drafts ago... so at least great minds think alike...
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I am at a loss of how to interpret this... a POI gave me a couple of tepid paragraphs of notes on my writing sample, offering me suggestions for improvement. Even the fact that there is something to "improve" upon (I sent him a way way early draft because he asked [do NOT DO THIS DON'T], so some of the problems in terms of cohesion have since righted themselves) makes it seem to me that the POI is gently telling me that I'm not a good candidate for their program. My [redacted], who goes to the school, suggested that it actually means he took the time to read a twenty-five page paper and then offered feedback, which is a good thing... I honestly don't know.
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Apparently, Rutgers has a two-part application. You submit the basic application, then wait twenty-four hours, then submit the supplementary materials (writing sample). I have no idea how I missed this... but... I guess I'll miss the deadline, too. Eep.
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Emory is one example of a school that asks for an unofficial report. In any case, if Harvard didn't ask for it, then receiving the GRE scores on time (or "on time") isn't really the hugest deal to them. As Wyatt's Torch said, most schools with a Dec. 15th deadline don't actually assess any of the application materials until after winter break. The next week or so is going to be them slogging through and cataloging all of these mistakes, confusions, and lapses.
Harvard is going to be v. backlogged. Don't expect the dust to settle anytime today, and don't think it will at all hurt your chances.
Also, yeah, all of the schools receive the GRE by mail, so if other schools have got them, maybe Harvard has them as well?
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For the record, though, I have actually been talking to a POI about certain Recent Events, because one of her newer books talks a lot about the somatic semantics of pain. (I, too, am bad at being "political," but only in the way that I can't shut up about it.)
ETA: What I'm trying to say is that people are talking about it, people care, and that I've switched to thinking about my applications in terms of those R. E.s, if only to make my applications seem more... sensible/sensitive.
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The only thing about travels abroad that actually made it into my CV was my time working at a Spanish art museum. Other than that, it's not really relevant (but, as WT says, it could be an engaging opener for your SOP).
ETA: Also, if you have learned some other language through your travels, and that language is relevant (or potentially relevant) to your scholarly interests. If you're a Victorian who speaks a little Hindi, I (as a postcolonialist who knows how intralinked India and England were particularly in the 1800s) would be very interested, for example.
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List her current title. Many applications will also ask you to list that person's relationship to you, and that's when I'd mention that she was your instructor (it would also be fairly obvious in her LOR, and a lot of the LOR forms that I've seen also ask for the letter-writer to make a quick note of how long they've known the person they're writing about and in what capacity).
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Hey guys. Question:
So, NYU has a really low page count--10-12, which means my 20 page sample's gonna need to be whittled down. They also post language on their prospective applicant page that says:
Now, my question. They obviously don't want you to send them 30 pages with instructions to read from the second paragraph on page 15 through the third paragraph on page 27. But do you y'all read that to mean that it would be inappropriate to give them an 11 page excerpt, with a note describing the argument beyond that point? Or do you think that means they want a complete paper in 10-12 pages? It turns on the meaning of "edit"--do they just want you to just cut things down for them so they're only being handed 10-12 pages of text, or do they want you to more substantially edit the larger work down so it's contained within that limit?
Thanks in advance!
What ever excerpt you provide should be able to standalone, without it needing any further explanation. They want 10 to 12 pages of something complete (or, in your case, "complete"). I wouldn't compress the entire; I'd "crop" out everything but the most meaty argumentation.
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Fall 2015 Applicants
in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition
Posted
I can double-check with the director, but I don't think there are any fellowships or anything. But, the email also said that they were going to send out actual acceptances in a few days, so I don't know if everyone who was accepted got a similar email. But, looking at the results page, it does seem a little early. It looks like in last year people were accepted in early February.