[The "fit" question]

As Katla has brought up research of current grad students, did anyone else make an effort to seriously check that out for schools of interest? I don't know how reliable those pages are (or how updated they are), but part of my own process for figuring out the fit did definitely involve seeing if any current graduate students had similar interests to me. In some situations, I was actually really surprised at the number of people studying in a particular area in comparison to the stated faculty interests on department websites (so obviously I agree with everyone saying to look elsewhere for current research  ). 

 

Edited to add: Feel free to say this isn't a good way to go about determining fit, I'm genuinely interested in how much others might have taken this into account (if at all!). Also, I've already applied so I can't really take anything back at this point  . 

 

I tried for a couple of schools, but most programs' graduate student pages are a little spotty, with interests being either absent or a little vague. But I do think it's something important to think about. Frankly, this may be just as important, if not more so, than the interests of faculty members, especially at top tier schools. At those programs, the faculty are going to be stellar and capable of supervising / advising your work even if your interests lie beyond theirs. Your interaction with other graduate students -- and this is difficult to predict based on student webpages -- will likely have a greater effect on your everyday happiness within a program.

[The "fit" question]

I didn't contact any of the universities prior to applying so I was heavily reliant on the departments' stated goals in their about sections and elsewhere and the research areas of their faculty -I think the theoretical/methodological interest was sometimes more important to me than an exact match literaturewise provided they had someone else working in my literatures. 

 

I was a bit skeptical of taking the info on various program websites at face value. Every program, for example, has a statement about how interdisciplinary they are, even if its faculty do not regularly employ interdisciplinary methodologies. And the other thing you have to worry about is professors not updating their faculty pages regularly. In my own program, the lone medievalist's faculty page states psychoanalysis as an interest, but she's said in class that she's grown tired of that theoretical approach and hasn't published anything Freudian in a number of years now. This is problematic for us applicants, of course, if we only look at faculty pages. I know in my own research, I was a little down on NYU at first, only to find that one of their early modernists has recently (in the last year) published on the exact subject that I'm interested in. More than faculty/program pages, I've found the MLA bibliography immensely helpful in determining what professors are working on now.

[Rigorous programs?]

In my view Grad school is a whooooole other beast.  Consider how tiny the percentage is of people who go on Ph.D. programs.  

 

I've definitely found this to be the case. When you enter a program, your passion becomes your job overnight, and I don't think anybody can be ready for all that the transition entails.

[Fall 2015 Acceptances (!)]

Many congrats to the SUNY Buffalo admits! 

[Fall 2015 Acceptances (!)]

Not going to lie.. this depreses me a bit more. I'm really trying o move to Califonia and gettting into grad school is a perfect reason to leave my job and move across the county lol . But do you know of any schools that are a litle less competitive. They need to formally  increase the gpa requirment lol instead of giving girls like me false hope lol 

 

Keep in mind, too, that since this thread is geared specifically toward folks focusing in literature/composition, you're probably not going to get the best information for grad programs on Social Work here. Maybe I'm being presumptuous, but I bet that most folks posting here can't give you the details about how programs in your field work. I know that I certainly can't.  I would imagine that grad programs in social work put less emphasis on GPA than other programs do. As I believe Wyatt's Torch mentioned, your field experience will probably be a big plus in a potential application.

 

This is all to say that you shouldn't necessarily be dismayed by what you're hearing on this thread. I agree with others that your best bet is to contact someone in the department and explain your situation, and ask them to be frank about your chances. I wish you the best of luck!

[Do AdComs Google Applicants????]

Well that answers that question!

 

I probably shouldn't have poo-pooed academia.edu in quite the way that I did. I just can't shake the feeling that it and the humanities folks' presence on LinkedIn are part of a larger push to make us more like STEM and business folks, and I'm not a huge fan of that. Humanities are different, and I think this endless drive toward professionalism -- pushing it into private life, outside our departments -- is a mistake. But, as my own presence on academia.edu indicates, I've succumbed to some of that myself.

[Do AdComs Google Applicants????]

Hmm. Is it bad that I don't have an academia.edu profile?

 

As someone that has one, I can attest that they're entirely useless.

[Article on the Decline of the English Major]

Speaking of alternatives to academic work that can be obtained with an English PhD, are there alternatives that are sensitive to prestige (either school-wide or in-field) as far as hiring is concerned (other than for maybe high school teaching)?

 

I would be tempted to say that, even in some of these alternative jobs, Ivy League PhDs will get the upper hand over non-elite degree holders but is that actually the case?

 

Possibly, but I'm inclined to think that those with Ivy League degrees are going to be the last to pursue non-academic work, as the stigma against it is strongest in the top tier programs.

[Article on the Decline of the English Major]

The ideal is a TT job at a prestigious SLAC, but in my pre-Ph.D. heart of hearts, I suspect I'll be happy with a steady job at a low-prestige CC. Or at a non-profit doing work that involves writing. Or at a publishing house. Options, you know. The point is that I'm willing to be flexible when all is said and done, and I think that's sort of vital for graduate English hopefuls these days.

 

This is absolutely the right mindset.  The inflexibility of graduates and the stigma of failure associated with non-academic jobs have contributed to the glut of contingent faculty and the inhumane pay and conditions that go with those jobs.

 

In general, I say shoot for the dream job, whether it be R1, SLAC, etc., but for the love of god, don't accept a 5/5 contingent job w/o benefits just so you can teach college. And this is not to shame adjuncts, far from it. I think we all need to expand the realm of job possibilities; a PhD in English would leave you well prepared for publishing, teaching in community colleges or high schools, government work, non-profits, and private sector work. Chances are, many of us will end up happier in those fields than we will with teaching at the university level.

[Fall 2015 Acceptances (!)]

Just to give you a head's up, you will not know whether or not you have a fellowship by the time the department contacts you. If you know that you've been accepted, you have almost certainly been nominated for a university fellowship by the department, which will open up some funding to allow you to visit campus in March; Dr. Garcha will give you more info when he calls. 

 

Many thanks for the info, Chadillac!

[Fall 2015 Applicants]

While the "soft" areas of applications are both more important and less straight-forward, there are still ways to vet and compare. For example - did your paper win a prize? Was it published? Did three professors read you draft and give you the OK? Did you write it the night before your applications were due, or agonize 6 months in advance? These are not cut-and-dry factors, but they still give a sense of performance and preparation - and for that reason I think they're useful!

 

I think the idea of Google Doc for comparing some of these things is a great idea. I'd only add (and I think this proves the use value of a Google Doc over the results board) that conferences and publications in and of themselves don't count for much; the devil is in the details. In the past I've seen applicants fume on the results page with posts like "TWO PUBLICATIONS AND FIVE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES, WTF HOW WAS I REJECTED."  I understand that the profession has inched towards the quantifiable, but presenting at a conference or publishing an essay doesn't count for beans if that conference was the Sigma Tau Delta conference or the journal was an online startup that began publishing last year (not trying to knock STD -- I presented at NOLA in 2012). I have to believe that programs still place a premium on good writing and good ideas over a ten-page CV. 

 

So I guess this is all to say that when considering or submitting details for this potential comparative file, I'd focus more on the softest issues -- the focus of hreathemus' last two questions I've quoted -- over the stuff that can be put down on the CV. Just my $.02.

[Fall 2015 Acceptances (!)]

Any other early (?) OSU admits gotten any calls/personal emails from the department yet? I still just have the robot email...

 

 

Not a peep outside of the email you mentioned. I'm not sure how long it takes for the graduate school to return fellowship approvals to the department, but I'd wager that they're waiting for confirmation before they call us with specifics. 

[Fall 2015 Applicants]

Hope this all helps with you prepare! Good luck! 

 

 

No matter how many times I proofread something, spelling/extra word errors escape. This is why I hate emailing professors....

[Fall 2015 Applicants]

Speaking of interviews: I have a Skype interview coming up in the next week for one of my programs (not an English department). Those who have already done interviews in this or prior seasons, what sort of questions are generally asked? How'd you prepare? Any tips/advice?

 

I can only speak from the one experience I had with a program interview; I'm sure much of what goes on varies by program.  I'll also say before I go on that my interview was an in-person interview - I don't know how doing an interview over Skype will alter things (outside the obvious, like not having to shuttle around between different events). 

 

Notre Dame has an entire interview weekend, which involves several program information sessions, panel-style Q-and-A's with current graduate students, informal dinners and lunches, and three one-on-one thirty minute chats with individual professors who specialize in a subfield at least somewhat related to your field.

 

Questions varied by professor. The first professor I met with was a Dante scholar, so we didn't get into the nitty gritty of the state of criticism or anything like that. He mostly asked me questions about my teaching philosophy -- which, as a twenty-one-year-old college senior, I didn't have the faintest clue -- and how I would explain/justify the value of pre-modern lit to undergraduate audiences. Going into the weekend, I didn't think I'd be expected to figure out how to teach before I'd actually been in front of the classroom, so I made up some vague BS on the fly. I'd suggest that you at least talk with your professors about teaching philosophies if you don't have one in place, as the question might get brought up, especially if you have an MA.

 

The other two interviewers asked me specifics about 1) what I was interested in, 2) my methodology, 3) plans for expanding my research, 4) and specific questions about my writing sample. My advice for addressing each is the same: practice what you're going to say and anticipate potential objections. For example, I primarily employ something like a historical formalist angle in my own writing and research; one of the questions an interviewer raised was whether my approach offered a way of addressing the presentist challenge in early modern studies, which has been dominated by historicism for thirty years. As an undergrad with no sense of the state of early modern studies, I had no F'n clue how to answer that. So my advice is to have, at the minimum, a sense of what people are doing in the field now (last five years, not last twenty-five) and be able to situate your own work in relation to that.

 

And just a bit more about #4. When I applied to graduate programs the first time two years ago, I had never written a paper that was more than twelve pages long, so my writing sample was written from scratch a couple weeks before my first applications are due. The idea I wrote on was an interesting one, but it wasn't very well researched and needed more time to incubate before it was sent off. Well, as chance would have it, it essentially staked out a position directly counter to that one of my interviewers (a big name in Milton studies) had outlined in a book published a couple years before. So, naturally, when we sat down to chat, he pulled my writing sample up on his computer, and went page-by-page asking questions about the claims I was making. I didn't stand my ground and essentially said "I'm not entirely sure -- you're probably right in your book when you take the opposite position." Needless to say, this didn't go well at all. But the takeaway, again, is that you need to be very sure of your writing sample and be able to defend it if it gets brought up in discussion. 

 

And, again, Skype interviews probably won't go down exactly the same way as my interviews did. If you're worried about staying on message (I know I ramble when I'm nervous), you might print off a bulleted list of subjects or main points to come back to. Just a thought.

 

Hope this all helps with you prepare! Good luck! 

[Fall 2015 Acceptances (!)]

Hello all. I'm new to this forum--only recently discovered gradcafe.

 

Congratulations to those accepted into graduate schools! I browsed through some of the previous threads and, man, you guys have great academic interests. I'm an international applicant with zero knowledge of the US graduate school system, and I have a question for the Ohio St applicants (incl those accepted):

 

On appstatus.osu, my application still says 'pending', as I guess it does for those of you who haven't been accepted yet. On the 'Application Requirements' tab, though, there are a number of new sections that were added about twelve hours earlier, the first of which reads "Graduate Program Funding" with the comment "You have now been awarded financial support from your graduate program". The other sections added were "Copy of Passport", "Affidavit of Support", "Confidential Bank Statement", all of which said "waived" pending "funding review". Now, the funding section says "Graduate dept funding does not cover all expenses: short $297" and the other sections (banks statement etc.) now read "incomplete" (asking me to show proof of $297 per year in a bank account).

 

I haven't heard from the department--by phone, email or their website--and I wonder if this is some kind of error or glitch that occurred when the other acceptances were posted. Has anybody else got the same sections in their 'app requirements' tab? Thought I'd ask around here before emailing the graduate admissions office.

 

 

 

Hmmm I double checked the website, and I saw nothing like this. I'd ask their grad office.

[Funding]

Bumping this up one more time, since it's been hugely helpful for many folks (and myself personally!) over the past couple of years. Funding packages change from year to year, of course, but most of these should remain in the ballpark at least.

 

(The link on the second post is of particular value...)

 

Thanks WT, this is incredibly helpful. My own notes about funding are scattered across a half dozen word docs on my computer, so it's great to see everything on one page.

 

And, so far as I can tell, the numbers listed here are within 1K or so of what I've seen this year. It's also helpful that the person who made this doc included information on individual programs' fellowship $$, as that's a major variable that's sometimes hard to get information about.

[Fall 2015 Acceptances (!)]

Haha I knew they'd be coming soon. Congrats to both of you and anybody else who has been accepted. Feel free to send any questions you have about OSU/Columbus my way 

 

Thanks for the offer! I have a friend specializing in early modern at OSU, so he's mostly given me the skinny on the department and Columbus. But I'll be sure to PM you if questions arise!

[Fall 2015 Acceptances (!)]

A huge congrats to thepriorwalter and Ramus; OSU is a fantastic program (and one of my top choices, sadly). For those of us in limbo, where was your status updated? Buckeye link? Any details would be much appreciated.

In any event, congrats again!

 

I just checked appstatus.osu.edu after seeing thepriorwalter report his/her good news. Haven't received an email from the department yet.

[Fall 2015 Acceptances (!)]

Just got my Ohio State admission notice as well! 

[Fall 2015 Acceptances (!)]

Hey, so what's the deal with interviews in English Ph.D. programs? Will all/most programs request them? 

 

Not all will request them -- not even most of them. 

 

I think the interview serves two basic functions. The most significant thing is that it allows programs to verify that a person is actually a good fit for them. They're investing a lot of time and money in their admits, so they want to make sure that 1) you're ready for a PhD and won't wash out, and 2) that you're a normal person. 

 

The second thing, and this is going to sound a bit cynical, is that the interview is linked to prestige. In the last few years, there has been a rise in the number of mid-tier schools like Notre Dame and SMU doing interviews. These schools have plenty of money (the very interview itself, and the fact that schools can afford to bring you in, reminds you of this) and, I imagine, want to see their stature commensurate with their wealth. The interview makes the program seem that it is more prestigious than it actually is. I don't mean to diminish the success of people getting interviews -- certainly that's a big deal and those folks should be congratulated. But it seems that most of the interviewing schools are ranked from 20-50 in US News, on the cusp of entering the top tier, and have something to gain by advancing the sense of their selectivity. 

[Fall 2015 Applicants]

Then again, I remember mentioning to my semi-literate, anti-intellectual father a few months ago that I probably wouldn't graduate until 2020 at the earliest. "2020!?!?!?" He was incredulous. I must admit that I got a small kick out of it, however...

 

I've mentioned to my dad that I will be at least thirty by the time I graduate. He stressed that "it's not too late to go back and get that engineering degree."  

Mind you, I'm three months out from finishing my MA. Ugh.

[having money and "making it"]

I am also surprised that this thread took the turns it has--application fees are just the tip of the iceberg. The field is so cutthroat that completing a PhD successfully enough to find a TT job requires a lot of free time, and free time requires a lot of money, which very few stipends provide. It's SO much harder to do good writing and teaching while also having to a) work another job, stress out about money, and c) forego leisure/stress-relieving activities for lack of funds.

 

As a result, those that are able to do work good enough to land those coveted TT jobs tend to hail from higher socio-economic backgrounds, and the content of their research reflects the "white upper-class bubble" referenced earlier in the thread. Student loans make it appear like we've got a more level playing field, but the game's just as fixed as it was mid-century. In many ways, loans actually INCREASE inequality. But that's a seperate (though related) topic.

 

/2cents.

 

This. I agree 100% with everything you've said.

 

The funny thing about academia is that many of us get into it because, whether we acknowledge this or not, we value otium. If we were only interested upward social mobility, or at least preserving one's social standing, presumably we would have chosen a field that paid better. There used to be an implied contract in pursuing academia over, say, law or medicine -- accept lower pay in exchange for some degree of leisure. The problem is that those students not born into the upper strata that look on academia as a viable career choice will likely never experience the very thing motivating them to get into all this in the first place. 

 

Frankly, very often I feel that chance is the only thing guiding poor students into upper tier schools. And this is not saying anything radically new -- we all know that the application process involves a degree of blind luck. But for students that, as others have indicated, have to work multiple jobs just to support themselves through SLACs or smaller state schools, there just doesn't seem to be a whole lot of time or money necessary to develop skills necessary to get into bigger and better programs. If you do make that jump, it seems like you fall into the 'anomaly' category. 

[Your Favorite English Course (...So Far!)]

The introductory book history/bibliography class I took at the Folger last year (blandly titled "A Folger Introduction to Research Methods and Agendas") has probably been the most formative class for me thus far in my graduate career.

 

I initially applied to attend it because I thought it might look good on a CV and because I thought that archival research was just what one had to do to make it in early modern studies (my field). But the course radically altered my perspective on how to approach texts -- though we didn't have a long final paper for that class (being a skills-based course), I did end up incorporating a lot of that knowledge into a seminar paper I wrote last semester on young Milton's engagement with print and its role in the construction of his self-representation. 

 

The course played a big role in my graduate application as well. In my SoP, I alluded to my research at the Folger and explained that my decidedly unsexy focus (early modern logic and education more broadly) encompasses a range of matters tied to bibliography and book history. I also incorporated some of the marginalia I found in logic textbooks and commonplace books into my WS on ​The Shepherdess Calender and logic. 

 

If nothing else, hopefully the class' influence in my app will show adcomms that I'm already thinking about a range of methodologies I can use to think about my interests. 

[Fall 2015 Applicants]

So I'm curious: is anyone else having a hard time talking to friends and family about this process? 

 

Yes, and I've largely given up trying. They don't quite understand that passion and commitment don't guarantee one entrance to an Ivy. 

 

On a somewhat related note, I remember reading a Rebecca Schuman article a few months ago on explaining the insanity behind the job market to one's family (she touches on applying to PhD programs as well). Implied in her article, I think, is the sense that we do need to talk to those around us about the difficulty of securing jobs and positions in doctoral programs, in part because all of the issues bound up with the job market, the saturation of PhD candidates, etc. etc. affect many more than just those folks reading Schuman or who are on GC, including, for example, the next family member to go to college who encounters an underpaid GTA/instructor in their comp class. But I just don't have the energy to explain all of this all the time. 

 

The article, for those interested, can be found here: http://www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2014/09/how_do_professors_get_hired_the_academic_job_search_explained.html

 

Not anything radically new for Schuman, but I think she's spot on as she normally is.

[Thank You Gifts-- Field Specific]

I often worry, however, that people will occasionally interpret it as obsequiousness or assume that I have an ulterior motive...and given that "ulterior motive" is probably at the top of the list of Traits Wyatt's Torch Hates^TM, I always try to make it clear that it's just thankfulness and appreciation pure and simple.

 

While I'm not discounting the possibility that some professors might understand student gifts this way, my guess is that most of them that ask you not to get gifts do so because they're uncomfortable with students spending money on them. They realize that the majority of both grads and undergrads aren't exactly swimming in excess cash, and the thought of those students spending what little they have on a gift makes those professors feel guilty. Now, I seriously doubt any professor is going to object if you attach, for example, a small value ($5-10) Starbucks gift card, to your thank you note. But, personally, I'd avoid spending much more than that on a gift.

 

*pokes nose timidly into conversation* Um... so I love gifts... but this thread is making me nervous. 

 

 

I think your plan to give your mentor a painting is a great idea. And, in general, if you're naturally inclined to give gifts, and especially if you normally make gifts, I think in most cases you can go ahead and do it.

 

The only thing I might add is that it's not bad practice not to get something to a LOR writer. If you want to get a little something, I think that's fine; if not, that's fine, too.