erosanddust

My first US application deadline is November 30, so I'm hoping to submit in the next day or so. I'm on the home stretch for the version of my Writing Sample that will satisfy most schools, and have only small tweaks left for each Statement of Purpose. The rest is ready to go. :| My last cycle (for my MA applications), I submitted each app two days before its deadline, so the prospect of being ready to submit most of my applications this early is a little terrifying (shouldn't I use all the available time? won't I find something else I could've fixed after I've submitted?). But it's mostly a relief, given the mental/emotional energy and time apps take up, some of which I will need to redirect towards my seminar papers pretty soon.

I'm not able to add much, but I wanted to second this point. I did a lot of cue card making and Vade Mecum reviewing, but one of the most helpful things I did (that actually has continued to provide helpful background knowledge during my time at grad school, unlike most of my cramming) was to watch/listen to literature lectures from survey courses that have been made public in various ways. I got the "Great Courses" CDs for several literary periods from the public library and listened to them whenever I was in the car/on transit. I tried to watch one online lecture each night before bed. I'm sure iTunes U has some good stuff too. This was, frankly, more interesting than a lot of the factual study I was doing and I retained and directly used some of what I learned for my test. Also, I heard from a recent test-taker that if you check the copyrights at the back of the test booklet, they'll sometimes give away an answer for a passage ID question.

Thanks for the advice (and the info on OSU's program), @bhr and @Ramus! I'll definitely send an e-mail.

Does anyone know how to navigate applying to programs at schools with multiple campuses? I've wondered about this for a few places, but am thinking specifically of OSU right now. I'm assuming that the program is housed on the main/largest campus, but I'm realizing now that I have faculty who I am interested in working with across several of OSU's campuses. Is there much opportunity for that kind of work, or should I be restricting my faculty search to a single campus? This is probably a dumb question, but having consistently gone to relatively small schools, I've never run into this before.

I'll add Boston College to the list of strong MA programs that offer funding (tuition scholarships) as well as really good fellowship/assistantship opportunities.

I know this is decidedly different than publication, but depending on the paper/the student's goals, it might also be valuable to encourage them to adapt and submit it as a conference paper. I know the conversation about premature publication has been had many times, ie. Will they feel the same way about the paper in 3-4 years as they do now? I certainly don't about some of the early things that I published. The process was still undeniably a valuable professional experience for me, but I probably gained even more from my early participation in conferences.

EDIT: Sorry, aob981! I totally got your interests confused with the Rhetoric applicant in the other thread I was just reading, so my input is largely moot. I'll keep my original comment below should anyone be interested in the links I've included. I'm not (nor do I know any people who are) studying Rhetoric, so I won't try to address your other questions. Re: your writing sample, I just wanted to point out a line on OSU's Prospective Students' Guide: "The topic of the writing sample does not have to be an exact match: an applicant in rhetoric, for instance, might gain admittance if she submits an essay about a film – but almost certainly, the essay would have to use rhetorical analysis in interpreting the film" Of course this is a rather straightforward point & it's here coming from just one school, but I thought it might be a helpful addition to the good advice that others have already offered about the purpose of the Writing Sample. Speaking of that OSU guide, I found it really helpful because it's very transparent about the admissions process & what they are looking for in each part of the application. Duke's SOP Guidelines on their FAQ page were similarly helpful. Has anyone come across any other great Prospective PhD Student pages?

I just solidified my list of programs last week, which means that the sense of exciting possibility has begun to morph into a much sharper focus on a clear target. That's exciting in some ways, because it makes my aspirations more concrete — but it's also terrifying because, well, that target is only ten programs big and there's a decent chance I'll miss it entirely. This week, I officially turn my attentions to drafting my SOP and editing my Writing Sample. So it begins.

Perhaps one way to strike a middle path would be to reference those publications without listing each each one. For instance, I've seen people cite their academic publications bibliographically, and then include a note saying something like "Multiple poetry publications in journals such as Awesome Journal X, Awesome Journal Y, and Awesome Journal Z." I'd be interested to hear people's thoughts on the inclusion of things like committee memberships on the CV. I've gotten involved in a lot of different groups and leadership roles in my Department, but I don't want to look like I'm just using them as padding.

If you're Canadian, you could consider applying for a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship! In fact, you can even apply to use SSHRC funding in non-Canadian programs at the PhD level.

As someone currently at Boston College, I can affirm that this is true. This is something that the English department emphasizes to incoming graduate students. Also, for those interested in lit & cognitive science, Alan Richardson in the English department does a lot of important work in that field.

Resurrecting this thread to ask a (probably silly) question -- what's the consensus on presenting at a regional conference in a different region (aside from issues of cost)? I ask mainly because I'm interested in submitting abstracts to panels at two different regional MLA conferences (one in my own region, one not). Earlier this year, I presented at a different regional conference in yet a third region. Not assuming I'll get accepted to the regional MLAs, of course, but if I did, would it look strange to list 3 scattered regional conferences on my CV?

Hello! Excuse my disorganized reply and my inability to answer all of these questions, but I thought I'd share a few things that came to mind: (1) There will certainly be ways to demonstrate that your background in history (and even law) are assets to your application, especially if your specialization benefits from historical knowledge/methods. That being said, I think not having a lit background, more than counting against you for arbitrary checklist reasons, would be a detriment if you feel you lack background in literary methodology, etc. (as you seem to suggest in your second question). I've seen people on this board coming from other disciplines enroll in lit courses at a local college to "brush up" on these things — that might be an option to help you "test the waters," or even to make connections with professors for letters of reference or help with a writing sample. Looking into funded MA programs first might be an even better option. (2) I've sort of addressed this question already, but I'll add that another good way to get acquainted with current methodologies is to find journals in your field and read them. You'll be able to get a feel for what the trends are right now in your field, but also to take a closer look at the critical moves different scholars make. From there, you can consider which modes of analysis appeal to you and how you might adapt them to your own project. (3) This may not really answer your question, but I would advise everyone to look outside the 'top' programs, regardless of academic background. PhD applications are so competitive, there's no such thing as 'safety schools'. In fact, it's more important to find a program that produces good work in your specialization — the top schools for you will likely look different than the top schools according to US News.

To weigh in on retaking the GREs, my MA cohort was told (by someone with considerable experience/authority in PhD admissions) that every single one of us planning to apply to PhD programs should retake both the general and the lit GRE. They emphasized that having had more time to prepare, our scores can only improve and bolster our application. That being said—I'm not going to retake either exam. I scored highly enough (high 90s on verbal/analytical and just below 90 on the subject test) that I would rather dedicate that time/money to other aspects of my application where I feel my increased attention could have a greater impact.

I was shocked at how low I was scoring on the verbal in my practice tests (reading comprehension and vocabulary should be my strong suits, as an English scholar!). I ended up buying a set of the Manhattan Prep GRE books to help boost my score (and shared them with a few friends to help offset the cost). They have a whole book dedicated just to the verbal test, and it helped me see how essential it is to understand how to answer GRE reading comp questions, specifically -- once I did that, I scored very highly with no problem. So for the verbal, I recommend finding or borrowing a good guide to testing strategies to get a sense of what is wanted from GRE reading comp questions, and then running through as many sample GRE problems as possible (many of their questions are structured very similarly, so it helps to get a hang of their methods). Being familiar with GRE vocab is also really important. I used a set of Manhattan Prep flash cards, but many websites have lists of words that commonly appear on the test, too. I carried about 20 word cards in my bag every day, and whenever I had a moment (waiting in line, idling on my lunch break, etc), I would run through them.

This is a small note (which you may already be aware of!) but BU participates in the Graduate Consortium of Women's Studies, which allows you to enroll in women's studies seminars at many universities in Boston (BU, BC, Brandeis, Harvard, MIT, Tufts, Northeastern, Simmons, and UMass Boston). It also runs different conferences, lectures, and events.

Hello! I'll be applying this fall as well (probably to about a dozen programs). I've spent some of my downtime over the last few months putting together a list of about 75 programs (some with faculty members that I'm familiar with, others that have been recommended to me, and some that I've just heard good things about and want to investigate further), and then going through their English Department faculty lists to find which ones seem to be producing good work in my field. I've narrowed it down to a 'shortlist' of about 20, and plan to specify further from there based on broader considerations of fit / conversations with advisors. So yeah. Evidently I'm still in the part of the process that is exciting. I'm sure the harrowing part will kick in soon enough — but I am happy to be tackling it alongside you both!

Sure! For me, there were two main considerations: first was a question of fit (there were a couple faculty members in my current department whose research interests were more closely aligned with my own), and the second was that my current program offers more opportunities for teaching, which is an area in which I really wanted to develop during my MA. But it was a very difficult decision to make, and I know I could've been very happy and done good work at UBC as well.

Hi! I was very seriously considering UBC's MA program last season. I didn't end up attending, so I can't answer all of your questions, but last year I asked the MA Director if he could put me in touch with some current students and I corresponded with them via e-mail to ask many of the same things you're asking. I also corresponded with a couple POIs. I really recommend doing the same -- everyone I talked to was incredibly helpful! Overall, based on correspondence and my campus visit, I was very impressed with the program. They were very collegial and supportive, and the Department does some great work.

Please do!

I'm a current student in the Boston College MA Program and am happy to answer any questions! Feel free to PM me as well! I love the program and am very glad that I chose it. There's about 24 students per MA cohort, so it's a fairly large program. BC is excellent about giving lots of support/attention to their Masters students, and it's a very collegial department. Most people in my cohort are either writing tutors (with the writing centre, ELL students, or student athletes) or writing fellows (where you are partnered with a specific undergraduate class to help them develop their writing over the course of the year). A good number also have other assistantships in various centres around campus. (Here are some listings, to give you an idea.) As for teaching in the second year, you typically apply during your first semester to be either a Teaching Fellow or a Teaching Assistant. TAs are paired with lit classes, but TFs take a 3-credit course on Teaching Pedagogy & Comp Theory and get a chance to develop their own syllabus for their own Freshman Writing Class during year 2 (1 class per semester). It's a great program because they put a lot of effort into helping prepare you for teaching rather than throwing you to the wolves right off the bat, as some programs might. Payment for these positions is given in addition to your whatever your funding package is. About 75% of the cohort gets TF positions, and those who do not get one (or want one) can be considered for TA-ships. The professors in the department are really wonderful and committed to their students. This definitely includes working with students applying to PhD programs. I'm sure the MA Director (or POIs in your field) will be able to give you more solid information about placement rates/records, but the support system definitely exists.

I know very little about these programs, but some schools do offer a Masters in Publishing (eg. NYU, Emerson College in Boston). From what I gather, these programs provide training/internships, as well as networking opportunities relevant to the field. But I don't know about the funding for these programs or how much of an edge they would give you.

For some reason, I remember one with admission statistics on it (eg. x number of admits out of y number of applicants). But thanks for the funding one -- another great resource!

Does anybody remember that spreadsheet that compiled rough admission numbers/%s from schools last year? I was looking around and have been unable to find it.

Congratulations! I was accepted to UBC last year and although I ended going with a different program, I had a very hard time turning them down. I had nothing but positive experiences with the program & faculty in all of my correspondence with them, and the campus is beautiful (of course, I may be a little biased as I'm from Vancouver). It's a great school.