jvaknin

Hey! I accepted Berkeley's offer, and am glad I did so. The administration's great, the faculty is supportive of your work, (etc.). Coming to Berkeley from an Ivy, I do notice plenty of differences in terms of resources and facilities (some offices are closed during the day, library hours have been slightly cut, etc.) but these definitely don't impede your work or affect the intellectual caliber of the university. If I remember correctly, I received my first (very informal) acceptance email around this same time last year, so I'm guessing you should be hearing back pretty soon. I think the faculty recently finalized or is in the process of finalizing acceptances, but am not too sure when notifications will be sent out. If you have any other specific questions, feel free to send me a message. Good luck!

No problem. I received an email from a professor in Spanish about a week ago. What's your national department?

Hey! I also applied to Columbia Comp. Lit., but I applied through the Spanish department (and have been informed that I'll be receiving a call to arrange a date to visit, etc. some time next week). That said, I think it depends entirely on your national department. If, and once your national department accepts you, then I think your application goes to the ICLS, which, from what I can tell, has its own procedure. Good luck!

felicidades! cuáles son tus intereses?

Hi all! I've been accepted into Berkeley's Comp. Lit. program and WashU's dual English-Comp. Lit program. My main interests include postcolonial studies, queer theory, psychoanalysis, and disability studies. I'm interested in 19th- through 21st century Caribbean, U.S., and maghrebi literatures in spanish, french, and english.

Hola todos! No estoy seguro, pero me parece que Harvard empieza a enviar sus aceptaciones mañana. Llamé al departamento la semana pasada y me dijeron que hoy (martes) el comité finalizaría la lista. Did anyone else apply?

I applied to Harvard's ROML department for a dual-track PhD in French and Spanish. I've really only heard good things about the faculty; people tell me they're great to work with, approachable, (etc.). I guess it depends on who you ask. I was debating between applying to the Comp. Lit. department and the Romance department, and chose the latter because, from what I hear, it's also a lot more liberal in terms of the work it does and the program structure. As far as rankings go, I haven't come across a specific ranking listing Romance Language departments, though I do know that Harvard has some pretty well-known people (Diana Sorensen, Doris Sommer, Brad Epps, Susan Suleiman, etc.)

That's what I'm hoping, as well. I applied to Spanish/ Comp. Lit. @ Columbia, so I'm guessing my application goes through the Spanish department first.

Congrats! I was accepted into Comp. Lit. at Berkeley a few weeks ago, and share many of your worries. After speaking with some people and doing some of my own research, I've decided not to stress it. I really don't think the top faculty are going anywhere because, while Berkeley might have been hit particularly hard by the economic situation, other universities have been hit as well. This article helped to relieve some of my stress: http://www.dailycal.org/article/108111/number_of_uc_berkeley_graduate_school_applicants_o. I'm not as worried about faculty leaving or rankings changing as I am about my fellowship package, which I haven't yet received.

Thank you! I'm visiting in March, and am really looking forward to it. =)

I was recently accepted into the Comp. Lit. doctoral program at Berkeley, and was wondering if anyone else who's been admitted has heard anything regarding a possible visit? Is there an admits weekend, and if so, does anyone know when it is? My acceptance email was literally two sentences long, and didn't contain many details. Also, feel free to share your research interests. Thanks and best of luck!

I totally agree! Penn is great (I'm finishing up my Comp. Lit. undergrad major there now). I've taken courses with Lydie Moudileno, and am currently taking one with Heather Love-both of whom are excellent and engaging professors.

Thanks! I hear great things about Berkeley and the Bay Area, though I've never been out West. I'm mainly interested in postcolonial Caribbean and North African literatures in Spanish, French and English spanning the 20th Century, as well as U.S. lit. from Modernism to the present. I'm not too sure who I'll be working with yet (if I end up at Berkeley, that is), but Karl Britto, Juana María Rodriguez, Estelle Tarica, Susan Schweik, Soraya Tlatli all seem like great faculty in my fields of interest

I've applied to Comp. Lit. doctoral programs at UC Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, UChicago, Princeton, and NYU, Romance Languages at Harvard, and Spanish/Comp Lit at WUSTL. Already got an informal, unofficial acceptance email for Berkeley's Comp. Lit. PhD program (pending further notice re: funding, etc.). I'm still waiting to hear back from the rest. Good luck everyone!