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kurayamino

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Posts posted by kurayamino

    2015 Rejections

    in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition

    Posted

    The only thing I can add is from my own personal experience, which is coming straight from BA to PhD. When I realized this was the path I wanted to take I originally expected to apply to MA programs, likely at the same school I was already attending. I had no idea how any of this stuff worked. But, in talking with my advisers, I was told it would behoove me to try and get into some summer research programs to show that I could do the work. I ended up going to two summer research programs where I produced two different 20 page papers and also took a graduate seminar where I produced another 20 page paper. I think, in my case, the ability to research went a long way to show that I was capable of doing work at a higher level because my checkered undergrad history certainly didn't do that at all. I do think that to go from BA to PhD you'll have to do a lot of work outside of the BA to indicate your capabilities. Independent studies, honors thesis, summer research, etc.

    Fall 2015 Acceptances (!)

    in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition

    Posted

    Holy crapoly - just got accepted at Harvard with a VERY generous package! AGH this is the weirdest moment of my life. Harvard AND Yale AND Berkeley??? I know, I know, I'm insanely lucky - but my mother never graduated high school! I've live on 7.00 an hour for the better part of my adult life! WHAT IS THIS INSANITY????

    This is because you are amazing! :) Congratulations!!!

    How crazy do you have to be to take an unfunded MA?

    in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition

    Posted

    I was under the impression that teaching experience is actually not very important when applying to PhD programs. I did an unfunded MA at a local state school. We were given opportunities to teach but tuition remission was not included. I have a few years of teaching experience now because of this, and while I think this was an incredibly valuable experience and will serve me well in the future, I don't know that it made much difference to admissions committees. Not one of my applications asked me to talk about my teaching experience, and my professors advised me to foreground my research and writing over teaching on my CV. 

     

    I second this. I'm coming straight from undergrad and I don't even have tutoring experience. The only thing I mentioned about teaching in my SOP was my willingness and desire to do so in addition to my passion for research.

    Fall 2015 Acceptances (!)

    in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition

    Posted

    Congrats to a fellow UCSB admit!!  Hope to see you in March at the open house.

     

    Also – Did I just see the first Stanford rejection?  Or am I hallucinating?  Anyone else get word from them?  I haven't seen anything yet.

    Congrats on UCSB

     

    As far as I know it was only MTL rejections that came out. I haven't heard anything from English lit.

    2015 Rejections

    in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition

    Posted

    Everyone... please forgive this rant... I've had a lot of coffee and there's something on my mind...

     

    I'm one of those applicants with a major undergraduate disaster. I'm talking SUB 3.0, multiple failures, ineligible GPA. However, I've also made a pretty surprising comeback: near perfect MFA GPA and perfect GPA in MA. However, it seems like my undergraduate record has set the ceiling for admissions. Schools in the Top 30 (whatever that might mean) don't seem to want to even give me a look whereas schools just outside of the Top 50 are happy to have me. I realize I might have been able to do a bit more to strengthen my applications in terms of stating my research objectives more clearly and convincingly in my SOP, but I'm beginning to wonder if this would even matter.

     

    I'm not seriously considering reapplying... I have good offers from strong programs. Whats more, I would never want to ride this emotional roller coaster again. But given the amount of angsty discussion on GC lately about the relationship between an institution's perceived prestige and the career outcomes of graduates, I've begun to feel disappointed with the elitism I see in the admissions process. I wish someone had told me that no matter how much I achieve in graduate programs, my undergraduate performance precludes me from consideration at top programs. Sure, there might be a million other reasons why I won't get an offer from top schools, but the only real weakness I can see in my application is this undergraduate disaster from ten years ago.

     

    The application season is still young and I still have some schools that haven't reported. I really want to be proven wrong. Also, I'm generally really happy with the way my season has gone. But this is definitely an eye-opener for me. In the future, when we advise prospective applicants, be it here on GC or in our discussions with our students, the sugar-coated truth that "anything can happen" might be a little misleading. The fact is, because of the selectivity of these programs and the competition for TT jobs, some applicants just won't compete at more prestigious institutions.

     

    As you can see, I'm a bitter beatrice today. And isn't that what the rejections thread is for? I just had to get this off my chest. Thanks for reading and I welcome your responses.

    I'm sorry you're feeling so down and out about the process. It really is a heart wrenching and eye opening process.

    My own experience counters a little of what you suggest, but I think it just means that this whole thing is just so random. I don't even thing it's particularly biased, but so much of what happens depends on your first initial reading by an adcomm. What if everyone was sick that day? Or feeling grumpy about how a colleague got a book deal on Joyce and so anything Joyce related is going to make them act like a jerk? It's horrible, but this is human nature we're talking about.

    My academic journey is... checkered, to say the least. I've changed majors five times and started college 12 years ago after getting my GED. I Started, stopped, dropped out, flunked out, transferred to 4 different schools. I was an absolute wreck. I didn't even go get a masters degree because I simply couldn't afford it. Instead, I took a fifth year and in that fifth year I did everything I possibly could to make my research interests razor sharp. I applied to top schools almost as an act of defiance. No one was more surprised than I was when UCLA emailed me. I had wished and hoped for Bloomington or Rutgers, but never in my imagination did I think I'd get into a Tier 2. My GRE scores were passable, but my subject test was abysmal. My LOR were from new faculty that I knew well, but my primary mentor hadn't even published anything yet. My institution is a non-ranked public city college.

     

    All of this is to say, I feel where you're coming from because it seems like maybe you stacked the deck against yourself. And if you didn't stack the deck then it was everywhere else that did. Honestly, after checking to make sure all the information they need is there I swear they just pick them at random. Feel better Morristr, you got into two excellent programs and while prestige matters in some ways, in terms of life fulfillment it doesn't matter one iota.

    Fall 2015 Applicants

    in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition

    Posted

    Yeah, I've got five programs left (including PSU), and I have very little confidence about any of them at this point...but I'd rather like the whole thing to be done so that I can mentally move on and start devoting myself 100% to UMD.

     

    If one of these programs happens to offer me acceptance, that's great of course -- a dream come true! But since that's likely not the case, I'd rather have the finality.

     

    I have five programs left too (most of ours are the same I see!)I'm pretty ready for the whole process to be done too, but hang in there. We're all rooting for you I think :)

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