woolfie

It seems like there aren't that many people applying to terminal MA programs. Is anyone applying to places like UConn, Delaware or Vermont? All three have funded MAs so I thought the competition would be up there. But I haven't heard of anyone applying there, especially Vermont.

Thanks guys! This all really helped me and I think I've written a good statement thanks to your help!

Yes, the SoP is beyond recall, I already submitted the application because I'm a dummy. I think it's complimentary just because it focuses on some of the very specific, same issues and uses some of the same theory and criticism. I have been editing it heavily, but I haven't done any additional research. I do think I need to get this sent out as quickly as possible, but I think I could have the weekend to do more work. I think I would have to completely rewrite it if I were to do more research so right now I'm just considering putting a note/cover page that explains the assignment.

I have been out of school since then, and it was a 300 level course, it just was an intro to criticism if that explains it better. I really didn't write any short papers for many other upper level courses, it was all just final papers and presentations, I don't know if that's unusual or not. I agree about it being preferable to use a paper "closer to the current state of my brain" but I just don't have anything.

For one of my schools they want two writing samples, a long one and a short one. The long one, 16 pages, is the one I'm sending to all of my schools, so I had to unearth and heavily edit my most recent 8 page paper, which is three years old and obviously written for an undergraduate class. (I have only a BA). It is really undergraduate-y and it was written for an assignment in which we had to analyze any texts of our choosing, using ONE theorist from the Norton anthology of criticism (it was for an intro to literary theory class). So I only engage one theorist and one essay for the criticism I use. Though I think it's a good paper to use because the texts I used are in my area and it really complements the other paper. So. I was kind of thinking about writing a little paragraph explaining the assignment and wondered what people here thought about that. Would that be weird? I already submitted my personal statement to the application online, so I can't mention it there. I'm really self-conscious of it sounding so assignment-y, am I right in feeling that way? Have other people submitted similar papers for a school that needed a short paper? I had my partner read it and he agreed that it was obviously written for an assignment and that just made me feel more self-conscious. The amount of editing I've done on it could have been spent on just writing a new 8 page paper and part of me is considering doing that. (Also, I remember there being a thread about only using one source, but for some reason i couldn't find it in these forums.)

I love your signature.

In my signature for the schools, and I'm applying for early American (1600-1865) literature.

I wondered, too, if they mean double or single since they don't specify. The sentence explaining the SoP is a very short one that does not give enough information so I'm hoping that means they are not really picky otherwise they would have said what they wanted. I always single space my SoP's because some people ask for that and I guess I'm just keeping it consistent. I'm considering just keeping it as is and hoping it's okay. It would be 3 pages double spaced I'm sure.

So Miami University of Ohio requires a 2-3 page SoP (which they are calling a personal statement, so I hope SoP is what they really mean). This is the first time I've had my SoP be too SHORT instead of too long. Here I have been trying to crunch all this information into 200-500 word requirements and now my 1000 words is not enough! Do you think that a SoP that is just over a page and a half single spaced should suffice for this? I really don't want to just add a bunch of stuff to make it longer, I've worked on this SoP for the entire year trying to perfect it. I don't think I could handle that.

"Just how much do they need to align" and "What if they don't align" don't seem like the same question.

Teaching experience is not a requirement to get a TAship, yet a statement of teaching philosophy is required. What on earth do I put in it to make up 2 pages? Why I want to teach and why I'd be good at it? Like a cover letter?

I hope I don't come off sounding ignorant, but I've always used MLA to format my papers and my writing sample is in that format. The header for MLA, however, includes date, course, and professor. Is there a better or more expected format for writing samples? I feel weird leaving that information in. Or does it matter at all? I feel like it should have my address, more like a journal submission Help!

Last year the header on my SoP said "Statment" of Purpose. Not as big as "insert school here" but still. My boyfriend said he found a missing word in his SoP a week after he sent out all his applications and said he flew into a rage about it. But he still got in, and is in one of his top choice programs right now, so there is still hope. I think adcoms see a lot of typos, and obviously your application should be impeccable, it's just so easy to miss little things here and there.

Do you mind sharing which schools they were? No problem if you don't, this being the Internet and all.

Oh, don't get me wrong; I see nothing wrong with getting an MA first. It's just that, for my relationship and personal reasons, moving again, and then AGAIN in two years is going to be difficult for us for a number of reasons. I will be grateful for all the reasons you listed, it will just be hard for him to find a job, etc.

I've been talking to a lot of MA students I know here, and it seems to be unanimous that they all got rejected from PhD programs without any graduate experience. Now they are all reapplying with MAs and I'm competing with them. I feel like there is no chance of getting in. Thoughts? I've been working on applications for years, and now I can see why I got rejected last year and I feel like my project is so much better outlined this year. Though I can't but feel it's hopeless as I'm competing with people who will inevitably have more experience than me. Do you think that MA holders and BA holders are judged basically on the same level?

I need a critique of my SoP and I'd be willing to help someone else out as well. I'd prefer others in the humanities, as I think the content is pretty different than from other fields. I'm in English for what it's worth.

That's kind of my crossroads right now and I haven't decided. I wrote one focusing on 18th century Am lit, but when I reread my writing sample I realized it might be a bad idea. It's honestly what I what to do, but I'm considering making my SoP focus on antebellum Af Am literature instead to give a clear coherence to my application, though it feels dishonest. As many other people have said, though, you don't have to follow through with your exact project as outlined in the SoP.

Though, then again, don't listen to me because I'm having the same problem, just even bigger. For instance, my writing sample is on neo-slave narratives, historical memory, and narrative theory. I realized, after spending so much time on this paper, that early American religious writing and narrative theory are what I want my next project to be on. But that's so different, way more different than your two samples suggest, which is why I gave the above advice. I know that I want to do American lit, though I'm toying with focusing on the narrative theory as the link between the two. But I really don't know what to do either.

Feel free to disagree with me, but from reading that, I didn't think those papers sounded diametrically opposed. It sounds like you are interested in 20th century American and maybe Cultural Studies, no? (can't tell exactly just from your two sentences on it). Maybe you are looking for your interests it to be too specifically identical to your sample, which I don't think it has be. Though what do I know, I haven't been accepted anywhere yet. Also, race and technology and literature are not at all different subjects, see posthumanism and the like. I think you just have to write your SoP really well so the dots are connected and give a holistic image of a project you would do well on that is bolstered by the work you've done in the sample.

No.

Hmm. I was just reading another thread, SOP mistakes in the SOP forum, which is really helpful, but all this info is kind of clashing with what my professor/LoR writer is telling me. She advised that I construct a narrative of what I have written about in the past, theorists used, how it has evolved into my current insterests and then to mention a future project. This project directly ties into previous work, so it isn't just thrown in there, but it seems like you guys would advise completely restructuring it to more heavily emphasize current/future?

Can you give an example of just how specific? I know that sounds like a silly question, but I feel like I've outlined a specific project, but I could also see someone saying its still not specific enough. Ok what the hell, here is the paragraph in question: "Similar to the way words experience semantic drift, I’m interested in the semantic drift of narratives throughout cultural production. While my writing sample charts the ever-changing historical memory of slavery, for my current research interests and future projects I would like to apply the same methodological approach to early American narratives about environment and geography and the continuing development of the citizen within those confines. For example, the Puritan characterization of the New World as a paradoxical Eden populated by demons inserts the ‘present’ into an established religious narrative to make sense of national identity in American wilderness. " I do not mention any specific texts or religious figures, so it is not specific in that way. But I feel like it is still a good outline for a future project. Sorry if it seems like I'm workshopping my SoP here, I'm just curious about how deep to go. Thoughts?

I'd be willing to swap, I was having the exact same reservations. PM me your first few if you're still interested.

So last week I shelled out $130 or so to send out some score reports to make sure they get to schools before the Dec. 1 deadline for some. I needed to send out general and subject test scores to these schools and I just took the subject test in October. My scores aren't reported and I'm getting worried that they will only send the general test scores out for the reports I just ordered. When I filled out the online form, I selected the bubbles for both the GT and the ST but my ST scores still say "no information" or something in the score for the subject test. Am I just freaking out over nothing or will I have to pay that $130 again to send my subject test scores when they are actually reported around Nov. 19?