Medievalmaniac

But it only makes a little sense. Maybe those who are called very early on are the ones who are competing with the rest of the university for university-wide fellowships? That makes more sense, they would have to be the top scorers on the GRE etc. in order to compete in that fashion. Then, the rest are up to the department for funding and such. They only have X number of slots in the whole department, and surely they would want to have students in a variety of subfields...? So, maybe the graduate admissions committee vets applications and pulls out those that meet minimum requirements, then gives each subfield x number of slots dependent upon the popularity thereof, and then the professors who would be potential advisors wade through those presented to them to make final decisions? That's my best guess, anyhow.

Candy apple

I wonder how the rolling admits DO work, in the end...it can't be alphabetical, or nobody with a last name T or lower would ever get in, right? Maybe they go by waves of candidates according to similarities in scores, etc.? Or by subfields?

Names in the first half of the alphabet? A birthday in a Zodiac sign compatible with that of potential advisors? SIGH, who knows? What will knowing that about other people change about you as an applicant? I suggest a glass of wine, some chocolate, and Monty Python, or maybe Ab Fab. That's certainly what I'm going to do this evening! Until this round of applications is over, I refuse to give in to the crazies - even though have come dangerously close. If I don't get in this year, it's not going to stop me from working to research and publish in the field anyhow. I have a lot of dreams and goals....being in a doctoral program will make achieving them easier for me, because I'll have easier access to the materials I need, especially newer research. But it won't stop me from doing what I do. I hope it won't stop you, either!

I'm so, so sorry. On the plus side, though - at least you have an acceptance. Some of us are still batting a thousand, alas...

Last updated still December 9. SIGH. Maybe they just will never look at my application at all.....

I guess I'm in the minority here, but as a teacher myself, although I require cover pages for my students' papers, I would HATE to have to deal with them for applications on top of it - they're a royal PITA. Consequently, I didn't do a cover page for my writing samples. I simply added a header with my full name, my status (PhD Candidate) and the title and origin of the work in question (Writing Sample #1: Chapter One of MA Thesis with Relevant WC Entries; Writing Sample #2: Unrevised Paper Delivered at XXXX Conference, 2009). I figured since I'm sending it in with the rest of my application, it's being filed with the rest of my application. I don't know....I was trying to put myself in the shoes of the committee members...can you imagine paging through all of those writing samples, even after cutting down the final number of applications to be decided on? That's a loooot of paper. I was going for making it even slightly more streamlined/easier on them.

On the subject of off topic emails, my husband just sent me a news forward - article on whether or not coffee kills the benefits of taking vitamins. I emailed him back and told him DON'T EMAIL ME! lololol Unless it is serious, of course.

If it's any consolation, I subscribe to several professional mailing lists (Medtextl, Chaucer, Arthur Society, etc. etc.) and the professors have been more or less silent the past two weeks....so hopefully that is because they are busily reading and trying to decide on us!!

Not that I've seen, and I've been keeping a close eye on it...someone posted somewhere that UVA was expected to send out within the next two weeks...?

I just want one......

My professor got her MLitt and PhD at Trinity Dublin in medieval literature (heLLOOOO! TRINITY DUBLIN! For MEDIEVAL LITERATURE!) She is an assistant professor at a mid level public university in America. She had a helluva time getting the post because of her UK degree. At issue was the fact that the UK degree takes less time to complete than does the American (approx. 3-4 years instead of 5-7). So American universities, in their infinite wisdom, assume the UK contingency is less well-prepared to teach b/c they have taken fewer courses and don't usually teach during the degree program. For those American students interested in teaching in the UK, if you get your PhD there, YES, you are employable. Her professor wondered why on EARTH she would go to teach anywhere other than the UK with a UK degree, and thought she should stay on and take a lectureship. If you desperately want UK experience, but plan on trying to become a professor in America, I highly recommend either doing the MLitt abroad and then doing the PhD in the states, or alternately doing a post doc fellowship abroad or summer program abroad from a US based doctoral program. You'll end up more marketable in the States with a U.S. degree. Which is Just Dumb. Because everyone knows the Middle Ages didn't happen here! lol You'd think US schools would snap up folks who have studied at the universities actually founded in the time period they are specializing in... Academia is weird...!

The problem with applying to medieval studies (my advisor told me), as to comp lit programs, is that it limits your marketability more so than does an English, History, etc. etc. degree. According to her, if you get a PhD in medieval studies, you usually are looking at finding work at a school with a program specifically in medieval studies - and since there are only a handful, and people usually stay once they have tenure, that makes it harder to get a full time professorship. Also, with comp lit, same thing - usually you are looking at applying to a school with a comp lit program. Not always, of course. She very highly recommended I go into English, concentrating on medieval lit but also working in another era (19th c., 20th c. medievalism, etc. etc.) and do a medieval studies certificate instead. NOT that I would not jump at the chance to work in a medieval studies program!!!!!!! Just repeating what I was told.

right there with you....what really sucks is that I have my Facebook account set to send notifications to my email....AGH! lol

The stress people are apparently feeling over this compels me to ask: for those of us who have no idea what this means, what is Test Magic?

Light Saber

Don't take this personally, it actually is intended lightheartedly/ jokingly, but REALLY..... SOM - you're wrong because seadub says you're wrong, and this person apparently knows everything about the GRE and how it is used as a judgment tool at every program in the United States of America - just ask. Haven't you been paying any attention to his or her posties all over this board? How dare you attempt to bring real-world experiences into your explanation for why you believe what you believe about the GRE. Reality has nothing to do with it. It's all about the statistics reported on the internet and in the GRE prep manuals. Actually, you were not accepted at Duke with your scores, even though you say you were, because Seadub says your score is too low to have gotten in. You actually hallucinated your experiences... And personal attacks? Ha, ha, hehehehehe. You haven't yet been the recipient of this person's really personal attacks. But if you keep trying to make him or her see reason or accept that his or her view is not "THE" right view, I'm sure you will. I suggest the "ignore" button.... :rolleyes:

It's important to be collegial. Smile. Make it a point to congratulate people when they have a paper published and/or are accepted to present at a conference. Ask how their research is going. Commiserate with the workload (but not too much, you don't want to be viewed as a complainer). Anything beyond that is not really necessary. You don't have to go out of your way to be everyone's best friend and, in fact, that can be construed as kissing up, especially if it's not your nature to be everybody's BFF. You're there to work. It's like any other work relationship. You may find people you totally click with, you may find you hate them all, but in the end you have to work with them and you need to make sure it's pleasant - you don't want enemies. But you don't have the time or energy to devote to a bid for Miss/Mr. Congeniality, and unless that's who you are naturally I wouldn't even try - you don't want the reputation of being a phony. I think you have a healthy attitude towards the whole thing. Grad school is not an extension of the undergraduate experience, you are training for "the real world" whether that is academia, private consulting, management, etc. etc. - do you want to spend your time getting tipsy at an informal grad student get together at someone's grad student apartment on Saturday night, or reviewing for your courses, in which your professor is deciding your future...? I think a healthy balance between work-life is crucial, and it sounds like you do, as well. No need to rock the boat trying to do something you have no interest in doing.

I would frankly be surprised if there weren't cheating going on at top programs, particularly in sciences and Maths. The pressure to succeed is phenomenal, even more so at major research institutions. There's a lot of money and prestige caught up in the work going on at those places, and it's usually not just your a%$! on the line but also your professor's and in some cases your department's. Grad students freak out - heck, full professors freak out - under continued and sustained pressure to publish first on major research projects. It doesn't make it right, but it is certainly understandable, in our results-oriented culture - we SAY the process is important, but in the end we want to see the bottom line, faster than we ever have before. It is a cheating culture. Look at the big stories in the papers about our government leaders, celebrities, etc. etc. - really, is it at all surprising that someone in America today would attempt to take the fast way out? It is still wrong. I would absolutely turn someone in and demand that person be brought to line before the honor council. But it would be silly to think it doesn't happen, and more often than we would like to think.

Right there with you guys on all fronts...just trying to push the envelope on my own scholarship. In my case, the stakes are different - no less high, but different. I already hold the MA, and I already teach EXACTLY what I want to teach, the way I want to teach it - I'm amazingly lucky in that respect. I also publish...but not as much as I would like to publish. I also present at conferences - but not as often as I would like to present at conferences. In my case, I don't HAVE to have the PhD, I WANT it, because it provides the credentials to back up what I already know - that I am a really good scholar with a lot to offer the field. I know this, and those who have worked with me know this. The PhD just informs everybody else who may remain skeptical. Does that make sense? I'm a medievalist - nobody can take that from me. But access to libraries and recent scholarship via online journals - I can't get that outside of the academic setting. My primary goal is not really the coursework - I'm at a point where if I want to know something, I can find it out, I want to keep learning and growing, I study independently and have my own research goals and agenda, and aside from language acquisition I'm flying solo there without problems. But the exposure to different modes of thought, different writing styles and research methodologies, to other areas of study in my subject field, and to the most recent publications and presentations - the only way I can keep that is by pursuing the doctorate. And so....I'm sitting on my hands trying to avoid chewing my nails, just like everyone else...and like most other English applicants, I'm not hearing anyyyyyyythingggggggg yet! ACK. lol

MAKE CONTACT. Send preliminary questions. Explain that you are delighted to have been accepted and want to know more, specifically, about the kind of work you will be able to do with the professor(s) in question, because you have multiple offers. Ask what s/he is currently working on. Is s/he presenting at any conferences in the near future where you might be able to hear his/her work and meet up? Tell him / her the kinds of things you are interested in and ask how that might fit in with the department and/or his or her work. Don't ramble on, be professional, polite and engaging in your writing. You'll get an answer, although it might be a few days or even a week or so later. This is a good idea for three major reasons: First of all, you'll be more informed to make a decision about which program is your best fit dependent upon their answers. Secondly, if you end up going to that school, you have established the beginnings of a relationship with the professor, and starting will be less awkward because (ideally) you'll be on the same wavelength and already have a nascent plan in place for what you are going to be doing. Thirdly - and key - if you DON'T go to that program, you have an outside professor who has heard of you, and you can establish a relationship with him/her that will serve you well when you go knocking on doors for outside readers of your dissertation, prospective jobs, etc. etc. People tend to forget that at the doctoral level, you aren't just applying to your schools of choice - you have to cultivate a relationship with your field. That means meeting as many people who work in it as possible and being familiar with their work. The professors of the schools you don't choose are not going to take that personally. They have MORE than enough on their plate. But they do appreciate the opportunity to talk about their work and to exchange ideas, whether you are working with them or not. And they DO remember good emails and proactive behavior. Good luck!

NO!!!!!!!!! Adjuncts are usually part-time, supplementary professors to the program, and generally teach at several universities in proximity to one another in order to make ends meet. Only graduate faculty are allowed to advise graduate students. To be graduate faculty, you must be a full-time professor with an appropriate PhD and in good standing. Professors who are in phase-out retirement standing cannot serve as advisors, nor can "junior professors" (MA, ABD holders), and certainly not adjunct faculty members, who may or may not be rehired from one semester to the next dependent upon financial and course-related exigencies. The website for a university, or the graduate catalog of the university or department, should have a list of faculty members you can approach as graduate advisors. You CAN have an adjunct professor on your thesis or dissertation committee; in fact, for the dissertation, you must have at least one outside scholar as a member of your committee. But only if the professor has a PhD. MAs are usually not permitted to serve as graduate faculty or on graduate/thesis committees except under exceptional circumstances and with department approval ahead of time (that would be the blind leading the blind, yes? Or like being reviewed by a coworker instead of your supervisor). But they absolutely can't be thesis or dissertation advisors. FYI, because it doesn't hurt to know, the order is: Assistant Professor (junior faculty/ pre-tenure - can advise undergrads and sit on committees for graduate faculty; with appropriate degree, can serve as a graduate advisor (PhD only)) Associate Professor (usually awarded with tenure, must have a book) Professor (highest full-time position in a department; often an endowed chair, but not always) Emeritus (retired, but can still teach an occasional course and/or sit on a committee) Hope that helps - good luck!

I think that's great! Clearly, it's Fate. Let us know how this ends up, yes?

You sound as qualified as about 80% of the other extraordinarily qualified people applying to graduate school. I will say that it all depends in your case on what you do with your narratives. If you can turn your lengthy and spotty undergrad record into a good, strong explanation for how it makes you a better applicant, that's great. Your statement of purpose has to be stellar in philosophy, period - it is incredibly difficult to get an admit in that subject, as others have told you already. For American Universities, not following through with a Phi Beta Kappa induction is going to loo a little bizarre...most undergrads planning on continuing with their studies would do little short of murder for a bid from PBK. If you are going to apply, then apply. Asking a bunch of overly-stressed out and amazingly over-caffeinated applicants what they think of your credentials is not conducive to good results. Filling out the forms, taking the required exams, and writing the narratives is a much better use of your energy. Good luck.