Warelin

I think most MA programs don't expect you to have figured out your research interests. The MA allows you to take a variety of courses to better figure out your research interests. As a result, most MA programs are checking to see if they believe you would succeed working at a higher level. This differs from PHD programs because they're more focused on "fit".

I thought CUNY fixed that a few years ago? "Admission is extremely competitive; we admit an incoming cohort of 20 students each year. Every admitted applicant receives full funding for five years, and other fellowship funding is available."

I don't think that conferences matter much for the purposes of admissions. It won't break or make an application but I do think it helps you to get involved with the current discussions happening in Academia.

Do I know you? Our backgrounds are really similar and we both live in philly.

A fair number of programs allow some time for letter writers to submit after the deadline. Usually, letter writers can submit even after the application is submitted. Professors can be very busy people in academia and universities expect and respect that.

If you received any grants, loans or scholarships for that year, they will find out. If you hide it from them and they find out after you've been admitted, they can rescind your offer.

From my communications with Penn State: You can apply to Penn State's MA program even if you already have an external MA. This would require additional time to be spent doing coursework. However, most programs won't accept all of your coursework and there are other programs that require you to start from scratch. I think part of the reason Penn State does this is to ensure that everyone that graduates from there has had a near-equal level rigor in terms of classes and have had the same opportunities available to present, teach, and publish with a near equal amount of time. From my understanding, 90 percent of those accepted into the MA program there continue doing their PHD program. The remaining 10 percent decide that they'd like to apply elsewhere (as research interests change) or decide that a PHD program isn't for them.

I think it's important to note a few things here: For the most part, only the V is important but only to make it pass the cutoff. One is not likely to get admitted just because they have a 169V vs another person who has a 166V. Grad School admissions in the humanities does not value test scores as much as an LSAT committee would. The Grad School might have specific requirements in order to be eligible for certain fellowships. These decisions are made after the individual program decides to admit you. Generally speaking, Rhetoric and Composition programs don't value the Verbal score as much as English Literature or Philosophy programs do. Some programs such as Penn State, Illinois, Wisconsin (Madison), only admit 1-2 external candidates with an MA in hand. There were other schools like this but they have moved away from this model. On a side note, I think you mentioned an interest in Epistemology? Without knowing too much more about your interests, I'd consider looking into Berkeley's Rhetoric program, Louisiana State University, Duquesne's Rhethoric Program, UT Austin's Program in Communication Studies (One if their main areas of study are Rhetoric and Language studies) If you're considering adding Literature programs, Johns Hopkins, Buffalo, UC-Davis have faculty members interested in the subject; Princeton's Comp Lit Program also has faculty interested in it, Best of luck with your application season!

While true in the sciences and some social sciences, it isn't true in English. A lot of departments would prefer that you don't contact them unless you are admitted. Interests change and programs are aware of that. I think that question is asked to see how well informed you are of your program. If interested in X, would you list someone who's major work is in B and doesn't know anything about X? Did you list someone who was interested in X or did you only list someone because they are the most well known at that university? It's one of the few ways they can evaluate "fit" on their end.

Malaysia is not currently on the travel ban list. As such, I don't believe it will currently pose a problem for grad school applications. However, it should be worthwhile to note that there are less spots available for international students than there are for domestic students due to the higher costs of sponsoring international students. Private schools are less likely to be impacted by this than public schools.

Congratulations!

That's great. I've always wondered why websites aren't maintained better at times. I think there would be people who would apply to certain programs more if they knew that the school allowed them to.

I might be misreading this. Are you applying for an English PHD through Columbia? According to this, English doesn't participate in Columbia's JD/PHD program.

It might be worth noting that there are places that have stipends around 13k but they have a very low cost of living. Nebraska's stipend is around 16k but that goes further than 25k would in NYC.

For place studies: Nebraska and Iowa both come to mind. I also know of recent students who have had an interest in doing place studies and have graduated from MSU and Hawaii.

I'm not sure if most top 25 schools publish they want a 166V. A few schools mention that they might average a 166, but that means there are both scores above and below that score. Other schools mention it might be their median score which means even less in terms of accepted scores. I'd also encourage you to take a look beyond the top 25. Beyond US news rankings, it's important to look at how well regarded programs are in your specific subfield. Notre Dame and Alabama aren't in the top 25; but they're considered great programs if your interest lies in early modern studies. Take a look at professors within the subfield, what type of offers are being obtained by students in different subfields and what affiliations universities have with certain external organizations. You might be surprised by how many programs you might become interested in learning more about.

Please note the word, generally. It's also important to realize that the majority of MFA programs do not have a separate program for nonfiction. Most lump it with fiction and label it 'prose'. Of the programs that designate a set amount of nonfiction writers, that number is often as low as one or two. Unfortunately, creative non-fiction is seem as a sort of a step-child in Creative Writing. Comparing Chicago to Iowa is a bit unfair. A fairer comparison might be looking at Wisconsin-Madison which ranks in the top 20 for both Creative Writing and Literature PHDs. https://www.gradsch.wisc.edu/webextras/education/academicprograms/profiles/243.pdf (CW) https://www.gradsch.wisc.edu/webextras/education/academicprograms/profiles/405PHD.pdf (Lit PHD) Let's look at the past 4 years of available data for each which would cover a period that someone may do an undergraduate degree in. The English PHD program received 266, 246, 180 and 213 applications. They accepted 42, 40, 23, 37 or 42/266, 40/246, 23/180, 37/213. This is a 13-17 percent admit rate. The Creative Writing program received 596, 321, 603, and 267 applications. They accepted 9, 12, 8, 11. This is the equivalent of 1-4 percent admit rate. Minnesota: Creative Writing: https://apps.grad.umn.edu/stats/ad/1120300.shtml English: https://apps.grad.umn.edu/stats/ad/1027600.shtml The goal here isn't to dissuade you from pursuing a degree but I think it's also important for you to know why you're interested in either. Both of them are remarkably different and each offers its own set of ways of trying to make it through the top. An MFA degree does not guarantee a book deal. If Academia is the main goal, most places will want you to have at least 1, if not 2, books published. Competing for spots in lit magazines and fellowships will also help to shape your CV. A PHD degree comes with it's own set of challenges. A big name might help you land interviews, but you'll have to sell yourself through your experiences. It isn't uncommon to see universities expect a stellar publication record in addition to teaching experience.

I'm sorry but I do have to disagree here. Not all PHD programs are fully-funded. Some programs only fund 30-50 percent of their students. Some programs may not fund the first year. Others might require you to pay more mandatory fees while others may not require you to pay any fees at all.

An MFA and a PHD are two very different degrees. Speaking generally, MFA programs receive more applications than PHD programs in English do. What is your end goal?

Curiosity strikes: Did you just use 1 writing sample? Is there any case that you would recommend having an additional sample ready just in case?

This is impossible to answer since it depends on the school. Some schools will offer top offs to some students to better attract them. Some will offer different packages depending on the amount of work you do for the department per week.

Good luck @lyonessrampant. I'm sure you'll do great.

There are a lot of schools that can offer you a lot of things depending on what you're interested in. What kind of theory are you interested in? Can you stand extreme hot or cold weather? Do you prefer the city or rural areas? Would you prefer a "competitive" or "friendlier" cohort? Each university will have its own method of doing things. Its strengths in different niches would be something to pay attention to. How important is Technical writing? How important is it for the program to be interdisciplinary? In addition to those already mentioned, I'd consider looking into: Illinois (Urbana-Champaign, Writing Studies) Michigan State (WRAC) Carnegie Mellon Northwestern (Rhetoric and Civic Culture) University of California, Irvine University of New Hampshire If you're interested in technical writing: NC State Iowa State

Congrats

Withdrawing after the 15th requires permission from the school you accepted from in order to be released. " In those instances in which a student accepts an offer before April 15 and subsequently desires to withdraw that acceptance, the student may submit in writing a resignation of the appointment at any time through April 15. However, an acceptance given or left in force after April 15 commits the student not to accept another offer without first obtaining a written release from the institution to which a commitment has been made. Similarly, an offer by an institution after April 15 is conditional on presentation by the student of the written release from any previously accepted offer."