Enzian

hi femme -- i'm a second year in duke lit. feel free to PM me with questions if you're still considering it. :-)

You're welcome! A bit more: half of last year's cohort got in off the waitlist and many students in years past did as well. So there's definitely a precedent. Good luck, everyone! (I'd also be happy to answer questions about the program -- PM if you like. And definitely send me a message if you get an offer and intend to accept!)

Congratulations on your interview invitations everybody! You all might want to peruse the Duke thread from last year if you haven't already: The Duke Lit relevant stuff is mixed in -- interview stuff starts around page 9/10ish and should demystify some things or relieve some anxiety or maybe send you hurtling into a pit of smelly, viscous despair. It probably won't be that latter. I can tell you that last year there were in-person interviews during a prospectives weekend and skype interviews for those who couldn't make it (all international applicants, I think). Both in-person and skype interviews were with the entire admissions committee (7 people last year). The in-person interviews were done in two settings in one day (with half the group each time) and I believe the skype interviews were with everybody all at once. I have no idea how much of that has changed for this year. And for some generic (and unsolicited) advice: look at the interview as being as much for you as it is for the adcomm (maybe more). I know it can seem daunting, intimidating, and a little ridiculous when no other program asks this of you after an already-stressful application season but it's actually to your advantage since it gives you a clearer idea of some of the people and personalities in the program and what they're working on, what they're interested in you bringing to the table, and where you might eventually go together. I think for most of us last year it was really helpful in determining whether Duke Lit was or was not the right place for us. So "this is your chance to find out," I guess is the theme of my pep talk. Maybe take it as more of a productive discussion than an interview. And prepare a few questions to ask! That way you have something to fall back on should your mind go blank AND you won't feel like you're being interrogated. Or, less so. Good luck everyone!

I've been a casual reader of these boards for about two years and it seems to me that just about everyone hates their WS (at least at some point, if not always), everyone dreads the SOP, no one knows exactly how to write it, and there's a high level of anxiety common to everyone. This doesn't minimize the anxiety that you or anyone else is actually feeling, of course, but hopefully there's some solace in knowing that this is part of the process, for better or for worse, and you're on course. This is to be expected when you know you're opening yourself up for judgment and potentially rejection of (what feels to you like) a very personal nature. What's also been made clear to me is that "requirements" are pretty subjective, "expectations" differ even among members of the same admissions committee, and what works for one applicant at one school one year will inevitably fail someone else somewhere else at some other time. Just represent yourself to the best of your ability under the time (financial/personal, etc.) constraints given -- that's really all anyone can do -- and hope for the best. Your instinct that the purpose of this application is to present your potential as a growing thinker is, in my opinion, right on the mark. Do that. Anecdotally, my phd program offer definitely did not come as a result of my WS being of "publishable" quality and that expectation reads to me like someone either trying to intimidate you or (misguidedly) motivate you to produce your best work. And if there are programs out there that expect to receive "publishable" (whatever that means to them) writing samples from applicants, do you really want to be a part of them? How would you negotiate the stress of actually progressing through such a program?

Just stopping in to second this great advice. Good luck, Two Espressos!

I used Interfolio at the recommendation of one of my LOR writers. I think the process, overall, was easier for them because of it and they seemed grateful. I applied to more than 10 programs (it's funny/suspicious how quickly I forgot the details of this process...13 maybe?) half in one field (-ish) half in another so my writers theoretically only had to draft two letters, upload twice, and that was it. Theoretically. Some programs want the LOR writers to fill out a little form along with their letter and one program just outright refused to accept letters from Interfolio (Ohio State, if I remember right). So the process became more complicated than I initially imagined but I do still think it was less of a hassle for them in the end, especially because then I just had those letters and could resend them if a program lost (?) them or whatever. The schools that accepted letters from Interfolio with little to no extra finagling of the system outnumbered those that didn't. It occurs to me as I'm writing this that I could have used them to apply to dozens more programs with a sort of generic application if only I'd had the $$$. Think of all the potential rejection letters I could have framed! #missedopportunities

I just got back from SWSEEL and would like to clarify this great recommendation. SWSEEL offers a ton of languages though some of them (and some levels of certain languages) depend on enrollment. The teachers for SWSEEL come from all different kinds of backgrounds and, as you can imagine, use quite different methods. SWSEEL's goal is one year of language study over the 8 (or 9, for some Russian and Arabic classes) week summer course though some classes will be able to cover more material than that depending on the actual individuals in the class and their student-teacher dynamics, etc. My class happened to be eight very dedicated students, many with prior experience with related languages, and a fantastic teacher so we did actually make it through about two years of language study but this is definitely not the norm or at least should not be expected. My roommate - studying a very similar language - was lucky to have gotten through one year in his class. But, yeah, IU is a nice place.

Oh, right. There's that little Ridley Scott film, too.

Adaptation with Chris Cooper, Meryl Streep, and two Nicolas Cages (which, I know, seems like potentially three or four too many) is a blast. Not sure if The Orchid Thief is what you're looking for when you say "literature" but it's really only a point of departure for the film (which is self-consciously hyper-literary) anyway.

This thread is the best. Good vibes everywhere. I came back because I forgot the details requested by Galoup in the first post: School: Duke Department/Program: Literature Program Type: PhD Major interest: can just be "post-socialist lit" I suppose Congratulations, everyone!

texas ranger

Thanks, Fiona! Good luck to you!

Just dropping in to say I'll be at Duke Literature next year. I'm so happy to be in this thread.

west egg

Thanks! I feel a lot like this: I kind of wish my acceptance at Duke released spots for everyone but it's my only offer in the CompLit/English field. I might draft fake emails to those programs that rejected me declining their "offers" anyway. Congratulations to those others who've been pulled off waitlists and good luck to all those still waiting. There's still time!