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!

In off the waitlist at Duke Lit.

meek's cutoff

steep grade

I went through a very, very long process. Something like two years of deliberating (I'm a few years removed from undergrad, have not done an MA, and was living abroad in a isolated place with some time to kill). PRELIMS: I started out just going through the website of every English/Comp Lit PhD program I found, which ended up being just about every major program in the country and a few abroad. I was just doing a quick read of the mission statementy stuff on the home pages and then a glance at specialties and courses to gauge if I would kind of fit. I also looked quickly to see if there was a Slavics department/program at the school so I'd have language support. That took a long time. I kept two bookmarks folders: pass and maybe. The passes I tried to never look at again (just for the sake of my own sanity). The maybe folder ended up with something like thirty schools. RECONSIDERING MAs: Around that time, I also started thinking about an MA in regional studies. So I repeated the process. Fortunately, there are only 15-20 programs that do Russian/East European regional studies. So that didn't take too long but it added, I think, six or seven more schools. LOL@SUBJECT TEST: Then, for English programs, I cut all of them that required the subject GRE. Because fuck that, right? That narrowed the field by about 60-70%, I think. LOCATION: Then I looked quickly at location, having decided that, no matter how ridiculous the funding offer might be, there was no way I was going to live any further south than North Carolina. I don't do well in humid heat and/or intense sun. And I figured if I could decrease the number of "heritage not hate" bumper stickers in my vicinity even slightly, that'd be a plus. These criteria took out a few schools (though Comp Lit program in Georgia still made the cut, for reasons I can't remember). SPREADSHEET BONANZA: That's when I started my spreadsheet with due dates, locations, requirements for the writing sample and statement(s), the GRE codes, all that. Also a column that had my status (n/a, applied, accepted/denied/waitlisted) and a funding column with two categories "always" and "sometimes," meaning how frequently grad students were admitted with full-funding. I didn't apply to any programs where full tuition coverage and a good stipend wasn't a possibility. FINE GRAIN SANDPAPER: Then I really got into the minutiae of faculty that were kind of interested in similar things (there's almost nobody that matches very well to what I want to do outside of Slavics programs, and I'm not ready for that, so I wasn't looking for exact matches, just ballpark overlap). Then I looked at current grad students' interests (if they were listed on the website). I looked at available courses again. I looked at recent dissertation titles and abstracts (if I could find them) and the types of books being published by the faculty. I added a second sheet to my .xls file that named profs of interest and specific programs (a certificate in Marxist theory, or whatever) and all the little things like special library holdings that might add up to something better. I also added a column that gauged my spouse's interest in moving there with cursory reactions like "that's close to family!" or "...if you have to." IN THE END: I completely eliminated all English programs. A number of Comp Lit programs also bit the dust but most of my MA programs in regional studies stuck. I finished with 4 Comp Lit PhD programs (all rejections), a PhD program in Rhetoric (rejection), a PhD program in Literature (1st on the waitlist), 6 regional studies MA programs (5 acceptances, 1 unknown), and a liberal studies MA program (acceptance). $$$$: Another factor that almost led me to apply to some other schools was the availability of application fee waivers, which are available for all sorts of people (you can usually find the info just by googling "superawesomeschoolnamehere grad application fee waiver"). As a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, I got fee waivers at UMich, Berkeley, IU-Bloomington, Columbia, Penn, and Emory and there are plenty more available. That saved me $520. I hope this helps someone applying next year; good luck!

i hop

I declined at OSU since I was rejected for FLAS funding. Good luck with your decision!

I haven't heard anything either. Let's both assume that's because NOBODY has heard anything. Congratulations on receiving a FLAS! That's huge! From what I've heard, the SLI program is at least as good as SWSEEL (i.e. awesome) and if you're planning to go abroad with SLI I'd say it's even stronger. I know that's not terribly helpful given my lack of personal experience or, you know, facts. Still, I would say the FLAS is something you should take very seriously -- it's definitely not a given that SWSEEL will follow suit and fund you as well (IU may have loads of their own students they need to fund, for instance). My humble advice is to take the money and run (...to Pittsburgh). Good luck!

Did they already announce awards? I don't see any results posted.

burning sensation

bunny hop