rosali

Partly because I want to be a professor, and I need a PhD for that, and partly because I just can't imagine doing anything else. I absolutely threw myself into my senior thesis as an undergrad, and it was intense, and difficult, and frustrating, and I loved every second of it. My thesis was on translation, but now I'm hoping to focus on the creation of identity in immigrant/minority language novels, and how multilingualism and translation impact the development of identity on individual and community levels. Hopefully, this will be applicable to the real world, and I'll gain a better understanding of how to foster working multilingual/multicultural communities in the United States. Also, most programs require you to learn a bunch of languages, and I'm 100% into that.

@raaawr That's a good idea! And maybe you'll feel better about Skype interviews, since you get to do it at home/somewhere you feel comfortable.

I'm only 23, so I'm not necessarily looking to settle down, but it'd be nice if my boyfriend didn't have to relocate so I can get my PhD. We're doing the long distance thing for this year, and it's not awesome, so I applied to places mainly on the East Coast of the US where I knew he'd be able to find a job. It happens that those places also have kickass PhD programs in comparative lit haha.

@queerpsych2013 It's so nerve-wracking! AH! But, also, one of my best friends is also applying for Student Affairs, and she only applied to 2 schools, so you're definitely not alone in applying to a lower number of schools! Good luck!

@raaawr Any time! I've done a lot of theater stuff, so I'm pretty used to pretending not to be nervous when actually I'm shaking all over haha. I feel you on the mind racing and being unable to think of basic words thing, though...I'm teaching English abroad, and if I'm stressed or flustered I'll forget the word for really basic things in Spanish/Catalan, or mix up a bunch of different languages, and nobody understands, and that makes me more stressed, and then I get so flustered, I forget how to say everything ever in all the languages. It gets embarrassing sometimes haha.

I only applied to 4, but on the thread someone made specifically for applicants to comparative literature, it seems like everyone applied to 7+ programs, which is freaking me outtttt! Also, this is some advice that one of my undergrad profs gave me that literally changed my life (at least in terms of interviews): assume that the interviewers want you to do well--you wouldn't be there if there wasn't something they liked about your application in the first place. You're there because they WANT you to be there! They WANT you to fit in their program! Just (clichéd as it might sound) be yourself, and let your all your dorky passion and enthusiasm for your field of study out! (I actually kind of wish I had an interview for mine, because I don't feel like my enthusiasm for my areas of study really came across as strongly as it should have in my SoP). Good luck!!

Well I feel better knowing that! Thank you! I mean, this isn't going to keep me from checking my email a gazillion times a day, but now that the weekend's over I'm back to being crazy busy, so I at least have less time to obsess! Best of luck to you, too!

Also applying to comp lit programs...the wait is killing me. I'm already obsessively checking my email, even though I'm not supposed to find out until February at the VERY earliest. A couple questions that have been on my mind: did the programs you guys applied to have interviews? I'm pretty sure none of mine did, but I keep seeing people (mostly from other programs) posting about interviews, and it's freaking me out a bit. Also, does anyone have any idea how many common it is to be notified by phone? I had to give my mom's phone number on my applications, since I'm out of the country and American phones apparently have a really hard time calling Andorran ones. I'm worried they're going to call her and she'll miss it or something.