lesabendio

For what it's worth, in my MA applications, I briefly summarized my writing sample and then wrote "I would like to use this project, [insert clause about my research project], as a starting point for further research." Then I talked more specifically about why I thought my proposed research interests would be a particularly fruitful site of study. The SOP was by far the hardest part of apps for me and it helped when a professor told me to look at it as my intellectual history/biography. I think it's important in the SOP to show that your past work has prepared you to research in your field of interest and that you intend to build on this past work in interesting ways, so summarizing your writing sample and then talking about the future seems like a good way to do this. 
Also, I agree with urbanfarmer, including a line about why you want to do the MA at this stage instead of going straight to the PhD would be a good idea. In my own MA apps, I wrote that I wanted to pursue a PhD but I also wrote "I feel that the two years spent in a Master’s program would be help me further refine my research interests. I also remain open and eager to complicating my initial ideas as I take graduate courses on a wide range of topics." As far as fit goes, I found it helpful to look on program websites and see what was unique about a program. For example, one of the schools I applied to had a required PhD minor, which none of the other programs I was applying to had, so I made sure to mention that in my application and used that to show the school was a good fit for me because I was interested in interdiscplinary work. Some schools will have research clusters/centers that other schools don't, some will have archives that might be useful to you in future study. You obviously won't know a ton about what a particular research center/archive has available for your research but if you think there is even the slightest chance of it being related to your interests, I think it's worth it to find a way to bring it into your SOP because mentioning something like that shows adcomms that you've done the research and can envision yourself being a part of their intellectual community. 

Is this a personal statement (which usually asks students to discuss their life experience, diversity, etc) or a statement of purpose? Assuming it is the latter, it may be helpful to think of the SOP as a cover letter for a job. No fluff about your childhood dreams, your burning desire to study literature, or a cutesy hook. Instead, be straightforward and professional because SOPs, like cover letters, are formulaic by nature. They start with a declaration of intent that succinctly describes your research and keywords, moves into your literary training and notable accomplishments, explains why your past experience undergirds your present research interests, and aligns your future goals with the strengths of the program under question. 
The ability to write a compelling narrative account of your research program and scholarly development is an important skill you'll use again and again in grant applications, self-evaluation portfolios, and of course, on the job market. It is the "highlight reel" that, like a good cover letter, convinces the reader they want to know more about the applicant and actually spend the time to peruse the writing sample. 
Hope this helps.
(Note: there may be more flexibility in terms of MA program SOPs - this advice is geared toward PhD program admissions.) 

Most programs pay for most if not all expenses related to the visit, including the cost of transportation and hotel. My dept., for example, reimbursed me for the gas I used driving up to Northern California and put me up in a hotel near campus. From talking to the other admits, I know that my dept also comped across-country flights, too. Be aware, though, that public universities in particular may not have the funds to cover all expenses. 
I don't think you need to buy any books in advance. You're going to have enough to pay for in terms of moving expenses, campus fees (esp. if you're attending a program at a public university), and coursework texts. Besides, once you're paired up with your adviser, you'll get an idea of what texts are important to your field and in what timeframe your adviser expects you to read those texts. My advice would be to avoid trying to anticipate your program's expectations -- just wait till you're there; you'll save a lot of time and energy*. Just think: you're probably going to be there for 7+ years. You'll have plenty of time to do research. Enjoy the time between application submission and your first semester/quarter. I read a bunch of shitty sci-fi and short stories and spent a week backpacking up in the mountains before moving up north to start my program.
*I will make one book suggestion, though. Get a copy of Eric Hayot's Elements of Academic Style: Writing for the Humanities published a couple years ago. My DGS used it in our Intro to Grad Studies course, and I found it extremely useful and honest about the professional forms of writing we are expected to master as scholars. Among other things, it also covers techniques on how to develop productive work, writing, and reading habits. 

·       
A few weeks ago, I was asked to talk to first-year M.A. students about the Ph.D. application process. I prepared a list of what I figure to be key elements, and I figure it might be useful to many on GC who are preparing to go down this path as well. I'm quite certain that some of these points are purely subjective and open to discussion / debate, but having gone through the process a couple of times now, these items ring true based on my experiences and observations.

----------------

Others have surely told you about the state of the industry, so I’m just going to assume that you already know the “there are no jobs” spiel.
·        Others have also surely told you about how relatively difficult it is to get into a Ph.D. program—I have yet to hear of a program that admits over 10% of applicants.
o   Because of this, if you are committed to applying to Ph.D. programs, I strongly recommend considering applying to at least ten. Even though merit is a critical part of determining who gets in, there is a very real element of “luck of the draw” which pure numbers will help to mitigate.
·        With that in mind, NOW is a good time to get started on your program research
·        Your first consideration when entering the process should be to determine what era you would like to study, and ideally a general sense of methodologies you want to employ. These elements will be reflected in the two most important components of your application: the Statement of Purpose (or SoP), and your Writing Sample (WS).
·        Some basics:
 
o   The SoP and WS should ideally work together
o   When thinking about potential areas of study, avoid proposing transatlantic or transhistorical concepts: admissions committees are still very much set up by period, and your application should be easily sorted into a field group (i.e. you’re clearly a Romanticist, or you’re clearly a 20th century Americanist).
o   GRE scores, GPA, and other elements are important, but remember that the things you can control the most at this stage are the WS and SoP.
o   Given the importance of these two documents, you will want to get as many eyes on them as possible as soon as possible.
§  My SoP and WS were read and commented on by at least five professors and several fellow students, and ultimately went through at least six rounds of revision each—several of them top-to-bottom revisions.
·        There are multiple factors to consider when looking at programs. Some of the most important include:
 
o   Are there multiple professors actively working in your chosen field
§  By “active” I mean that you should be able to find publication credits from within the past five years—they need to be in touch with current scholarship.
o   What level of financial support do they offer—not just the annual funding, but whether they fund in summer, and how many years of funding are guaranteed
o   What courses have they offered in the past? What courses are they offering in the fall?
o   What is the teaching load like, and how do they prepare you for that load?
o   So-called rankings matter to a certain extent, but remember that those rankings are almost completely arbitrary. USNews rankings are helpful as a list of all programs offering Ph.D.s in English…and a very, very general sense of the strong programs vs. the less strong. But FIT with your interests trumps all.
§  (E.g. the Strode program at U of A is highly regarded, even though U of A itself is somewhat less so)
o   Location and cost of living. A 20k stipend will get you a lot further in Lincoln, Nebraska than in New York. And elements like small town vs. large city, cold vs. warm climate etc. are all perfectly valid factors when looking at programs. You’ll have to live in this place for 4-6 years, after all!
·        A few quick and random tips:
 
o   It can be helpful to contact professors ahead of time to determine research fit etc., but it can also be quite valuable to contact current grad students to get a sense of the program and the environment.
o   Remember that an important part of professionalization in a Ph.D. program is publication. More than anything, this means that before you go down the road toward application, give some serious thought to whether or not your writing and research inclinations have that kind of potential. And whether or not that’s something you really want to deal with at all.
o  Also remember that teaching is a huge part of your job, and always will be. If you don’t enjoy teaching (or the prospect of teaching), you’d better really love the other components of your position, because there’s not going to be any getting away from it for many, many years.
o   It might go without saying, but be very courteous in all of your communications with professors and other graduate students. And that courtesy should be sincere!
o   Consider the total cost of applications: application fees average about $75, sending GRE scores is $27 (more if you need the subject test), and if you have multiple transcripts, that can tack on another $10. In other words, each application will likely be upward of $100. Given that I recommend applying to at least ten programs, you’re looking at a commitment of over $1000. There ARE fee waivers you can find, however.
o   Forums like GradCafe are a good way to socialize with fellow applicants, and commiserate with people in the same situation. Just remember to take all advice you see on those forums with a grain of salt.
o   Finally, there are NO SAFETY SCHOOLS. Just to reiterate, rankings are arbitrary, and almost every program gets ten times as many applicants as they can admit (let alone fund). As a result, you want to look at the best overall fit for you.
 
 

I'd be happy to participate in a forum on the job market, though I think it would probably be more useful to split at least into STEM , social sciences, and humanities like suggested above. Thanks again, all! I'm happily Dr. Lyonessrampant now

Is literature confined to written text? There's also an argument for a more capacious definition of "literature" as such that might include, for example, the vibrant world of ASL literature. The inclusion of ASL literature raises fascinating and urgent questions about epistemological categories, performance and embodiment, technology and translation -- debates that continue to enrich literary and cultural studies, in my opinion. 

I accepted my offer from UC Davis yesterday! I'm so excited and relieved. Much of the decision had to do with the area itself (better for me and my partner, easier for him to find a job) and funding (I found out recently that I actually have six years of funding there, which I didn't get anywhere else). Now onto the practicalities!

I accepted my offer at Davis yesterday and sent out emails declining all of my other fully funded offers, so there should be some movement (hopefully) at Riverside, Madison, UGA, Iowa, and Santa Barbara. I also pulled my name off the waitlist at GWU (I was "very high" on it, apparently, whatever that means), so for what that's worth. I hope someone here gets one of these spots!

For anyone on the UC Davis waitlist, I'm going to be turning down a fully funded offer from them in the next couple days (I'm a 20th century Americanist by the way). It's such a great program and I'd love to stay but I did my undergrad here and after visiting Madison, I'm really thinking that it's beneficial for me to branch out and go elsewhere. Best of luck to anyone on the waitlist! 

Where's the ambivalence and confusion? When you boil it all down, it's a case of them letting you know when they're ready to let you know. It really is as simple as that.

Ph.D. programs are making around a $100,000 investment (on average) in their acceptances...and I'm not even considering waived tuition and travel stipends in that approximation. You can rest assured that they have to be well-considered decisions from an institutional standpoint, and that simply has to be their first consideration...especially in a day and age where funding for our very field is rapidly dwindling.

If this were a situation where you have no idea if they will ever let you know about acceptance / waitlist / rejection, that would be one thing...but that's simply not the case. You know that they HAVE to inform you by April 15th (with a few minor exceptions), so that is the frame that you're yearning for, and it already exists. In other words, it really does come down to being patient and respecting the process.

I'm not going to say any more on this topic, as I'm frankly a little annoyed that this isn't just common sense. I recognize that emotions are running high right now, but be that as it may, I don't like this implication that programs need to kowtow and be utterly transparent about every facet of their process to their applicants. It's way too much to expect, and simply doesn't factor in the sheer enormity of the job admissions personnel have to do.

Argh. I don't want to sound like a surly old man, but here's the thing...

It's perfectly fine for you (us) as Ph.D. program hopefuls to be antsy about admission timelines. It's to be expected, really -- it's one of the biggest moments of our lives, and that's not hyperbole. BUT, you should also keep in mind that these admissions committees are often dealing with upward of 300 applications...and almost all of those applicants are in the same boat as you: worrying, antsy, emotional, on edge, and unsure of when they'll hear back. Admissions committees have an unenviable task, and while it's largely a mystery to us as to how they make their decisions (and it almost certainly varies by program), I just think that we have to respect that they do it the way they do it for a reason. Professors are usually busy at the best of times, and I can only imagine how hectic it is during this time of year when they're sitting on an adcom. Likewise, a DGS (and his/her staff) has to juggle all of these acceptances, rejections, and waitlists for a couple of months. 

All of this is to say that I completely understand the desire to know all of your options as soon as possible...but sometimes I worry that that desire starts to merge into an expectation that you are owed an answer right away. I simply think that you have to respect the process, and understand that adcoms have their reasons for doing the things they do the way they do them. They have to do their job...and it's a very hard job to do. Calls and emails from panicky applicants isn't going to speed up the process or change anything.

I hope this doesn't come across as a rant. I don't mean it as a rant. I just want you to remember that, as difficult as the waiting process is for us, it's also difficult on the adcom side of things. Just try your best to be patient. 



ETA: Cross-posted with AnxiousGrad

Congratulations, @Wyatt's Terps! Well deserved. You've been a supportive presence here and have helped many people -- including myself -- get through the emotional and logistical hurtles involved in the application process. I'm positive that more acceptances will continue to roll in for you during the next few weeks! 

Congratulations, @Wyatt's Terps! Well deserved. You've been a supportive presence here and have helped many people -- including myself -- get through the emotional and logistical hurtles involved in the application process. I'm positive that more acceptances will continue to roll in for you during the next few weeks! 

I just checked OSU's website.


I GOT IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"Congratulations - you have been offered admission! Use the link on the main page of the Applicant Center to accept or decline. Please click the Application Requirements tab above to see what items, if any, are still needed. Items with a status of 'Incomplete' are still required, 'Received' are currently being processed, and 'Completed' have fulfilled the requirement."

I can't believe it. Utter shock and joy right now.

I keep worrying that I'm going to refresh and it's going to go away...

 

Eh, you have to cull those numbers significantly for the applicants who are underqualified or just plain loopy, which, at 700 applicants, is probably 2/3 of that pool. The number of serious and actually admissible applicants is in comparison most likely very small.

Okay, so...

43. Order and read Elements of Academic Style: Writing for the Humanities.


This should arrive on my doorstep on Saturday. Thanks, Amazon! And thanks for your recommendations, @lesabendio and @Ramus! I've got three books on my nightstand that I keep pretending I'm going to read during the break, but this one I actually will.

Most programs pay for most if not all expenses related to the visit, including the cost of transportation and hotel. My dept., for example, reimbursed me for the gas I used driving up to Northern California and put me up in a hotel near campus. From talking to the other admits, I know that my dept also comped across-country flights, too. Be aware, though, that public universities in particular may not have the funds to cover all expenses. 
I don't think you need to buy any books in advance. You're going to have enough to pay for in terms of moving expenses, campus fees (esp. if you're attending a program at a public university), and coursework texts. Besides, once you're paired up with your adviser, you'll get an idea of what texts are important to your field and in what timeframe your adviser expects you to read those texts. My advice would be to avoid trying to anticipate your program's expectations -- just wait till you're there; you'll save a lot of time and energy*. Just think: you're probably going to be there for 7+ years. You'll have plenty of time to do research. Enjoy the time between application submission and your first semester/quarter. I read a bunch of shitty sci-fi and short stories and spent a week backpacking up in the mountains before moving up north to start my program.
*I will make one book suggestion, though. Get a copy of Eric Hayot's Elements of Academic Style: Writing for the Humanities published a couple years ago. My DGS used it in our Intro to Grad Studies course, and I found it extremely useful and honest about the professional forms of writing we are expected to master as scholars. Among other things, it also covers techniques on how to develop productive work, writing, and reading habits. 

I'll second the recommendation for Hayot's book. It should be required reading for everyone entering a doctoral program in the humanities. In addition to doing the things @lesabendio mentions, it explains the structure of article-length essays, which a lot of early graduate students struggle with. And in general, it does a good job of answering your questions about the formal features of academic prose directly, without the hazy bullshit ("your article's introduction should be as long as you think it needs to be") you may get from some of your professors. 

Most programs pay for most if not all expenses related to the visit, including the cost of transportation and hotel. My dept., for example, reimbursed me for the gas I used driving up to Northern California and put me up in a hotel near campus. From talking to the other admits, I know that my dept also comped across-country flights, too. Be aware, though, that public universities in particular may not have the funds to cover all expenses. 
I don't think you need to buy any books in advance. You're going to have enough to pay for in terms of moving expenses, campus fees (esp. if you're attending a program at a public university), and coursework texts. Besides, once you're paired up with your adviser, you'll get an idea of what texts are important to your field and in what timeframe your adviser expects you to read those texts. My advice would be to avoid trying to anticipate your program's expectations -- just wait till you're there; you'll save a lot of time and energy*. Just think: you're probably going to be there for 7+ years. You'll have plenty of time to do research. Enjoy the time between application submission and your first semester/quarter. I read a bunch of shitty sci-fi and short stories and spent a week backpacking up in the mountains before moving up north to start my program.
*I will make one book suggestion, though. Get a copy of Eric Hayot's Elements of Academic Style: Writing for the Humanities published a couple years ago. My DGS used it in our Intro to Grad Studies course, and I found it extremely useful and honest about the professional forms of writing we are expected to master as scholars. Among other things, it also covers techniques on how to develop productive work, writing, and reading habits. 

Most programs pay for most if not all expenses related to the visit, including the cost of transportation and hotel. My dept., for example, reimbursed me for the gas I used driving up to Northern California and put me up in a hotel near campus. From talking to the other admits, I know that my dept also comped across-country flights, too. Be aware, though, that public universities in particular may not have the funds to cover all expenses. 
I don't think you need to buy any books in advance. You're going to have enough to pay for in terms of moving expenses, campus fees (esp. if you're attending a program at a public university), and coursework texts. Besides, once you're paired up with your adviser, you'll get an idea of what texts are important to your field and in what timeframe your adviser expects you to read those texts. My advice would be to avoid trying to anticipate your program's expectations -- just wait till you're there; you'll save a lot of time and energy*. Just think: you're probably going to be there for 7+ years. You'll have plenty of time to do research. Enjoy the time between application submission and your first semester/quarter. I read a bunch of shitty sci-fi and short stories and spent a week backpacking up in the mountains before moving up north to start my program.
*I will make one book suggestion, though. Get a copy of Eric Hayot's Elements of Academic Style: Writing for the Humanities published a couple years ago. My DGS used it in our Intro to Grad Studies course, and I found it extremely useful and honest about the professional forms of writing we are expected to master as scholars. Among other things, it also covers techniques on how to develop productive work, writing, and reading habits. 

I don't want to be a downer or insulting, but if you get accepted into CUNY, I would highly recommend visiting (if you are able) before you accept. They have an extremely unusual setup, and they are in a space that is really hard to find housing near especially for poor grad students. They told me that student housing is available, but they also said to me, "you won't get in the housing, because of the long wait list, so figure something out." I don't want to discourage anyone or tell anyone that the school is bad, but my visit was enough to make me scrap my application. So, if you like the program and the facilities, good! Just make sure you look into it.

That's something you should probably ask your prof about. However, I don't think that "prior scholarship" necessarily means "scholarship about this particular text." Obviously if you're the first person writing about this novel, then there won't be any formal peer reviewed articles out there. But I assume there would be scholarship on the author more generally, or scholarship about this particular topic. Like, say you're thinking about examining a recent novel that concerns the Middle East. I assume you'd look at the scholarship surrounding similar recent novels and give some background about the direction this scholarship has taken. 

Why not edit your SOP to align more closely with the topic of your longer paper? At this stage, I'd definitely go with the stronger paper and put your efforts into making your SOP fit the strengths of your writing sample. Even though the longer paper may not perfectly illustrate the research interests you set forth in your SOP, it'll still probably increase your chances of getting into a good PhD program better than the paper that needs significant revision. Keep in mind that your ultimate goal is to put together an application that best shows you've got the skills for doctoral work. That might mean deviating a little from the research interests that you really want to pursue for the sake of strengthening your application. 

Why not edit your SOP to align more closely with the topic of your longer paper? At this stage, I'd definitely go with the stronger paper and put your efforts into making your SOP fit the strengths of your writing sample. Even though the longer paper may not perfectly illustrate the research interests you set forth in your SOP, it'll still probably increase your chances of getting into a good PhD program better than the paper that needs significant revision. Keep in mind that your ultimate goal is to put together an application that best shows you've got the skills for doctoral work. That might mean deviating a little from the research interests that you really want to pursue for the sake of strengthening your application. 

Why not edit your SOP to align more closely with the topic of your longer paper? At this stage, I'd definitely go with the stronger paper and put your efforts into making your SOP fit the strengths of your writing sample. Even though the longer paper may not perfectly illustrate the research interests you set forth in your SOP, it'll still probably increase your chances of getting into a good PhD program better than the paper that needs significant revision. Keep in mind that your ultimate goal is to put together an application that best shows you've got the skills for doctoral work. That might mean deviating a little from the research interests that you really want to pursue for the sake of strengthening your application.