eyeshadow

@Silabus that is so very sweet and kind of you <3 Thank you! I actually did get a response tho. I'm on a waitlist If the same email came to me like a month ago, I might have been more excited to hear that I am on a waitlist. But after all the weeks of waiting desperately, I'm not sure what to feel about it now. I do have an acceptance from another school so I guess I'll figure things out. Fingers crossed for @LurkyLurker !

I haven't heard from Brandeis.. i've seen many rejections on the results board last week + two acceptances (via Phone). I'm an international so I'm guessing I won't be receiving phone calls, but should I be guessing that I'm somehow rejected but not notified yet? I am tired of waiting and seriously want to move on from all of this. Anyone in a similar situation?

@DaisyMiller If you are applying for MA, the results would probably come out in March. The past results from the result board indicate this: same with Columbia, if the program you are applying for is MA. It could even go as late as April. PhD results for NYU have been announced around last week. Good luck!

YEEEESSS Duke English was a huge surprise when the email arrived at around 5ish in the morning in my local time. I woke up in the middle of the night because of my email alarm (and also happened to be drunk at the time) but the result was a rejection and it hurt sooooooo much. I'm desperately hoping for any good news that will make me forget about my first experience with Duke.....

this is great! thank you

@Caien I got similar one too, from Columbia, applying for the English dpt. I also got similar email from the University of Chicago. I reckoned it's just an automatic email so I ignored it.

My impression is that he hasn't forgotten, he will hopefully submit it on time for you--it just seems like one of the inertias that professors have, doing whatever that is not on the top of their list in the last minute. This is obviously a very annoying situation for all of us grad students. I also reminded one of my professors today the deadline for LOR (one of the deadlines is day after tomorrow for me as well and he had not submitted yet) and he was really pissed off about it, rolling his eyes and going "I know. It's not like I forgot." I was kind of taken aback by this since I did talk to him in a friendly tone, and regretted mentioning it for a while, but now I'm thinking whatever. I mean, he isn't going to be responsible for all the time + money I spent and most importantly, my future. Although possibility exists that some schools may wait for late LORs, it is indeed case-by-case, as some others may shut down everything after the deadline. So my advice for you is just go for it, call him and do everything to make sure he doesn't miss it. I'd rather just have an uncomfortable moment of confrontation than spend few days waiting in anxiety + have my future plans possibly torn apart.

I think it varies from program to program, really. Some programs integrate digital stuff nowadays, as you've mentioned. UCSB has separate Film and Media Ph.D. track, but their emphasis is quite central to criticism and literary stuff than technical/ practical skills. If you're really into practical learnings, then you could check out media/communications departments in some schools that offer field experiences--but they may require previous backgrounds from the field, or an MFA to the least. You could check out for programs like Yale where English and Film studies coordinate pretty well. What I would simply do is just list out programs to programs and make applications rather flexibly. Every program has different focus, even if they are labelled the same. I don't think you need to be concerned about switching, since that itself is a big decision!

@BlackRosePhD I haven't contacted any departments on the matter actually. But I've been reading some of the feeds here quite thoroughly, ones that were written like 3-4 years ago even, as I'm also applying this year. I don't think any school would explicitly tell their applicants that they don't care about the score, or that they screen their applicants first based on the score. My impression, however, is that if schools do specifically mention their average subject scores (USC, just to name one that comes across my mind right now), or indicate that they look at high scores of subject in applicants (Princeton) then I think scores do matter. Another thing I do is just to check out the program's requirements and handbooks, and to see if that school has requirements like, say, you have to take one course from all Medieval to Contemporary throughout your degree. Since subject does give you the chance to look at English lit from the beginning to end, I think those schools value the goal and want to see how ready the applicants are.

I think it really depends on the school. Some schools may just require it for the sake of requiring it, but probably the top schools that still want it (considering that many top programs are veering towards not accepting it or not requiring it) could be using the score as an important element in the scanning process. If you are really certain that there is a strong fit between you and the program, then why don't you just go for it?

I think it's fine too. Maybe tone down a little bit by taking off '!' marks. Just a suggestion.

@rising_starReally?? do you think it's a bad idea? I wouldn't be writing a lot about it, but just in the opening paragraph to present my interest and make myself interesting. The thing is I want to pursue a kind of humanities research that incorporates social science themes such as political theory and war, international law, etc. I thought it could be a good idea to highlight some of the experiences that mattered to me to take this approach, as I did some diplomatic activities and whatnot. Thanks for the advice. I'm contemplating how to frame my SOP at the moment!

Thanks everyone!! your replies are all so helpful ! I guess I'll stick with my MA faculties. I also realised that a part of my SOP addresses why I didn't feel satisfied at social science department, and I'm afraid that my BA professor might find it...offensive? haha. Im so nervous about everything since this is my first time applying. I'm sure everyone feels the same way but anyway... thanks.

Hi, I am going to apply for phD programs this fall, and I've been wondering how common it is to get a recommendation from professors of other discipline. I am currently in a MA program in English department, but in undergrad my major has been a social science discipline (politics to be more precise). I will ask two LORs from professors of my current department, but Im thinking maybe the third one can come from a politics professor who knows a lot about my academic passion and drive. My only worry is that while this could be a good opportunity for me to stand out (as my SOP also talks about my strength and interest in interdisciplinary approach), it could make me seem detached from English lit. People are just telling me it could be a risk and perhaps radical. Any advice?