jungThug

In your SOP you need to show how your research interests are still relevant to the current conversations on Shakespeare. Look at the recent issues of prominent journals on Shakespeare and Early Modern Studies. Are they still citing Derrida and other post structuralists? If so, then how are they using these theories? What kind of critical intervention do you want to make in this line of scholarly inquiry? Are you citing the work on Shakespeare and Early Modern Studies that has been published in the past 2-3 years? In your writing sample and in your SOP you need to show that you are aware of the current state of the conversations on these issues, and you also need to show how you might contribute to this conversation. I don't mean to sound rude, but in many circles Derrida and post structuralism are considered passe. People have been there and done that. You need to show a deep engagement with what is happening now. Not what was hot in 80s and 90s. Which books on Shakespeare and EM Studies have won awards recently? Cite those books, be critical with those books. As you build your list of places to apply, identify scholars at those schools and cite their recent books, use their ideas and arguments in a meaningful way.

Anybody know what Mod Thought's placement record is like in recent years????

Northeastern is a great school for rhet comp!! @JeremyWrites I have a friend there who is in his final year and he loves Boston as well as his advisor

Hey there!! I'm also an international applicant. Currently finishing my MA and preparing for PhD applications. I don't have any definite answers for you, but many universities in the States require 4 years of college before you can get accepted to a PhD . This requirement is often imposed by the university's graduate school and it puts people from Commonwealth unis at a disadvantage because we get our degrees in 3 years. One way that I've seen people overcome this requirement is to get an MA from your home country which puts you above that 4 year threshold. Furthermore, you are more likely to be accepted with an MA because you can get credits for some classes and get rid of 1 years worth of coursework, which puts you in a better position to complete your degree in a timely fashion. Best of luck for this application season! I also applied to a bunch of places last year and got roundly rejected from all places. Got a couple consolation MA admits but no money so I couldn't go.

I hope you're right! On the other hand, academics move in networks (atleast those in R1 universities) and if you can leverage those networks, certain doors have been known to open themselves more readily. Its a jungle out there and as much as I would like to believe in the supposed meritocracy espoused by higher ed, there's a lot to be said for how incredibly opaque the grad admissions process actually is.

I'm trying to narrow down my recommenders for this season's applications and I got thinking about other applicants with more famous or reputable recommenders. For example, there might be an applicant from Harvard whose crappier writing sample might look like gold coz its got a Stephen Greenblat endorsement ("You can't see it now, but trust this guy knows whats up! He'll make historicism new again!"). The opposite could be true of an applicant from Cardinal Direction State U whose awesome writing sample might be undermined coz nobody knows the recommenders. Am I over thinking this? I kinda hope that I'm over thinking this. But at the same time, I know for a fact that prestige matters in academe. That's one reason why the folks from Berkeley, UVA, University of Pennsylvania, etc. get the TT appointments and post-docs. Thoughts?

Unfortunately, I only have the money to apply to 8 schools (maybe 10, if I can save enough by then). And honestly the departments where I perceive myself to have the best "fit" are UC Berkeley, LA, and Irvine. I wanted to apply to more UC schools to be closer to my significant other, who is going to be working in Cali for the foreseeable future. I'm definitely applying to Stanford as well, and maybe USC's American Studies program. Aside from these two, are there any other private schools in Cali that I've overlooked? Thanks for all the suggestions and feedback! I wish I had discovered this forum when I was applying to MA programs.

Thanks for the replies folks! I think I might apply to just a couple UC schools, as opposed to most of them, and I'll add more private schools in my list as well.

Hello all, I'm an international student hoping to apply to a bunch of UC schools for their English PhD program. My speciality would be in race and capitalism in 20th century / contemporary lit. However, I've heard conflicting rumors about the kinds of funding offered by these schools to international students. Some people say that they don't give international students any funding, unless you are doing STEM, others say that sometimes the richer UC's (i.e. Berkeley, LA, and Irvine) give funding to international students. I've also heard that the biggest reason why international students don't get money is because they can't apply for California residency, which increases costs tremendously for the department. Does anybody in this forum know if there are any funded international students getting an English PhD in any UC school? I don't want their names, I would just like to know if they exist and (if possible) which UC they're in, which would give me some reassurance that international students can get funded. Have any of y'all heard versions of these rumors that international students aren't given money from the University of California?