theburiedgirl815

I'm feeling this right now. I haven't heard anything from any of my programs and I'm getting more anxious by the day. I'm letting go of Emory because I wasn't contacted for an interview, so that's an implied rejection. I know NYU has been delayed with notifications, but I've seen a couple of acceptances popping up in results so I'm assuming the rejections and waitlist notifs are going to come early next week. Not much from Brown yet (at least on GC) but I will be absolutely shocked if I manage to get waitlisted because that program was a bit of a stretch for me. I have my fingers crossed for the NYU waitlist at this point. I just want to hear any news, honestly. I'M DYING HERE.

I used a basic prep book from McGraw-Hill (I believe) and it helped for a refresher on the Q concepts I hadn't seen since high school. The verbal review was also pretty good. I wish I could remember the specific title. For me personally, I was ill-prepared in the sense that I procrastinated A LOT and only had about a month of solid studying, where I took about a few hours out of my day to study and practice. All of the advice already offered here is great. I would second advice about treating it like a job, specifically devoting time in your schedule to sit and concentrate on prep. If you are able to, start off by taking a practice test or answering practice questions to see where you stand before even beginning. That way you can pinpoint what needs work and what only needs minimal practice. Math has always been my weakest subject, and mathematical logic has always been difficult for me to grasp, especially in using it to work through the Q sections on the exam, so I focused the bulk of my review on Q questions and only did basic prep for the verbal and writing. I would also add that the free software (Power Prep II) offered through ETS when you register for the exam is excellent. It gives you two full-length practice exams, including writing. I took the first a week or so before my exam after I had already been prepping, noted my scores, then took the second a few days before the actual exam. The practice exams are timed and let you get used to the actual format of the exam on a desktop computer so you know generally what to expect (or to re-aquaint yourself with the format in your case). Additionally, I got some great advice from friends suggesting not to study at all the day before the exam (assuming you've spent a significant amount of time in prep before!). Everyone is different, but I felt better the next morning when I was able to walk into the exam feeling mentally refreshed rather than stressed to the point of breakdown from cramming the day before. But again, everyone is different, so whatever you feel comfortable with. I did reasonably well on the exam and was pretty satisfied with my scores, but I know I could have done better if I had gotten myself together and started prepping a lot sooner than I actually did. With five months to go, especially as someone who generally knows what to expect, having taken it before, you should be peachy. Good luck!

Agh okay, thanks!

My writing sample was my undergrad senior thesis (going direct from undergrad to doctorate, at least hoping to). My main research interest is Irish Lit, particularly feminist analysis, so my paper was focused on the cyclical nature of dysfunctional family relationships in Edna O'Brien's The Country Girls. I was basically looking at how relationships between mothers and daughters are strained by the demands of the patriarchy, and how the instability and lack of female mentors causes young women to essentially repeat and re-enact the oppressed lives of their mothers in their own adult lives. Obviously the most joyful and optimistic topic you can choose

I'm already building up a list of programs that I'm going to apply to in the fall if none of my programs work out this year (as I didn't have the financial means to apply to more than three this year). I'm also going to reapply to Emory and NYU if they don't work out this year. In the "in-between" time, I'm planning on working to strengthen my CV by picking up another language and maybe working on getting some of my work published. Also just staying with my current job and working to build up my savings, and hoping it works out next application cycle.

Yeah I'm in CT and nearly everything was closed here as well. The joys of northeast weather! I was just curious because I noticed that a lot of other humanities programs are getting notified, but hopefully we hear something soon.

Has anyone heard anything from NYU yet? I keep checking the results religiously and am expecting a rejection from Emory since it appears the wait-list and admitted candidates were notified around the 8th. But I'm really hoping for NYU and am getting increasingly worried as I'm not hearing anything or seeing any news from anyone else.

Accepting the fact that my first choice is probably going to be a no as I haven't had a request for an interview and, from what I understand, that's pretty much a definite no, as they build their acceptances and wait-list candidates from their interviewees. It was a pretty long shot anyway. It sucks that I couldn't afford to apply to more places this cycle but at least I'll be in a better place financially to reapply this coming fall. (I know, nothing is certain yet but I'm growing pretty hopeless as the dates loom closer).

Thanks for this! I've got NYU, Emory and Brown to wait for. These next few weeks are going to be nerve-wracking.

I'm going to be applying to the English PhD program at Emory, largely because the focus of my research is on Irish Studies, and they offer a great incorporated program. The program was recommended to me by my undergrad advisor/mentor, not only because it's a wonderful program for what I would like to do in the future, but also because she knows a head of the Irish Studies program who is usually on the admissions committee. I was hoping this would give my application a slight nudge, as I will be speaking about the Independent study and the other work I did with my mentor as an undergrad, and my mentor is also one of my recommenders so there would be a greater chance that this member of the committee would see that and give my application greater consideration for admission, based on their status as colleagues in Irish studies. I was therefore planning to email this professor at Emory and explain that I was looking to apply to the program, and to ask more about what work she does with English doctoral students, just to make initial contact and show interest in the work she's doing with the program. Unfortunately, when I went on the website earlier today to be sure I had the correct email address, I was greeted with a message that she is on leave in Ireland for the current academic year. I am trying so hard not to let this bother me, but am I going to seriously hurt my application if I don't make contact with someone at Emory? The reason this person was really recommended was not only because of the connection she has with my mentor, but because the work she is doing at Emory is the closest to what I'd like to pursue as a doctoral student there. Right now I'm unsure of what action to take. I don't know if she is accepting academic emails regarding Emory while she's abroad, and I obviously don't want to bother her with something like this even if she is. (Not to mention I'm going to feel pretty foolish emailing her anyway knowing full well that she is out of the country, which probably means she's not sitting on the admissions committee this year). But at the same time, I don't know if the other professor listed on the website (whose work is somewhat further from my own research interests) would offer the same insight. If this were a bigger program, I doubt I would have this issue but unfortunately, the Irish Studies program is very small and very specific, and the website doesn't really offer much valuable insight. I'm planning on meeting my mentor on campus sometime in the next week or two, so I was going to bring this up with her and see what she recommends, but until then I'd love feedback from others. I feel like I cannot be the only applicant who has had the misfortune to be applying during a year when an important contact is unavailable, and I was wondering what other people did or would do when/if this happened?

Thanks for your response! Sorry I'm just replying now, but better late than never, I guess? I was able to successfully edit my sample down to 21 pages, the 21st being my Works Cited, and I actually made it better than it was before. I was able to find a lot of unnecessary details and other "extras" that definitely didn't need to be in there, which, by being removed, cut the paper down and improved the flow. (Also, as an aside, luckily for me my second choice school upped the page limit for their writing samples from 15 to 25 so I won't have to go through the stress of more editing. Phew.)

So I'm new and this is (obviously) my first post after lurking on here for a bit for an answer to a nagging question I have. Not much of an introduction, but hi i guess? Anyway, I have a B.A. in English from UCONN and am applying for a few PhD programs. Going straight for the PhD rather than the MA because my professors recommended it, as they believe my writing is strong enough to do so. As for the components of my applications: letters of recommendation, GRE, C.V., SOP, all that is pretty much taken care of (aka I'm not too worried about them). I'm finished with the CV and SOP, have formally reached out to recommenders who have already offered to write good letters, and am taking the GRE in a few weeks and am confident I can do well. The writing sample, though? Another story. My writing and critical analysis is pretty solid, and the paper I'll be submitting is the final paper for my capstone course. It is without a doubt my best, most scholarly work. My specific interest lies in Irish Lit, as that's what I have a concentration in and that's what my research focus will (ideally) be in grad school. This specific paper is obviously Irish Lit focused, and, as stated, the research/writing is pretty solid. Basically, the issue here isn't writing, it's length. Out of the applications I'm sending, Emory is my first choice. The application requirements say the writing sample needs to be 15-20 pages, and no more than 20. The paper I'd like to submit is 28 including the Works Cited. I'm having trouble cutting it down and even when I remove what I think can reasonably be removed without majorly altering the overall effect, it's still 24 pages. My ultimate question(s) is/are: do I say screw it and submit the full 28 pages? Do I edit it down to 24? Do I edit it further to 20 even though I feel like I'm butchering it, and am getting concerned with how well the overall paper works if certain paragraphs are missing? How badly will it reflect on me if I submit the full 28? I'm also unsure of how to include brief summaries of the sections I would take out to shrink it, i.e. do I put italics in between paragraphs, do I just do an abstract in the beginning? Because Emory is my first choice and I know how competitive it is, I do not want to do anything that would jeopardize my acceptance. I hope this wasn't too confusing and I appreciate anyone's help! I'm so stressed out about the entire process and some reassurance or tips (maybe from some current PhD students from the program if possible) would go a long way!