positivitize

Hah! It's funny that you suggest this. I've been singing "God I hope I get it" from A Chorus Line lately, but before that, for about a year or so, I've been belting out "Heart" from Damn Yankees. "Heart" is weirdly appropriate for me because it features a band of loveable losers and the joke is that they think they are gonna go somewhere. Lines from that which are especially perfect regarding my situation are " When the odds are sayin' you'll never winThat's when the grin should startYou've gotta have hopeMustn't sit around and mopeNothin's half as bad as it may appearWait'll next year and hope" --- Applicable for the general process of grad applications, especially if, like me, you didn't get an offer last year " Oh, it's fine to be a genius of courseBut keep that old horseBefore the cartFirst you've gotta have heart" --- Applicable to me because I'm a talented student with bad grades and "'Cause we know our ship will come in So it's ten years overdue" ---- Applicable to me because I dropped out and am going to my MA program when I'm 31 Anyways. Showtunes got me through it. I'm still gonna sing that Damn Yankee's song though. You gotta have heart!

Congratulations!

Thanks so much man! I'm still having trouble believing it. Hopefully the tuition waiver follows. Congrats at getting into OSU! Whether you know it or not, you helped me a lot over the last few weeks. I've read your posts for a few hours a day and learned a ton. Hopefully I'll be as good as you at the whole process in another two years when I'm applying for my PhD. =D

My writing sample was a paper on Herman Melville's The Confidence Man. I argued that Melville analyses the role of the author in the con inherent within sentimental fiction. Basically I tried to show that even though The Con Man is set up to lecture American reader on their supposedly American values, a cohesive reading that focuses on a political/didactic message always unravels before it can fully form. Melville troubles the process, preaching multiple different conflicting philosophies at once so that the focus can shift from what the author means to how the cons within the story function--and thus how the author functions. Then I tried to tie in some Minister's Black Veil and deconstruct it a bit further by using J Hillis Miller to suggest that both authors and readers unavoidably con themselves just by reading and that all communities are actually imagined, mythical, and tenuous misidentifications. Wow. I sound like a jerk. It plays out much better over 20 pages than it does in 1 paragraph.

I got into the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's English MA program yesterday! Only partial funding right now, but I'm "high" on the waitlist for the full funding. I didn't think that I'd get in anywhere due to a poor GPA (3.02), but this is the second school I've heard back from (I was snap rejected from Ohio State about a month ago). It really takes a lot of the pressure off waiting for the rest of the rejections to roll in! Now I just need to respond to their Admissions email without sounding like a moron...

Hi @Yanaka , I'm glad you think psychoanalysis + Battlestar sounds fun. The piece still needs a lot of work but it's shaping up okay. My SoP from last year was very safe, generic, and flavorless. It didn't do much more than say "Hi, I'm X, I want to study Y with Z at your school." While it was clear and straightforward, it was bland and erred too much toward a biographical history of me as a candidate. While I don't think it hurt me, I don't think it did me any favors. This year I am much more specific. I get into the nitty gritty of what I want to do in the future and what I've done in the past that sets me up as a scholar. I'm actually much less faculty oriented than I was, but that's by design (my advisor suggested against name-dropping specific people because department bios are notoriously out of date/inaccurate). It's strange, but when I say what I want to study and how I've already studied it a bit, I look like I kinda know what I am talking about! If you'd like to see the two SoPs, feel free to message me.

Hi folks, thanks for the replies. Sorry that I've been slow to respond. I've been applying to programs while feverish with Flu, so hopefully I didn't mess anything up too badly. They did, but they aren't really things that I can fix. They cited my lower GPA (3.02 Cum, 3.91 Major) as the ultimate reason that I didn't make the final cut, and that's gonna stay the same unless I go back to undergrad. I have completely retooled my SOP and I think it's better this year. Thank you! I'll do the work and see where things land. Worst case scenario is that I've got two polished pieces of writing to show off to admissions committees. Also, how are you liking Indiana? They are fairly high up on my list this year. Any advice on getting in?

Everyone is submitting their applications way earlier than I ever thought to submit my own. My earliest deadline is Dec. 4, and I'd planned on working on my materials until a day or two before the deadline and submitting around the 2nd. Is this a mistake? Is there an advantage to submitting your application a month early? As for a literature student's "best academic writing" coming in the form of an 8-page paper, I understand your frustration. I, too, am trying to figure out how to edit my 19 page WS down to a cohesive 10 pages for Syracuse's MA application requirements. I might just have to take an excerpt from the middle of the paper and write a short bit to lead it in/conclude it. Then again, for their _PhD_ application they say 10-25 is acceptable... Maybe I'll just submit 15 and call it. Bleh.

1st time going through the MA application process! (Last year didn't count because I only applied to 1 program) I flip flop between thinking that I have this whole application thing on lock and thinking that I have no clue what I'm doing. I wish my letter writers/advisors would get back to me regarding my application materials. It's not like they're gearing up for the holidays, teaching classes, or working on their own publications or anything... I find that I've been on GradCafe for a few hours each day for the last week. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Hello, Last fall, I applied to a Literature MA program. Unfortunately, I did not receive an offer of admittance. I was told that I was one of the last candidates cut and that I had been a favorite of at least one member of the admission committee. Taking that with a grain of salt, I feel fairly confident in saying that my materials (LoRs, SOP, CV, and Writing Sample) all reflected positively on me. I want to apply to the same school again this year, but I am not exactly sure how to go about it. Most of my materials are the same. Because I am 30 years old and a few years removed from college, I am not forging new relationships with new professors and attaining different LoRs is not likely. While my CV has not changed, I have completely redone my SoP. My question concerns the Writing Sample. Last year, I submitted an original argument and analysis of a major work by the major American author that I wish to study. Nothing fancy, just solid literary analysis, good quote-work, interesting conclusions--very meat and potatoes. While I have edited and tweaked that writing sample, it is not markedly different from last year. Do I submit the same writing sample this year as I have a sneaking suspicion it was the strongest part of my application last year? My other option is for me to revamp one of my older papers--one that is a far cry from meat and potatoes lit crit: I use psychoanalysis (NOT currently a particularly popular mode of critical inquiry) to analyze the television show Battlestar Galactica (2004) (NOT the most standard of texts). While I daresay that I do a good job offering a compelling argument that hinges on a clear understanding of my theoretical framework and excellent textual evidence, I'm not sure that this Writing Sample would do me any favors. While it shows evidence of my elasticity as a scholar, it doesn't directly speak to my desired field of study. Should I show the admissions board something new, different, and flashy? Or should I stick with a refined version of the Writing Sample that they've already seen? If I wasn't _so_ close last year, it would be easy to decide to go in a different direction. How should I handle this situation? Thanks in advance!