claritus

Idea: Ask applicants who are on the verge of receiving responses or who have just finished their applications (so they're at their most informed but not yet tainted by the responses) to write up a list of their top XX schools they'd like to go to, and rank it in order as if they had free rein to go wherever they wanted. It's not scientific and parameters will vary wildly, but applicants spend a lot of time researching places and fit and writing specific samples so they know departments well and will consider all sorts of things for their choices (fit, prestige, placement, city, funding). With enough responses you should get a fairly good idea of which programs are (perceived by the people trying to get in as) the best, and if respondents state their field you can distinguish between subfields.
Sure, they generally won't really know about what it's like to be a graduate at those departments, but that problems exists in the current methodology too. At least you avoid personal bias and can expect the respondents to know what they're talking about.
If everyone's in agreement, go on and do this.

I just emailed the MA program at UBC with my official acceptance! I'm so excited! Honestly, my final decision happened yesterday when I read a course description on their website yesterday and it was so exciting and perfect for my research interests that I audibly gasped.

Not really, no. I don't know where you are getting your stats, but they have placed numerous grad in TT positions over past the past two years. And while CUNY does have some excellent faculty members, the quality of work of those at Harvard is pretty undeniable, at least in terms of pedigree. It's really not about frequency of publication; it's about the quality of journals and academic presses. Likewise, while Rhet-Comp and Digital Humanities are "hot," that doesn't necessarily translate to rankings. In particular, Rhet-Comp is not even always considered to be part of these rankings, which are focused on Literary Studies. Moreover, while Harvard isn't great re. Digital Humanities, people like Leah Price, Philip Fisher, and Deidre Lynch are at the forefront of other "hot" fields like Book History and Affect, so I don't think your characterization of the department as outmoded is totally fair. 

I get where you're coming from—I wouldn't want to attend Harvard, at least not for my subfield. It doesn't have the same sort of dynamism or sheen as some of the other programs in the top 10, and some of the prominent faculty members are close to retirement. That being said, they will always be able to make good hires, the faculty will always have publications with a golden pedigree, and no matter how conservative the department seems, they will still have grad students who go on to do amazing work. Think of people like Namwali Serpell and Sianne Ngai, Jared Hickman, Holger Syme, etc... No arguments against CUNY being a great program, but it really doesn't have the same profile as Harvard. 

With respect to the place where you got the fully funded offer: are there faculty members there working in your field? (I presume so, since you applied there.) Are there resources there to further your research interests? If the answer to either of those questions is yes, then you should take the fully funded offer. Students loan debt can be crippling, and you will get less far professionally if you have to take on second and third jobs to finance your graduate education. That cuts out time for publishing and research, which are critical to a strong job portfolio.
Even though you feel UO is a strong match for you, if it isn't funding you in the first year then its "fit" value is at least a little less compelling. Funding is a resource, just like faculty/library/university resources. 
If possible, I might try to leverage full funding from UO by bringing up your fully funded offer. The ad comm should know that you're a desirable candidate, and desirable candidates deserve to be funded. You could say something to the effect of, "I'm attracted to UO for X, Y, and Z reasons, but I am also considering a fully funded offer from Other University, and funding will be a primary factor in my decision."

Don't do a PhD for "job prospects." Just don't do it. 

Don't do a PhD for "job prospects." Just don't do it. 

Don't do a PhD for "job prospects." Just don't do it. 

Hardcore lurker coming out of the woodwork here because of how intensely I feel this thread. @piers_plowman, the guilt, the anxiety, the FOMO when thinking about committing to one program over another; it's all there. And this is all just coming from me, internally—I actually haven't even told all of my recommenders the final list of places I've been accepted, so all the angst right now is only fueled by my own anxiety, and I'm sure it'll only get more intense when I finally tell them and learn their thoughts (I'm out of school, so I only communicate with them occasionally via email).
Like you said, @SophieHatter, I feel bad even complaining about having to make a decision from multiple offers, and I swear, I am THE MOST GRATEFUL to have even gotten one, but my god I never thought it would be so difficult to decide. My difficulty comes from the fact that I'm mainly deciding between three related but quite different programs (English, Comp Lit, and an interdisciplinary humanities program), all of which have faculty and resources related to my fields, solid stipend offers, and generally just good reputations. Where they differ is the way that their programs are structured and the degree of freedom there is in the coursework to pursue one's own varying interests vs. follow a clear (but not constricting) path. I did my undergrad at a college with an open curriculum and zero required classes, which was fantastic for me and played a huge role in shaping my rather odd (but I think fascinating) interdisciplinary interests within literary studies, but I'm unsure if I want to continue with that for the next six years, or have maybe a tiny bit more guidance in my training. 
People always talk about how the most important thing is "fit," and that's really what I think this question comes down to, but my fear is that maybe I don't know myself well enough/can't trust what I think I know about myself well enough to make the best decision in that area. I think/hope talking to my recommenders will help with that, also maybe just sitting down and doing some hardcore, focused self-examination (lol, because who has time for that). In the meantime, I'll just keep adding info to my massive Google Sheet as a means of trying to compare them

Not really, no. I don't know where you are getting your stats, but they have placed numerous grad in TT positions over past the past two years. And while CUNY does have some excellent faculty members, the quality of work of those at Harvard is pretty undeniable, at least in terms of pedigree. It's really not about frequency of publication; it's about the quality of journals and academic presses. Likewise, while Rhet-Comp and Digital Humanities are "hot," that doesn't necessarily translate to rankings. In particular, Rhet-Comp is not even always considered to be part of these rankings, which are focused on Literary Studies. Moreover, while Harvard isn't great re. Digital Humanities, people like Leah Price, Philip Fisher, and Deidre Lynch are at the forefront of other "hot" fields like Book History and Affect, so I don't think your characterization of the department as outmoded is totally fair. 

I get where you're coming from—I wouldn't want to attend Harvard, at least not for my subfield. It doesn't have the same sort of dynamism or sheen as some of the other programs in the top 10, and some of the prominent faculty members are close to retirement. That being said, they will always be able to make good hires, the faculty will always have publications with a golden pedigree, and no matter how conservative the department seems, they will still have grad students who go on to do amazing work. Think of people like Namwali Serpell and Sianne Ngai, Jared Hickman, Holger Syme, etc... No arguments against CUNY being a great program, but it really doesn't have the same profile as Harvard. 

It's obviously not radically efficient, but I've found that going through dissertations on ProQuest—sorted by advisor/committee—gives you a fairly good idea of placement statistics, provided you do a little bit of google followup. Research quality is a lot harder to figure out, especially since it's subjective, but I try to follow the significant journals and imprints in my field. Special issues of journals and published roundtables are incredibly helpful (in my opinion) because they frame/are framed by immediate scholarly conversations. Obviously there will be bad and good work in each case, but the more important part is having an idea of who is involved in the conversations, and where they're writing from. 

It's obviously not radically efficient, but I've found that going through dissertations on ProQuest—sorted by advisor/committee—gives you a fairly good idea of placement statistics, provided you do a little bit of google followup. Research quality is a lot harder to figure out, especially since it's subjective, but I try to follow the significant journals and imprints in my field. Special issues of journals and published roundtables are incredibly helpful (in my opinion) because they frame/are framed by immediate scholarly conversations. Obviously there will be bad and good work in each case, but the more important part is having an idea of who is involved in the conversations, and where they're writing from. 

I agree with @orphic_mel528 on all counts. I don't have the same conference experience, but I landed a prestigious internship at the Folger Shakespeare Library last summer (even, I believed, despite the "low ranking" of my MA program, my age, and subsequent lack of experience in pretty much every professional capacity at the time) I think in part because of networking. I met the director of the internship at an event they were hosting that I happened to be at, and I think because we built a relationship before the internship application was due and he became familiar with my work, it supercharged my chances of getting it. It's not the same thing, exactly, but it illustrates the larger point: if you build the relationships, you work really hard, you produce excellent research, you professionalize...all of this should increase your chances at a job down the road. And fwiw, my mentors advised me to choose a lesser-ranked program in which I feel I could be supported and produce a better dissertation in, as opposed to a higher-ranked program that would be more stressful for me and make it difficult to produce the kind of dissertation I'll need to get a job (this was before the new rankings came out and suddenly both of the aforementioned programs ended up tied, ha).
Of course, I'm also feeling quite optimistic about all of this. I didn't even think I'd be in a position where I could choose from among several top-20 and 30 programs, so I'm trying not to worry to much at the moment.

I was not able to attend, but it was scheduled for this week. 

Not really, no. I don't know where you are getting your stats, but they have placed numerous grad in TT positions over past the past two years. And while CUNY does have some excellent faculty members, the quality of work of those at Harvard is pretty undeniable, at least in terms of pedigree. It's really not about frequency of publication; it's about the quality of journals and academic presses. Likewise, while Rhet-Comp and Digital Humanities are "hot," that doesn't necessarily translate to rankings. In particular, Rhet-Comp is not even always considered to be part of these rankings, which are focused on Literary Studies. Moreover, while Harvard isn't great re. Digital Humanities, people like Leah Price, Philip Fisher, and Deidre Lynch are at the forefront of other "hot" fields like Book History and Affect, so I don't think your characterization of the department as outmoded is totally fair. 

I get where you're coming from—I wouldn't want to attend Harvard, at least not for my subfield. It doesn't have the same sort of dynamism or sheen as some of the other programs in the top 10, and some of the prominent faculty members are close to retirement. That being said, they will always be able to make good hires, the faculty will always have publications with a golden pedigree, and no matter how conservative the department seems, they will still have grad students who go on to do amazing work. Think of people like Namwali Serpell and Sianne Ngai, Jared Hickman, Holger Syme, etc... No arguments against CUNY being a great program, but it really doesn't have the same profile as Harvard. 

I would urge you to look at the total picture regarding the graduate students. See if you can info about how many are publishing peer reviewed articles on the whole. I tell you this because every program has That Person. That Person exists in every department from Texas Tech to UC-Riverside to Buffalo to Yale to Stanford, and they're rarely representative of grad students in general. 
There is also good reason for "holding back" on publication, and this is something that many dissertation chairs and advisors advocate. You don't want to publish too much out of your dissertation because doing so could hurt its chances of getting published as a book. I was also told as a grad student not to publish too much before getting a TT job because everything I published before getting a job would not work toward my tenure case. Now, that advice might be out of date because there are so few TT jobs out there anyway, but that belief system is still in circulation at a lot of programs that have success placing their students. So you just want to keep that in mind. The reason the students at Top Program aren't flush with journal articles might have more to do with playing a long game than just coasting on their laurels. 

I do believe CUNY is under ranked.  However, Harvard has placed grads in TT positions over the past 2 years: http://english.fas.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Placement-Results.pdf

Does anybody else think that Harvard's top 10 ranking is manifestly unjustified? They haven't placed any of their grads in a TT position for over 2 years now. On the other hand, CUNY Grad Center has had a much better placement rate despite having a bigger program and a fraction of the resources at Harvard; moreover CUNY's faculty/grad students are getting published with more frequency than Harvard. Yet CUNY is 20 and Harvard is 8. It is also telling that the 2 "hottest" fields in English studies -- Rhet-Comp and Digital Humanities -- remain unrepresented in Harvard's English faculty, a sign that shows how entrenched Harvard's English program is in outmoded conversations. These rankings are pretty stupid and they uphold the illusion of elitism even when there's no substance in the matter. 

Dude. I love Twitter. The academic community there is fantastic, and it definitely does, as @claritus says, humanize the people that we tend to admire so much (and honestly, makes me admire them even more). I've also connected with a few of them thanks to Twitter, and met a couple in person at the Folger last summer, so that was great.
My gap year has been quite busy, I spent a LOT of time reading and writing for my SOP, researching programs for best fit, etc. I'm a first-gen, so aside from a few recommendations that colleagues and mentors suggested, I was on my own in terms of finding programs to apply to. I also got an adjunct position teaching for my university's writing program and a couple of English classes, but I know others who have tutored in the writing center or gotten adjunct positions at community college, as well. I think the diverse teaching experience was appealing to some of the programs I applied to (I know of at least one that couldn't stop gushing about the fact that I could mentor new TAs, haha), so if you have the opportunity to do so, I would definitely encourage teaching somewhere.

For those who were looking for an update to my recent kerfuffle, Nebraska has agreed to give me until April 15 to make a decision!

The saga continues...

One sort of counterintuitive piece of advice I'll give is JOIN TWITTER. There is a fantastic academic community, and it has definitely helped me keep up with changes in the field. Follow scholars, journals, departments, other organizations, etc. I've been on the platform for a few years now, and though I won't try to make some sort of causal connection between that and my acceptances, I've definitely come in contact with some great scholars, and also given access to some rad (otherwise paywalled) resources.  Some newer journals and organizations (V21, Post45, and postmedieval—for example) also solicit for papers/articles/reviews from their followers. 

I'll also say that aside from all the potential career & academic benefits, it's just enjoyable. Scholars are hilarious, human people; interacting with them in this context really shows you that. 

For all of you who are juggling multiple offers, how is your deliberation affecting you emotionally? Maybe I'm not the only one who thought getting some offers would end the stress and usher in a golden age of confidence and excitement, only to find that a decision now seems impossible without disappointing one or more people and sacrificing some truly great options. My advisors are split, with very strong opinions as to where I should go - they're people I want to associate with for the rest of my career as colleagues, conference friends, etc, so I greatly fear that this decision will alienate and disappoint at least one of them. Then, I worry that no matter where I pick, there won't be any excitement, just guilt and "what if's".
 
So, the questions then: how are you all coping with the stress of decision making? Are there things about it that are surprising you? Is anyone else experiencing intense anxiety about disappointing a mentor? After all, they wrote us letters; don't we "owe" them a say in our decision? I can't say this feels worse than waiting for decisions, but it certainly is a new kind of hell.
 
Anyone feel the strong urge to just wildly accept an offer and end it all, like those people who have the sudden urge to drive off the road?

One sort of counterintuitive piece of advice I'll give is JOIN TWITTER. There is a fantastic academic community, and it has definitely helped me keep up with changes in the field. Follow scholars, journals, departments, other organizations, etc. I've been on the platform for a few years now, and though I won't try to make some sort of causal connection between that and my acceptances, I've definitely come in contact with some great scholars, and also given access to some rad (otherwise paywalled) resources.  Some newer journals and organizations (V21, Post45, and postmedieval—for example) also solicit for papers/articles/reviews from their followers. 

I'll also say that aside from all the potential career & academic benefits, it's just enjoyable. Scholars are hilarious, human people; interacting with them in this context really shows you that. 

One sort of counterintuitive piece of advice I'll give is JOIN TWITTER. There is a fantastic academic community, and it has definitely helped me keep up with changes in the field. Follow scholars, journals, departments, other organizations, etc. I've been on the platform for a few years now, and though I won't try to make some sort of causal connection between that and my acceptances, I've definitely come in contact with some great scholars, and also given access to some rad (otherwise paywalled) resources.  Some newer journals and organizations (V21, Post45, and postmedieval—for example) also solicit for papers/articles/reviews from their followers. 

I'll also say that aside from all the potential career & academic benefits, it's just enjoyable. Scholars are hilarious, human people; interacting with them in this context really shows you that. 

I was in a very similar situation recently; I emailed the second choice program and asked to have until April 15, and they agreed. I find it unlikely, though, that any program will give you until after April 15 to make a decision, so you might have to set the line there. Maybe someone else has more experience with this, but April 15 is kind of it for programs if you're not on their waitlist. At least, as far as I know.