Dogfish Head
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Posts posted by Dogfish Head
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5 hours ago, SomethingWicked said:
Ayeee!!! Congrats!
4 hours ago, Rrandle101 said:BRO I'M SO HYPED FOR YOU CONGRATS!!!!
Thank you and thank you! I was slowly but surely losing hope.
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Just got into Syracuse! Hyped!
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I also have been waitlisted at UVA. I'm excited, but having two waitlists with no acceptances is definitely not an ideal situation. Oh well, hopefully it will all eventually work out. Is anybody else on the waitlist at UVA or OSU a 19th century Americanist? I work with most pre-1865 texts, and I was just curious.
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16 hours ago, Sheep4wheat said:
Hello! I made this account just to respond to you. (Long time lurker) I've noticed several people asking questions about UNC Chapel Hill and I personally had written them off as a rejection when I saw acceptances and didn't hear anything, but I ended up getting an acceptance several days later. (I am now one of the acceptance posts on the results page.) The email I received said they won't be sending official acceptance letters out for a couple more weeks, so I think it is safe to hold onto some hope for now.
This is great to hear! Thank you so much for the information and congratulations on your acceptance!
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16 minutes ago, Rootbound said:
I know from experience last year that UVA maintains an invisible waitlist, and while they did eventually formally tell me I was on it, it was well into March, and after I had informally been told in answer to my email. However, there were also people who were simply rejected later--whether or not that spoke to their place in the invisible line or not, I'm not sure. I would recommend waiting until March if you can stand it, as its likely your application is still under some kind of consideration.
This is nice to hear. I have also heard nothing from UVA, and I was not %100 sure how to interpret my lack of news. Has anyone heard anything from UNC-Chapel Hill? I saw two acceptances and a waitlist on the board, but that seems to be a small amount of notifications for a relatively big program. Does anyone have any insights?
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Does anyone want to claim the single UNC-Chapel Hill rejection on the board? They usually don't notify until a good bit later so I am curious. Is there anyway that it was a Greensboro rejection that was just accidentally entered incorrectly? I know they notified yesterday.
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10 minutes ago, brownjournal said:
I just posted this in the results thread, but I'm curious if anyone here has any insight:
I was one of the people who posted an acceptance for Ohio State. I just called them and they said decisions aren't out yet because they're still reviewing applications. So are we not actually accepted?
OSU's website says that they split up applications by subfield so there is a chance that subfield specific review panels are not finished yet. My Application Portal for OSU still says "Pending," but I would hope that if your Portal says "Accepted" they won't take that away, they probably just can't make it official yet.
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Whose still working on applications? I have one left to go for Syracuse which requires a teaching statement that I have been agonizing over. I hope everyone is doing well in their post-application/pre-waiting malaise, or is finishing their last couple of applications strong!
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2 hours ago, vondafkossum said:
I was going to comment that mine are still outstanding as well. I just double checked, and now they've posted. Maybe they're updating them by hand? No idea.
Huh, mine are still not showing up. You are probably right, it must be a by individual thing, and I assume Wisconsin probably got a ton of applicants so it will probably take a while for them to match all the GRE scores to each applicant.
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32 minutes ago, SomethingWicked said:
Are anyone else's 'official' GRE scores still showing as missing from UW Madison's application portal? I sent the officials over at the end of October, so I'm not sure why they'd still be missing. The email notes that the scores may take some time to show up, but still... post submission nerves are feeding my anxiety.
Yes, mine are still marked as missing as well on the portal if that is of any comfort. I also submitted mine well over a month ago. If we are both experiencing this hopefully that is a sign that the adcomm pairs GRE scores with the applications when they are about to begin the application review? It makes sense from an administrative perspective to sort the one item not submitted through the primary application portal once the application reviews begin, but, unfortunately, from an anxious applicant perspective this is a bit unfortunate.
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I feel like all of my fanciest, for sure won't get into but might as well shoot my shot programs' application deadlines are on the 15th. Is anyone else having this experience?
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1 hour ago, The Hoosier Oxonian said:
I definitely took this to mean in every instance that they wanted to know the writer's relationship to me, so I always put "Professor" or "Senior Thesis Advisor", etc.
Sick. Thank you. I think you are right. I just got very anxious about my Professors getting autogenerated emails that were like "Your Professor Dogfish Head is requesting a letter of reference from you," which they probably would have found funny so I don't know why I got so stressed. Thank you again!
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This may (most likely is) an insane question. While filling out Letter Writer requests I have to put in "Relationship" for my UNC application, but it does not say whether the relationship I am specifying is my relationship to them (their student) or their relationship to me (my professor). It is just the word "Relationship" and nothing else. Thoughts? It is a required field, unfortunately.
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I do not know much about the program, but I have met grad students in the English department who were happy with the program. Also, Albuquerque is honestly a great city. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.
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Wowowowowow, I have been lurking on this forum since around 2015. Was an occasional poster when I was applying to MA programs (and some PhD programs unsuccessfully) in 2017, and now, finally, a thread has been started for the application cycle where I will be applying to PhD programs. This is so exciting! I am still narrowing down my list of programs, I have some ideas about my SOP (none of which I have written down), and as for my writing sample: I have a term paper I like, that is in my field, and that I will presenting at a regional MLA, or, who knows, I may use part of my thesis (if it is ready in time). Super excited to talk about apps with all of you! This is gonna be great (and stressful)!
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There are so many funded MA programs from good schools that any sort of unfunded MA program just genuinely makes me nervous. Beyond that, most (though not all) funded MA programs will let you (and teach you how to) teach English composition classes for multiple semesters. A lot of us will have to teach English composition courses occasionally at *insert university where we god willing get a TT position* so learning how to teach those sorts of classes (or maybe even teach at all) is imho crucial. Funded MAs are also (in my experience) not incredibly competitive to get into if you have a good undergrad record and a solid application. Take this advice with a grain of salt because I, in general, think that universities charge far too much in general (particularly private universities) for tuition and usually that tuition cash goes to pad the pockets of various deans and presidents (for instance, my current institution just hired a president who is earning an over $600k annual salary which is a salary that no one ever should have).
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On 3/14/2019 at 11:19 PM, silenus_thescribe said:
If these people don't know much about academia -- particularly the intricacies and nuances of graduate programs and their rankings, which differ from the prestige of schools in general, the kind of prestige that the average layperson perceives -- then you can take most of what they recommend with a grain of salt. We're talking about humanities degrees here, which means going into substantial debt should be avoided at all costs. The NYU MA is unfunded, and an easy way to get into six-figure debt during a time in your life where you won't be making much money to pay off the principal.
I also want to second this. People you are close to (who may be well meaning) who are unfamiliar with how graduate study in the humanities works will just see a university that they know is good and therefore must have a good grad program in English. These people are also usually unaware of how precarious the job market is (even for people with degrees from elite institutions). I had to have a lot of conversations with well meaning people who care about me about why I wasn't applying to elite school x or y, and instead was applying to universities that they were less familiar with (or completely unfamiliar with). These conversations always stressed me out a lot because they are usually with the people who care about you the most and therefore think that you should be going to a "prestigious" university.
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I'm currently in a fully funded with stipend MA program and turned down offers from other MA programs that offered funding on a competitive, yearly basis from universities that could be considered more "prestigious" than my current institution. The stipend and the teaching experience that come with it are invaluable in my opinion because you will have worry less about money and by getting to teach a college class early on in grad school you can get to see what a job teaching at a university may look like. When I was looking into MA programs funding and the programs placement into PhD programs were what I mainly looked at, but I actually, in retrospect, see that it was kind of weird to look into PhD placement for MA programs because even if a program has a good track record of placement into top programs that may not be because of the program and could be because of any number of reasons (too many to list). Place is also important because so much of your grad school success is dependent on your happiness so consider that as well. There is this weird idea that people in grad school should isolate themselves and study constantly, but that is a genuinely unproductive (and unhealthy) idea. Sure, grad school is a lot of work, but it is also life.
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15 hours ago, beardedlady said:
I think it's fantastic you're already beginning to consider these issues! To preface what I'm pretty certain will be a somewhat long-winded response, I'll say that I applied this season and had moderate success. I have no idea how much my SoP was significant for my results; the minor feedback I've received so far by my acceptances had to do with my WS rather than my SoP. In retrospect, though there are significant changes I would make with my WS, I'm pretty happy with my SoP and don't feel like it was a detriment to my app. In any case, writing the SoP is a pretty individual process, so take the following with however much salt you see fit. Also, there are a multitude of threads on this forum you could look at for SoP advice that may answer your questions.
I started with a basic list of ideas/experiences/achievements I wanted to mention, and tried to see how I can interweave between them organically: my MA thesis, some significant seminar papers that influenced the direction of my research, my experience as a research assistant, and of course my proposed research project (also briefly describing a conference paper that directly relates to this research). My teaching experience didn't make the cut. Neither did any mention of accolades/awards/scholarships (leave the bragging for the letter writers to do). From a certain point, after free-writing and revising a couple of drafts, the main question guiding me was "are these words worth the space they take up?" That is, does this idea/experience/whatever add enough content to offset the cost of space? In a sense, then, my SoP was on the drier side, because it really did focus on my research. Of course, I tried to present things in an interesting way, but didn't have a personal expository anecdote, humorous details, or witty asides. Whenever I added those it felt contrived or cheesy to me even when they were very sincere, so I ultimately decided to go with direct and succinct. But this is very personal; I think that since I'm ESL, my writing is always a little deliberate and not as buoyant as I'd like.
In terms of research specificity vs. openness to new ideas, I presented a pretty specific research project, but showed how it could be taken in different directions. My overarching focus is driven by queer/feminist theory and poetics, but I discussed the project's possible interconnections with, for example, issues of race, disability, aesthetics and visual culture, urban studies, affect, and trauma. While I offered a highly niche project, I tried to highlight the possible interventions I could make in current discussions and therefore show why this project is relevant, important, and expansive. I think this should be the crux of the SoP. You should be familiar enough with your field to know what questions are currently being asked, and frame your research in relation to these. The SoP should implicitly explain--why this research project? What about this topic is important, and how could it resonate with contemporary issues in literary studies? IMO, this is how to navigate the tension between a niche project that still allows for openness to new ideas.
For programs with similar word limits for the SoP (8/11 programs to which I applied required something around 1000 words), the body of my statement was mostly the same, with minor differences to (implicitly) account for the particulars of each department (e.g. emphasizing a detail that uniquely ties with a POI). The last two paragraphs addressed the university, department, and POIs specifically, highlighting different aspects of my proposed research to relate it to the POIs etc. Like you, I was also worried of coming across as brown-nosing, but ultimately found this easy to avoid by deleting any superlatives and using direct, nuanced, and specific language that expressed the methodologies/approaches/themes/ideas in POIs research that dovetail with my own. I also mentioned any departmental/university facilities, certificates, interest-groups, interdisciplinary opportunities and so on that made me want to apply there. So, instead of praising the program, I explained why I thought it was a good fit for my research (and I for it) in a very matter-of-fact tone. No mention of prestige or quality.
Hope this is helpful
Incredibly helpful! Thank you so much! I will definitely PM you if other questions arise. I have always kind of heard to not include anything that they can learn from your CV (teaching, awards, etc.) would you say that is true?
9 hours ago, sugilite said:I was just wishing that I could know what a grad student's normal week looked like--this is so helpful. Thanks for the detailed breakdown.
Edit: @Dogfish Head I'm not a current grad student (and coming in only with my BA, so you have more grad experience than I do at this point), but FWIW I didn't contact any grad program directors. I had asked one of my mentors about it, and he said it was unnecessary and not at all expected. IMO if you just contact so they recognize your name, there is the chance of standing out in a bad way.
That makes sense, I would hate to stand out in a bad way lol.
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I'm a current MA student with questions for current PhD students because I will be applying to doctoral programs this Fall.
My biggest question is how did you decide to market yourself? Sure, being genuine about your interests is important, but what rhetorical strategies did you use to construct a narrative of your past academic work that shows promise but also shows an openness to researching new things/working with faculty that maybe don't directly align with your current theoretical investments, historical period of study, etc. Beyond that, how did you make it so that your SOP was not "brown nosing" the program/faculty, I assume that most grad programs know that they are good programs and don't really need to be reminded of that by every application they receive so how did you avoid this in your application materials? Also, if anyone is comfortable with sending me an SOP of theirs that would be incredible, I have found some online but not many. I would be incredibly grateful.
I am also concerned with contacting grad program directors: What do you ask? Is there such a thing as too many questions? What is appropriate and what is not appropriate to ask? Should you even contact a DGS if you don't have any burning questions/just want to show face? Etc.
Thank you so much for any info on these two questions, I am sure that I will be back with more. If anyone has any questions for me about doing an MA (particularly doing a funded MA) in English please feel free to ask me too.
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I'm bumping this old thread because I am about to leave to go to Southwest PCA 2019. If any GCers are going to be there feel free to PM me.
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2 hours ago, conraddy said:
Also, a related query: does anyone know if there are still funded Masters programs accepting applications??
Yes, Bucknell and the University of Vermont are accepting applicants until February 1st. Both are good, fully funded programs. Someone else may be able to weigh in with more.
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I'm not applying this cycle, but I am currently enrolled in a fully funded MA program. Some funded MA programs are still accepting applicants, and I had really excellent luck with applying to funded MAs last cycle (got into 4/5 MAs, full tuition waivers from each with varying degrees of stipend sizes/teaching experience). If anyone is still considering applying to funded MAs (especially after the post-all applications have been submitted dread sinks in) please feel free to message me! I have done a lot of research on funded MA programs and would hate for it to go to waste.
- RaspyRay and punctilious
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I had a professor during undergrad who was doing an unfunded MA, and after one year of the MA applied to PhD programs and had a successful applicant cycle. It is definitely something I have heard of happening so I wouldn't shut down the idea, also the fact that you are in an MA will look good on PhD applications if you justify leaving for financial reasons.
2020 Decisions
in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition
Posted
I accepted Syracuse's offer yesterday! OSU is not taking anyone off their waitlist this year, and I got the official "no" from Virginia on Monday. Is anyone else heading to Syracuse in the Fall? If so, feel free to reach out to me! I won't be checking this site as much now that my application cycle is over, but good luck to everyone else who is still waiting to hear definitive news or who still choosing between programs!