lit_nerd

My best paper is on a different time period than I'm interested in (on The Tempest, my intended area is 20th century American); however, it uses theory that I have some interest in (postcolonial theory and cultural studies). I'm considering reworking the essay to use the framework that I have in the essay and analyzing a 20th century American novel in the context that I analyzed The Tempest.

Hey @Dogfish Head! I have been using a Kaplan book and following along with an online course on Lynda.com! Your school might have a membership to Lynda, so you should definitely check it out! PM me and I'll send you the link. I haven't contacted any DGS's yet, I find emailing people out of the blue a bit frightening. I need to get better at it, so maybe I should give it a try! Which schools did you email and what did you say?

Hey @Dogfish Head I just registered too! I'm taking it August 31st!

Thank you for addressing this, @Old Bill. I have concerns with a few requirements. I should really just email some people to ask what they mean, but UCSB asks for "suggested length [of] 10" and University of Florida asks for "about 15 pages." That length at UCSB sound pretty low, and I'm not even sure what to do with Florida's request. Is 18 about 15? Or do they mean 14-16?

This is great information to have, thank you so much for looking into this for me. I copied a lot of application info into a spreadsheet I have to stay organized, so I must not have transferred the part that says "maximum." I will get going on expanding my paper to be 20 pages!

Thank you all for the insights. I'm applying for both PhD and MA programs. Whatever I do, I will probably need to expand heavily upon my favorite essay, because it is only 12 pages currently. Some schools specifically ask for a sample that is 15-20 (Vanderbilt even asks for 25 pages). In the case of a school like Vanderbilt, do you think that submitting a 15 page writing sample would signal a weak applicant? Should I try to expand enough that I have a 25 page sample for their application?

Hello GCers! This is the first thread I've ever started, so go easy on me! Maybe this has been asked somewhere on the forum before, but what are your opinions on writing a new writing sample from scratch? Many of the schools' websites I have read have asked that your writing sample be from a honors or masters thesis or from an upper-level English course. However, the three papers of which I am most proud (and that meet the length requirements) are not necessarily related to the subject I would like to research. As a secondary question, how important is it to match my SOP with my writing sample? I have a few really good essays (one that has already been through a serious re-write process) that I would love to send out, but I feel a bit apprehensive about moving forward with my rewrite process until I know for sure that I shouldn't be spending my summer creating a new piece of writing that is totally in line with my research interests.

@klader I would totally be down!

Hey @RydraWong! Thanks for the kind reply! That's great to hear that you will be starting at UW-Madison this fall, it is a wonderful place. I don't think that I will be applying to Madison's program. I've lived in Madison nearly my entire life, and I'm ready for a change. With that said, I hope we bump into each other at College Library this year! Do you know if you'll be a TA in any courses this year? Do you know which professors you'll be working with? I would highly suggest getting to know Elizabeth Bearden, she's a wonderful professor (though she teaches Renaissance literature, she also teaches courses on literary theory). Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about living in Madison! Thanks for the advice as well. I'll make sure to show a couple of professors my list of schools that I'm considering.

I've always been a bit nervous to email people at the current program. Would you mind taking a look at an email I'm considering sending to a DGS at a school I'm interested in applying to? I can PM you a draft.

Thank you, @Old Bill! That is great information to have; it definitely soothes my worried mind. If you wouldn't mind me asking, @Old Bill, how did you narrow down which PhD programs you wanted to apply to? I'm having trouble deciding if I should be applying to higher or lower ranked programs (according to USN and NRC rankings). Being a 20th century American, it seems that many schools have a good fit for me. If I focus those schools that have 20th century Americanists down to schools who also have faculty focusing on Ideology and Psychoanalysis in 20th Century American novels, my list gets too small. Any advice on finding schools with great fit?

Hello everyone! I'm about to finish my undergraduate degree in English at the University of Wisconsin - Madison in the Spring of 2018 and will be applying to PhD and MA programs in English Literature. I'm researching programs now and working on my SOPs and Writing Samples and trying to line up Letters of Recommendation. I was wondering how many of you have had essays published in journals or presented at conferences. A few of the schools I'm interested in applying to require a CV, and I don't have any published research to put on a CV. Do you think this will be concerning?