Crow T. Robot

My 2 cents: I can't help but think that the SW prequels are a bit like the Alamo. They are so widely thought to be a letdown that slowly--quietly, through all the accumulating counter-hype--I feel like they have actually become underrated. Revenge of the Sith had some of the coolest fight scenes in cinema history IMHO. And I still think The Phantom Menace, awkward of a balance between protracted political negotiations and cheap fart jokes as it is, kinda captures the small-kid-in-a-big-universe wonder that the original movie had. I don't know if I can find anything nice to say about Attack of the Clones, though, for reasons captured perfectly in the video you linked...

Huge congrats, @Volumnia'sEdge! Interview season is getting real now. Based on the lack of results posts re. interviews, should we assume that today most likely wasn't Chicago Day after all?

No worries, @FreakyFoucault--best of luck with Duke English! And thanks, @Warelin--hopefully this will be an instructive thread for someone researching programs down the line. How cool to see someone with such similar interests to mine on here, and applying to Duke Lit too, at that! I hear you on being eager to know. Duke Lit, UCSC Hiscon, Brown English, Chicago English are all top for me, and I'm feeling fortunate that the implied rejections/potential good news will come sooner rather than later for all of them.

Hey y'all--anyone else apply to Duke Literature this cycle? Anyone else beside themselves waiting for the implied rejection/interview request? I'd also be curious to hear about y'all's areas of interest. I went all in on Lacanian theory, sound studies, ecocriticism, and theory of value. It would be unreal to work with scholars like Fredric Jameson, Antonio Viego, and Michael Hardt.

Thanks, @JustPoesieAlong! I actually got an email from a student in the program with congrats for making the short list and a generous offer to chat and provide more details on life in the program. Not official by any means, but the student seemed to imply that it's usually protocol for faculty to follow up with those on the list too. So maybe that's to come? We'll see!

Not exactly an English program (but lit theory related!), and not exactly an acceptance, but I just got word from UC Santa Cruz History of Consciousness that I am on their short list! I was not expecting to hear from them for a while, especially because they don't do interviews... but I'm thrilled! Final decisions should be out by mid February. Fingers crossed for good news.

I am in full self-distracting mode right now--I'm actively trying to make myself forget to keep compulsively and irrationally checking all my app portals. So far this has involved a lot of reading, some gestures toward exercise, and much more guitar playing than I'd allowed myself when I was putting apps together. And a pretty terrifying amount of Netflix. I've been telling myself that I'd start a few recording projects during this thumb-twiddling period, so I think that'll be in the near future for me too. I would say hang in there and that decisions will come before we know it, but I feel like that's more terrifying than comforting!

Recently finished applying to 10 programs--4 English, 1 Comp Lit, 1 Media Studies, and 4 interdisciplinary humanities! The waiting anxiety is officially in full gear.

Seconding @renea's excellent advice. Re. conferences, a graduate symposium might be a good place to start, as many of these are organized around an abstract theme (I think the two I went to were "form" and "borders") rather than limited to a specific field, so you can get a sense of the central debates in several different areas (and, as renea pointed out, learn how these areas are categorized in the first place, and how your already existing interests might map onto them). A lot of people will warn you to avoid grad symposiums like the plague--and that might be true if your only goal in attending is to pad your CV. But if you want to get a sense of the academic landscape and meet potentially likeminded students in other programs, all in a lower-pressure environment than a major professional conference, a well-run grad symposium can be a great experience. Also, is your eventual goal to apply to PhD programs? If so, you might find that writing that SOP--especially after having taken some MA courses--forces your interests to come together and look more concrete and developed than you might think they are. That's been my experience this app season, at least, especially writing for programs like Stanford MTL and UC Santa Cruz History of Consciousness that require you to propose a research project or two in detail when you apply.

Hi all! I'm a long time lurker, first time poster, etc., etc. I wanted to pick everyone's brain on something that's giving me some trouble with my SOPs as I try to get my stuff together for the Fall 2018 cycle. In my MA program, I became very interested in psychoanalysis in general, Lacan in particular. I took an independent study on Žižek and Lacan (submitted a version of my final project to a conference; fingers crossed!), and did a ton of writing and research on Lacanian topics for many of my other courses. Now, I haven't found any POIs yet who do both my period (19th c. American) and any sort of psychoanalysis, let alone Lacan. Psychoanalysis seems like a niche thing where just one or two profs in a department do research on it, and some of the programs I'm looking at don't have anyone listed who does psychoanalytic theory/criticism. This is my conundrum: I know I should tailor my SOP to the strengths of each department, but if much of my MA work was in psychoanalytic theory, should I leave it out or downplay it for schools like Harvard that seem relatively theory-adverse?? I have other interests I'd be happy pursuing---ecocriticism, possibly lit + economics---but I'm worried I'll look a lot less dedicated if I don't demonstrate the focus I had in my MA program. On the other hand, if I do make a point of talking about psychoanalysis, even for schools that do have a POI who researches it, I wonder if I'll come off as a wacky niche candidate with strengths that the department is not interested in. I'd appreciate any advice!