superfluouswoman

Yes! I applied to Columbia, Harvard, Yale, Brown, Princeton, NYU, Emory, CUNY, UC Davis, Northwestern, U. of Chicago, U. of Penn (lol i went a little overboard with applications). I'm an international from Egypt, I graduated from the American Uni. in Cairo with a double major in Comp. Lit and Sociology. I also have an MFA from Columbia in Fiction. I hope to focus my research on Middle Eastern & North African Literature. Heard back from Davis and I have a Skype interview with them today (TERRIFIED)!

Program: PhD in Comparative Literature Schools Applying To: CUNY, NYU, Columbia Uni, Emory, Northwestern, U. of Chicago, UC Davis, Yale, Brown, Harvard, Princeton, U. of Penn. Interests: Feminist writing in North African and Middle Eastern Literature Undergrad Institution: American University in Cairo Undergraduate GPA: 3.7/4.0 Undergraduate Major: Double Major: English & Comparative Literature and Sociology Undergraduate Minor: Theater Major GPA: 3.8/4.0 for the literature major Graduate Institution: Columbia University Graduate Major/Degree: MFA in Creative Writing Graduate GPA: Pass/Fail grading system GRE: V 157/ Q 131 / AW unknown Age: 25 Languages: fluent Arabic, English, and Italian Work Experience: Currently working at The Authors Guild as an assistant to the person running print-on-demand/ebook program for out of print books. Writer/social media manager for a startup focusing on the arts. Arabic tutor for first-graders. Worked at the NY Times for a month as a translator from Arabic to English. LORs: 1 from my undergraduate mentor who studied at Columbia under Edward Said, 1 from my grad professor who was the first American to win the Man Booker Prize, 1 from the head editor of Random House who studied at Yale and later worked with Toni Morrison. Concerns: 1. Low GRE scores 2. No professional research experience 3. Pass/Fail graduate grading scale

Hey there! So, I'm starting to prepare for the emotional turmoil that is applying to PhD programs and would love some general advice or tips from application veterans. A little about my academic background: I received my BA from the American University in Cairo in English and Comparative Literature and in Sociology. I then immediately entered an MFA program at Columbia in Creative Writing and graduated this past spring. I can speak, read, and write fluently in three languages--Arabic, English, and Italian--and have some basic educational background in French. I hope to be able to focus my research on North African literature (specifically modern or contemporary North African). Things that freak me out about applying to PhD programs: 1) GRE scores: I'm notoriously bad at standardized tests and the scores tend not to reflect my abilities. I took the GRE when applying to MA/MFA and got a pretty weak score and ended up only applying to programs that did not require GRE so as not to hurt my chances. I've gotten some responses from another post that I should aim to be in the 90th percentile for funding purposes. Is this people's experience typically? 2) Should I be contacting professor's from the departments that I hope to apply to? If so, what is the etiquette of going about that? Is it something that would actually be beneficial or is it a waste of both our time? 3) Statement of purpose: Do you include theory in your statement? Or should I leave all my mad theory skills for my writing sample? How hard should I sell my multilingual abilities? 4) Does it hurt that I haven't had essays or papers published? Should I be aiming to get stuff out there before submitting applications? 5) I have no teaching experience. Again, is that something that will hurt my application? Sorry for all the seemingly obvious and neurotic questions but this seems like the right place to unload.

Thanks for your responses! I was a double major in undergrad and one of my degrees was in English and Comparative Literature from The American University in Cairo. My native language is Arabic and I'm also fluent in Italian so I think I have that on my side for sure. I'm thinking of focusing my research on contemporary North African literature since I'll be able to delve into that immediately. I guess I just need to get over my fear of standardized tests.

Ok so, I'm starting to very seriously consider applying to PhD programs in comparative literature. However, I'm terrified of the whole application process. I just finished an MFA in Creative Writing at Columbia and remember how intense and nerve-wracking that whole application process was. One of my most irrational fears is of the GRE. I took the GRE a few years ago and my scores were not all that. So, what score should I be aiming to get? Also, what--in your opinion--are the most important things that I should focus on in the app. Should I email professors at the schools I'll be applying to? If so, what's the etiquette of those emails? Basically, I just need to know what I'm doing because I'm very confused and irrationally nervous to even start the process.