CulturalCriminal

IMO, there is no shame in starting know. This is a serious endeavor that needs to be done right (a lot of money wasted otherwise on app fees). As I wish I had figured all this stuff out earlier, I’ll share 25 steps that I think will make you a stellar candidate. Don’t rush them, but also don’t shirk them (should you use them). 1. Figure out what makes you relax (if it’s whatever you’re studying, find a new hobby or something) 2. Start working out a little bit on a regular basis, if you don’t already (everyone talks about the freshman 15, no one talks about the grad school 30 and the wheezing after going up three flights of stairs) 3. Talk to your professors 4. Talk to your professors 5. Talk to your professors 6. Narrow focus (e.g. theory that explores geo-political questions, Slavic lit, etc.) 7. Talk to your professors 8.Talk to your professors 9.Start researching what programs have faculty doing research in what you’re interested in 9. Narrow that focus down further (e.g. space and place theory, 19th century Russian lit) 10. Start studying for GRE 11. Create a theory reading list. Make space to read at least a book-sized length of theory each week. 12. Submit a paper to a conference (https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/) related to your area of interest 13. You’re talking to your professors right? Get one of your professors opinions on the conference paper you’re presenting. 14. Take the GRE 15. Take at lest two weeks off (go to the beach or something) 16. Apply for conference travel grants (your school might even have x amount for students that just require receipts) 16. Present your paper somewhere (try to go to a publishing panel, if they have one and it is free; talk to people so as to learn more about what your future might look like) 17. Talk to professors 18. Work out a specific research question in your area of interest that you can talk about in a way that fully shows you are familiar with key thinkers and works 19. Run said question by your professors 20. Build an SOP that revolves around you trying to pitch the need for you to answer that question (with help of the education they can offer) 21. Dig through professor faculty pages and CVs at grad schools, then compile a spreadsheet tracking ideal faculty that could help your project at universities that you want to apply to 22. Talk to your professors and email them formal requests for letters of rec 23. Expand out that spreadsheet with application details 24. Turn your SOP into your dream school’s SOP 25. Get as many eyes on your SOP as possible (especially any professors who have served, or currently are serving, on grad school admission committees) With these 25 steps down, it’s just the business of creating individual SOPs and applying that you have left (though you should keep up the physical activity, your hobbies, and the theory reading). Oh, and don’t forget: talk to your professors.

Congrats to all the UT folks! I’ve lived in Austin and in the sorrounding area for the last 4 years and can confirm that it is a great place to be.

University of Alberta and TAMU are the ones on my radar for children’s lit. Shame Texas State only has the MA, because there are a number of really smart folks who are all about it

For the TAMU folks, it is a good program that many of my friends are hoping on getting into. Likewise, I’d say placement is good afterwards (quite a few folks working as profs in the Aus/San Antonio and DFW area have phds from there). I say it’s odd because of two reasons: location and undergrad population. It’s at least two hours away from the more forward thinking TX metropolitan areas (DFW, Aus/SA, Houston), which means the immediate area outside of the typical University neighborhoods can be a bit conservative (in the evangelical way). That said the actual campus and sorroundings are safe and mostly hospitable to the kinds of ideas that tend to come with having spent 6+ years in a discipline driven by empathy. As for the undergrad population (who you’ll be teaching), there are certainly liberal- and moderate-thinking people. That said, the immediate image most Texans conjure of the student body is white, conservative frat boys who come from family’s that are (at least in their area) considered wealthy. Though I think that is a tad unfair, I will note that it is one of the few public universities in this state that isn’t recognized as a Hispanic serving institution. Likewise, while it certainly isn’t as conservative as Baylor of Stephen F Austin, it certainly isn’t as liberal as UT or Texas State. all of that said, it’s a good program with cool profs and grad students.

I emailed back with what boils down to a thanks for the update/look forward to any developments on my waitlist email. Feels weird not responding. Also, congrats on TAMU. It’s an odd place, but I know many folks that are quite fond of it.

I’m right there with you on this and am of the mind that if someone’s bummed about it then make room for someone greatful to not get outright rejected.

Same here. Here’s hoping we both get pushed up the ladder!

Not a flat-out acceptance, but I got waitlisted for UT-Austin’s AmStudies PhD!

I hope this is true for UT's American Studies program as well as Lit...

@Ragu welcome to the American Studies thread! Has anybody heard anything back? On the literature side, there seems to be quite a few programs sending in their first round picks and rejections.

Exactly my thoughts. I am not necessarily going to judge a program if some students went into marketing, I just want to know that the University has (a) interest in seeing their former students are meeting their goals, (b) is being realistic with it's current students about future placement, and (c) an idea of how long it takes to arrive at that boast of "many of graduates are now in tenure-track or tenured positions."

Wish list: -no GRE -PDFs of transcripts from only degree granting universities accepted -cap application fees at $30 - make a uniform checklist across the board of: a. How many slots are going to be open for that year b. The minimum funding offered c. Length of funding available d. Preferred broad areas of interests (if you know you’re not taking any more medievalists, why not say that and avoid having to review those applications) e. A list of which professors are going to be available for guiding a dissertation f. When first and last acceptances go out g. if the Masters alternative offer is funded (if yes, tell me points B and C) h. link to a clear spreadsheet that tracks where graduates of the program are at. Don’t give me some statement like: “we have graduates working at professors at many prestigious schools.” I just spent the last 6+ years being taught, and last year teaching, the importance of well-documented argument; I want actual data from the place I might spend the next 3-7 years of my life doing research at.

While I am every person here who sees other acceptances coming in as proof that I’m not going to get into X school, I do feel the need to point out that just because people are getting in to those programs right now—doesn’t mean they’ll actually go to that program. Here’s to hoping I’m a second or third round pick!

This topic=mood

I imagine just about everyone has finished their applications. I know this isn't the case, but I'm low-key hoping that the limited number of people posting here correlates to a low number of applicants to AmStudies programs.

Though I only applied to one Film/Media studies program (UT), the wait is killing me. Anyone else on edge waiting to hear back from programs?

UTexas, UCLA, U Wisconsin, UC Berkley, and UCSB all off the top of my head seem like options.

I will second bumbleblu's statement in regards to UCI's Culture & Theory, as multiple professors have told me that the program is supposedly a tad full of itself and gradually losing funding. The good news is that the English department supposedly doesn't have these issues and you would be able to still get a good Gender background with the designated emphasis they offer. That said, someone who is actually in the program might be a better person to ask on this. As for other programs, you might consider looking at American Studies programs and the Modern Thought and Language program at Stanford.

Wow, I am sorry for opening up the "what makes a professor" conversation. OP, just take away that the people who taught you may not have specifically had a PhD (and that isn't a bad thing, just maybe focus on seeking advice from those who do have PhDs when it comes to questions about applying for PhDs). Good luck on applying to grad school!

The harsh reality is that I think a lot of us thought we were great writers in Undergrad and were told as much by our professors/instructors, but now realize that we are way out of our depth with the world of research/academic publishing. I also went to an Undergraduate program that wasn't all that focused on preparing academics (which I do not fault them for) and am in a similar situation. Honestly, the biggest thing that is improving my writing is the combination of reading up on theory, attempting publication on pieces I've presented, and asking for unrelenting criticism on my Masters coursework. That last part might be most important. Working on an MA before going for the PhD has allowed me to get more one-on-one time with professors, while said professors no longer see me as just some undergrad that will probably go teach high school. I would suggest applying to a few Masters programs in addition to whatever PhD programs you might be interested in. BTW, each institution seems to have its own definition of professors. Though most do seem to distinguish between "Lecturers" and "Professors" as a way of rank/pay, these labels generally aren't so easily binaried with the distinction between does/doesn't have a PhD. An alarmingly high group of Lecturers have PhDs (I hope you aren't doing this out of interest in stability and pay, because there is little to be had for future PhDs). The distinction between these two groups is often not communicated to students. As I mentioned earlier, I'm working on my Masters. I did an assistant-ship track, which means last year I worked with Soph Lit survey lecturers/profs, while this year I am a teacher-of-record for fresh comp courses. Despite obviously not having a PhD, many of my colleagues in this program will respond to "professor." Likewise, both of the lecturers (neither had PhDs) that I worked with while assisting Soph Lit courses would likewise answer to the "professor" label. I even pointed this out to one of them, and she said it's a mess of semantics that she doesn't want to explain to students (so long as they don't start calling her Dr. S, she could care less). My point is that Professor does not necessarily equal PhD. In researching for graduate programs, you really need to look at faculty bios and see if they have similar interests (esp. if applying for PhD programs). You might do the same for the professors you took to see if their interests make them ideal reviewers of your work and if they have a PhD (BTW, I don't think having a PhD is a req. to providing excellent feedback to publishable work). Once you have that, reach out to as many of them as you think fit that bill and ask them if they'll look over both your writing sample AND statement of purpose (this shouldn't be terribly hard, since you should have a line of contact established with them for letters of recommendation).

I can't say I know of a specific program that is geared towards Trans* studies, but I feel like scouring faculty bios for interests that go beyond cis-gendered language would be a good way to find a program with a strong fit. Even an interest in Queer Bodies would be a good starting place to look for with faculty bios, and I feel like I have seen that phrase on quite a few faculty pages.

I think you'd be best served by considering what subject/genre/time period/theoretical lens you are interested in specifically within 20th century lens. Once you have a good idea about that, formulate some form of specific topic that you can focus on with your PhD. Once you have that, look at faculty bios for schools you might be interested in and see if they match up. If you aren't sure what specifically in 20th century literature you are interested in, you might consider doing a MA first. I'm on my last year of mine and it certainly helped me get greater clarity and affirmed my desire to get a PhD.

Hi folks, I'm also applying for fall 2018 like most (I'll have my MA Lit done this spring). Broadly speaking, I'm a cultural studies person interested in 21st century American lit/media. I've got my recommendations set, am working on third draft of my statement, have my samples set, have spent more time looking at faculty bios than I ever thought a sane person would, and am finalizing my list of programs to apply to (have 12 on my list right now). I suppose the biggest remaining hurdles are money for applications, retaking GRE, and balancing my TA duties with application. This year is going to be brutal.

I feel like the english/lit programs at schools that have crit theory related degrees/certs/minors would be a good route (i.e. UCSC, UCDavis, UCIrvine, Northwestern, Stanford, etc.) As for Foucault, I don't think that would be something listed specifically on a bio. I would imagine interest terms such as "social control" would be far more helpful in finding faculty interested in Foucault. I am in a similar boat, given I am more interested in cultural studies and the various intersecting critical schools that often make up cultural studies analysis (especially postcolonial and racial/ethnic). That said, programs specifically for these interests tend to be really low on funding. As such, I'm sticking mostly to Lit and American Studies programs. My list of programs right now consists of: UCIrvine (English), UCDavis (Lit), UTexas (AmStudies), Wisconsin (Engl), Maryland (AmStudies), USC (AmStudies&Ethnicity), CUBoulder (Lit), UCRiverside (Engl), Oregon (Engl), Arizona State (Lit), UArizona (Lit), and U New Mexico (AmStudies).

I never went to Tech, but I did spend about ten years off-and-on living in the panhandle and I have family in both Lubbock and Amarillo. I think my worst nightmare would be winding up having to go back to this area. If you are LGBTQIA or a PoC, stay away. The same is true if you aren't christian.