M(allthevowels)H

What? You've never heard of Henry James's botanical work?

I saw one of these posts from years gone by and felt it to my bones. Here are my whoopsie-daisies: 1. Near miss: I almost deadnamed/misgendered a scholar I want to work with because I read an edition of their book that was published before their transition. 2. Used "conflagration" when I meant "conflation" in two SoPs, even though I know what both mean. I'm from Southern California! I know all the words for fire! But now I look like a dope who tried punching above her vocabulary. *Get it? Reaaaaaaal.

The following post from @Warelin has which schools did and did not require the Subject test. But even since this was posted a year ago some of these yes's have fallen off. I think BU Chestnut Hill is now "recommended" but not required, same with WUSTL. (If you want to find the original, just search "cheat sheet")

@a_sort_of_fractious_angel Oddly, no. When I started looking at schools I firmly said, "I want to stay in the North East and not go any further south than DC." So of course I'm applying to Duke, UNC, and UT Austin, with Texas Tech and Vanderbilt and on my "Maybe" list. The only North East schools on my list are Columbia, (girl can dream, right?) and Syracuse, with U Conn, Purdue, Rochester, Ohio State, and U of Illinois U-C rounding out my "Maybe" list. I'm still trying to narrow it down from fifteen to 8-10. I see you've got the state and surrounding areas pretty well covered haha. Was location a primary factor for you in deciding on schools?

Maybe? Your username isn't a name I know, though. I'm from California, but I moved here for my MFA and quickly became addicted. You have seasons! And trees! And rivers that stay wet all year long! Are you currently applying? Or, if you already have applied, how did it go with your creative background as opposed to traditional English? (Presupposing that's what you mean by our having similar backgrounds)

I haven't posted here before, but I just want to say how grateful I am to see everyone freaking out about the exact same things I am freaking out about. I have a list of "Definite" schools and a list of "Runner-up" schools and it feels like every time I open the list I move options from one column to the other and then back again. I am also nervous because I come from a creative background, I have a BA and MFA in fiction, rather than a strictly research-oriented one. But I have strong English department recs and I scored well on the verbal section of the GRE, so I'm hoping that balances it? @a_sort_of_fractious_angel I would second that it's better to be straight forward. If the quote isn't organic, it may just make you seem like a different brand of generic rather than making you stand out. An adviser used to say "that which does not strengthen the message, dilutes it." That may be the case here. (Also, sup Philly!)