M(allthevowels)H

Here me out. Forget about applying to schools. Imagine everything was centralized. All English departments were in one database. You upload all your stuff and list maybe some places you’d like to go. Departments then go through everyone and choose who they want to send offers to. Not considering any medievalists this year? Filter them out of the pool. This way, we’re not wasting time applying to schools that won’t consider us for hidden reasons, and maybe you fit at a school that you didn’t think to apply to. Is it too much work for committees? I dunno, they can figure it out.

Turns out I'm waitlisted at Vanderbilt. Pretty stoked for this news. Anyone else here heard back from them?

I will never not upvote "The GRE is trash posts."
I went to take the GRE with a friend of mine. The computers on his side all had a couple minute power outage. At the end, he scored ten who points lower than me in the quantitative even though HE WAS THE ONE WHO TUTORED ME ON THE QUANTITATIVE SECTION. Anyway, the GRE is awful and actually just reflects stress levels while taking the test rather than actual knowledge. The end. 

It's about that time I suppose! I was notified via email from the chair of graduate studies of my acceptance to U of Illinois- Urbana Champaign PhD program...."champaign" befits this evening's festivities for me! Good luck to everyone...it's getting real!

UIUC generally sends out acceptances to people they've nominated for a graduate school fellowship first. Followed by department assistantships with waivers. Last cycle, rejections came afterwards. They didn't send out waitlists as far as I'm aware but did send out acceptances if a spot became open. I think they send out MA and PHD programs at the same time but I'm not sure if MA applicants are eligible for as many fellowships due to the length of some of the fellowships.

Why aren't you applying here? All my courses next semester are focused on Contemporary Drama or Gender and Sexuality!
I'm currently waiting to hear back from 2 journals regarding pieces I wrote on Adichie and Suzan-Lori Parks. I think I should hear back sometime in February.
Bummer that you didn't get to see Sweat. I've heard great things about the performance!

I need more people interested in Adichie to come here. I'm spreading my time between English, Women and Gender Studies, and the Drama department to have a fuller experience of talking about Adichie, Suzan-Lori Parks, Lynn Nottage, and Katori Hall.

hi all! i graduated from a funded Master's program this last year, and after a close-but-no-cigar at Notre Dame last cycle, i'm here again with a longer list of schools and better material to work with. my BA/work experience before my MA is in another field, though not entirely unrelated to my research. i'm primarily interested in studying affect theory as applied to nonhuman bodies and natures in contemporary science fiction film and literature. my fingers are crossed for Notre Dame since i've made a connection with my POI, but i'd be happy anywhere at this point. i took a long enough break after my BA and didn't really want a break after my MA, but life never quite goes the way you want, right?
at this point, i'm starting to think of which schools i'll add (or remove) for next year if i have to do this all over again. contingency plans are really the only thing that keep me sane when i'm experiencing high levels of anxiety. anyone else like that?
so what is everyone's dream program and why? and on the other hand, if you don't get in anywhere, is there anything you can fall back on that doesn't make you feel sick about facing another application cycle?
edit: i forgot to mention i've been lurking for a while but felt too intimidated to join into the conversation. this is me trying to convince myself i'm not an imposter lol

FWIW: One of the last programs I added last year was the one I ultimately ended up attending. I overlooked it in my original go around but found my old notes and couldn't help having a lot of admiration for the program. There are so many opportunities here and the city is wonderful.
 
Are you interested in Digital Humanities?

I actually PMed them the next time I logged in because good intentions always go hand in hand with a lack of dedication.

Oh cool, thank you! Right now I’m weaning myself off learning new information to avoid regretting anything in my app but I will definitely hit you up if I get an acceptance. So please God I hope I’ll hit you up.

I think bumping a five year old thread to encourage new grad students to consider skipping class, with a seasoning of "my professors are terrible" and "my colleagues aren't independent thinkers," may be one of the all time great first posts.

Officially got every application completed with all letters.
Also realized the other day that I had a book by a POI among my stuff that I had forgotten about. Had I realized and read it it would have been a great connection point as it is right up my alley. Oh well.

Good luck! I'd heavily consider looking beyond T20 programs. There are a few programs that are stronger in certan concentrations that USNews doesn't account for because they base their opinion off of 11-14 percent of respondents.

If you guys think this is stressful wait until late January when some schools (never yours) start notifying and results start popping like popcorn in the microwave. 

@Bopie5: Exactly. The first round is always the hardest. Statistically speaking, I'm guessing most people don't get in their first time. I received a wait-list during my first round; which ultimately resulted in a rejection. During my second round, I applied to a few more colleges and received admission into 6 colleges. I ended up turning down a "better" ranked college for this one because I felt I could grow more here and I felt the opportunities offered here would be better and the location felt to me that it would also be a better fit. (During my first cycle, this school rejected me. During my last cycle, this school originally waitlisted me which then turned into an acceptance. I turned down a graduate fellowship that I was nominated for and won from the graduate school from the better-ranked university to attend here. Acceptances have an odd-way of working out because I thought I'd go elsewhere prior to making my final decision. The more I learned about different schools though, the easier the decision became and the more I realized what a hidden gem this school is. (As a side note, 3 of the schools I was accepted into were also the last 3 schools I added to my list after realizing they'd be a good fit.)

I think your post means well but I'm not sure how useful it is when applying to a Ph.D. in the Humanities. 

Humanities tend to rely significantly less on stats than than Math does and relies more on "fit". The same applicant could submit the same application to 12 programs one year and get rejected from all 12. They could reapply next year and get into a number of schools that previously rejected them. Departments change. And the applicants they're looking for also change from year to year. You might get rejected from a school ranked T150, T100, T80, T60 but get accepted into a T40 , T20, and T30 school. You might also end up rejecting the T20 and T30 school for the T40 simply because it's a better fit. 

We've also seen people with perfect GRE scores and GPAs from ivy league institutions get rejected from every single school they've applied to. Writing matters. Interests matter.

I’m married with 2 young children as well, and applying to English PhD programs this Fall. I went back to school part time to do my Master’s when my son was barely one year old and my daughter two and half. It was a hard but rewarding experience. Balancing young kids with grad school (or a job, for that matter), is no joke. 
Unlike most of my fellow Master’s students, I do not have « freedom of movement » in searching for Phd programs. My husband’s job is in NYC, so I’m limited to applying to programs in this area. It has been a blessing in that I don’t have to research 100+ programs scattered all over the country, but difficult in that it severely narrows my « fit » options.  I’m pretty much applying to every program within a reasonable commute that has at least 2 faculty members working in my area of interest, then crossing my fingers and hoping for the best! I’m trying not to beat myself up too much over the fact that a few of the programs that are the *best* fit for me are elsewhere... 
 

Hi all! 
This thread has been a bit dead for a few weeks, but figured I'd put my info in here! 
I'm graduating in May with a BA double major in English Literature and Theatre. GPA 3.99, GRE 168V/159Q/6W. I'm hoping to get accepted into a PhD program, and I'm planning on applying to 5-8 schools. Can't do any more because of finances ? The list is currently UChicago, Michigan, Northwestern, Stanford, UC Davis, and UCSB, but I have a few more I'm looking at/thinking of. 
In my graduate study, I'm looking to pursue Feminism and/or Gender and Sexuality, focusing around ideas of embodiment, intersectionality, and identity. My writing sample is a Kristevan reading of Chaim Potok's My Name Is Asher Lev, focusing on the maternal body as a site of suffering that resists sign/signifier/signified relationships, and my current research surrounds the ways in which the 'evil' or villainous body is visually coded as "other" in Western animation. Also currently pursuing a full length theatrical project utilizing the poetry of T. S. Eliot and Anne Sexton as the basis for a devised piece of poetic theatre exploring the human movement towards the divine. 
Very excited for all of us, and want to wish you all the best of luck! Also if anyone has any advice/suggestions/help, I could really use it. No one in my family has gone to grad school before, so a lot of what I'm doing is based on my own research. If anyone has applied before and has wisdom to pass along regarding writing good SOPs, contacting current grad students, determining program fit, etc, etc, etc...basically I need all the help I can get! Hope the application process goes well for everyone

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

Hey! I'm not eco-crit but I sat in on an eco-crit lecture at Ole Miss and it made me wish I was eco-crit. I can message you if you want details about that program/area.
Also, maybe look into Rice? I spoke to a few eco-crit scholars while I was there and they were very happy, plus the location - that intersection of the oil industry and hurricanes - adds an odd immediacy to the work if that's your area. It was 100% the prettiest campus and most livable city of the schools I toured.
Obviously I'm a fan of Vandy, but I know nothing about their eco-crit.
Side note: I don't know anyone's life, so I say apply to as many schools as you have a good fit and that would have a beneficial effect on you as a scholar as you can afford*. Some people have awkward fits or limited budgets, so they have four. Some people have a bit of disposable income and a well represented field, so they have 15. It's case-by-case. You don't want to be fabricating fits to meet a set minimum number of apps, but neither do you want to be cutting out schools with good fits because of some equally arbitrary maximum number.
 
*As @Warelin said in another thread, familiarizing yourself with fee waiver policies can help with this, too. 

I will never not upvote "The GRE is trash posts."
I went to take the GRE with a friend of mine. The computers on his side all had a couple minute power outage. At the end, he scored ten who points lower than me in the quantitative even though HE WAS THE ONE WHO TUTORED ME ON THE QUANTITATIVE SECTION. Anyway, the GRE is awful and actually just reflects stress levels while taking the test rather than actual knowledge. The end. 

Wow! My head is swimming in all this excellent advice. Thanks, all, for commenting. Several of my professors also suggested applying to all the programs I can afford and can make time for tailoring apps. Luckily, I'm in the position finance-wise and time-wise to apply to all 18-ish schools on my list (after several more rounds of vetting, of course).
@FreakyFoucault Thanks for the welcome and for all the suggestions! You have put my mind at ease regarding the GRE (at least, for now). And as for the money talk, I see now that the return on investment of applying to more schools greatly outweighs the initial cost of apps. Thanks for putting that in terms that I can easily understand! I will look again at Stanford and message you if I have any questions – thanks a bunch. 
I'll be mindful of application fatigue, too, @Kilos. I'm hoping that I've started this application process soon enough to avoid the fatigue showing up in apps, but we shall see. 
@Warelin, those numbers really put this whole thing into perspective. It seems like my expectations should be thrown out the window when it comes to acceptances/rejections.  
@M(allthevowels)H I would love to hear about Ole Miss's program if you don't mind! I've just looked into Rice and I was impressed with the faculty working on environmental lit. Plus, living in Houston would be great, I imagine. They have already been added to my list – thanks for the suggestion. Congrats on your acceptances and good luck in the fall! 
@klader I will be sure to only apply to schools where I see a strong fit. The problem so far is that I fall in love with so many programs that I look into! But yes, I look forward to the day when campus visits are around the corner. I'm not currently a student, so I'll have to work something out with my job, but it sounds like campus visits are necessary on the decision-making side of this process. Thanks for your suggestions! 
I'm sure I'm not doing replying correctly, but I wanted to make sure to thank everyone for their sound advice. You guys rock! 
 

Agreed with being more careful when teaching, and I definitely do dress up more when doing teaching and presentations. Good reminder!
 
 
The "didn't expect you to have a tattoo" is the part that actually extra creeps me up. I recently happened to read this paper that suggested men tended to think a woman with a tattoo was more likely to sleep with them. Couple it with the wink and I'm feeling quite creeped. (Not saying all men are like this as I know many gentlemen).
Guess I will be going back to wearing my more professional clothes.
 
It can be so hard to be a woman in a male-dominated field. I am tired.
 

I'd like to add a small note here that a lot of programs that consider you for their master's program are unfunded ones or ones where funding is very competitive at the MA level. Several programs that come to mind are Colorado, Chicago, Carnegie Mellon, Rochester and SUNY Buffalo.