jusrain

I must learn this optimism (or basic faith in humanity...). I hope you get it too!

Thanks for this information!

Didn’t someone in another thread say they were trying to get away from their cut-throat reputation? This doesn’t illustrate that to me, in all honesty.

It kind of gives me the impression that the more slots people are available for, the more likely they are to be interviewed, which I really hope isn’t the case since I’m only available one day (by chance, otherwise I work full time). To quote the email: “The department will not be able to interview all of the candidates at this round of the admissions process, so not all of you will receive a request for an interview.”

I also do question some of the results page info quite a bit! So don’t lose hope. The email said “this round of interviews,” maybe there are multiple groups! Also, I probably didn’t get an interview at all, it’s very odd and disconcerting

I’m not an international student.

Did every UChicago applicant receive a Doodle poll for a potential interview? Or is this indicative of anything?

Oops, I missed that! I don’t see what anyone gets out of trolling about stuff like this. Thanks for the reassurances.

Oh, I wish I could stop worrying! But this at least assuages the feeling a bit; I’m still going to assume I don’t get in anywhere and think of back up plans.

Anyone else see the recent interview posted on the results page for UChicago? Is this one spam too?

Thank you all! Not sure what I was so freaked out about— I emailed the dept head (we had a previous correspondence) and he responded minutes later with an “all is well.”

Hi all— I’m in kind of a pickle. I turned in all of my applications on time, and the one for Purdue was due Jan 1. One of my LOR writers asked me in December to confirm everything was in, and I checked every program but forgot Purdue (because I’m a dolt, and of course that’s the one she never submitted). Looking at last year’s results board, people heard from Purdue around the end of January. My undergrad school doesn’t return from winter break until January 21. This specific prof really helped me with my applications— she was super involved and that ended up taking up a lot of her time. I don’t want to rush her during the holidays, and I know LOR uploads get a bit of leeway, but do you all think this is important enough for me to bother her during winter break? I emailed her so hopefully she’ll check it, but what would happen if she doesn’t see it until Jan 21? Does that screw up my chances completely? Thanks in advance for your insight!

Hi all! I'm wondering if anyone can comment on what might be appropriate for crediting theorists in my SOP (due today, ack!) I originally had MLA style in-text citations in my SOP with a short works cited page, but all of the feedback I'm getting is that it's a bit disruptive. How do i combat this? Remove quotations entirely? Switch to Chicago Style footnotes even though that's not usually the citation method in papers? Not cite at all? I have 3-4 short phrases that I use and think are important to my SOP, but not necessarily fundamental if they are going to imply I do not understand the format of the SOP. I don't want to appear as if I'm not properly crediting people either, though. Example usage: Smith's research investigates XYZ, what he calls "blah blah blah," the implications of which are highly important to my research and life story yada yada (Smith 10).

I'm probably going to be classified as a cultural studies candidate (which is worrisome for some of the English depts I'm applying to) but I'm focusing on Asian-American and African-American textual/visual culture, specifically Afro-Indian discourse. Not sure which pool(s) I'll be in!

I have a works cited page (for programs that allow uploads instead of silly paste-in text boxes). I initially didn't have one, but I happened to meet an admissions person from UChicago and they suggested I have one. I'm not sure if it's the norm, but I don't know how it could hurt to properly cite.

Hey there! I wanted to offer you some feedback, with the caveat that I don't know which specific programs you're writing for so this comment may not indeed be relevant. I wonder if the introductory paragraph, in its current state, is entirely necessary. It mentions modern difficulties in communication, but I'm not sure the line about social media connects to your project at first read. It looks like your proposal is focused on Modernism (not just lowercase 'm' modernism, right?), but I don't get a clear idea of that until the second to last paragraph. Might it help your reader along if some of the introductory material were replaced with more detail about your specific interests? What are some of the questions you are asking? How does this disconnect in communication, what you call the aftermath of the Modernist "internal dialogue," function within the texts you hope to examine? For me, it would be far easier to recognize the 'meat' of your SoP if the preceding paragraphs were yoked together with your central idea. Hope this is helpful, and apologies if my comments don't make sense for the type of SoP you are trying to write.

Hi all! I’m working diligently on my SOPs, but I’ve noticed there’s a bit too much guesswork involved in choosing which faculty advisors to list for many programs. Does anyone have any advice as to phrases/words to look for that determine whether or not a professor is potentially still advising/actively researching? For programs that have a lot of “John Smith III Professor of English” appointees (essentially a lengthy alumnus’ name followed by “distinguished professor of anthropology and English, etc.), does this title hint anything about that scholar’s future in the department? Are these almost always temporary postings? If so, should I only list folks who have “assistant/associate professor” in their titles, as they’re definitely tenured or tenure-track faculty? What about full professor? Is it silly to avoid listing potential advisors who have been teaching for a long time, or is that a good way to avoid faculty who may be leaving shortly? Many current students whom I’ve already reached out to don’t know who may be leaving, and faculty may not want to clue prospective applicants in on departmental politics. Other than directly asking people if they are taking advisees, do any current students have thoughts on how to navigate this? Is it a crap shoot? Thanks for any and all advice!

If I’m not too late to the party, I’d be happy to join in too!

Hi all! Apologies if this has already been asked and answered, but I am wondering if anybody knows how common it is for departments to automatically consider rejected PhD applicants for their masters programs. I came across this while perusing Boston College's English PhD program, but I can't find other institutions that share this practice (or at least publicize it). Is this often done at other universities? If so, where would one look to find out this information? Short of directly emailing program directors, I can't think of a quick way to know whether or not an institution does this. Is there a list out there of programs that automatically consider 'promising' PhD rejects for an MA in the same department? Thanks in advance for reading

Can I just say you’re an absolute angel? Thank you! This is an amazing resource/ organization method!

Thank you so much, everyone. I will definitely PM those of you with similar interests, and hello to you, @jadeisokay! Your advice has really helped me evaluate my approach, and I think I've been thinking of this whole process as similar to undergraduate admissions when it's clearly different.

I am new to this forum so please let me know if I am being redundant or if these questions have already been answered in another thread! I'm having trouble narrowing down my list of English PhD programs to apply to, and am wonder if others who've done this before might have any insight or techniques in doing so. My advising professor told me to choose numerous backups (dependent, of course, upon fit), but her suggestion of applying to 20+ schools is not monetarily feasible for me. I want to be deliberate and smart about which programs I apply to, and while I'm tempted to apply to numerous 'reach' schools (i.e. top 15 programs), I'm not sure if it'll be worth it considering their low acceptance rates. I'm really just unsure of how competitive of an applicant I am, so any advice on where to start would be greatly appreciated. My current list includes a few American Studies and Performance Studies programs in addition to traditional English programs. I am still figuring out my project, but I'm fascinated by Afro-American and Asian American literature and autobiography (contemporary archives/repertoire are especially interesting to me, think Tina Campt). I will likely be applying to some of the bigger names in Black Studies; still determining if Asian American Studies is right for me. My questions, then, are as follows: - Is it worth it to apply to the top 15-20 programs when they have only a handful of spots? Of course, I will only apply to programs that are relevant to my research interests, but I'm not sure if it's worth spending so much time/money if I'm extremely unlikely to be admitted, especially since I don't have an MA and I would assume many (more qualified) applicants do. - How many 'reach' and 'backup' programs do most people apply to? To what extent does program 'pedigree' matter in overall PhD experience and eventual job placement? Some background about me: - Graduated a few years ago with a BA in English (minors in Creative Writing and Black Studies) from a small liberal arts school. - Undergraduate GPA was ~3.87; I wrote a thesis. I have a few profs who know me well and will (hopefully) write decent letters of rec. - My GRE general test scores are horrendous to middling at best (~311 combined score, 164V, 147Q, 4.5 writing, will probably retake) - I have yet to take the GRE Lit Subject test, so that may improve my overall competitiveness, though I know that might not matter much. - No conferences or publications under my belt. Thank you!