Rootbound

I can't answer all of your questions, but to the ones I can: If teaching and community activism are your passion, you can and should say that in a SoP--even better if you can explicitly connect that passion to your research interests. I don't think it would necessarily help your case to say that you (only?) want to do that in a community college; academic elitism, sadly, absolutely exists, and I could see a snooty member of an admissions committee looking down on that aspiration as "unserious," especially at a funded MA program. That's stupid, obviously, and the kind of attitude that's been killing higher ed for decades, but unless there's a specific reason why a particular program would put you in a better position to teach at a CC, then I think it's best to leave it out of an SoP. I don't think there's anything wrong with having specific interests, particularly if you already have an advanced degree. I'd think it would be quite a positive, actually. on "bashing philosophy": I think it's mostly a question of framing. So leading with what English study would allow you to do would be preferable to leading with what Philosophy didn't. Hope that helps!

@toad11 while "top ten or bust" can be misleading, it does reflect the fact that in a shrinking/shrunken job market, it's fairly uncommon (but not unheard of) to get a job at an institution a tier above your own. It's more likely that one would get a job a tier down. I don't think rankings necessarily reflect a program's actual strength, but your institution's perceived status will likely matter at some point, unfortunately. So if your goal is an academic job, it would be prudent to at minimum look into the placement record of your program--how many of their phds have gotten tenure-track jobs in the last five years? That should give you a better idea of how the rankings could affect your prospects. If you do decide to apply elsewhere, you should have no problem getting recommendations from your current professors, as long as they have treated you well thus far and are clear-eyed about your reasons for leaving. If your advisor is so offended that you want to leave that they start gossiping about you or refuse to recommend you, especially if they know your reasons are not personal, well then honestly it's probably good you get away from them--that's weird, possessive behavior. But it doesn't seem like the most likely outcome. I'm not sure why you think it'd be "suicidal" (pretty distasteful hyperbole imho) to leave your program any later than your second year. I'm not sure how your program is structured, but if it's a stand-alone phd program, then I don't see what the harm would be if you waited until you got your MA and then left, as this is a fairly common time for students to leave their programs regardless of destination. If you already hold an MA from another program, or if you are two years into writing a diss, then I'd say that that would make it harder to get accepted elsewhere. But I'd expect that finishing your course work before transferring could potentially be a good sign that you're able to follow through on a commitment and won't jump ship too easily. I am just an ABD student, so it's not like I'm on admission committees, and I'd strongly encourage you to discuss this with your advisor, but my two cents are so long as you leave before starting a diss, when exactly you leave won't make too much of a difference. Finally, a word of encouragement: I have a colleague who came to our program after getting their MA from one institution, starting a phd at another, but then leaving due to a personnel change for her current position. So it's definitely possible!

glad to be of help! Just a small piece of advice in case you decide to pursue an English phd elsewhere: approach any phd program that is not fully funded with caution. Fully funded means not only do they cover tuition, but they also pay you to be a student either with a stipend or with teaching jobs (usually both). It sounds like you're in a unique position in that your employer will pay for your degree (which is great!), so while I'm not saying to write off non-funded programs completely, I do encourage you to scrutinize them closely. best of luck!

Unfortunately, I'd guess that if you're planning to apply for academic job, an online phd won't be viewed as a strong asset on your cv. Rather than say if this is a "scam" or not, I'd suggest you have a conversation with a faculty member in the program and voice these same concerns to them. While it's possible they may not be entirely honest with you, I'd bet that if you impressed upon them how important an issue this was to you, you could at least get a better idea of what they think your chances could be for an academic job. I don't want to be discouraging, but as a note: the academic job market for English phds is very very not good. You can get all the statistical info online, but suffice to say they are basically no programs whose prestige will automatically get their phds tenure track jobs. Especially if you're in this program for the sake of getting an academic job, make sure that you're fully aware of the situation you'll be facing best of luck!

Leveraging offers for more funding is already fairly unlikely to succeed, as in most programs there's not a pot of money hidden away that they can use to attract specific applicants. Usually, the best case scenario is that a university will offer more summer funding or a lighter teaching load, but only if they really, really want a particular applicant that they're worried about losing to another program. So unless you've heard from a particular program that they're 100% committed to bringing you in, I don't think any of them would be motivated to sweeten the deal, even if they could. The only way I can think of generating some leverage would be by pointing out how costs of living might make one program's offer effectively lower, but even then I'm not sure you'd get anything other than "We are not able to make any changes to your funding offer."

When I applied 3 years ago there was significantly more activity on the forums than there seems to be now, so I think this is a safe bet. That said, some programs are still feeling the effects of pandemic budget-cutting and have definitely shrunk their cohort size

Sorry to hear what you've been going through. I just wanted to support to idea of taking time off--especially if you went directly from undergrad to an MA program, taking a year or two to do totally non-academic things could be very restorative. I was in an analogous situation, and taking two years off was really helpful--for one, when I came back it felt much more like a job, not like college with added pressure. Also 2:2 with no prior experience is super exhausting! So taking some time away should help clarify, and in the meantime I honestly wouldn't place too much stock in the way you're feeling about the future of your work at this moment.

I'm not sure if you're already aware of this info, but take a look at the English department's calendar. I think your estimate is spot on: https://english.rutgers.edu/news-events/events-98/range.listevents/-.html

I'm an early modernist at a phd program on the east coast of the US (also very into allegory), feel free to message me if you have questions!

As a current grad student at a university with a very strong and active union, I can heartily endorse their importance. The current pandemic is obviously unprecedented and a relatively unique event, but the union here has gone to great lengths to successfully protect not only its members, but also graduate students on fellowship and other staff--actions that simply would not have happened without their work. Without a union, rather obviously, your labor can be more easily exploited by the institution, and grad students are near first on the exploitable list. Recently, the union here has negotiated with the administration over the implementation of a ridiculously short sighted class scheduling system that would have seriously impacted the commuting cost for instructors who don't live in the immediate area (many don't), and they've also made sure grad instructors are compensated fairly for the extra work of suddenly shifting a class online. There were some concerns about changing healthcare benefits for TAs earlier in the year, and the union was able to prevent any serious problems. I don't know how these issues would have been solved, at least as quickly as they were, without a union. More generally, a department in which both faculty and students are actively involved in the union creates an atmosphere of openness and engagement around labor or funding issues, as opposed to regarding these topics as impolite or even crass. I would be more concerned about the attitude of faculty toward their students' funding and well-being at an institution that "brutally crushed" unionization. This is not to say that without a union you will definitely be exploited and your advisor will wave you away when you come to ask for advice about funding, and more to emphasize that a union can have a very positive impact on your experience. Frankly (and ignorantly, without knowing more about the situation), I would be wary of an institution that so strongly opposed to unionization--not even trying to look like you act in the best interests of your employees is not promising.

Say this more formally and maybe add something about how great that DGS specifically was and you're good to go. They expect some applicants to turn down their offers, it's not a big insult to them if you change your mind.

I know from experience last year that UVA maintains an invisible waitlist, and while they did eventually formally tell me I was on it, it was well into March, and after I had informally been told in answer to my email. However, there were also people who were simply rejected later--whether or not that spoke to their place in the invisible line, I'm not sure. I would recommend waiting until March if you can stand it, as it's likely your application is still under some kind of consideration.

Nope. Four is plenty. The English departments really will not care, and four is enough to clear any larger institutional bars for funding.

Couple things: 1) While higher ranked schools are indeed more competitive, the whole admissions process is, on some level, a bit of a crapshoot. Your application may not succeed based on things you could not possibly know--the professor you named in your personal statement might be taking a job elsewhere, or they might not want to take on more students. They may have just admitted a bunch of people with the same interests as you, and are looking to diversify. Or, and this is how so many people end up on waitlists, they just have to draw the line somewhere. That said, I would encourage you to apply to some programs outside the top 20. There are a lot of amazing programs that aren't highly ranked, and thus are hard to find. Spending a little time digging through recent articles in your field, and looking up their author's department, can be a useful way to broaden your scope. The rankings are somewhat useless as a measure of the department's quality, they really only indicate its "prestige." I can guarantee that there are excellent programs outside the top 20 that share your research interests. 2) I was shut out the first time I applied. I had applied exclusively to top 20 programs. The next year, I broadened my search and applied to a much greater variety--however, the only programs that accepted me were in the top 20. Make of that what you will, it's the mystery of the admissions process. However, you should in some small way prepare to be shut out. It's unfortunately a real possibility. Not only is it a huge pain logistically, but it can be very difficult emotionally as well, or at least it was for me. I wish I had made some small contingency plan, so that I wouldn't have immediately felt lost and directionless on top of the very unpleasant feeling of being shut out. If you really really really cannot be shut out (and there are certainly legitimate reasons why that could be the case!), I would encourage you to apply to some funded MA programs as well as broadening your scope for PhD programs. Unfortunately, the admissions process is not solely based on merit, and there are just things about it you won't be able to control. I really don't mean this to be overly pessimistic, and getting shut out is totally something you can learn from as well, as cheesy as that sounds. But especially if you only apply to very highly ranked programs, its something you should be a little prepared for.

I would just add that it's also important to look at how many years of guaranteed funding students receive. Although programs can often fund their students beyond the guaranteed time, it should give you a bit more of an idea as to how the program views its time to degree.

I always assumed there was no wiggle room (excluding works cited pages). If they ask for 15 pages, try to get as close to that without going over as possible. Why give them anything to complain about? For the “less then 10/15” requirements, obviously you wouldn’t want to send in a 5 page paper. While I would recommend getting close to the limit (this is one of your few chances to show the admission committee your academic strengths, so show as much as you can!), if you have a complete, polished 12 page paper, I don’t think those extra three pages would be anything to stress about. As a side note, I don’t understand why they don’t just use a word limit! That seems so much clearer and easier to me

An outstanding score on the english lit subject will very rarely be an application’s tipping point. A poor score, however, is much more likely to be noticed and have an effect. While taking the test might communicate to departments that you are competitive with applicants who have an English undergraduate degree, it’s never going to speak as strongly as your SoP, writing sample, and recs. I think the most a good score on the test will say is that you’ve “done your homework.” Unfortunately, your score will probably have a very minimal effect, but in order to be competitive with applicants with english degrees, you will likely need all of the “little helps” you can access.

I actually worked as a GRE test prep teacher for a while, so I have maybe a teeeeeny bit more* inside knowledge of the GRE and its function in grad admissions. Disclaimer though: all programs use it differently. Usually, GRE scores, particularly verbal and AW are more impactful as red flags than they are as benefits—that is to say that while a higher score won’t necessarily help you that much, a lower score can have a bigger negative impact. Unless the Graduate School as a whole, not the department, has a minimum you need to clear to be eligible for funding, I think you will be totally fine—in fact probably even pretty well above average—with your current scores. Adcomms use these scores often as the first step towards winnowing a large group of applicants before reading the materials more closely, and a 4 on the AW should certainly get you through that. Retaking the test and getting an increase of .5 or more is not going to be the difference between you being admitted or rejected. The only reason you might consider taking it again is if you know exactly why you got a lower than expected score—if you misread the prompt, or didnt have time to finish, etc. But really, I’d say don’t worry about it and celebrate your excellent scores! *i dont mean this as sarcasm!!! There are a million different way gre scores are weighed or ignored, and I really have very little idea of how each program does it.

Heading to Rutgers! Pretty stoked about the program, and excited to join.

OMG CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

Turned down Indiana University's offer.

Best of luck! Glad to hear you are approaching clarity about the whole mysterious decision process, or at least as much clarity as any waitlist allows. Rooting for your Michigan result!

Turned down a PhD offer from BU. I genuinely did not expect to feel so agonized over sending these emails...no fun at all.

I saw the email and was immediately hopeful that the purgatory was over in some way, but nope, just official now.

Little bummed about this part of your post here. ‘scuse my close reading here, but by putting “read” in quotes it kind of feels like you don’t think people who are, oh I don’t know, working in retail to help pay back their undergrad student loans or just keep there head above the financial waters, aren’t really reading because reading only has value if you do it in an institutionally sanctioned environment. I don’t know if this is your view, or the view you believe adcomms hold, but I would like to add some further anecdata to the perspectives that @Warelin, @amphilanthus, and @punctilious shared. After getting shut out last year, I emailed a number of the programs for feedback on my application, and all of the ones I heard back from advised me to 1)continue to work on my current material, and see if anything is publishable 2) “read” 3) do something entirely outside of academia. In other words, adcomms told me there was benefit to interrupting my pursuit of an academic life. Of course, some people might need to stay institutionally involved in academia regardless of the short or long term cost, but I would like to add to the choir of voices saying that not only is it not necessary to go to an unfunded MA just to avoid academic interruption, but in fact academic interruption can be a good thing!! And, also, if you sell copy paper, you can be a skilled and productive reader.