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I spoke with my spanish professor recently about my post-undergrad plans and I'd mentioned that I would be trying to pursue English at the grad level. He suggested that I look into Spanish programs as it may be more practical. Now, whether any doctorate in the humanities is more practical than another is a different conversation, but it did get me considering the idea. However, as it is, I don't plan on completing my Spanish major due to time/money restraints. However, I do speak the language fluently (it is my first language) and will be graduating with a degree in English literature in the fall. Would I be at a severe disadvantage in applying to a Spanish PhD program without having a BA in Spanish? My field of interest falls squarely between English and Spanish literature (transgenerational and transcultural ideas of masculinity and sexual identity), but I don't know if it'd be a waste of time/silly to apply with only an English BA. I was originally going to apply to just English programs or some CompLit programs, but I'm not so sure now. For me to finish my Spanish major, I would need to stick around possibly another three semesters, that, to be frank, is money I don't want to spend on my BA. That said, I would consider an MA in Spanish, probably at UVA, where I qualify for in-state tuition, if it help get into a better program than I could with just my English BA. Any suggestions are welcome! Thank you.

Berkeley is also on my list! As for Stanford, their program looks great but I don't know if I'm confident enough in my application for it. If all goes well this semester, I'll be applying to my schools with a 3.85~ from a pretty okay state school. Beyond that, I think my writing is strong + I have a handful of professors whom I know will be able to write me a good letter of recommendation, but I'm still unsure whether it'll be enough for a school like Stanford.

1) Unfortunately, no. While the English dept. at my uni has been great, the Spanish department was very VERY lacking. I was a Spanish double major for a bit (I technically still am), but I've decided to drop it since the department is so small and the course offerings are little. Since I've tested out of the language requirements, I would need to stay a lot longer to wait for specially offered classes + study abroad classes to have the requisite credits to get the degree. 2) I have not yet! But I am in the process of doing so. 3) Also in the process of doing this, so I'd have to get back to you, but thanks for reminding me of the importance of doing so!

Hi all, I'm an undergrad that will be graduating this fall, and I'm trying to get a feel for what schools I'll be applying to this coming year. My interests revolve mostly about intercultural identity among Latin American immigrants to the U.S., and elsewhere. In particular, opposing conceptions of gender, sexuality, role, etc. that appear due to conflicting cultures. I've mostly been looking for universities with a sizable amount of Latinx/Chicanx focused professors, which has put NYU, UCLA, and Northwestern at the top of my list. However, since I would also like to incorporate literature from the originating countries (i.e. literature in Spanish), I was wondering whether I would benefit from also looking into comparative literature programs. My university doesn't have a comp lit undergrad or even a Spanish literature program, so I haven't been able to get a very good feel for what departments of that type are like. If anyone has suggestions, I'd really appreciate it! edit: also, I'd like to add that I already speak Spanish fluently. For any schools that require a third language, I'd be looking into French or Portuguese as I have prior experience with them (though I'm certainly not conversational with either).