Indecisive Poet

Thanks so much for the info! Your phrasing is making me think I should be emailing and/or calling directors of the programs I'm interested in. Do you think this is necessary, and what kind of info are you looking for when you do this?

Right -- it seems like from what I've been reading on GC, many people have found reaching out to potential advisors not necessary, but helpful in learning more about what the program is like and what the university might be looking for in a SoP. I realized after I posted that the section in the "Fit Finder" is about whether universities want professors mentioned in the SoPs or not, not whether they would like you to reach out to professors or not. I also haven't found anything spelled out explicitly about this -- any thoughts? Thanks for the thorough explanation! Of course funding information is crucial -- I didn't realize this and all the specifics of the timeline, etc. are in the handbooks. I had kind of just assumed the handbooks were for explaining administrative procedures to currents students. I've since been looking at a ton of them and they've had much more specific and useful information than the websites themselves. I am finding it difficult on most websites to determine whether funding is offered to all students or not. It seems that those who do fully-fund are usually very explicit about it, and those who do not avoid any mention of it or opportunity to lay out exactly what funding looks like there (even in the handbooks). I suppose in this case I would reach out to someone at the university to find out details? Or perhaps, if it's a program I'm very interested in, just apply and see what type of funding I am offered?

I know this post is a little old, but this raised a flag for me -- I will be applying to PhDs for 2020 entry with an M.A. and had PSU on my (very large and ready to be narrowed-down) list. Wasn't aware of this. Can you elaborate?

This is amazing @punctilious, thank you! And tells me I'm on the right track since I had a very similar spreadsheet going already. Some questions -- how does one use the NRC rankings? Which of the million numbers supplied is the definitive number? Also, graduate handbook? What is this/how is it relevant? Lastly, how does one know whether a program prefers that prospective applicants reach out to professors or not? I've never seen a suggestion to do so or a warning against doing so on a program's website, and from asking around it seems like this is up to the individual applicant (and from what I've heard is usually not a good idea for English programs, though some have had success).

More like I just discovered these forums and am going a bit overboard.. They're an incredibly resource, though -- the collective knowledge of a bunch of already-attending English PhDs at universities all over the country can probably prep me for apps better than anything else. I'm glad I discovered them now when I still have so much time to read through everything and use my MA time carefully.

Apologies if there have been threads like this -- I'm finding it difficult to look for specific content as opposed to browsing through the most recent posts. Feel free to send links to threads if applicable. I will be starting a one-year MA degree in the UK this coming fall. I would love to have a conference presentation or two under my belt by the time I apply to PhD programs in the fall of 2019, but I don't know the first thing about getting myself lined up as a presenter at a professional conference. I do not believe taught MA programs in the UK have any history of guiding students toward conferences or providing funding for them to attend, so I would most likely be doing this on my own. Some of my questions are: How does one go about finding good conferences to target, and is it realistic for an MA student with no publication history or conference experience to expect to be accepted to present at one? How selective is the process? When I respond to these calls for papers, am I proposing to present a paper I've already written or one I will be writing? What does the practice of networking at conferences actually look like? Networking/professional/personal advertisement/entrepreneur-y areas are my weak spot, and I need to work on being okay with them, but as of now I don't know how to do this without feeling artificial. Does one have to be actively tied to an institution to present? For example, would I be eligible to submit a paper for a conference in the gap months between my MA and my PhD when I am applying to PhD programs? I'm aware of some major conferences in Romanticism, but if anyone has specific recommendations, I am in c18/Romanticism and theory.

Thank you all for your input! I will most likely not be retaking them -- it seems like it's a much better idea to spend the next year working on qualitative (and worthwhile) rather than quantitative improvement.

Is this information for guaranteed funding, competitive possibilities, or both? For example, I know UC Davis' program is not funded... the website makes it seem like there is limited funding available for some students, but that's it. Edit: okay, I see that some have notes saying not all students are offered funding. I wonder if anyone who isn't offered funding ever actually accepts an offer of admission...

Thanks very much, both of you! I've also reached out to some undergrad professors of mine who have said they don't think admissions committees will care where I got my MA. It seems like Edinburgh is the right choice for me -- the courses I'd be taking there are an absolute dream (I don't know how I'll choose) and there are plenty of Romantic faculty. I would also much, much rather live in Edinburgh than in London, but I didn't want that to be a deciding factor since it's only a year-long program.

V: 97%, W: 6, Q: 51% Subject Test: 84% I'm starting a one-year M.A. program this year that overlaps into next September, which means I will be applying to PhD programs in the fall of 2019, for 2020 entry. I technically have about a year and a few months to study in that respect, but I'd also rather use that time to put all my energy into my M.A. program and dissertation. I'm probably not looking at any ivy PhD programs (though I may apply to one or two as long shots), but am hoping to end up at a very solid program.

I can't offer advice on any programs (just starting my M.A. myself), but I'm curious which resource grants you've been given and how you were able to apply without being a PhD student. I will be in a similar 1-year gap year situation myself and wanted to look into applying to grants for research this year for that time, but I'm having a had time coming across anything that doesn't require an institutional affiliation.

Hi all, I've been offered places on English MAs at the above three universities. However, the reason I'm doing the MA is that I'm interested in specialising in 18th century and Romantic literature, which I have little undergraduate background in. UCL only offers an MA on modernism, Edinburgh's is on Romantic/Enlightenment/victorian, and Durham offers some great modules in Romanticism. I'm also big on literary theory, which only Edinburgh offers modules in. It's clear to me which programs are the better fit for me, but I'm wondering whether this matters less than prestige when it comes to PhD admissions. I am planning on attending a PhD program in the US afterward, so international prestige matters more to me than national reputation, and from what I understand, UCL is really the only UK university outside of Oxbridge (I didn't get in) that has international reputation in English. I believe if I went to UCL, I would be able to tailor my dissertation to talk about modernist literature in conversation with the earlier areas I'm interested in. I'm not sure whether it would be more favourable for me to attend an impressive-looking university with global connections and write a personal statement about a period of literature I didn't study (since I am not expected to be a specialist yet at the time of applications), or whether it would be better for me to attend a lesser-known university that might be assumed to be "the only one I could get into" that was actually a better fit for my research interests. Any ideas?