Bopie5

Omg! I used this exact one too!

I'm stressed af. I haven't done an academic interview since I was interviewing for a scholarship for undergrad. Obviously I hope I get one, and I've read so many of the GradCafe threads about interviews, but I still don't feel like I have a sense of what a visit would actually tangibly look/feel like.

I spent some time working with it, and basically the conclusion I drew is that bad GREs/GPAs hurt you, but good GREs/GPAs are no guarantee of acceptance. Seems like more helpful in terms of analyzing decision dates than how test scores affect things. Wonder if we could make a google doc spreadsheet and pin it (like the funding one) that lists decision dates for different English programs over the last five years or so? Or would that be more trouble than it's worth...

Is there any way to know visit dates any time soon? My March is starting to get crammed up, but I want to leave it relatively open just in case (although that also feels presumptuous)...ugh! Hard to get things planned out. ?

THIS! This is a big big mood. I’m hoping that as the discipline progresses we can acknowledge the contributions of old white guys without having to always name drop or analyze them whenever we talk about the work that draws from them. Both of these sound totally fascinating. Adding to my summer reading list!!

This is a BIG mood haha!

You are speaking my language rn! Love Kristeva, Cixous, and Irigaray! My writing sample was largely drawn from Kristeva’s “Stabat Mater.” Totally agree—my psychology major friends are always shocked about how much I use Freud. Have you read Toril Moi’s essay “From Femininity to Finitude: Freud, Lacan, and Feminism, Again”? She deploys Joyce McDougall and Stanley Cavell to argue for taking Freud and Lacan’s understandings of castration and penis (or phallus) envy and reformulating the discourse to talk about “finitude” instead. Super interesting as a modern attempt to really engage with the impacts of Freud and Lacan! And also agree with the annoyance at selling the MAPH already. But knowing that everyone got the email makes me feel relieved.

Ah, I see! That makes sense for sure, I didn’t know that about Chicago.

Even though they say mid-Feb in the email? I sure hope it’s 3-4 weeks and not 6-7.

Posted about this in 2019 Applicants before reading this thread, lmao! I got it too and it totally made my heart stop.

So who else just now got the email from humanitiesadmissions at Chicago and briefly panicked!? I read and reread the application receipt email making sure it wasn't saying anything bad haha! Looks like we'll be hearing mid-Feb. Edit: Whoops, didn't realize there was a whole thread for this! Sorry friends.

imho, definitely! I love psychoanalytic crit, especially for poetry, but I think Freud (and tbh, Lacan as well) are especially off the mark in terms of their theories of femininity! But so much psychoanalytic theory rests on Freud/Lacan/Lacan’s use of Freud that I appreciate their work even though I find parts of it sexist and/or troubling. Personally, I think Freud is still a compelling writer even though I’m not a fan of the centrality he gives to the threat or discovery of “castration.” My roommate’s a psychology major and she definitely thinks Freud’s theories are a big pile of bullshit, but was fascinated to learn how important he is for the foundation of psychoanalytic crit!

Yeah, same--I spent a paragraph on my guiding question/project, a paragraph on my undergrad research, a short paragraph on my senior honors thesis, and a paragraph on fit, so I think I should be okay. And yes, Merleau-Ponty is so interesting! A big implicit line of inquiry in my work is whether we have bodies, or are bodies (essentially, does literature operate on dualist or monist assumptions about what embodiment means), and Merleau-Ponty's emphasis on the primacy of the body for perception is definitely significant there. Have you read Iris Young's "Throwing Like a Girl"?

I did this too!!! A few profs did work with embodiment in angles I don’t have as much experience with, such as ability theory, and I mentioned how they could guide my work toward being more intersectional. I wish I had had this thread when I wrote my first drafts of my SoPs in September—I saw so many threads and articles emphasizing the importance of fit, but it took me a while to put my finger on how to articulate it well. Still not even convinced I spent enough of my word count on it.

Hi all! Random question, but I figured those of you who are literary theory nerds/feminist and gender theory people might have an answer to a question I've been researching! Do any of you have a preference for either the 1953 Parshley or the 2009 Borde/Malovany-Chevalier translation of Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex? I know Toril Moi at Duke savaged the newer one, but I've seen varying opinions on it, and I know a lot of people (Moi included) have problems with the Parshley translation...I asked a few of my profs, but none of them had given the 2009 translation more than a cursory glance, and just default to the 1953. I know this is moderately niche, but I've only read excerpts from each, and wanted some other opinions.

Yeah, that’s mostly what I meant! Sorry for using unclear language. By department culture, I’m largely referring to a few things. 1, what are they known for? 2, do they prioritize individual or collaborative work? How interactive/communal/social is the cohort/department? 3, does the department skew more toward interdisciplinarity or specialization? 4, does the department primarily organize faculty/research by period (e.g. medievalist, early modern, 19th century, 21st century), genre (e.g. novel, poetry, media studies), theory (e.g. ecocriticism, feminist theory, postcolonial), or something else? 5, what’s placement (e.g. where do people get hired after graduation, and in what positions) like? 6, what resources are available (libraries, funding, teaching help, social events, activism groups, student unions)? are profs accessible? 7, larger geographic/demographic fit—what part of the country is it in? what’s the town like? what’s the racial demographics (of the town and the faculty)? what’s the political climate (of the town and the school)? what’s there to do near or on campus? does the school offer housing for grad students? Basically, as I use the term, department culture is an amalgamation of all of these factors. It’s a fancy way of asking what this place is “like”—although that’s hard to find information on, and difficult to quantify or support with non-anecdotal data.

I totally feel that! Honestly, can’t even imagine what it must’ve been like to sift through all the Af-Am scholars, trying to find someone whose authors, methodology, or sub-interests fit well with yours! If it helps, three of the current or recent PhD students that I talked to also mentioned to me that as far as dissertation advisors go, sometimes personality fit can be more important than interest or period fit, especially in highly interdisciplinary departments. Two of them had an advisor whose research didn’t directly overlap with their thesis, but provided important perspectives anyways and were a good fit in terms of feedback and support. But that’s also something you’d have virtually no way to know before you’re in the program!

Yay! Looking forward to reading it!

Ah, I think my process here might look a bit different than yours, just because you have more experience/knowledge than me in this process, and because of the different nature of our research interest. My primary research category is bodies/embodiment, which is relatively more niche as a guiding impulse (in that most department sites don't have a "bodies" tag the way they might for "queer theory" or "20th century American"). Therefore, my fit search meant reading tonnnnns of profiles looking for specific work on embodiment (sometimes I got there through feminist theory or performance studies tags, but sometimes I stumbled on it only after reading the profile of every listed faculty member!). Finding POIs who consistently write on bodies narrowed my field significantly, to be honest. From there, I prioritized period fit, especially at more historically organized departments. At more interdisciplinary departments, I prioritized shared sub-interests (gender performance, emotion, beauty, pain/suffering). Generally, I valued overlapping areas of interest over methodology, but often I was fortunate enough to find POIs who carry out research in ways that easily make sense to my brain. I mostly ruled out people who were in the field but doing totally different things (e.g. I ruled out several Medievalists who talked about bodies and gender, as the discourse for that period is so different to the kind of scholarship that happens around bodies in 20th/21st century lit; also generally didn't mention a lot of Victorianists since that period doesn't excite me in the same way other periods do). One notable exception to the above approach was my naming of Lisa Ruddick as a POI at Chicago, because that was a methodology/ethos choice more than a works one. We overlap in period and interest in feminist theory, but I was more drawn to her work because of her compelling perspectives on the use of theory. In my SoP, I presented us as sharing an ethos/approach, and that her knowledge of the period could guide my work even though we don't necessarily work on the same sub-topics or authors, while also claiming her background in psychoanalysis could push my research in new directions. Hopefully that all makes sense!

Congrats!!! So exciting, I’m so happy for you. Will it be accessible online or through any databases, or is it in a subscription journal?

I identified fit by reading professor profiles and previous course lists. I had made a list of like 30 schools I was interested in, and knocked off any school that didn't have at least one prof whose work fit directly/clearly with mine and made me excited. Once I narrowed down to my 7, I read a few publications or abstracts from each of my top POIs at each school, and also skimmed their CVs if those were available! That gave me a good sense of their work, and allowed me to make semi-specific claims in my SoP about how their research works with mine or could direct mine. This was easier to do when the word count allowed for more than 2 sentences per POI haha. Also, I generally tried to make arguments about department cultural fit (e.g. learning as a communal process at Michigan, theory at Chicago), although those are feel less weighty to me than having a strong case about how my research fits with the kind of research or coursework happening at the department. That could just be me though!

Agree, this seems crucial (and has already been crucial throughout my app process). My professors have been absolute angels, going so above and beyond to help me. Still working on writing out all of the thank you notes I want to give them!

WOW! This looks amazing. I'd never even heard of this. Thank you so much--it sounds like this is an incredible resource and opportunity. Just bookmarked the link! It sounds like this would not only greatly improve my apps, but would also foster a lot of personal growth and accurate self-perception when it comes to academia and applications. Bet those skills can easily transfer to future job applications and cover letters, etc, as well! Also, your post is so thoughtful and helpful, it should be a pinned thread somewhere on how to deal with rejection and try again.

Breaking Bad is a standard answer here, but it's worth it! If you want something fun/light, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is sort of a tv equivalent of a beach read. And if you want a sitcom, The Good Place is pretty unbeatable!

@WildeThing Thank you thank you! I totally agree about a system that allows for updates/changes--hopefully that will eventually become the norm? None of my apps allow changes after submissions. Also agree about posting more/contributing--I've just been hesitant because I don't want to be obnoxious/over post. Although I'm sure many of us are thinking the same thing, so we all just sit here lurking and waiting for someone else to contribute/start a conversation haha! Thank you for all the info about the notification process. As a first timer, this is so helpful, and at least gives me a small sense of what to expect and when to expect it. For you and others who have done this before, do you have any tips on how to healthily process rejections? What helped you persist and try again without being too discouraged?