illcounsel

Just finished submitting all 13 of my applications. Online forms are haunting my dreams.

@s.renteria Same to you!!!!!

This may be an obvious thing to point out, but is there a particular period, country, or other factor you are most interested in with life writing? If you prefer to study contemporary American memoirs of the South, you want to apply to programs that have strong contemporary American/Southern studies scholars. If you are most interested in queer life writing, you want to apply to programs that have faculty working in queer studies. If you are most interested in early modern life writing, you want to apply to programs with strong early modern scholars (and so on). Since life writing is such a broad category, it is worth narrowing it down to what type of life writing is most interesting to you. You don't necessarily need a professor who specializes in life writing to guide your dissertation, but folks who are in the same period/place/or area of specialization. 

This may be an obvious thing to point out, but is there a particular period, country, or other factor you are most interested in with life writing? If you prefer to study contemporary American memoirs of the South, you want to apply to programs that have strong contemporary American/Southern studies scholars. If you are most interested in queer life writing, you want to apply to programs that have faculty working in queer studies. If you are most interested in early modern life writing, you want to apply to programs with strong early modern scholars (and so on). Since life writing is such a broad category, it is worth narrowing it down to what type of life writing is most interesting to you. You don't necessarily need a professor who specializes in life writing to guide your dissertation, but folks who are in the same period/place/or area of specialization. 

My language test waiver got approved by Columbia!! whoo (thank god because that test is like 5 hours and I have done enough fill-in-the-preposition and multiple choice questions to boring but ambiguous texts in high school English classes to last me a lifetime)

I'm applying for fall 2022. I'm incredibly nervous because I graduated undergrad 7 years ago! I'm applying to top-ranked programs (for a really wide range of reasons) and my undergrad degree in English was from a mid-sized state school and my MBA is from a small state school. I've applied to conferences this year as an independent scholar but have not heard back. It's been a challenge applying so far out from getting my degrees!

I think since you have not had contact for a good amount of time, I would start with a more general re-introductory email. Remind them of your general goals and research interests, your intent to apply for PhD programs, and that you are reaching out to ask them for a little. I would also include something like  - "If you feel like you are able to write a strong letter for me, I would happy to send over my application materials (SOP, CV, Writing Sample)." You may also wish to ask them to help review your materials and that you would be happy to set up a zoom meeting if it would be beneficial. 

If anyone is having nerves about emailing potential LOR writers, just do it! If you haven't already, now's the time to start reaching out! I know it can be intimidating, but writing LOR is a big part of your professors' jobs, and they've definitely been asked many times before. So don't feel weird about it!
Ok, that's it for my pep talk!

This may be an obvious thing to point out, but is there a particular period, country, or other factor you are most interested in with life writing? If you prefer to study contemporary American memoirs of the South, you want to apply to programs that have strong contemporary American/Southern studies scholars. If you are most interested in queer life writing, you want to apply to programs that have faculty working in queer studies. If you are most interested in early modern life writing, you want to apply to programs with strong early modern scholars (and so on). Since life writing is such a broad category, it is worth narrowing it down to what type of life writing is most interesting to you. You don't necessarily need a professor who specializes in life writing to guide your dissertation, but folks who are in the same period/place/or area of specialization. 

Hey friends,
I am excited to be back to GradCafe for another cycle! I will be applying to PhD programs in English Lit. this fall. I am excited for my semester to be over, so I can start doing more research on programs!

I think it would be generally advisable that your writing sample should match the your intended primary field of interest. So, if you decide to discuss your intention to pursue e.m. literature, it would make more sense to choose the e.m. paper over the victorian paper to showcase your work in the field. 

Hey friends,
I am excited to be back to GradCafe for another cycle! I will be applying to PhD programs in English Lit. this fall. I am excited for my semester to be over, so I can start doing more research on programs!

I lived in Albuquerque for a few years before moving to my program this past fall. I don't know many specifics about UNM English, but can answer any questions about ABQ or NM!

Yep, they loosened it to 1-1. I am saddened to hear it was so much more back then especially given the stipend amount as it is even now.

I think a greater barrier here than the over-reliance on (or even valorization of) industry jargon—which I agree is a definite problem—is accessibility more generally: academic arguments are typically found in academic journals, which typically exist behind paywalls for those outside of academia who don’t have access to various journal databases.
I appreciate Jeffrey Williams’s take on this, which basically boils down to: if academics publish some of their work in mainstream publications, those outside the academy are far more likely to read and benefit from that research. In short, the academy can’t meaningfully impact popular discourse if it doesn’t make a good-faith effort to engage in that discourse. Of course, some subfields are naturally more conducive to mainstream publication than others (20th/21st century Americanist here), but maybe academics should start taking it as a given that part of their work is translating complex thought and argument into something more legible (and, importantly, practicable) to a general audience. That element of public/civic responsibility should be baked right into our conception of who we are as scholars. 

I'll ask again, but slightly differently: have you had any experience navigating the job market or academic institutions as a scholar of color?
I think that the use of identity as a basis for hiring and advancement is common knowledge at this point, and has been for decades among people coming from communities that have historically been excluded from academia, doing research in fields that have been dismissed as narrowly identitarian and unimportant from their inception, or didn't receive their degree from an "elite" institution due to a host of systemic barriers. I think all faculty of color have known this for a long time, and by extension, the marginalized students they mentor as well.
Can you please clarify what you mean by "the diversity regime"? Is this following from Ahmed, Ferguson, or someone else? Because I'm honestly not sure what you're trying to get at, and at the moment your posts read like a bad-faith effort to draw attention to diversity and inclusion efforts as some kind of scapegoat for people's ire in response to the gutting of the humanities.

I can't really speak to the differences in applications, but there are two very important factors to consider about UK Programs.
1) Funding - As far as I know, UK programs generally are not funded. Meaning, you are paying for school on top of rent, supplies, food, etc. The U.S. has many funded MA Literature programs which not only make it so that you don't pay to go to school, but also get paid to teach/T.A. I am attending one of these programs in the fall, so if you have more questions about funded MA programs, let me know.
2) Program Length - Generally, MA programs in the U.K. are one year. This may seem appealing because it shortens the time you are in school, but if you want to continue on to a PhD. it can make things much more difficult. Letters of Recommendation are a HUGE part of the application process. If you go to a 1 year program, that starts in September, it basically means that you only have 1-3 months to forge meaningful relationships with your letter writers vs. 1 year+ in 2 year programs. Also, UK letters generally are a little less personal and enthusiastic than US letters. 
 
My advice is that you apply to a mix of PhD. and U.S. MA programs. You may wish to apply to some UK programs too, but know the cons of doing so.
 
Just my opinions of course. Let me know if you want any follow-up!

I can't really speak to the differences in applications, but there are two very important factors to consider about UK Programs.
1) Funding - As far as I know, UK programs generally are not funded. Meaning, you are paying for school on top of rent, supplies, food, etc. The U.S. has many funded MA Literature programs which not only make it so that you don't pay to go to school, but also get paid to teach/T.A. I am attending one of these programs in the fall, so if you have more questions about funded MA programs, let me know.
2) Program Length - Generally, MA programs in the U.K. are one year. This may seem appealing because it shortens the time you are in school, but if you want to continue on to a PhD. it can make things much more difficult. Letters of Recommendation are a HUGE part of the application process. If you go to a 1 year program, that starts in September, it basically means that you only have 1-3 months to forge meaningful relationships with your letter writers vs. 1 year+ in 2 year programs. Also, UK letters generally are a little less personal and enthusiastic than US letters. 
 
My advice is that you apply to a mix of PhD. and U.S. MA programs. You may wish to apply to some UK programs too, but know the cons of doing so.
 
Just my opinions of course. Let me know if you want any follow-up!

What are you going to do with your time before school starts?!

Correct.

Just applied for an apartment! 

I submitted a 15 page WS (a section of my undergrad thesis) to the program I am attending in the fall which had a 20-25 page requirement on the website. However, this was after substantial, substantial revision and editing. I truly felt like it was the best I could possibly write at the time. I would suggest that you take a few months rewriting the paper you feel most excites you and best fits your interests. For example, if you want to study Early Modern literature, don't submit a sample on modern Irish lit. If, after many rounds of editing and reworking, you feel that you have your best work, submit it. I would imagine it would be more than 8 pages by then.  

Something else to think about is whether or not those papers would help to produce a really coherent idea of the scholar you will be upon exiting your PhD experience. One of the professors I spoke to during my interview process at the PhD program I’ll be attending this fall really discouraged the idea of publishing simply to publish (not saying that’s what you would be doing, but I definitely understand the desire to publish as much as possible without maybe fully knowing how those publications will speak to your interests/marketability later on), and spoke to some folks’ early publications as actually being detrimental to them when they entered the job market, because they muddied the waters as far as what that person ended up wanting to research and teach upon graduation. His comments really opened my eyes as to the purpose of publishing as a future job seeker within academia, not sure it’d they're helpful to you, but thought I’d share just in case! Good luck!

That’s what I should be doing but instead I’m mostly binging Netflix and lounging around because I know I won’t be able to soon. 

In addition to this, I have also had great success emailing scholars to ask for PDF's of a specific article of theirs. If you explain your situation and your interest in their work, it usually comes off great. I have done this a handful of times, mostly with scholars earlier in their career. Plus, if gives you a chance to network a small amount with these folks. Someone feel free to add to this or correct me if they think this is a faux pas!