fortschritt22

I actually asked a version of this question to one of my POIs at an institution where I was accepted. Their advice to me was:  "as far as American Studies vs. English, it’s much better to get a degree from an English Department rather than an American Studies Department, since there are many times more faculty jobs in English.  That said, an English Ph.D. with an American Studies concentration is optimal for anyone studying American literature and culture, since many American lit jobs want to see someone with interdisciplinary credentials (American Studies particularly).  The book market also privileges interdisciplinary work, since they can pitch it to different fields simultaneously (straight-up literary criticism is much harder to get published these days, as even the academic audience is relatively tiny)." 

I actually asked a version of this question to one of my POIs at an institution where I was accepted. Their advice to me was:  "as far as American Studies vs. English, it’s much better to get a degree from an English Department rather than an American Studies Department, since there are many times more faculty jobs in English.  That said, an English Ph.D. with an American Studies concentration is optimal for anyone studying American literature and culture, since many American lit jobs want to see someone with interdisciplinary credentials (American Studies particularly).  The book market also privileges interdisciplinary work, since they can pitch it to different fields simultaneously (straight-up literary criticism is much harder to get published these days, as even the academic audience is relatively tiny)." 

I got to visit Dallas for a few days last week to apartment hunt and I absolutely fell in love with the city and the people, which I wasn’t really expecting. Then I found out the day after I got home that I got my dream apartment in my dream neighborhood. I’m over the moon right now and it just makes the amazement and gratitude I feel about grad school that much bigger and better. I’m so happy right now.

I would consider myself a nontraditional candidate due to my career background and because I was out of school and away from anything remotely related to academia for five years. I also did not have any conferences or anything published, just a single departmental award from a very small undergrad department.
 For the writing sample, I would probably warn against writing a brand new one if at all possible. It all depends on your confidence level with whatever you are currently using, but if you know for sure that you were close to that acceptance then it would seem to me that maybe you just need to improve the one you have. If you have not already received feedback from multiple readers (preferably your LOR writers), I would definitely do that and get some recommendations for improvement and fine tuning. Overall, I think that would be a better investment of time as opposed to starting completely from scratch. Personally, just thinking of taking on that endeavor after be out of the game for a while gives me heart palpitations.  
Also, my SOP research interests and the subject matter in my WS were not all that closely aligned apart from the fact that they were both in the American lit. field. I think that as long as you don't have some vast difference between the two- like your WS is about early modern drama and your SOP says you want to study contemporary American lit- you should be ok.
I'll echo @Anonymouse124 on the funded MA programs and spread sheet. I had a lot of success with the MAs I applied to. The spreadsheet I used helped a lot. I started with somewhere in the realm of 40 schools and used it to narrow down from there. I ended up applying to 13 PhD and 4 funded MAs, which was overzealous and exhausting. I definitely had some schools that were a stretch for research fit and I kind of regret wasting time and money on them.
I'm happy to share any materials if you'd like, just DM me. Good luck!
 

Eleventh hour acceptance off the UPenn waitlist on Monday!! Grateful. 
When I got the news, I was stranded in O'Hare after having been bumped from four (!) consecutive flights standby following Sunday's surprise snowstorm. I can now cross spending the night in the terminal off my bucket list. Eeks. The moral of the story is that this amazing news almost, almost made O'Hare tolerable. 
I forgot my GC pword for a while, but I want to say congrats to everyone--no matter what acceptances/waitlists/rejections you're left holding at the end of the cycle--bc this process is brutal and can be so heartwrecking. Last year at this time, I was bracing for another tenuous year of adjunct teaching. Academia is something, but it is not everything. 
 

I would consider myself a nontraditional candidate due to my career background and because I was out of school and away from anything remotely related to academia for five years. I also did not have any conferences or anything published, just a single departmental award from a very small undergrad department.
 For the writing sample, I would probably warn against writing a brand new one if at all possible. It all depends on your confidence level with whatever you are currently using, but if you know for sure that you were close to that acceptance then it would seem to me that maybe you just need to improve the one you have. If you have not already received feedback from multiple readers (preferably your LOR writers), I would definitely do that and get some recommendations for improvement and fine tuning. Overall, I think that would be a better investment of time as opposed to starting completely from scratch. Personally, just thinking of taking on that endeavor after be out of the game for a while gives me heart palpitations.  
Also, my SOP research interests and the subject matter in my WS were not all that closely aligned apart from the fact that they were both in the American lit. field. I think that as long as you don't have some vast difference between the two- like your WS is about early modern drama and your SOP says you want to study contemporary American lit- you should be ok.
I'll echo @Anonymouse124 on the funded MA programs and spread sheet. I had a lot of success with the MAs I applied to. The spreadsheet I used helped a lot. I started with somewhere in the realm of 40 schools and used it to narrow down from there. I ended up applying to 13 PhD and 4 funded MAs, which was overzealous and exhausting. I definitely had some schools that were a stretch for research fit and I kind of regret wasting time and money on them.
I'm happy to share any materials if you'd like, just DM me. Good luck!
 

Just got accepted off the Uconn MA waitlist! 

Literally sobbing. Just accepted a PhD offer from UConn! I've wanted this since I was a little girl, and I never thought it would happen. Thanks GC, for your support and help!

I'm probably going to sign off on GradCafe for the foreseeable future! This place was incredibly helpful to me throughout this process, but I think I'm going to dedicate the rest of spring/summer to just reading, relaxing, and trying to prepare myself for the next 6+ years. (Also I should start learning French.)
I do plan to check back in periodically (plus I'm sure I'll have questions or see a discussion I'd like to chime in on), but if any future applicants look back through this thread and have questions about applications/programs/etc, feel free to PM me! Hopefully I will check in frequently enough to see it and respond. I'm not sure how helpful my advice may be, but I thought I'd put that offer out there. Over the past few months, I've become really upset with the admission process and the way it makes applicants question their worth as scholars... I know my ass was saved a few times by people who were kind enough to sit down and give me pointers, so I'm happy to do that as much as I can for anyone else. 
I'm really proud of the group we had here this year. I'm not sure if this is common or not, but I was pleasantly surprised by the support we gave each other, and the genuine happiness we felt for others success even in the midst of our own "failures" (yuck, that's definitely not the right word). I'm really hoping this is representative of graduate students on a larger scale, but I guess I'll have to wait until the fall to find out more about that. Thanks for everything guys!! Hope to see you around.

Hey all - 
I have been a ceaseless lurker on this site. I thought it would end soon, but alas! I just found out that I was SO CLOSE to acceptance at UPenn... but, unfortunately, it didn't work out this year. I am a non traditional applicant.. graduated with a BA in my late twenties and I'm in my early thirties now... feeling really far away from academia and having a hard time getting perspective on my competitiveness/ where to go from here.  I do critical theory-- mostly feminist/queer theory, critical race studies and psychoanalysis but I also like poetics and have a creative writing practice outside of my academic interests (poetry and playwriting). 
 I am reaching out to see if: 
1. anyone who got into their top choices might feel up for private messaging me / maybe sharing some of your app materials / where you think you went right! 
2. any ideas for increasing competitiveness in a year? I am currently freelancing for work as I didn't want to commit to anything long-term. So, I am pretty flexible in what I do next but am very broke from this whole endeavor so need to do something! 
3. I applied to ivys and ivy -adjacents this year due to funding and job prospects (plus livability as my partner and our many pets are coming with me when I relocate!)-- I think I have program research overwhelm and it would be great to hear what programs were/are on your radar if you have similar interests and need similar funding! I'm open to funded MFAs and MAs at this point, but am ultimately hoping for acceptance into a PhD program... currently on my list: (English:) UPenn, Johns Hopkins, Rutgers, Princeton, maybe NYU, Penn State, & WGS: University of Arizona. 
4. ALSO! Any folks write a new writing sample when you were out of school? How did you access academic texts? Did professors you know help you? I think writing a new one would behove me (especially in the second time around applications) but feel like without the structure of an academic environment, I am afraid I am going to write something weird and not academic. Thoughts?
Thanks so much for reading and congrats to all those going to your dream programs this fall! 

Officially going to UVA!
Thanks to everyone who has helped with advice, information, and just generally making this community the supportive place it is. I've been here for 3 years now and I'm glad to be moving on to the next stage finally.

accepted off the waitlist at Virginia!!! screamed when I saw the email, to the horror of everyone else around me on the train...

I committed to CUNY today. NYC here I come!

Yale Comp Lit!

Congrats! Indiana seems like such a great program. It was really hard for me to turn it down. Jennifer Fleissner and Jonathan Elmer seem so great, and the campus is beautiful! 

I couldn't have put it better myself. I just accepted my offer at Yale — see you in New Haven?  

Officially accepted my offer to Indiana!

Officially accepted my offer to Indiana!

Officially accepted my offer to Indiana!

Officially accepted my offer to Indiana!

Officially accepted my offer to Indiana!

Officially accepted my offer to Indiana!

Officially accepted my offer to Indiana!

Officially accepted my offer to Indiana!

Officially accepted my offer to Indiana!