snorkles
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Posts posted by snorkles
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59 minutes ago, DanArndtWrites said:
I thought my GPA for my MFA was 3.75 but it's actually 3.4. I'm retaking the class that tanked me but am I totally fucked? My undergrad GPA is even worse.
If you've already submitted applications, then it's not worth stressing yourself out about.
Good luck everyone! Hopefully by next time this year all of you are sharing in the overwhelming sense of inadequacy like me!
- madandmoonly, S_C_789 and Cryss
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The personal statement is fairly open to what you want it to be, I think. It should be about you, and there are certain things that only you can say. A cliche to avoid is to talk about your love of literature or how you came to love it. What makes you interesting? Things like that. A quick note about the diversity statement: I'd be careful not to come across as having a savior complex. It's a tough document to write, especially if you come from a traditionally privileged background. Be honest and don't pretend to offer the program an aspect of diversity that's not true to your experience.
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In my first year. Happy to provide another pair of eyes should any one need it.
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Finally completing applications feels so good. Waiting to hear back is an exciting time. Don't let bad news defeat you. Good luck to everyone in the final few weeks of work.
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5 hours ago, merry night wanderer said:
Is anyone else struggling with how specific to be on the SoP? I have pretty defined interests at this point, I hope, but it's just difficult to indicate which subfields I want to enter when I feel like I've got so much more reading to do in them. How narrowly are you defining your interests?
My two cents is that I don't know if being hyper specific is always beneficial. I articulated a few guiding research questions/problems that I thought my field could benefit from and then footnoted books that may be in my sphere of research. It's important to demonstrate room for growth in your SoP, I think. My philosophy was to provide a balanced account of who I am, my research goals, and my professional interests (unless the program greatly limited the word count or said what type of content they're looking for).
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2 hours ago, Bopie5 said:
I think the answer to this is sort of a combination of both!
I would suggest writing one specifically tailored to a certain school to start. Find a program, determine what you specifically find appealing about it, and several possible professors you want to work with. Then, I would write an SoP for that program, including your proposal of your research, your background/experiences in that field, how working with those specific POIs will assist you, and what you might offer/bring to the program and/or what your ultimate professional goals and interests are. Once you have a draft on paper, it's easier to determine how much of your material is school specific and how much of it can be reused.
I would say, however, that you shouldn't only have one paragraph or portion that deals with program fit. Program fit should inform how you write your entire SoP, as it should affect how you frame your project/interests and which previous research is most relevant, besides just naming of POIs. It would be more likely for there to be a few sentences you could reuse than for there to be a full paragraph or section that you could just copy/paste over. Does that make sense?
I have a different take. I approached the statement with most of my paragraphs focusing on my interests and project proposal (which as far as I can tell is really just a test to see if you can articulate a project since no one expects you will focus on it). I dedicated half a paragraph to fit for each program. Admission committees will know if you match what they're looking for, and I don't think it's wrong to spend most of your statement focusing on yourself instead of arguing about fit. That's not to say that a greater emphasis on fit is a bad thing; I just don't think it's necessary.
- S_C_789, Indecisive Poet and Brown_Bear
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Programs will send an email to your letter writers with a link for them to upload the document once you input their contact information in the reference section of the application. This process can be done ahead of time, if you want to give your writers plenty of time to upload the documents. Some programs will only send letter requests after you submit your application.
I wouldn't limit your applications. One of my letter writers mentioned how unreasonable the process has become for faculty, but that's just the way it is these days. You can make it easier for them to keep track of the uploads by sending them a document with each institution name and deadline.
A few tips: you will receive emails once letters are submitted, and you can look at each program portal to see which letters are still missing. It's helpful for your sanity to keep track of this information in a separate document. Also, give your letter writers plenty of notice--at least a few weeks. Some of them are writing multiple letters each cycle in addition to their already packed schedule. Occasional reminders may be necessary to get all of your letters on time, and I've read that there's an unspoken grace period for late letters for many (most?) programs. I tried to submit all of my applications about a week before the deadline, with many of my letter requests sent well in advance of this. Finally, ask if there's any way to make the process easier for them.
- S_C_789, VincentH and Brown_Bear
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1 hour ago, Hasspurple said:
I think I will apply to like 7-15, depending on how many I feel would be potential fits, and the cost of course. There are some fringe ones that I feel less strongly about, but I hear your point about sending them when possible, just to see. I also like your idea about choosing the one that'd intimidate you least. I get some vibes from program websites and some certainly do feel more intense. I'll keep that in mind.
That's a large range. 10-12 seems to be a comfortable amount for many people. Also, I meant I chose the program that intimidated me the most. And by intimidation, I mean the program that offered a style and method I wasn't familiar with but I could learn a lot from. This was assuming all other factors were equal, of course (which wasn't and often isn't the case). I can't speak to the varied intensity of programs, but I'd bet you'll find most programs to be rigorous in their own ways. You might also consider some of the external factors to the university when considering fit. If there are locations where you refuse to live, then how good of a fit the program is for you may be of little importance.
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I considered how many scholars were working/had worked in my period and how they're current interests aligned with mine. I went with programs that had at least two faculty who worked directly in my period and a few others who fit my critical interests. Mind you, this was less about me being particular and rather about making sure I had a chance at getting in somewhere. Really, though, I don' know how much (if at all) this approach affected the outcome. After admissions, I went with the program that made me the most academically uncomfortable/intimidated. That's not the only factor of course: logistics play a role, but it was nonetheless important.
How many programs do you anticipate applying to? It might be a good move to apply to them all, if you have the means.
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1 hour ago, blackstrap said:
This is all very encouraging, as I already know I will bomb the quantitative.
I sucked at math to begin with, and now nearly two decades have passed since my last math class. I just tried a Magoosh practice test, and the entirety of the math section may as well have been written in Mandarin. Seriously, trying to read the problems for any sense of understanding was excruciating. I was under the impression there were all least a few basic questions? The Magoosh practice test started right out with "car x starts behind car y, passes at 3:20, arrives at 4:16, car y arrives 45 minutes later, what was car y's speed" or some such. Honestly made me want to throw the laptop at the wall. Ugghhh.
So do I spend precious time trying to up my quantitative score at least a bit, or just say F it, answer a few when the day comes, and essentially guess on the remainder? I'm afraid if I actually exert myself, it'll frustrate me and kill my confidence for the verbal.
If the time you have remaining before the exam is such that the time you would spend studying for the quantitative section would hurt your preparations for the qualitative section or other parts of your applications, I would say forego studying for it. Like Warelin said, a low quant score may hurt your chances at some fellowships, but it seems that without some serious studying, you're unlikely to score within the parameters of these fellowships anyway--assuming the rest of your application is equal to other candidates. I guessed on most quant questions, scored 11th percentile. It didn't seem to matter overall.
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10 hours ago, jadeisokay said:
i'm in chicago already and couch-surfing until sunday when i can sign my lease and start moving in! it's been fun running around chicago for about a week now applying for jobs and touring apartments. i have an interview tomorrow with a super-renowned restaurant group for a server position and i'm crossing my fingers like crazy. i miss reading for fun/research, but it can wait until i'm settled. right now, i'm still in shock that i live here for the next two years. i'm so excited for you, @Bopie5- enjoy the summer :]
Congrats! You're way ahead of the game. How was the housing search in Chicago? With the commute times and parking, I can't see how anywhere but Hyde Park would make sense. I'm looking to start the search in mid-July.
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1 hour ago, bwriteshere said:
Accepted my offer to Brown! ?
Congrats! Why Brown over UVA or Johns Hopkins? All great programs, of course.
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On 4/2/2019 at 8:38 AM, fortschritt22 said:
Officially accepted my offer to Indiana!
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!
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19 minutes ago, FiguresIII said:
On the fence between UChicago and Berkeley. My preference is for Berkeley, the fit is phenomenal, and I love everything else about the program, but the problem is money, plain and simple. I don't see myself being able to live for six years in the Bay Area with their current offer. Chicago offers me more and the cost of living is SO much lower, it's scandalous. Doubting whether I should try to wring a little more money out of Berkeley...
It's difficult to live in the Bay without housemates for sure. You can find some decent spots in places just outside of Berkeley, like El Cerrito. I managed a bedroom in a private home for 600 a month on the north side of campus, but it was a rare situation and I didn't have kitchen or laundry access. I'd expect to pay northwards of 1k for a room to yourself or 1700+ for a studio. Depending on your standards of living (and your offer), it might be worth trying to make it work. After my weekend trip to Chicago last week, I can say that I am not at all stoked on the area surrounding campus or the city itself (too big for me). The Berkeley campus feels much more alive, as well. I suppose that may be due to the fact that I toured Chicago during Spring break.
And my contribution to the thread: I committed to Chicago some weeks ago. I couldn't pass on the program itself.
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I declined Brown. I committed to Chicago. I hope that gives someone on the waitlist good news!
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4 hours ago, thismortalcoil said:
This latter point! I'm with you there, 100%. Congratulations on your successes, and I'm really happy to hear that someone else also emphasized their personality in their statement. For better or for worse, I don't regret doing so in the slightest.
I love that this was brought up. My trajectory to graduate studies has been relatively odd (first generation, returning student, etc). I made it a point in my WS, SOP, and interview to be as genuine as possible. Being accepted on those terms has eased some of my anxiety about the whole thing.
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I have turned down Indiana, Ohio State, and Chapel Hill. I hope that moves the waitlist (assuming one exists) for someone!
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In at Brown. Email to check portal.
- writeshere, Musmatatus, tacocat211 and 8 others
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12 minutes ago, cyborg213 said:
So this might be one of the reasons why I was accepted to amazing PhD programs in the UK that didn't require the GRE, was granted one of the most prestigious fellowships in Europe for graduate studies, but received a flat-out rejection from U. Chicago (didn't even get the MAPH consolation prize). My GRE scores, Q and V, were a complete disaster!!
My Chicago acceptance was with a V score of 96th percentile, 11th percentile Q, and something like 82 percentile in W. Hope that gives some context.
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6 minutes ago, bfat said:
Of course this factor will vary between programs and universities, but many of the applications sent to my program didn't even make it to the table for debate because the university grad school has a baseline acceptable number for both the Q and the V. These scores also determine eligibility for university-wide fellowships. There's a lot of pressure from some departments to stop using the GRE as a determining factor, but until the whole institution changes its mind, the power of numbers affects all departments. I'm sure this is true at many other R1 schools, too.
It sucks, and I was kind of sitting there appalled while the chart with the numbers was going around, but until the world is a better place, it will be A Thing That Matters. It is possible that some other factor or connection to the department could get someone considered, even with very low GRE scores, but it would require just that: some other standout to push it past that first chopping block. ?
Huh, I suspected that V might determine a baseline cutoff for some places, but I didn't expect the Q to be such a factor!
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To add my tidbit, I didn't hear back from Davis until late July or August last year. I'm assuming my application got lost or something of the sort. Hope that makes ya'll feel better! ?
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3 hours ago, bfat said:
Hi folks! I am currently sitting on the Grad Studies Committee with profs who are reading applications and making decisions. This is what I have learned:
1. This is the worst truth and you're not going to want to hear it, but GRE scores matter a lot. Not to the department, necessarily (most profs are very frustrated that it's a factor they need to consider), but to the university, who wants to look good in terms of numbers. It fucking sucks. It's the truth. This means quant scores, too. ?
2. The committee wants to see that you have a well-articulated set of interests and that your work will find a home in the department. This means outlining research questions that are interesting and viable. What this means differs depending on field. If you're working in post-45 American, for example, do not propose a project on Pynchon, DeLillo, David Foster Wallace, and irony. That project belongs in 1986. It's not viable. Race and embodiment in Octavia Butler? Now we're going somewhere. Make sure the department has at least 2 tenured faculty members whose interests--in terms of theory/method and literary archive--overlap with yours. Check out their CVs and skim the last 3 things they wrote. Note the last grad courses they taught, if possible--these often indicate where their research is going, much better than already-published things. Profs often use grad classes to test out their developing interests.
3. The committee also wants to see that you are flexible and open to developing new research questions. Your SoP should trace a trajectory of thought and project to your future research interests, and your writing sample should reflect that trajectory. If possible, work with a professor to revise your writing sample and tell them you'd like to work it up to publication level. But do not resubmit the same sample and materials the following year. There are a number of these re-submits that have come to the table, and they get tossed out right quick.
4. Visit, if you can. Meet with one or two people in the department. Get a sense of what the campus is like. If you can visit during a regular semester, attend an event that you can mention in your SoP. If at all possible, meet a professor you'd be interested in working with. These things are difficult and may not be possible, but they can make a huge difference in shaping your SoP and how it gets noticed. They stand out.
5. The committee really seems to appreciate when life experiences shape someone's research and work. What can you do, or what have you done, that might ground your work in actual life praxis?
Hope these are helpful. I'm a mere grad student sitting on the committee and not allowed to actually read the applications, but I've been taking note of what the faculty members like and comment on.
I scored 11th percentile on quant. I'm sure it might matter to some programs, but I don't know that it would be advisable to spend time studying for a better quant score when more important elements of the application could be improved. Of course, an amazing overall score can't hurt. For me, though, it would have been a waste of time. Also, my writing score was only middling.
That's interesting about the reused sample. I was only accepted to programs I didn't apply to last year, and I was rejected by all of my resubmits (with one waitlist). I did tighten my sample up quite a lot, but now I'm wondering if reusing my updated sample played a role.
Great advice overall, especially about developing a research interest for the current state of scholarship.
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In at UNC as well. I guess they're rolling out acceptances slowly.
- dangermouse and Musmatatus
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2020 Applicants
in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition
Posted
Yeah, I mean you can't change it now right? And you'll never really know how it factored into your application anyway.