thismortalcoil

Will chime in, also, and say that since UPenn has cancelled visitor's week, I'm happy to answer questions about the English Dept.

I received the CGS-D today, with a score of [redacted]. I will be requesting the SSHRC-D instead, because I am starting my PhD in the states. Hopefully this frees up a CGS for one of you!

thank you I can't breathe

I don't know if this is the place to say but omg I just won a Fellowship and I'm quaking

Accepted my offer to Penn English! AHHHHHHHH

There are some folk I've seen at Harvard who have external supervisors from other schools among the Ivy coalition — you might inquire with Yale how possible it is to have a professor from Columbia, etc. on your committee. Taking classes at these schools is certainly possible.

These are some really important questions, I think, and it's great that you're considering them... With regards to whether your main dissertation advisor needs to be an expert in your field, considering the fact that your research is likely to change or mutate in some way, shape, or form during your studies, I am of the mind that it's more important to have a committee of wide ranging, supportive scholars who are interested in your work and your interests, broadly conceived. Someone willing to give you time, and an ear, and some perceptive comments over someone who studies the exact thing you do. For instance, while my main POIs at both of the schools I'm considering do not do work directly in my field, these POIs can fill a number of important roles for my research: some are post45 fiction scholars with an interest in science and technology studies; some are poetry scholars who work with a variety of important theories. As such, I feel like I'll be well supported when I do start my dissertation, however this dissertation might take shape. The scholars you've listed at Yale, do you feel they could feel this sort of role? How did they respond when you spoke to them of your interests? And what of your potential supervisors at Chicago: are there persons in other departments who could work with you in French, Spanish, Caribbean creole, etc? Department-wide support is very important, but I think this support should come more so from an advisor's availability and willingness to talk and to read, rather than their interests being necessarily graftable onto mine. I was talking with someone else on this forum recently and they mentioned that it's important to also consider atmosphere, so I'm going to paraphrase them here by telling you: atmosphere and the feel of things is also important! Though you seem to recognize as much when you say you see yourself fitting in more at Yale... I'm rambling. But I'm more than happy to act as a sounding board if you have anything you want to talk through!

Thank you for this! I've been thinking a lot about the first and last of these questions, but have yet to ask current graduate students about how they feel within the department. I've also yet to ask the schools about their cohort make-up, or about the make-up of neighbouring cohorts. As always, you've been a huge help!

Thank you for this detailed response! I figured quality of research and writing was important, for sure, but wondered to what extent the reputation of one's supervisor would impact one's potential for t-t jobs. I never thought to ask questions of the students currently being supervised by X or Y, but will definitely do so... If I might ask: in your opinion, what are the, like, three most important things for a student to consider when deciding between offers, if each offer is (relatively speaking) a good fit, and each offer is (relatively speaking) at an equally prestigious institution? I've received a bit of advice on this recently, though as a Libra I cannot for the life of me make decisions autonomously, and would love any information you have the time to spare.

@emprof, piggybacking off this question: to what extent, in your opinion, does one's supervisor's reputation matter when one enters the job market? I've heard a variety of things on the matter and would love to hear your thoughts. Is a "famous" supervisor an alluring factor in one's application to a t-t- job? Or do other things (i.e. quality of research, publications) matter more?

I think @beardedlady makes some fantastic points. While I can't speak for all of Rutgers' placement rates, I do know that they have a great early modern department and consistently get their early modern graduates t-t jobs at highly ranked schools. If I were you, I would take a look at their record and see where students in your field have been placed recently. Rutgers is not a top 10 institution, but it is a top 20, and from what I understand carries with its name quite a bit of prestige. That said, if I were to do this process again, I would apply to a number of schools, both top-10 and otherwise. As an international applicant, I decided (erroneously!) to apply only to ivies/pseudo-ivies this cycle out of the belief that these sorts of schools would justify my choice to pursue secondary education abroad. I was really lucky to be admitted to one program and made first on the waitlist at another, but wished, in retrospect, that I had applied more broadly, because it would have been nice to have more choices right now. The admissions process is so capricious and so hard to predict and there are so many factors outside of your control, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try! And I agree with what's been said above: if your profs say you can get accepted to a top-10, then why not shoot?

Yes! How could I forget! Sorry, and thank you.

Interesting! I knew about Duke, but did not previously consider Michigan top ten. In my eyes it was the standard Harvard, Princeton, Cornell, Yale, UPenn, Brown, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Duke..

Yes, this makes a lot of sense! I suppose I just was/am skeptical about qs in general, since their methodology is premised in part on how often X scholar has been cited — which doesn't account for changes in departmental make up due to emeritus status, etc. I do see your point, though, and agree that rankings are important. (In my eyes, the US rankings make more sense since they seem to base their methodology on "survey of academics at peer institutions.") Thanks for clarifying what constitutes a top 10! As an international student, it's hard for me to gage the prestige of these schools, as name brands carry different weight, here,

Can I ask what is considered a top 10 school? The qs rankings are flawed, obviously, as are the us rankings. Are top 10s Ivy/ivy-adjacent? (e.g. Stanford, Chicago..)