NoNameGuy

Thanks for all of the advice. Since you also switched from philosophy, maybe you can tell me if there's an equivalent of the PGR for English departments. I've been looking for ranking systems that place schools based on area of research, but I guess English folks aren't as obsessed with categorization (not a bad thing, but it makes the search harder). EDIT: Cack. I haven't gotten used to posting yet. This was a response to Glasperlenspieler.

Since you're researching in animal studies, are there any central texts that you can think of that I can start reading? I'm a vegan for moral reasons, so animals rights matter quite a bit to me.

Hi all. I know you're all in the middle of application season, so you probably don't want to think about the process any more than you need to. With that said, I'd appreciate any and all responses. I'm considering applying for a PhD in English sometime in the next few years, so I figured I'd seek some advice as I begin thinking about what preparations need to take place. First, a candidate profile: Undergrad: B.A. in Philosophy and Asian Studies from very selective, top 50 private school. I graduated summa cum laude with departmental honors. Graduate: M.A. in Philosophy and an M.S. in Secondary English Ed. My philosophy degree is from one of the best terminal M.A. programs in the US. I graduated with a 3.6. My English ed degree is from a (different) top 50 private school with an excellent School of Ed. I graduated with a 3.8. I became disillusioned with philosophy as I was finishing my M.A. and, on the advice of a mentor, I decided to take some time off to teach before deciding whether I wanted to get my PhD. I've discovered a love of English literature and I'd really like to seek a PhD in the next few years. So, I'd like to ask a few questions. First Question : How late is too late to apply for a PhD program? I'd like to teach for a few years and get financially settled a bit, but if that will age me out of the process, so to speak, I'd like to apply sooner. Second Question: Assuming I have a few years, how can I best prepare for future applications? Try to publish? Engage in more graduate coursework? Any advice would be super helpful. Third Question : How do you narrow your research interests in English? It was easy for me in philosophy, because I could just identify a problem and work on that, but I'm having difficulty doing that with English. I don't have interests that are unique to a particular period or location, and I'm trying to find a niche now so I can start working towards having a clearly defined project by the time I apply. Some people/books/ideas that interest me: 1. Life in the Iron Mills (Rebecca Harding Davis) 2. Pretty much all of Emerson's essays 3. Thomas Hardy (especially Jude the Obscure) 4. American horror (esp. Thomas Ligotti) 5. Hemingway (esp. The Old Man and the Sea) 6. The Brontë Sisters 7. Literature that has an animal-rights angle (I adore Cavendish's "The Hunting of the Hare," for instance) 8. Melville (esp. Benito Cereno) 9. Any text with a pessimistic core, like McCarthy. I'm sure there are others, but they're not coming to me right now. Fourth Question : Related to the above. How do you find departments into which you'd fit? I'm not tuned into the academic world of English literature, so I have no idea what departments are best for what, and it's not like philosophy where I could just go look at the PGR or some other ranking website (at least, I haven't found anything like that yet. I'd love it if one existed). Thanks for slogging through this poorly organized wall of text. I appreciate any advice this community has to offer.