digital_lime

Just looked over my application for UVa because I'm obsessive and in my SoP I mentioned how much I'd like to participate in department life at a completely different school from which I copied and pasted that paragraph So that's cool and great (And if anyone's feeling insecure about their SoPs, at least you didn't do what I have done!!)

Sounds great! I'd love to see your panel. If you'd like, send me a message and let me know when you're presenting! I'll be there for the entire conference.

I just realized that I took a few courses at a community college during high school, and transferred them to the university I got my BA from. Nothing major, just English 101 and some math and science classes. But now I'm wondering if my not reporting this (or sending any transcripts) is going to doom my application. I don't think it will--it seems more likely that my brain is looking for a reasonably plausible hook to hang my panic on--but has anyone else made this mistake? Any advice or thoughts?

I will be at the Northeast MLA conference this March presenting a paper. If anyone's going to be in Boston, maybe we'll find a way to say hello!

Duke rejects unite! I kind of had a feeling I wouldn't make it when I didn't hear anything last week, so it's not a huge surprise. We will make it through!

Congratulations!! I visited the campus and it was so beautiful that I almost applied! What a great opportunity!

I'm also anxiously waiting to hear, but haven't heard anything yet! I'm kind of relieved that nobody else has, either, though.

Same! I've been refreshing manically, then stoically reminding myself that whatever will be will be, and that my application is now out of my control. Then checking my email again.

Congratulations! That's amazing news!

Oh, the other piece of advice--which should probably be obvious, and which I almost certainly don't have to give anyone here--is don't lie. It's OK if you haven't read a particular book or done a particular thing. It doesn't mean you're a bad student or a sub-ideal applicant; you want to go to this place to learn and become more well-read, which suggests, obviously, that you haven't read everything there is prior to admission. Even if you got into a program by misrepresenting yourself, you don't want that hanging over your head for five years that will be difficult enough as it is.

Congratulations!!!! This means they already like you, a lot! You can do this. I don't know if I have any tips from experience, except--try and make the interview about your work and not about you (unless your research is aided by your personal experience, or they ask explicitly about it); focus on the value that you bring to the department rather than the value the department brings to you. (This has worked for me in job interviews and so on, but I haven't done an interview for PhD programs, so take any advice I can offer with a big ol' grain of salt.) No matter what happens, you should be proud to have made it this far.

Go for business casual. A nice pair of jeans or chinos with a reasonably unwrinkly collared shirt and a simple blazer (with dress shoes, flats, or boots) will probably be fine. The average high in Boston in February is 38 degrees Fahrenheit, so you'll probably want a sweater or coat, too. I have never worn a skirt or dress (well, I did once, but it was on stage and indoors, so I didn't get much of a feel for how cold they are) so I don't know if it's too cold for that, or if that's a consideration for you?? (I've lived in places where it never gets cold for the past 14 years.) ANYWAYS, from what I can tell, dressing in academia is a complicated matter, especially for women. I say the goal is to wear something vaguely nice. That way, you won't look unkempt or childish (avoid the Rick and Morty t-shirt and cargo shorts combo). But not something so gorgeous and eye-popping that it will distract them from all of the insightful and intelligent things I'm sure you'll be saying. Of course, if you have a specific personal style that you feel expresses your identity, there's no reason you can't go for that. (Unless your identity is best expressed by a Rick and Morty t-shirt and a pair of cargo shorts, in which case you should stifle your identity as vigorously as possible. I'm just kidding, kind of.) Literature professors tend to pretty non-judgmental about these things, in my experience. An article that I have found useful on this: https://stylishacademic.com/top-4-academic-fashion-tips-you-should-know/ Good luck and congratulations!!

Hey, at least it means they're interested enough in your application to take the time to speak with you. I guarantee they're not doing this to every candidate. I'd call that a win!

Buffalo just sent out a lovely notification letting me know that my application is complete, even though it's been complete for weeks. I about jumped out of my skin. I'd be ecstatic to get in.

My guess is that it wouldn't be a bad idea to re-read the introductions of the books written by the person with whom you're interviewing so you can engage with the stuff they've written. Thankfully, I don't have any interviews (although I did have a phone conversation with a POI, which I think went well), but I've heard from a few professors that name-dropping someone's most recent scholarship is seldom a bad idea.

Weird--I had the opposite reaction. I made it through the first of the Neopolitan quartet before giving up, utterly indifferent. But I thought Remains of the Day was absolutely absorbing and very moving. There's a movie adaptation of it that doesn't seem too bad. Maybe watching that could be a way for you to discover how to enjoy the novel. (I was indifferent to Ishiguro's other famous novel, Never Let Me Go, though, because the plot seemed so obvious that the tension Ishiguro was working so hard to develop fell utterly flat.) If you have any advice for how I can learn to love the Neopolitan quartet, I'd love to hear. It's been lauded by reviewers (and critics and philosophers that I really respect), but I just can't seem to figure out what's so enchanting about it.

Congratulations to everyone that got interviews! I'm emerging from lurking to report that I had my first fucked-up dream about graduate admissions of the season! (The admissions committee found out I threw an egg at my neighbor's house when I was, like, nine; most of the dream consisted of my POI grilling me over the phone in a never-ending, hellish loop.) Here's hoping we all get through this without suffering emotionally too much!