S_C_789

Agreed. At the end of the day, the content of your SOP--how you present your academic history and research interests, how you locate those interests in the larger discipline, and how you articulate your professional goals--will matter far more than the stylistic flourishes. (Also, not to throw shade at academics, but there's certainly plenty of phraseology in published articles in English/Lit that could generously be described as, shall we say, "a bit clunky." ?) Try not to sweat it, @HPurple!
Ooo, yes, I am also curious to hear more from folks on this. I only applied to one school that seems to do interviews--and said school (Chicago) is so far out of my league anyway that the odds of me getting an interview to begin with are close to nil--but I still have no idea how to approach or prep for a hypothetical interview. (I had a dream last night--my third app-related dream of the season so far, for those of you keeping score at home--that I had a phone interview with a made-up POI at a made-up school, and it was stressful.)

I would try not to worry about it. Programs are here to make you a better scholar and writer. If your SOP was perfect, you wouldn't need their training. I think most universities are interested in the ideas you have and your thought process behind the ideas. It might be a different story if there were a lot of typos or if there was a bad fit. However, I think an extra word or two won't be used against you.

This is all anecdotal information that I've gleaned from avidly (obsessively?) reading old threads, but another complicating factor is that some schools only interview candidates applying in certain periods (e.g., Columbia has historically interviewed, I think, medievalists, but not others). I don't mean to traffic in false hope--and, in fact, I think @WildeThing's advice is spot-on--but the main thing to keep in mind about interviews specifically is that every school does (or doesn't do) them differently, and it's still way too early in the game to count yourself out.
Congrats to all those who are already hearing back from schools--and have heart, those who are still completely in the dark. We're just getting started!

My advice is to assume (but not act on the fact) that everything is a rejection until it isn’t. Personally it was helpful with keeping the pain to a minimum, but a no is only a no when it is official. So if acceptances have been out for a month but you’ve heard nothing, prepare yourself for the no but don’t go accepting other offers or making any big decisions (like “hey I’m rejected so I’ll just take this job in Randomville”) until you hear back. 
Sometimes you’re on an invisible list and sometimes people get interviewed while others get accepted straight off at a later date. Chicago was a big mindfuck last year for a lot of people because of this, if I recall correctly.
 

Emory U invited me to a Skype interview, too! I'm an international applicant as well.
Congratulations to everyone who received good news, and good luck to everyone who's yet to hear! Although Emory is one of my top 3 places, I'm still waiting to hear back from the rest of my schools, it being still quite early in the application season!

Emory U invited me to a Skype interview, too! I'm an international applicant as well.
Congratulations to everyone who received good news, and good luck to everyone who's yet to hear! Although Emory is one of my top 3 places, I'm still waiting to hear back from the rest of my schools, it being still quite early in the application season!

Emory U invited me to a Skype interview, too! I'm an international applicant as well.
Congratulations to everyone who received good news, and good luck to everyone who's yet to hear! Although Emory is one of my top 3 places, I'm still waiting to hear back from the rest of my schools, it being still quite early in the application season!

This discussion really hits home for those who hoped to enter academia as a means to live ethically and avoid exploitative/coercive marketplace practices.

Emory U invited me to a Skype interview, too! I'm an international applicant as well.
Congratulations to everyone who received good news, and good luck to everyone who's yet to hear! Although Emory is one of my top 3 places, I'm still waiting to hear back from the rest of my schools, it being still quite early in the application season!

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!

Congratulations to you all! Great news to begin the season. Good luck on your interviews! You got this!

Emory U invited me to a Skype interview, too! I'm an international applicant as well.
Congratulations to everyone who received good news, and good luck to everyone who's yet to hear! Although Emory is one of my top 3 places, I'm still waiting to hear back from the rest of my schools, it being still quite early in the application season!

Emory U invited me to a Skype interview, too! I'm an international applicant as well.
Congratulations to everyone who received good news, and good luck to everyone who's yet to hear! Although Emory is one of my top 3 places, I'm still waiting to hear back from the rest of my schools, it being still quite early in the application season!

Emory U invited me to a Skype interview, too! I'm an international applicant as well.
Congratulations to everyone who received good news, and good luck to everyone who's yet to hear! Although Emory is one of my top 3 places, I'm still waiting to hear back from the rest of my schools, it being still quite early in the application season!

I haven't been on the forum for quite a while since starting my M.A. but I'm back and have applied for this cycle's PhD programs. Luckily, all applications are submitted and I have a lot of faith in my applications for this year, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed! Got the email for a visit/interview from Emory today so I'm thrilled, since I was outright rejected my very first time applying straight out of undergrad (which, in retrospect, was definitely a reach).

I received an interview request from them as well! First news of this application cycle for me. Best of luck!

Congrats! I also got invited to a Skype interview as I'm from abroad. Would be great to hear if anyone else here got good news! 

Long-time lurker here. Just posting to share that I received an invitation to visit Emory today. I'm thrilled to begin the cycle with this news. Based on past years, does anyone know how many people they invite vs how many get accepted? Also, what are their teaching/service requirements of grad students? Here’s hoping we all get good news soon!

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. 

As far as interdisciplinary work, Chicago embraces that approach. Only a few in my cohort are interested in canonical works. One person is interested in new media theory, for example. Others are interested in object studies. Queer theory, affect, gender and sexuality, history of sexuality and biopolitics are all big here too. 
Anywhere you go, you're going to be engaging with texts in a substantial way, whether those are literary, critical, or theoretical texts. In this way, literature never goes away. 
It's reasonable that you don't know exactly what you want to study, but if you're thinking about any PhD program, you'd want to situate yourself in a field before applying. It might be useful to spend the remainder of your MA experience trying to figure out what those interests are and how they intersect. 

I more or less forced myself to imagine receiving a rejection letter from every school I applied to. This is something I learned from a therapist friend, and it was actually rather soothing. I'd already developed a getting-shut-out plan, but this was an extra step to manage the uncertainty. 

Hi all!
Just wanted to wish everyone here a Happy New Year's and a hearty congratulations for anyone either finished with applying, nearly finished applying, or anywhere in-between, whatever stage you may be in. Decision season is coming soon (Buffalo is one to watch out for this month to the best of my knowledge) and I want to wish everyone the very best of luck.
I want to stress: your results do not define you. I've had to ingrain that lesson in myself and it feels strange to even say that because I struggled with precisely that last cycle all throughout the process. This is going to be a time of both highs and lows. It got to me last cycle to the point where my sleep cycle ended up being messy due to way too bouts of late-night thinking over whether or not this path was meant for me. If you are ever in that position, or just want to talk, my DM box is always open for anyone that wants to chat. I may be busier now due to grad school, but I will get to your message as reasonably quickly as I can. And no matter what happens, the fact that you're in this position is itself incredible.
Let's celebrate and commiserate from here to April 15th and beyond. I'm looking forward to seeing how this year will go for all of you

Name
Website
Deadline
FEE?
CUNY
http://web.gc.cuny.edu/English/
 
1/1
Y; 125
UCONN
http://english.uconn.edu/graduate/index.html
 
1/1
Y; 75
Delaware
http://www.english.udel.edu/programs/grad/Pages/default.aspx
 
1/1
Y; 75
Missouri
http://english.missouri.edu/grad/
 
1/1
Y; 65
U Miami
http://www.as.miami.edu/english/graduate/
 
1/1
Y; 65
Notre Dame
http://english.nd.edu/graduate-programs/
 
1/2
Y; 75
Indiana
http://www.iub.edu/~engweb/gradStudies/degrees.shtml
 
1/2
Y; 55
Boston C.
http://www.bc.edu/schools/cas/english/graduate.html
 
1/2
Y; 75
Harvard
http://english.fas.harvard.edu/programs/graduate
 
1/2
Y; 105
Fordham
http://www.fordham.edu/academics/programs_at_fordham_/english/graduate/index.asp
 
1/3
Y; 70
Brandeis
http://www.brandeis.edu/departments/english/phdprogram/index.html
 
1/5
Y; 100
GWU
http://www.gwu.edu/~english/grad_programs.html
 
1/5
Y; 75
Oklahoma
http://www.ou.edu/cas/english/programs/graduate/gradprogindex.htm
 
1/5
Y; 50
Penn State
http://english.la.psu.edu/graduate
 
1/6
Y; 65
WashU
https://english.wustl.edu/phd-program
 
1/7
Y; 50
Syracuse
http://english.syr.edu/graduate/index.html
 
1/9
Y; 75
Northeastern 
http://www.northeastern.edu/english/graduate/
 
1/10
Y; 75
Arizona
http://english.arizona.edu/lp/graduate-studies
 
1/11
Y; 75
Tufts (MA)
http://ase.tufts.edu/english/graduate/prospectiveStudents.htm
 
1/15
Y; 75
Florida
http://www.english.ufl.edu/programs.html
 
1/15
Y: 30
Rochester
http://www.rochester.edu/College/ENG/grad/
 
1/15
Y; 60
Arizona State
http://english.clas.asu.edu/graduate
 
1/15
Y; 70
Stony Brook
http://www.sunysb.edu/english/grad/grad.html
 
1/15
Y; 100
Ohio 
http://www.english.ohiou.edu/grad/default/
 
1/15
Y; 50
Case Western
http://www.case.edu/artsci/engl/GradProgram/GradProgIndex.html
 
1/15
Y; 50
December Deadlines:

 
Name
Deadline
App Fee?
UCLA
12/1
Y; 90
NYU
12/1
Y; 100
Northwestern
12/1
Y; 95
UW (Washington)
12/1
Y; 85
USC (California)
12/1
Y; 85
UC - San Diego
12/1
Y; 90
Emory
12/2
Y; 75
U Georgia
12/2
Y; 75
Illinois
12/4
Y; 70
Miami University
12/5
Y: 50
OSU
12/7
Y; 60
Nebraska
12/7
Y; 50
Stanford
12/8
Y; 125
Duke
12/8
Y; 80
Wisconsin
12/8
Y; 56
Maryland
12/8
Y; 75
Santa Cruz
12/10
Y; 90
Pittsburgh
12/10
Y; 50
Rice
12/14
Y; 85
Berkeley
12/15
Y; 90
Princeton
12/15
Y; 90
Penn
12/15
Y; 80
Cornell
12/15
Y; 95
Chicago
12/15
Y; 90
UVA
12/15
Y; 85
Johns Hopkins
12/15
Y; 75
Michigan
12/15
Y; 70
Brown
12/15
Y; 75
Rutgers
12/15
Y; 65
UTA
12/15
Y; 65
Irvine
12/15
Y; 90
Santa Barbara
12/15
Y; 90
Vanderbilt
12/15
Y;95
Minnesota
12/15
Y; 75
Carnegie Mellon
12/15
Y; 75
Boston
12/15
Y; 95
Buffalo
12/15
Y; 75
UI - Chicago
12/15
Y; 70
UMass
12/15
Y; 75
Oregon
12/15
Y; 50
A&M
12/15
Y; 50
Temple
12/15
Y; 60
Utah
12/15
Y; 55
South Carolina
12/15
Y; 50
UT - Knoxville
12/15
Y; 60
Yale
12/15
Y; 105
Columbia
12/16
Y; 105
UNC- Chapel Hill
12/16
Y; 85
Iowa
12/16
Y; 60
Florida State 
12/17
Y; 30?
UC - Boulder 
12/31
Y; 70
U Kansas
12/31
Y; 65
 
*Deadlines may change on a year to year basis. This is not a 100 percent completed list of English programs.

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! 

I "rest" my materials, for lack of a better word. If possible, I write the essays, or fill out the forms, then leave it for a few days (or weeks), then come back and recheck them. I imagine there will probably always be a bit of nervousness and anxiety, but sometimes for me, being too close to my materials makes me more paranoid. If I leave them alone and revisit after a few days or weeks, and see it from a fresh perspective, sometimes I either have more confidence in what I've done or I have a clear idea of what I should change, or mistakes I've made. 
Keep in mind, I haven't submitted even 1 application yet. ?