coffeeortea

Congratulations! I don't have any specific tips for Princeton. Just the same as always. Try not to stress too much about it-- interviews in this field are typically dynamic and conversational. It would be really unlikely to be grilled or interrogated or anything like that. Also don't worry about trying to show off or 'prove yourself'-- these professors will always know much more than you, and that's expected. Just try to go into it thinking of it as a conversation!

Not sure how it will go this year, but last year Stanford's decisions were quite late. They sent interview invites on January 27th, the interviews took place between March 4th and March 5th, and I received my decision on March 6th. They may do things differently this year, as last year they did interviews on campus.

Hey guys! I was active in the Spanish thread last cycle, and am currently in my first year of a PhD in Span. lit at Princeton. Just wanted to check in and say best of luck to everyone. In terms of interview tips, I'd add that in my experience, the interviews for PhD programs frequently asked me about a favorite or influential book I had read and why, a favorite film, potential projects or areas of interest for the future/for a possible dissertation, as well as a question or two about why I want to go to grad school, where I see myself in the future, and that sort of thing. Generally, they were fairly low-pressure. No grilling or intense interrogations. Pretty much a conversation about your interests! I was asked to talk about my undergrad thesis, to explain more about a possible interest I'd mentioned in my SOP, and to talk about a book I had connected with recently. I mentioned Nada and was asked what I thought was the most memorable scene of the book for me. I believe I was also asked to talk more about my experience going abroad and what I'd learned from it. Most of my interviews were 80-100% in Spanish which I assume is partly because I'm non-native. I heard that some other interviewees who were native Spanish speakers were asked more questions in English than I was. Anyways, just wanted to pop in. Hopefully this will helpful to some of you! Best of luck this cycle!

Wow, I completely forgot about my account here! This is probably far too late now, but I'm loving Princeton! My first semester was great, even though it was totally virtual. I hope your masters at Oxford is going great! @Kaddyreena

Hi again! A Master's is definitely not required to get into an Ivy for a PhD in Spanish lit, especially if you have a good profile, as you seem to have. Of my cohort at Princeton of 8 people, I don't believe any of us have Master's (maybe one or two do, but I don't think so!)

Hi! I am currently a PhD student in Spanish at Princeton! While I'm a contemporary scholar myself, I know we have a great medieval lit program here. I'd recommend applying. If I were you, I might also recommend looking into University of Virginia, Cornell, NYU, Michigan Ann Arbor, and Colorado Boulder for PhD programs.

Hey guys-- I got into Stanford! I'm super excited, but with the university closed because of the coronavirus case I'm not sure if I'll be able to visit... I'm looking mostly at Cornell, Princeton, and Stanford as my top choices right now I think. I've officially heard back from all the places I applied to now, which is a really weird feeling.

Right. Interesting. Thanks for your input! I’m a peninsularist, and I’m looking at Princeton, Cornell, and Yale (among some other non-ivies). I’ve already pretty much decided Yale is out, but now the decision will likely come down to Princeton vs Cornell.

Which Ivys would you personally privilege? Just curious!

I got into Princeton today guys! I’m so excited. It’s definitely one of my top choices

February 1st, by email. It actually went to my spam mailbox, I found it by chance like 3 days later.

I am also having a hard time... I've been accepted to 5 programs, and I know I won't be attending UC Davis, but I am thinking about Yale, UVA, Cornell, and Georgetown. Yale is making me feel some typa way because of the whole scandal in the last few years with Echevarría... I'm leaning towards Cornell or UVA right now. But I'm also still waiting to hear from Princeton and I'm waiting on my Stanford interview the first week of March...

Congrats!!

Hey y'all, did anyone else interview with Yale? I had mine 2 weeks ago and still haven't heard anything.

Hi! I also got invited but unfortunately couldn't make the dates work because they directly overlap with Stanford's interviews. I'll be visiting UVA on an alternate date in late Feb. I'm sure that she'll send you more info about the recruitment event as it draws nearer, but if she doesn't you could always send an email requesting more details/a schedule. For what it's worth, at Princeton's interview/campus visits, we didn't get a full schedule until we physically arrived to campus (which was nerve-wracking!) but it all worked out okay.