KvV

Yeah, this is all good advice. I appreciate it! There are a few people that I am in my MA with who are excellent at what they do, very hardworking and insightful, yet also got shut out this round. The MLA had a discussion about the status of grad school at the beginning of the year, so perhaps programs are tightening up on their requirements in an attempt to address the dismal state of the job market. I myself am mostly worried about the level of viewpoint diversity we have in our programs. While it is wonderful that certain areas of the discipline are finally getting the attention that they deserve, I perceive a tendency for faddishness in academia which more than likely stunts the growth of the discipline. I hope that this is something that is addressed, since fads were what kept several areas (feminist and minority literature, speculative fiction, ect.) out of academia previously and these areas have made large contributions in the field. But that's just my opinion... I could be way off the mark.

I feel like a huge fool. Looking back, there are so many things that I would have done differently. I unfortunately have an interest in Existentialism, which is apparently a non-existent area of study, so my first change would have been to pick something (ANYTHING) else that is more mainstream. I mentioned in my SOP that I was interested in narrative theory within 20th century literature, but I probably should have been more specific. I probably shouldn't have even brought up Existentialism at all. I also feel like I dropped the ball by not getting into direct contact with the professors that I was interested in working with. NO ONE in my family even has a bachelor's, so I was effectively going into this with an idealistic conception of the process. Needless to say, my idealism has now been strangled, dismembered, and buried out in the woods somewhere. Has anyone had this experience, or am I alone here? Anyone get in their second time around? I'd appreciate all the advice that I can get.