The Maritime Scholar

Quick question: When you get an acceptance, when is the deadline to accept/decline the offer? I received my first acceptance a couple of days ago, and it's still pretty early. I'm just wondering if every school/department has their own accept/decline deadline or not. If anyone is aware of this, LMK. Thanks!

I just got an email from OSU saying I was accepted! It's the first decision I've gotten, and I'm glad it wasn't a rejection ? Congrats to those who also got accepted to OSU!

I like the idea of Interfolio, but I submitted my applications yesterday and there were already about four out of 12 schools that didn't accept Interfolio. I just feel that if my recommenders are taking the time to write my LOR, then they can take the time to upload each letter. It shouldn't be a hassle. I'm not sure $48 (even though I didn't have to pay for it because it was paid for as a gift) a year is worth it, if I'm just going to use it once (at least for now). Interfolio can maybe be more useful when applying to teaching positions, but I'll have to see when the time comes for that. Anyways, fingers crossed ?

Update: So I emailed the office assistant, and they said that the prompt was changed a bit and that I should include it in addition to what I already have. I also emailed the program director just in case. I think I'm just going to adapt what I wrote for my personal statement on diversity to this.

If anyone here has applied to Penn State for their Ph.D. in English program and you know about this, please clarify for me. I would really appreciate it. Thanks! So on the English department's website, it says that a SOP (1-3 double-spaced pages) is required. However, when I went to start the application, the portal says that part of the documentation required is a personal statement with the following prompt: "Why do you want to pursue a higher degree in English studies at a time when the Liberal Arts are often less valued than science and technology?" This doesn't sound like a SOP prompt either way, so I'm just confused. Do they want this in addition to the SOP? Also, it says that a CV is required when the website does not ask for one. I have already written my SOP, so it would really suck if I had to rewrite it based on this prompt or add a personal statement when it didn't even ask for one in the first place.

If anyone can give their input on this, I'd really appreciate it! So here are the WS requirements for each one of my 12 schools that I'm applying to: 15-20 pages 25 pages (minimum) One or two writing samples 12-20 double-spaced pages 15-25 pages No more than 25 pages 15-25 double-spaced pages (including notes) Two examples of academic writing (8-20 pages) Two samples (15-20 pages) 15-20 pages Around 20 pages 10-20 pages As you can tell, the average is around 20 pages for most of the schools. I'm using my master's thesis which is about 50 pages (not including preliminary pages and bibliography). I have been able to cut it down to about 30 pages. I noticed that when I changed the margins to 0.5 all the way around, it went down to about 27 pages. I was wondering if I changed the margins it would be okay. There's not a whole lot about the WS requirements on the applications pages of these schools, so I don't see why it wouldn't be okay. Also, I know papers in MLA style are double-spaced, but if there is no mention of that, would single-space be acceptable? All in all, I may just email all the schools and specifically ask them these questions, but I wanted to ask everyone on here first. Thanks! ?

Thanks for this! ??

Yes! This would be AWESOME!

I just saw this! You're welcome! ?

Boo ? There'll probably be other schools from my list closing admissions as well (hopefully not too many more)...

I'm surprised no one has taken the time to reply to your post! Either way, each of my schools are requiring a SOP, but only one of my schools (UCLA) is also requiring a personal statement. From my understanding, a SOI/SOR are synonymous with a SOP. They both address your interests and your research. In some of my schools that I'm applying to, I see that they want a personal statement, but it is basically asking for a SOP. All in all, I would email the program directly and see what they want. P.S. It's funny how when I search "statement of intent for grad school" on Google, most results are about SOPs. I found this specific school's info on a statement of intent, which sounds like a SOP to me...

Hi, @kimmy! When I first started researching programs for my Ph.D. in English, I had my thesis advisor/mentor help me. Do you have a professor that you were close with that could maybe help you? I found that my advisor knew a lot of the faculty in many Ph.D. in English programs, so that helped me out a lot. It's always good to have someone who has experience who can assist you in the application process. Good luck with everything, and stay safe! ?

My field is 19th-century American lit, so it's obviously different. However, for me, it took one class and one professor to really see what field in English/lit I wanted to research. I agree with @Randi S. If you did your MA thesis, look into that and see what you were passionate about.

I've lived in Miami all my life, and the one thing that I would say is that you probably need a car to get around. Unless you want to do Uber/Lyft or carpool. If you live on/near FIU, then I think you should be good because there is a Publix, Walgreens, etc. right across the street from campus. However, it would mean having to carry your groceries. I was lucky enough to live only a few minutes away from FIU and even though I didn't have a car, I relied on Uber/Lyft, parents, friends, etc. to drive me to and from campus and to wherever else I wanted/needed to go. One of the reasons I'm moving away from Miami and even Florida for my PhD is because I want to be more close to things, and since I'm not planning on buying a car, I would need to do things by walking/biking. I also want to have a change of scenery and environment (people, culture, etc.). Many people who think of Miami think of the beach. I'm about an hour away from Miami Beach. It's beautiful there. I don't think Sweetwater is that nice surrounding FIU, but it just depends where you go. Miami could mean Sweetwater, Brickell, Coral Gables, Kendall, etc. There are certain places that are nice and certain places that are just run down and not so pleasant. These are just my personal opinions after living 20+ years in Miami, FL.

Ah, cool. Thanks!

I believe all my schools are still accepting applications for fall 2021, but now I'm a bit worried. Does anyone know anything about my schools (see my signature for schools I'm applying to)? Thanks!

Hi, @ssg! I hope all's well with you. I've just finished a draft of my SOP for one of my schools, and I have included at least three professors that I wish to work with, or whose work is related to mine. When you say "PI," do you mean a person of interest? Since I'm applying to a PhD in English program and you're applying to a clinical psychology program, I'm not sure how the structure works behind "naming" professors in your SOP. I don't think it's a bad idea to have two mentors. I'm guessing in terms of my own SOP, I am naming possible committee members, but I'm not sure if that's what you mean. I'm assuming you mean like a committee head that would act as your mentor during your time in the program. Either way, I don't see a problem with naming two. IMO, I think that having another to fall back on is beneficial. Good luck with everything! You got this!

I doubt that they'll Google you or whatever. Even if they did, wouldn't it be expressed in the admission info that they do actually do something like that? I think that your application alone gives them a good idea of who you are in an academic sense. If they want to know more, I would think they would set up some sort of meeting with you. Maybe out of curiosity they could search for you online, but it's not going to be to the point where they dig up every single thing about you. If you have a strong online presence, then maybe it'll be discovered easier. However, if you have a few accounts here and there and you don't really post much, then I wouldn't see much of it coming up in search results. All in all, don't sweat it.