queenofcarrotflowers
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Posts posted by queenofcarrotflowers
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3 minutes ago, LtotheOG said:
So apparently two points of concern here:
a. How routine is an interview before being accepted for PhD programs in English?
b. With January past, is there still time to be invited for an interview?
Inputs are heavily appreciated!
a. Routine only for a few programmes. Some programmes (eg Chicago) require an interview to admit you, others interview a few, but not all, of their admits (historically this has been the case for Stanford, but don't quote me on that. Strangely, some of the interview posts from last year seem to have disappeared from the results page...). You can see if any of the programmes you've applied to interview by checking the results page.
b. Again, depends on the programme, check the results page. I know Irvine has conducted informal interviews in February.
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Out of curiosity, those of you who have started to get acceptances/ rejections, do you feel better or more nervous after hearing back and waiting on the rest?
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If whoever posted on the results page about decisions for Stanford coming out in approx. 10 days is on here, thank you for letting us all know and congrats on getting an interview!! Was just wondering if that’s ten days from the date of your interview or from today? (Not that it probably makes that much of a difference !)
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5 hours ago, winterbearr said:
hi guys, does anyone know if stanford is interviewing every potentially accepted candidate or just some? I saw that a few people posted about receiving interview invites.
From what I can gather historically they didn't interview everyone but I have no idea whether this is/is not the case this year. Seeing the invites has sure got me on the edge of my seat ?
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3 hours ago, The Maritime Scholar said:
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!
Also, huge congratulations on your offer!
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3 hours ago, The Maritime Scholar said:
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!
April 15th is the standard deadline for all US schools. Of course, if you’ve definitely decided against a programme you should inform the university ASAP to free up waitlist spots.
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On 1/18/2021 at 11:39 PM, blueturret said:
I'm new here but so grateful to have found this community and all the amazingly helpful information on these fora.
This may be a long post, so I'll leave a tldr at the end.
Like many people here, I was a huge literature/creative writing nerd in high school (though I doubt this counts for much now, nearly 3 years out of college), where nearly all of my extracurriculars were writing-related. I was a YoungArts finalist in creative writing, attended the Iowa Young Writers' Studio, won two National Scholastic Gold Keys (in flash fiction and creative nonfiction), had a poem published in the Kenyon Review, etc.
I ended up getting into the college of my dreams but succumbed to many outside pressures of needing to study a "useful major" so I gave up on literature and became a math major, with the goal of working as a machine learning engineer or quant trader. I did fairly well in my major (~3.9 GPA), earned an M.S. in Statistics to boot, and have been working as a quant at an algorithmic trading shop since graduating a few years ago. But I'm honestly kind of miserable and wish I'd followed my heart as an undergraduate.
I'm mostly interested in contemporary American literary theory and criticism, though for the purposes of M.A. admissions (which I understand are CRAZY competitive), I'm willing to spin the narrative necessary.
The pros going for me:
1) I have strong computer science/programming skills which can hopefully translate to and/or be used to justify an interest in digital humanities.
2) I have C1 competency in Japanese and Korean, B2 in Spanish, and B1 in German. Not sure if this counts for much in the grand scheme, but thought I'd include it in case it moves the needle even a hair.
3) I won a small writing award for a humanities class I took in college. I'll be able to ask this professor for a letter of recommendation.
The cons going against me:
1) I've taken a whopping total of 2 humanities classes of any sort in college, despite my undergrad institution having a top 5 English department, so I have no one to blame but myself for not engaging in the literary community in college.
2) Following from 1), this also means I have only 1 humanities professor whom I could ask for a reference letter. I'm assuming letters from mathematicians/economists/computer scientists wouldn't count for much..
3) I have essentially 0 writing samples to speak of at the moment (other than my senior thesis—on abstract algebra lol—and my essay from 3) under "pros" that I wrote during my sophomore year).
So what do you all think? Is there any hope for me to pivot back to critical theory/contemporary literature by going back to school for an M.A. (and/or PhD down the line)? What would I need to do to get back on track? I'm willing to entertain any length of detour.
Thank you for reading this!
Tldr; Math B.A. who did a lot of literature-related things in high school wondering if there's any chance of returning to my roots? Will an M.A. be enough to have a shot at being a literary scholar, or does one really need to get a PhD? Thank you!
Will preface this by saying I have absolutely no expertise on this subject, since I’m just a first-round PhD applicant!
It’s certainly not unheard of to pursue a literature MA/PhD if you’ve got a STEM undergraduate degree— many of the current graduate students’ profiles I looked up whilst researching programmes listed STEM backgrounds. However, and sorry if this is unhelpful, I’m a bit confused on what your academic goals are, and what you regard as being a ‘literary scholar’. Also, you mention creative writing as a previous passion— have you considered an MFA, or are you definitely more interested in studying, rather than writing literature now? Sorry, I know you’ve already clearly stated your interest in critical theory and contemporary American lit, but since you seem to have a talent and passion for creative writing, I’m wondering if that’s a track worth considering/ one that would fit with your interests and goals best. -
1 hour ago, Cloudbury said:
Wondering if Stanford's English department conducts interviews...
from what I can tell (someone correct me if I’m wrong!) they did last year, but it was for the first time in a while (they did not for many previous years), and they did not conduct them for all admits.
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17 hours ago, Cloudbury said:
Thank you poster above for the well wishes and I wish you could help us get accepted. ?
Anyone heard anything from schools yet?What are you guys hoping to specialize in?
Nothing yet! (at least, according to the excessive amount of times I've checked my portals today...)
I'm hoping to specialize in Southeast Asian and African Anglophone!
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2 hours ago, Magic Lantern said:
Finally submitted all of my applications. I feel kind of numb. Strangely, there is no catharsis at all, no sense of closure, no nothing. lol
Yup, it's such a bummer that there isn't even a slight catharsis to it. Submitted my apps relatively early, thought to myself beforehand 'hey I've got basically no chance of admission anyway so I'll feel much better and forget about it once they're in!'... oh the sweet summer child I once was.
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15 hours ago, Bopie5 said:
This is definitely daunting to think about! Now that all my apps are in and there's nothing more I can do, I've found that my thoughts keep getting sucked into random things adjacent to the idea of getting into a program (trying to guess whether the pandemic led to more or fewer applicants, looking at apartments in all the cities even though that is definitely a waste of my time, lurking around academic twitter, reading endless articles about the dire state of the job market/the humanities in general, etc). None of these things provide much in terms of peace of mind, but I can't stop myself from trying to find whatever information I can, no matter how tangentially related.
Once next semester actually starts and I'm busy writing my thesis, it will be better! Wishing luck to everyone. It's a strange season, but we have done all we can, and even getting apps in is such an accomplishment given the circumstances. I hope there will be a lot of good news going around this forum in a few months!
Long time listener, first time caller. Had to make an account just to say this is so relatable, I'm doing the exact same as you (trying to suss out numbers of applicants, pointlessly looking at apartments, lurking on academic twitter...). It's nice to know I'm not the only one getting mentally sucked into grad application-related stuff! I told myself I would forget about applications as soon as I had them in, since I'm not really expecting any acceptances this cycle, yet it's all I'm thinking about now... I'm even checking application portals even though there's no chance of decisions until February at the earliest!
- Bopie5, CyberHarpie, kirbs005 and 1 other
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4
2021 Applicants
in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition
Posted
Anyone else shitting bricks over UT Austin?