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@EM51413Sorry to bother you, but I was just wondering if you also had any knowledge about departments currently strong on philosophy and literature, especially in the context of postmodernism and marxism? Apart from those mentioned here, I only had Duke on my radar, and Binghamton, but am honestly getting very weird vibes from that one. Apart from that, I mainly end up at programmes strong in 'critical theory,' but as I'm not someone having gender/postcolonial theory as main interests, I'm feeling quite hesitant all-round.

Thanks so much for this, and the info above! Has definitely helped me a lot as well (especially since I'd never have looked at comp lit but this does seem possibly to be really right for me!)

This is such a good question! I'm sorry I can't help you, but just wanted to add that if anyone is reading this and thinking "I only know this with regard to English programmes," that I'm definitely following and interested in that info haha, and so feel free to share! I hope this doesn't come across as me hijacking your post; it just really made me realize that this is something I've been trying to find out without really being aware of it! Good luck with your applications, it seems like you really have everything together so you'll probably do so well!!

I was worried that you might not know your interests at all, but honestly, your interests seem relatively specific already (but still broad enough), so that is good! I think if you look at what research is currently being done in your field (maybe find a journal that deals with it a lot?) that could potentially be quite helpful to you.

You have to remember that they see a lot of applications; if it's just a few small discrepancies between your cv and your statement and only has relevance on a few extra classes you took, they might not even notice? I'm not sure about that of course, but even if they do, it's not like you're deliberately leaving something bad out or put a different university than the one you actually went to, or something. Additionally, I'm not from the US so take this with a grain of salt, but Columbia seems quite picky in who they let in anyway, and especially with the huge numbers of applicants this year "getting rejected from a top university" isn't a bad sign at all; it's just circumstantial. The other university I've never heard of tbh (that's a me thing, nothing to do with the university in particular lol), but still getting rejected by two schools doesn't mean anything for your other applications!

Honestly, these mistakes seem quite minor to me - it's not as if you put the wrong university you're applying to in your personal statement, or something. Of course, the fewer mistakes, the better, but mistakes will always happen and as long as they can understand the basic trajectory of your studies and see that you meet their criteria, I personally don't think it would be a huge issue. I get that it feels like that from your perspective, though! But if they don't know you did an extra summer semester, why would they make a problem out of it?

I'm not super familiar with the programme, but did some analytical philosophy at the same university and thought about doing the programme (before I changed my interests completely lol). Unless the mandatory courses are general philosophy as an introduction, which I can barely imagine (and you can check at studiegids.uva.nl), I wouldn't worry too much about sociology and history. The analytical philosophy sphere is quite insular in a way within the philosophy department.

Oh I definitely think it's relatively safe! I've mainly heard a lot of good things about the programme so that's why I'm assuming it might be a bit competitive, but many Dutch MA programmes don't even have selection for Dutch students, and the handful that do are just selecting to see if you're a good fit, so I don't think it's super-competitive in international terms, if that makes sense!

I have no idea, to be honest. I'm assuming you're going for a research master in gender studies? My experiences with research master programmes in general are that if you meet the criteria and show in your application that this is the right programme for you, they will generally accept you. I've heard of some people being declined, but I feel they accept most candidates. However, that is at a different university and at a different programme, and while there isn't really a "this university is more prestigious/harder to get into than another" going on in NL I do feel like the gender programme in Utrecht specifically is quite prestigious, so it might be a little harder. Generally, though, I don't feel like Dutch MA programmes are as much of a gamble as they are in the US, but that's just vague impressions, and might also be based on my experience as a non-international student, which apparently does help.

I'm so sorry you're going through this! As I'm assuming you're applying internationally to Utrecht, I just wanted to say that the April 15 vibe/or any other date that is nationally held on to in such a way, isn't really a thing in the Netherlands, and (speaking from a different university but in the same country) while I heard back in a somewhat timely fashion when I applied, I have heard from international students that they heard back much later. Just wanted to emphasize that things can sometimes be quite slow at Dutch universities in this respect, so that you know what process you're in (especially since national and international application deadlines tend to be quite different). You should definitely just contact them when you don't hear anything, though. Finally, the month of may is fulllll of holiday weeks as well as many public holidays, so everything is extra scattered - if you are still busy contacting them in June, you'll probably have much more luck. Just to provide some context if you're an international applicant! And good luck! ☺️ (not to diminish that this is an awful thing for them to do, I just thought some context might help your anxieties a little)

I'm planning on applying both for US programmes that require just a SoP, and programmes in other places (like UK) where I need a full research proposal, so right now I'm mainly just wondering if I'll be needing to make my interests more general and less defined for my US applications. ? At this point I'm luckily still orienting on which programmes I'll be applying to so I'll worry about that later. However, I currently am hoping to write a specific SoP for every programme I'll be applying to, as well as maybe/hopefully separate writing samples specifically attuned to every programme's focus and faculty. Not sure though, but for the SoP I'll definitely make it specific to each programme, as that seems to be kind of a must. @thecat00 I'd recommend Casey Fiesler's Youtube channel - she talks about these things really clearly, even though her field's completely different, and is really encouraging, as opposed to some other channels I've encountered lol. To introduce myself a little, I think I'll be applying to mainly English PhDs (over comp lit), as well as more specific literary/critical theory/criticism programmes. I'm lowkey eyeing the Binghamton programme as it provides both philosophy and literature opportunities, but I'm getting kind of weird vibes from it lol, and I'm mainly thinking of applying to my dream schools in the US as it would be quite a big move and if I go for it, I do want it to be as worth it as it can possibly be. However, I'll also be applying in the UK (just having a bad feeling about funding, especially post-Brexit), and in my own country (no chance though lol). Is anyone else thinking about applying internationally (either in different countries than they're currently in or just in non-US countries)?

Since I said I would make this topic; here it is! I've just started my first spreadsheet, and would love to find others applying next fall!

Thank you so much; that helps a lot! I'll definitely just invest in that French book then (I was afraid I'd buy a 30 euro book and then find out I really shouldn't be spending time on learning French), especially since I just want to, but it probably could also be useful in a SoP or CV or sth to mention that I've already started becoming more proficient in it. What you mention about the starting requirements for English is also super useful - I was a bit uncertain if I was reading it right on some uni websites before, because yeah with a dictionary German and French are much less of an issue bc the grammar comes quite intuitively to me (though I should definitely refresh it a bit), but the vocab and listening/speaking is where I just shut down lol. I'll also definitely reach out to some people, since I do think you really make sense in that my not knowing what the better programme fit would be does seem a bit central to this (and other) issues. Oh and if I manage to get into the swing of things I'll definitely reach out! ^^

Hi everyone! I'm currently thinking about applying for Fall 2022, and have been looking at some US universities. However, the language requirement was something quite new to me. My language situation is as follows: I have my first language which I don't plan to do anything with (though I won't mention that specifically in applications lol but I'm also not going to mention ways in which I plan to use it), and English as my second language. I've put a lot of time in English to become fluent, which I now mostly am, and it is the main language in which I am interested in researching in. However, through the school system I also have basic knowledge of French, German, and Ancient Greek. None of these I am particularly well-versed in, though. My research interests mainly deal with 20th-century literature and their philosophical background. While I mostly tend towards English and American lit, I'm not exclusively looking at these and reading in translation has always been normal to me as I've grown up doing so, which is probably why I'm having these doubts in the first place. When seeing that certain programmes label students' major and minor languages, though, I don't really feel I fit into that, as I don't really have a second-favourite in my research or whatever. This is probably also why I'm still very uncertain how I fit into English vs. Complit programmes - I don't exclusively study English stuff bc I'm more interested in the overarching literary tendencies, but for this same reason I'm not specifically passionate about other language literatures either. (If anyone has tips how to navigate that distinction, of course feel free to share as well!) My question, then, is this: I feel like becoming better at one of the languages I have some knowledge in, would probably be useful for my applications. It also seems like a really fun project to pick up. However, of course it would be quite a time investment. Would it, in my situation, be useful to pick up another language? Again, I'd love to, but I also need to be mindful of how I spend my time, because I'm also in a fulltime MA programme that is quite time-consuming, and want to get as much out of zoom conferences as I can before things switch to physical meetings again and I won't be able to attend anything. My plan would be to pick up French, as I'm very interested in post-structuralist theory, and it seems useful to just know more of the original language as words get transferred quite often relatively literally and it's useful to pick up their connotations, if that makes sense (I can already mostly do that for German bc my first language is quite similar to it), plus philosophy of course is never really translated as much as reinterpreted. Does this seem wise, or would a language really be such a minor thing on my CV that you'd discourage it? (If I do make significant progress I would consider taking an exam so that at least I can put a certified level on there.) Thank you!!

That's so kind; thank you!

Thank you! I'll wait a week then, haha. I just told myself I would get started broad researching of both my interests and where exactly I would like to apply to after some deadlines, which is today! I'm mainly interested in modernism and postmodernism, as well as its philosophical background, especially in terms of post-structuralism and marxism. I also just like those and a thousand other theoretical movements in general, and so many other things, but if I were to write a proposal now, it would be about these.

Congratulations to everyone who got in! I also just found this forum recently because I'm thinking of applying next cycle; would this be an appropriate time to start a 2022 topic?