sportengels

(assuming this thread is vacant at this point) Had a totally mediocre, borderline awful interview at Columbia this morning, one in which I seemed like an inconvenience rather than a candidate. Bummer! Hope the process is going well for other folks. Good luck et bon courage !

(hola a tod@s! snooping here from the French forum - good luck to you all in this stressful period!) Just briefly adding that this also seems peculiar to me, since (and perhaps I could be mistaken) most language PhD programs should contain masters-level coursework for the first year or so of the program. Every PhD is different, of course, but it also might be worth asking about whether or not the MA is funded (and to what extent). If it isn't, it's almost certainly not worth the investment if the PhD is your ultimate goal. I would be surprised if the department believes any applicant *needs* masters-level coursework to be admitted to their PhD program, but crueler and stupider things have happened.

(apologies if this is a late reply at this point) While I very obviously cannot provide a solid answer to your particular case (which, in every way, is exceptional), one method of answering this question is to affirm, as earnestly and sincerely as as possible, that you are holistically prepared to undergo a PhD. If I understand you correctly, you feel like there are meaningful and exciting opportunities to contribute to a recent development in the field, and that the arrival of such an opportunity gives you a leg up, so to speak, in affecting an important emerging trend in the research. But you might need to make the case (both to them, but also to yourself!) that, despite your relative youth, you're not only intellectually prepared for the demands of a PhD, but that you're socially, emotionally, and even financially* prepared for what will likely be long, strenuous, and potentially lonely couple of years. If you can point to now being not only a good moment for you to intervene in a meaningful development in the field, but also for you personally to undertake this kind of endeavor, I think admissions committees will have an easier time understanding that you're just an exceedingly gifted (and substantially younger) applicant than they're used to seeing. And while I don't want to compromise your confidence in any way, I would also want to know: what do you want from the PhD? Do you envision working in research? In clinical applications? In teaching? In other words, what does the PhD get you that you want? Also, why apply to PhDs in so many different disciplines? How could your research be done both in a criminal justice program and also a developmental psych program? Why not just one? Of course, best of luck with the application process!

Just circling back here to see if anyone has heard from Penn or NYU's French Literature PhD programs, or if interviews are still being sent out. Had my first interview this morning with a few faculty from Harvard's Romance Studies department. I think it went fine - tough to get a sense of these things over Zoom, which tends to heighten my stress levels for these kinds of high-stakes conversations. They said they would reach out in a few weeks with final admissions decisions, in case that's useful to anyone. Hopeful for good news for everyone soon.

It's probably too late to address your particular question, but I'll answer this in case other people have similar questions down the line. To my knowledge, there is no centralized list of towns that have limitations on student housing, though you can bet that landlords in Lower Merion Township and perhaps Haverford Township may be more reticent to rent to college students due to high property values and some, uh, unproductive stereotypes about college students and their ability to respect rental properties. That said, every case is different; my grandmother rented to Villanova undergrads for a few years in the mid-2010s, and her property was located in Lower Merion. Student housing is another issue, though there are places to rent in and around South Ardmore, Overbrook park, and of course into Philadelphia. Apartments above storefronts are usually posted publicly, so I would try Zillow. If not, you might get lucky with a "For Rent" sign in the storefront itself, but I wouldn't bank on it. Traffic is manageable but can be hectic, especially on Lancaster avenue, which is the main artery for most of the Mainline suburbs. Driving from West Philly can be dicey, for no other reason that the road quality is abysmal and streets are narrow and dense. Once you're on Lancaster Ave going west, things get a lot more predictable. If you're coming from out of state, you might find the roads around the Main Line to be surprisingly tricky; lots of blind corners, narrow two-lane roads, and unclear signage take some getting used to. If you can get a place near the Paoli/Thorndale line or the Norristown Speedline, you could also definitely survive without a car.

@MonsieurHonoréThank you so much! This is definitely demystifies some aspects of the process that were less clear before. I appreciate that it seems to be a somewhat engaging, sensible opportunity to talk about why you want to do the PhD at that particular institution, which is a question that I don't think some folks (myself included) spend enough time considering in detail. Also lol at the idea of checking where your program "stacks up" - bold move on their part to ask someone that in an interview (what are you going to say, "this is my back-up program?"). I'll definitely keep some of these questions in mind as I continue to submit applications.

@MonsieurHonoréthanks so much for this information! I will definitely take your advice about the unfunded masters programs, as I'm now looking only at PhD and one or two funded MA programs. I've spent more-or-less every day doing some kind of work to prepare and refine my application materials, so I'm hopeful that this will be a successful year (and if not, no big deal). One question I do have regards the interview process. I know that many programs will invite potential candidates for an interview if they feel that they might be viable. I'm curious, since you've gone through this process twice, what those interviews might be like and to what extent that gave you a clearer sense of if the program may be a good fit. I'm sure that this varies greatly, but any insight would be helpful. Thanks again!

Thanks for this - that was my impression, too, but I suppose it's good to have those impressions confirmed. I've been fortunate enough to have some teaching experience in my current position (I assistant direct a Writing Center), and so I feel not totally unprepared in that respect. I'll continue looking at PhDs and go from there.

Hi all, I may be a bit early, but I wanted to open a thread for anyone interested in applying for French PhDs/MAs for 2022. Knowing that graduate admissions last year were fairly brutal (though previous threads seem to offer a glimmer of hope!), I anticipate that many potential applicants will try their luck this go-around. I'm still deciding on a list of schools, but my research interests lie primarily on the 20th century novel, urban studies, postcolonial studies, and histories of emotion in contemporary French political life. Admittedly, this will be my first serious foray into the graduate admissions cycle, and so I'm anxious to hear from those who may find themselves on the same boat. One question: there seems to be an understanding (though perhaps I'm mistaken) that unfunded French MAs are, on the whole, poor investments of time and money that offer minimal advantages when applying to PhD programs. Does anyone have any experience doing a French (or other humanities) unfunded MA and can speak to this ? They seem to be increasingly common ways of enriching cash-starved departments (UChicago's MAPH being an example), but I'm also anxious about the prospect of applying to a PhD program without previous graduate experience. Curious as to what others have to say! Wishing everyone all the best