Alyanumbers

Who else is applying to Comp Lit programs, and where are you applying? Share your research interests, talk about your dream school, and let's get to know each other. We're a tiny field--I'm sure we'll eventually run into each other! I want to work on France in the 60s and contemporary Egypt, and perhaps Latin America in the 80s. I'd like to focus on the interaction between lit, film and societal change in each country/period. My top choice is Yale; I'm so excited about their course offerings in New Wave cinema, contemporary Arabic lit and theory (esp. deconstruction), as well as their huge collection of Egyptian films at the library. They also have an amazing French department. I kind of internally squee every time I look at their 'Graduate Seminars' page. I keep getting nightmares about the application process. In one of them, someone posted on here saying they're applying to Comp Lit programs and they speak ten languages, and I was like, "I'm dooooooomed!" Anyway, I'm gonna shut up now, but you guys have to do the talking!

Arm chair.

River bed.

If I didn't have finals on Wednesday...

Religious holiday.

Police state.

Bright light.

Fine taste.

Dotted line.

Punk rock.

Hahaha, that is me. This forum has taught me so much! I didn't know what a literature review was, or what MLA-style formatting means, and I had no idea what level of sophistication the adcomms expected for the writing sample. I discovered that the things I'm interested in have big, smart-sounding names, and I can now effectively express my interests in a concise and professional way. I know people like me who've been to the UK for their masters, and they were telling me how in their first few months, they would just listen to their classmates' conversations and take notes, because so much of it was completely new to them. This is essentially what I'm doing here.

Bee's knee.

Cocoa butter.

For someone like me, who's foreign and has never lived in the US, the GradCafe has been very useful in understanding how academia works, what the culture is like, what to put in my SoP, etc. It also gives me a good idea of the level of competition, and helps me better my app by comparing myself to people on here--who are generally among the top applicants, I think. Of course it's not going to be that useful if you already have a mentor who's guiding you through the process. I don't, however, and I doubt I'm the only one.

Summer squash.

Heh, and 800Q is not such an impossibly high score! I'm sure there are other people in the lab who got the same. I think we've all seen those people who bragged about their high school/SAT scores all through college... PS: Did I mention I got 800 on the SAT verbal?

I've encountered the same situation and decided not to apply. If she's too busy to reply to an email, she's probably too busy to advise you. Besides, only one potential advisor? What if she leaves, or goes on sabbatical?

Capital letters. Ninja'd! Love letter.

How about sharing a flat with other students? You don't need good credit for that, do you?

I looked to my left. I immediately and fervently wished that I'd looked to my right. There was a large green tree. Its branches looked contorted from the wind, but there wasn't even a breeze. A single, luscious pear hung from the highest branch.

Silent Night.

cherubie has good advice, but it's also important to remember that research experience, a good SoP and strong LoRs trump bad or average GRE scores every day. This may be more true for humanities than other disciplines, but it's still worth keeping in mind. The GRE is NOT that big a deal. Top grad schools see a lot of applicants, and have certainly admitted strong applicants who weren't great test-takers, and so did not do well on the GRE. It's certainly not what will make or break your application. Graduate schools set a minimum, yes, and you're often advised to shoot for 1200+ (to have a better shot at fellowships), but as long as you're above the minimum AND above the program's average, you should focus on other aspects of your application.

I've totally ignored these for the apps where I'm sending paper LoRs. My profs had already written an LoR that they used for the online process, and I just asked them to print them on letterheaded paper and get them stamped by the dean. I'm trying to make things simple and convenient for them; I'm not about to ask them to answer yet another questionnaire about me.

Wow, is that the case in the States as well? In my faculty, you take 11-12 courses a year: 4 per semester, plus 3 or 4 year-long.