JoeySsance

i am having the same problem, bro. I will simply igore others' part and focus on myself.

Welcome! Do you mind telling us a little bit about your research interests? Which 20th century authors and works most interest you? I'll PM you with some advice regarding the questions you posed here. Thanks for posting!

Your interests are really cool, Display Name ! It seems like with regard to your interest in l'OuLiPo, you and Overboard89 would have quite a bit to talk about.

So I think there's a sixth prospective applicant in our midst; a 19th century lit student. Whoever you are, welcome; come say hi!

So our thread has racked up 1000 views! Ouais! I don't anticipate that we'll catch up in terms of our reply count, but it would be nice to take a quick pulse of all French 2011 applicants out there. How's everyone doing? Are you surviving the application process? Just a few months left... We can do it!

Hey, Katerina, welcome! I really wish I had been as diligent about grad school preparation as you are at this stage. That's great!

As for French vs. Comp Lit, this is a big question a lot of students in both fields have considered. I was pretty torn asunder with this question, actually. I happen to speak a fair handful of languages and people have always told me that I'm a walking, talking, breathing comp lit major...(as opposed to... a zombie? lol) ...except I actually majored in French in undergrad. There's just something about French literature and theory in particular that really draws me to it. The way I made my decision about which departments to apply to was by checking out French and Comp Lit departments at various schools and seeing which ones my interests resonated most closely with. It happens that in all cases, I either preferred the French department over the Comp Lit department, or neither (and I managed to whittle down my list to just 6 schools!). I would definitely advise you to take your time and check out many different departments to get a good sense for the breadth of faculty interests and research areas out there.

In terms of the writing sample, I was lucky in that at my undergrad school, writing a senior thesis was mandatory. Oh yeah, and I also didn't apply to grad schools right away. Taking a year off has given me time to really put my interests into perspective and to take some much-needed time off after a rigorous four years of undergrad. You might consider taking a year off for similar reasons and because it would also give you time to write a longer paper and work on your applications in general. If not, you could probably write it your senior year (whether as a thesis or an independent project) and get some guidance from faculty in your department. If not, then, yes, considering MA programs first could be a fitting option. Were you wondering if you could send several 5 page papers? I don't think that's possible because schools general expect the writing sample to read as an individual and internally coherent piece but I suppose it depends on the specific program. At one of the schools on my list, UC Berkeley, the required writing sample length is between 5-8 pages. You might want to look into Berkeley. All of the other schools I'm considering ask for anywhere between 15-25 pages; some in French, others in both French and English.

I'm not French but I've gotten to near-native fluency thanks to well... majoring in French and also to both studying and working in Paris for a while. In terms of the job market... That's a story for a whole other post. The outlook is pretty bleak in general. As long as you keep studying French, you should attain a near-native fluency level, which should ease your concern about proficiency. Furthermore, a lot of the French faculty with the most prestigious titles and awards from the French government, etc. that I've either worked with in undergrad or encountered in the various programs I'm applying to are mostly non-native French speakers! So no need to worry!

AS A SIDE NOTE: IT LOOKS LIKE THERE ARE SOME NEW RESPONSES ON OUR THREAD'S POLL... ARE THERE FELLOW FRENCH LITERARY AND SOCIAL THEORY FOLKS IN OUR MIDST? Sorry for the all-caps... I just wanted to make sure this didn't get overlooked. Feel free to introduce yourselves and tell us about your research interests and where you're applying!

Bien à vous tous !

joey

Hey again! I'd like to clear one thing up. I'm actually currently applying to French Ph.D programs for the first time... So I don't know yet where I'll be accepted...

Don't worry about the GPA issue. The general consensus is that programs tend to look favorably on upward trends in grades. If it really bothers you, you could even explain your circumstances but then frame it as a strength [i.e. acknowledge that your earlier grades weren't so strong - and if there are mitigating circumstances you feel comfortable mentioning, then bring them up - but then focus on how your grades have improved, especially (hopefully) in your French courses].

I studied abroad in Paris for the spring semester of my junior year, which was around 5 months or so and stayed on to complete a summer internship at UNESCO for another nearly 3 months. Then, my senior year, I got funding from my department to go back to Paris to do thesis research over fall and winter break (which added another nearly two months). Overall I've only lived in Paris for just under a year.

My thesis adviser told me that most students in Comp Lit end up seeking jobs in single-language departments... In my case, while I'm applying to French departments, I've noticed that at some of the schools on my list I can pursue Comp Lit jointly with French, either as part of the Ph.D (as is the case at Columbia) or as a secondary field (as is the case at Harvard). If some of your other languages are Romance Languages, then some of the schools on my list I would recommend to you are: Berkeley, Harvard and Cornell. All three of these schools, in their own ways, have a Romance Languages Ph.D option where you can work on literature in two or more languages. At Harvard, for example, to participate in the secondary Comp Lit track, you have to commit to teaching a Comp Lit course, which would obviously be favorable on your applications if you plan on eventually applying to teach in Comp Lit departments.

I hope you find my comments helpful! Oh, and by the way, profite bien de ton séjour à Paris !

My department is like that of eucalyptus: if you get external funding that is greater than the department's funding, then it replaces your dept funding. What usually happens is that someone wins an external fellowship that is 2 or 3 years. Our department funding is guaranteed for four years, but requires TAing. So, what most students do is take the fellowship money in their first year and final years (if two year) or first, third, and fourth (if it's 3 years), then use department funding for the other year. It frees up time from TAing during the busiest times of graduate school (which generally are the first year, comps, and when you're writing and on the job market). I don't know whether it's just not possible for people to take the fellowship and the internal money or whether people just don't because they'd rather have as many years of funding as possible.

Thanks rising_star! You're lucky to be in such a generous department. You've only helped make it clearer for me that I'll have to look very closely at whichever admissions offers I get and compare the different proposed ways of handling external funding (...if, of course, I do get the fellowships). It looks like they could turn out to be a powerful negotiation tool with certain programs!

an example that might run somewhat counter...

a colleague of mine had internal funding, including a fellowship for her research year abroad. then she won a big multi-year award from her home country, something our department hadn't had to deal with yet. they tried to take away her internal fellowship and she basically told them no.

so what ended up happening is that she's living off of her external fellowship and then submits receipts of her expenses to her school and they reimburse her with the funds from her internal fellowship. when all is said and done, this'll give her around $35,000 or $40,000 for the year. pretty sweet deal.

if the department has a set precedent for your particular award situation, odds are they'll follow it. if you're the first person to win that particular external competition, you might be able to talk them into compensating you a little bit. it depends how flexible your DGS is, i guess.

StrangeLight and eucalyptus, thanks for the input! That's all really good to know. If I find myself in this position, I will definitely be talking it over with my department... I suppose there's not much else I can really do now but wait and see if I win any fellowships... and keep working at these grad school apps. Here's hoping things work out!

However, if I am awarded any fellowships, then I could probably use them as a good leveraging or negotiation tool, both during admissions and even long afterward, apparently. Sweet!

Thanks, kalapocska! I was actually thinking that if I won even one of the two, and if my grad programs were still deciding or if I were waitlisted, that I would contact them about it. I'm sure it could only help that I'd be a cheaper candidate to accept... I'm not exactly sure when the fellowship decisions will be made but I'll keep this in mind as a possible strategy.

...And now, I have to actually win at least one of the fellowships and well... also finish my grad school apps and be accepted somewhere for any of this to have a chance of occurring...

Thanks for indulging my momentary flight of fancy. All other views are by all means still welcome.

Thanks to both of you for your helpful responses! @Unlikelygrad: darn... at least the school covered tuition. @Eigen: Thanks for confirming that. By the way, your program sounds really generous.

My dream scenario is to win both of my fellowships. If that happened, it looks like it might be a tricky but not impossible situation to work out.

Fellowship A:

Each fellowship supports up to two years of graduate study Each award is for up to $25,000 in stipend grants and up to $20,000 in tuition support for each year of graduate study supported, a total of as much as $90,000
Annual stipend: $20,000, renewable over three years ($60,000 total) Award to the institution in lieu of tuition and fees: $2,000, also renewable over three years Here's what both fellowship programs I applied to stipulate about the start of funding:

Fellowship A: "If you were not in a graduate program in February of 2011, you would take up the fellowship in the fall of 2011." [in my case, I would be starting grad school in the fall 2011 term... well, hopefully...]

Fellowship B: "Fellowship recipients must begin the first year’s tenure on September 1, 2011, and must remain on tenure full-time for the academic year. After the first year of fellowship tenure, fellows may choose to defer funding for up to two years. All three years of support must be used within a five-year period."

Again, if I'm lucky enough to win both of them, it would seem like I'd be working out some sort of agreement between both fellowships and my grad program for the first year since both fellowships require that funding begin as of the fall 2011 term. But then, I could defer Fellowship B for a year, continue with Fellowship A and then resume Fellowship B's support for two years. In all, I would have four years of fellowship support in addition to my grad program's funding and then the remaining time until the Ph.D could be funded by just my program and/or other fellowships. If you were in this situation, given the specific fellowships in question (based on the details I've cited), would this seem like a plausible way to work out the overlap? Of course I have no idea which grad program I'll be attending yet and I can't know for sure whether I'll win both or even either of the fellowships (but I can dream, can't I? ). I'm just intrigued by this "what if" scenario and I'm wondering if anyone has experienced something more or less like it... Any more thoughts?

Hey everyone! I recently submitted my applications to two fellowship funding programs. Furthermore, the graduate departments I'm applying to all guarantee full funding and generous stipends. In the (awesome) event that I win one or both of these fellowships and end up at one of these fully-funded programs, how would the overlapping funding work? I'm sure in the end it would depend on the specific funding sources, but I'm wondering if there is any general advice about these situations.

This is what one of the fellowships says about the overlap scenario:

"You would typically be asked to accept a total combined award package that would not exceed full tuition, required fees, plus a $30,000 stipend."

Could any current grad students receiving both internal and external funding corroborate this with a similar turnout? Would the grad program essentially cover less of the tuition or stipend to allow the fellowships to do so? I'm just curious how this might work. I'd appreciate any and all input! Thanks in advance.

Hey again! I'd like to clear one thing up. I'm actually currently applying to French Ph.D programs for the first time... So I don't know yet where I'll be accepted...

Don't worry about the GPA issue. The general consensus is that programs tend to look favorably on upward trends in grades. If it really bothers you, you could even explain your circumstances but then frame it as a strength [i.e. acknowledge that your earlier grades weren't so strong - and if there are mitigating circumstances you feel comfortable mentioning, then bring them up - but then focus on how your grades have improved, especially (hopefully) in your French courses].

I studied abroad in Paris for the spring semester of my junior year, which was around 5 months or so and stayed on to complete a summer internship at UNESCO for another nearly 3 months. Then, my senior year, I got funding from my department to go back to Paris to do thesis research over fall and winter break (which added another nearly two months). Overall I've only lived in Paris for just under a year.

My thesis adviser told me that most students in Comp Lit end up seeking jobs in single-language departments... In my case, while I'm applying to French departments, I've noticed that at some of the schools on my list I can pursue Comp Lit jointly with French, either as part of the Ph.D (as is the case at Columbia) or as a secondary field (as is the case at Harvard). If some of your other languages are Romance Languages, then some of the schools on my list I would recommend to you are: Berkeley, Harvard and Cornell. All three of these schools, in their own ways, have a Romance Languages Ph.D option where you can work on literature in two or more languages. At Harvard, for example, to participate in the secondary Comp Lit track, you have to commit to teaching a Comp Lit course, which would obviously be favorable on your applications if you plan on eventually applying to teach in Comp Lit departments.

I hope you find my comments helpful! Oh, and by the way, profite bien de ton séjour à Paris !

Hey, Katerina, welcome! I really wish I had been as diligent about grad school preparation as you are at this stage. That's great!

As for French vs. Comp Lit, this is a big question a lot of students in both fields have considered. I was pretty torn asunder with this question, actually. I happen to speak a fair handful of languages and people have always told me that I'm a walking, talking, breathing comp lit major...(as opposed to... a zombie? lol) ...except I actually majored in French in undergrad. There's just something about French literature and theory in particular that really draws me to it. The way I made my decision about which departments to apply to was by checking out French and Comp Lit departments at various schools and seeing which ones my interests resonated most closely with. It happens that in all cases, I either preferred the French department over the Comp Lit department, or neither (and I managed to whittle down my list to just 6 schools!). I would definitely advise you to take your time and check out many different departments to get a good sense for the breadth of faculty interests and research areas out there.

In terms of the writing sample, I was lucky in that at my undergrad school, writing a senior thesis was mandatory. Oh yeah, and I also didn't apply to grad schools right away. Taking a year off has given me time to really put my interests into perspective and to take some much-needed time off after a rigorous four years of undergrad. You might consider taking a year off for similar reasons and because it would also give you time to write a longer paper and work on your applications in general. If not, you could probably write it your senior year (whether as a thesis or an independent project) and get some guidance from faculty in your department. If not, then, yes, considering MA programs first could be a fitting option. Were you wondering if you could send several 5 page papers? I don't think that's possible because schools general expect the writing sample to read as an individual and internally coherent piece but I suppose it depends on the specific program. At one of the schools on my list, UC Berkeley, the required writing sample length is between 5-8 pages. You might want to look into Berkeley. All of the other schools I'm considering ask for anywhere between 15-25 pages; some in French, others in both French and English.

I'm not French but I've gotten to near-native fluency thanks to well... majoring in French and also to both studying and working in Paris for a while. In terms of the job market... That's a story for a whole other post. The outlook is pretty bleak in general. As long as you keep studying French, you should attain a near-native fluency level, which should ease your concern about proficiency. Furthermore, a lot of the French faculty with the most prestigious titles and awards from the French government, etc. that I've either worked with in undergrad or encountered in the various programs I'm applying to are mostly non-native French speakers! So no need to worry!

AS A SIDE NOTE: IT LOOKS LIKE THERE ARE SOME NEW RESPONSES ON OUR THREAD'S POLL... ARE THERE FELLOW FRENCH LITERARY AND SOCIAL THEORY FOLKS IN OUR MIDST? Sorry for the all-caps... I just wanted to make sure this didn't get overlooked. Feel free to introduce yourselves and tell us about your research interests and where you're applying!

Bien à vous tous !

joey

So our thread has racked up 1000 views! Ouais! I don't anticipate that we'll catch up in terms of our reply count, but it would be nice to take a quick pulse of all French 2011 applicants out there. How's everyone doing? Are you surviving the application process? Just a few months left... We can do it!

Hey there! As an undergrad, I landed an internship in UNESCO's human rights sector. I was lucky that my university had an agreement with them. I enjoyed my experience a lot and if I weren't applying to grad schools right now, I would consider going back to UNESCO! There's actually a program called "UNESCO Young Professionals" that gives recent college grads and young professionals (under 30 years old) from certain countries unrepresented/underrepresented in UNESCO a great career opportunity. Check out more info on their site: http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=11714&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

I hope somebody finds that interesting and helpful. Good luck!

Welcome! Do you mind telling us a little bit about your research interests? Which 20th century authors and works most interest you? I'll PM you with some advice regarding the questions you posed here. Thanks for posting!

Hey! Awesome! Welcome aboard (or, overboard... whatever floats your boat). Ok, lame, I know.

I may or may not know which professor you're talking about... and I also may or may not have taken translation classes with him. I may or may not have minored in Translation and Intercultural Communication. While I didn't mention these interests earlier, I definitely love translation as well! I've got 8 languages on my CV; not all fluent (~ 4) but the rest between intermediate and advanced. The Oulipo group is really interesting. Everyone says I'm a walking, talking, breathing Comp Lit major... but I just love French thought so much. I hope my applications don't get forwarded to Comp Lit depts!

I'm glad to get a picture of my future peers' interests. I can't wait till more people join us.

I know it's quite early in the process, but how are applications going for everyone so far?

Good luck to all! Feel free to PM me if you want to chat a bit more about research interests, etc.

~J

To the 19th century lit student who recently posted here: welcome! Feel free to tell us a little bit more about yourself, your research interests, etc.

Thanks, forserbeg! Now if only I can get the adcoms to react in a similar manner...

I have a few thoughts about Stanford and other general musings, but I'll PM you so we don't turn this thread into our personal conversation.

About contacting professors though, I looked into some of the threads you mentioned. I'm surprised at how many points of view there are on this... I've definitely reconsidered! I'm going to write to the department coordinators (the head staff members in charge of admsisions-related questions) rather than seek out faculty. More on this in the PM.

I definitely hope more folks join us in the next few weeks!

Hey forsberg, your interests are really neat! I've noticed that a fair handful of professors deal with 19th and 20th century lit, so you can't go wrong at most of the schools you're considering.

I'm mostly interested in structuralist and post-structuralist thought, mainly of French theorists, but also the German thinkers who influenced them and their branches in American and international critical theory. I started out interested in Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida which lead to an exploration of Nietzsche, Marx and Freud. Right now I'm most strongly influenced by French psychoanalyst, Jacques Lacan. I'm mostly interested in reconsidering some of the most fundamental axioms of French psychoanalytic theory with regard to the constitution of the subject. I like literary theory but I'm also quite passionate about theory in terms of social critique. My work looks at the intersections between psychoanalytic theory, queer theory and gender studies, race studies, ideology studies and semiotics (to name my biggest influences; admittedly I have a lot of interests when it comes to theory, which has lead to exciting interdisciplinary work so far). I would go into more detail but I'm pretty sure I'd be pinpointing myself rather exactly (if I haven't already)...

As for contacting professors, I really don't think it could hurt to contact a specific professor once to let them know you're excited about applying and that you may have a question or two. That being said, the only way contacting professors might hurt you is if you did so too often and without anything important to say or ask. I think I'm going to contact at least one or two departments' DGS because I have a question about the writing sample (for which I can't seem to find the answers on their websites or the schools' at all). By the way, how are you dealing with the fact that the schools we're considering have such varying writing sample requirements? Also, what did your professors say when they advised you against contacting the faculty at the schools to which you're applying?

...bump

Anyone else out there?

forsberg, who are some of the 20th century authors you enjoy reading most? Is there a specific faculty member at any of the schools with whom you'd be really happy working?

I hope more people join our discussion...

Awesome! Welcome, forsberg. I know the French Ph.D community is smaller relative to other programs, but I was really beginning to wonder whether anyone would post here...

Glad to know I'm not alone.

The gap year has been a must for me... After 4 years of undergrad, I felt I needed some time to explore my interests and to put everything into perspective. It's also given me time to relax and not feel as pressured about postgraduate plans (like a good number of my peers in the class of 2010). That being said, a little pressure is definitely starting to infiltrate my otherwise fun and relatively tranquil time abroad.

EDIT: Is there anyone else out there? There can't just be two of us... Perhaps I've posted this topic a bit early? Indeed, not all online applications are even accessible yet... Definitely stop by and say hi if you're also applying to Fall 2011 French programs.

To the mysterious 20th century lit student applying to some of the same schools as me: hey there! Feel free to post. I'd be happy to be in touch or to at least know a little bit more about your research interests.

N'aies pas peur.

JoeySsance