bfat

Hi wanderlust, Thanks for the quick and thorough reply! Just a little more about me... In high school, I loved English, and I was always very good at it. I love literature and grammar (even diagramming sentences), and especially writing. I was, however, lured by the glamor of film, which I also greatly enjoyed. I did film production, but I also took a lot of theory courses, specifically genre theory, gender theory, and cultural studies. These branches in film are very much derived from English studies, so I feel like it's natural to move from one to the other. My MS in Professional Writing is giving me a good rhet/comp background for teaching writing, and I'm trying to squeeze the literature courses in there to give me a better foundation and to catch up. As far as the schools, I've been doing research for several months, creating Excel documents listing program details, information about funding, job statistics, types of courses offered, and city information. I have binders. With lots of pages. I do plan to take as many lit theory courses as possible, though if I want to finish the program in 2 years, I won't be able to do a master's thesis and all the lit courses I want. So I'll have to sacrifice one or the other. I have a huge study guide for the GRE Lit test, but my worry is that I don't have all those foundational courses in literature that most English students have, and with working full time and earning a master's, I'm not sure I have the time to learn the entire history of literature in English. Almost all the schools I want to apply for require the exam, so I guess there's not much to do except make flashcards until they start coming out me ears. Thanks again for the input! bfat

Hi Everyone, This is my first post here, though I've spent some time lurking around and reading posts. I'm interested in applying to an English Lit PhD program in the 11-12 application cycle, and I've been doing a lot of research into the best programs. However, I have some concerns because my undergraduate degree is not in English, and I'm curious as to how important this really is. I have a BA in Film with a minor in French, and I'm currently working toward an MS in Professional Writing at Towson University (a mid-level state school). My undergrad GPAis 3.98, and I'm hoping to pull a 4.0 in my Master's. I'm also taking a few literature courses to beef up my transcript. Does this sound reasonable? Am I crazy to want to apply to Cornell and Yale and UMichigan and UPenn and UVA without a BA in English? Also, I'm freaking terrified of the GRE Lit test. Thanks for any advice! bfat