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I applied to Michigan last year (and didn't get in, so take my advice with a grain of salt...) and asked one of the advisors how I should approach the personal statement; she told me to be, well, personal and talk about myself, my family, childhood, etc. rather than about my academic endeavors and potential fields of study. This is probably stuff you already knew, but I thought I'd put it out there.

I would just like to say that this is the most accurate and aptly-worded description of the application process I have ever encountered.

Thank you, this is actually very reassuring advice. I already have a somewhat specific focus, but it could definitely benefit from advanced study and additional whittling down, and I want to convey that in my statement.

I really suspect it's a test of our editing and revision skills. If you think NYU is bad, Carnegie Mellon wants TEN pages MAX. To quote them from their website, "Please limit the writing sample to ten pages in length. Do not submit long works such as theses in their entirety; send only an excerpt." Wtf? Every other program wants something in the 15-30 pg range, but somehow I have to cut that down to ten for Carnegie??

You are certainly not alone, Timshel. I caved and shelled out the money for a GRE prep course (verbal only) and made what I thought was some pretty significant strides, but the class ended three weeks ago and I have not done any additional studying or brushing up since. I haven't even registered for the test yet. My first deadline is December 8th. Lovely.

It's so disheartening, isn't it? Sigh. Best of luck to us.

Very true, but seeing as I only have my BA and I'm still at the early stages of my academic career, I cannot possible know of all the works published on my chosen field. So I just imagine a professor reading my SOP and thinking, "Doesn't this girl know that Professor X already wrote a paper on this five years ago?? Hahaha!" and then, chortling, she throws my essay in the trash.

Of course, and I would expect nothing less of myself once I am in grad school, but I'm worried that right now, as merely an applicant, I do not possess the breadth of knowledge required to produce a wholly unique SOP or writing sample. And then that freaks me out because I think I will never get accepted anywhere.

I've definitely had experiences like that, but I'm so scared that when I present what I believe to be an awesome, original paper, I'll find out that it's actually old news. It's like that scene in the 1992 film Candyman when the grad student protagonist discusses her thesis with her (very smug) adviser, and he says, "Oh yes? Well you really must read the paper I wrote on that topic ten years ago." Cut to grad student's crestfallen face as she struggles to hide her embarrassment. I'm expecting that to happen to me, again and again with every application.

I was talking with one of my English professors tonight and gave him an overview of my general areas of interest--gender theory, feminist psychoanalysis, Simone de Beauvoir, Julia Kristeva, etc.--and he told me in the gentlest way possible that a lot of these subjects are somewhat old; that is, they've been exhausted and are not areas in which new, original work can be produced. I told him that I understood that a massive amount of work had already been done on these topics, but I was under the impression that when it came to accepting new students, ad coms would look more at *how* I engaged with the text and produced a topic of study rather than *what* my topic actually was (within reason, of course). He said that may have been the case some time ago, but as of late ad coms are more interested in students who can produce fresh work, and they look for that as early as one's SOP. I walked away feeling incredibly depressed and like I don't have a shot at getting in anywhere. (I also imbibed a fair amount of wine immediately prior so I'm sure that was impacting my mood.) Anyway, I just wanted to share my feelings of anxiety and worthlessness with others who are in similar situations. Misery truly loves company.

Well, you are right in pointing out that the MFA program gets most of the attention and praise, but that doesn't mean their MA program is weak! Granted, I live in New York, but I've always heard a lot of talk about the CUNYs and the consensus is that CUNY Grad, Brooklyn, and Hunter are by far the best (for the humanities, that is).

Hm, I think I see what you're saying, thank you. But how can you speak of the school's professors without listing names? Use a vague, general phrase like "The faculty of University X are working heavily in this area..."?

Thanks. This does make sense; I naively had not even considered the politics of ad coms. I suppose I'm trying to find a balance between rattling off a list of professors and showing that I have truly done my research. Faculty *is* a big part of why I've selected certain schools, and I want ad coms to know that I'm genuinely interested in them.

Hey! I went to UMass Amherst for undergrad and am thinking about applying to a few of the CUNYs. Brooklyn College is not not prestigious. It's best known for its MFA program, definitely, but from what I've heard, their MA program is pretty strong. How has your experience been so far?

I don't mean to hijack this post, but this is somewhat related--what is the final word on listing potential professors in one's SOP? (E.g., "I am excited to work with Professor A for reasons X, Y, Z") I've always heard that it's absolutely imperative, but many others seem to think it's brown nosing and unnecessary.

Obviously, fit was of utmost importance. I looked beyond US News and World Report and researched schools that may not be the most prestigious, but have a strong English department and lots of faculty working in my area of interest. Since I only have a BA, I'm applying to Master's programs this year, whereas last year I applied exclusively to PhD. I wrote an entirely new paper to submit as my writing sample and am working on making my SOP sound a little less gushy (last year I all but wrote "I loooove literature") and a little more professional. I made sure all my MA programs offer a thesis option, not just the comprehensive exam. And I got in touch with some of my professors and asked them for advice. Of course, in saying all this, there's still the very real possibility that I won't get in anywhere and I'll wither away working in an office for the rest of my life. Sigh...

I'm not in grad school (...yet...) but I do live in New York, and barring freakish shitty weather days like yesterday (what the FUCK was that, by the way?!) I usually get off one or two stops early and walk to my destination. Though I do *love* having at least 45 minutes built-in to my day where I can just sit on the train and read.

Jeez, this sounds just like me. Last year's rejections did a number on my ego, and I had to give myself a few months to mull things over. When I decided to spend even more time, money, and effort on reapplying, I realized just how badly I want this. So yay for us and our tenacity! I also revised my list *considerably* (in hindsight, I picked schools very poorly last year, basing my decisions almost entirely on reputation and not on fit) which will, I pray, work in my favor.

Boston College has very good Irish/Celtic Lit programs (so I've heard, it's not my speciality).

Thanks! I'll check that one out. Though lord knows I won't have time for lesiure reading until around February...

DeLillo has always been on my list of "Authors I Will Get Into One Day Soon." You have now piqued my interest. Which book would you recommend starting with?

Because I have been obsessively revising my list of intended schools for months, I have decided to include one more application (Rutgers, for those interested); however, I'd like to reach out to some professors in my area of study to get a feel for the program, but worry that it's too late to do so (they may be busy with fall semester work) or that I'll look like an awful procrastinaor in their eyes. Should I do it anyway? Or rely on my own research?

Women & Gender Studies, Feminist Literary Theory, Psychoanalytic Theory, 20th-century American/British lit (and maybe a little late 19th-century lit, as well). Anyone else here struggle to narrow down their interests? The aforementioned subjects are the most interesting to me and the ones in which I have the most experience, but there are still so many other, very unrelated topics I'd love to look into! Maybe this is why I'm better off getting my MA first...

Are you working on your blog under the guidance of a professor or advisor? I did a somewhat non-traditional project my final semester of undergrad (short paper combined with online blog/website elements) and I'm including it on my CV because it was done within an academic setting.

On that note, does anyone know if there is any funding--however paltry it may be--for Buffalo's MA candidates? I cannot seem to find any mention of it on their website, which should be my answer right there, but I just wanted to double check.