cquin
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Posts posted by cquin
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I can definitely understand your frustration. The ladder up the tower is slippery, and the rungs are far apart, and there are many many flaming hoops to jump through on the way up, and there's a troll asking riddles who will shove you off if you hesitate before answering, and hundreds of highly qualified folks behind you waiting for you to fall. And even if you make it, you'll still end up making less money than a used-car salesman. It sucks a big fat hairy one.
I would just like to say that this is the most accurate and aptly-worded description of the application process I have ever encountered.
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Lol, I don't think it will be that extreme. Since you are applying with only a BA, I would recommend stating the area that you want to pursue, but also throw in another area you are interested in as well. Talk about ideas you are interested in studying, but don't state that you are definitely set in stone on studying these. Be specific, but not too specific. If you back yourself into a corner, you may find it hard to get out; however, being confident in what you are interested in and what you want to explore in your areas will show the research you have done. I have my Master's and have in no way read everything about my area of study. Yes, I've got a lot more under my belt than in undergrad, but there is a big, big sea out there!! You'll figure out how to approach it in your own way and be confident about your SOP once you get a good start to it.
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.
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So, I've been thinking of making some last minute switches on the programs I'm applying to, and even though I think it's a great match, I'm tempted to throw NYU on the fire because of their stupid 10-12 page writing sample page range.
Seriously, how are other NYU applicants navigating this? I don't think it's possible to do significantly researched and explicated work in less than 15 pages, and even that is pretty short. Frankly, I have no 10-12 page papers, and I'm not going to take a hatchet to my 20 page writing sample and end up submitting something subpar that they hate.
Sidenote: Grad Center's page limit is 15, but I think I can work that. Still...
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??
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I just want to say that I am incredibly behind, especially since I have two December 1st deadlines, and I am feeling very defeated. I just thought I would let everyone know my progress.
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.
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I am in the same position, Cquin. I feel like everything I do is a regurgitation of the theorists I like.
It's so disheartening, isn't it? Sigh. Best of luck to us.
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While your professor poses a valid point, I also think that it may be a little bit of an overstatement. This board was swamped with people getting accepted into PhD programs last year studying Renaissance lit. Hasn't everything that needed to be said about that era already been said? Clearly not. I think if you can cleary prove that you have a new approach to this area of study, or think that something has been overlooked and you can prove that you will be a valuable scholar in that field, then you should not be worried that you want to pursue a field that has been "done to death".
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.
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The way to avoid reiterating older arguments: research and read exhaustively, until you can be confident that your approach is original. That's what you'll be doing in grad school (and forever, if your goal is academics).
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.
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As far as the SOP goes, don't despair. Haven't you ever written a paper that you felt was so kick-ass, just because nobody had ever written something exactly like it? Since I committed to being an English major, it's been my goal to come up with original and interesting arguments. Take what you know and what you've done, and put that in your SOP. It doesn't have to be exactly what you want to do, but it's better than simply saying you want to study gender and psychoanalysis.
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.
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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.
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You have heard things (at all) about the MA at Brooklyn College? Huh. I never figured. The MFA program is one of the best in the nation, but I've never heard anyone say anything at all about the MA; we've sent students to Duke, CUNY: Grad Center, Cambridge, and other good programs from here, but only maybe one or two per year.
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).
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You are going to get mixed advice on this. I have even had mixed advice from my LORs. I think what I'm going to end up doing is possibly listing in the section about why the school is a good fit what classes and professors that school has that would be interesting or related to my area, but I am not going to specifically say "I look forward to working with A, B, and C" because that could limit you and you don't know who's on the ad comm, either. Departments have a lot of politics.
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..."?
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I've anecdotal information for you.
I asked a professor of mine, one whom I highly trust and one who has had some success in academia, about this very issue. Her response was, more or less, that I should not produce a laundry list of potential professors in my SOP, for two reasons: firstly, one, as an applicant, has no insider information on which professors may be retiring or otherwise leaving the university; also, academia is highly political, such that mentioning certain professors exclusively may in fact alienate or annoy the admissions committee. Alternatively, she suggested that I talk more generally about my interests and then about how they would fit within the overall work being done in the program.
I realize that those concerns have been expressed by others in this thread and elsewhere on The Grad Cafe, but I wanted to supplement this information with my own.
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.
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I have a similar problem. My undergrad was UMass: Boston and my MA is at CUNY: Brooklyn College. Both are non-prestigious state schools. I keep telling myself this doesn't matter, but I'm having a hard time convincing myself that, all things being equal, I'll be picked over Harvard McYaleton.
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?
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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.
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I'm just curious. What were some of the things you "learned" from last year? I hear a lot of people saying this if they already applied and didn't get in somewhere, but I'd love to hear what some of you learned and are avoiding/doing differently this time around.
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...
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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.
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I think we can all agree that it is what we love to do and we feel like we fit in the world of academia. This is my second time attempting the roller coaster, and I am SOOO ready to be out of line and on the actual ride! I just want to be in a program, tweaking on coffee, holed up in the back of the library doing what I love. Is it really so much to ask for?
I did narrow my choices down to "realistic" schools of acceptance this year. I'm not applying to any of the ILs. Of course I am concerned about my chances of acceptance because of the total rejection last year. Life does go on after rejection, but it sucks. I think the dust finally cleared around July. I'm just not looking forward to the waiting at all. This board will be the death of us when acceptances start coming out. I just remember sitting here obsessively checking my email, phone, and this website toward the end of February through March. I died a little inside each time a school went up that I applied to and someone got their acceptance notification.
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.
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Boston College has very good Irish/Celtic Lit programs (so I've heard, it's not my speciality).
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I know very little about DeLillo, but I was told that White Noise is a good starting point. It's not nearly as lengthy or as complicated as Underworld or his other hefty tomes. I read White Noise last year and loved it. It's extremely funny and profound, not necessarily in that order though.
Thanks! I'll check that one out. Though lord knows I won't have time for lesiure reading until around February...
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I'd vote for him as greatest living writer.
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?
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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?
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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...
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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.
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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.
Michigan's SoP and Personal Statement--Anyone else having trouble?
in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition
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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.