Tybalt

He's one of my all-time favorite Shakespearean characters. He's Scrappy-Doo with a sword, which just absolutely gets to me every time. I thought John Leguizamo (sp) played the part superbly in the 90s--just goofy enough to capture the humor of the lines, and just serious enough to make him a real threat.

I'd take it, too. I didn't mean to sound like I was raining on your parade lyonessrampant. Sadly, I suspect that we'll see the stipends continue to fall and the teaching load continue to rise until the market settles down a bit. TC3-- I noticed that you applied to Fordham. Were you able to find out anything about their funding? I liked the look of their program when I did my initial program reviews last summer, but IIRC, their funding situation wasn't very clearly defined on their website. I may add it to next year's list (if needed), and I'm curious as to whether you found out more about their funding structure.

I was quietly thinking the same thing. It was my understanding that anything over a 1/1 load was exploitation. That said, if I end up going 0 for 11, I'd likely be first in the line to be willingly exploited if someone were to offer a spot with a 2/2 load, so who am I to judge!

It could be worse. My name has an apostrophe, and it NEVER shows up properly in databases. I've seen it listed variously as: O'Neil O_Neil ONeil O Neil O-Neil O' and my personal favorite-- O#@%&^%Neil

Congrats! I've heard great things about Delaware's grad program (some of my old undergrad profs spoke VERY highly of it). I applied to their PhD program (I loved Julian Yates' book on Renaissance "object lessons"), but the results board is oddly sparse on that one. It has more results on the MA for UDel than the PhD.

Looks like a couple of notifications from Delaware went out today (for the MA). Anyone know if the PhD notifications go out around the same time?

I applied to Rutgers and UMD as well. I don't have a whole lot of hope for Rutgers, but UMD is a really nice fit for me (Shakespeare and Renaissance pedagogy). Two of your schools (Fordham and WUSTL) are on my list for next year if things don't work out with this round of apps. Good luck!

They have rolling admissions. If the "worst case scenario" does come to pass, you should come to our graduate conference (3/18-3/19). Heck, you should submit an abstract anyways--If you didn't get in anywhere, you can check out the program, and if you did get in, you can celebrate in a nerd-centered venue! I copied the conference website below. http://web.me.com/sm...ce/Welcome.html

I was doing that for a bit, too. I basically decided that 11 apps (more in your case) was plenty for this year. If it's going to happen, it's going to happen. That said, I've been mentally planning for the worst case scenario. Look into Marquette with a mindset of "maybe I'll add it to next year's list." I've done some of that already (Miami/Ohio, Stony Brook, UNH, Temple and possibly Kent State are already in the "maybe next year" pile). I figure if I do go 0/11, I'll have a head start on next year and something to look forward to (Miami of Ohio would have EASILY made my short list if I had looked into it earlier). If I get an offer this year, then it's all gravy. If you are looking at MA programs, you should look at St. Bonaventure University in western NY. I'm currently doing my MA at Bonas. They have a pre-professional track that is funded (not that great, but funded--they offer a 50% tuition waiver and then give you the other 50% as a teaching stipend. In effect, it's a tuition waiver with no stipend, but it's also REALLY cheap to live here). They currently have a rising star in American modernism, and they are hiring right now (both of the finalists are early American scholars). The identity of the program is being geared towards American lit--they are replacing outgoing Brit Lit folks with American Lit scholars pretty regularly. It might be worth a cursory look.

Not too late. UNLV's app deadline is still 3 weeks away (2/15).

Okay- I'm having a bit of a neurotic moment here. My absolute top choice is Vanderbilt (as in, if they called in 5 minutes with an offer, I would accept without even needing to hear back from my other 10 schools). As such, I went to even more neurotic pains than usual to make sure everything for that app would be in order. I sent in requests for transcripts early. I arranged for the max 5 letters of rec (so that I would have two spares in the event of a prof. flaking). When the deadline (Jan.15) passed, I was surprised to see that they were showing two of my three transcripts missing (I have two undergrad transcripts, because I transferred). I called the schools to confirm that they were sent. I called Vanderbilt and was told that they likely weren't processed yet. About a week went by. One of the missing transcripts (my MA degree in progress) showed up on the app. The other (my undergrad transcript for the school that I graduated from) still showed as not received. I e-mailed the contact listed on the page, but never got a response. Finally, I called today. She didn't take my name or look into it, but told me that if the app still said "not received" then they likely never got it. She also said that the apps were already being reviewed by the adcom, and I would get an e-mail if they needed to see anything. I immediately sent her an e-mail with a PDF of my unofficial transcript, and ordered another copy of the official to be sent. My concern is this: If they ARE missing my undergrad transcript, is my application even going to be reviewed? I already called once and e-mailed twice. How much of a nuisance should I be about this? I can accept being rejected. I'd be crushed if my app wasn't even reviewed for my absolutely perfect fit of a school.

What's their placement record like? I had really thought about adding Miami/Ohio to my list late in the game, but there just wasn't enough time. I loved the description on their page, and they seemed to not only welcome former teachers, but anxious to get them. I've already sort of mentally bookmarked them as a school for next year's app season if I get swept this year.

One of my freshmen comp students couldn't make it to the first class because of the winter weather. He sent an e-mail that started: "Mr. O'Neil, I regret to inform you that I will not be in class today." When he walked into class today, I told him that I am currently waiting for results from PhD applications, and he is NEVER to send me an e-mail with "I regret to inform you that" in it again. I told him that I don't care what the news is--Always open with a "Congratulations!"

Nope, not a problem at all. We're accepting all sorts of submissions. We've already had submissions from undergrads, MA students, PhD students, MLS students and newly minted profs. We're hoping for a great turnout.

As I said, it's a 50% tuition waiver and a stipend to cover the other half. It's not easy, but it's possible to get through it without loans. Also, Bonaventure is a private school, so no in-state/out-of-state concerns. When I applied in 2008, I DID apply to programs with full funding. I added Bonaventure to the list because it had some funding and I liked the look of the program (and they have their own rare book wing in the library). I had been in the work force for 5 years (HS teacher) and my undergrad transcript had the same kind of flaws as yours (for very similar reasons, actually). A program like Bonaventure is a great middle-ground for people (like me) who are unlikely to get a fully funded spot somewhere. Back then, I had one lousy undergrad transcript (I finished my undergrad at a different school), one good undergrad transcript, and a resume full of teaching experience, but light on scholarship. Thanks to my time at Bonaventure, I've added a phenomenal graduate level transcript, I've audited 4 semesters of Latin, I've presented at 4 conferences (including 2 major national conferences and one international), and I've really improved my SoP and writing sample. On top of that, I'm sure my LoR's are much better, since the ones from two years ago were from undergrad profs I hadn't seen in 5 years. Like I said--I've had to work and live in poverty a bit, but I believe that I've put myself in a much better position to succeed for the PhD round. To each their own. Incidentally, I spoke with the DGS at Delaware two years ago after I was rejected. Back then, I included a short statement about the reasons for my early undergraduate troubles in my resume. He basically told me that I NEEDED to address that issue in the SoP.

For anyone else who is/was interested in Temple, I heard back from the English secretary. The deadline is January 15th.

Hi folks, I'm an MA student at St. Bonaventure University in Western NY. We'll be holding our inaugural graduate conference in March of 2011, and I wanted to pass along the info in case anyone had any interest in submitting a paper. Most of the info can be found on our website: http://web.me.com/smoneil/BonasConference/Welcome.html Our CfP is also up on the UPenn site. We received a big donation to fund the conference, so any fees (if there are any--we're hoping to make it free) will be REALLY low. We're accepting abstracts from graduate students and qualified undergrads. Thanks! Scott

I'm not sure how mobile you are in your search, but check out St. Bonaventure University. They have a 2-year MA program with a professional track designed to prepare students for pursuing a PhD. They have a Learning/Teaching Fellowship that: -covers 50% of tuition -offers a stipend (that basically covers the other half of tuition) -gets you teaching experience (teaching freshmen comp) -and it in an area of Western NY that is dirt cheap to live I'm wrapping up that program this year, and I've really enjoyed the experience. One of last year's graduates was accepted to the PhD program at U of Rochester and another was offered a funded spot at Syracuse. The Victorian prof, Dr. Lauren Matz, is one of the best profs on the faculty. I'm not sure if you're up for traveling that far, but we're holding our inaugural graduate conference in March. Our CfP is up on the UPenn site, and you can also get the info from the link below. We're accepting promising submissions from qualified undergrads. http://web.me.com/smoneil/BonasConference/Welcome.html

Did anyone apply to Temple? I put my list of programs together over the summer, and saw that Temple listed an application deadline of 1/15. I just went to start filling it out (I had initially cut the program, but was encouraged to add it again by one of my thesis readers, who is a Temple alum). As I was clicking away, I noticed something odd. Temple has TWO English PhD info sites, and they list two different application deadlines. http://www.temple.edu/english/Grad/GradAdmissions.asp http://www.temple.edu/gradbulletin/cla/english_phd.htm The first link is the one I saw over the summer, which clearly gives a deadline of 1/15. The second link it the one that I found while filling out the app, which has a deadline of 12/15. Does this seem odd to anyone else? I'm not too fussed about it, as I was only looking at the program as a backup/at the suggestion of a professor, but how can they list two different deadlines on University pages?

Thanks. I just checked. 620, 76% That said, it says that I omitted 40 questions, and I know for a fact that I didn't (I omitted 15, tops). I'm not sure what to make of this (the score, the strangely high number of "omitted" questions, etc).

Incidentally, does anyone know when the scores are finally going to be put online? I can MAYBE understand holding off for a week to try and get people to spend money to get the scores by phone, but it's been more than a week now. How long does it usually take for the scores to go up on the website?

Do you have time to do a new short paper? If the school is Virginia (just a guess, since it's on my list too, and I haven't seen any other program ask for two papers), then you should have ~5 or 6 days to comfortably research and write a 5-8 page paper. You could try and target it towards the prof that you really want to work with, situating the paper in the same type of research/theory favored by that prof.

I'm determined not to cave and give them 12 dollars. I think the whole thing is absurd. They have the scores. They sent them out to my schools over a week ago. The ONLY reason not to send them to me/put them online is to play on my neuroses and grab more money. I may be neurotic, but I'm also stubborn as hell. ETS doesn't get a cent more of my money than I absolutely HAVE to give them. I am tempted to call one of my schools and ask them if they can peek in my file and let me know, though

Looks like we'll be in competition at Vanderbilt. I'm also Early Modern/Shakespeare, with an emphasis on Renaissance pedagogy and scenes of education (hence the appeal of Vanderbilt. Lynn Enterline has been doing some awesome work in Renaissance pedagogy recently). Besides Vanderbilt, I'm applying to: UCLA UMD SUNY Buffalo U of Virginia U of Delaware U of Florida WUSTL U of Rochester and Rutgers Good luck everyone!