Two Espressos

Exactly, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Again, OH GOD

OH GOD I don't think it matters much, seeing as they have (hopefully!) a great piece of writing by which to evaluate your writing skills instead.

From what I've heard, read, and seen on grad program websites, I'd lay this out as a general rule of thumb: M.A. ranking matters less than B.A. ranking, which matters less than Ph.D. ranking. Where you get your Ph.D. is vital on the job market, despite what some people would like to believe. I think we're all in accord on this point. It's limited and anecdotal, but I've seen more people from non-prestigious M.A. programs in strong Ph.D. programs than people strictly with B.A.'s from non-prestigious programs. There are several reasons why this might be the case. Really though, I think we're pretty much all agreeing with each other here. Your verbal score is low for an English Ph.D. applicant, but your GPA is great and from a strong program, so I think you'll be competitive. This.

I come from a working class background as well, and that--alongside the fact that I was a pretty clueless college applicant my senior year of high school-- shaped where I currently study. I didn't mean to imply that the relation between prestige and admissions chances is causative. I agree that it's more correlative, largely a result of better preparation, more encouragement to pursue doctoral education, etc. at more prestigious colleges and universities. Plus one needs to consider that schools with higher admissions standards tend to have a larger percentage of more intelligent students, which factors into why graduate program cohorts seem to be mostly composed of students from a small subset of elite schools. It's a hard, bitter truth, but graduate program websites that list the educational histories of their students speak to the reality of these matters. I'm pretty much fucked, but oh well.

If this was directed at me, I don't feel comfortable sharing my topic because it's pretty unorthodox, and so doing would really eliminate any anonymity I have on here, as I doubt anyone else at this conference will be presenting on a similar subject! I will say, however, that I'm talking about conceptual/theoretical issues rather than a work of literature proper.

Ranking does matter. For evidence, check both recent faculty hires at various institutions--as others have mentioned-- as well as the educational histories of the graduate cohorts at well-ranked schools. The majority of grad students at top schools--let's say the top 30-40-- come from Ivy league schools, elite liberal arts colleges, and leading research universities. Applicants from no-name institutions sometimes get lucky and are admitted to strong programs, but this is a rarity. I come from a no-name institution, so I realize how poor my admissions chances are...

Thanks for the responses, everyone. I'm glad to see that I wasn't off-base in feeling that three short papers seemed inadequate, on their own, for a senior seminar course. I should have mentioned that, after I stated that I much preferred a longer paper, my professor brought up the tentative possibility of either turning in three short papers or one longer final paper, turning in in-progress work on the latter option periodically throughout the semester. I quite like the second option, so I'm hoping that, as we discuss the course requirements in the coming days and weeks, she decides that the either/or option is acceptable.

Hi Gauche! I attended the 2012 STD Convention in New Orleans last spring; it was a lot of fun! Granted, there were some *really* bad papers, but some of them were quite good: for example, I chatted afterwards with a kid who I thought gave an excellent presentation, and he's now doing a Ph.D. at UPenn. Anyways, I received email notification today that my paper was accepted, so I'll be attending this year's convention as well. One piece of advice: don't spend all of your time at the conference! My friends and I only spent 3 hours or so a day at the conference and used the rest of our time to explore NOLA (and get drunk on Bourbon St., of course). At graduate/professional conferences, I believe that most people do the same thing: go to their panels, their friends' panels, and a few other panels that interest them, and then spend the rest of their time doing other stuff. But yeah, I'm sure that this year's conference will be lots of fun. And it's in Portland, which is supposedly a really cool city.

I have a random, off-topic question to ask, and seeing as we're now just chatting about superfluous stuff like grad school dreams, I figured this thread would be a good place to ask it. I'm taking a senior seminar (or a "capstone," I guess) course in English literature. I assumed, going into this course, that it would require a final longer paper, not thesis-length or anything, but maybe something in the range of 25-35 pages. I get to the seminar, the syllabus states that three papers are required, and the professor says we can democratically as a class work through the particulars of these requirements. It's a small class, and the handful of other students all seem to think that three ~7 page papers are a good idea. I'm the only dissenter: I want to write a longer paper, at least 20 pages or so, because writing three short papers seems inadequate for a course at this level. Am I wrong for thinking this? I've been writing 5-7 page papers since freshman year. How can you possibly discuss something substantive in 5-7 double-spaced pages? I guess I just want to know everyone's thoughts on this. If you've taken a senior seminar course, what kind of requirements did it have? Do you think, as I do, that these 7-page requirements are strange?

And as for grad admissions-related dreams, I woke up from a short nap today having dreamt that I got into Indiana-Bloomington, which is odd considering I didn't apply there or even think about it. I visited the campus, arrived late to a tour they were doing, and discovered that I was one of 5 applicants admitted. I think the average incoming cohort is a lot higher than that at many places, but it's weird to think that, in such a situation, you'd represent 20% of the student body.

I'd like to read it as well.

I don't have time to respond to Baudrillardist's post at present, but I do want to share the following, which provides a sober but not overly cynical perspective on graduate school in the humanities: http://www.dispositio.net/archives/586

I received this email as well, but not until, after reading the above posts, checking my spam filter. Always check for misplaced emails!

Indeed! No serious applicant really thinks that universities are "beautiful haven of the mind": they're closely tied with capitalist production, corrupted by money, and culpable of other ills as well. This isn't a helpful response. I meant to down-vote your post but accidentally up-voted it instead. Anyways, English as an academic discipline arose in the late 19th century, so the whole 15th-19th century thing doesn't apply, even if it was only in jest. As for the love of knowledge, it still exists, though of course one has to contend with the "research machine" of academia, which frequently puts production over the knowledge itself. Your comment about writing postmodernist mumbo-jumbo doesn't apply to those who actually commit themselves to a love and search for truth. And while it's true that professors lack nobility and respect in the 21st century, that's largely a result of modern anti-intellectualism, not a diminution in the value of academic research and teaching. In short, I disagree with nearly everything you've written.

My answer is emphatically "no" to your first question, and probably "no" to the second, considering that the M.A. is only partially paid.

This. Count me among that "growing number": I live in a rural/quasi-suburban area now, and I cannot wait to live someplace where I don't need my car. I should probably contribute something to this thread, so I'll say that Pittsburgh supposedly has pretty poor public transit. I've never lived there, but I have friends who have lived or currently live in the city who say that the bus system is less than adequate.

Worry about your now-completed applications at every waking moment, of course!

Yeah, any worthwhile Ph.D. program in English will require native or near-native fluency in the language. There's no avoiding that.

Okay, good to know I'm not alone then!

Like rems, I also received an "application submitted" email. But I basically second everything rems said above: nothing to worry about if everything is listed as having been received. To echo a similar concern, though, my application is listed as "incomplete" on the Penn application homepage, despite the fact that everything listed underneath--LORs, application fee, transcripts, GRE scores, etc.-- is labeled "received" or "submitted." Does anyone else who applied to Penn see something similar, or are your application statuses marked as "complete"?

Wow, that's rough.

You might want to check earlier pages as well, but this is a good start. Enjoy the wisdom of last year's applicants, everyone!

DontHate: I want another assessment (assuming the "2 places" thing wasn't a joke) with more comprehensive stats. Check my signature!

Yeah, I can't wait to return to this thread once admissions info starts coming out.

That was a neat video; thanks for sharing! I'm assuming it's yours? If so, do you mind telling me what music you used? I liked it lots. The music towards the end was Dylan, right? Which song?