Two Espressos

I know, right? I applied to Buffalo too for several reasons, the weird exception-to-the-rule bit among them.

You're probably going to piss a lot of people off with this post, but I do agree with you, to an extent. All the schools to which I'm applying, except for one, are in the top 20. I might be crippling my admissions chances by so doing (I have an average GPA and GRE scores, I come from a random state school, etc.), but I either go to a strong program or not at all.

I didn't hear about this, but if this is true, I'm very happy right now! My writing sample now comes in at a slightly less awkward 3 pages under the length ranges, as opposed to 8.

Thankfully I don't think I've made any such errors in my submitted materials. But then again, I almost didn't catch that I kept writing "casual" instead of "causal" in my writing sample...

I loved reading this. Really though, English people steal theory all the time, so it's like second-order thieving, or something like that.

I figured that I'd post this here and see what everyone thinks. It's pretty relevant, seeing as most of us on here want to obtain a Ph.D. in the humanities at some point: http://www.insidehig...toral-education I'll post my thoughts later today. Enjoy!

I'm approaching my writing sample in a different way: everyone's getting the same sample, so they're all getting a 12-page paper because that's NYU's maximum. I'm hoping that application committees appreciate the fact that I submitted a much shorter sample, seeing as they theoretically have to read hundreds of these. Also, this paper happens to be interesting and provocative, and I believe it's the best paper I've written yet. I think it's slightly badass, and I hope that they agree and don't mind its short length.

Thank you! It turns out that I was mistaken both about the deadline (it IS the fifth, according to their website) and the transcripts (the application said I needed official ones, but NYU's departmental webpage said that only the unofficial transcripts were necessary). But that's what application season does to you, I suppose! I feel like I'm losing years off my life.

Wait, is NYU's application deadline the 5th? If so, I've been freaking out over nothing...

Today has been hell. I've been super busy all day with work, attending a faculty lecture, etc. One of my letter writers still hadn't submitted as of this morning, and she said she'd submit all her letters this morning/afternoon. I get home from the lecture around 8:30ish...and the letter hasn't been submitted to NYU, whose deadline is *today*. I emailed her, but then I worried she wouldn't see it by midnight tonight. I had to look up her husband's academic profile (a fellow English professor who teaches at another institution), google his name, and then try to find their home phone number. Granted, I've only met her husband once, like a year ago, and I barely remembered what he looked like (luckily his academic page had a photo!). Thankfully, the number was correct, and it turns out that this professor forgot that NYU's deadline was today. So long story short-- the letter is in, and I've just submitted NYU's application. But then I read somewhere that the deadline was 5pm toady, not midnight. And I can't upload my "official" transcripts because the file size is too large, so I just submitted the unofficial ones, hoping to email the grad secretary about my next course of action. Oh and if you can't tell already, I'm hyped up on caffeine and freaking out. #losingmyshit

girl who wears glasses and waparys: thanks for the information! I'll ensure that my other SOPs are all single-spaced, unless otherwise stated. I don't think that Northwestern specified, so I think I'm okay.

Mine was like 517 or something. But wait-- did it *have* to be single-spaced? Mine's double-spaced. I don't remember reading that it had to be single-spaced? Oh god, am I fucking this up already?!

Thanks for your input! After scrutinizing my SOP some more, I believe I will at least be able to get it to 550 words or less.

Okay, so I have the same problem. My SOP is around 580 words, and Northwestern wants "approximately" 400-500, according to their website. I don't see how I'm going to cut anything out of mine. Would submitting a SOP at this length jeopardize my application in any way? I need to know soon because today is the deadline, haha.

Oh so one of my letter writers emailed me with her perspective on why Buffalo--and UMD, as outlined above-- require the entire application to be sent before LOR emails can be sent out: she thinks it's a way to ensure that letter writers only send letters for students who actually end up applying, so they're not stuck with LORs and an incomplete application file from those who end up not applying for whatever reason. That actually makes sense to me, but I still dislike having to complete the whole damn thing at once...

I'm totally with you here. I asked all my recommenders whether or not they'd received Buffalo's LOR emails...nope! What the fuck? Why do I have to complete the whole application before letters are sent? WHY?

Regarding UB, it seems like "SUNY-Buffalo" is out of common parlance, at least according to their website. It changed this year, and before it had "SUNY-Buffalo" directly on it somewhere to the best of my knowledge. It's not that way anymore: the English department main page has "University at Buffalo The State University of New York" at the top. I guess "University at Buffalo" is more de rigeur now? You can always follow with "UB" in subsequent mentions of the university in the SOP. That's what I did at least--"University at Buffalo" followed by "UB."

Same! thestage always makes me laugh.

Thanks for the responses, everyone. I think I'll send them all a short hand-written thank-you card (once I actually finish my application materials...).

Is it expected that one gives some sort of gift to letter writers? I hadn't really thought about it. I've of course effusively thanked each one of them for agreeing to write me a letter, but should I do something more? Maybe just a thank-you card for each?

Excellent post, Enzian! Thank you.

I'm in a similar position. My SOP and writing sample are only partially finished. And I *hate* my writing sample. I don't like it at all. Most of my letters of recommendation haven't come in yet either. And my applications are due in less than two weeks! I'm fully expecting to be shut out of my programs, but it's too late to turn back now... As far as the writing sample goes, fuck no it doesn't need to be of publishable quality. Why would you need a Ph.D. in English if you're already pumping out high-level scholarship? That being said--and sorry if this makes you more neurotic-- there will be those applicants whose writing samples *are* of publishable quality. I think (hope? pray?) that these people compose only a very small minority of the overall application pool.

But queer people are objectively more persecuted than woman are today, though the latter group of course still faces sexism, patriarchy, etc. This is visibly evident in marriage laws, visitation rights in hospitals, etc. So I can understand why someone would think that there is in fact something particularly offensive in lying about being queer (and I would happen to agree with the sentiment). In any case, lying about one's background on a diversity statement is wrong.