yank in the M20

I wrote to two at different Unis. From one I had very positive feedback, he wants me to email him to let him know when I've applied so he can look at my application, and he was very friendly and expressed real interest in my proposal. He took a week to get back to me and apologized for taking so long because he was traveling. The other was professional and told me a bit more about the program, but didn't express the enthusiasm that the first did. I only emailed back to thank them both, no follow-up questions, etc.--I know how busy my MA lecturers are so I would really hesitate to try to keep up an email exchange. Mine was personalized about why I was writing to them and then a paragraph on my specific topic and another on my larger perspective. I was planning to write to at least one prof. at another Uni, but hadn't gotten to it yet. I would hesitate to contact anyone this late in the game. I mean, it might come off more that you want them to remember you than that you are really genuinely interested in their program and their availability to supervise you. At least that's what I decided for my last one--I'm not contacting. Because of the mixed advice on this forum, I wanted to try both so I contacted profs at two (would have been three) of the seven Unis I'm applying to. Just my two cents. Hope it's useful.

Ravit Reichman, I think her name is, at Brown. I don't go there, just know from researching the school and speaking to one of her advisees.

My dissertation supervisor told me essentially the same thing, saying why try to do a new piece of writing when I can just say I'm going in as a Romantic and use a chunk of my dissertation. My problem with that isn't feeling guilty--like you, I wouldn't--it's that you'd have to create a fabricated SOP about the great resources the university has in 'fill-in-the-blank' and I meet your cohorts in that area, etc. But kudos to anyone that goes that route, and so much better if you're a fellow Modernist so there's a bit less competition for me.

Does this annoy you as much as it does me? I mean, If they know they aren't going to pick anyone from a particular time period, they could save us the time and money and list that on their website--but, then again, I don't think any of these programs give a damn how much time we waste and they want our money...Sometimes I wonder why I'm going back to the States for this. They are not as mercenary in the UK.

When given feedback from Duke on my rejected application last year, I was told that the main problem with my application was that my SOP was not proposing work in the field that my writing sample covered. That said, your topics sound close enough. I was applying to study Modernism with a writing sample on Romanticism. I was told that a Modernist wouldn't know if my writing was showing an awareness of scholarship and saying something new because s/he wouldn't have that knowledge about this other time period. But I'm guessing that an academic covering cont. American film and lit would also be familiar with Lolita, as it's post-Modern, falls into the same time period. Hope this helps.

UBC, Virginia, UI Bloomington, Pitt, Colorado, Univ. of Oregon, and Western Michigan--this is my second application season as the first time around I applied only to two in the top 10 and one in the top 25: Brown, Duke and Northwestern. I've really nailed down my topic since then and hope that the spread of universities will mean I get in somewhere, though my dream schools are UBC and Virginia. Indolomena, I'm in the UK at the moment, did my MA here, so I can give a bit of perspective on differences in the systems. In the UK probably anyone on these boards could get into a Russell Group university (I'm not familiar with Oxbridge so I won't comment there)--I got into the two I applied applied to for my MA and I'd been out of school for ten years since my undergrad and my writing sample, looking back at it now, was horrid, and I wasn't even an English undergrad. That's not to downplay the quality of the UK Unis, it's just that they will accept most people and fund or give partial funding to few. As the American universities provide at least limited funding to everyone, I would say that getting into one of the R1 institutions is equivalent to getting in with fees paid at a UK institution. And getting in to the top 20 is probably equivalent to getting full funding from a UK University, of Russell Group calibre, of course.

I have another question on the whole CV topic. Some of the universities I'm looking at mention work experience. For anyone who's had some time out between their BA and/or MA and PhD, should we be including a work history even if completely related to academia?

Is anyone still looking to do a SOP exchange? I'd love the feedback. I'm looking at 20th Century Brit lit from a Marxist/historicist perspective.

Thanks for all the advice, everyone! Speakwrite, sorry, I've been keeping track of Unis by city name so I can keep track of what I've covered. Yes, I meant UBC. Any tips? Also, the faculty there that best match my interests are Marlene Briggs, John Xiros Cooper, and Ira Nadel.

Whoops, my hand slipped and I posted too soon. Also: Southern Mississippi Toronto Vancouver Villanova Virginia Washington University in St. Louis Western Michigan Yale

Hey guys, So, I've been researching universities like mad the last few months and have gone from about 150 possible choices down to about 30 that look quite good for me and my research interests. I was hoping you might put in your two cents about any of the following. What I'm mostly looking to hear is, obviously, if you've heard anything bad about the department, internal strife and the like, but also what the intellectual environment is like (competitive, supportive, lacking), how good they are with lectures/papers/reading groups, if they have reserved study space for PhDs, what funding is like (that's a big one!) and if you have comments on the location. If you go there and would be willing to answer a few questions about specific faculty members I am possibly interested in working with, can you let me know so I can PM you? I'm looking at the Modernist area so anything you know about the faculty and grad students in that area would be especially helpful. Thanks in advance for any advice/help you can provide. Here's the list: Alabama Berkeley Bloomington Brown University of Illinois at Chicago Colorado Columbia Connecticut Cornell Delaware Fordham Greensboro Kent State LSU NYU Oregon Penn State Pittsburgh Rhode Island South Carolina

You're right. I think my advisor was just trying to offer me another option as she knows how much work it is to craft a new piece, especially when I'm working full-time and planning a conference paper (in my field this time). But I'd have a hard time trying to show enthusiasm for advisors I didn't really want to work with and when I met the fellow grad students, I'd want to talk about my current literary interests. I'm passing up the publication--I'm probably also best publishing in my field before branching out to others. Thanks for your advice; it confirmed what I was thinking but you know how hard it is to pass up any opportunities and I didn't want to think that my choice to concentrate on my PhD apps was laziness or inability to multitask. Good luck starting at Minnesota in the fall!

Thanks for the well thought out reply. Well, the paper was in my MA field, but not my proposed PhD field because, having been away from university for some time, I didn't figure out what field I wanted to work in until the end of my MA and we had to submit MA proposals only halfway through the year when I'd not yet come to that decision. I've always been interested in British lit, but it was really hard for me to pin down a time period (from 18th cent to cont). So I will have to revamp another piece of writing as my critical writing sample or, as one of my professors actually suggested, consider saying on my apps that I want to study the time period I've already studied and then just change it when I get in. I applied to a few (3) Unis last year and didn't get in and my one piece of feedback was that my critical piece doesn't match my time period so I've been planning to adjust my critical piece when I guess I could just adjust my time period for the purpose of the application. I don't really want to do that, but it's a quick fix solution, I guess...

Hi Eneedlem, I did my masters in the UK and found the paperwork relatively simple. Much less intense than the US equivalent. Feel free to message me if you have specific questions, though. I think the hardest bits of paperwork were the visa (I suggest you apply for it early so you aren't without your passport shortly before you plan to fly) and the American loan apps. It was a great decision for me and I'm very happy with it, but the system is much different than the US, just to be aware. There is much more independent study and really the impetus is on you to get involved at your university (and you need to be at a university with a lot of research papers and events so that you have something to get involved in), but big payoffs.

I was hoping for a little advice. I gave a paper at a conference in January and they're now attempting to make a book and are seeking chapter submissions from conference participants. I'm trying to decide whether to submit mine for consideration. The qualifications: I'm finished with my masters hoping to get into a PhD in 2012 so I assume a published piece will look good on my applications but, at the same time, it'll mean less time spent applying to PhDs because of all the time spent on the paper (they have a predicted deadline of Dec. 1 for papers, we'll know if we've been chosen in August). Also, my paper is not on the time period in which I'm planning to study so I can't use it as my critical writing sample and I also don't know if that's a problem for committees who might wonder why I'm publishing in another area (it's the area I wrote my MA dissertation on). There are some minor thematic linkages, but that is all. The other negative about the piece is that it might be something that I am not as happy with in five years' time, after I've done more high quality research. What would you all do?

I'm 33 and like a lot of the other older people on here, got my BA in a completely unrelated subject and it wasn't until I was nearing 30 that I really took the idea of getting into academia seriously (before it seemed like a pipe dream). I moved abroad to work on a foreign language meanwhile auditing English lit classes to get recommendations for my MA, which I ended up applying for in the UK because it's a shorter program time and you can get into a much better University for less money and with less qualifications--it's very sink or swim; everyone is allowed to jump off the pier and whether you make it back out onto dry land is up to you. I'm at a bit of a disadvantage in not doing my MA in the US, I now realize, if only because I didn't fully understand the application process and neither did my professors, but this site is hugely useful and I know that when I apply again next year (I've already gotten my three and only rejects) with enough time to do things properly, I'll have given it my best shot and we'll just have to see if I get in anywhere. I'll be on the job market by my early 40s, which means a minimum of 25 years in the field. That sounds like plenty of time to me, bearing in mind that I don't have the ambition to be some sort of superstar academic, next Eve Sedgewick or whatever. I know a few Brits that got their PhD by the time they were 24 or 25--they have three years of undergrad, one year MA, three years PhD--and they are just too young to be taken seriously for proper academic posts so they end up teaching at their old Uni and doing work on the side and pretty much just killing time until they are a bit older. Finishing your PhD in your early 30s sounds like the best possible time to finish and, like someone else said, we all come to this at different times and all have their advantages and disadvantages. Best to just make the most of your own situation, but if you're applying for PhDs because of a fear of the 'real world', I really caution you to take a few years out on the job market, enjoy your 20s, and reapply when you want to do a PhD because you love it and can't imagine doing anything else. Cheesy, but true. My classmates that had time out before their MAs, even just two or three years, were able to appreciate the experience for what it was not just where it would get them and not get as unnecessarily stressed as the brilliant but maybe too young 21 year olds.

And don't bother asking for feedback. Here's the reply to my request from the Director of Graduate Studies: "We received almost 550 applications for our MA and PhD programs, so unfortunately I am not able to provide specific feedback on the reasons why an individual applicant was rejected. In the overwhelming majority of cases, negative decisions on acceptance are made on the basis of an unsuitable writing sample and/or an insufficiently convincing personal statement." Looks like Duke is pretty unique (in my experience, at least) in taking the time out to provide individual feedback, though I still think it's worth asking for at universities willing to provide it.

Well, you guys were right about decisions coming in today. I just got my rejection email. Better luck to the rest of you. Here's to doing it all over again in 2012...

Very old thread, but I liked it and hoped to revive it. Anyone have some fave modernists they'd like to share? I'm a big fan of Ford Madox Ford. Read the Good Soldier for a really interesting play with temporality and unreliable narration or, my favorite, Parade's End for the Condition of England novel that, again, has this really interesting structure that manages to twist reader's perceptions by jumping around in time. It's really subtle so that you might read whole swathes of the novel and not find it much different from a Victorian realist novel, style-wise, but then he cuts and pastes together various experiences the characters have and you're left wondering what's going on. And the miniseries is coming to BBC this year. Can't wait!

I assume you've asked, but have at least some of these rejects and interviews been for the Lit department? I was one of the rejects, but mine was English. If a few were in Lit, why don't you find out who the program director is and email. Not as pushy as the phone, but better than sitting around waiting...

Thanks for the good wishes, though I'm only waiting on one so expecting to do this again next year. But it's nice to know that not all Unis are as period-focused as Duke. I mean, yes, I understand the need to choose a period of specialization and then a second for comps, but I also think there should be more focus on thematic similarities, something that seems more popular over here in England, at least where I did my MA. Does anyone else have a hard time within what feels like narrow period confines? Or is it just me?

I have to give him credit for being so willing to take on and then make fun of the criticism that he gets from people for all this. The sleeping in class thing that you guys mentioned in this thread is even in here: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/ab25302c8e/james-franco-s-rejected-ucla-commencement-speech

I asked the Northwestern guy that emailed us for feedback and he got back to me after a week. Nice email, he was swamped, but no details could be given on individual apps. Since the Duke prof is actually looking at our files, I'm thinking it might take her a week or so to get back to everyone.

Michael Bibler, by any chance?

You guys are right. I knew I shouldn't ask, but it's so hard not to know. One of my lecturers talked about how some of the refs one gets at this stage will be ones we request again when looking for work and again when moving up in our fields--we've already begun accumulating the recs we might be using in 20 years when trying to get that professorship or senior lectureship. Weird thought and just adds fuel to the fire.