id quid

spelling bee

new horizons

space case

March madness

night terror

Courses per semester: Fall - Spring. Along those lines, I wonder, do quarter schools have a similar measurement? 1-1-1?

I have a "real" job in the Marketing department of a textbook publisher. This job is actually the main driving force behind wanting to go back to academia. It's not a bad job by any means - in fact, I have it pretty good! My salary is okay, especially for a recent college grad, my coworkers are great, the work is sometimes interesting, and I have great advancement potential. But all this job means to me is paying the bills, and I refuse to live that way.

I'll be 27 in Fall 2012.

User name is from a Latin phrase inscribed in the main library on my undergrad campus. Bene legere saecla vincere - "To read well is to conquer/master the ages." Considering my field, it is only too appropriate. As for why I chose "saecla vincere" instead of "bene legere" - well, I just thought it sounded better! (Coincidentally, the National Junior Classics League's National Convention theme for 2011 is the same phrase!) The avatar is a tribute to memes and high irreverence. Can't remember my image source, but the text was all me.

I am guessing you meant this for people who are applying in this go around, but: I'm looking! I'll be a first-time applicant. (And hey, don't give up yet - you're still waiting for almost 3/4 of your schools.)

truckbasket: Very sage advice. Thank you! Researching departments is definitely something I'm spending my time on. My goal is to have a decent SoP draft ready to hand my potential LoR writers in September, and in order to do that I really need to know what my "P" is! Thanks for the advice. Hang in there! I hope you're able to take your own advice re: spending Feb - April in the booze; anything to keep time moving.

hopefulwoolfian: Go Bears! I've seen the insistence that the SoP/writing sample are what make an application, but I'm afraid to believe it! I also wonder if my specialty is a mitigating factor. Medieval literature seems to focus heavily on accomplishment with languages, particularly Latin, and though I have a decent start it's nothing to write home about. I'm aiming to take UToronto's MA Latin exam in the fall to prove I'm still up-to-date and that I've learned enough to be useful, but other than that I'm bone dry on ideas that don't break the bank. I'm working on my list as we speak, and it's actually comprised of faculty members, not schools. I figure if I can read the scholarship and find the people whose work interests me most/is in line with what I want to work on, I can find the schools I want to go to and work from there. If that makes sense? Berkeley bureaucracy has been a thorn in my side since I was first admitted and it's looking like it's embedded itself there. I haven't tried working with the department directly yet, no, nor L&S. I was unsure if there was some unspoken agreement that leave is sacred, and I didn't want to step on any toes. That'll be my next stop, then! Thanks for your advice. lolopixie: 01. The main office really doesn't care - it's between me and the prof because it's a value issue rather than a technical one. She simply hasn't filed the replacement grade. I'm definitely going to follow a schedule similar to what you outline re: getting in contact with the office. My issue is less the time the office is open (gratefully, my job is flexible about start times) and more how long it takes once I get there; I've never had a visit last anything less than an hour, and that's without considering getting there and back. All the same, your advice is sound. Thanks! 02. Yes, yes and yes. Agreed! I don't know how long her leave is, either, so I may be concerned over nothing. Still, I'd like to give her AMPLE ample time to consider the LoR and the transcript fixing, so I'm a bit frenzied over the not knowing. Easy remedy - just ask. 03. This agrees with my instincts; thank you! 04. This also agrees with my instincts and the research I have done. American PhDs (the combined MA/PhD vs. the UK's MA then PhD) seem to muddy the waters with requirements and everyone is just so cagey about what they're looking for! I am doing research as I come across POI, so I suspect I'll answer the "will I, or won't I?" question of application myself in the end, but I am still curious about others' insights. So, again, thank you! For what it's worth, I was considering doing an MA in Medieval Studies (particularly at UToronto) or Medieval Literature and then using that to bridge over to an English PhD. I don't think that's unusual in my field, getting an MA in the interdisciplinary and then moving to the "pure" subject, but I don't know all that much about the academic trajectory. My main hesitation about pursuing the MA independently is the common one: funding it. -- Thank you both for your input!

I got my English BA from UC Berkeley in 2009, with coursework heavily focused on Anglo-Saxon to late medieval British literature. I was a transfer student - I began at UC Santa Cruz, transferred to a community college, then completed 5 semesters at Cal. I've got so many loose ends to tie up I don't even know where or how to begin my search for Fall 2012 degree programs! The hanging threads: 1) I received an Incomplete-lapsed-to-F grade in one of my English courses. My professor didn't get the paperwork in before the Incomplete lapsed. I have been trying to work with her remotely -- I live in the Bay Area still, but I work a Monday through Friday 9-to-5 desk job -- with limited success. She only seems to get every other of my emails, and her response rate is very slow even when they do get through. This is not incongruous with my experience with her during the school year, but it is admittedly frustrating when attempting to straighten out a grade from spring 2008! In our email communications, she had expressed interest in working with me on this. My most recent 'contact' with her involved making it to her office after-hours and leaving an envelope full of directions, appropriate paperwork, and copies of coursework for her review. I've heard nothing since, and I confirmed with the Registrar that the grade is still Incomplete-lapsed-to-F. I found out via the department website that she's currently on leave. What now?! 2) The aforementioned professor is one of my best potential sources for an LoR. To be honest, I feel confident in the potential reviews from 2 of my professors, and reservedly content with 2 others. In other words, I can't afford not to have this professor write on my behalf. Assuming I can find a way to contact her, is there any etiquette-friendly way to approach her about this while she's on leave? 3) I have been out of school since spring 2009, working this desk job which has nothing whatsoever to do with my field. It's not a long time, I know, but I've done absolutely nothing in my field since leaving school. Is this something I should remedy somehow (I envision summer courses), or is it only expected? In other words, need I be doing something concrete, outside of applications, to bolster my appeal? 4) I'm uncertain whether my application will be strong enough to apply straight to the PhD, or if I should instead consider obtaining an MA first. My GPA is somewhere in the 3.2-3.5 range, on the higher end of that range in English, and the GRE is ~700V/550Q. No Lit GRE score as of yet. I have a strong candidate for a writing sample - my final paper from a graduate course with Professor O'Brien O'Keeffe. My SoP is a sweet nothing at the moment, but I have a very clear path of intent for my scholarship and this should translate (with plenty of editing and rewriting applied, naturally) and is corroborated by the writing sample. My hesitation is re: my GPA, my lack of experience in the field outside coursework, and having been a transfer student. Any thoughts? I know everyone's in the thick of the dreadful waiting phase, and I wish you all the best of luck! I hope maybe taking a look at my profile will distract you a little. I've been an outsider looking in on this process for several years now, and I think I'm certifiable to want to join you all on this road given everything I've seen. Nevertheless, here I am. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!