lyonessrampant

I also took three years off and had offers from five schools (sharing like above to show that I don't think time away hurt me). I agree that you need to make sure that you need to make an impression on your future letter writers in your MA, but if you take a year off, you'll be asking for letters really after only a summer away from the program, so I don't think you need to worry about that. Your application will likely be stronger because you'll have more time to work on it. My MA program strongly encouraged us to not apply during the program, though it was a one-year program, which makes applying while in the program particularly difficult.

I'm working with first-year students in our program as a mentor (somehow I've become an advanced graduate student) and we've talked about jealousy and competition, not in the same way as the OP, but at the core, jealousy is an affective reaction that feels pretty similar whatever the cause (or ostensible external cause). My advice to them was to try to focus on your own progress and success and happiness rather than to compare yourself to others. Easier said than done, right? Here's a couple of the more practical things I mentioned: when you learn that somebody got something you applied for or wanted or is experiencing something you want, if your immediate reaction is strongly negative, it is best to absent yourself (physically, mentally, emotionally) from that space for awhile. Go for a walk, go to a movie, hang out with friends who have nothing to do with the academy or (in your case) may not be married or in a committed relationship but who are also happy being single. Take some time to balance yourself out and then think about the things you like about that other person, reminding yourself of the reasons why you like that person and want to be around them. Then the next time you are around them, you can congratulate them on what they have (or not) but not focus on that. When you start to feel hostile, think again of those reasons why you like them so as to contain or manage that hostility, which is probably a lot more self-directed than it is other-directed anyway. Of course, if you don't like the other person to begin with, this won't help, but since you want to like/do like some of these people you mentioned, perhaps this will help a bit. I also strongly second the advice to try to go to therapy more often, too. Look into the options available at the medical facility on your campus. You may well find that there are mental health services available to you for free because of your status as student.

It's also at that point when you may find out that the prof you thought you wanted to work with has new research interests and isn't wanting to take on a bunch more students but some other person you didn't know about could be perfect for you. You'll get more information about interdisciplinary Centers across the university (as well as funding opportunities that may come from them). You'll actually meet people and get a sense for whether you like these profs and grad students with whom you'll be spending a lot of time. There are lots of things that come post acceptance, but these in addition to the ones already mentioned come to mind.

I don't have a lot to add other than to say that there are funded MFA programs, and if you do the MFA, you should do a fully or at least mostly funded program. The MFA program at my university is fully funded (tuition + stipend + health insurance) and you TA lit and creative writing, teach composition, and teach a stand-alone course in your area (poetry, fiction, or non-fiction). I've heard (and again who knows how accurate this is) that top English programs who tend to prefer to accept people without MA (i.e. direct from BA) do like the MFA as a way for a potential student to develop writing without getting too stuck in a particular methodology or theoretical stance. I remember back when I was applying that the student profiles of schools like Harvard, WashU, and Brown showed very few with MA degrees but quite a few (still not a majority, though) with the MFA degree, particularly from places that fund their MFA students. However, this is the lit route. I'm guessing you mean an arts MFA. I don't know much about that approach. As for Art History, I've met several art historians at conferences from schools like UNC, Duke, and NYU who aren't getting jobs. There aren't many art history jobs and the competition for them is pretty fierce; I think it is even statistically more fierce than English, for example. If what you want to do is curate at a museum, you might want to do museum studies programs instead. Much better employment statistics and you could still do research on art.

I think that the advice suggesting you shouldn't overthink this test is right. I totally freaked out in an existential crisis and went from a 98/99% in practice tests to scoring above 91% in my actual test. That's well above Harvard's "suggested" number . . . and guess what!? I didn't get into Harvard. I don't think these tests really matter that much. Schools who use this metric have a minimum. It seems low (and based on friends in various programs, I mean really, really low to the point that this test is just stupid). That number is used to throw out some of their many hundreds of applicants. Beyond that, I doubt it matters at all. Do your best. However, as many anecdotes have demonstrated, this test is not highly important. Your research statement and writing sample show your original ideas, ability to engage with relevant (and CONTEMPORARY!) scholarship, and writing skill. Focus on those elements. Best of luck to all!

Absolutely the University of Minnesota! I assume you'll be applying for English, but it really doesn't matter mostly because of the interdisciplinary Centers here. Check out the Center for Early Modern History and the new Consortium for the Study of the Premodern World funded by a $600K Mellon grant last year. Basically, we're very cooperative about our work, and we facilitate interdisciplinary work. My own dissertation combines literature, Italian studies, history of medicine, and history of warfare (including material work with armor and combat), and art history (hey, 16th c. anatomical illustrations are awesome!). Anyway, our Philosophy of Science department (and an affiliated Center) also supports this work. I know several people who have worked with Darwin and 18th/19th c. British poetry. Feel free to PM me if you'd like to know more.

Penn State definitely has that reputation and seems to have problems with SUPER late notification, no rejections, and movement after April 15th. U of Penn doesn't have that problem (or at least hasn't in the several years I've been around this forum). That said, there are awesome people at Penn State. I would imagine that one's experience once accepted and in the program is not similar to the app process, but I can't speak to that for sure.

Be sure to look into whether there are Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships offered at your school. They are funded through the Department of Education, and thanks to two of them, I've spent 13 weeks (7 weeks last summer and 6 the summer before) studying Italian intensively (30 hours per week) in Italy. In addition to the summer fellowships, there are full-year fellowships to support studying a language at your university. It depends on your university, but in general they support learning a language other than French, German, and Spanish. At least at my program, most people need to get reading knowledge of one and some even two languages. We have graduate semester-long seminars that focus on gaining reading knowledge of a language. For us, those satisfy the language requirement, so look into what exactly the requirements are where you're applying. It might be easier than you think to meet them. Of course, if you know you're going to need advanced proficiency in a language, a semester-long course won't do the trick, so you might want to plan on taking undergrad lang courses during your course work time when your funding still covers classes.

^ Perfect Tinder profile description Good luck to everyone. The application season is stressful and daunting, and I hope that all of you get offers you are happy with!

Okay, so I've got a dissertation to work on, which means I won't be engaging in this long. At this point, we're both relying solely on anecdotal evidence, which is obviously problematic. That said, the UC system has all sorts of problems that don't come down to the higher cost of international students. My public university regularly admits and funds for 5-6 years depending on the program international students in disciplines across the humanities. Is this the case at all public universities? Certainly not, nor did I imply that it was. Indeed, I said "your international status will make you more attractive to some programs." (italics added) The fact that the OP is an international student fundamentally is a diverse (as in different) perspective compared to someone born and raised in the US. Will US-born students have their own diverse perspectives? Again, obviously yes, but emphasizing what a non-native perspective can bring to one's particular subfield or research interests can be deeply appealing to, I emphasize again, some programs. I also find interesting your conclusion that the stated hypothesis was that "a weakness in the application of an international student entails the same thing as that same weakness would in the application of a domestic student." Instead, the stated fact was that many admitted domestic students often have very low scores on the subject test and are still often admitted. [Actual quotation for reference: "LOTS of native speakers score really, really low (I'm talking in the teens) and get into excellent programs.] I then suggested (this would be the only implied hypothesis) that a weakness in one part of the application can be offset by strengths in other parts, again not at all the same thing as what you assumed the hypothesis to be. Even if your identified conclusion were right, there is no reasoning given to support the claim that it would be dangerous (to whom? how so? why?) or profoundly wrong (again pretty much same questions). What exactly do you mean to say? Are you saying that an international student's application is assumed weaker from the get-go simply because of her/his international status? I, at least, find that a dangerous (as in elitist) and profoundly wrong (as in the number of international students already in graduate school, who have secured TT jobs, who publish and conference). I'm not attacking here, merely pointing out that a low lit subject score is not an uncommon part of an application. I respond only because I hope that the OP doesn't think that all universities use the logic outlined above, nor think that all domestic graduate students think in the ways outlined above.

Based on your writing just on this forum, it is obvious that you have a near-native command of English (damn well better than most natives!). I'm echoing a bit, but I would not worry overmuch about this. For one thing, you're right that your international status will make you more attractive to some programs because of the diverse perspectives you will bring. My own program has between one and three international students out of an average cohort of 12 every year. I know we're not alone in that. Additionally, LOTS of native speakers score really, really low (I'm talking in the teens) and get into excellent programs because they have creative, cutting-edge interests, a provocative writing sample, strong letters, and a clear SoP and research interests. I'm sure that your regular GRE score is fine and your TOEFL as well, so even if your subject score is low, that quantitative component can be offset by other (supposedly) quantitative measures like GPA and other tests. Also, even in the US not all test takers get the same version of the test (unless that has changed in the years since I took the exam). There are various formats and scores are regularized based on the results of all the people taking (and who have taken) that version. This is why a 600 on a format can be a 75th percentile for some versions and an 80% for others (I made those numbers up, by the way as an example), so it is not unusual that your practice test experience did not match your actual test experience (true for me, too). Chin up! Focus on what you can still control of the apps and the unique strengths you bring as an international student. Good luck

Hi noking, I can't really allay your fears about time away not mattering. It might, especially if that means that your writing sample and personal statement don't interact with current scholarship in your chosen interest area. Is there a University nearby where you could take a graduate course, ideally one in the area you are interested in? Even if you take it pass/fail and just focus on reading/catching up and working on a new writing sample, it would be a good use of your time if possible. If that isn't possible, try to get your hands on a subscription to one of the top journals in your area. Read or at least skim the issues for the last couple of years. This will tell you what people are working on now, and it may help you narrow down your list of POIs and schools to apply to. When you do apply, you might want to add some funded MA programs to your list of schools so that if the Ph.D. option doesn't work out right away, you've got a funded way of getting back into academia and developing your scholarship. As to what to do this year otherwise, if you had/have a close relationship with the profs you will ask to write your LORs, you might get in touch with them and see what their advice is. Definitely do research the dismal state of the field in terms of job statistics. No one should walk into a Ph.D. without knowing this. I'd recommend getting and reading Gregory Semanza's (think that's how it is spelled) Graduate Study for the 21st century. This will tell you a lot about what a Ph.D. program will be like, and it might help you verify that you do, in fact, want to apply. I'd also say that it doesn't hurt to try to conference, especially if you can do it without spending lots of money. Look for conferences near you (Check UPenn's list, which is free to access for everyone). This would be a good place to present work you think you'd like to specialize in or, better yet, develop into your writing sample. You can get feedback about whether it is exciting/new/interesting or repeating old work. As for publishing, if you think you've got something polished and ready to send out, you certainly can. Worst a peer-reviewed journal can do is say no, but if you read issues of whatever journal you select, which you should always do before submitting a piece of writing, and don't feel like your writing at the moment is up to that level, work on it before you submit it. Even if you do get rejected, you should get reader reports, which should help you revise this piece for your writing sample. Good luck!

Hi Portia. I am also from the mountain states, north of you actually, and I would love to end up back out there, but if location is that important for you and your goal is secondary education, you would be better served by an M.Ed. if you did not complete a secondary education track during undergrad. You have to be certified to teach in a public school (as I'm sure you know), and you can't just get that on a whim. It takes hours of observation time, certain pedagogy courses, etc. (I know this because I did the teaching track in addition to English and chemistry in undergrad). Even if you want to teach at a private school, you're not guaranteed a spot there right after your MA, so being able to teach in a public school setting would open a lot more doors for you. Several of my colleagues who have decided that academia is not right for them (some with an MA already, some who got it here after exams, and some without) have all struggled to find posts at private schools without having some secondary ed credentials. Given that, and given that academia is not your goal, an M.Ed., especially one that would allow you to develop credentials and teaching experience for both English and French, would prepare you the most for secondary teaching. Being able to teach two subjects would make you a much more desirable candidate in both public and private settings, though especially public.

My university has a specific fellowship for under-represented minorities in graduate school, so if you can back up the non-White box (even if it is Pacific Islander that is also white), I would say that it opens up funding opportunities at the very least. I realize this sounds really callous. These fellowships are meant for disadvantaged applicants, but I would say that the ad-comm/eval board are the ones in the position to decide between the qualifying applications. The DOVE fellowship, the one I mentioned, asks for additional essays once a department forwards a potentially qualifying applicant, so you might as well not disqualify yourself from something that you could qualify for. The committee will make the decision.

I took the GRE once and got a 6. I think it is because I did competitive speech and debate and approached the essays on the GRE as I did writing persuasive speeches and debate cases. These things all share basic structure in common (persuasive speech is basically problem, cause, solution or variations on that structure) and debate cases also have stock structures. As has been noted, clear and obvious thesis/argument. I'd stick to three main points that are supported by as many examples as you can think of (I drew widely on literary, philosophical, and real world examples. . . again thanks to competitive forensics and all the books we read as English majors), and try to pay attention to things like addressing likely counterarguments, using logical structures (syllogisms, identifying fallacies, etc.), and clearly re-stating main points/argument in the conclusion. Standardized tests like standardized approaches/formulas, so don't overthink things or treat this like a typical paper for an English class. Get a firm outline and get writing.

I agree with the above poster. The most important thing now is to try to get past this exam, find your confidence, and prepare to take the test again. It sounds like the preparation part for the next exam should focus on mastering your nervousness and anxiety. It might be a good idea to schedule a session with a therapist who specializes in testing anxiety, if that's possible. If it isn't, do some research on test anxiety and you should be able to find a few suggestions. It sounds like you were prepared and are able to get the score you want, so try to focus on your demonstrated ability rather than on the past exam. Good luck!

You might consider Minnesota. We have an amazing theater program (both BFA and MFA) and are a department that is strongly interdisciplinary. While Jo Lee is the main professor who comes to mind that works on drama in literature, she specializes in modern Asian drama. However, she has a strong background in dramatic theory, and many of the professors in the theater department also have a background in approaching theater from the perspective of literary interpretation. The theater scene here in the Twin Cities is also exceptional (see the Guthrie for example).

I'm not rhet/comp so I can't speak to which programs directly; I just remember seeing that in a Chronicle blog. Anyway, looking at the course offerings over the last few years might give you a sense of that. Also, look at/ask for placement records and see if a significant number of graduates take TT jobs at CCs. That will probably indicate department support of preparing for CC jobs and success at preparing candidates as well.

As far as the high school teaching question, it changes depending on the state, but in general, having an MA will help you because it will enable you to enter at a higher pay grade. Additionally, even with entry-level positions, most states require that you achieve an MA at some point (which is why the online MA in ed. is so ubiquitous). If you enter with an MA, even if you start pay-wise at entry level, it will eventually cover that requirement and, quite frankly, generally be a better educational experience. For private secondary schools, having an MA or Ph.D. is generally a prereq for being hired. I know several friends with Ph.D.s (from schools like U of Chicago for example) who now teach in private secondary schools. Besides making bank and having job security, they love what they're doing, so the value of an MA for public school and Ph.D. for private school is apparent (there is research on this I've read but am too lazy to link now). However, the scene for the CC is rather different than secondary schools. Do you have a Chronicle of Higher Ed subscription or access? There are articles and blogs on this. Anyway, increasingly post the recession, TT CC positions are filled by applicants holding a Ph.D. Several of my friends who have graduated from a Ph.D. program recently have taken TT CC positions and LOVE them, but the fact that they hold a Ph.D. is beating out many applicants who hold only the MA. I'd say if you really want a TT CC position, you should get the Ph.D. There are many programs, especially in rhet/comp, that help you specialize in preparing to teach at a CC and doing the kind of editing, teaching, and writing that is specifically linked to a CC. Basically, I'd say do the MA and use that experience to figure out what you want to do - - secondary or CC. If you want CC, I'd recommend you do the Ph.D. If you decide secondary is best or at least a place you'd be happy, the MA is probably enough. best of luck!

I also don't have specific program recommendations, but I would say to make sure to research funding because even for EU citizens (which you may be!) many graduate programs in Europe are not free. In fact, funding can be particularly tricky because you're often not offered a set package for funding like you are at the vast majority of US universities where you teach in exchange for tuition, health insurance, and a stipend. In many cases you need to apply for external sources of funding, so make sure to factor deadlines for those things into your plan. Also, I would suggest doing additional research into the job market because a Ph.D. in the humanities doesn't exactly equate to a stable job situation. Employment statistics are bad in both the US and Europe, but depending on where you are in Europe, they're downright dismal with only a handful of Ph.D.s eventually securing tenured positions and usually after moving around a lot as a lecturer.

Don't get me wrong, it's great to share resources, and it's great you're reading so much, but this test is not designed to be a comprehensive exam like you will have after you finish coursework in a Ph.D. program. It is designed to measure breadth of exposure, so if you spend all your prep time reading books rather than becoming familiar with major characters, basic plot, and major quotations from central texts (check out vade mecum and hapax legomenon in addition to the UCSB list) and preparing to handle theory questions or very specifically framed reading comprehension questions, you're not preparing for the test itself. Make sure to take the time to do practice tests, as many different ones as you can find, as the actual test will not be the same for everyone and is scored in comparison to other tests of the same year and prior. Reading texts is great, but this test isn't really designed to measure how well you know/understand a text. I scored in the 92nd percentile and my main mistake (prior practice tests were in the 98th and 99th percentiles) was that I was thrown off by a different format. I focused on reading texts and knowing intricate details of plot, character, and quotations for recognition. Some tests will reward (some of) that, but not all. It's really important to learn how to take the test. I wasn't prepared for that aspect because I just took the GRE without preparing for it because I was really busy at the time and did well because my learning/testing style is similar to the way the GRE is designed. I got a 6 on the analytical because I wrote basically the essay equivalent of a logical proof and a 97% on the verbal because of vocab (note to you if you don't know--I didn't since I didn't have time to prepare--you can't go back and fill in answers on the actual GRE, which messed my score up). The subject test isn't like that, or at least it wasn't like other standardized tests for me. The above-recommended sites have quite a bit of advice on strategizing for the test, and I'd spend a good chunk of time on that as well as general reading.

Check out Berkeley's rhetoric program. Also, rather than searching for a specific program, look for people doing work you like on modern popular lit or cultural artifacts and theory and then apply to those programs. My department, for example, has professors who work on digital and physical modern archives from the perspectives of various theoretical approaches, but UMN doesn't have a specific digital media studies program. Also, schools with a strong digital humanities presence will likely have people that you might find compatible with your work.

Okay, so you're English, right? Are you MA? Or are you Ph.D? If you're Ph.D., are you looking for how to compile a booklist with a rationale, or are you looking to develop a prospectus for your dissertation? Those two things should be related but different. If you're MA, well, it will very much depend upon your program requirements, so you might want to give us a bit more insight into what those are if you want our perspectives. For example, I did a 1yr MA, which meant I wrote my thesis while doing coursework and it was shorter but more focused than many of my colleagues who were in a 2 yr program. All this to say, the goals of your program will not the same as everyone else's so give us some idea of their expectations.

Haven't any idea in rhet/comp. The top 10 English programs also are def. not the same as the top programs in rhet comp. The poster is interested in formalist poetry, though, so I'm guessing more in the line of poetics, which means . . .not rhet/comp. That said, I'd say my observation is not irrelevant.

It seems like you have three options (more I'm sure but this is what comes to mind): 1) apply for the same type of program elsewhere 2) switch to and apply for a different type of program with few to no science courses and address the weakness in the SoP 3) switch to a field that doesn't require a graduate degree. Option 1 seems like it would be incredibly difficult to pull off. Any new program will see the transcript from your current program and know that you were kicked out due to academic reasons. I can't think of many programs that will want to gamble on you having the same results with them. Option 2 seems like the route to follow if you can find an adjacent MA program that would let you eventually do the career you want to have (or a similar one that you'd enjoy). This might especially be a good idea if you can transfer credits for the courses you did well in. If you go this route, you'd need to make a strong argument for why your academic weaknesses in the sciences classes will not be a factor in this new type of MA. Ideally, your LOR writers would also make this case (or at least one of them would). Option 3 seems like the most immediately feasible. This may be the best option in the short term even if you do go with option 2 just because it would let you get some distance from your former program, re-evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, perhaps do some more research on how to study for courses, etc. I can't say what I'd do in your situation, of course, but I think that making the decision to do something is important to help you move on from what I'm sure has been a crushing disappointment. Best of luck.