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And on that note, inmersion, and out of curiosity: Why are you *not* going to Yale? Is it that it is not as good for your particular specialty? Or is it that you found people there pretentious and/or rankings-obsessed? (I'm not trying to be facetious, btw--just trying to get your take on the program and the place)

I also am in love with Spenser, and used him in my SoP. Honestly, I think you're much better read than I am--I don't even know who Terrada and Martel are, and definitely don't have an MA. I think the reason I got in (and this is based on the emails I got from them), was not so much the content of my app--it was (to paraphrase them) the way I thought about literature. My advice, then, would definitely be to try to delve deeper (that is, more philosophically) into the questions you are asking. More than asking how hagiographies reflect ideas about sex, or how spectacle informs the nature of sainthood (obviously I haven't read your stuff; I'm just throwing examples out), go for what lies behind that--what that means about ethics, and human nature, and the nature of God. You know? I really get a strong feeling that it's that sort of inquiry, that goes deeper than tropes and forms, that they're really interested in. (And I apologize in advance if I've mischaracterized your positions--again, I'm not trying to tell you what your paper was about, but rather trying to explain what I did that, I believe, was most successful).

Out of curiosity, what was the topic of your writing sample? You said you were interested in the lives of saints--why the lives of saints? I have gotten emails from Mark Miller and a few other people in the department. They said that what made them like my project was that I was trying to grapple with the Middle Ages on its own terms, rather than trying to make it feel "relevant" by linking it to contemporary culture; and that I had a philosophical background, not only in the sense that I liked philosophy, but also that I was willing to delve into abstractions about time and historicity, rather than just study tropes or literary forms. I don't know if that's useful at all (I wouldn't recommend saying any of this verbatim, of course, because I substantiated all this in my writing sample, using some of Aquinas' philosophy to make my point--if you don't have a philosophical background this is all just going to look fake), but I think they are pretty big on the way Medieval thought, as a whole, is constituted, and the implications that this thought has for ethics, identity, history, etc. Good luck. Someone who wants to go to UC as badly as you do damned well deserves to go.

Inmersion-- just my quick two cents on the rankings issue. First of all, I am not trying to find out which one is better ranked--that is one easy piece of statistics that I can find by just going onto US News and Rankings. I am trying to get a feel, from people who have perhaps gotten M.A.'s at these graduate schools, or at least have visited these places before, about what their take was as far as living costs, actual interactions with faculty, etc. Ranking *is* an important part of the decision: U Chicago has a much, much better placement record than UVa, and that is due to external factors that have nothing to do with my particular interests. Moreover: I was born and raised in southern Mexico, and wish to eventually return there, a few years after getting my PhD. Prestigious though UVa may be in the States, I am going to have a hard time finding a job in a foreign country with a PhD in English literature--unless that degree is from a school that people have at least heard of abroad. This is not to say that ranking is the only way to make a choice between schools. Money is an obvious factor--and again, it is one that matters, regardless of what your particular interests may be (if you don't think that's true, just look through the first few postings on this thread. Money does matter--and rankings do too). The actual place you're going to be living in is important, and in this sense lyonessrampant's comments were really, really useful. And OF COURSE the actual program of study matters--the faculty, the course load, the teaching assistantships. But let's not kid ourselves: if you got into both the University of Puerto Rico and the University of California, Berkeley, do you think the respective rankings of the schools would not enter into your decision? Final point. Since my last post, I have been accepted to Yale as well--and not only is it higher ranked, it is offering me a lot more money than Chicago. And yet--in part because of posts like those by lyonnessrampant, and in part because of the emails I have received from the Chicago faculty--I am leaning heavily towards the U of C. Rankings matter, but they're not the end all and be all of the admissions process either.

Thank you guys for the advice! As of now, I'm actually leaning towards U of C -- not only because it's Chicago, but because, from the emails I've received (which have been four times as many as the ones I've gotten from UVa) it sounds like UC is really interested in the kind of philosophical/literary research that I want to study--despite the fact that it is not at all what I would consider "Englishy." It just sounds like there are a ton of really excited (and exciting) teachers at UC, willing to really spend time and energy helping me organize my interests and give shape to a dissertation. I am definitely going to visit both UVa and UC, but anyway, that's where I stand now.

I just came across this site a couple of days ago, and it's been a blessing. I was stressing out about application letters like mad--and, though I assume I've been rejected from places like Berkeley and U Penn (neither of which I've heard back from yet), at least it's a relief to have a general sense of when these letters are going out. I have a dilemma--an enviable one, as it turns out. I have been accepted to both UVa and U Chicago, and am trying to make up my mind where to go. I saw a post or two out there asking about U Chicago letters: they sent me an email on February 10th, accepting me, offering me funding, and inviting me up to visit the campus. I don't know what that means for people who have not been contacted--personally, I was really hoping to get accepted to Stanford or Berkeley, and am still hoping that somehow I'll get a letter from them--but anyway, there it is. I also know that someone asked for advice on applying to UC--all I really did was emphasize that I was really interested in conducting research in philosophy as well as literature; that, in particular, I wanted to study Paul Ricoeur (who taught at UC at one point) and Thomas Aquinas, and use their theories of metaphor and analogy to conduct my English studies. Talking to their professors, I get the impression that they're just really into interdisciplinary research (and maybe particularly interested in the English-film studies and the English-Philosophy combos). I was lucky in that I triple-majored in Philosophy, History, and English, and I dedicated my Statement of Proposed Research to making my interdisciplinary leanings clear--maybe I was not so lucky in that I sent the same SoPR to every school I applied to, and it seems places like Berkeley, U Penn, and Duke (I have definitely been rejected from Duke) were not so into the idea. I'm still waiting on the Ivies, though, so we'll see, but having been rejected from Duke (and, I am assuming, from U Penn and Berkeley), I don't have very high hopes. Like the people from the "Admissions procedures" thread, I definitely feel the sting of being rejected (even though I was lucky enough to get into UVa and UC)--I had a 3.97 GPA in college, got High Honors in history, and worked as a Fulbright Teaching Assistant in Spain for a year, right out of college. I also studied like a madman for the English subject GRE's, and got a 720 (for the regular GRE's, I got 720 verbal and 740 math). The dream is Harvard, but it is just that--a pipe dream. In any event, I was certainly lucky enough to get accepted to both UVa and U Chicago, and now, as a means to procrastinate (but also as a means to get informed advice from informed people who probably know a lot more about all this than I do), I would like some advice. UVa has not only accepted me--it has offered me a 30,000 dollar a year stipend. U Chicago, on the other hand, has offered 19,500 a year, and cannot raise the offer (and yes, I asked). As it turns out, though, at least according to US News & Rankings, U Chicago is ranked higher (number six in the country, as opposed to UVa's 12th). Not only that, but U Chicago, as I mentioned above, seems far more into the idea of letting me take philosophy--in fact, even the English professors at UC are philosophically inclined, mentioning "The Frankfurt School" and Merleau-Ponty as influences (as opposed to the usual Lacan, Derrida, Foucalt, Bakhtin, etc.). However, UVa does have a much stronger Modernist department, something which UC pretty much lacks entirely. I spoke to a UC professor, and she said they would be hiring at least one 20th century professor by the end of the year, and one specifically Modernist scholar within the next two years. For the record, I am interested in the relationship between Modernist and Medieval literature--and UC and UVa both have magnificent medievalists, though in this case, UC might have the upper hand (given that it is specifically Medieval philosophical literature that I'm interested in). In sum, what the hell do I do? I realize that UVa might have a better rep among Modernists in the country, but UC's English Phd program is better ranked (historically speaking, if you look at the US News & Rankings from the last ten years or so), and surely if they are making a concerted effort to improve their 20th century faculty, their rep among Modernists will be solid by the time I graduate, no? But then there's the whole money thing. And surely UVa is still prestigious, as far as PhD's in English go? Anyway, if there's anybody who wants to procrastinate, I'd love some advice. And in the meantime, if there is anything I can advise anybody on, as far as what worked for UC/UVa, let me know. (Personally, I am dying to know from those of you who got into Duke or Berkeley--What on earth did you do??).