indalomena

I will join your misery! I'm taking the test in November... but have done no preparation yet. One month to go plus full time job plus applications. Sigh. And I think only one of my schools does not require it.

congratulations Timshel, you seem in great shape for your applications! Really doesn't seem like you could have done anything more. I completely understand what you mean though. I have worked so hard on my MA, and really feel like I have achieved a lot, beyond perfect grades ... I think if you view your MA as part of your professional preparation, you are naturally going to find yourself going above and beyond ... but then when you have to write it all down, everything you did and achieved to try to get one step closer to your dream career, and risk someone saying "thanks but no thanks" ... the dread and the doubt really kick in. You must fight it! You sound like a perfect applicant!!

I'm incredibly nervous about writing to potential advisors whose PhD programs I'm applying to -- it always seems a little forced to me, and I can never word the emails right or figure out what to do.. however, recently I read a book by a professor who couldn't supervise a dissertation for me -- wrong department, wrong period, wrong location etc -- but whose work I was just so inspired by, that I wrote to her anyway, just to tell her that I loved her work and that it was really quite an exciting moment for me to come across it. Has anyone done this before? Just written to some professor with no purpose but to say that their work was an inspiration to you? Was it well received? Not that it matters -- nothing's at stake for me here -- but if I'd inspired someone, I would want to know. (does anyone know the Belle and Sebastian song "if she wants me"? Because I'm thinking of the opening of that right now. And if he smiles, it's no more than a genius deserves, for all your curious nerve and your passion.)

Great post -- I appreciate it. This whole thing is more of a culture change than I realised and it's starting to feel pretty exhausting... as I get older, I get less and less willing to jump through hoops to prove myself. It's that weird sensation of actually developing self-confidence -- nice, but makes applications much more annoying!!

seriously??? Why would it be a disadvantage coming in with an MA?! And how do you find out if the departments you're looking at want them or not? This is something that I've heard but never knew whether to take seriously ... that US universities like to take their PhD students and train them in their own way and sort of brand them ... unlike here in the UK where it's more about supervisor than institution. All this makes me think more and more that I'd rather stay in the British system. This whole thing is so ridiculous -- having to take a stupid exam as if my British education counts for nothing, having to retake coursework as if my MA is meaningless ... GRRRRRRRRRR. \rant. Sorry

Some of my most distressing intellectual moments were in undergraduate philosophy seminars

I'd recommend Elaine Scarry's Dreaming by the Book as a nice introduction to this way of thinking about texts. It's very short, engaging, and beautifully written. Then there are a couple of books from 2010 -- Lisa Zunshine (ed.) Introduction to Cognitive Cultural Studies and Alan Richardson's The Neural Sublime. The former is a collection of essays and the latter is a short but fascinating look at the applications of these ideas to Romantic aesthetics. Then there's Mary Thomas Crane's Shakespeare's Brain which I didn't quite get so much out of but some love it. Can't think of any more right now but I'd definitely recommend Scarry to start.

Thanks for the info -- I'm already interested in SUNY Buffalo for other reasons, so I'll check it out again! I'm a little reluctant to go to California, it just feels that bit too far away from home (I'm English.) I don't mean psychoanalytic theory exactly though -- sorry that wasn't clear from my post -- but rather cognitive aesthetics, which seems to be a new-ish but rapidly growing area of enquiry.

usually I'm rather shy and quiet at the beginning of a seminar, and then around halfway through I start really getting into the swing of things and making a big contribution. I don't have a remotely aggressive personality though, so I never get into debates or arguments -- it's always more about trying to find the common ground rather than concentrating on the areas where I disagree with others. This isn't necessarily the best way -- debate tests your convictions and strengthens arguments -- but I feel it's crucial to work in a friendly and supportive environment. It's important to be very aware of who you're working with -- sometimes there are people in a group who are very quiet and timid but have great ideas, and just need to be in the kind of environment where they feel comfortable expressing them. Also I think it's important to contribute your ideas, even if they're a bit shaky and not very well formed -- the reason seminars are such wonderful research opportunities is that you get to throw ideas at many different people with different scholarly priorities. Though your point may, in your head, sound stupid, to someone else it could provide incredible illumination! This has happened to me on a few occasions -- a completely throwaway remark has changed my thinking in a profound way.

Ooh yes, this is a field I am becoming increasingly interested in, and I've already read a few fascinating texts that deal with these issues. I'm new to it though -- do you happen to know what departments are particularly strong in this area? I'm looking at both US and UK to the OP -- I am quite envious of your psychology background, and I often wish that I had better knowledge of it! You can definitely turn it to your advantage if you think that literature is what you really want to do. Good luck!

I loved Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close -- the voice of the narrator was beautifully realised and only occasionally overwritten. On the contrary I found Everything Is Illuminated very affected and irritating. I'll be interested to see what this author is doing in maybe ten years time. Timshel, I absolutely loved The Wind-up Bird Chronicle. Something about it really seeped into my physical memory, somehow -- I didn't just read it, I felt it -- such a powerful experience. I haven't been engaged in a book in quite the same way before. I also liked Norwegian Wood.

oh this is nice, I stalked the application thread and got afraid about how behind I was. This one is less scary. I'm reading Bleak House, which is beautiful, and Harry Potter in German, to try to reintroduce reading fluency slowly.

Hi there -- I'm afraid I am not familiar at all with the US financial aid system so I can't offer anything like the thoughtful and very helpful advice of all the above posters. I just wanted to chime in (if OK) with some personal support and just say congratulations on your great GPA and your success in college, even though you're struggling with such an unpleasant situation with your parents. You're obviously a talented and principled person fighting against the odds and I sincerely hope you get through all this and graduate successfully, even if you don't take the most well-trodden path to get there. Stay strong and good luck getting all this sorted out -- and sorry I couldn't offer any good practical advice!

I'm going to take it when I can afford to pay for it so expensive! Hopefully October, but I have no time to study ... AARGH!

maybe -- I might just be particularly lucky with my department. I only have experience of the UK system, but I have been warned by those who know both that I will find US departments extremely competitive/somewhat unfriendly in comparison with what I'm used to. Maybe this says more about my department than UK vs US in general. I certainly hope so!

*sigh* This article makes me sad. There is nothing more draining than being told that you are naive and unrealistic just because you pursue something that might not have incredible financial benefits and that might not get you the perfect job at the end. Everyone has to take risks whatever their chosen path, nothing is certain, and a guaranteed way to stop yourself from doing anything remarkable with your life is to be bitter and cynical. I find it so bleak when so many humanities students jokingly make comments about their 'useless' degrees, and yet continue to pursue them in this half-hearted, ironic way. We all need to believe in the importance of what we do. So often we get trapped in these comfortably pessimistic attitudes and forget the sheer urgency of life and the wretchedness of the prospect of living it with no conviction! Yes, this conviction must be supplemented with a substantial practical intelligence and it alone won't get you where you need to be. But that's no excuse to lose it altogether and lead a bitter, unfulfilled life...

probably depends on the department. Mine made it clear to incoming students that it is a first-name department, but you shouldn't use the first name until you have been 'invited' to do so by the person in question signing off in that way. So my emails to anyone I've never met are Dear Professor ... or Dear Dr ..., then subsequently Dear George or whatever. I have always found 'regards' to be a little terse and I tend to use 'best wishes' at the end of informal emails. However, I am in a UK department. It seems US departments are much more formal/terrifying ... yet another thing to try to wrap my head around!

ha ha, I get crushes all the time, but I don't worry about it (otherwise I would be even more of a bag of nerves!! ^_~) And -- in response to toypajme's observation -- I get crushes on women as well as men. They are always focused on people I feel are intellectually superior to/more advanced than me -- so, usually professors. What happens is usually that I develop a little crush on someone, think about them quite a bit over a period of a month or so, then the feeling burns itself out and I move on. It's pleasant and diverting, with no painful emotional consequences I've been in a long-distance relationship for a while, so maybe this has taught me the art of the harmless crush. And even if I were single, I wouldn't act on one of these crushes, because I think it would be emotionally dangerous to me. If these feelings rely on maintaining a sense of intellectual inferiority, it could be a very unhealthy situation for me. I have a tendency towards unhealthy states of mind, and have to work hard to beat them down in a reasonable way -- so, although I can't stop myself from having crushes, I can assess them rationally, enjoy them at the time, and be aware that they are very far removed from the reality of my life! Oh yes, and they do make me work harder. So it's all good

I only ever use LaTeX now -- which, I gather, is unusual for a humanities student. But I didn't find it a challenge to learn (I knew HTML already so the concept was not alien to me) and the results are just beautiful. Before that I was using Open Office, which I got along with just fine. I never use Microsoft unless on college computers -- I was brought up in an open source household and so, forking out piles of money when you can achieve similar results for free makes me cringe a little

hello all! I completely understand the anxiety of slow reading and the guilt over skim-reading. However it is crucial, sometimes, especially when reading for a huge project like a dissertation, to remember that part of the purpose of reading is locating information, rather than understanding it -- you can't possibly read everything and understand it fully, and some texts, which you suspect may be peripheral to your work, can be quickly skimmed such that later you may remember something important and go back to it in more detail. Thinking of it this way has saved me much anxiety and guilt (not to mention time!!)

thank you SO MUCH for these helpful replies I am registering to take it late September I think, though looking at the fees made me a little alarmed! I didn't realise how expensive the US application process was -- clearly I have a lot to learn! I probably don't have that much time to study for the test as there is so much else for me to do this summer -- I'll try to do a bit every day until then. *sigh* any other early modern applicants out there? I'm interested primarily in intersections between literature and science in the seventeenth century. Still not sure which departments are right for me -- my supervisor has suggested Yale but I need some ... erm... realistic options as well. best of luck to my fellow test-takers!

Perhaps I'm being very stupid about this (I'm not from the US so this test-taking business is completely alien to me!!) but I can't figure out whether I need to rush to get the GRE done very soon or not. I want to apply for admission in fall 2012. If I take the GRE general (I'm aware that it's changing..) and literature subject test in September, will that be in time to send the scores off? On the GRE website it says that if you take the new test, scores won't be ready before November ... does that leave enough time to have them sent to universities? sorry for the stupid/obvious question, and thank you so much for any helpful replies that come my way! edit: what if I took it in October? Would that be enough time?

very true, I have several friends doing PhDs in the British system -- very intelligent, hard-working, motivated people -- and none of them finished in 3 years ...

rgarnham -- yes, your concerns about the US echo my own concerns, but for me I think the good outweighs the bad -- and yes, there are many excellent places in North America to study Renaissance literature! Wouldn't be considering going if there weren't ... starmaker -- many thanks for the advice, I will certainly look into these things when I start my applications.

Bukharan -- as a former student of a Scottish university, I fully concur -- my undergraduate education there was first-rate and I feel very lucky for the experience I had. Looking at your signature it looks like you've done well -- congratulations and I hope California treats you well! Owlie, thanks for the welcome! Yes, if only the financial situation were a little better, because I do like the idea of a solely research-based PhD. But I think I would benefit from additional coursework, even though it will probably be pretty stressful. Good luck with your 2012 applications! wreckofthehope -- thanks for your response and offer of help, I may well take you up on that! Congratulations on your success in the application season, I absolutely love Boston and I hope it's great for you! As for where to apply -- I don't have a list worked out yet. There are several academics I'm interested in, scattered about, but something that confuses me is that in the UK, you don't really worry too much about the institution and just pick a supervisor. With the US, I've heard horror stories of people showing up and then their prospective supervisor leaving before their research begins -- it seems a safer bet to go to a strong department. Is this correct? I was really interested in Chicago a while back and then one of the people I wanted to work with left. Sad times! All the places I've looked at have terrifying admissions stats -- getting in seems much tougher than over here. Not sure how to distinguish myself from the masses of applicants..