Gustav

I share a lot of your interests, and here are some of good programs (mostly geared towards literature and media) that I know of: Berkeley Rhetoric Emory CompLit Penn State Philosophy Duke Literature Buffalo Complit Stony Brook Philosophy & Cultural Analysis and Theory USC CompLit Irvine CompLit & Visual Studies Minnesota CSDS Cornell CompLit & Romance Villanova Philosophy Northwestern Comparative Literary Studies Brown MCM NYU Complit Santa Cruz History of Consciousness

I got a rejection recently via online application system. Check your status.

If we are talking about overall ranking, no one will dispute that top 30 with good fit can compete with top 5 on job market. I was just saying that in saying the same thing about top 10 and top 40-80 we overemphasized the importance of "fit".

I really have to disagree with the first point The dilemma between speciality and prestige only exits when it is among schools of comparable calibre. Take the so-called posthumanism for example (which is definitely not a field, as 17th British novel is), it only makes sense when you are comparing Santa Cruz and a slightly better known, but less specialized program like, say, Penn State, or Duke and Columbia. But when it is between Stanta Cruz and Columbia, there is no doubt about which one should go with. Check the placement records of these programs you will see. A person specializing in digital humanities from a Top 5 program where not a single faculty works on this area can still land a tenure track job in Top 10 U. It is because time and other resources and opportunities are often much more important, not to mentions things like connections. After all you learn most of the things from the books not from your advisor.

definitely go with Dartmouth, no doubt about that.

Speaking also as a fellow Chinese applicant to CompLit & East Asian programs, I feel that for English/CompLit PhDs ranking does not make that much difference (so long as they are top 50/70) if you intend to go back to China. The pool is smaller; not a lot of Chinese students are studying those for PhD in top 25 institutions anyway). And finding a job back home perhaps has more to do with your connections etc and then where you got you BA may become relevant. It does make a difference though if you want to find a job in US first. It seems much harder, perhaps impossible, to find a teaching position in a research institution with a PhD from a lower ranked university. It's another story with East Asian focuses I think. The prestige of your degree perhaps matters more if you want to go back to China, because we are supposed to compete with people equally if not better trained in China and abroad. So it really depends.

Thanks, khyleth. Bring it on, Duke.

hey dr_walrus, mine doesn't say anything. so you may have something different. hope it is the good news!

Yeah, life goes on, Walter. Good luck with the rest of your application! hope we all end up where we will live happily ever after (for a few years).

Hi Walter, I just (finally!) got in touch with a grad student in their department, it's confirmed that the interview invites were sent a long time ago and we just didn't know it. Ok, let's just hug and cry...(now knowing that both of my POIs are on sabbatical and thus not even on the committee, I just want to kick myself in the forehead!!).

What happened to you Duke Lit? No letters, no status updates, no results posted... And I emailed three separate personnels with no response whatsoever...

Still nothing? Guys? What took them so long this year....

I just got in UCB's Rhetoric....don't know what to say....shocked..... big congrats also to SubmarineReflection!

More than a few Chinese applicants would visit Wofo temple in Beijing during application season cause Wofo sounds like "offer". It definitely works.

You are right. My wishful thinking led me to ignore the anomalies (sending invites on Feb. is already anomalous)... But, still, finger crossed for all of us still waiting for Dr. Jameson and his friends.

No, nothing... But if history is any indication there must be at least one or two interviews posted by now if they've sent the invites.

Just wondering anyone applying to Duke Lit this round heard anything yet?

Anyone want to claim the Northwestern CompLit reject? Checked website, no info...

PennState has narrowed down to 5 or 6 people. Some, or perhaps all, have been interviewed. The results will come out soon.

Just took a summer course with Prof Lezra from NYU CompLit department. According to him, the department is definitely continental philosophy heavy, and they have more people doing continental philosophy and critical theory than the philosophy department does. He himself is a specialist in post-structuralist theory, political theory, and translation studies. I would suggest that you email him and kindly ask him (who is very approachable) to evaluate your suitability to the program. Other CompLit programs you might want to check out, apart from those mentioned by Poliscar, are Berkeley (Rhetoric), Cornell, Emory, Purdue (esp. the Philosophy and Literature program), Duke, and U Southern California.

got a call from Penn State DGS this morning, I am in! my application season is finally over. no more waiting! many thanks to ghijklmn and Magical Realist for all the info and support. you guys made the waiting so much easier.

Sure! Are we not just exchanging stories after all?

I don't think a paper, a statement, a copy of transcripts, and three rec letters tell the whole story of You. I would certainly like to get in off the waitlist to prove how wrong they were in not accepting me directly. Of course, sometimes lukewarm responses may indicate unhealthy atmosphere, but I think it is another matter.

Just saw this article about the potential effects of sequestration. There are some passages, which I am quoting below, about how it may affect the financial-aid we are supposed to receive if admitted. Since I am not familar with how the American public university system works, I am wondering what you guys think about it. Will it affect those of us who are still waiting to hear about funding at public schools? http://chronicle.com/article/Sequestration-Presents/137617/ The Student-Aid Recipient U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan warned that the reductions would have a significant impact on both the financing and delivery of federal financial aid for college students. Although the Pell Grant program is exempt from cuts for the first year of sequestration, programs like the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant and Federal Work-Study would be cut by millions of dollars, eliminating more than 100,000 students from participation. But most students won't see the effects of cuts to those programs until July 1, when the financial-aid program year begins. Most colleges send out their financial-aid award letters to students in March and April, but many institutions will have to do so with an asterisk or a caveat until they are notified of new allocations of federal funds from the Department of Education, according to Justin Draeger, president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. Once colleges are notified of exactly how much federal money they will receive for the 2013-14 school year, institutions may need to send students revised financial-aid letters, or determine if they can help fill the gap for students out of their own budgets. It is disappointing, Mr. Draeger said, to have such financial battles late in the academic year, because it creates "an air of uncertainty" for students and their families. "We leave them scrambling with too many unknowns at a time when they should be narrowing down how much they'll be paying for college," Mr. Draeger said. Students should keep in close contact with their campus financial-aid offices, he said, to ask if they can expect any reduction in aid.

Thanks a lot! That really clarifies it! So I guess it means the list might be ranked in a narrower sense. That is, if they waitlist more than one applicant in the same area of specialization, they still need to choose one over another, right? Oh well, never mind. We are born to wait.