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Delarosa, thanks for the info! Much appreciated!

Not at all! That was great, and way more than I would have expected. I had never thought of department atmosphere before regarding fit... That's a good suggestion! I was mostly looking for profs who are doing work in my field, and I was getting frustrated with the whole "fit" idea because I couldn't figure out "fit" beyond that, and I wasn't sure if that's all they wanted. Besides emailing the DGS, do you have any other suggestions on how to determine a program's "atmosphere"? There's definitely not information about that on the websites really. I do, really, appreciate your advice and you definitely didn't come off as aggressive by any means!

I agree. Don't aim for too small a selection. You probably want to apply to 10ish schools from a wide array of tiers. Have a few "reach" schools, a few "maybe" schools and few "safely" (such a loaded word but I don't have a better one at the moment) schools. Your stats look great! I am, of course, not on an adcom but you're looking pretty darn good. You're best bet know if is to decide fit, and go from there. If you're asking for someone to tell that you have a rat's chance of hell in making it to an ivy, I can't say. But I can be an optimist and say that it can't hurt to try. At least you wouldn't be sitting around saying "woulda, coulda, shoulda" all next year. I agree (even though I'm pretty sure I've asked similar questions), but the point of sites like this is for people with similar interests AND anxieties to talk and vent a little. When I read those those stats I also said, "shut the f up dude -- of course you're perfect" but I completely understand the need to talk about it with people. This forum is for when our friends/significant others/family are tired of hearing about it all the time. We need somewhere to go to vent it out, and stop us from going insane. I'm not trying to tell you off or anything, I just think we're all in the same boat and we shouldn't have to be worried about "annoying" other posters.

I'm actually in the exact same boat as you: 156 V and a 148 M. I'm not an international student though. BUT, I am retaking the test this October. I took it in 2009 and 2011 -- in 2011 my score went up 15% (still not great but not awful either). I'm assuming that if I take it again, and study some vocab (my biggest downfall), then my score might go up at least another 10% which will put me in the 80%'s which is, so I've heard, the cut off for a lot of places even if it's not officially published. My advice? Retake it. Besides dishing out the cash, it couldn't hurt. Your score will probably only go up a little. You never know what will keep you out of a school especially when it comes to GRE's because different adcoms are interested in different things and everyone has their own GRE horror/victory story. Of course, I'm only talking about myself, and don't want to imply that I, by any means, know what I'm talking about. Good luck!

In reference to the issue of "fit" above for English majors vs. people in the sciences, right now the "Art" forum boards right upon the Humanities boards here at Grad Cafe has the most recent topic as "Schools with Neon Bending Equipment." See what I'm saying?! I don't think I need neon bending equipment to study gender binaries... or at least I hope not.

I started another tread about SOP's the other day, and I realized very quickly that I really wanted to do was COMPLAIN about SOP's. So here's our place. A lot of us are writing these right now, and a lot of us are probably completely pissed off about it in some way or another. I think it might be downright therapeutic to vent a little bit. I'll start: The issue of "fit." Like, how the hell am I supposed to prove to you that I want to work at your university? Then especially when it comes to the ivies because obviously I want to go to Yale because it's awesome. But if you skim through the profs at the ivies, they all have the same experts in everything. So which one do I pick? I've found prof at Brown who studies what I do, but she's the only one so far. I could apply with "fit" instantly but then my GRE's suck and I'm not from a good school so will they even "seriously" consider me? Am I wasting my f-ing time here? Then will this professor even respond to the emails I haven't sent out yet? What if they don't? What if they respond saying they're not taking students, and I have to start all over? I know this is part of the process and research of finding a good school for yourself, but I mean seriously why is it so hard to just find a school? Why can't profs just have their info on their websites? Why do I have to search high and low to find one obscure article they wrote that they don't even care about anymore just so I have something to say to them to mention in my SOP? Why doesn't every English PhD department have a print out of their profs explaining their interests, whether or not they're going on sabbatical (why did I have to google "sabbatical" to learn how to spell it? What kind of English major am I?) this year, what their current research is on, what students they're already working with so we contact them, etc. etc. How awesome would that be? End rant. Thank you for listening.

I didn't apply last year but I would be very interested in participating in such a group. My SOP is still in the "embarrassing" phase so it's not ready to be read even my anonymous strangers, but in a few weeks or a month I'll have something to share. Let's keep this thread going! I think this could be an excellent place for a lot of us to seek help from others.

Excellent advice! (not sarcastic) I had a moment the other day where I was working on my SOP, and I typed, "I want to go to graduate school because...." Then I stared up from my computer, and thought: "I don't even know who I am anymore." Makes me laugh in retrospect. I'm going to start a new thread called: "Complaints of the SOP" or something catchier because I realize that's what I should have done with this one hindsight being 20/20.

I think "captivating" is a good word for this discussion, Stately Plump. I find the idea of the SOP interesting particularly regarding English Majors and the like because we are "writers," essentially, so we have to step it up a notch. Like, what we do is write, so our SOP is almost an audition piece unlike a physics major whose work would be tested in the lab -- our work is tested right there in the application. I've read multiple examples at this point, and some people write their SOP very stylized and "captivating" and some write them very straight forward, almost like a business proposal. Both probably get accepted. So then what's the point of writing about this? Nothing -- I just find it interesting that in the Humanities we are judged by our writing all the time which can be very subjective. Especially considering the nature of our field: If you were a physics major who wanted to study something advanced and physical like and you needed certain equipment, you would apply to the school that had said equipment. There's your fit. BUT as an English and/or Humanities major, we can work anywhere. You can read anywhere, and especially now that collections and archives are being digitized, we can research anywhere. So how we defend where we want to go? How do we act like what we read is different than what other people read? How do I make myself stick out? How do I say "Pick me because I really want to do this!" louder than someone else? Do I attempt to be "captivating"? Do I attempt to be simple and straight forward? Ah, the existential crisis of PhD applications. I'm not asking for an answer of any sort or advice. I'm just wondering if anyone else has the same concerns.

I know nothing about this program, but I'm also very interested in applying. I currently have a MA in English Literature, but am interested in breaking out into other fields. That being said, I can't find anything either. I thought maybe we could both be disappointed in the lack of information together.

Here's a question: When applying for an advanced degree in English Literature, how "well-written" does our SOP have to be? I'm only asking this as a theoretical idea, and I'm not really asking for advice. Rather, I'm asking what do you guys think? Do you think that our writing is expected to be "above" what a physics major could write? Or does it not matter one bit as long as it's tight and does the job? Or a better way of putting it would be to ask should it be written as a piece of technical writing or can it be a tad poetic at times? Just curious to see what people think. I'm trying to figure out what kind of voice I want to use. I've outlined what I want to say, but now I have to make it sound good. Not sure if I want to go with "well-written" from a creative sense or just straight forward to get what I want to say across with no worries of how "good" the writing sounds. Think computer manual -- not literature but can tell you a lot.

Definitely -- I wouldn't bet the family farm on it by any means. I did't mean to imply that one should take this information and run with it. I had just come across the idea while doing application research.

I'm in this exact same boat. I come from a university that NO ONE has heard of. The MA program I come from isn't even ranked nor is it known anywhere. I wrote about all the advantages of sticking it out in a smaller school, but I'm very worried about my chances come this fall, and I think a lot of it has to do with the program I come from. I've only had one professor actually admit this to me -- most are very supportive and optimistic (which I appreciate), but I know they worry about my chances as well. The professor who admitted that rank is an issue made a point that adcoms at ivies and the like might see this as a disadvantage because we might not be able to handle the level of work required. Most students who are at these schools were breed for it, and have been going at it for a long time. I have not. And I worry that adcoms might worry about my ability to keep up. All that being said, you never know till you try which is why I will try. BUT, there's that nagging voice in the back of my mind reminding me that I come from a small public liberal arts school in the middle of no where, and Cornell is going to toss me aside instantly. HOWEVER, I've also read and had profs tell me that ivies and such schools do have to admit students from lesser-known schools due to "affirmative action." It makes them look like they take in kids who weren't "born" into the school, so they'll typically admit one every year or so. SO, by a real shot in hell, we might be that one who gets in BECAUSE we're from a smaller school. You never know -- it could work to your advantage.

1. Someone working in your field/interest/author/theory/etc. Yes, you can directly contact professors. You can always call the department secretary for information. Going above their head and contacting Deans and Chairs will usually get you no response. They're typically too busy and delete emails from "unknown" names a lot (heard this from the secretary of my English Dept.). 2. It mostly varies by school. As far as general funding goes that isn't school-dependent, I have no idea. Not qualified to answer this question really. 3. Absolutely. The worst they will say is "No," and it's part of the process that profs help you with applications. Their profs helped them, and they typically don't have a problem helping someone out by proof reading a writing sample or SOP. Of course, this depends on the prof as soon will be awesome and some will be jerks. You can always ask profs for advice. I don't think it's ever considered "inappropriate" to ask a prof for advice/proofreading help. Well, maybe calling them at 2am to look at your SOP one more time might be considered rude. And you don't sound ignorant! Grad school and grad school apps are very stressful. We all have questions or else we wouldn't be contributing to this site.

Since thinking about a question posted a forum is more appealing to me than working on my applications, let me rephrase this one further: Ignore everything I wrote about. I realize in reflection that I was asking someone to find a fit for me whereas if you're not me you would have no idea what I want to hear. So rather than asking what does their program offer, let me ask does anyone have any experience with Brown's application process and/or program? Is anyone else seriously considering their program? If so, why? Let's rap about it.

HAHA Thank you -- I'm glad to be here!

Haha sorry about that! I more was trying to catch someone who would say, "Oh, I visited Brown. They do blahblahblah." Or, "I go there and/or went there and they have an excellent collection of X." Something like that. OH here's a better way to put it: I've found a professor at Brown who works with what I work with theoretically, and I've been hard pressed to find anyone else as specific. But then I was looking around their website, and I can't find anything else specific about the program. Figuring as how it's an Ivy, I assume the faculty is top notch, but besides that I haven't found anything. For example, at schools like Santa Barbara and Buffalo they have interdisciplinary programs studying digital humanities or Maryland has the center for digital humanities. Even schools who are a little more fleeting about their programs like UVA have links to groups, projects, and library collections that could peek one's interest and help them figure out "fit." But at Brown, I'd been searching for about an hour and couldn't find out anything -- not even student study groups or anything. (I don't even study digital humanities I've just found that information while doing research.) So that's what the question is asking, and I already assumed that unless someone had first hand experience with their program they wouldn't be able to say anything. More of a fishing trip than anything else

What do you guys know about Brown's English Phd? Good program? Good profs? What makes them "unique"? Their website is fleeting at best. Thanks!

Thank you all for your advice! I very much appreciate it! I did an overall google search on this topic and I found a blog post (stupid I didn't mark it or else I would post it here -- sorry for that lack of foresight!) stating that if you don't have anything substantial to say to a POI in an email you shouldn't send it or waste their time. By "substantial," the poster meant you've read their work or worked specifically with it. Example: "(blahblahblahpoliteintro). I used your work, "Awesome book/article," substanitally in my MA thesis. I was very interested in your concepts/ideas/questions/etc. regarding X. Are you still working in this field? BLAHBLAHBLAH." Short of that (and lets be honest that that was a pretty hastily written example by me), you shouldn't bother. Here's an idea: 10 years ago you couldn't "google" profs or look them up in JSTOR, so you had to call them/ sent them a letter/ contact the secretary/ show up and beg in order to get information about them and/or their department. But now we can look it all up online so I wonder (and this is pure speculation) if the days of contacting POI's short of having something very specific to ask them is considered old-school and unnecessary? Like, "why didn't you just look up my CV? It's posted online." Repeat: PURE speculation. It's probably still a better idea than not to contact POI's, just in case. An email never hurt anyone... Except for us who sit here and wonder why we haven't gotten a response. I think listing POI's in the SOP is important to show that you have done your homework, and that there are profs there who work in areas you find interesting. For example, I work with James Joyce so why would I apply to a school without a Joycean? If I list a Joycean or two in my SOP that seem interesting, it demonstrates that I have at least looked at their faculty and found someone who reads what I want to read. Why am I repeating what has already been said much better, I might add, above this response? Because I'm putting off writing my SOP at this very moment. Thank you again for your all your help!

I've considered myself to be a "big fish in a small pond" through my MA study. Whereas I wished I had aimed higher and attempted higher ranked/more prestigious universities, I can say that going to a smaller, less impressive school has allowed me to pretty much do whatever I want (directed studies, etc.), get funding whenever I need it (been to Rome twice for conferences and headed to London in a month), get great letters of recommendation because my profs know me really well because, well, there aren't that many students, and in general I feel as though I've grown more because I was able to "stick out" than I would have at a big university. Now I'm applying for PhD's this fall, and I hope that this has made my application stronger. BUT, and it's a big BUT, going to a less-than impressive small liberal arts school in the middle-of-no-where American South could really hurt me because I may have had it "too" easy or no one knows where the hell I'm from so they don't know what level of work I can accomplish. And, it has to be stated, that I feel under prepared for upper level work. If I were by some random act of god able to get into Cornell, would I be able to handle the course work? The students? The teaching? The expectations? Okay, so now I'm ranting about myself, and for that I'm sorry. Long story short, I would go. It can't hurt, and you'll be able to grow independently as a scholar while there and hopefully future adcoms will see that.

So, I'm aware that there are numerous posts out there about this topic because I've read them, but I thought it might be beneficial for us 2013 applicants to have the short and easy answer to the following: 2012 or before applicants: Did you name drop POI's in your SOP? If you did, did you contact them first? If you didn't, do you think this effected your SOP in anyway for the better or for the worst? Oh, and of course any advice in general regarding this topic from personal experience would be much appreciated. Thank you!

The two languages they always suggest for literature are German and French unless you're going old school in which some schools suggest Greek, Latin, and/or Old English. From what I was told, when they say that a language is selected because it helps your "studies" as a student it's more redtape bullshit than it is actually studying a language that will help you in your field. Like I study Irish literature so I'd need to know English..? So I studied French and no one said anything about it. Also, if you minor in a language -- no matter what that language is -- some schools will automatically give you language credit for it no matter what language it is.

I completely agree with this entire thread. For some reason, I'm also terrible at the "reading comprehension" that the GRE requires. I have a freakin' MA in English Literature, and yet I can't get anywhere where I need to be in Verbal. It's EXTREMELY frustrating. I don't understand why for English we would have to even take the Verbal section because, obviously, we know how to read. What they're asking for is a general reading comprehension that doesn't even apply to our major. If it did, we would be excellent at it. If I needed to think like that, then there wouldn't even be a contest on how good every English major would do in this section. And I agree that it's extremely frustrating how adcoms weigh the GRE. Many sites say nothing besides take the test, and most say "We do not have a lowest score for the GRE" which means you better do pretty freakin' well or else your not even being considered. We want you to do so well, we're not even going to tell you about it. And then you hear stories of people who get into Harvard without breaking 1000 (on the old test -- I have yet to figure out what's a good score on the new test), and then hear about people who get rejected from safety schools because their scores weren't high enough. EK why are PhD apps the worst thing ever?? It does feel good to rant about this though! I'm also glad to hear that other people have the same frustrations with the test. It's just very disheartening to think that even though I may have a great app outside of the GRE there is a chance that I'll be cut because of a score that doesn't prove anything. Le sigh.

This author obviously doesn't know anything about graduate school, the admissions process, or the people who want to go to grad school. She's assuming that the only reason we would ever want to be in academia is because we don't want "real" jobs. I can't count the number of times on here that people have stated they think about dropping the whole academic thing for the LESS stressful world of "real" jobs. Academia is a real job because we're pursuing teaching positions -- getting your MA or PhD is just another step along the way to the final outcome of professorship. Of course there are those who want to forgo the "real" world a few more years, but this isn't the majority of the people I see posting on here. And of course we're anxious -- we're freaking academics! Look at who you're talking about -- the job attracts the person, and I am personally not ashamed to state that I am an anxious academic and stating that I'm only anxious because I want to feel validated is a huge misunderstanding because I'm anxious for varying reasons. Perhaps I should have my therapist call her. Secondly, this author obviously knows nothing about the use of FORUMS which have been around since, oh I don't know, the beginning of the internet. Forums are a place for people with similar interests to come together and discuss issues that are prevalent to those people. You can't just target a forum on graduate school and act like this the only place where there's misinformation. Has she never heard of the internet and what people use it for? Also, I'm pretty sure that all of us know to take the information here with a grain of salt. None of us are experts -- we're just expressing our own experiences with information we may have heard. I don't take anything on this site as "fact" -- rather, this site is used for people to discuss things that are important to our line of work. Would you equally criticize a forum for new mothers for giving incorrect information about infant care? No, because we all realize that it's just people talking -- not experts. In fact, the audacity of someone to say that an online forum is used only to promote anxieties and dish out inaccurate information is ridiculous. It's just a forum -- it doesn't even really warrant an article written about it. There are quite literally thousands if not millions of forums on the web where people come together to discuss issues that they are interested in. We're no different than any other forum about child care, baseball, or cars. Why damn the grad cafe of all online forums? This article seems as though it were written to be offensive and cause us to all freak out. I realize I just proved this by ranting as I have just now, but all the specific info about this forum aside, it appears as though this author knows little to nothing about how online communities work. This is a strangely self-indulgent article. I'm not entirely sure what the point of even writing it was from her point of view. Slow news week? (now that was catty -- sorry)

I'm not planning at this moment to attend (maybe if I can find the money), but I do believe you still need to register even if you just plan on attending. I asked a prof this a couple weeks ago about a conference at a college near me, and she said it varies from conference to conference. If it's a small one and more casual, then you probably can just walk right in and no one will know the difference or care. However, at larger more "official" conferences (AKA MLA) you might be expected to cough up some bucks if you plan to attend. I think the best thing would be to email them and ask because it does vary depending on the conference.