TripWillis

Yeah, I would not do that. Common wisdom (?) says to send complete works always.

I'm having one of these days again.

Mine aren't due until January, but I'm getting them in sometime this week. I almost applied to Michigan, but I didn't think it was as good a match as some of the other schools I was looking at.

My sentiments exactly.

It's certainly the only thing that (because of my limited educational background) I'm qualified to do besides... *shudder* hospitality.... And I'm not even that qualified to do it. Ugh okay time to stop thinking about waiting tables. I'm never going back! It's like 'Nam! I'm never goin' back, y'see??

I totally admire your chutzpah. I don't know if I would/will have the stomach to go 4 times. One round of rejections is going to wreck my emotions enough as it is.

Thanks! Or CUNY or Amherst for that matter -- Goddamn, our applications are like at war /w each other. What's your specialization?

My habits have changed a lot as of late. Through undergrad, I needed complete silence to study. Then, senior year, I got really into ambient music while I was studying. Over the last year, I started to really like listening to small combo jazz while I studied. Now? Sometimes I will listen to straight up rock music while I read. It's weird. The older I get, the more noise I need to concentrate. That being said, I usually try to get out of the house to study, whether at the library or a cafe, because I need to be away from internet and computer influences. As is evidenced by my regular posting status here, I have a severe problem. I need an intervention. When I'm on the internet, I feel like I'm walking on sunshine! Just let me walk on the sunshine a little longer... Oh, and this: http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/06/this-is-why-ill-never-be-adult.html

It's that thing with the beads on it that you use to count numbermaths. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/Schoty_abacus.jpg/220px-Schoty_abacus.jpg

I understand what you're saying -- I think if one is going to mention faculty, he/she shouldn't do it under the sign of, "Oh, my work is just like yours! I agree with everything you say! Your scholarship is an influence on me!" It should be done entirely in the active voice and with a bent toward the originality of your own work. I've sort of modeled this thinking off of a friend of mine's SoP (she got into Duke and probably mentioned like 12 professors in her SoP). Example: I mentioned in one of my SoPs that I wanted to work with Robert Reid-Pharr, who has done some work on the intersection of queer theory and af-am lit theory. His work isn't a "perfect fit" with mine (I'm much more drawn to the activism angle and I take a more Marxist approach), but it's an interesting analog to it, and I made sure to frame it that way.

Hmm, only way I see this working against you is that some schools will just toss the 4th letter, and you have no way of choosing which one they toss; could be from your thesis advisor.

I only had one December 1st deadline and it is done... well, except my stupid professors haven't sent in their recs yet, even though they've known about this for months now. *sigh*

Tea worked for me.

Calculus and metaphysics? Better you than me...

I don't think it has to be. If you applied to most programs, like I did, initially because of your familiarity with and desire to work with certain of their faculty, it's probably worth mentioning.

I would also mention it in the SoP, because the app has no space to say why or how you want to work with them and on what.

Drop it like it's hot.

Yes, but I'm saying that department issued SoP criteria asked me to highlight advisors I'd like to work with. I mean, it wasn't like a huge part of my SoP -- a few lines at the most -- but I did have it.

Ohhh well that makes sense to me. I think if a school says that, what they're saying is that you should focus on the current conversation about your topic/text, even if you're diverging from it. They want to see that you're aware of the current critical conversation on a given topic. However, I should note that my background texts spanned like three decades (1977, 1990, and 2001; Raymond Williams, Judith Butler, and Martin Meeker, respectively), so hopefully they don't think I'm f-ing crazy. Heck, I just like what I like.

Wait, hold on! I'm not supposed to help you! Competition! Um... the SoP criteria uhhh... it said that you should write about dragons. And then you should make sure you sign it in your own blood and send it in an envelope with some powdered sugar. Also, they said that most people should list their favorite hobbies, who their personal heroes are, and they asked me to answer this question in detail: "If you could meet any person living or dead, who would it be?" I said Jesus, so that's taken. The Dalai Lama is probably still available.

I thought you guys should know that, in my experience, some of the schools I applied to were vague about SoP criteria on their website, leaving it mostly open as to what they wanted. Then, halfway through the app submission process, after I had drafted the SoP 7000 times, a page would come up saying what they were looking for. For the most part, these criteria were very standard and nothing was very surprising. HOWEVER, if some of you have not gone through the online app to see what it looks like, it couldn't hurt to check the SoP upload page and see if your school lays down any particular criteria they don't list on the department website. Also, there had been some debate on this forum as to whether or not you should "name drop," and I must say that more than a few of the applications I sent mentioned that in the SoP they wanted me to highlight potential faculty members to work with. Hope some of this helps.

Yeah, that's more or less how I feel. They're looking at writing style, contextualization of argument, approach, research skills, and then somewhere in the back, content and originality of thought. Length/sources are not really that important, I imagine. So basically the criteria work against my strengths. However, it is very much aligned with my growth as a scholar, my scholarly strengths and knowledge, and my current interests, so in that regard I think I chose well. Quality of writing... not sure. I want to say this is my best scholarly writing, but that's like saying the second Twilight film is my favorite.

Hmm, most of my places were asking for either 10-20 page samples, or 15-25, or 15-20. CUNY Grad Center was a 15 p. max and so I condensed my essay for them. Otherwise it was 19 pages for everyone else.

I'm curious to know, where are you guys getting the inside tip that we should be sending seminar/term style papers with less sources? None of my letter writers or anyone told me anything about that. Huh. I basically sent them something a little shorter than article length.

Good question. Mine may not be a great example because it is an article length paper derived from research I've done for my thesis. It has 7 primary sources (some of which are being used more like background sources), 4 background sources, and 14 secondary sources, for a grand total of 25. I just looked at my writing sample again to answer this and noticed yet ANOTHER f-ing typo that I missed before sending. Unbelievable. I must have edited this like 1000 times. Unbelievable.