pinkrobot

Absolutely. I have a pug (brachycephalic breed = not the best-suited animal for flying; I hear others have flown pugs successfully, but I'm too scared) and two rescue cats (major-league abandonment issues = not the best-suited animals for flying). So my partner and I are going to be shipping the vast majority of our stuff and driving in a one-way rental (for eighteen hours). Oh the things we'll do for the fuzzy ones ...

I really wouldn't do this. I'll be just starting grad school in English this fall, like you, so I don't really know much about anything--but I do know that every time I've spoken to a English professor or grad student, it turns out they know someone else that I've met or studied with in the past, which addresses cyberwulf's point about the size of the field. With the odds of getting an academic job in English being so dazzlingly tiny, I have to assume that starting off on the wrong foot with anyone (and, certainly, starting off on the wrong foot with an entire department) is something to be avoided if at all possible. (ETA: isn't the form that we have to fill out to accept or decline an offer a binding kind of thing? That would make it double-trouble if you decline, right? Not only would it be post-April 15th, when other candidates who may have been waitlisted for your spot would likely have taken other offers and thus be unavailable, but it would also be going back on a binding agreement?)

I'm not in your discipline, so take this for whatever it's worth (which may well be nothing at all): The saying goes that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. However, in this particular situation, the saying needs a few edits: a bird in the hand is most certainly worth more than a fleeting future chance at one hypothetical bird.

Hi all, I'm happy to chime in on study methods for the literature GRE over PMs, too. I've taken the test twice and on the more recent test did score in the 90%+ range. Please feel free to message. Regarding its importance: this is pure conjecture on my part, so please note that I have no definite sense of what I am talking about, but I feel like this test is more of a cause for concern for those who either do not come from an English BA background or have some substantial gaps in terms of time periods or genres in their coursework. I fall into the latter category. One of my mentors did also tell me that it was well worth it to put a sizable amount of effort toward doing the best I absolutely possibly could, although I doubt that she would have instructed me to prioritize it over writing (in fact, she said at the very beginning of the process that the writing sample would be the kicker).

I am "traditionally" aged, so please take this with the huge grain of salt that is my inexperience in your particular situation. But, to add a different perspective, ... I've applied twice. The first time, I waited rather than applied straight out of undergrad for the exact reasons you describe: I wanted my senior spring grades represented, and I wanted to pursue additional coursework and have the chance to put more time into the exams and the written parts of the application. Then, after my first round, my intent was to reapply that fall itself, but I again took extra time. (In part my decision to take more time before my second round had more to do with personal rather than academic circumstances, but it turned out to be an academic boon to boot.) While I'm not sure if the benefits I gained from waiting in either scenario made any particular difference in the evaluation of my materials, I do know that in both cases the wait made a world of difference in what I put forth. For example, I have no way of knowing whether the literature GRE score I submitted this season was a significant factor anywhere, but I do know that my literature GRE score was higher because of the additional time than it would have been without it. On that note, I think that there's so much about this process that is impossible to understand from our vantage point that it is a great comfort to be able to feel as good as possible about what you submit. So, although the quantitative difference between your GPA now and what your GPA will be later may be minimal, I wonder if it wouldn't be worth it to wait anyway, just so you're not wondering "what if..."? The "what if"s can be deadly hard to sit with, especially in a situation where you may never have a concrete sense of whether or not they are strictly warranted. If it were me, I'd wait. And I feel like if you went for your MA after spending 11 years out of school, it does not to me seem likely that you will lose your desire to apply by waiting 1 year with an MA in hand, but obviously this is the most "YMMV" part of this entire post of mine, which is entirely a "YMMV" post!

congratulations, lolopixie! I didn't apply to LSU, but I have to admit that I've been stalking this topic in the hopes that I'd see you'd gotten good news. Crossing my fingers for you!

Last night I had trouble sleeping, and, according to my partner, at one point in the wee hours I sat up straight in bed and yelled, "And how are we going to move???" None of the programs I'm considering would be quite as epic as Timshel's 2500 miles (good luck!!) or (edited to add) athousandlemmings' 3151 miles (major league good luck!!), but yes, feeling y'all on this. Of course, this is not even the least of my problems, because I'm freakishly attached to all three programs I'm considering and generally have no idea what to do and am completely overwhelmed by a good fortune I neither expected nor remotely planned for. (How many pro/con lists can one sane person possibly make before she is no longer considered a sane person?) And on that rambling note ...

Re: the first two lines--yes, but there is also a difference between trying to "latch onto something in an SOP" and genuinely trying to learn more about the people who you are asking to learn more about you. I would have had a hard time trying to expect these professors on the admissions committees to genuinely care about the work I submitted had I not genuinely cared about THEIR work--particularly since the entire motivation for submitting these applications is, inevitably, to learn from these individuals (which is exactly what the process of reading their work engenders). I did not feel this was sycophantic; rather, much like I wouldn't dream of writing a paper on a subject without reading as much of the relevant texts as possible, I couldn't dream of writing a statement of purpose--in effect, a mini-paper with a thesis statement of "For reasons X, Y, and Z, I would like to attend your program"--without reading as much of the relevant texts as possible. Re: the last sentence--I didn't look at it as chasing ghosts, but rather as chasing possibilities. Chime.

thanks so much! I'm late 19th and 20th century American.

Hi all, I was accepted by phone today, and I'm completely freaking out. Best of luck to all!!!

bubbly for everyone! Well, I am not loaded, so by "everyone," I mean my partner, my mom, and my two besties. but that doesn't roll off the tongue quite as well as ... bubbly for everyone!

For whatever it's worth, here are my two cents on the two questions of WS/SOP fit and undergrad "prestige." I'm a gratefully successful applicant this time, but I had a previous application round which was a disaster. In my previous round, I received several rejections and a waitlist (which turned into an acceptance that I was unable to accept due to a big change in my personal circumstances). I come from a pretty well known undergrad (no MA). In my first round of applications, my statement of purpose had far less purpose than it should have, my writing sample didn't fit with that statement, and I was vacillating between massive egotism due to my strong performance at the aforementioned undergrad and, weirdly, a simultaneous and thorough lack of genuine confidence. (Please know that I am not implying that any of you have any of those issues--just painting a picture of my own dysfunction during round one!) So, I don't pretend to know enough to be able to say whether or not a "prestigious" undergrad can really help, but, from experience, I can assure you that it does not make up for any serious deficiencies. If you worry that a fancypants BA can help someone slide by even if they underperform in their application materials, I honestly believe that is not the case. While I imagine these other side effects of "prestige" are helpful, in my view it may not be a death knell if you do not have them and it certainly is not a saving grace if you do have them. Similarly, I don't know enough to be able to say whether or not WS/SOP fit can make or break an application, but I can say that my second round involved a pretty dead-on cohesion between my WS and my SOP. In large part, however, I think that the real heart of the benefit of this cohesion was the circular process it engendered: writing a paper that fit with my statement helped me define those interests more and more, which would then help me revise my statement again to be even more focused, which in turn helped me return to my writing sample to tighten it, which sent me back to my statement . . . etc., etc.! By the way, although I'm really happy with how things have turned out in this round, I should mention that I'm sitting on a huge pile of rejections, too, and have absolutely no concrete idea about how all of this works!

hugs to all of you!!

Hi troutbum, no worries--about the online portal, I didn't check at the time, but I just logged in and my status still says "As of December 24, 2011, the Graduate School has received your application and fee payment. If you have any questions regarding the completeness or status of your application, please click here to contact the graduate program to which you have applied." So I'm thinking the portal probably doesn't update. As for the other questions, I'm happy to chat over PMs, if that's okay with you? I'll message you now.

I maybe should have mentioned it before, but I'm kinda weird about talking about myself: I don't know anything about the stage of the rest of the process thus far, but I really, really doubt that they're done notifying--I received a University Graduate Fellowship, which I think probably has something to do with the early notification. (I was so freaked out when I saw the call: I remember telling one of my coworkers that I'm pretty sure they called to tell me that my application made them laugh like they haven't laughed since they went to see an improv group in college or something. To say I was shocked and honored would be, to quote another user's username, a spastic litote.)

Hi y'all, I was the early post. Yeah, it's for the MA--if you're applying without an MA, at Penn State you apply to the MA and then, as I've since learned, there's a process to apply internally to the PhD program partway through your second year.

I know Clueless was mentioned, but I actually also really like the BBC's Emma with Romola Garai.

I'm from the Northeast. I arrived to my first day of the Emory interviews in no less than the following: wool blazer, scarf, cardigan, collared shirt, tank top. (And pants, obviously, but those were unoffending.) I figured I would be fine--I mean, here where I live, it's been minus a gazillion degrees for a long time, so I figured, "Yes! I have made a concession to warm weather! See: no overcoat!" I was melting through the entire first day, which also happened to involve four interviews. I cannot count the number of times I went to the ladies' to dry off and stuff yet another layer of clothing into my purse. Amusingly, I also didn't take the "wear comfortable shoes" thing anywhere near seriously enough, and by the end of the day had developed a stride that much resembled a lame pigeon's. All the while, I was falling madly in love with the place, and wondering over and over how an individual could possibly have gotten to her mid-twenties with absolutely no social graces or ability to dress herself in a weather-appropriate manner. When I received the call that I've been accepted, I was so shocked that I could basically only stammer "Thank you." Over and over and over again. All this is to say: it may feel terrible, but it probably went much better than that. I promise. And I do think I'd've been worse at Skype interviews than in person (where am I supposed to put my eyes and my face??), but at least keep this in mind: you escape the possibility of having to disrobe multiple times in a department bathroom.

Oh my god, congrats!!! When I saw that post on the results page, I was crossing my fingers that it was someone here...I didn't apply to Kansas, but it seems that all who did had a rough go of it, and I've been really pulling for you all (albeit silently and lurker-style). Again, congrats!

Hi JoJo55, I'm PMing you. And to all: best of luck, sincerely! I can honestly not think of a single person, not on this board in general or at the Emory interviews in particular, who I am not rooting for.

Yup, received mine, too. Bummer, but at least the notification was swift, you know?

The Emory post was me, and thank you! I'm totally elated! Although best of the bunch I highly, highly doubt--everyone I met at the interviews (yes, I was there) was incredibly impressive. Please feel free to PM me: I would love to stay in touch.

Vordhosbntwin and takethiswaltz, congrats! I just came back from the Emory interviews. One thing that I'd say is: you should certainly prepare to speak about yourself! I imagine that sounds super obvious, but it took me by surprise: having been out of an academic environment for a while, it has been a few years since people in my daily life have asked me detailed, pressing questions about my projects and papers. (Since I graduated in 2008, the vast majority of my academic correspondence has been over email, where one has the chance to sit back, do a little more background reading, and formulate a response; conversation is different, and I was surprised by how out-of-practice I felt!) I prepared much too much for potential questions about the work of the professors I was interviewing with and prepared too little for being asked to speak about myself, my past/current work, and my goals. In retrospect, I would advise preparing as if you were presenting at a conference and were faced with the possibility of a panel Q&A. Read your writing sample and statement of purpose, consider any possible questions that you can think of, and research possible answers. Definitely don't neglect to reread or read the work of the professors you will interviewed with (I didn't get any questions from them about their work, but it did give me more confidence to have thoroughly done that background reading), but make your own documents your priority. Although, as always, YMMV. Finally, since you mentioned that Duke's interview consists of an on-campus visit, remember throughout the entire thing that it gets better. I felt woefully underprepared for my first interview, but I think I got my sea legs by my second. As you go through the visit, make sure you remember the "lather, rinse" part of "lather, rinse, repeat": no matter how you think the first one went, remember that the next one is a brand-new experience. Had I not mentally refreshed after the first, I fear I would have been a puddle at the second! (Edited for typos.)

Well, I dunno if this part applies, because English (which hedgerows was accepted to) doesn't do interviews (Literature's the one that does)--I think? (On edit: yeah, other people have said this too. Phew.) But in any case, hedgerows, huge congratulations! And, bdon19, I'm right there with you with the panic . . . I'm not an 18th-centuryist, but I applied too, and I'm treating my "Get Mail" button quite badly right now!

Yes; it was me. I'm shocked, humbled, and thrilled. I applied to approximately twenty programs because I know the odds are low and the competition is stiff, and was in fact already planning another round of applications (in part to keep my mind off of the impending dread!). I did make one error in the post, though; I applied for the MA with the intent to continue to the PhD, not the PhD (I don't have an MA, which is required to apply direct-to-PhD at Penn State). I was going to post a follow-up and correct this, but didn't want to clutter the board.