TryingAgain

This post is in response to the person who was asking about UCI on the results page. So, I did make some major changes in my application from last year to this year, and I am having some great results - I have been accepted into three schools with full funding (rejected from 5). Two of the schools that accepted me this year rejected me last year - there is hope for all of you who are going to try again!

So here is my background - my undergraduate degree is in journalism from a Cal State and my GPA from back then is terrible. My masters is in English from a small liberal arts college and my GPA from there is fine (3.91). When I was applying last year, I had finished my masters but was still taking language classes - I was in my second year of Spanish and my first year of French. My focus is Latin American literature and politics as well as West African lit. The first thing I did was contact my top choice schools and ask them if they could give me any advice on how to improve my application. Two of them responded - one saying she couldn't speak to my application specifically but giving me some general advice. The other was very specific, listing items from the committee notes about my application. The first major concern was, not surprisingly, my language level. Next, there was concern that my undergraduate GPA was so low. Lastly, she said my SOP and my writing sample didn't reflect a strong enough theoretical focus for their particular program. So, I went back to school full time to get a second BA in Spanish, which I will finish at the end of this year. I also will finish up second-year French this year. My second BA GPA is MUCH higher (although not perfect by any means - language classes are hard!). I can read and write fluently in Spanish now, which, as I should have realized during my first application season, is pretty important. In addition to the language stuff, I spent the summer researching for a new writing sample. I contacted a professor in the history department who I thought might be interested in my topic and took a class with him in the fall. He was extremely helpful in guiding me through writing a new paper. Also, after writing that paper, I was able to articulate more clearly in my SOP what my interests are and what I would like to focus on as a Ph.D student.

Also, I applied very widely this year. One thing I didn't do that I should have, if only to save money by narrowing down my application pool, is contact professors whom I wanted to work with. If the professor responded that he/she isn't taking new students in my area, I could have eliminated some of the schools I applied to right off the bat. In my SOP, I always mentioned a professor I wanted to work with, and often tried to mention two or three. I tried to be specific about that professor's work and why I find it interesting according to my own areas of focus. I think that was a good method because out of my three acceptances, I was notified for two of them directly from the person I mentioned in my SOP. My partner, who is applying to English programs, has three acceptances as well, and was also notified by his PO for two of them. Of course, the rejects could be due to my Person of Interest being not-so-interested in me! That's why I should have contacted them ahead of time.

Anyway, sorry to have given you my whole life story. Apparently I like to hear myself talk (or type). I hope this is helpful to you in some way, and GOOD LUCK next year!!!

This post is in response to the person who was asking about UCI on the results page. So, I did make some major changes in my application from last year to this year, and I am having some great results - I have been accepted into three schools with full funding (rejected from 5). Two of the schools that accepted me this year rejected me last year - there is hope for all of you who are going to try again!

So here is my background - my undergraduate degree is in journalism from a Cal State and my GPA from back then is terrible. My masters is in English from a small liberal arts college and my GPA from there is fine (3.91). When I was applying last year, I had finished my masters but was still taking language classes - I was in my second year of Spanish and my first year of French. My focus is Latin American literature and politics as well as West African lit. The first thing I did was contact my top choice schools and ask them if they could give me any advice on how to improve my application. Two of them responded - one saying she couldn't speak to my application specifically but giving me some general advice. The other was very specific, listing items from the committee notes about my application. The first major concern was, not surprisingly, my language level. Next, there was concern that my undergraduate GPA was so low. Lastly, she said my SOP and my writing sample didn't reflect a strong enough theoretical focus for their particular program. So, I went back to school full time to get a second BA in Spanish, which I will finish at the end of this year. I also will finish up second-year French this year. My second BA GPA is MUCH higher (although not perfect by any means - language classes are hard!). I can read and write fluently in Spanish now, which, as I should have realized during my first application season, is pretty important. In addition to the language stuff, I spent the summer researching for a new writing sample. I contacted a professor in the history department who I thought might be interested in my topic and took a class with him in the fall. He was extremely helpful in guiding me through writing a new paper. Also, after writing that paper, I was able to articulate more clearly in my SOP what my interests are and what I would like to focus on as a Ph.D student.

Also, I applied very widely this year. One thing I didn't do that I should have, if only to save money by narrowing down my application pool, is contact professors whom I wanted to work with. If the professor responded that he/she isn't taking new students in my area, I could have eliminated some of the schools I applied to right off the bat. In my SOP, I always mentioned a professor I wanted to work with, and often tried to mention two or three. I tried to be specific about that professor's work and why I find it interesting according to my own areas of focus. I think that was a good method because out of my three acceptances, I was notified for two of them directly from the person I mentioned in my SOP. My partner, who is applying to English programs, has three acceptances as well, and was also notified by his PO for two of them. Of course, the rejects could be due to my Person of Interest being not-so-interested in me! That's why I should have contacted them ahead of time.

Anyway, sorry to have given you my whole life story. Apparently I like to hear myself talk (or type). I hope this is helpful to you in some way, and GOOD LUCK next year!!!

This post is in response to the person who was asking about UCI on the results page. So, I did make some major changes in my application from last year to this year, and I am having some great results - I have been accepted into three schools with full funding (rejected from 5). Two of the schools that accepted me this year rejected me last year - there is hope for all of you who are going to try again!

So here is my background - my undergraduate degree is in journalism from a Cal State and my GPA from back then is terrible. My masters is in English from a small liberal arts college and my GPA from there is fine (3.91). When I was applying last year, I had finished my masters but was still taking language classes - I was in my second year of Spanish and my first year of French. My focus is Latin American literature and politics as well as West African lit. The first thing I did was contact my top choice schools and ask them if they could give me any advice on how to improve my application. Two of them responded - one saying she couldn't speak to my application specifically but giving me some general advice. The other was very specific, listing items from the committee notes about my application. The first major concern was, not surprisingly, my language level. Next, there was concern that my undergraduate GPA was so low. Lastly, she said my SOP and my writing sample didn't reflect a strong enough theoretical focus for their particular program. So, I went back to school full time to get a second BA in Spanish, which I will finish at the end of this year. I also will finish up second-year French this year. My second BA GPA is MUCH higher (although not perfect by any means - language classes are hard!). I can read and write fluently in Spanish now, which, as I should have realized during my first application season, is pretty important. In addition to the language stuff, I spent the summer researching for a new writing sample. I contacted a professor in the history department who I thought might be interested in my topic and took a class with him in the fall. He was extremely helpful in guiding me through writing a new paper. Also, after writing that paper, I was able to articulate more clearly in my SOP what my interests are and what I would like to focus on as a Ph.D student.

Also, I applied very widely this year. One thing I didn't do that I should have, if only to save money by narrowing down my application pool, is contact professors whom I wanted to work with. If the professor responded that he/she isn't taking new students in my area, I could have eliminated some of the schools I applied to right off the bat. In my SOP, I always mentioned a professor I wanted to work with, and often tried to mention two or three. I tried to be specific about that professor's work and why I find it interesting according to my own areas of focus. I think that was a good method because out of my three acceptances, I was notified for two of them directly from the person I mentioned in my SOP. My partner, who is applying to English programs, has three acceptances as well, and was also notified by his PO for two of them. Of course, the rejects could be due to my Person of Interest being not-so-interested in me! That's why I should have contacted them ahead of time.

Anyway, sorry to have given you my whole life story. Apparently I like to hear myself talk (or type). I hope this is helpful to you in some way, and GOOD LUCK next year!!!

Right there with you guys on all fronts...just trying to push the envelope on my own scholarship.

In my case, the stakes are different - no less high, but different. I already hold the MA, and I already teach EXACTLY what I want to teach, the way I want to teach it - I'm amazingly lucky in that respect. I also publish...but not as much as I would like to publish. I also present at conferences - but not as often as I would like to present at conferences. In my case, I don't HAVE to have the PhD, I WANT it, because it provides the credentials to back up what I already know - that I am a really good scholar with a lot to offer the field. I know this, and those who have worked with me know this. The PhD just informs everybody else who may remain skeptical. Does that make sense?

I'm a medievalist - nobody can take that from me. But access to libraries and recent scholarship via online journals - I can't get that outside of the academic setting. My primary goal is not really the coursework - I'm at a point where if I want to know something, I can find it out, I want to keep learning and growing, I study independently and have my own research goals and agenda, and aside from language acquisition I'm flying solo there without problems. But the exposure to different modes of thought, different writing styles and research methodologies, to other areas of study in my subject field, and to the most recent publications and presentations - the only way I can keep that is by pursuing the doctorate.

And so....I'm sitting on my hands trying to avoid chewing my nails, just like everyone else...and like most other English applicants, I'm not hearing anyyyyyyythingggggggg yet! ACK. lol

My stats: 4.0 cumulative, 700V/abysmal math, 710 subject,

Um, okay

multiple TA positions,

irrelevant--no one cares about your ability to "TA," especially not as an undergrad

multiple poetry publications,

For PhD in English programs, no one cares

three articles under review for publication,

But not accepted? Ouch.

and I won every writing award at my undergraduate university.

No one will look closely at your CV to even know.

I've also already presented at a conference,

Whoopee. So has everyone else.

where my paper was selected as Best Critical Paper out of two dozen universities presenting.

Oh, was this an undergrad conference? Then it didn't matter.

I'm fluent in French and speak passable Hellenic.

???

Yet, I am still unsure that I'll be accepted anywhere. Looking at the acceptances coming in on this website is terrifying.

I'm sure you'll get in somewhere.

I am also a Comp Lit person. I applied to UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, UCI, Indiana, Purdue, Iowa, WashU, Cornell, University of Illinois, Urbana, and then a couple of English programs as well. My focus is on Latin American literature, the African diaspora and political philosophy. I am working on a second BA now, which I will finish in the spring, in Spanish, but I am still worried that admissions committees are going to be unimpressed by my language levels. I am only in second year French. How is everyone else's language skills? Are you all octolingual or something incredibly discouraging (and impressive) like that? Good luck to everybody!