Stately Plump

Don't worry, I'll -1 one of your innocuous comments. Only when you least expect it...

I definitely agree here. I found out after being accepted that one of the people whom I mentioned in my SOP had published an article (actually, it was his first ever publication, as a graduate student in the early 80s) on a topic strikingly similar to my writing sample. He mentioned, when I met with him, that my writing sample struck a chord with him, and he didn't forget it. And when I mentioned him in my SOP, I had no idea that he had published that article, because I was familiar only with his more current research. Additionally, my research interests are primarily non-dramatic Renaissance literature, and I have found out (again, only since starting) that the majority of Renaissance graduate students in my program are interested in drama. I don't know how this figured into my acceptance, but I can't help but think it played a role, as the admissions committee was (potentially) trying to diversify their cohort of Renaissance grad students.

I told my professors the results of all my applications, though I went to a small liberal arts college and had pretty close relationships with all my professors. I don't know that there is a particular decorum regarding how to handle this situation; it should probably be judged on a case by case basis. Congrats on UNC! EDIT to add: I would definitely, definitely inform your recommenders about your acceptances. Being admitted anywhere is so difficult, and it's always a nice feeling for a professor to know that a former student of theirs will be continuing in a field for which they have prepared the student.

I used to have time to read before I started graduate school

Congrats! Amazing feeling. I love it

Oh my gosh this process is so exciting. CONGRATS! Good luck to those still waiting!

My stipend is several thousand lower than this and I manage quite well. In fact, everyone in my cohort seems to manage quite well; occasionally we even go out for drinks/dinner, though always at the expense of the reading we should be finishing. EDIT to add: I live in a studio by myself. If I got a roommate I would save a ton of money, but it isn't a financial necessity at this point.

Hmm. I'm not sure about this. Perhaps the problem is that your romantic vision of what scholarly life was like was misguided from the start. I don't know that there was ever a time when, as you say, there was a "noble life of the mind where you are excogitating on first causes and the nature of things and then disseminating them to well-heeled, beautiful dreamers and the poetic geniuses of tomorrow." Scholarly life is difficult, grueling, repetitive, at times idle if not inane, and often jejune. That said, as a current graduate student, I find my life situation much more invigorating than some of my peers. Of the students with whom I graduated, I think my life is, at this point, the best: I get paid to read and discuss awesome books, basically all the people I hang out with on a daily basis love reading as much as I do, I'm never "late for work," I'm not physically worn out at the end of the day (though I'm certainly mentally exhausted), and I'm currently on the tail end of a four week break (some of my lucky peers had Christmas eve off, in addition to Christmas day). In four months I'll have a four month vacation, and if you try to tell me that summers aren't vacations for graduate students, I'll direct you to my friends who will be working 50 hours a week all summer. My life is really, really good right now. I've worked in a grocery store since I was 14, periodically working full-time. Let me assure you: the erudite rubbish I've been producing as an attempt to disguise my own emptiness is infinitely more effective than admitting my own emptiness and tying up another prime-rib roast nonetheless, as I did at the grocery store. As for the OP, I have no idea what you should do

I'm at BU now. They take one student every year who has already earned an MA elsewhere.

Haven't read anything non-school related since starting grad school. Get ready to give up that luxury Looove Jasper Fforde. The Thursday Next series is really brilliant. Silly and not too deep, perhaps, but also wildly creative in a rather unique way. So much fun.

Sounds like you've gotten a head start on the whole PhD thing (particularly because of English 792: Introduction to Recent Critical Theory and Method).

I would email the department for clarification. Ask them about the process and also ask about the percentage of students who receive funding, what that funding looks like, etc.

Yeah, don't get me wrong, I mentioned professors in all 10 of my applications. Just be aware that there are/can be downfalls to it. I think it can be really effective, and having since entered my department I'm confident that it's one of the reasons I was accepted, but I wouldn't be surprised if my mention of certain professors kept me out definitively of some other schools.

Haha. Yeah, I can think of a few others...

I mentioned 3 or 4 professors at the most. I too talked about resources such as libraries etc. If you do mention professors, be sure to read some of their work, ideally a selection of their work, so you have an understanding of their actual, current interests. It would be application suicide to discuss professor X's work as in line with your own interests, only to find out that you have misunderstood their interests (which, of course, you wouldn't find out, you would just be rejected). Good luck! It's almost over!

Most schools want two pages at the most. Some schools say 2-3. Some schools want 500 words (about one page single spaced). Check guidelines for specific programs. Part of the challenge--and part of the point--of the SOP is to see if you can be comprehensive and concise, an invaluable skill for potential schools. Naming profs can be good or bad. Good because if you pick the right ones, and your interests jive nicely with theirs, they might look favorably on your application. Bad because they might not have room for you as a future advisee, they might not work with graduate students, they might be on leave that year, your interests might not match as nicely as you had thought (how much do you really know about them and their work?), etc.

Read Harold Bloom with a grain of salt. His isn't exactly the brand of scholarship one might build their academic career on, and you might find professors in graduate school are actually hostile towards him and what he represents (I won't divulge "what he represents"...). Look around in journals in your field too. Try to figure out some top journals (this is a good starting place) and head over to your library and read some of the most recent editions, particularly if there are some articles on authors/periods of interest. Here is some good advice offered to new students entering my program: "In addition to reading literature over the summer, you might find it useful to look at scholarly journals in your area(s) of interest. Secondary research is crucial for graduate work, not only because you will be engaging in broader critical conversations, but also because most of the writing you do will be in the form of the scholarly research essay. Accordingly, you should read scholarly work with an eye both to content and to compositional and stylistic practices."

The trick, and I think this is reflected in the varying reports from Duke vs. SUNY Buffalo, is to find that gray area that is neither too specific nor too general. An SOP too specific could pin you to a corner, particularly if you come as being so specific that the program feels like they might not be able to support your interests. On the other hand, being too general might suggest you haven't thought very seriously about these issues, and you might come off as naive, or, worse, unprepared for graduate-level study. Follow the guidelines the schools are giving. If Buffalo wants you to talk about the importance of your research questions (which, by the way, I read as meaning why they are important for the discipline, not why they are important for your family/friends, etc., which is more in line with Duke's suggestions), talk about the importance of your research questions. If one school wants 500 words, send them 500 words. If another school wants 2-3 pages, send them 2-3 pages. If a school doesn't have specific guidelines, send them your best statement of purpose (whatever best means...). Good luck everyone! It's over soon! Then you can rejoice getting your applications submitted by perusing Grad Cafe results boards 23 hours a day! (Definitely how I celebrated...)

I think you should be fine. My program, anyway, has some room for this type of work, I think. And I have definitely been doing some philosophy in my English department (though don't tell the philosophy department that, because they would disagree). I agree with Phil, however, that you don't want to peg yourself as a theory person. I think I would stick to your term "cultural studies," or variations of it, because it sounds less like Theory à la Derrida et al. Secondary interests in theory are perfectly acceptable, but as a primary interest it would sound dated and naive, particularly for professors who lived through the theory boom of the 70s and 80s. Have you read any Walter Benjamin? His essay "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanic Reproducibility" is very much about how the means of production have altered the possibilities of aesthetic experience. He also has essays on storytelling and the storyteller which might be helpful. Though he was a few decades before poststructuralism and postmodernism (I think he was writing in the 30s?), his fears/anxieties/concerns are almost more postmodern than modern, or postmodernist than modernist. Another essay of interest might be Philip Auslander's "Postmodernism and Performance." It isn't so much about means of production, but it is definitely about the impact of postmodernism on the aesthetic experience.

It sounds like your writing sample "matches" closely enough with your interests, particularly because of its dealings with race. Like lisajay said, I would perhaps mention how your writing sample has informed your current research interests. I would definitely submit something that has outside sources/theory in it. Grad school is really theory/secondary reading heavy; learning to become a scholar means learning to act like a scholar, and learning to act like a scholar means reading mass amounts of secondary sources to inform your thinking and, more importantly, your writing. Submitting a paper that incorporates this type of research displays that you are already aware of the critical practices of the discipline.

I would say your "numbers" or "stats" would be competitive anywhere. Choose a range of programs, based on "rank," and see what happens. I would pay more attention to fit, however. Find programs that have faculty doing work in your proposed areas of interest. Look at current and past course offerings. Look at resources outside the university to see how they might affect your research. I have "numbers" and "stats" in quotations because, in the final analysis, they aren't a very good judge of where you might get it. You might get in to the top programs you apply to, you might not get in anywhere. There will probably be people who get in with "numbers" that are worse than yours. It's very hard to judge. All you can do is submit the best application you can and hope for the best. Good luck!

I was in a somewhat similar situation when I applied last year. I wanted to go abroad, I wanted to go to grad school, and I wasn't sure what to do. I applied to grad school and I applied for a Fulbright. If I had gotten the Fulbright, I would have done that. I was a finalist for the Fulbright, but ended up not getting it. I did get into grad school. So I let the Fates work my life out for me. I am hoping that my research, when I get there, will take me abroad, which is kind of how I reconciled the two in my mind. Best of luck!

No, it's SOPs generally. Terrible. Shield yourself with SOP sunglasses --->

There will be applicants this year who score in the 99% and still get rejected. So don't fret too much about scores. Apply and see what happens; you never know how things might work out.

Brilliant.