Stately Plump

I would tailor the SOP to the school. If they have strong DeLillo studies, emphasize your interest in DeLillo in the statement, and mention the other topics as asides or potential future interests/directions. I think you can write a strong statement with those interests, especially because it might stand out as unique. Just don't overemphasize Rage or OBEY, because the department may decide they don't really have the resources to accommodate you. Perhaps even mention that they are "potential" future directions, or use them as examples of the types of research questions you might ask (but will not necessarily pursue).

You will be best served by a paper related to your topic. I've heard of people who got in with unrelated papers, but the chances are the other applicants will have papers related to their research interests, and as such, their applications will appear stronger if you submit a paper on the Renaissance and propose to study post WWII lit.

There have been a few topics on this before. You'll want to find a line somewhere between "this is a potential dissertation topic" and "I have no idea what I'm talking about." Too far to either side can be devastating. As mentioned, you want to prove you can identify interesting and advanced research interests; on the other hand, you don't want to be too specific, because 1) you don't want to come off as being unteachable and 2) you might pin yourself in a corner, like you said, where the program decides they don't really have the resources to accommodate you. I would mention specific writers only as an example of what you might be interested in. Don't suggest you want to work only with Vonnegut and Böll, but rather use them as examples of the types of research you might be doing, or as examples of the types of questions you might be asking.

You're right, it probably is biased because of when those professors went to graduate school. However, remember that academia is tradition-based (caps and gowns?). When applying for jobs, you might be better off with a degree in English having done interdisciplinary work in another field, if only because your potential future coworkers will be able to relate more to your degree. If applying for a job in an English department, for example, you may find that you have to explain just what it was you did in your American studies program; was it mostly art history, mostly history, mostly social sciences, mostly literature? On the other hand, if you were to apply for a job in an American studies department with a degree in English, the faculty would likely have the same credentials as you, and you would not need to explain yourself as much. This is just some food for thought. Whenever I think about decisions regarding my graduate (and beyond) career, I try to think about what makes me the most marketable as a professor. That said, there is a professor in NYU's English department who got his PhD in American Studies from BU.

Unless your work experience is somehow related to the field--publishing, editing, some sort of journalism--work experience will probably count very little. The most important thing adcomms look for in an application is the ability to succeed (i.e., read, write, and conduct research at the doctoral level) in their program. Generally speaking, work experience will not evince this ability. That being said, work experience can contribute usefully to the SOP. If you have taken time off after undergrad, you might write about your work experience, and how it has convinced you that where you belong is in academia.

Well, your English is faaaar better than my Korean. So I think you have me beat, there.

I think you'll probably find that many departments at R1 schools will be "large." My experience--while admittedly limited--has been that you will not form close bonds with the entire department, but rather with certain faculty/students in your field. I visited both UMass Amherst and BU and found the departments to be very, very welcoming. The grad students there had nothing but good things to say about their departments, and the word "collegial" was used in both places. My undergrad was beyond friendly and supportive, but I went to a small liberal arts college. There are seven full time faculty in the English department. Heh.

Certainly. If I understand your accomplishments correctly, it seems you should be able to include your publication and your award on your CV as two separate items. I would put the publication under the subsection "Publications," though I would note that it was a creative piece (if indeed it was a creative piece). Under another subsection, perhaps called "Honors and Awards," I would note that you won the literary contest (among your other academic accomplishments). Note that accomplishments in creative writing will have less bearing on your chances of being accepted to literature PhD programs. The PhD is a research degree first and foremost, and as such, creative work will not always attest to one's ability to perform research at the doctoral level. I would include the information nonetheless, because it certainly shows a familiarity with "educational competition," so to speak. Incidentally, I'm not too sure what you mean by "authorized as a writer." I think adcomms might experience similar confusion were you to use that phrase in an application.

My only advice is not to fret too much over the subject test. Study for it, do your best, follow the advice in the Princeton Review (I believe they recommend getting either a Norton or Longview anthology to accompany their guide?), but in the end, the subject test will neither make you nor break you. Of course, high scores are a good thing, but low scores WILL NOT keep you out. Several of us on these fora (i.e., me) scored very poorly on the subject test and were still accepted to several programs, including programs that required subject test scores. So my advice, then, is to spend more time working on the writing sample and statement of purpose than the subject test.

The best writing advice I ever received was to be honest. Don't write to impress people, don't try to be creative, don't think about how to be catchy; just write honestly about that which you know best. The other piece of advice I've received is to just start "free writing." Do a focussed free write and jot down any and all thoughts about graduate school that come into your head. Then erase the first paragraph or two and look for your intro in paragraph 2-3, which is usually where you begin to be honest. You don't have to live and die by that method, but it can be a helpful way to spark some ideas. I agree that the hook can backfire mightily. Attempts to be too creative can be dangerous. So too can attempts to be too straightforward. If yours is the 50 or 60th personal statement the reviewer has read that day that has made no effort whatever to standout, it will in all likelihood be tossed in the pile of uninteresting SOPs. Conversely, and this was probably your point, if yours is the first personal statement the reviewer has read all day that has made no effort whatever to standout, after 50 or 60 that tried too hard to impress and grab interest with unnecessary witticisms, you might be rewarded for your conciseness, clarity, and professionalism. Remember that there's no formula for these things. I'm sure that both SOPs that have creative or interesting hooks and SOPs that are overtly professional and concise have and will be accepted. My SOP did have a bit of an interesting hook, just to catch the reader's attention. Nothing too fancy, just a bit of personal narrative from my life story that gives a bit of context into who I am and why I am interested in academia, particularly literary studies. From there, I'm all business; no jokes, no side comments, no wasted words. Like I said, I don't think it has to be done that way. Just my approach. Ultimately, the goal is to stand out and be remembered. Adcomms spend hours and hours reading and reviewing applications. When they get to the wee hours of the night (which does actually happen), and they have 40 students they want, and they can make 15 offers, how will your personal statement get them to bring your name up again? You want them saying, "What about the student who said/wrote/did X." I think you can do that with or without the "creative hook." In my personal statement, I talked about my family's business, in its third generation of family owners, and the impact it had on me growing up. When I went to visit the schools to which I was accepted, some of the professors said, "Oh yeah, you were student who talked about the family business, I remember that from your personal statement." That was what I hoped would happen. Sorry, I've been ranting. I meant this to be a quick post. That always happens . Good luck to all of you. Keep reading, keep thinking, keep writing. You'll get there. ---> (sunglasses for you to wear as you confront your brutal journey)

Funny things happen on admissions committees, which can work for or against you. Sometimes, under-qualified students are accepted to extremely competitive programs. Sometimes, overly-qualified students are left out of every program to which they applied. There's no magic formula. The best you can do is apply to a wide variety of schools. If I were you, I would definitely apply to UNC, if you really like it. If you like the looks of Harvard's program, apply there. If you don't think you'd like being in NYC, don't apply to Columbia or NYU. Like Trip said, filter things geographically. No one knows whether you'll be accepted. You might get into 4 or 5 schools, you might not get in anywhere.

The real paradox of the whole process is that you have to complete graduate school (i.e., finish a dissertation) to fully understand what your research interests are and how they might best be served given X university's professors, advisors, resources, etc. You don't really know your fit until you're done and it's too late. Keep faking it would, I suppose, be the advice.

You don't want to sound so specific that you come off as already knowing everything about your topic; if you give the impression that you could write your thesis right now, it can sound overconfident, like the program doesn't have much to teach you. If you are too broad, you will sound naive, like the "I want to study death in literature" comment in You want to give them the impression that you are ready to begin graduate study (which, keep in mind, is not only the advanced study of your field, but often times the professional study of your field; you are being trained to become an expert and professional). Grad programs are not just looking for the "smartest" students (however they measure that...) but the students they think have the best chance of completing their program and moving on to bigger and better things. Remember that programs are not expecting you to have a graduate-level understanding of your field, but an advanced undergraduate-level understanding; trying to impress them with what you think is a graduate-level understanding will ultimately come off as naive and brash. You could mention both liminality and the supernatural in your SOP, but you would have to clarify what you mean by each. More importantly, programs will probably want to see how you propose to study it. Do you have an interest in archival studies? Might you potentially need to travel to the Folger, e.g.? It's a tricky process. Your best bet, in my opinion, is to talk honestly about your research interests; don't try to impress people, don't worry about potential advisors' interests. And just spend a paragraph talking about it. Perhaps an introductory paragraph, a paragraph talking about your interests, a paragraph about how/why you are prepared to undertake graduate study, a paragraph about why their program is a good fit, and a concluding paragraph.

It definitely isn't (and shouldn't be) a creative piece. But it also shouldn't be "computer manual" boring. Some schools wills mention that the SOP is the closest they'll get to an interview, so your voice should come through. It should be well-written, concise, detailed, captivating, informative, and unique (but not so unique that it sounds forced or "cute"; it will get tossed right in the trash if it gets anywhere near cloying). It should be word-perfect. That's why it is among the most difficult pieces of writing you will ever do.

It's an excellent program. Their professors are prolific, which I suppose makes them good. If you mean are they good teachers and advisors, that I can't answer. You might have to be more specific about what you mean by "unique". Not trying to be sarcastic, but your post is pretty vague. I don't know that any of us will be of much help (which is why no one has responded), because there isn't much to respond to.

Awesome!!! So exciting! I hope that is the case for all of us! ---> sunglasses to mask my fear of not fitting in with my cohort. they're all so much smarter than me! how am i going to keep up this lie that i belong in graduate school?! didn't i mostly fake my way through undergrad?! will i still be able to make it, faking it in grad school?! THEY'RE GOING TO FIGURE ME OUT!!!

It's very possible your professor has just been away from her email for much of the summer. She may have read it and meant to respond, but hasn't been checking her email as regularly, so it's just slipped her mind to get back to you. I would try again and see if you can get a response. I think it would be better to recs from literature professors, but it wouldn't necessarily be bad to have them from writing profs. Though I would limit those recs to one of your three letters, if at all possible. While writing profs will be able to attest to your ability as a student generally, literature profs will be much better suited to you ability and potential as a literary scholar, which, ultimately, is what adcomms are interested in. One of my letter writers was a philosophy professor, so he obviously didn't talk much about my future as a literary critic. He did talk (presumably) about my ability to work hard and handle the pressures graduate school would present. If the adcomm sees that you have an MA from UVA but all your letters are coming from your MFA, they might think that perhaps there's a reason you didn't get letters from your MA profs; maybe you thought the people at UVA wouldn't write you a good letter because you were mostly a distraction, didn't work hard, underperformed despite your GPA, etc. So the short answer is yes, I think it would look strange if ALL your letters came from your MFA professors. The GRE is up to you. 600 is probably lower than the average programs like Penn and NYU normally admit, but I don't think it's so low that it would keep you out if the rest of your application is strong. I'm sure plenty of people have been admitted scoring 600. I took the test twice and did much better the second time (80% verbal first time, 92% verbal second time). I studied less the second time; I think I wasn't trying as hard, I was less nervous, I was more willing to just let it happen... Up to you. It's a risk, and a tediously awful risk at that. Good luck!!! ---> application sunglasses

Ah. You have discovered the true purposefunction [sic] of the Grad Cafe. Welcome to our fellowship, rems.

I figured you were exaggerating, but it's useful advice all around. I know I was tempted towards that end of the spectrum in my attempts to sound smart and prepared, and I needed to have people tell me no.

Yea, definitely stay away from the "I want to write my dissertation on..." because not only is it too specific, it can come off as arrogant also. Adcomms will feel like you are proposing that perhaps you are already prepared to write your dissertation and perhaps their program can teach you nothing. Obviously, that is not how you feel, but be careful not to come off that way. They are looking for an advanced awareness of the discipline and an open-minded assertion of your potential research interests. Good luck to all of you! I have nothing but the best wishes for you! <--- good luck sunglasses

I definitely agree that there are millions of little things that go into the decisions, and a POI mentioned in a statement may or may not be one of them. I also agree that if an advisor does not currently have openings, but may have openings in the future, you would probably be fine. My concern, however, is that there are sooo many applicants--and more dauntingly, so many overly-qualified applicants--that mentioning a prof who doesn't really have room for you (even if they will have room for you in a year or two) might be a mark against you. I've spoken with profs on adcomms, and they say that, once it gets down to the last 30-40 kids, and they can only make 15-20 offers, and everyone looks pretty much identical on paper, it comes down to the most minute details. Like I said, I agree with your post. I just wanted to clarify where I was coming from. And again, mentioning a POI you haven't contacted isn't necessarily a bad thing; I mentioned 2-3 profs per school and didn't contact any of them before hand.

It actually might not be a bad idea to contact the prof first. The professor, in an English department, will not "accept" a student on her own, but if that professor is already advising 5-6 students, and you mention her in your personal statement, you might be rejected because your POI doesn't really have any more room. Also, you might mention that you are interested in working with Prof X, but not realize that Prof X is taking the year off; in this case, you would almost definitely hurt your application because you would look naive and under-informed. Incidentally, I didn't contact any of the profs I mentioned, but if I could go back, I might have. I've found that more often than not, professors that I've since been in contact with have been more than willing to help whenever and wherever possible, something I wish I'd taken advantage of during my application season.

I wouldn't worry much about the language requirements. Most schools only require you translate a page or so, and you can often use a dictionary.

You may need to be more specific for people to be of any real help. Pretty much all R1 schools are going to have great professors. Good location will depend widely on your personal preferences; some students would rather study in the city (at schools like NYU) and some would rather study at schools in more small-town settings (like Amherst). You mention in your areas of interest that you are interested in French, German, and Russian lit. Do you speak all of those languages? You'll need to be pretty fluent in at least one when you start, and more likely two.

The Hours is sensational. Book and movie. But the soundtrack in the movie. My goodness. Every time I hear it I say