crystalleem

ME TOO!!!!! I'm completely lost by it. What should be in it? How much narrative should it have? How much should you highlight past achievements, classes, etc. Maybe after all the acceptances roll out, some generous people on the boards would be willing to share. It would just be nice to have an idea. I would love for people on the boards to read mine and give me feedback, as well. I had four professors read mine, one of which is the hardest grader I have ever had. He was an editor at a newspaper before he went for his PhD. He is extremely honest and blunt, so when he said (after several revisions) that my SoP was strong, I believed him and the other three professors who suggested revisions. One of my editors is the graduate coordinator for our MA program, so you would think she has some idea of what a good SoP looks like. I am at a loss...

I'm not on my second round, but it's getting to the point where I feel like I will be starting that in about 6 weeks. It is hard. I do feel like I'm putting my professors out. They already had to send LORs to 16 programs. They looked over my SoP so many times. I wonder...am I really going to put them through that again? They are busy, and I often feel as though I am becoming a burden. But then I get emails from my professors that say things like, "Let’s make a deal: if (if if) you don’t get what you want this round, you and I will meet either this term or as soon as its over to get a hard core, serious winning game plan in place for your next round" and "There’s something of a stamina test involved at this level, each year leaving fewer standing. But, you’ve got that strength, and you’ve got allies." This makes me feel like they do want to help and they do believe in me. As a teacher myself, if I had a student like myself who had the work ethic, passion, drive, commitment, writing ability, etc., I feel like I would do whatever I could to help them in the process.

From my graduate coordinator, "When I spoke to my contact at UF last week, she said that the acceptances hadn't gone out yet and she thought that the rejections went out first." This was from two days ago. I know it's not super helpful, but I thought I would throw it out there.

My mailbox was empty

What is your area of focus?

My sentiments exactly! I emailed one of my professors to ask for advice, and one of the things she said was, "It’s really not over until it’s over, because right now, there will be many who decide not to accept offers, and at the schools from which you’ve not heard, their “no” might be your “yes.”" God, I hope she's right, but I don't want to hope anymore. I just want to know so that I can move on to whatever the next step is.

This!

I'm pretty sure my writing sample is good. I spent a year on that paper because it was in the process of getting peer reviewed to be published as part of conference proceedings. So on top of having my own professors edit, I had the "peer reviewers" giving me feedback on it, as well. I probably did serious revisions about 10 times over the course of a year. BUT, it was not focused on my interests established in my SoP. I chose (based on recommendations of others) to submit my best piece of writing. I wonder if that was a good idea.

Hoping for some advice/feedback especially from people who have been hanging around these forums longer than I have. I applied to 16 programs and have been rejected by 7 and accepted to 1 (with a waitlist for funding, so for now that feels like a rejection, as well). I'm waiting to hear from 8 schools, but here is my issue. I have seen both acceptances and waitlists posted to 5 of those schools: Rochester, Purdue, FSU, South Carolina, Fordham. I have heard absolutely nothing from any of them. No emails, no letters in the mail, and no updates on the status checks on their websites. What does this mean? Are these, typically, implicit rejections? Should I be contacting the DGS at these programs? Why don't these programs just let you know that you are rejected at the same time acceptances are notified? Any feedback/insight will be much appreciated!

Nothing here either

Congrats to you! My stomach dropped when I read this, though. I have no email from FSU

Same for me...I think I got the point the first time BU!

My graduate advisor basically told me that I shouldn't apply anywhere that gives a score requirement. Her feeling was that if they give a number, they won't consider you if you don't have that number, so I did follow her guidance on that one. She also told me that today it doesn't really matter where you get your PhD, it matters what you do with it afterwards. I don't know if that's really the case, and I also don't know if that holds the same for where someone gets their MA. Unfortunately, we are a culture that buys into name brands. I have a hard time believing (all matters being equal) that I would get accepted over someone who went to Yale, for instance. But, here I am with an MA from a relatively new and unknown MA program. I wanted to get my MA but, at the time, couldn't move to do so. I'm happy with the program and my advisors, but I feel like adcoms are looking at my transcripts and thinking, "does she really think an MA from _____ is acceptable?" Maybe I'm just paranoid

Nada...hoping to get into FSU!

I applied to Purdue. I presented at their interdisciplinary conference last year, and everyone was fabulous! I was very impressed with the campus and the department. I haven't heard anything yet. Does anyone know if that probably means a "no"? For those of you who did get accepted, what is your focus area? That might help me know whether I'm out or not.

This is something I wonder about, as well. I was advised by a couple of people that unless the program stated a preference, you should submit the piece of writing that is your best. So, that's what I did, and my writing sample only (very) loosely connected to my SoP (in that part of my focus lies in women's studies). But, my writing sample was on a postmodern Southern novel, which couldn't be further from my interests. Unfortunately, the MA program I am in is very small, so even though it's a 2 year program, I have only been able to take 1 class in the area of my interest, and we take a comp exam but have no master's thesis. Does anyone else have an opinion on this? Does the writing sample absolutely have to connect to the SoP?

This is good to hear. One of my LoR's was from an adjunct professor. My other professors graduated from Buffalo and Washington U in St. Louis. One of my writers did tell me it would be good to get a LoR from a certain professor in the department who he called "the only big name in the dept." She's an Early Modernist who went to Yale and Amherst, but I hadn't taken any classes with her when putting my app package together. If I have to go to round 2, I know she would write for me now. I know, without a doubt, that all my letters were strong. So...the problem probably is me (fit and focus).

Yank - just out of curiosity, you said this is your second year applying. Did you apply to the same schools the second year around? Also, high school seniors are about the same as college freshmen, so if you can get those, the pay/benefits might be better.

Yank - The PhD was always my plan. I knew in high school that I wanted one, but I got sick of making eight bucks an hour and mooching off my parents, so I started teaching as something that was supposed to be short term. Somehow, it took me 8 years to go back for my MA. I should have never taken the time off!! Teaching has been great; it's just never been what I've wanted to do with the rest of my life, and once I got back into the swing of college, I knew that's where I am supposed to be! So here's hoping that my last year of teaching high school will be coming soon! If this year isn't the last, hopefully, next year will be.

My thoughts exactly!

Godzilla - What are the certification requirements? I had to take 3 tests and was on a temporary certificate until I passed them and finished the alternative certification program (Here you have 3 years on a temporary certificate). Does the state you are in not have an alternative certification program? In my area, private school jobs are hard to come by, and if you know what area you want to be in, the private schools usually have a link on their website for job openings. Otherwise, I'm not sure.

Godzilla - Rochester is my dream school, too!

I applied to a safety school because I thought I would want to go to any program, no matter what. That was BEFORE finding these forums and reading everyone's opinions on the reputation and faculty of/in programs. Now that I've spent hours on these boards, I wonder if my safety school idea was such a good idea after all.

yank - I don't know much about teaching in private school, since I've never done it. I have an amazing schedule, but it took me several years to get it. I teach AP literature, as well as senior college prep English. At 12th grade, there is much more focus on preparing them for college instead of standardized testing. Steer clear of 9th and 10th grade! Both of the classes I teach are completely designed by me. There is no set curriculum because of the nature of the classes, so while I am teaching my AP students to pass the exam in May, I get to do that with the texts that interest me and a way that I feel works best. Don't rule out public school. Just be careful with the schedule you get, and realize that it may take a while to get the classes you desire. But the schedule and benefits are fantastic!

Godzilla - My focus is 19th century British fin de siecle novels, especially science fiction including an interest in an understudied writer named Arthur Machen. Continuing that trend, I also enjoy examining the posthuman in modern and postmodern dystopic/speculative fiction and film, especially regarding the treatment of women and the maternal.