NO8DO

Actually, I feel like a study has been done about everything and I question their validity. I've had 3 thesis papers published in scholarly journals and I'm only just entering my first MA in the fall (my GRE scores were "horrendous" [really just avg., but I guess that's horrendous to some]) I'm not tooting my own horn in the least bit, just stating that studies obviously have many flaws - unless I'm just a unique exception, which I doubt.

MA in Spanish & French (Languages & Literatures) at University of Delaware full funding guaranteed for 2 years (tuition & $14,600 stipend from TAship), with potential to reapply for fifth semester since I'm pursuing a double-major course of study - really excited about the funding because I know that most MA programs, especially in the humanities, aren't nearly as generous (the perks of a department that chooses to focus heavily on MA students instead of having a PhD program!)

I'll be spending 2 months in France (travelling for a month) and then the second month I'll be taking a course in Paris. All the while getting a head start on crazy long reading lists in Spanish & French literature.. !

Minnesotan - I think the problem on the continent (at least in Spain and France, and I'm sure Italy is no different), is almost worse. A lot of people end up with humanities degrees over there but then can't do anything with it because a) at least in the case of Spain (not sure about the others), profs are technically employed by the state and they hold their jobs for a very long time (since there is little encouraging them to quit/retire, even if their performance is suffering) unemployment is even a bigger issue there. Here at least we can attempt to get a job at a bookstore or starbucks until we can get a more respectable job where we use our degree, over in Europe you'll see a lot of 30- or even 40-somethings working in places like this, leaving very very few spots for people in their 20s. These are of course my observations from when I lived over there so I could definitely be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that economic woes are affecting everyone - not just Americans/Canadians - even if European currencies have hit all-time highs over the dollar.

In at University of Delaware (MA Spanish & French) with funding in form of TAship ($14,600/yr)!!! Opportunities abroad also..

I think it really just depends on the program I still haven't heard from the programs I applied to at University of Delaware - the potential adviser I was exchanging several e-mails with told me that 'hopefully' they'd be able to let me know by the end of March (and I got my NYU acceptance at the beginning of March - still much later than a lot of other places). The funding deadline was Feb 15, and their spring semester started very late on Feb 11. I just want to find out so I can know for sure where I'll be in the fall...good luck!

not sure about the PhD program, but I got into the Spanish/Port MA at NYU Madrid a couple of weeks ago good luck!

well said, I agree with that statement definitely - especially if the story is genuinely connected with the purpose/reason you decided to pursue a degree in a specific field (obv like mentioned in the last post avoiding cliches - since my guess is that they can sniff those out from 100 miles away)

You could probably get an official translation from an English translator in Spain. I'm not sure how picky they are but I'd imagine that any certified translation would work.

lxs- I actually applied to Penn for Romance Languages PhD, not Art History (only art history program I applied to was at UDel, which I'm thinking will be a rejection as it seems to be a very selective program), and don't think they've decided yet on Art History (or at least I haven't seen anything on these boards yet) - plus I'm sure halifax would have let us know!

lxs- did you consider trying for an internship first also? there are a lot of great ones out there (phila art museum, upenn, walters art museum, the met, just to name some on the east coast that would look lovely on an app to Art History PhDs), also, perhaps you can go for an MA first? (if you have one already, my bad, I don't recall if you said you are coming straight from undergrad or not) I recently got rejected from the one PhD program I applied to but in the long run I think that it's great that I did - I'm not sure I wanted to jump right into a PhD in the first place, plus it gives me the opportunity to go with one of the great MA programs I got into/applied to, and then perhaps keep the door open for what I want to eventually pursue as a PhD. I'm sure that the draw of an Ivy, and the fellowship package they were offering would have surely influenced me to go there, even if it wasn't the right thing for me at the time. Good luck to everyone who is still waiting, I'm not only waiting now on University of Delaware (MA Art History, MA Spanish & French)! (rejected from UPenn, accepted to NYU sofar)

haha got to post once in each of the forum's accepted/rejected forums rejection from upenn (phd romance languages), i'm thinking now it's for the better anyway and i'm extremely excited about the MA program I got into! - still waiting on two.

just got Penn rejection - it's certainly much easier to be rejected when you already know you've been accepted somewhere! just waiting on UDelaware now, at least I'm finally figuring out where I'm gonna go now, the waiting was terrible

For some reason I had this impulse to do my NYU personal statement more 'personal' than the others, and I sorta just wung it (aka had adviser look over other sops but not the NYU one), and ironically it was my first response and acceptance. I think like others have said it depends on the program. I used an anecdote about my study abroad experience in Seville, Spain (the program I applied to at NYU was the MA in Spanish/Portuguese in Madrid), and I think that really helped me because I blended my positive experience with my study abroad with the experience I hope to have with the MA in Madrid - including research interests, career goals, etc. in between. I know for sure that it wasn't my GRE that got me in - which leads me to think that even at top programs (and this is definitely a top FLL MA program at a top 10 uni in the field), things like the sop and your writing sample are of immense importance. Maybe you could e-mail the programs to see what you could strengthen for next time? I'm not sure if people do that but I've heard it mentioned on these boards before. Also, did you get a prof/adviser to take a look at your sop? Even though you don't want to change too much (it is afterall your personal statement), but a second set of eyes might pick out what you may have done wrong.

I'm mostly interested in Medieval and Golden Age (particularly mysticism), as well as Spanish Humanism in the Renaissance in particular. Another research interest of mine is the influence of the literatura vanguardista (Cortazar, Borges) on Hispanic Cinema. Lazarillo de Tormes is definitely a good one!