dazedandbemused

Part of me agrees with you. I know quite a few established academics in English, as well as much younger hoping-to-be established academics lament the ascendent position of cultural studies in literature. I also agree that serious argument is one of the best ways to make progress and that political correctness is effectively rendering our ability to argue obselete. However. I believe the real problem is when we confuse political correctness with terminological clarity. To return to queer theory, many people find it off-putting and excessive to hear someone self-describe as a "cis-gendered, heterosexual male" but a large part of the specificity of these labels is to assert a stance of respectfulness toward and engagement with whoever you interact with. This is for the sake of clarity. The thought that we would all walk around every day speaking to each other this way is frankly, exhausting. Feeling the need to tiptoe around people because you don't know if they like to be called hispanic or spanish or Peruvian...in my opinion, this is the kind of silence that too much political correctness breeds. This doesn't really address the need for gender studies in Literature departments, but I'm starting to feel a bit long-winded.

Come on, don't act like we're a bunch of disciplinary segregationists over here. Not cool, bro. I didn't realize gender was so transparent. Good thing I'm an Ood.

Wow, you too? We're like academic twinsies!

Wow, the only one I was sure about was bfat and that's only because she said she just had a baby. I only remember that because I remember thinking there was no way I could ever take care of a kid and do this at the same time. Mad props (to her, not to your guessing. I'm rather reticent to guess those kind of things).

You seem to be willfully misunderstanding asleepawake's point. The statement is not that you are incapable of discussing other parties' issues because of your own privilege, but that you have to continually keep it in mind as you engage in that discussion. I'm not queer, but I'm a queer theorist and I often have to reexamine things that I take for granted because of that perceived privilege. In addition, we need to stop talking about privilege as though it only exists in one fashion that holds true across all societal interaction, because that simply isn't the case. There are instances where being LGBT will give you automatic privileges that straight people have to earn; there are times when being a minority is a help and not a hindrance. So yes, if we want to reduce the discussion of privilege to what is generally labeled heteronormativity, then we are missing the point. That seems to be what you're replying to, but I just don't think that's what's happening in this discussion.

Just out of curiosity, what makes you certain that you are aware of everyone's gender on this forum? I find it rather difficult to tell.

I have to agree with you on that one. It's super douchetastic to say that people who didn't apply to grad school just weren't good enough, as though grad school is the end all, be all of intelligent thought. There are probably myriad people who could have whipped our asses in grad school, but chose a different career, just like I chose not to be an Editor. They're life choices, not unfortunate fall back options for the unsuccessful proletariat.

It might not be uplifting, but I think it's very true. Not in the "crushing regret" kind of way, but probably more like nostalgia. Even though I'm committed to getting my PhD, I still think every so often about whether I should have decided to go into book publishing instead. Some days, I remember my dream of going to culinary school. At the same time, I know if I had done either of those things, I would have had far more regret that I hadn't at least made an effort to become an English professor. I can live much more comfortably with my current regret than what I would have had otherwise.

Wow, that's great. I had my heart in my throat when I read your original post. That almost happened to me, but my recommender finally got it in around 11:30.

The saddest part? I'm probably the least uptight, least anal retentive person on the face of the planet at any other time. Seriously, my parents used to tell me regularly that I needed to start giving more of a shit. Well, wish granted; applications have turned me into a monster!

Ugh, ten applications later and I find a mistake in my SOP. I used the word different three ways in one sentence. Really?! Really.

Oh, they're quick. I think I heard back from them around late January last year. (I was on the waitlist. Still bitter.)

I see one, but I'm skeptical. Less than 24 hours and they're setting up interviews? They must be superhuman.

My two cents, coming from a small unknown program certainly might not help you but I wouldn't despair. As I've said before, my undergrad university is completely unknown, though really great. A lot of the students end up going to really prestigious graduate programs though. Not too many English people go on to PhD's, but in the last few years we've had people go to Northwestern, Columbia, Florida, and Berkeley. It can be done!

Don't worry, it will. I did apps last year and the majority of January and February were absolute torture. I found myself pulling my phone out every 5 minutes to look for that notification. I could barely sleep some nights. I got to the point that people would look at me and ask "Are you going to be ok?" because I looked like some kind of tortured soul. Not cute at all.

I don't know about the likelihood of your acceptance, but you're certainly qualified to get an MA. As far as I know, most MA programs like to see at least 20, if not more more, upper level English credits from their applicants and it looks like you've taken more than enough classes, depending on how your university counts credits. I will say, it's a good idea to have a wide array of classes in a variety of time periods and frameworks because it means you've had a well-rounded training. Of course, if you've already completed undergrad that advice is probably useless, but I hope it helps.

Well, I'd be pretty screwed then. I like to take courage from what Buffalo states about the process though: "While we do gauge grades and GREs, we are not number driven and we trust our judgments. We have accepted candidates with modest GREs and have rejected candidates with stratospheric scores. Furthermore, we do not place any particular emphasis on the schools you have attended. It is not the prestige of a school that produces interesting applicants. Brilliant students dwell in strange or obscure places, and they interest us."

I'm eating pizza rolls right now. Apparently I never got the memo about adult food...

Yeah, I console myself with the idea that at least 100 of the 300 or so apps that a school receives are poor. I actually spoke to Jim Kincaid from USC recently about the statistics and he said it's far less terrifying than it sounds because there are usually so many apps from people who don't seem to know what they're applying for or haven't put together a good app. For example, he said back in the day when he was on adcomm, they would get tons of SOP's talking about why they wanted a masters in English, even though they don't actually have a masters program there. So there is a little bit of hope in that

Um, that's officially wins the prize for awesomest thing I've seen today. I think we can all agree that it is totally time for a woman doctor. Twelve just has to be either a woman or a ginger, no two ways about it.

I still love Christopher Eccleston so much; I don't care if he's unpopular. David Tennant is probably my least favorite but I try not to say that in public because the other fangirls would probably stone me on the spot.

Michigan people: how long are your personal statements and statements of purpose? Somehow I doubt they want two 1,000 word documents out of me, but there doesn't seem to be anything on the website specifying a length. Also, I'm not really sure if I'm doing the personal thing quite right; I don't want to tell them my life story, but I don't want to just write a second SOP either.

Ha, I know. I'm just one of those weirdos who needs everyone to realize that the things I love are totally worth loving; why don't you love them too?? Nothing hurts worse than people who watch Doctor Who and respond with a barely enthusiastic "meh". How I Met Your Mother makes me sad in so many ways. It could have been famous! It could have been a star!

I never even considered that school, and probably for the world's least logical reason: my undergraduate advisor continually stressed that that program was, and I quote, "a den of vipers". Apparently she and many of her colleagues were less than impressed with what she said was a pretty cutthroat atmosphere. I don't feel guilty for not doing my own investigation though because I think 14 apps is more than enough. Of course, I could be looking at across the board rejections come march and start wondering "what if?" But we're being optimistic here! K, done rambling.