ProfLorax

Agreed. I'm a fan of just taking a weekend "off" and not focusing on work at all during these moments. I can use this weekend to just veg, go out of town and visit someplace new, or explore my city. I almost always come back revitalized. If you can't afford taking off a whole weekend, even just one selfish day can make a difference. Yet more good advice! Agreed, agreed. Really focused, broken down to-do lists can help. I can't handle the thought of grading forty papers, but grading five a day for eight days? Totally doable. Each day I grade five, I give myself a self-high-five and go about my merry day. Good luck!

Oh, most definitely. If you can, meet with them for their initial ask. I was speaking to the OP's anxieties about a forgetful letter writer, in which I found reminder emails immensely helpful.

Are you asking if letter writers can access your application materials when they sign-in to write their recommendation letter on the app portal? If so, no, they can't. I'm pretty sure privacy laws here in the states would forbid that. Also, from what I've observed, most letter writers write one letter on MS Word, so they can spell check and save it, and only once the letter is complete will they hop onto the web portal to submit the letter. I would definitely send an email the week before the first due date to whomever hasn't submitted their letters yet and the day before the application is due if needed. My letter recommenders actually appreciated the little polite reminders I sent out. Good luck!

1. GRE scores: You have plenty of time to prep! Search the GRE themed threads (both here and in the GRE forum) for suggestions on study materials and habits. I used the Princeton Review and some vocabulary apps for the general, and I'm happy with my not-amazing-but-higher-than-average score. 2. Apply anywhere that's a good fit. Yes, "fit" is an elusive term, but you can also find lots of threads in this forum about what "fit" means for grad school applicants. Basically, apply to schools that have faculty you'd want to work with, funding, and good job placement rates. Apply anywhere you think would work well with your interests. There's no reason to reject yourself from Ivy League schools because you really have no idea how strong you are as an applicant until after you apply. 3. If you aren't sure about your interests within cultural and film studies, then yes, I would suggest an MA first. Good luck, and welcome to the happy chaos!

I think the "pro-I" camp has been the overwhelming majority in this thread, so it's definitely not an LA thing! If you're anxious about it, though, skim through some academic journals, and you'll see an abundance of "I" being used to both demarcate one's argument and integrate personal experience with analysis in really interesting ways.

I suppose the question of the "I" is very much subfield dependent. I'd say, in queer, feminist, critical race, and disability scholarship, it's a common move to early on mention one's identity. The idea is to complicate the notion that our readings of texts are not somehow influenced by our identities and lived experiences; furthermore, the personal is political and all that good stuff. That all being said, I am not sure what the norm is for other fields within English studies. Still, I'd caution against the "we" mostly because it's both vague (which group are you evoking here?) and presumptuous (do you have the authority to speak on behalf of this group?).

Are you applying to MA or PhD programs? This question right here makes me think a funded MA program would be a great opportunity for you to fine tune your interests.

First person singular? Fine, even celebrated in some fields. First person plural? Nope. Who is this "we" you are speaking on behalf of?

Yes, try to seek them out! They may point out obstacles that are specific to your department or let you know the professors who will be most helpful (and least). We can't be nearly as helpful about the logistics, benefits, and challenges of switching from one department to another as the people in your program who actually did it.

In your department? If so, I'd follow up and find these students who have made the switch. Ask how they went about it and proceed from there. Good luck!

For those taking the test tomorrow, channel your inner drag queen! You all got this. You do!

I've had good experiences, but some of my friends have had horrible experiences--especially if signatures are needed. Still, this is something I wouldn't worry about until getting in. After you are accepted, you can ask direct questions, like "will you continue advising students while on sabbatical? How often will you be on campus? What is the best way for students to communicate with you while you're away?"

What everyone else said. Also, at most institutions, an Associate Professor has tenure.

Yes, studying close to D.C. is fantastic. I have spent days in the Library of Congress going to town on their resources. But even if you aren't applying to UMD (and that's totally fine! No one applies to ALL THE SCHOOLS), if you live close by, you should come for the Knowing Nature in the Medieval and Early Modern World conference taking place here this weekend. I will not be there, but my medievalist friends and faculty have been shaking with anticipation all semester over the conference.

Also, people may or may not agree, but I find that the issue of "fit" isn't as emphasized in MA programs because they tend to be pretty general. Make sure the programs teach classes you'll want to teach and have faculty you'd like to work with, but since you'll primarily be doing coursework as an MA student, the ever important and elusive "fit" we discuss tends to be of less importance at the MA level.

To be honest, I know very little about your field, and furthermore, I don't think any of you are even applying to University of Maryland. That being said, I'm taking a gateway course with Theresa Coletti right now, and she's one of the nicest, smartest, most helpful lit professors I've ever had. So, if anyone is considering applying here, I can attest to the approachability of at least one medievalist faculty member!

I took three years off between my MA and PhD. I applied to nine schools: accepted into five, wait listed at one, and rejected at three. I am not sharing my stats to be braggy but to answer your question: everyone is different, but my time away from academia did not hinder my applications. However, I will also say that I worked hard in my MA program to make connections with faculty and make an impression, which I think helped when I emailed them two years after graduation to ask for guidance and letters.

I think GeoDUDE's constructive redirection is really helpful. Thanks, dude! As for the question, how to overcome jealousy, that's a tricky thing. I'm trying to think of specific strategies to help you find joy in other's joy and to also not compare yourself with others, but I think these issues are actually rooted in a larger need to learn to love yourself and feel comfortable at exactly where you are at this moment. We don't feel as big of a need to compare ourselves and our lives with others if we are happy where we are. You could do small things like listing all the things you like about your life as it is right now on a daily or weekly basis. Write positive notes to yourself with a dry erase marker on your bathroom mirror before you go to bed, so those notes are among the first things you see when you wake up. Establish a non-romantic, non-school related goal for yourself. When I was training for a half marathon, I felt such pride in my body and determination--especially because I am so not an athlete! I do want to reiterate the value of going to therapy more frequently. The fact that the jealousy affects you on such a physical level is a warning sign that these feelings aren't just burdensome but potentially self-destructive. It would be great to work on falling in love with yourself, but there is also a more immediate need to learn coping skills for these triggers.

When I was applying, I was looking for programs that had faculty who did work I was interested in, were well-regarded, and guaranteed funding for (at least) five years. However, once I got accepted, new questions emerged because my whole position had changed! I was no longer thinking of the program as a website that I bookmarked for future reference. When I had to think about the actual reality of attending a specific programs, a whole host of new questions emerged. And I think that's how it should be! Cast your net, see what comes up, then evaluate the programs against each other. Also, you find out so much about programs after acceptance, especially information that is individual-specific and not available from a website: teaching load, benefits, stipend. You may find out what courses will be offered in the Fall and Spring and the most recent job placement numbers. And since you are now contemplating living somewhere new, you may have questions about the location. What is the cost of living? How does the stipend stack up against CoL? What are the summer funding opportunities? Can I find members of my community (LGBT, ethnic, political, etc) in this new location? Can my partner find a job here? These are the sorts of questions that are best left, I believe, until you really know what your options are. At that point, you're forced to rank and evaluate programs against each other, and at this moment, new priorities may emerge based on the actual options that lie before you.

One more thing! Perhaps you are putting the cart before the horse? Why not apply both to MFA in Creative Writing programs and PhD in Art History programs? Know all of your options before deciding between the two fields? You learn so much more about how these programs work and the job potential after getting accepted. Once you know your options, you'll have time to really investigate the job/school placement rates of a particular program and see what school/degree/program would be the best fit for you.

I want to take up this really important note and go into a different direction. The MFA and the PhD are radically different degrees. While research and scholarship are often tangentially related to the MFA (mostly through required coursework), the core focus is on practicing and producing art. Conversely, research and scholarship are the core of a PhD program, though I argue that creativity can certainly be a part of scholarship. Look at the curriculums of the two programs: which is more appealing? Do you want to write a 300+ page dissertation on Art History, advancing a claim that no one else has? Do you mind spending five (or more) years attaining a degree? Do you not hate the idea of comprehensive exams? If yes, a PhD is the way to go. However, if the idea of writing and reading poetry all day and workshopping excites you way more than spending years in archives or museums or art collections, then perhaps an MFA is better suited for you.

Maryland! Seriously, look up the work being done at MITH, especially Matthew Kirschenbaum.

PaperTowels: Everyone is different, and everyone socializes differently! That's okay. Maybe you are at a point in your life when you really are invested in your work, and I don't think you need to make any apologies about that. If, however, you are feeling that you need more social outings (as opposed to feeling that you aren't socializing as much as others do), maybe start by combining social outings with your main preoccupation these days: your work! I recently organized a reading group around a research interest I'm really excited about with the express purpose of finding others who won't get bored when I go on and on and on and on about said topic.

I'm also in the field of rhet/comp, and my impression is that while rhetoric is more available internationally, composition is mainly a US field. You may want to check out the ISHR website (International Society for the History of Rhetoric) to see where people are studying rhetoric outside the US! Also, you're more likely to get feedback in the literature/rhet/comp specific forum.

Maybe? I didn't. But even if people do, my point was that the thesis option is usually listed in documents that don't garner much attention from adcomms (the transcript or CV). And even if one lists the thesis on the CV, it isn't clear if the thesis was a portfolio, a 25-page article-quality essay, or an 80+ page project. The thesis' usefulness in terms of applications really amounts to how one frames and describes the thesis in his/her SoP. So, emily.rose should really approach the "thesis or comps" question based on what she needs to feel like a stronger student, scholar, and candidate.