margarethale

this has absolutely nothing to do with the 2013 application season, but i just wanted to say that i am in constant awe of people who can plan a family and having kids alongside applying for grad courses. when i applied, the only thing i had to worry about was finding someone who could occasionally cover my bartending shifts. kudos and congratulations!

step #1) make dr. who references step #2) befriend the people who get them

I'm too excited about the fact that this is the last Monday that I'll ever have to work at my awful, awful job to be nervous about school. I'm sure that'll all change this time next week though...

1) There's really no way to figure out this information without just asking the DGS at your respective schools. That being said, it doesn't really matter how many spots are open for which specialities. You should apply to the schools that have the best fit for you regardless of how many spots they may have open. The thing is, most PhD programs only have around 5-15 spots for a cohort in total. Chances are there are only 1 or 2 spots for each specialty with a cohort of that size. 2) The best way to tell which programs are strongest in which specialty is to spend some time researching. There's no cheat sheet or master list and no easy way around doing good, solid research on which programs you think you might fit into best. If you're pursuing your PhD, you're going to be spending at least 5 years of your life at the institution you attend. Personally, I was only comfortable making that commitment after conducting some thorough investigations into a number of different programs. If you are looking for a jumping off point as far as rankings/specialty strength goes, then try: http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/english-rankings Here you can scroll through specialties and see which programs are statistically ranked better. Bear in mind that these were ranked in 2009. 3) Be as specific as possible when looking for professors that you could possibly work with. I would be more specific than "Oh look! I like 20th century American lit and this guy teaches it! ACADEMIC SOUL MATES 4 LYFE!!!" Of course you'll be able to find someone who teaches the period of literature in which you are interested. Be as specific as possible. If you're interested in 19th century Postcolonial Literature with an emphasis on Caribbean narratives, then find someone who teaches that above finding someone who just teaches the time period. Getting into grad school is not nearly as important as getting in somewhere that is a good fit for your individual interests. You don't want to spend 5 years getting a degree in something that you're not passionate about or that isn't a good fit for you, so find somewhere that is as specific to your specialty as possible. As far as how many professors should you look for that fit your specialty: at least two. If there's one professor that you have your heart set on working with and you only mention that one person in your applications, then you're putting yourself at a risk. That professor may be retiring or going on sabbatical. Try to have at least one backup.

i have to take everything with me (including Harry Potter). i just don't know how i'd part with any of my favorite characters. fortunately, there are always bookshelves for cheap on Craigslist

Moving August 18th for a PhD in English Lit that starts Aug 29 but I'm giving my two weeks this Friday (can't wait!) so that I have some time to travel/live the summer life that I miss so much from undergrad.

I agree with Revo (but I also use it so... yeah). I feel like showing which schools you've applied to and gotten accepted/rejected from can be helpful to other applicants. When I first learned about gradcafe, I appreciated knowing which members had been accepted to the schools that I was interested in so I could PM them and get to know more about what it takes to get in to certain programs. Now that I've been accepted to a grad school and know where I'm going, it's nice to be able to know who's going where based on the signatures so that I can get to know my cohort better. I also get PMs occasionally from other forum members just starting to apply asking me about my program and how I ended up choosing that particular school. I just feel like it's a good way to signal to other gradcafe-ers where your interests lie and help out fellow members who are interested in learning more about specific programs.

I was in the exact same boat last year. I had every professor telling me that I was certain to get into an amazing program. Then I applied to what I thought was a great list of programs that were perfect fits for me and I got into exactly none of them. I was seriously depressed for months. I felt worthless and stupid and I thought I was a bad student (I had never had any of these feelings before). After a whole summer of feeling awful about myself and my future, I got back on the proverbial horse and reapplied myself to polishing my statement of purpose and my writing sample. When I applied again last fall, I was more confident and ended up getting into some really great programs. The biggest help for me when I was reapplying was remembering that not getting in the first time did not mean that I was worthless or dumb; it just meant that (as you pointed out) the acceptance rates at these places are insane and that I hadn't shown the best possible reflection of myself as I should have. Don't worry about your chances, just worry about putting together an application that you can be proud of and you think is a good reflection of your abilities.

honestly, it totally varies from school to school. I had a number of acceptances via phone and a few via email. All of my rejections though were via email. I would say that if you get a phone call from an area code that's from your school's city, you're probably in. If you get an email it could honestly be good or bad news. It just depends on the school. Best of luck in your applications this season!

As much as I'd love to devote my summer to reading for pleasure, now that I've got my reading list for fall, I'm trying to tackle as much as humanly possible before September. Re-reading: The Mill on the Floss, Our Mutual Friend, Mrs. Dalloway Plan to Read: The Satanic Verses

yeah... if you do a quick search of UVa's website http://www.engl.virg.../applicants/aid the "bloodbath" gets disproved immediately "All students admitted for doctoral study in English at the University of Virginia receive a financial package of $20,000 (combining fellowship support and, after the first year, wages for teaching) in addition to full tuition remission and health care coverage. This package runs five years (four years for MA transfers, who enter our program as second-year PhD students)."

Just wanted to chime in with pinkrobot and say that not having an MA is totally fine when applying to grad school. I was accepted without an MA and I know plenty of people from my undergrad who went on immediately to get PhDs in English Lit in fantastic programs including Ivy League institutions. It's definitely not a "must have" by any means. Like pinkrobot said, some schools set aside a certain number of spots just for students applying fresh out of undergrad. There's no need to worry at this point.

I am by no means a Mac-hater. I love my MacBook Pro and I've been very very happy with it. That being said... The new Retina Display Macbook Pro is a TERRIBLE investment for grad students. this thing is nearly impossible to repair. even if you want to do something simple like just replace your battery (I've owned a MacBook pro for about 5 years and I've had to replace my battery twice), you can't do it yourself because it's freaking glued to the case. This means that every time you need to do a simple battery repair, you have to mail your laptop to Apple every so often for a $200 replacement (to replace the battery myself it cost me $50 for the battery on my current MacBook and all I had to do was take the old one out by hand and snap a new one in). Also, the Retina MacBook has a fixed storage capacity. As a grad student about to start a 5 year program, I would be very uncomfortable investing in a laptop that doesn't have expandable storage options. Pretty much all you need to read to convince you that this is a terrible buy for a grad student can be found here: http://ifixit.org/27...able-untenable/ http://www.ifixit.co.../1#.T9uAXCtYv2U This computer is a ticking time bomb of problems that will cost you more than most grad school stipends will comfortably cover in the long run. Personally, my grad stipend can't afford the extra $200 expense every time I need to do a simple battery repair. This is a terrible investment for grad students who should be thinking about buying a laptop that will last instead of a laptop that will make YouTube videos look prettier.

Would it be possible for you to get a recommendation from the school that you transferred from? If you built a good relationship with the faculty at your original institution, then it would absolutely be appropriate for you to ask them for a letter - especially since your transcripts will show that you were a transfer student. From what my past professors have told me - important. I applied during the 2011 season with a statement of purpose that didn't match my writing sample and I didn't get into a single program. This season, I really worked on fine tuning my SoP and my writing sample and made sure that the one reflected the other. I was much more successful this go around. From what my professors told me, having a SoP that reflects your writing sample makes your application as a whole look more cohesive (which makes you look like a more appealing applicant). Given how competitive graduate literature studies is (most programs in the top 50 have between 2-4% acceptance rates), if there is something that you think could help you get accepted, you should do it if you're serious about going to graduate school. This is most definitely the time to go the extra mile.

bfat - I would seriously not worry about your scores if you're getting around the 89th percentile. I scored in the 90th percentile and I got a number of acceptances with full funding/stipends/TA positions. Also, don't worry about the GRELit subject test. I definitely bombed that exam (bomb as in I scored closer to the 50th percentile) and no one cared. Most places that I applied don't even ask for it. If you haven't done so already, maybe getting a GRE study book would help you out. Go for ETS's book over Kaplan (which sucks). If you're really concerned about getting your scores up, there are always avenues that you can explore from tutoring to online services, etc. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. I didn't even have my MA degree (I only have my BA) and I got in with very similar scores. Instead of putting energy into your GRE, focus more on your writing sample and SOP, both of which carry more weight for admissions committees than your GRE score. I hope this helps to put your mind at ease a bit but regardless I'm sending positive vibes your way!

Richter's "The Critical Tradition" is very thorough (and excellent)

For the first few weeks I would say you should try to dress up a little bit (meaning don't look too much like an undergrad) but as the semester progresses you can loosen up. If you're not comfortabel in what you're wearing, chances are you won't be as comfortable as you could be with your teaching. That being said, I don't think showing up to class in sweats would ever be appropriate or professional.

I've honestly never heard of anything like this in an application for a doctoral program. In every program to which I applied, PhD students are automatically granted tuition remission, a living stipend, and health care options. There are other fellowships that you may/may not be awarded through the department, but the baseline for all of the programs that I applied to included automatic funding upon acceptance. For Colorado at Boulder, I was accepted to their MA program with some funding. When I told them that I had more offers and they would need to up their funding offer in order to remain competitive, they got back to me within the day to offer me more money. Playing your schools against each other can be tricky and risky, but it can also pay off in the long run. If a school doesn't think that they need to make a competitive offer, they might not. I think that you were right in your thought that when you said that you weren't being pressured by other schools, Temple stopped worrying so much about taking care of your funding. It's not fair and it really sucks that they treat their students like that though. Is there any hope at all at this point of Temple coming around and giving you the financial support that you need and deserve? Again, this sounds like a terrible situation that no one deserves to go through. Hopefully things'll work out!!!

when i saw the title of this thread from the homepage, it definitely looked like "my phd-advisor stole my man" which, granted, could have been a very interesting topic...

unfortunately, a verbal agreement is typically only as good as the paper it's written on. had the recruiting professor said "if you commit to coming to this university, you will be granted funding" then you would have a pretty good case. since he only ever said that you would have the possibility of funding, there's not much you can do. so sorry this happened to you!

middlemarcher my interests are so similar to yours it's almost scary! Indiana University would be a great program for you. You should also seriously consider the University of Virginia. For Victorian Literature it's one of the best programs in the country (I think it's ranked #6 for 19th century British Literature). Of course, the biggest name in 19th century British Literature is Yale, but it will be extremely competitive. WashU and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor are also very highly regarded for their Victorian programs. The other thing that you need to keep in mind: a program could have the biggest names in Victorian Literature, but that one specific professor that you want to work with may not be teaching any classes or taking on any students. If there's someone specific that you want to work with, send them an email and ask them about their plans (will they be teaching graduate courses, are they willing to serve as advisors, is there any actual opportunity to work with them, etc). Butalas has it right though: your writing sample, letters of recommendation, and statement of purpose will need to be exceptional, even with your extremely impressive GPA, especially if you want to go directly from undergrad into a PhD program. If you want to get your MA first, bear in mind that most of the programs that you have listed do not fund their MA students. Getting an MA from a top-tier university will be an extremely expensive investment. No matter how passionate a student might be, the thought of being $80,000 in debt is enough to dampen any potential Victorianist's spirits. I was accepted to Boulder's MA program and they actually offered me a rare funding package. I paid special emphasis to my interest in the Sepoy Rebellion and Mutiny Novels of the Victorian era in my SoP and writing sample. In the end, I ended up choosing to get my PhD elsewhere because the money was more competitive and the other program that accepted me was more prestigious. Also, the DGS at my school heavily influenced my undergrad thesis so it was kind of a no-brainer for me. If you need an example of a statement of purpose for Victorian programs, shoot me a PM and I'd be happy to send you mine. Also, if you ever need an editor or just another pair of eyes on your writing sample or SoP, as one budding Victorian scholar to another, I'd be happy to give it a read.

It depends on what you're going into, to be honest (ex: English, History, Physics, etc). Depending on your field, you may be better served with one degree than with the other, particularly if you are wary of working in academia. Certain doctoral programs in the humanities are very geared towards training you for a career in teaching whereas with the sciences this isn't always the case since you'll be trained to research more than to teach. As far as the cost of an MA goes, you can (again, depends on your field) probably find a program that will fund you. I'm going to grad school for English this fall and before I got an offer from a doctoral program, I was going to get a fully funded MA elsewhere. Finding funding for an MA can be tricky, but it's not impossible.

I absolutely cannot wait to quit my job. I work for a golf blog with a caveman mascot. I work for 40hrs/week writing about drivers, wedges, etc. in the voice of a caveman (ex: "This here club is perfect for yer golfin' needs"). kill me. Oh yeah, and I'm about to go off and get my PhD in English Literature. I think this job is actually making me dumber. Hopefully, by the time I quit I'll still be intelligent enough to make it through my grad program.

A sample/version of your MA thesis sounds like a solid idea. I used an excerpt from my undergrad honors thesis and that worked really well for me. The biggest advice that I have is to make sure you check out the specific requirements of your programs before you get a specific page requirement in mind. I applied to a lot of programs last season and didn't check on some of the actual requirements until pretty late in the game. Some schools require 25 pages, others like 15. There are also some curveballs. For example: UVa requires two separate writing samples not to exceed 25 pages together. I didn't find plan ahead for that one and I didn't have enough time to edit another paper to writing sample quality so I just didn't apply. Other schools have much larger page requirements than others. Ex: Brandeis has a 35 page maximum requirement. Even though it's a maximum requirement and you can submit a shorter paper, submitting a paper that's less than half the length of a suggested amount could be a little risky. This is where using a writing sample that's an excerpt from a larger work (like an MA or undergrad thesis) can really come in handy because you can just add more pages that you already have written. I guess what I'm saying is that aiming for a 15 page writing sample may not work for some specific programs so you may want to check out the requirements at where you want to apply before you settle on a specific page goal. Other advice: - Have everyone that you can read it. You never know whose perspective could help you. Also, if you feel uncomfortable/embarrassed showing your writing sample to your friends or your professors, then why should you feel comfortable sending it to people who will actually be deciding your academic future? - Advice that a professor gave me: If possible, try to have your writing sample reflect the academic interests that you express in your SOP. If your SOP paints you as a post-modernist, then try not to use a writing sample about Romanticism. This will make your application seem stronger and more cohesive. - If you have a writing resource center at your university (or its equivalent) take it in and have someone copy-edit it for small grammar or punctuation mistakes. After you finally press that submit button though, don't reread it (if you can) until after you get your decisions back. This takes some will power but I reread my writing sample the week after I submitted it and found a typo. It drove me crazy for months. If stuff like that bothers you, for your own mental sanity, just don't read it. Hope this helps and good luck!!

(I'm very new to gradcafe but one of the things that really impressed me with this forum is the sense of camaraderie that it genuinely seems to foster. With that in mind...) I've seen a lot of applicants on this forum looking for opinions on the Statement of Purpose section of applications. While I know a lot of people are hesitant to post their own SOPs on such a public forum (which is completely understandable), I've also seen a number of people volunteer to serve as editors for fellow applicants' SOPs provided that the documents are sent in a private message. I thought that this would be a good way to kind of consolidate the gradcafe(rs) who are willing to read and edit each others' SOPs. Anyway, the spirit of this thread is to make it easier for applicants to find someone who's up for lending a helping editing hand when it comes to one of the most stressful (and subjective parts) of the application process. If you're up for helping out a fellow member's application, add your name to this list. (sunglasses to hide my fear that everyone else on this forum is going to think this is a terrible idea)