Crow T. Robot Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 Hey y'all--anyone else apply to Duke Literature this cycle? Anyone else beside themselves waiting for the implied rejection/interview request? I'd also be curious to hear about y'all's areas of interest. I went all in on Lacanian theory, sound studies, ecocriticism, and theory of value. It would be unreal to work with scholars like Fredric Jameson, Antonio Viego, and Michael Hardt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreakyFoucault Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 Yes, indeedy! Hoping to study Victorian lit, with emphasis on the history of science, the mind, and proto-modernist conceptions of selfhood! Between fainting spells, fits of reverie, and good old fashioned crises de nerfs (and reading too much Flaubert), I almost forgot that Duke does interviews! Any idea when they usually send those invites out? I'm guessing @Warelin already listed them, but I'm sort of too nervous to check... hibiscus and Warelin 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warelin Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 (edited) 13 minutes ago, FreakyFoucault said: Yes, indeedy! Hoping to study Victorian lit, with emphasis on the history of science, the mind, and proto-modernist conceptions of selfhood! Between fainting spells, fits of reverie, and good old fashioned crises de nerfs (and reading too much Flaubert), I almost forgot that Duke does interviews! Any idea when they usually send those invites out? I'm guessing @Warelin already listed them, but I'm sort of too nervous to check... As a note to future applicants: Duke Literature and Duke English are two different programs with some overlaps. I asked a few things years ago and received the following response: "Many dissertations could in principle be written in either department. However, English is oriented more specifically toward the study of literary texts written in English, whereas Literature (despite its name) doesn’t necessarily have that focus on literature in general, and it definitely isn’t restricted to English literature. So the key question is whether you want a training in English literature or not. (With that said, the Duke English department is very theoretically-oriented, so one would not have to pursue a traditional training in English literature. However, in the final analysis, our students generally do end up in English departments, whereas Literature students end up in a wider variety of departments. Something to remember is that students in the English Department take classes in the Literature department and vice versa. Literature Department classes can count towards your required graduate classwork in the English Department. Students in both departments regularly socialize, etc." But back to the original question: Both programs notify early. Duke English tends to accept/reject between the 19th-23rd of January. Duke Literature tends to send out interview requests around the 21st of January. Acceptances and rejections follow about 7-10 days after. Edited January 14, 2018 by Warelin Clarification Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreakyFoucault Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 4 minutes ago, Warelin said: As a note: Duke Literature and Duke English are two different programs with some overlaps. Ah, this I didn't know -- don't tell Duke! I'm sensing a lot of hand-waving in that distinction... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warelin Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 2 minutes ago, FreakyFoucault said: Ah, this I didn't know -- don't tell Duke! I'm sensing a lot of hand-waving in that distinction... In the past (depending how early you submitted), if the department felt you were better fitted for the other department, they would transfer your application to the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreakyFoucault Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 @Warelin, I did my initial program research awhile ago, so I may have forgotten, but I don't remember seeing much, if anything, about the Literature program (at least on their English website). I wonder if the sizes of the two departments are comparable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warelin Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 4 minutes ago, FreakyFoucault said: @Warelin, I did my initial program research awhile ago, so I may have forgotten, but I don't remember seeing much, if anything, about the Literature program (at least on their English website). I wonder if the sizes of the two departments are comparable. https://literature.duke.edu/https://gradschool.duke.edu/academics/programs-degrees/englishhttps://gradschool.duke.edu/academics/programs-degrees/literature Duke English has 64 active grad students. Duke Literature has 48 active grad students. The Literature program had 155 applications last cycle and accepted 10. 7 of the 10 enrolled. The average verbal score was a 166V and a 3.9 GPA. The English program had 214 applications last cycle and accepted 14. 10 of the 14 enrolled. The average verbal score was a 166V and a 3.7GPA. FreakyFoucault 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreakyFoucault Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 Well, then I suppose I should apologize to @Crow T. Robot for high-jacking the thread, because I did not in fact apply to Duke Literature! My bad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelris Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 I applied to Duke Literature this cycle since my interests are primarily theoretical, especially psychoanalytic theory, Marxist theory, and ecocriticism. I'm not holding my breath but am waiting to see about interviews. Glad to know they send out those requests pretty early. Duke Literature and Emory Comparative Literature are probably my top choices right now so knowing either way would be a relief. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crow T. Robot Posted January 15, 2018 Author Share Posted January 15, 2018 4 hours ago, FreakyFoucault said: Well, then I suppose I should apologize to @Crow T. Robot for high-jacking the thread, because I did not in fact apply to Duke Literature! My bad! No worries, @FreakyFoucault--best of luck with Duke English! And thanks, @Warelin--hopefully this will be an instructive thread for someone researching programs down the line. 55 minutes ago, jelris said: I applied to Duke Literature this cycle since my interests are primarily theoretical, especially psychoanalytic theory, Marxist theory, and ecocriticism. I'm not holding my breath but am waiting to see about interviews. Glad to know they send out those requests pretty early. Duke Literature and Emory Comparative Literature are probably my top choices right now so knowing either way would be a relief. How cool to see someone with such similar interests to mine on here, and applying to Duke Lit too, at that! I hear you on being eager to know. Duke Lit, UCSC Hiscon, Brown English, Chicago English are all top for me, and I'm feeling fortunate that the implied rejections/potential good news will come sooner rather than later for all of them. FreakyFoucault 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelris Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 46 minutes ago, Crow T. Robot said: How cool to see someone with such similar interests to mine on here, and applying to Duke Lit too, at that! I hear you on being eager to know. Duke Lit, UCSC Hiscon, Brown English, Chicago English are all top for me, and I'm feeling fortunate that the implied rejections/potential good news will come sooner rather than later for all of them. Yes, the sooner they come, the sooner one can plan on what comes next. I'm not as familiar with the other programs you mentioned except for UCSC which seemed like a good fit but likely to be a bit scant on funding from what I've heard. Crow T. Robot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelris Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 Looks like interviews have gone out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mellowyellow Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 @Crow T. Robot did you get the interview for Lit? My friend is doing it later this week! Do you think getting the interview is a likely acceptance? It's only ten minutes.... On 1/14/2018 at 1:54 PM, Warelin said: The Literature program had 155 applications last cycle and accepted 10. 7 of the 10 enrolled. The average verbal score was a 166V and a 3.9 GPA. The English program had 214 applications last cycle and accepted 14. 10 of the 14 enrolled. The average verbal score was a 166V and a 3.7GPA. @Warelin these stats are amazing! thank you. Where did you find them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warelin Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 2 hours ago, Mellowyellow said: @Crow T. Robot did you get the interview for Lit? My friend is doing it later this week! Do you think getting the interview is a likely acceptance? It's only ten minutes.... @Warelin these stats are amazing! thank you. Where did you find them? https://gradschool.duke.edu/about/program-statistics Mellowyellow 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crow T. Robot Posted January 24, 2018 Author Share Posted January 24, 2018 (edited) 3 hours ago, Mellowyellow said: @Crow T. Robot did you get the interview for Lit? My friend is doing it later this week! Do you think getting the interview is a likely acceptance? It's only ten minutes.... @Warelin these stats are amazing! thank you. Where did you find them? Hey @Mellowyellow, I did! I had my interview on Monday. After obsessively trawling through past Gradcafe threads on Duke Lit, it seems that in past years they've been interviewing 20 or so applicants via Skype, then sending down 8ish for an "admitted students weekend" that's really just another interview, then offering admission to 6 of those 8. Seems like those who got the in-person visit but didn't get an offer are waitlisted. To your point, though, I'm not sure exactly what function the 10-minute interview serves in their process... I can only guess that the decision re. which 8 move on from that pool (if that's still how they're operating) involves more factors than just that conversation. Best of luck to your friend! And speaking of interviews, huge congrats on Chicago!! Edited January 24, 2018 by Crow T. Robot Mellowyellow 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mellowyellow Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 Hey @Crow T. Robot thank you and congrats on the interview! How did it go?? I was looking at the link @Warelin graciously posted and it seems in 2017 they admitted 10 and 7 students matriculated. Crow, do you think they are expanding the number of students let in? Also, my friend told me that there were only 16 interview slots on the Duke interview doodle with the request to select only one slot, which lead them to believe that there had to be fewer than 16 students interviewed. Here's the link to the duke admissions stats: https://gradschool.duke.edu/about/statistics/all-departments-phd-admissions-and-enrollment-statistics Good luck!! Crow T. Robot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crow T. Robot Posted January 25, 2018 Author Share Posted January 25, 2018 Thanks, @Mellowyellow! I think the interview went surprisingly well. The one thing that surprised me, but that I enjoyed, was how focused it was on the content of the project I proposed in my SOP. There was only, like, a nominal gesture toward 'why Duke' (presumably they could sense my thirst), and the rest pretty much resembled a particularly lively conference Q&A. It was definitely intimidating trying to explain, on the spot, the relevance of Jameson's work to mine... when he's right there in the room. But it was a fun challenge, and all the acdom members were all very personable and engaged. Good call on referencing actual numbers rather than Gradcafe whispers. I don't know if there's an uptick in admits or not; I'd trust your sources over the stuff I synthesized from old posts for sure. But given those numbers, things are looking encouraging! Best of luck to you too! Mellowyellow 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mellowyellow Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 (edited) That's so great @Crow T. Robot! It sounds like it went really well and thanks for all the info; I'll past it on. Let us know when you hear back! Fingers crossed :0 Edited January 25, 2018 by Mellowyellow Crow T. Robot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crow T. Robot Posted January 25, 2018 Author Share Posted January 25, 2018 Thanks, @Mellowyellow--I'll absolutely keep everyone posted! Fingers crossed for sure... Mellowyellow 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mellowyellow Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 Hey @Crow T. Robot, any thoughts about when Duke Lit will notify? I heard from some Duke people that the Lit visiting weekend will be early-mid Feb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crow T. Robot Posted January 30, 2018 Author Share Posted January 30, 2018 1 hour ago, Mellowyellow said: Hey @Crow T. Robot, any thoughts about when Duke Lit will notify? I heard from some Duke people that the Lit visiting weekend will be early-mid Feb. Yo @Mellowyellow! Mark Hansen told me during the interview that they should be notifying at some point this week, but I'm not sure exactly when those notifications are gonna come down the line over the week. Any intel on which specific weekend that might be? I'm hoping it's not the 16th-17th because I'm at a conference then, but I'll cancel pretty much anything for Duke........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mellowyellow Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 I heard it was going to be the 16th/17th! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crow T. Robot Posted February 1, 2018 Author Share Posted February 1, 2018 @Mellowyellow has your friend heard back yet by any chance? Still nothing from them over here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mellowyellow Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 @Crow T. Robot, nothing yet! I was anxious for both of you today given the historical trend. I imagine tomorrow will be the day for good news! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mellowyellow Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 I'll let you know if they hear anything today! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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