Spanish/Hispanic Studies Fall 2019 Applications

[marioncrane131]

Hi folks! I have also been rejected from Emory January 18  But I have an interview next week with Wisconsin-Madison, wish me luck! I also applied to Pittsburgh, Temple, Iowa and PennState but I don't have many hopes, tbh! 

[Pin34]

Does anyone know, are PhD interviews for Spanish programs usually in English or Spanish? It seems like a dumb question, since our work is done mostly in Spanish. However, it seems that much of the bureaucratic stuff is often carried out in English. Anyone have any insight as to the ratio of Spanish to English in these conversations? Thanks.

[marioncrane131]

@Pin34 As far as I know, usually are made in both languages at the same time. One of my colleagues was interviewed last week by Emory and there were eight professors: some asked him in English and the other half, in Spanish... The email I received from Wisconsin told me the same, that the interview will be held in both languages, but if any other partner has a different experience, could be interesting to know. 

[Ciboney]

Marion: good luck with the interview with Madison, Wisconsin. I applied there for the Master's program and I have not been rejected so far. I assume your interview is for the doctorate. And yeah... that Emory... I thought that my research focus was a good fit and thinking that Emory's is the lowest-ranked program in my list nationwide (NRC)... but, as I said, I was really worried about extremely expensive area and the South in general as personal fits, not the program. I still have to hear from a bunch like Colorado, Boulder or Purdue or Pittsburgh... I am not very hopeful. Its looks like what a friend told me about the Spanish literature programs or (even the linguistics fields) is true: the world-wide applications from so many good candidates from foreign countries and with graduate degrees makes it brutally competitive; too many factors, he told me, like "several" teaching assistantships only for only 40-60 applicants. My friend described this game as "playing the f_____g lottery;" it is not about merit or qualifications basically but about luck.

[Ciboney]

1/28 Update

Rejected: Emory (PhD), Michigan@Ann Arbor (PhD), Illinois@Urbana-Champaign (MA), Maryland@College Park(MA) ?

Pending: 6 of 10. ?

 Running to the closest pub to have a couple of shots. ?‍♀️

[xolo]

On 1/27/2019 at 9:38 AM, Pin34 said:

Does anyone know, are PhD interviews for Spanish programs usually in English or Spanish? It seems like a dumb question, since our work is done mostly in Spanish. However, it seems that much of the bureaucratic stuff is often carried out in English. Anyone have any insight as to the ratio of Spanish to English in these conversations? Thanks.

I didn't have any interviews out of 9 applications (4 acceptances). But, the conversations I had with professors before being accepted were mostly in English. I find my department favors English in internal matters, but it does vary depending on who is talking and which is their strongest language. But, the Spanish classes themselves are 99% conducted in Spanish. Oops, I mean the undergraduate Spanish classes. For graduate classes, it really varies. Some of the professors are native in Portuguese. Good luck to everybody!

 

Edited January 29, 2019 by xolo

[Ciboney]

The statistics for applicants, admitted, and attending students (those who accepted offers) can be found in the official websites of some universities like Wisconsin@Madison or Northwestern. The only program lacking the information at Northwestern happens to be mine! 

Anyone has any news besides those posted in "Results"? I am waiting and waiting from those that still have not communicated their decisions. U. of Colorado at Boulder informed me last week that they will be sending their decisions in the next few weeks. Nothing yet from Northwestern, Wisconsin@Madison, Pittsburgh, or Purdue. ?

[marioncrane131]

I have been accepted in Wisconsin-Madison, the conditions and people seemed really good... but I have some doubts tho. No news from any other university, apart from Emory and Georgetown. ?‍♀️

[Ciboney]

Marioncrane: thanks for the information! I applied to the MA in literature. I have not heard from them, not even to reject me. The graduate/coordinator position was vacant in December. I found a name and email today and just asked about the status minutes ago. I was most probably rejected, based on past experiences. I also asked today about time frames to Pittsburgh and Northwestern. In Purdue and Colorado, Boulder they have been very friendly and quick. I am not sure about these ones yet. U of Wisconsin seems OK based on their own websites' official stories. A couple of instructors there I would like to work with. Yet, there is something about it, after I watched some videos in YouTube that just does not click with me. I don't know what it is. It does not matter; I'm most probably rejected. 

[Ciboney]

Got a message from U of Pittsburgh. Decisions will be communicated in mid-April. 

[Lalala90]

Hi people. 

My name is Laura and I applied to Spanish MA programs. I have been accepted in MSU (yay!), I have an interview for Ohio University, I am waitlisted in Illinois Urbana-Champaign :(. 

I still need to get news from Wisconsin-Madison (probably rejected), Toronto and University of Arkansas. 

Two days ago, I sent an email to the Wisc-Madison graduate coordinator and today she sent me an email saying she's not longer with the Department. I sent the new coordinator an email today asking about my status. I´m not feeling very hopeful about this one :/. 

 

 

[Lalala90]

I have just received an email from University of Toronto. Decisions will be communicated in two or three weeks. ?

[Ciboney]

Ah, some news... Good luck, Laura. That is good you got waitlisted at Illinois. I got rejected. 

[Ciboney]

Thanks for sharing the news about how your schools are responding. ?

[Borderlands1809]

Has anybody applying to Columbia or Brown heard back yet?

[FHG]

Thanks to everyone who's been posting in this thread/the results page! It's helped make the wait more bearable. I'm finally posting to see what people have heard from Columbia. The only post on results page says "pre-selected" for an interview? So maybe they're in the preliminary stages of selection. Also, if the other two people who are interviewing with Stony Brook want to share how the interviews go/what they ask about, I'd really appreciate it!

¡Gracias y buena suerte a tod@s! ?

[Lalala90]

On 2/6/2019 at 10:46 AM, marioncrane131 said:

I have been accepted in Wisconsin-Madison, the conditions and people seemed really good... but I have some doubts tho. No news from any other university, apart from Emory and Georgetown. ?‍♀️

Hi! 

Were you accepted in the MA or PhD program? I haven't heard from them yet :/. 

Thanks

[Ciboney]

Marion: I am wondering too. Was it the MA or the PhD track at Wisconsin@Madison? 

By the way, neither Wisconsin nor Northwestern replied to my email inquiry yesterday. Pittsburgh did within an hour. 

This seems to be like the mystery  religions in the Roman Empire. 

 

[Borderlands1809]

2 hours ago, FHG said:

Thanks to everyone who's been posting in this thread/the results page! It's helped make the wait more bearable. I'm finally posting to see what people have heard from Columbia. The only post on results page says "pre-selected" for an interview? So maybe they're in the preliminary stages of selection. Also, if the other two people who are interviewing with Stony Brook want to share how the interviews go/what they ask about, I'd really appreciate it!

¡Gracias y buena suerte a tod@s! ?

I haven't heard back from them at all. The suspense is intense!

[ANGTIP]

Hi All, I am here biting my fingernails like the rest of you:) Does anyone know if Stony Brook has interviews for all applicants or if it is a random thing? Thanks in advance!

[FHG]

Borderlands, I agree! I feel like I applied so long ago and haven't heard anything. ANGTIP, I'm not sure because I didn't see anything on their website about interviews. The email said I was on their "short list" and that they wanted to hold an interview. I'm assuming it's the final deciding step, however. My only interview so far was with Ohio State, and my understanding was that it was to check my Spanish since many of their students are TAs. It was fairly short and not terribly formal, so I'm not sure what to expect from Stony Brook.

[ANGTIP]

FGH, thanks for the info!:) I also checked the website but couldn't find anything about the interview process. Best of luck to you!

 

[marioncrane131]

PhD! I 'm finishing my MA just this semester.

[gonza]

Good evening everyone, 

I've noticed many people in this thread applied to Midwest universities and curious if anyone else received an admissions decision from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities? I received the good news a couple of days ago and maybe someone else here did as well?

Thanks!

[Ciboney]

Minnesota is not on my list. I have seen something about it posted in "Results" ... Curiously, I decided not to apply there because, although highly ranked, they requested a recorded presentation as part of the application. Ironically, then I was forced to do it for the School of Languages and Cultures at Purdue University since it was required. 

What program were you accepted to, Master's or PhD? Are you in linguistics or literature? Purdue U. informed  me that they had made their decisions for linguistics already. (I am in literature, so I still have some hope in that school. Their program is considered one of the top 10, but the most important thing is that the faculty seems to be so interesting and humbly scholarly, as opposed to the information available in some many Internet sites for others. 

Guys: what are your fields of interest? Literature or linguistics? I plan to study Spanish-American literature, 19th and early 20th Centuries. But I have a strong interest in the Renaissance and Golden Age of Spain as well. 

What made you decide on applying to the programs you chose? In my case it was: the rankings of their quality (National Research Council study of 2010), the faculty areas of specialty, lack of GRE as a requirement, and the possibility (in my naïve vision) of getting admitted. This last criteria was crushed by reality and later (post-application) research on their available statistics showing the huge amount of applications from all over the world!