Spanish/Hispanic Studies Fall 2019 Applications

[Renzi]

On 2/6/2019 at 11:33 AM, Ciboney said:

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. ?

I've just received the following response from the Graduate Director at Northwestern (Department of Spanish & Portuguese) after asking her a question about interviews: 

"(...)Thanks for your email. Although I know that some graduate programs interview the top applicants to their program, Northwestern’s Spanish and Portuguese program does not conduct interviews of prospective graduate students. Our admission decisions are based entirely on the applicant’s written materials. We are currently in the middle of reviewing the materials of all the applicants to our program, and expect to have made an initial decision within the next couple of weeks. Thanks for your patience!"

I also applied to NYU and Berkeley – haven't heard anything yet from Berkeley. As for NYU, this is all I've got so far (received by e-mail):

"(...)The Department will begin to contact selected applicants for interviews in February.  Interviews are usually conducted via Skype. Final decisions will be made in March and April."

However, this made me quite confused, considering that some people posted on the results page that hey have been contacted for interviews between January 30 and 31st. 

Edited February 8, 2019 by Rodrigo C.

[Ciboney]

They are lying, obviously. OR those posting results are lying. I got a response from Wisconsin just now saying they are reviewing applications and will make decisions in the next few weeks. Yet one of the chatters here says she has been accepted by Wisconsin. Obviously another discrepancy. And about Northwestern ... I did find their statistics: about 40 applicants last year if I recall correctly. They accepted about 5 people. They all accepted the offer. 

[Ciboney]

Oh! And thanks for sharing info on interviews for Northwestern. 

[FHG]

18 hours ago, ANGTIP said:

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

 

I hope it helps, and I hope you hear good news soon!

[marioncrane131]

 @Rodrigo C., in my experience with the literature PhD in Wisconsin-Madison wasn't "an interview" (that was I thought by the first email), it was an informal phone call by Skype to explain to me all the conditions and extra information but the coordinator told me that have taken the decision with the written materials as you said. And no, no lying, sorry

[correr]

@Rodrigo C., Berkeley has already released admissions decisions for HLL if that is the program you applied to.

[Renzi]

@correr oh, really? ? how do you know that? have you been admitted? 

Edited February 8, 2019 by Rodrigo C.

[Borderlands1809]

Quizás Lope expresa lo que todos sentimos de momento jaja:

Dulce desdén, si el daño que me haces
de la suerte que sabes te agradezco,
qué haré si un bien de tu rigor merezco,
pues sólo con el mal me satisfaces.

No son mis esperanzas pertinaces
por quien los males de tu bien padezco
sino la gloria de saber que ofrezco
alma y amor de tu rigor capaces.

Dame algún bien, aunque con él me prives
de padecer por ti, pues por ti muero
si a cuenta dél mis lágrimas recibes.

Mas ¿cómo me darás el bien que espero?,
si en darme males tan escaso vives
que ¡apenas tengo cuantos males quiero!

Edited February 8, 2019 by Borderlands1809

[correr]

@Rodrigo C. yes ?

[Renzi]

57 minutes ago, correr said:

@Rodrigo C. yes ?

Awesome! Congratulations!  I was quite hopeful to be admitted there but Northwestern or NYU would also be great in the case I'm admitted. Waiting for a response has never been so hard.

[Ciboney]

Marion: re "They are lying, obviously. OR those posting results are lying. I got a response from Wisconsin just now saying they are reviewing applications and will make decisions in the next few weeks. Yet one of the chatters here says she has been accepted by Wisconsin. Obviously another discrepancy." I assumed it was not you, but the email I received from Wisconsin saying they had not made decisions yet. Obviously, some decisions have already been made as your case shows. 

Congrats to those admitted to programs they applied to in the last few days.

Rodrigo: you are applying for Portuguese? I noticed that you are in Brazil. 

From the information I am getting, the last week of February will be the time then to hear from Northwestern, Colorado@Boulder, and Wisconsin@Madison. Pity that they do not communicate rejections first, like Maryland or Illinois. I wonder how is it that others can make decisions in 2 weeks or 4 weeks... Probably better organized faculty and graduate program directors. 

Borderlands: Macunaíma by de Andrade expresses better how I feel lately than that poem by Lope de Vega. ?

 

[Renzi]

@Ciboney yes, I'm brazilian and I'm applying for graduate programs in Spanish and Portuguese. 

[ANGTIP]

Hello All, so from comments on the Results pages it seems that Stony Brook has contacted short-listed applicants and all others will be rejected. Can anyone confirm? Thanks in advance!

[Ciboney]

Greetings again, applicants in my field. Although not particularly a fan of rankings in general, I thought I might share the National Research Council (USA) rankings of literature & linguistics graduate programs in the United States from 8 years ago, the latest. You can check your programs (where you applied to) there. The most useful for me where the first two columns on reputation/prestige among scholars and the last two columns on the quality overall of the programs after an evaluation of all factors. https://www.chronicle.com/article/nrc-rankings-overview-spanish/124661

[Ciboney]

If anyone following this thread applied to U of Colorado, Boulder: results were posted this morning, at least for some people. 

[FHG]

On 2/9/2019 at 7:36 AM, ANGTIP said:

Hello All, so from comments on the Results pages it seems that Stony Brook has contacted short-listed applicants and all others will be rejected. Can anyone confirm? Thanks in advance!

I can't really confirm that, but I would assume they're entering the final phase and that the interviews are used to make final decisions, so maybe. Hopefully you hear something soon, and I hope it's good news! I'll update here/the results page to help you know where they are in the process. Best of luck!!

[Ciboney]

Hey, guys and girls, any reaction to checking your programs in the rankings posted earlier? It does show that candidates have to be careful not to confuse the reputation of a university as a whole with that of a specific graduate program. I used it to pick up a list of decent programs that was modified over time as important considerations were added such as no GRE or TOEFL exams, courses taught and their descriptions ("examination of capitalistic imperialism oppression of the feminine gender and bisexuality under Fascist dictatorships in South America as expressed in marginalized music and oral poetry of the favelas" was a party pooper and a red flag), geographical location and living expenses, etc. The original list was significantly reduced, although I left a poorly-ranked one (that ended up rejecting me anyway!). ?

Who else is waiting for decisions? I have four still. Although I highly doubt I would go to two of them if they would accept me (which I doubt). I just do not have a good feeling I would be happy there. Very different programs though. Indiana@Bloomington is sending out notifications in the last couple of days. I was informed today by email that I will hear from Purdue by the end of the month or earlier. I am quite interested in the literature faculty of the program there, and the institution in general. 

[Renzi]

Well, I've just been officially rejected from Berkeley. Still waiting for decisions from NYU and Northwestern. 

[Ciboney]

Sorry to hear about Berkeley, Rod.  I considered applying there, but decided against it.

If I hear anything about Northwestern I will let you know, but I do not expect news until early March from them. I think that is when they invite those applicants they accept for some "recruiting visit" or something like that. Some programs --very few--do this kind of thing which I find weird, but ... This sort of stuff that those programs do is new to me. I have graduate degrees and I never heard of such a thing before until this academic year when I am going through the process of applying to graduate schools again, although in a different academic field.

I did check the "Results" page a few minutes ago, and I saw a lot of postings for Spanish and Hispanic Literature or Hispanic Linguistics.

ANGTIP: Several postings about SUNY-Stony Brook since you were so interested in that particular program.

Edited February 12, 2019 by Ciboney

[Borderlands1809]

Ciboney, no answer here either. The suspense is killing me! 

[Renzi]

Thanks, @Ciboney!  I think the same about Northwestern. All I can do is wait now. And finish writing my master's thesis haha. 

[Ciboney]

Borderland: besides Brown and Columbia, where else have you applied to? Columbia and Brown have a lot of money (financial aid). Brown is very highly rated. So is Yale, but 3 or 4 years ago none of those who were offered admission at Yale accepted their offer. The program was notorious for ugly politics and rivalries, plus the graduates were having serious problems getting jobs. It was in the press. Brown, I do not know, but they have a reputation for snobbishness (whether it is deserved or not) among many people I know in Academia. What is your field or area, Border? I am interested in 19th and 20th century Spanish-American narrative. 

Rodrigo: tell Bolsonaro in your country to send me some money for the move at the end of the summer. ?

 

[Renzi]

@Ciboney haha.  You can't imagine how hard it has been for graduate students in Brazil regarding financial aid. Those who get a scholarship (my case) are very underpaid here (R$1500 – about US$400 – per month for master students), and this is actually one of the reasons why I'm trying to get into an American university for the PhD.

[gonza]

Good morning/afternoon everyone, 

I was wondering if anyone in this thread knows anything about Vanderbilt, Upenn, and/or Princeton Spanish PhD admissions? It's mid February and no word from these institutions. 

Thanks!

[FHG]

20 hours ago, Ciboney said:

Sorry to hear about Berkeley, Rod.  I considered applying there, but decided against it.

 

ANGTIP: Several postings about SUNY-Stony Brook since you were so interested in that particular program.

I'm sorry as well, Rodrigo! I hope everyone hears some good news soon. I'm really just waiting to hear from Columbia at this point, but looking at previous results I'm not very hopeful.

 

ANGTIP,  I was told of my acceptance to Stony Brook during my interview with them. I hope you've heard something since your last post! If you haven't heard one way or the other, it could be that you're still in the running. Best of luck to you!