2021 Applicants

[LtotheOG]

24 minutes ago, missmarianne said:

1. Was I supposed to be carrying on an ongoing email exchange with these professors beyond the introductory/inquiry email and the thank you-for-replying-email? I assumed that I would be disrupting their work if I did that...

2. Did y'all* have other professors reach out to them first to make an introduction? Is that a thing that happens?

3. Did y'all know the people you were going to work with before you emailed them and, if so, how did you meet them?

1. I’ve heard faculty here advise, that they assume as well that you’d disrupt their work.

2. I did/could not. It can happen, but perhaps not so much in this particular context. (Imagine: cosupervision, etc.).

3. I did not ‘personally’ know anyone. The only person I did end up working with for a short while, was someone whose essay I read and cited in the SOP.

[missmarianne]

31 minutes ago, queenofcarrotflowers said:

Leaving this to someone more qualified to answer (shutout pending, decided not to reach out to any POIs, I don't think #2 is a thing but, again, am super underqualified to answer that) 

Sorry I attached these questions to your post! I feel like I've done that with a few people on this thread to ask questions that were only loosely related.

[queenofcarrotflowers]

1 minute ago, missmarianne said:

Sorry I attached these questions to your post! I feel like I've done that with a few people on this thread to ask questions that were only loosely related.

No problem haha- I was j hoping I didn’t sound like I have any proper knowledge of how tf the weird mystery of admissions works, since I’m pretty damn clueless and I’m pretty much j clutching at straws with my posts ?

[missmarianne]

20 minutes ago, Shake829 said:

When applying, I had a former professor help me. She advised me to not reach out to potential POIs (unless I had specific questions about the program). She said the naming of POIs should be in the SoP. But she also advised not to tailor it towards only one professor, because that doesn’t show that you are a good fit for the department; it shows that you are a good fit for that specific person (I hadn’t thought of it like that before she made the point). She said that a good fit meant articulating why a number of different professors could work with me. 

That was her advice, but it’s not the same for everyone. Reach out to whoever is writing your letter of recommendation and ask for their advice.

Oh okay, perfect! I've had about a 50/50 split on whether or not to reach out when I asked my mentors and LORs but I've also seen a lot of people on GC that seem to have made more of an impression on their POIs prior to applying, so I was trying to figure out if I should have been doing something different.

I like your prof's point about being a fit for one particular person, too. That definitely makes sense to me since my work felt a little overly-specific. 

[missmarianne]

22 minutes ago, LtotheOG said:

1. I’ve heard faculty here advise, that they assume as well that you’d disrupt their work.

2. I did/could not. It can happen, but perhaps not so much in this particular context. (Imagine: cosupervision, etc.).

3. I did not ‘personally’ know anyone. The only person I did end up working with for a short while, was someone whose essay I read and cited in the SOP.

1. Yes! I've heard the same thing and ALSO gotten the exact opposite advice! It's confusing me.

2. I'm glad this is not a thing for most of us, because I would feel like I had no autonomy. 

3. This is good to know and takes some pressure off of me. I was sort of wondering if there was a networking step I missed somewhere. 

[queenofcarrotflowers]

29 minutes ago, Shake829 said:

When applying, I had a former professor help me. She advised me to not reach out to potential POIs (unless I had specific questions about the program). She said the naming of POIs should be in the SoP. But she also advised not to tailor it towards only one professor, because that doesn’t show that you are a good fit for the department; it shows that you are a good fit for that specific person (I hadn’t thought of it like that before she made the point). She said that a good fit meant articulating why a number of different professors could work with me. 

That was her advice, but it’s not the same for everyone. Reach out to whoever is writing your letter of recommendation and ask for their advice.

Run out of reactions, but j want to mention that I was given this exact same advice by multiple profs.

[Shake829]

6 minutes ago, missmarianne said:

Oh okay, perfect! I've had about a 50/50 split on whether or not to reach out when I asked my mentors and LORs but I've also seen a lot of people on GC that seem to have made more of an impression on their POIs prior to applying, so I was trying to figure out if I should have been doing something different.

I like your prof's point about being a fit for one particular person, too. That definitely makes sense to me since my work felt a little overly-specific. 

Another note that I forgot to add: when I asked why I shouldn’t contact POIs, she said that it could give the impression that you’re not entirely sure what they do and that you’re asking them if you’d be a good fit. This makes sense; most POIs interactions are “I do this. Would you be able to work with me if I was admitted?” 
 

She said that if you feel the need to ask, the fit is likely not there.

[LtotheOG]

48 minutes ago, Shake829 said:

But she also advised not to tailor it towards only one professor, because that doesn’t show that you are a good fit for the department; it shows that you are a good fit for that specific person (I hadn’t thought of it like that before she made the point). She said that a good fit meant articulating why a number of different professors could work with me. 

This is GREAT advice, although I confess it hasn’t worked for me so far. On the other hand what did work for me at the time was my research aligning with that of a specific faculty.
Afterwards while doing my PhD the same ‘click’ unhappened in spectacular fashion and I was thrown off the program, solely because my advisor disowned me. (There was simply no one to step into their shoes)

Sadly, the dream of working with ‘someone’ turning into a nightmare is a regular nightmare in itself!

Edited February 20, 2021 by LtotheOG

[Shake829]

16 minutes ago, LtotheOG said:

This is GREAT advice, although I confess it hasn’t worked for me so far. On the other hand what did work for me at the time was my research aligning with that of a specific faculty.
Afterwards while doing my PhD the same ‘click’ unhappened in spectacular fashion and I was thrown off the program, solely because my advisor disowned me. (There was simply no one to step into their shoes)

Sadly, the dream of working with ‘someone’ turning into a nightmare is a regular nightmare in itself!

Oh man. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to explain this situation when applying.

[missmarianne]

38 minutes ago, Shake829 said:

Another note that I forgot to add: when I asked why I shouldn’t contact POIs, she said that it could give the impression that you’re not entirely sure what they do and that you’re asking them if you’d be a good fit. This makes sense; most POIs interactions are “I do this. Would you be able to work with me if I was admitted?” 
 

She said that if you feel the need to ask, the fit is likely not there.

That's very true and this is helping me realize something. My field is sort of transitioning because a lot of drama critics from a certain era--basically all the people that taught me--are retiring and departments are hiring new performance-focused scholars. I'm thinking I need to try to publish some performance-oriented work this year so I have something to talk about with those scholars instead of just hoping the drama-oriented people remain at their universities for another five years to work with me. 

[LtotheOG]

3 minutes ago, missmarianne said:

Another note that I forgot to add: when I asked why I shouldn’t contact POIs, she said that it could give the impression that you’re not entirely sure what they do and that you’re asking them if you’d be a good fit. This makes sense; most POIs interactions are “I do this. Would you be able to work with me if I was admitted?” 
 

She said that if you feel the need to ask, the fit is likely not there.

While that is true, it can’t harm either way. As it often happens, they may not be available to work with you, or may not be taking on new students. Just ask if they are willing to advise you.

[Shake829]

3 minutes ago, missmarianne said:

That's very true and this is helping me realize something. My field is sort of transitioning because a lot of drama critics from a certain era--basically all the people that taught me--are retiring and departments are hiring new performance-focused scholars. I'm thinking I need to try to publish some performance-oriented work this year so I have something to talk about with those scholars instead of just hoping the drama-oriented people remain at their universities for another five years to work with me. 

Is there anyway that you can put the “old” and the “new” in conversation with one another in your writing sample? Remember, most of our work is us building from what others have already done. One of my professors said it best: a graduate-level literature paper is basically saying, “Well, everyone has already done this, but I’m doing THIS instead.” 
 

Given this, all of the “new” people have probably been inspired by and have read the people you’re referring to. They’ve probably cited those people in their essays, went to conferences that those people have spoken at, and maybe even had conversations with them. So, you’re referring to such scholarship is, truthfully, probably not a reason to fear. Instead of worrying about that, I would work on perfecting the writing sample and getting input on it from those writing your LOR.

[missmarianne]

3 minutes ago, LtotheOG said:

While that is true, it can’t harm either way. As it often happens, they may not be available to work with you, or may not be taking on new students. Just ask if they are willing to advise you.

This was my concern, too, especially with the people planning on retiring. I think it might be a mix in my case. Like, if I've heard that someone is retiring, I can ask grad students or people that know that person, etc.

[Shake829]

4 minutes ago, LtotheOG said:

While that is true, it can’t harm either way. As it often happens, they may not be available to work with you, or may not be taking on new students. Just ask if they are willing to advise you.

This is true. I was mostly referring to those who straight up ask whether or not their research interests align with the POI. If you’re confident that they do, I see no harm in asking if new students are being considered.

[vl95]

3 hours ago, Shake829 said:

There is a chance that just very few acceptances were made. Rutgers is under a hiring freeze due to the pandemic, so I’d imagine they wouldn’t want to dedicate a lot of money into letting the department take a large cohort. 

some hopefully helpful info: the department is still aiming for their usual cohort size (12), but out of an abundance of caution to avoid over-admitting, they are only admitting 12 applicants. So technically there are fewer acceptances, but the cohort size is unchanged.

[Shake829]

10 minutes ago, vl95 said:

some hopefully helpful info: the department is still aiming for their usual cohort size (12), but out of an abundance of caution to avoid over-admitting, they are only admitting 12 applicants. So technically there are fewer acceptances, but the cohort size is unchanged.

Did you reach out to the department for this info?

[harleth]

1 hour ago, missmarianne said:

1. Was I supposed to be carrying on an ongoing email exchange with these professors beyond the introductory/inquiry email and the thank you-for-replying-email? I assumed that I would be disrupting their work if I did that...

2. Did y'all* have other professors reach out to them first to make an introduction? Is that a thing that happens?

3. Did y'all know the people you were going to work with before you emailed them and, if so, how did you meet them?

chiming in! i only emailed people if i had an actual question (this cycle for the most part i asked if they knew if they were planning to admit ppl since some schools decided really late). it was helpful in one case bc a POI revealed they were planning to leave that uni and i decided not to apply.

1. i agree with your assumption/what others have said! some of the POIs i contacted offered to chat via zoom so i had some 20-min convos but nothing beyond that

2. i didn't do this but i'm aware it's a thing; if i was aware of a connection i threw it in at the beginning

3. technically yes because i applied to work with my current MA supervisor

also, there was zero correlation between my results and which schools i contacted, so i'm skeptical about how much it actually helps. who you mention in your SoP and how you articulate fit there deffo seems more relevant!

[missmarianne]

21 minutes ago, Shake829 said:

Is there anyway that you can put the “old” and the “new” in conversation with one another in your writing sample? Remember, most of our work is us building from what others have already done. One of my professors said it best: a graduate-level literature paper is basically saying, “Well, everyone has already done this, but I’m doing THIS instead.” 
 

Given this, all of the “new” people have probably been inspired by and have read the people you’re referring to. They’ve probably cited those people in their essays, went to conferences that those people have spoken at, and maybe even had conversations with them. So, you’re referring to such scholarship is, truthfully, probably not a reason to fear. Instead of worrying about that, I would work on perfecting the writing sample and getting input on it from those writing your LOR.

Yeah, that's a good point about building on what others have done. In retrospect, it's possible that my drama-focused work suggested that I was not up to date on current performance-oriented scholarship. I didn't cite any performance-oriented critics though I emphasized in all of my SOPs that I was applying to work in certain programs because they had performance resources/coursework and I wanted to expand on my drama-oriented work.

I plan on spending the first part of the year creating a perfect writing sample. Last year, I was reluctant to work on it because I thought the pandemic might be impacting admissions so I had one of those editing processes where everything sounded pretty good when I sent it off but I didn't take ten days away from it and come back to it with new eyes which is generally an important part of my writing process. I think I felt pretty okay about what I sent because it was mostly coming from my already-reviewed/approved MA thesis. Who knows, though.

Edited February 20, 2021 by missmarianne

[LtotheOG]

12 minutes ago, missmarianne said:

I think I felt pretty okay about what I sent because it was mostly coming from my already-reviewed/approved MA thesis. Who knows, though.

I sent in something similar that I also published in a peer-reviewed journal as a way of guaranteeing its presentability. One of my PoIs commented that the WS might have been too much of a “stretch” and could have posed a potential problem for the file.

Edited February 20, 2021 by LtotheOG

[missmarianne]

4 minutes ago, harleth said:

chiming in! i only emailed people if i had an actual question (this cycle for the most part i asked if they knew if they were planning to admit ppl since some schools decided really late). it was helpful in one case bc a POI revealed they were planning to leave that uni and i decided not to apply.

1. i agree with your assumption/what others have said! some of the POIs i contacted offered to chat via zoom so i had some 20-min convos but nothing beyond that

2. i didn't do this but i'm aware it's a thing; if i was aware of a connection i threw it in at the beginning

3. technically yes because i applied to work with my current MA supervisor

also, there was zero correlation between my results and which schools i contacted, so i'm skeptical about how much it actually helps. who you mention in your SoP and how you articulate fit there deffo seems more relevant!

1. Ahhh! This is my fear--someone leaving a school. The people who were open to zoom chats...when did you contact them? I might try contacting them earlier next time. Definitely hit everyone up in November, last time, which is final papers time, so.

2. I'm honestly feeling better knowing most of you didn't have this happen. My advisor had mentioned, in passing, Skip Gates contacting someone at whatever university to give them a recommendation and I was just like, "Cool. Cool, cool, cool, cool. ?"

3. Good to know. 

GOING TO CRUSH MY SOP THIS YEAR.

 

 

[Shake829]

Advice wanted: I’m one of the few who has yet to hear back from CUNY. I emailed the department to inquire about when decisions would come, but I haven’t yet received a reply. Is it pushy to follow up on that email or call on Monday? Should I just wait it out?

I’m wanting to start considering my options early, and I won’t be able to fully do this without the CUNY confirmation.

[LtotheOG]

2 minutes ago, Shake829 said:

Advice wanted: I’m one of the few who has yet to hear back from CUNY. I emailed the department to inquire about when decisions would come, but I haven’t yet received a reply. Is it pushy to follow up on that email or call on Monday? Should I just wait it out?

I’m wanting to start considering my options early, and I won’t be able to fully do this without the CUNY confirmation.

I’d probably wait it out a bit longer, given the slow roll this year.

[missmarianne]

2 minutes ago, LtotheOG said:

I sent in something similar that I also published in a peer-reviewed journal as a way of guaranteeing its presentability. One of my PoIs commented that the WS might have been too much of a “stretch” and could have posed a potential problem for the file.

Yikes! My advisor recommended I send a published writing sample because a professor, two outside readers from the press, and two editors had approved it for publication, but the takeaway here seems to be that someone on an admissions committee could still disagree with all five critics and hate it.

? Cool, cool, cool, cool. ?

[LtotheOG]

3 minutes ago, missmarianne said:

Yikes! My advisor recommended I send a published writing sample because a professor, two outside readers from the press, and two editors had approved it for publication, but the takeaway here seems to be that someone on an admissions committee could still disagree with all five critics and hate it.

? Cool, cool, cool, cool. ?

As much as I hate to say it, they could. Can I ask if it plays well with/complements your SoP?

Edited February 20, 2021 by LtotheOG

[LtotheOG]

2 minutes ago, missmarianne said:

Yikes! My advisor recommended I send a published writing sample because a professor, two outside readers from the press, and two editors had approved it for publication, but the takeaway here seems to be that someone on an admissions committee could still disagree with all five critics and hate it.

? Cool, cool, cool, cool. ?

To clarify, this PoI wasn’t on the committee though. She did however go through my file. The judgement is her own.