2021 Applicants

[Aulacrimosa94]

Hi all! It’s been very informative reading this chain...I was planning on applying to Comp Lit PhD programs beginning in Fall 2021 with a focus on  postmodernism and medieval mysticism. However a potential advisor from my top choice, U Chicago, has informed me they’ll be closing their 2021 cycle, reopening in 2022. I’m sure a great number of humanities programs will be following suit, so I’ve given up my dream of pursuing a doctoral degree for now. I might try applying again in 2022/23, though it depends on how other career events unfold. A huge bummer is that my GRE scores from 2015 JUST expired and I took it again last week before I made this decision lol. Anyway, good luck to everyone! 

[jadeisokay]

uchicago cinema/media studies isn't accepting ph.d applications this year.

[Bopie5]

To see programs starting to announce that they will not accept PhD applications for this season is disappointing, although relatively understandable. Definitely making me re-evaluate my course of action. At this point, it's looking like I'm going to throw my hat in the ring in a variety of related or adjacent fields (junior/community college teaching, publishing/editing, journalistic ventures, TESOL/EIL (which I do have a background in), professional tutoring, adjuncting, library science, etc), take 1-3 years off to see how things go, and potentially try again sometime in the future ?

[jadeisokay]

yeah, i'm pretty bummed. i'm thinking of picking up a tesol certification this coming year and still apply one or two places but seeing what happens. are you going to wait and see who's taking apps this cycle, @Bopie5, or just skip altogether? 

[Indecisive Poet]

On 8/3/2020 at 1:29 PM, Port in a Storm said:

Just FYI, I emailed a POI at UChicago for some clarity on this statement and was told that they are cutting admissions significantly this year and will only be admitting a handful of students, all of whom will be in Black studies. I can't speak for other institutions but I imagine others may be making similar decisions.

Can confirm. Exact number they are admitting is 5 (for comparison, last year they admitted 19) and they are not accepting anyone applying for a subfield other than Black studies. (There really should be an announcement on the admissions page saying that they are only accepting applications for Black studies this year but I suppose they have made this information so suggestive and difficult to find because people's wasted application fees will earn them tens of thousands of $$. Oh, the irony!).

Edited August 19, 2020 by Indecisive Poet

[winterbearr]

15 minutes ago, Indecisive Poet said:

Can confirm. Exact number they are admitting is 5 (for comparison, last year they admitted 19) and they are not accepting anyone applying for a subfield other than Black studies. (There really should be an announcement on the admissions page saying that they are only accepting applications for Black studies this year but I suppose they have made this information so suggestive and difficult to find because people's wasted application fees will earn them tens of thousands of $$. Oh, the irony!).

does anyone have concrete info about whether any other ivy / ivy adjacent schools / berkeley & UCLA are reducing cohort sizes like UChicago? UChicago was one of my top choices so it's really disappointing to hear they're only accepting about 5 : ((( 

are people still hoping to apply this cycle? or am I better off waiting until next year? 

[Bopie5]

On 8/18/2020 at 7:20 PM, jadeisokay said:

yeah, i'm pretty bummed. i'm thinking of picking up a tesol certification this coming year and still apply one or two places but seeing what happens. are you going to wait and see who's taking apps this cycle, @Bopie5, or just skip altogether? 

@jadeisokay I'm thinking of emailing my top 10 places, seeing who (if any) is taking anyone, and from there narrowing down to 3-5 places. Currently, the tentative plan (barring any further global disasters) is to apply to 3-5 places in December, get the results by March, and then if that's a bust, to start applying to jobs in April/May to start once I finish my MA. Hard to know if that's the right choice, but it's a choice, haha. After talking to my advisor, it seems wisest to spread my eggs across as many baskets as I can, so to speak, rather than directing all my energy toward only one outcome.

[jadeisokay]

fingers crossed for you. i'm thinking pretty much the same. apply to a few places, but look for on-campus gigs close to graduation and just see what happens. i keep reminding myself that there are like, actual classes and things coming up to worry about on top, too. 

[Bopie5]

10 hours ago, jadeisokay said:

fingers crossed for you. i'm thinking pretty much the same. apply to a few places, but look for on-campus gigs close to graduation and just see what happens. i keep reminding myself that there are like, actual classes and things coming up to worry about on top, too. 

Yeah, that’s part of what makes all of this so hard! Making major life decisions while trying to be safe in a global pandemic, while also in a national crisis of our career field, while the entire job market is also destabilized, while also trying to finish grad school...I’m supposed to start planning my thesis ASAP and while I have a fairly clear idea of what I’m going to do, there’s just still so much work to be done...

[jadeisokay]

oh, good luck! my thesis was not great and on the shorter side but i think my program was just happy anyone turned anything in. you'll do great, i'm sure.

[onerepublic96]

If I had started by MA one year later I would be finishing up my dissertation right now and I cannot even imagine how that would have gone... my god. And the fact that there is no end or respite in sight to ANY part of this COVID/economy tanking/universities in major flux/job market dying off before our eyes is so incredibly taxing... 

[Kapol-in]

I think I've decided on defering until next year... Hopefully things will be much more calm and resolved. To everyone applying this year I wish you very good luck and admire you for your determinance. 

[axtax]

I feel so at a loss for what to do. I'm getting a lot of advice from people (who don't particularly know anything abt humanities grad programs) to just apply this round because next round might be super competitive with all the people who have decided to take this round off and wait. But of course this round is obviously still so competitive with schools closing programs to admissions. 

What factors have y'all been taking into account in making the decision to apply or not? 

[onerepublic96]

Honestly, the best round to apply was last year's round. And I mean that in the sense that with the current covid/economic/political situation, the next few years are going to be completely unpredictable and range from "weird" to "total shitstorm", but we don't know which will be which. So at this point, the best decision you can make is going to depend entirely on your own financial and mental resources, and not at all on any kind of strategy or statistical game. Do you personally feel like you need to try to get in with the soonest possible cycle? Do you have the resources to deal with it (from figuring out how schools have been affected by Covid to your application/test expenses)? And if you strike out this time, will you no longer be in a position to try again with the next cycle and wish you had waited? Or will you have enough of a cushion (of whatever kind) to try again? 

[HipsterDoofus]

Hi all, 

Excited to join this thread. I'm curious to see if there are any other 2021 applicants, or current M.A. / Ph.D. students, who have a similar background to myself: I graduated from a small Christian college that is not very well-known. Any suggestions on whether this will affect my chances of acceptance? Part of me is convinced that it's not even worth applying to Ph.D. programs, but I've noticed a few students from very similar schools have been accepted into R1 programs based on graduate student pages from University's websites, so it can be done...any suggestions? 

Edited September 8, 2020 by HipsterDoofus

[Bopie5]

2 hours ago, HipsterDoofus said:

Excited to join this thread. I'm curious to see if there are any other 2021 applicants, or current M.A. / Ph.D. students, who have a similar background to myself: I graduated from a small Christian college that is not very well-known

Hi! I'm currently in Villanova's MA, planning on applying to PhD programs for 2021. I also graduated from an extremely small (~1200 students, undergrad only) private Christian college--so small that almost none of my current cohort or professors at Villanova have ever even heard of where I went to undergrad. I can't speak to PhD acceptances (I was rejected from all 7 programs I applied to for Fall 2019 admission, although I have a strong suspicion this had more to do with the vagueness of my interests and project at the time, and almost nothing to do with my undergrad degree), but for what it's worth, I got into Villanova with full funding. My advisor here did say that it may help me in the long run to have my MA from Villanova, a place that will be more recognizable/legible to adcomms, but that it's unlikely to be a deciding factor. 

Ultimately, we can't change where we went to undergrad at this point! And I think in the scope of the wider application, one would hope that this wouldn't be a determining component. I think regardless, even if adcomms do take undergrad alma mater into consideration, I doubt it would ever be weighted as much as the statement of purpose and writing sample. I don't think where you graduated from in undergrad should deter you from applying to MA or PhD programs. There's lots of reasons not to apply (the general instability of the grad school lifestyle, the particular instability of the humanities, the absolute waste land that is the job market, the unpredictability of the future of academia in the wake of the pandemic, the competitiveness of the pandemic app cycle and inevitably the next few cycles afterward, I could go on and on...) but I don't think your undergrad should be one of them! 

[HipsterDoofus]

6 hours ago, Bopie5 said:

Hi! I'm currently in Villanova's MA, planning on applying to PhD programs for 2021. I also graduated from an extremely small (~1200 students, undergrad only) private Christian college--so small that almost none of my current cohort or professors at Villanova have ever even heard of where I went to undergrad. I can't speak to PhD acceptances (I was rejected from all 7 programs I applied to for Fall 2019 admission, although I have a strong suspicion this had more to do with the vagueness of my interests and project at the time, and almost nothing to do with my undergrad degree), but for what it's worth, I got into Villanova with full funding. My advisor here did say that it may help me in the long run to have my MA from Villanova, a place that will be more recognizable/legible to adcomms, but that it's unlikely to be a deciding factor. 

Ultimately, we can't change where we went to undergrad at this point! And I think in the scope of the wider application, one would hope that this wouldn't be a determining component. I think regardless, even if adcomms do take undergrad alma mater into consideration, I doubt it would ever be weighted as much as the statement of purpose and writing sample. I don't think where you graduated from in undergrad should deter you from applying to MA or PhD programs. There's lots of reasons not to apply (the general instability of the grad school lifestyle, the particular instability of the humanities, the absolute waste land that is the job market, the unpredictability of the future of academia in the wake of the pandemic, the competitiveness of the pandemic app cycle and inevitably the next few cycles afterward, I could go on and on...) but I don't think your undergrad should be one of them! 

Hi! It's great to learn that your undergraduate didn't affect your success in attending (and getting funding for) Villanova's MA program. My college had about 2,400 students, also all undergrad, so it's quite a bit bigger, but still quite unknown to most people outside of PA / Eastern Ohio. I completely agree on your stance to applying to programs--my undergrad isn't a huge determining factor for me, and am glad to hear that it likely has minimal bearing anyways. I asked this question mostly because one of my professors who is helping me through this process insinuated I wouldn't have much of a chance of getting into a PhD program because I didn't attend a well-known school. On the on other hand, four other advisors (also all undergrad professors) didn't mention that being a factor at all, so I was curious if there was any general consensus/ wisdom on the matter, or if this one professor was merely trying to be realistic. I suppose it's almost kind of him since acceptance rates are already low and will only continue to dwindle in the coming years with the influx of applications, as you mentioned...but I'm full steam ahead still, for better or worse!  

Edited September 9, 2020 by HipsterDoofus
put Western instead of Eastern...whoops.

[jadeisokay]

@Bopie5 i had to laugh, to outsiders your message would probably seem nihilistic but for those of us in this... unique situation... we call grad life, "everything is literally precarious and a crapshoot but your undergrad doesn't matter" is very sweet and positive and uplifting.

[Bumblebea]

19 hours ago, HipsterDoofus said:

Hi all, 

Excited to join this thread. I'm curious to see if there are any other 2021 applicants, or current M.A. / Ph.D. students, who have a similar background to myself: I graduated from a small Christian college that is not very well-known. Any suggestions on whether this will affect my chances of acceptance? Part of me is convinced that it's not even worth applying to Ph.D. programs, but I've noticed a few students from very similar schools have been accepted into R1 programs based on graduate student pages from University's websites, so it can be done...any suggestions? 

It depends on where you want to apply. Not going to lie, but if you want to go to one of the field's prestige programs, then a BA from an unknown undergrad will make things an uphill climb. (Yes, there are people from obscure places who get into Harvard and Yale every year, but they're usually not the norm.) But there are a lot of other programs out there that won't make it a huge factor in their decision. I went to two universities, both public, and people came from undergrads that ranged from large public to small "never heard of it" public/private/wherever. I knew one person who was a GED-holder and several who started out at community college. 

Edited September 9, 2020 by Bumblebea

[HipsterDoofus]

9 hours ago, Bumblebea said:

It depends on where you want to apply. Not going to lie, but if you want to go to one of the field's prestige programs, then a BA from an unknown undergrad will make things an uphill climb. (Yes, there are people from obscure places who get into Harvard and Yale every year, but they're usually not the norm.) But there are a lot of other programs out there that won't make it a huge factor in their decision. I went to two universities, both public, and people came from undergrads that ranged from large public to small "never heard of it" public/private/wherever. I knew one person who was a GED-holder and several who started out at community college. 

Good to know. Most of the schools I'm planning on applying to are well-known schools, both a mix of private and public, but none are Ivy Leagues or ultra competitive (UC Davis, Michigan, etc.). It's interesting to hear that several of your peers didn't have rigorous undergrad experiences, or an undergrad experience at all. 

[Bopie5]

11 hours ago, jadeisokay said:

@Bopie5 i had to laugh, to outsiders your message would probably seem nihilistic but for those of us in this... unique situation... we call grad life, "everything is literally precarious and a crapshoot but your undergrad doesn't matter" is very sweet and positive and uplifting.

HA! lol this I think is one of the funkiest elements about being in grad life. My parents/friends are like "why are you so pessimistic?" and I'm like...you gotta understand...I'm actually being optimistic lmao

[Bopie5]

12 hours ago, HipsterDoofus said:

Hi! It's great to learn that your undergraduate didn't affect your success in attending (and getting funding for) Villanova's MA program. My college had about 2,400 students, also all undergrad, so it's quite a bit bigger, but still quite unknown to most people outside of PA / Eastern Ohio. I completely agree on your stance to applying to programs--my undergrad isn't a huge determining factor for me, and am glad to hear that it likely has minimal bearing anyways. I asked this question mostly because one of my professors who is helping me through this process insinuated I wouldn't have much of a chance of getting into a PhD program because I didn't attend a well-known school. On the on other hand, four other advisors (also all undergrad professors) didn't mention that being a factor at all, so I was curious if there was any general consensus/ wisdom on the matter, or if this one professor was merely trying to be realistic. I suppose it's almost kind of him since acceptance rates are already low and will only continue to dwindle in the coming years with the influx of applications, as you mentioned...but I'm full steam ahead still, for better or worse!  

For sure! It's so hard to balance how to think about adcomms/applications when the process is so obscure in a lot of ways. But I'm glad you're applying and we can all commiserate or congratulate each other this spring ?

[HipsterDoofus]

28 minutes ago, Bopie5 said:

For sure! It's so hard to balance how to think about adcomms/applications when the process is so obscure in a lot of ways. But I'm glad you're applying and we can all commiserate or congratulate each other this spring ?

Absolutely! I wish you the best with your applications!

[jadeisokay]

it's kind of frustrating trying to work on writing samples and statements of purpose when programs haven't officially announced if they're accepting applications or not yet. 

[lilting]

hello all, just joined the forum and thought I'd introduce myself. I'm planning to apply to CompLit programs this cycle (despite some being sadly suspended - Columbia, NYU, Oregon...). Currently figuring out which programs to apply to (and how many - 6? is 6 a good number?).

I'm looking at programs that are heavily interdisciplinary (history, material culture, etc) and theoretical (queer theory, postcolonial theory), and/or colleges that have good faculty in Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and Japanese (where my intersections lie -- I'll probably narrow down from these 4 though). 

I'm very interested in hearing where everyone else is applying to for CompLit, and what programs are well-regarded (beyond Harvard, Princeton, etc.), especially since I did my BA in the UK and am a tad less familiar with US colleges.