French PhD 2021

[gouttedesoleil]

27 minutes ago, 2021 said:

Congratulations! Is Duke your first choice?

Thank you, it definitely is! Was really excited to get the letter yesterday! What about you?

Edited January 27, 2021 by gouttedesoleil
Wanted to add thank you to message

[2021]

Just now, gouttedesoleil said:

Thank you, it definitely is! Was really excited to get the letter yesterday! What about you?

You're welcome! UVA and Duke were my first choices.

[kso1634]

Just got an interview with Indiana for their French Linguistics program! Wishing you all the best of luck as well

[Beeba]

Just got formally accepted to UNC Chapel Hill! They have a tradition of allowing grad students to take some courses with Duke, so maybe I'll see some of you if you choose to go there haha. 

I've been a longtime lurker on gradcafe and only posted a few times but I'm happy to share my good news this year. This is my THIRD cycle applying after having unfortunate luck the first two times (waitlisted at one school cycle one, admitted and then offer rescinded from another school due to low funding during cycle two). I applied to >10 schools each cycle and kept getting rejection after rejection and I honestly was telling myself this would be the last time I would try before just giving up on my dreams. I thought this year would be another bad year with covid and I don't have a stellar GPA (2.9) or any publications, no Masters degree, only some pretty good teaching experience on my resume. But I rewrote my awful SOP and I think that's what did the trick! 

Wishing you all the best of luck with your decisions and other applications. I'm still waiting to hear back from most of the schools I applied to this time but I'm happy at the moment lol

[Castor]

On 1/27/2021 at 8:35 PM, 2021 said:

I am not sure which one to attend. At Duke I was hoping to work with Laurent Dubois and at UVA with Dr. Hall. How about you?

I was hoping to work with Toril Moi or Maya Boutaghou, but I admire the work of so many of the professors in both departments! . 

[Castor]

Does anyone know if there is a list of French PhD programs’ funding packages somewhere? I saw a really great breakdown of funding/cost of living for different programs on an English PhD thread, and I wish there was one for French! I’ve been accepted at Berkeley and would love to know what funding package to expect since the area seems really expensive. 

 

Thanks and good luck to everyone!!

[Beeba]

4 hours ago, Castor said:

Does anyone know if there is a list of French PhD programs’ funding packages somewhere? I saw a really great breakdown of funding/cost of living for different programs on an English PhD thread, and I wish there was one for French! I’ve been accepted at Berkeley and would love to know what funding package to expect since the area seems really expensive. 

 

Thanks and good luck to everyone!!

Congrats on the acceptance!  Can't help with a list of funding packages, but in doing some research into UNC's funding, they provided this chart based on research from the ERI Student Cost of Living Comparison Calculator about the cost of living and it states that "in Berkeley, CA,... the cost of living is 234% higher than the U.S. national average." So..yknow, when you eventually get that funding package, keep that in mind! The money won't stretch as far as it would in a cheaper city, so make sure it's an appropriate stipend! 

[Castor]

On 1/29/2021 at 8:50 AM, Beeba said:

Congrats on the acceptance!  Can't help with a list of funding packages, but in doing some research into UNC's funding, they provided this chart based on research from the ERI Student Cost of Living Comparison Calculator about the cost of living and it states that "in Berkeley, CA,... the cost of living is 234% higher than the U.S. national average." So..yknow, when you eventually get that funding package, keep that in mind! The money won't stretch as far as it would in a cheaper city, so make sure it's an appropriate stipend! 

Thank you! ?

[frenchphd]

Berkeley is a fantastic institution in a wonderful location. The profs are amazing and supportive, the atmosphere is collegial and friendly—unlike most east coast schools. Money will be tight. You will have to decide what is more important to you: a good experience with so-so $$, or relatively more $$ with a not-so-great atmosphere.

[Castor]

3 hours ago, frenchphd said:

Berkeley is a fantastic institution in a wonderful location. The profs are amazing and supportive, the atmosphere is collegial and friendly—unlike most east coast schools. Money will be tight. You will have to decide what is more important to you: a good experience with so-so $$, or relatively more $$ with a not-so-great atmosphere.

Thanks, that's what I've been thinking! I heard, though, that students speak English in the French lit classes at Berkeley and that there are few native francophones. 

Does anyone have thoughts about the atmosphere at Princeton? 

[DeNovo]

1 hour ago, Castor said:

Thanks, that's what I've been thinking! I heard, though, that students speak English in the French lit classes at Berkeley and that there are few native francophones. 

Does anyone have thoughts about the atmosphere at Princeton? 

FWIW, in the French lit classes at Cambridge, English is spoken as well. Texts/materials are in French, passages and references in French, etc. I thought it was odd at first, but everyone spoke and read confidently in French as needed. I guess the thought is that they are not there to teach you to speak French - it's assumed you will come into the program at the appropriate level speaking-wise. But if you're looking for more opportunities to improve or use spoken French, then it's definitely something to keep in mind about a prospective program. 

Edited February 2, 2021 by DeNovo

[Rhojowy]

I just wanted to know if any one applied to UW Madison or University of Nebraska Lincoln For French ?, I applied to 3 schools in the states and one in Canada and got my first rejection from UVA last week 

[gouttedesoleil]

14 hours ago, DeNovo said:

FWIW, in the French lit classes at Cambridge, English is spoken as well. Texts/materials are in French, passages and references in French, etc. I thought it was odd at first, but everyone spoke and read confidently in French as needed. I guess the thought is that they are not there to teach you to speak French - it's assumed you will come into the program at the appropriate level speaking-wise. But if you're looking for more opportunities to improve or use spoken French, then it's definitely something to keep in mind about a prospective program. 

DeNovo - this is a really helpful piece of perspective and something that I've been wondering about. As an undergrad at on the East Coast, all of my French lit courses, including a grad seminar I took as a senior, were in French, so I guess I always assumed the same would be the case in grad school. Do you, or anyone else, have any additional insight on this dynamic in other American programs?

[Castor]

14 hours ago, DeNovo said:

FWIW, in the French lit classes at Cambridge, English is spoken as well. Texts/materials are in French, passages and references in French, etc. I thought it was odd at first, but everyone spoke and read confidently in French as needed. I guess the thought is that they are not there to teach you to speak French - it's assumed you will come into the program at the appropriate level speaking-wise. But if you're looking for more opportunities to improve or use spoken French, then it's definitely something to keep in mind about a prospective program. 

Thanks, DeNovo! I really can't decide. I don't mind speaking in English and plan to write my thesis in English... I think I will have to gauge the atmosphere during my virtual visit!

[Castor]

2 minutes ago, gouttedesoleil said:

DeNovo - this is a really helpful piece of perspective and something that I've been wondering about. As an undergrad at on the East Coast, all of my French lit courses, including a grad seminar I took as a senior, were in French, so I guess I always assumed the same would be the case in grad school. Do you, or anyone else, have any additional insight on this dynamic in other American programs?

I did my MA at the IFS at NYU. The history classes were in English; the French lit and visiting prof classes all in French. You had to present in French etc. and I really liked having the opportunity to work on my français soutenu/French academic jargon.

[Castor]

14 hours ago, Rhojowy said:

I just wanted to know if any one applied to UW Madison or University of Nebraska Lincoln For French ?, I applied to 3 schools in the states and one in Canada and got my first rejection from UVA last week 

I didn't apply to UW Madison or NL, but nobody has posted updates in the "results" section. Sorry not to be more helpful! 

[DeNovo]

19 minutes ago, gouttedesoleil said:

DeNovo - this is a really helpful piece of perspective and something that I've been wondering about. As an undergrad at on the East Coast, all of my French lit courses, including a grad seminar I took as a senior, were in French, so I guess I always assumed the same would be the case in grad school. Do you, or anyone else, have any additional insight on this dynamic in other American programs?

I thiiiink this was a discussion in one of the threads from a few years ago (as I out myself as a longtime GC lurker lol), but I can't remember for sure. For whatever reason I feel like some people discussed it and mentioned some schools specifically. I'll have a look and see what I find. Hopefully someone with more experience in state-side schools can also weigh in. I do think that asking around during virtual visits, etc. is a good idea (per @Castor)  

[kk33]

Hi everyone! It's my first post here. I wonder if anyone has had experience of campus visit. Is it normal to have seminars during the visit? 

[DeNovo]

14 hours ago, DeNovo said:

I thiiiink this was a discussion in one of the threads from a few years ago (as I out myself as a longtime GC lurker lol), but I can't remember for sure. For whatever reason I feel like some people discussed it and mentioned some schools specifically. I'll have a look and see what I find. Hopefully someone with more experience in state-side schools can also weigh in. I do think that asking around during virtual visits, etc. is a good idea (per @Castor)  

Okay I went back and looked - if you scroll through the Fall 2018 French topic, there is a discussion about different programs having classes in French. Sometime around March 2018 is when they started talking about it. I didn't reread the whole thing, but looks like they talked about some classes at Michigan, IU, and others being in English at least some of the time. 

[kk33]

update: rejected by Cornell Romance Studies (French), received an email 5 mins ago. Good luck ya'all! A little disappointed...not even waitlisted 

[Castor]

16 minutes ago, kk33 said:

update: rejected by Cornell Romance Studies (French), received an email 5 mins ago. Good luck ya'all! A little disappointed...not even waitlisted 

One of the profs in the Cornell RS dept. told me that "the number of acceptances will be restricted due to budget cuts" so don't be too hard on yourself! Re: Is it normal to have seminars during the visit? Yes, I think so. Most of the programs I've heard from include seminars in their virtual visit weeks

[Tyger]

Hi everyone,

Anybody waiting for Princeton virtual week? ?

[Sjett]

1 hour ago, Tyger said:

Hi everyone,

Anybody waiting for Princeton virtual week? ?

Hi Tyger,

I am! 

[FrenchStudent0303]

Hi everyone! Congrats on the acceptances so far  

This is my first post on the thread and I was curious to see if anyone has heard news from NYU's French Department yet? 

[Sjett]

4 minutes ago, FrenchStudent0303 said:

Hi everyone! Congrats on the acceptances so far  

This is my first post on the thread and I was curious to see if anyone has heard news from NYU's French Department yet? 

Hi FrenchStudent0303!

I had an interview with the DGS and the head last Tuesday.

I wish you all the best in you grad school applications!