Comp Lit 2021 Applicants

[Gradcafeusername]

6 hours ago, AdiCallai said:

Hi, congrats! I got in as well. I'm stoked

Happy to connect.

A PoI at a different institution said my project might fit at UMich, and I applied, not expecting anything as the professor I had in mind hadn't responded to my query. Now I've been frantically trying to find out as much as I can about the place. I'd be curious to hear what other folks here think about their program. 

Congrats! Are you accepting the offer? Where else did you apply?
 

From what I can tell, I’m a fan. I’ve had the inverse experience in that I applied specifically to work with a few POIs.  I did their summer MICHHERS program which gave me a lot of insights into faculty, interests, and departmental priorities. I’d encourage you to reach out to grad students in the program if you haven’t already. The folks I’ve spoken with have been excellent and have offered really great insights into the realities of the experience. 

[AdiCallai]

17 hours ago, Gradcafeusername said:

Congrats! Are you accepting the offer? Where else did you apply?
 

From what I can tell, I’m a fan. I’ve had the inverse experience in that I applied specifically to work with a few POIs.  I did their summer MICHHERS program which gave me a lot of insights into faculty, interests, and departmental priorities. I’d encourage you to reach out to grad students in the program if you haven’t already. The folks I’ve spoken with have been excellent and have offered really great insights into the realities of the experience. 

Nice! I haven't heard of that program, seems interesting, and thanks for the tip. I'll PM you.

 

[buendia.macando]

Hey fellow lit nerds - I am speaking to faculty at UCSB on Wednesday and I'm wondering if anyone has interview tips for comp lit? 

[LtotheOG]

See @semiotic_mess’s post in the Lit thread.

[mashatheicebear]

5 minutes ago, buendia.macando said:

Hey fellow lit nerds - I am speaking to faculty at UCSB on Wednesday and I'm wondering if anyone has interview tips for comp lit? 

There is quite a bit of info on the other board about interviews. I'll see if I can find it and share here.

The only interview I had was for Comp Lit at UCDavis and they basically wanted to get to know me, to know a bit more about my research interests and to understand my research process and motivation. I was very explicit in my applications about my career path, so I didn't get questions about that, but you might.

The best advice I can give is PRACTICE. Take some notes on key aspects of your life (personal and academic) that you would like to share, your research and interests, etc, and practice speaking coherently and concisely about all of it. If you are able to practice (say, with a friend over Zoom who can ask specific questions and push you to improve your presentation), you will be able to go into the interview feeling a bit more confident. That was my experience, at least.

Interviewers are not looking for perfection, but they are looking for proof of your commitment, enthusiasm and competence. Interviews are an awesome opportunity to show off your personality and your skills, not to mention getting some real-time answers to any lingering questions you may have about the program.  

Best of luck! I am sure you are going to kill it!

[LtotheOG]

15 minutes ago, buendia.macando said:

Hey fellow lit nerds - I am speaking to faculty at UCSB on Wednesday and I'm wondering if anyone has interview tips for comp lit? 

 

[mashatheicebear]

Would love some advice from you all...I would ask for my family's input on this, but I think they are sick of my grad school anxiety....

I got into one Comp Lit program, but my specialization is actually Slavic Languages and Lit. Many Slavic programs were not taking applications this year, so my options were quite limited. The Comp Lit program I got into will absolutely let me do Russian for one of my literatures, which is great, but I am not sure I can convince them to let me do all Slavic (or if they even have the faculty to support it). They have a Russian undergrad department, but not a grad faculty. 

My question is this: Do I take the offer (it is fully funded by TA/teaching fellowships, which I am able to start my first year since I have an MA already) from the Comp Lit department or do I wait and apply again for Slavic next year? The big caveat here is that I am 36 (going on 37) and I worry that my age would be a deterrent for Slavic departments. Most Slavic departments are quite small (1-4 people per cohort) and many are fully funded, making the competition quite intense.

My end-goal is to teach. I want to be a professor of literature, preferably at a small college or university. The program I got into is good, and will give me lots of teaching experience, but doesn't typically see lots of graduates placed in academia. (That is not a primary goal of the department, though they are happy to support such an endeavor as best they can.) I am a bit concerned that this degree would limit my professional options, since the whole "educate up to teach down" thing seems pretty consistently true in my field...

Would love any and all input you guys would be willing to give. This is proving to be a much more stressful decision than I expected, and certainly a more stressful cycle than the first time I went to grad school, back in '07.

[LtotheOG]

I am sorry if this unhelpful — but this really comes down to what you want, or rather what you want more.

Would you rather that you passed on this offer for potentially nothing next year (as the argument goes)?
Is Slavic, or an ideal program worth the plaguing uncertainty (especially of these unprecedented times)?

I know nothing of your circumstances which in my case would be the basic determinant of what I end up doing.
So I’d ultimately ask myself, can I at this stage afford to play “go big or go home”?

With whatever you decide to do, I wish you the utmost success!

[LtotheOG]

22 minutes ago, mashatheicebear said:

Would love some advice from you all...I would ask for my family's input on this, but I think they are sick of my grad school anxiety....

I got into one Comp Lit program, but my specialization is actually Slavic Languages and Lit. Many Slavic programs were not taking applications this year, so my options were quite limited. The Comp Lit program I got into will absolutely let me do Russian for one of my literatures, which is great, but I am not sure I can convince them to let me do all Slavic (or if they even have the faculty to support it). They have a Russian undergrad department, but not a grad faculty. 

My question is this: Do I take the offer (it is fully funded by TA/teaching fellowships, which I am able to start my first year since I have an MA already) from the Comp Lit department or do I wait and apply again for Slavic next year? The big caveat here is that I am 36 (going on 37) and I worry that my age would be a deterrent for Slavic departments. Most Slavic departments are quite small (1-4 people per cohort) and many are fully funded, making the competition quite intense.

My end-goal is to teach. I want to be a professor of literature, preferably at a small college or university. The program I got into is good, and will give me lots of teaching experience, but doesn't typically see lots of graduates placed in academia. (That is not a primary goal of the department, though they are happy to support such an endeavor as best they can.) I am a bit concerned that this degree would limit my professional options, since the whole "educate up to teach down" thing seems pretty consistently true in my field...

Would love any and all input you guys would be willing to give. This is proving to be a much more stressful decision than I expected, and certainly a more stressful cycle than the first time I went to grad school, back in '07.

Sorry, I didn’t quote before.

[AdiCallai]

hi @mashatheicebear,

congrats on your offer! i think a phd in comp lit might actually be an advantage when applying for jobs in area studies, and i imagine it won't be a problem to research only slavic languages for your degree as long as you fulfill the (probably two) languages requirement. you might also be able to find faculty from other programs to work with. ask.

unless you'd be giving up a nice job to take the offer, it seems like a no-brainer: it's the bird in the hand. you could reapply for slavic programs next year if you wanted. (i wonder if people have thoughts on that - would it be bad manners to apply for transfer? i know people do anyway)

as for becoming a professor: the market is fucked. we all know it. none of us should expect stable jobs in academia. have a back-up; maintain another career if you can.

[mashatheicebear]

1 hour ago, AdiCallai said:

hi @mashatheicebear,

congrats on your offer! i think a phd in comp lit might actually be an advantage when applying for jobs in area studies, and i imagine it won't be a problem to research only slavic languages for your degree as long as you fulfill the (probably two) languages requirement. you might also be able to find faculty from other programs to work with. ask.

unless you'd be giving up a nice job to take the offer, it seems like a no-brainer: it's the bird in the hand. you could reapply for slavic programs next year if you wanted. (i wonder if people have thoughts on that - would it be bad manners to apply for transfer? i know people do anyway)

as for becoming a professor: the market is fucked. we all know it. none of us should expect stable jobs in academia. have a back-up; maintain another career if you can.

Thank you for your input! I think it would be okay for me to apply for transfer if I find I can't complete my research in said comp lit department. There is definitely one faculty member I can work with, but she is literally the only one. I don't know her work well but we do share some overlap in both area studies and research interests. 

I will probably take the PhD offer. I feel like I am too old to wait another year, honestly. I am waiting to hear from a few more programs but none are looking promising, and only one of three is a truly excellent fit.

Since I've been out of academia for a long time, I do have work experience to fall back on. I've been running my own business for the last seven years and have been able to make a go of it, grueling as it may be. I enjoy the work, but it is not as engaging as I would like. But, it is comforting to know that that I have work experience and history in other fields, in case I cannot land a tenure position upon completion of my degree. I also would be okay teaching at a community college, which seems more attainable with a solid PhD and a lot of teaching experience. 

Thank you, again, for taking the time to reply. It is so helpful to get outside perspectives. 

1 hour ago, LtotheOG said:

I am sorry if this unhelpful — but this really comes down to what you want, or rather what you want more.

Would you rather that you passed on this offer for potentially nothing next year (as the argument goes)?
Is Slavic, or an ideal program worth the plaguing uncertainty (especially of these unprecedented times)?

I know nothing of your circumstances which in my case would be the basic determinant of what I end up doing.
So I’d ultimately ask myself, can I at this stage afford to play “go big or go home”?

With whatever you decide to do, I wish you the utmost success!

Thank you for replying to me! I wish I felt confident in waiting for another application cycle but, honestly, it would probably be a poor choice. I just don't understand enough about how age impacts eligibility in my field to know if applying again would be a fool's errand.

I really appreciate the input and the well-wishes! It is so helpful to get external perspectives from others going through this process. 

[harleth]

hey @mashatheicebear, just popping in to say i agree w what people have said so far and add my two cents! i'm a fellow comp lit/slavic person and had looooots of discussions w faculty about whether to apply to slavic or comp lit phds leading up to this cycle. you might have had similar convos yourself/some of this might be self-evident but here are a few things that might be helpful to think about as you decide:

(1) it is possible to do a slavic phd as comp lit, or a comp lit phd as slavic, especially when it comes to your dissertation. the main difference will be the course reqs and examinations, but (afaik) comp lit is rather flexible about those. slavic departments conversely tend to be more conservative about what they ask of their students (most will "force" you to do a course on pre-19th C lit, sometimes old church slavonic, and a non-Russian slavic lang). if you have access to the program's grad student handbook, it might be good to take a good look at it and see how much flexibility you would have to focus mostly on Russian?

(2) generally my recommenders said that it is MUCH easier to get into slavic phds than comp lit, and this has been true for friends who've applied to both programs in recent years. the cohorts are smaller, yes, but there are also fewer people applying. so, i wouldn't think that it would be impossible for you to get into a slavic phd next year if you decide to reapply (or transfer?). i have no idea if the age thing matters though!

(3) you mentioned that the university doesn't have a separate Russian grad program. that probably means that whatever classes in russian that you could take would be undergrad-level and you might have fewer 'interlocutors' amongst the graduate community. ofc with the internet plus most research events moving online with covid this is not necessarily a problem, but might be something else to think about

(4) this is more anecdotal, but i will say that most of the faculty in slavic depts i spoke to were almost anti-comp lit. even the ones who had comp lit phds would talk about 'reading list envy' and missing that very specific slavic training. i'm not sure how this anti-comp lit bias translates to the (mostly nonexistent) job market, but i do agree that job market considerations shouldn't be at the top of your priority list rn

please feel free to dm if you want to talk more about any of this! i'd be happy to share some of the long emails i got from profs about this privately. i'm sort of in the opposite situation rn--i WANT to do a comp lit phd but have no comp lit acceptances (yet?) and an offer from a russian dept that i mostly applied to out of fear of having no options

good luck and hope at least some of this is helpful!

Edited February 15, 2021 by harleth
fixed typo

[buendia.macando]

On 2/13/2021 at 12:51 AM, TheorySchmeory said:

Is anyone else applying to / does anyone have any insider knowledge about SUNY Binghamton's Comp Lit PhD?

I received an acceptance email this morning and an invitation to apply for the Clark fellowship that they are nominating me for. This is my first official acceptance - depending on how the rest of my applications pan out I'm not sure if I'll accept. I'm still applying for the fellowship to keep my options open.

[TheorySchmeory]

53 minutes ago, buendia.macando said:

I received an acceptance email this morning and an invitation to apply for the Clark fellowship that they are nominating me for. This is my first official acceptance - depending on how the rest of my applications pan out I'm not sure if I'll accept. I'm still applying for the fellowship to keep my options open.

Congratulations! That's wonderful!

[cursivesense]

Hello all, I'm new to the forum. ? Just wondering if there are any other Harvard comp lit applicants on the forum this year? I haven't seen any updates on the results page and based on entries from previous cycles, there would usually be some entries by now. 

[Warelin]

On 2/15/2021 at 2:20 PM, mashatheicebear said:

Thank you for your input! I think it would be okay for me to apply for transfer if I find I can't complete my research in said comp lit departmen

Quick note: What do you mean by transfer? I'm not aware of any grad program where you can just transfer into. Changing programs will often require you to reapply and start from year 1 if accepted.

[mashatheicebear]

6 minutes ago, Warelin said:

Quick note: What do you mean by transfer? I'm not aware of any grad program where you can just transfer into. Changing programs will often require you to reapply and start from year 1 if accepted.

Yes, you would have to apply/reapply to transfer to a different program. Some programs will let you transfer credits toward your degree, especially if a PhD program is phased as MA/MPhil/PhD. For example, I am going into a PhD program, but already have an MA, and will be able to use some of my MA coursework toward my course requirements for the PhD. It isn't a direct transfer like undergrad credit transfers or institution transfers, and would be very program dependent (certainly not something all programs would be open to), but, from my research, it is not out of the question, depending on specialization. Especially if there is a very specific POI at another institution that you want to work with/who wants to work with you.

Edited February 17, 2021 by mashatheicebear

[literature]

27 minutes ago, cursivesense said:

Hello all, I'm new to the forum. ? Just wondering if there are any other Harvard comp lit applicants on the forum this year? I haven't seen any updates on the results page and based on entries from previous cycles, there would usually be some entries by now. 

I applied to Harvard too. It seems like they're late this year.

[harleth]

fellow harvard applicant here, @literature and @cursivesense! hoping we'll get a response this week, it's one of the few schools i'm still waiting on. lots of them have been off-schedule this year D;

[cursivesense]

@harleth and @literature thank you for the replies. Hoping they get back to us soon!

[LtotheOG]

Anyone here accepted to Emory’s Comparative Literature? Care to mention your sub-field?

[angrychalupa]

Well Cornell is sending out another round of rejections ?

[literature]

22 hours ago, cursivesense said:

@harleth and @literature thank you for the replies. Hoping they get back to us soon!

Seems like they sent out acceptances... cc @harleth

[harleth]

26 minutes ago, literature said:

Seems like they sent out acceptances... cc @harleth

yes! the one in the results board is me actually ?  got the (informal for now) email late last night and have been buzzing since. i don't know if they've sent out all of them or what their status is otherwise. good luck to you both!

[cursivesense]

@harlethCongratulations to you!! ?