Spanish Literature and Linguistics/Hispanic Studies Graduate Applications 2022

[caromella]

Hola a tod@s! I noticed that there was not a forum for this year's Spanish applicants to discuss their experiences for the 2022 application cycle, so I decided to make one. A quick introduction to me; I am applying for PhDs literature side of things, focusing specifically on migration, transnational memory, trauma, and nationhood in contemporary Latin American literature. I am submitting applications to 8 programs in hopes that I will end up in the same region as my fiancé: UNC Chapel Hill, Duke, Cornell, Brown, NYU, WASHU St. Louis, University of Boston, and the University of Michigan.

Hopefully, this forum can serve as a place where Spanish PhD and master's hopefuls can support each other as we all go through this harrowing journey. From what I have heard, this year will be especially challenging given that funding is still limited and many of these programs did not accept new students last year. Many programs will be accepting fewer people (i.e, Cornell will only be accepting 3 students rather than 5-6), but have an extra influx of applicants that did not want to apply during the pandemic. With all of that said, I hope that I am not writing to the void and that there are others out there. If so, what are you applying for and where are you applying to? 

[LDGS]

I applied to 10 schools for Hispanic Linguistics- UIUC, UIC, ASU, Penn State, Georgetown, Ohio State, CUNY (Grad Center), UWM, U of Albany, and UCLA. 

I got into UIUC's MA/PhD Program 12/20/21.

It says MA/PhD on the letter of admission. However, I applied to the MA. If I end going there, I will do the MA and also the PhD. 

It is fully funded with a TAship, health insurance, some fees paid, and I believe I'm being considered for fellowships since I got in during the first round. I heard back via email from the DGS and graduate administrator. I will keep y'all updated.

[Angela Merkel]

LDGS: I would recommend that you require clarification on this "MA/PHD" label. As far as I know, that institution, if it is the U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign that you are referring to, admits to both programs individually, not at the same time. 

[Angela Merkel]

EVERYTHING should be in writing! I have experienced significant cases of mistakes on the part of individuals involved in this kind of process. Long story.

[LDGS]

@Angela Merkel: Thanks for the feedback ? On the portal it says that I got accepted to the MA. It may just be how they want to word it, though idk why. After talking to grad students and faculty, I can confirm, just like you, that they offer admission to the MA & PhD separately. 

Here is what the letter says:

"On behalf of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, I am delighted to extend to you an offer of admission to the Department for graduate study in our MA/PhD program in Hispanic Linguistics beginning the fall semester of the 2022-2023 academic year...Students in Spanish’s MA/PhD program are eligible for financial support from University funded sources for a maximum of two years at the MA level and four years at the PhD level contingent upon maintaining satisfactory academic standing and acceptable progress toward completing degree requirements, as well as satisfactory employment performance, the availability of funding for the position, and the continued support of a faculty member advisor... " 

 

[Angela Merkel]

LDGS: It is a good thing you clarified that. As I said, I have seen "Directors of the Graduate Program" making mistakes of all sorts, sometimes including money that applicants should have received or at least should have been considered for (and they did not). ?

[jayjay11]

Has anyone heard from UIC yet? I applied to them and had all materials including letters submitted in back on August 31st and have not heard anything ???. 

 

I did get accepted to Loyola Chicago and Albany NY, in September although both said that they do not make any decisions on TA positions until around March.

[Angela Merkel]

U de Illinois en Chicago debería informarte de su desición en marzo. Yo recomendaría que les exigieses información sobre una beca (o 'assistanship') para mediados de marzo y POR ESCRITO, aunque sea un mensaje electrónico (que tiene validez legal) del director de posgrado. Cuando no te dan la 'asistencia' económica, eufemismo para trabajo temporero, la tendencia de ese departamento es NO informártelo, aunque sí te informen de admisión. 

[LDGS]

I received an email from the DGS at Ohio State yesterday: "Dear applicants,

Thank you for submitting your application to one of the PhD programs. We are in the process of reviewing all the materials and will be making our first round of decisions within the next two weeks. I will get back in touch with you when I have more specifics about the status of your application. In the meantime, please feel free to let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!"

 

Hopefully we get in! 

 

[Angela Merkel]

LDGS: Lamento informarte que eso suena como el mensaje estándar que le envían a todos los solicitantes. Para la persona que es nueva en estas cosas, suena muy bien, pero es solamente eso. Buena suerte en tu búsqueda de beca. 

[LDGS]

Angela Merkel: I'm aware, I'm just putting out there ?. 

Hasta no ver no creer. 

 

[LDGS]

*putting it 

[Angela Merkel]

?

[MillerS]

Hey, everyone! How's it going?

This year is my first attempt at the application process PhD programs in the US. Despiste being a native Portuguese speaker with a degree in political science, I'm also applying for Spanish programs, as my research interests include Latin American literature, especially Caribbean Literatures.

I applied for 7 programs in all for Fall 2022 (Texas, Massachusetts, Arizona, Connecticut, and Washington), but I'm unsure because I wasn't certain if I presented a good application in general. I think my letters of recommendation and GPA are strong, but my writing sample and my proficiency score in English could be better. Do you believe TOEFL scores are relevant to the Comittee or it's only necessary to meet the required minimum?

Do most doctoral programs also have preview interview? So far, I have had no response. But my applications were recent (most in December, and one in the first days of January). Please, share your results when you can. I also can do it. Good luck!

(Any tips to overcome the urge to update email every half hour?) ? 

Edited January 12, 2022 by MillerS

[LDGS]

@MillerS I'm doing great, I'm waiting to hear for 9 schools haha. 

To some extent it matters, but it's not the end all be all. I would argue that your fit matters more. 

I have heard that in some institutions, it is a requirement that is set forth by the university, and not the department. 

Another test that measures proficiency in SLA, is the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview. It's basically speaking to a register interviewer for 30 minutes. But it does cost between 100 to 200, I can't remember exactly how much. 

What do you mean preview day? Like a visitation day for accepted students? (VDFAC) I spoke with a student from Georgetown Uni today, and they say said they have their VDFAC in February. 

 

[Lolahola]

Hi all! Little late to the party here, but I applied to 10+ schools (I have a tendency to overdo things slightly), NYU, Colombia, UPenn, a handful of UC schools, UMich-Ann Arbor, Stanford, Brown and Princeton. This is my first cycle applying (kicking myself for spending so much time fussing about the GRE haha, anyone else run into this surprise?)

My research interests are 20-21st cent Lat Am lit/ visual culture in Colombia and Chile, specifically in indigenous and gender and sex studies. I'm super nervous that I won't get in anywhere but I think we're all in the same boat there. Nice to think that there are lots of you out there struggling through the same thing :)

[GradforGrad]

Anybody heard back from Columbia (Laic) or Stanford (ILAC/Complit)?

[Angela Merkel]

"Do you believe TOEFL scores are relevant to the Comittee or it's only necessary to meet the required minimum?" In my experience, it has very little weight for an admissions committee, but a lot to the Graduate School/Graduate College/College of Arts and Sciences, depending on the degree-granting college or unit. Each institution is different. As long you have the mininum score required, it is a non-issue. 

 

Preview interview: some of the snobish ones, but not necessarily excellent programs or faculty, require an interview. Some high-quality programs do not have interviews at all. Yet, be prepared to pay homage to the current leftist, politically correct agenda of some departments. A friend of mine had an interview with one of the "prestige" schools where he was asked how he would bring his race (as a Latin-American) to the doctoral study of Renaissance/Golden Age Spanish Literature! I am not sharing the name of the institution, but you can see how politically-driven the approach to the study of literature is in some places in this country. Also, it is very fashionable to talk about marginalized groups of any sort to satisfy these illogical questions that bear very little on your qualifications for research and writing. Altough I have not heard that they openly discriminate like the University of Chicago's English graduate program. (You can find the information in the news in academia.)

Edited January 15, 2022 by Angela Merkel

[MillerS]

@LDGS Great! I wish you all of success in your application! Initially, my intention was to apply for 10-12 PhD programs, but unfortunately I had to choose only the universities where my english proficiency scores were achieved. For reasons for my own research (and personal preferences), I was interested in some program in Florida; however, I missed one of the deadlines. Do you know of any universities with an interesting PhD program in Hispanic literatures in that region? Preferably in the area of Cuban literature? At first my idea was to apply in 2022-2023, but I decided to give it a try this year. I'm still unsure about the process (because the financial investment of the applications was very high), but I hope to hear at least one positive response from some university. In my case, I applied for ASU, Texas at Dallas, UHouston, Boston University, Massachusetts Amherst (UMass), UConn and UWashington (Seattle).  I don't know the American university system very well, but as far as I could tell, I chose only the universities with which I identified with the lines of research. I hope I didn't choose the most popular ones, hahaha. Does anyone know if the results of some of these universities I mentioned have started to come out?

When I commented "prior interview", I was referring to the interview that some programs do with candidates. Sorry, I think I didn't express myself well. But @Angela Merkelanswered the question. Thank you! Knowing these leftist tendencies now, I think I'm at a disadvantage... My research project is precisely about the failure of the Cuban revolutionary experience, hahaha. And as if that wasn't enough, I only have a few days to submit a diversity statement from one of the universities I applied to. I don't even know where to start... 

[Angela Merkel]

Miller: a diversity statement should not be too bad if you are from Brazil (which I am assuming). Your life experience in one of the most racially and socio-economic diverse countries "inform" (they LOVE that word!) your perspective and analysis. ? Good luck.

 

Edited January 15, 2022 by Angela Merkel

[caromella]

On 1/14/2022 at 12:39 AM, Lolahola said:

Hi all! Little late to the party here, but I applied to 10+ schools (I have a tendency to overdo things slightly), NYU, Colombia, UPenn, a handful of UC schools, UMich-Ann Arbor, Stanford, Brown and Princeton. 

I am also applying to Brown, NYU and UMich, although I have not yet heard from any of them! Welcome to the forum, and best of luck

 

I just got an email from Washington University in St. Louis and I got on their waitlist. I am absolutely thrilled because I went into this application process without any expectations since it is extremely competitive this year and I come from a University that is not as prestigious/research oriented. Either way, I love seeing all the updates in here and it's nice to not feel as alone. 

[Lolahola]

On 1/15/2022 at 9:41 PM, caromella said:

I just got an email from Washington University in St. Louis and I got on their waitlist. I am absolutely thrilled because I went into this application process without any expectations since it is extremely competitive this year and I come from a University that is not as prestigious/research oriented. Either way, I love seeing all the updates in here and it's nice to not feel as alone. 

Congrats, that's so exciting!! I'm also trying to keep expectations low just to try and preserve my sanity more than anything haha, and it makes it all the better if you do get some good news!

[Lolahola]

On 1/14/2022 at 1:16 PM, GradforGrad said:

Anybody heard back from Columbia (Laic) or Stanford (ILAC/Complit)?

I applied to LAIC and ILAC and have not heard back. Both schools state on their website that they'll start making decisions in February though, so hopefully that means good things for us!

[MillerS]

Hello, everyone!

Guys, something really annoying happened these days. One of the universities I applied to asks for official transcripts to be sent.

The company that did the translation simply does not respond to my emails! I sent about 6 emails from last week to today, and I was just ignored.

This is a Canadian company called Docsbase. What could I do in a situation like this? Any idea?

Thanks a lot!

[GradforGrad]

14 hours ago, MillerS said:

Hello, everyone!

Guys, something really annoying happened these days. One of the universities I applied to asks for official transcripts to be sent.

The company that did the translation simply does not respond to my emails! I sent about 6 emails from last week to today, and I was just ignored.

This is a Canadian company called Docsbase. What could I do in a situation like this? Any idea?

Thanks a lot!

Programs in the US usually require original official transcripts (not copy) only at enrollment. If that's not the case, that's a first for me.