Spanish Literature and Linguistics/Hispanic Studies Graduate Applications 2022

[smgr]

@caromela thank you so much!!! It helps a lot ? 

 

 

[GSHopeful1]

@caromella Sorry to hear about UMichigan, but best of luck with the other programs you are still waiting to hear back from! 

I saw in your last post that you said you feel a little worried about jumping straight into teaching at UNC. I just wanted to say that in my Masters program we were also thrown straight into teaching (after like 3 days of training over the summer) and although it was very stressful at first, in retrospect it was such a great experience. You get the hang of it pretty quickly and at least at my old institution the more experienced TAs were always happy to help out with advice or even sharing their lesson plans and PowerPoints. 

If you are worried about the low stipend, it might also be worth asking what sort of opportunities exist to teach during the winter and summer. At my Master's institution, we also had a relatively low stipend (like many large state flagship schools) but by teaching every winter and summer during my two years there, I was able to nearly double my salary each year and live relatively comfortably (at least for a grad student). Just be sure to ask who (if anyone) gets priority in teaching summer and winter courses because I know some institutions (like my own) gave preference first to Masters students and then to PhD students who had never taught a summer/winter course before, then lecturers and so on, so it was not a guarantee that you would get an appointment each winter/summer. 

Just some things to consider. 

[GRADSPN1]

@smgr Hello! I hope everything is going well in this process.

Indeed NYU already interviewed me this week. They told me that the results will be in two weeks. Any questions or advice with the process at NYU I can help with my experience in the interview.
In my case, Columbia Laic has not contacted me either, it is the only university that has not told me anything. If I have new news I will report it here.

[GSHopeful1]

Just received an email from UNC, Chapel Hill informing me that I have been waitlisted - it's crazy because I really thought there was a strong overlap between my interests and the professors' and the school is pretty much on the same level as my undergraduate and masters institutions (all relatively well-know, pretty highly ranked, state flagship schools) but I guess they just had a lot of strong candidates this year - like some others here who have been accepted. Life goes on I suppose. Ánimo chic@s and congrats to those accepted.  So far 3a/2w/0r for me. 

[caromella]

@GSHopeful1  Firstly, thank you so much for the kind advice about teaching. I have done teaching prácticas on a small scale where I did 8 hours of teaching, but I have only done research assistantships so I don't have practice planning an entire course for a class larger than 5 people. Although it seems daunting, I have confidence that the cohort would help me. 

I felt the same way about Michigan that you do about UNC in terms of program fit, but I guess that goes to show that you never know how the chips will fall. 3a/2w/0r is amazing and you should definitely be proud, especially given how selective programs are being this year Mucho ánimo!

[smgr]

@GRADSPN1Thank you for confirming! And fingers crossed!!! Any tips would be great to know  

[GRADSPN1]

@smgr Like my other interviews, this one was entirely in Spanish (I mention this because it seems like an important issue to me, since I don't feel very comfortable speaking English). It was with professors from the faculty and, although the block was scheduled for 20-30 minutes, we were between 40 and 50. It was a great interview in the sense that they recommended readings, commented on my research proposal and told me why they considered that NYU could be a good fit for me. So if you get called for an interview, everything should be fine. Just stay confident in your own ideas. Good luck!

Edited February 2, 2022 by GRADSPN1

[smgr]

@GRADSPN1Thank you!!!! This is great to know. Y mucha suerte nuevamente!!!! 

[Lolahola]

@GRADSPN1 I also have my interview with Princeton on Friday! I am extremely nervous too. I had an interview with UPenn yesterday that did not go so hot... I think I prepared for the wrong types of questions, and didn't expect the whole entire thing to be in Spanish (I did all my prep in English.. silly me). Any chance you want to chat more to help each other prepare?

Tips for other interviewees: have an elevator pitch prepared! It may sound obvious to you but it wasn't to me, and that was the first question I got. It's hard to talk about yourself coherently on the spot. Also, have a good answer to the "what are you reading" question. Lastly, I expected the questions to ask me to argue for my fit in the department, but none did. They pretty much all just wanted me to delve into my research proposal more richly.

 

[GRADSPN1]

@Lolahola Hello. I would be very happy to discuss Friday's interview with Princeton and help us through the process. I'm sure everything will work out with UPenn.

[GRADSPN1]

@GSHopeful1 I just saw the good news you shared the other day. Congratulations and I hope you are very happy at this time. Just out of curiosity, considering you got accepted into amazing programs like Michigan, what option are you thinking of accepting?

[GSHopeful1]

@GRADSPN1thank you!! I’m still waiting on my offer letter from Maryland to see what they will offer but at the moment I have absolutely no clue - if we’re being honest, I didn’t expect to get accepted into more than 1 program with how tough admissions were going to be this year. The offers I got from Northwestern and Michigan were pretty much equal (similar teaching load, similar salary when adjusted for cost of living, etc.). It seems to me that the Spanish programs are also about equally good (someone please correct me if I’m wrong). They are both having accepted students events in early March (NU in person and UM virtually) so I’m hoping that once I attend those (and have a chat with my old advisor from my masters institution) I’ll have a better idea of which of the 3 schools would be the best fit. If anyone here has any opinions/insights/advice though, I’m all ears. 

[María de Zayas]

@LolaholaHi, would you mind sharing more of your interview experience with Upenn? Thanks!

[Lolahola]

@María de ZayasSure! They contacted me to schedule an interview late last week, and told me which two professors would be interviewing me. One was a POI and the other was the Graduate Chair, who also is a POI for me but not one I named in my SOP. My thinking is she might be sitting in on a lot of the interviews for continuity. They asked me to talk about my background and how it led to applying to this program, and also asked me to elaborate on some key points of my SOP, like why these topics in conversation etc. They also asked me about a recent book I'd read. For my questions, I asked about the department culture (really positive) and what topics the department is looking to emphasize going forward (seems really open-ended). They told me they'll be making decisions all through the month of Feb.

@caromella When you spoke to DGS about NYU's timeline, did they mean they'll be making final decisions by tomorrow or just be done inviting people for interviews? When @GRADSPN1 wrote they said that NYU told them two weeks from now-ish, so I'm curious what they meant by aiming for this Friday...

[Lolahola]

@MillerS Something similar happened to me with UC Davis. I applied for the PhD and they sent me a decision letter admitting me to the Masters program. When I emailed the graduate coordinator about it she said that "We understand that your intention is to pursue the PhD.  The practice of the Spanish program at UC Davis, however, is to admit students to the MA if they do not already have one.  We often have students go on to pursue the Ph.D after completing the MA.  It is a simple internal application process." I know that all their offers for MA students come "fully funded," but I'm still not quite sure what that means stipend wise. Anyway, my impression is that this is a slightly more formalized structure that most schools have, where after you finish your coursework you'll have to demonstrate you're ready to advance, but it is a little weird. Let me know if you find any more updates, and I'm curious what the rest of the forum thinks about my case?

[caromella]

1 hour ago, Lolahola said:

When you spoke to DGS about NYU's timeline, did they mean they'll be making final decisions by tomorrow or just be done inviting people for interviews? When @GRADSPN1 wrote they said that NYU told them two weeks from now-ish, so I'm curious what they meant by aiming for this Friday...

I asked specifically about interview/decision timelines and she said they will "try to let people know" by Friday, but it could be later. She didn't tell me specifically what we would be notified about despite asking about both, so based on the info given by @GRADSPN1, I would assume that we should hear about interviews or if we make it to the next phase of the process. I wish I could help more ? 

[MillerS]

The week is going well! After offer letter from the MA program at University of Connecticut, today I received approval to the PhD program from Arizona State University (ASU). I'm looking forward to hearing from five more universities.

I have no idea which one to decide yet, I need to read more about the programs, the States, stipend values, living costs (I have an F2 dependent), the best place for my area of research etc.

The next few weeks will be decisive, guys! Strength for all of us.

Edited February 4, 2022 by MillerS

[Angela Merkel]

MillerS: Enhorabuena por la aceptación a la U de Connecticut. También tienen un muy buen programa graduado en historia latinoamericana y, si te apetece, podrías tomar alguno que otro curso ahí. Una profesora cubana de español se fue para la U de Pennsylvania. Asumo que le ofrecieron más dinero y hay gente para la cual eso es lo principal. De Arizona no sé nada pero las dos la U Estatal y la U de Arizona tienen buenísima reputación en literatura.

[SPANGRADSCH]

Hello again. I'm first on the waiting-list at Northwestern, so I'd like to know if anyone is considering declining acceptance into the program.

Also, I wanted to ask about NYU. In addition to the interview of @GRADSPN1, do you know anything?

Thank you very much for your answers.

Good luck!

Edited February 5, 2022 by SPANGRADSCH

[GradforGrad]

Any news from Cornell and Columbia (LAIC)?

[caromella]

21 minutes ago, GradforGrad said:

Any news from Cornell and Columbia (LAIC)?

Nothing from Cornell. I was told by their DGS to expect results about a week from last Friday, so hopefully that means that we will hear early next week.

[GradforGrad]

1 minute ago, caromella said:

Nothing from Cornell. I was told by their DGS to expect results about a week from last Friday, so hopefully that means that we will hear early next week.

Hey @caromella: did you get invited for an interview?

[SPANGRAD22]

No updates from Cornell... If everything happened as supposed, Cornell's faculty had a meeting today to make final decisions—almost that tell me the chair. He also said they wouldn't make us wait for the decisions for so long.

[caromella]

18 minutes ago, GradforGrad said:

Hey @caromella: did you get invited for an interview?

No, which makes me lose a little bit of hope if I'm being honest. However, I think someone else in this forum mentioned that they might not interview everyone. 

I wasn't expecting too much when I applied there, but I had a meeting with my POI this Summer and she expressed interest in my research and we discussed the program at length. On the other hand though, they are only accepting three people and it's a highly competitive program. Either way, best of luck to all of you

[LDGS]

Did anyone here apply to PhDs in Hispanic Linguistics?

Edited February 6, 2022 by LDGS