Lit PhD programs w/ MA almost completed

[Dorthea Brooke]

Hello!

I am currently in an MA program (Literature) at a small school (that I have loved attending). This fall I will hopefully complete my Masters thesis, of about 40 pages- already have advisor, topic and much research completed and I really want to carry my studies on to the PhD level but I am not sure what kinds of schools are in my league etc. Here is the deal... I went to The University of Texas in Austin, BA in English- with a poor GPA. I then took classes as a non degree student to prove my self to the small University that I am attending in Pennsylvania- and since then have been accepted, I have all A's in my courses, I have been a research assistant and worked for the scholarly journal that is produced at my school etc. From the Research Assistant work I will get credit for compiling and annotating the further reading section in a world lit anthology, will have helped organize a major international conference held at the Library of Congress etc. I have presented at one international conference in London(Victorian Studies) in my main area of interest and I will be attending another one hosted by a scholarly journal in a few weeks (A paper on feminist film that I wrote for a class). I am not sure if this will make me look like I am passioante and capable or if it will make me look like I am too scattered etc in my focus. The main comonality in these papers is women's studies and feminist theory, so there is somewhat of a connection. Anyways, I am applying to some more conferences for some other research I am doing right now, so hopefully I will have more. Anyways My spouse is a 3rd year doctoral student in another field (philosophy) so I will probably wait to apply until he is done so...my geographic choices may be limited depending upon what happens with his things, I may even end up in Germany for a year. I still haven't taken the GRE which I am frightened of. I hear that it all depends on your letters and writing sample- in which case I would be better off. But I am not sure if my undergrad is too much of a handicap, and I don't know how much of the stuff I listed above counts in everything. I hope this isn't too long but I would appreciate some opinions if I have a chance and if so what level of school etc, or should I just apply everywhere I want to go and cross my fingers? Thank you!

[augustquail]

Hello!

I am currently in an MA program (Literature) at a small school (that I have loved attending). This fall I will hopefully complete my Masters thesis, of about 40 pages- already have advisor, topic and much research completed and I really want to carry my studies on to the PhD level but I am not sure what kinds of schools are in my league etc. Here is the deal... I went to The University of Texas in Austin, BA in English- with a poor GPA. I then took classes as a non degree student to prove my self to the small University that I am attending in Pennsylvania- and since then have been accepted, I have all A's in my courses, I have been a research assistant and worked for the scholarly journal that is produced at my school etc. From the Research Assistant work I will get credit for compiling and annotating the further reading section in a world lit anthology, will have helped organize a major international conference held at the Library of Congress etc. I have presented at one international conference in London(Victorian Studies) in my main area of interest and I will be attending another one hosted by a scholarly journal in a few weeks (A paper on feminist film that I wrote for a class). I am not sure if this will make me look like I am passioante and capable or if it will make me look like I am too scattered etc in my focus. The main comonality in these papers is women's studies and feminist theory, so there is somewhat of a connection. Anyways, I am applying to some more conferences for some other research I am doing right now, so hopefully I will have more. Anyways My spouse is a 3rd year doctoral student in another field (philosophy) so I will probably wait to apply until he is done so...my geographic choices may be limited depending upon what happens with his things, I may even end up in Germany for a year. I still haven't taken the GRE which I am frightened of. I hear that it all depends on your letters and writing sample- in which case I would be better off. But I am not sure if my undergrad is too much of a handicap, and I don't know how much of the stuff I listed above counts in everything. I hope this isn't too long but I would appreciate some opinions if I have a chance and if so what level of school etc, or should I just apply everywhere I want to go and cross my fingers? Thank you!

I think it's the general consensus that the programs that are 'in your league' are the programs in which you fit best (research interests). So don't pay too much attention to ranking, just research programs and try to get a clear idea of what your research area is. The writing sample and the SOP are the most important parts of the application; so you want to wow them with your ideas/writing ability in the sample, and then make a strong case for why your interest fit in the program in your sop. You might also want to address your low gpa in the sop, depending on how low it is (under a 3.5? under a 3?). I think your grades will hurt you a lot more if you got bad ones in English/Women's Studies classes. If you did well in english, but poorly in everything else, it won't matter as much. And the fact that you're getting A's in grad courses says something about your ability to do grad level work.

If you're not applying this season or the next, I'd just spend a lot of time research programs, reading things that professors at your prospective schools have written, etc. And think about your writing sample and who you'd ask for LORs. Good luck!

[Dorthea Brooke]

I think it's the general consensus that the programs that are 'in your league' are the programs in which you fit best (research interests). So don't pay too much attention to ranking, just research programs and try to get a clear idea of what your research area is. The writing sample and the SOP are the most important parts of the application; so you want to wow them with your ideas/writing ability in the sample, and then make a strong case for why your interest fit in the program in your sop. You might also want to address your low gpa in the sop, depending on how low it is (under a 3.5? under a 3?). I think your grades will hurt you a lot more if you got bad ones in English/Women's Studies classes. If you did well in english, but poorly in everything else, it won't matter as much. And the fact that you're getting A's in grad courses says something about your ability to do grad level work.

If you're not applying this season or the next, I'd just spend a lot of time research programs, reading things that professors at your prospective schools have written, etc. And think about your writing sample and who you'd ask for LORs. Good luck!

Thank you for your response! I have a few schools I am interested in, that have strong Victorian departments etc. but I need to find more. My husband said to find a professor that I would want to work with and to mention this in my sop, that I would want to wwork with them because of something I read of theirs, so you would reccomend this for Lit? Thanks for the advice!

[augustquail]

Thank you for your response! I have a few schools I am interested in, that have strong Victorian departments etc. but I need to find more. My husband said to find a professor that I would want to work with and to mention this in my sop, that I would want to wwork with them because of something I read of theirs, so you would reccomend this for Lit? Thanks for the advice!

If you have the time to read things of theirs, I would definately mention it. For me, there is only one or two schools where I have really studied a specific work by a professor there, so I will mention their work in my SOP. But you don't have to have read something/everything by a professor to mention them in your sop; in fact, most people don't. You can (and probably should) mention someone if their work is interesting to you/courses they offer are interesting to you/their interests fit with your interests. The more you have read by a prof, the stronger your SOP may seem, but being able to mention of few profs and their interests and how those interests are relevant to your work is the main goal.