Grad School Chances?

[Tails]

Hey everyone.

I'm a first time user on these message boards and I want to know if I have a good chance to get into a top PhD program in English Literature.

I'm currently a junior at UNC-Chapel Hill. I have a 3.85 GPA and I'm looking to apply to Berkeley, Stanford, Yale, Princeton and Duke.

I have not taken the GRE yet, but I'm planning to take it before next fall.

Do applicants who have M.A.'s in English stand a better chance of being accepted?

Will my ethnicity help me in the admissions process? (Puerto Rican American)

Does it help to get letters of recommendation from professors who went to one of those 5 schools for their PhD?

[skeletonkeys]

Hi Tails! I will try to answer your questions.

1. I'm not sure if the MA hurts or helps; it depends on the school. Some programs prefer to have "fresh blood" to mold as they see fit; others value the experience of an MA; still others seem to have no preference. I have an MA, and all the students in my cohort who applied last fall got into programs (some very good ones and some so-so ones). There are many discussions of this on the forum that may be more useful than me.

2. Your ethnicity will not help you gain admission nearly as much as in say law school. It shouldn't hurt and *might* help at some schools, but where it could definitely come in handy is for fellowships, but that's only after you're admitted. I'm thinking of a friend who is coincidentally also Puerto Rican American...s/he said it wasn't so useful in the admissions process, but Vanderbilt offered them a great funding offer (in part b/c of some diversity fellowship). Perhaps others can add their own experiences.

3. Everyone I know has not found having their recommenders give them an advantage at their alma mater. The schools I know this has been the case with are Cornell, Harvard, and Berkeley. In one case 2 of 3 LOR writers got their PhDs from Cornell and the student was still not admitted (to Cornell). I would guess other kinds of connections are more helpful, for example, if a prof is very well known and/or has friends on the ad comm, I'd bet that is more useful than a lesser known prof who is nonetheless an alum.

Bear in mind this is all anecdotal. I am interested in seeing others' experiences as well.

PS Go Tarheels! I'm a Carolina girl and my brother is currently an UG at UNC.

[skeletonkeys]

One more note: I'm sure you have heard this, but you might want to add some schools to your list that are not top 10/15. Not to say you're not a strong candidate, but I'd add some ranked 15-50 as well as funded MA programs.

[Pamphilia]

What do you want to study? Why do you want to study it at those programs? In order to give any advice, we need to know where your academic interests lie (even then, beware of anyone assessing your "chances" without having read your writing sample and statement of purpose). Also, the importance of fit cannot be overestimated in admissions. So, why do those programs appeal to you?

ETA: As a student at Carolina, you have wonderful resources in the English faculty for grad application questions. Start with them. They will be able to assess your profile and abilities much more keenly than anyone one these boards can.

Hey everyone.

I'm a first time user on these message boards and I want to know if I have a good chance to get into a top PhD program in English Literature.

I'm currently a junior at UNC-Chapel Hill. I have a 3.85 GPA and I'm looking to apply to Berkeley, Stanford, Yale, Princeton and Duke.

I have not taken the GRE yet, but I'm planning to take it before next fall.

Do applicants who have M.A.'s in English stand a better chance of being accepted?

Will my ethnicity help me in the admissions process? (Puerto Rican American)

Does it help to get letters of recommendation from professors who went to one of those 5 schools for their PhD?

Edited November 25, 2010 by Pamphilia

[bigdgp]

I totally second everything Pamphilia said! Talk to professors, not us!

That said, here is my humble opinion.

1) I am really glad for doing an MA. My application will be a lot stronger. Not necessarily because I have another degree, but because I really know what I want to do. I thought I did two years ago, but if I had applied for PhDs then, I would have been raked over the coals. Adcoms can tell from your SOP whether you know how to sound like you know what you want to do (or you think you know what you want to do) or whether you have pinpointed exactly what you know you were put on this earth to study for hours upon hours a day for the rest of your life.

2) Ethnicity probably won't help. I don't think it should at this level, unless maybe your ethnicity specifically informs the approach you want to take to the literature you want to study. But even that might be a hard sell, and you could come off to the adcoms sounding like you are trying to exploit your ethnicity rather than get in on the merits of your work (not that you are, but you would have to be very careful about how you come across).

3) I don't think a professor with a PhD from the school to which you are applying will make much of a difference. I am sad to say this, because I have one of those too!

Edited November 25, 2010 by bigdgp

[lifealive]

1) No. There's no hard and fast rule on this, but an MA probably won't help too much at the programs you are interested in applying to. It may make you more prepared, but it will also "raise the bar" for your application, and adcoms will hold you to higher standards. Instead of planning to get an MA, you should instead prepare yourself as well as possible while you're still in undergrad. You're at a good school right now. Seek out those fabulous professors. Do an independent study or two. Do a thesis. Beef up on 1. foreign languages, 2. philosophy, and 3. theory. Ask professors if you can take classes at the graduate level. If you do those things, you won't need to do an MA.

2) I'm going to voice an unpopular viewpoint here and say that your particular ethnicity MIGHT help you in this case. It is by no means a "golden ticket," and it probably won't provide much of a boost at the country's top programs (no top program is going to make a decision about a student based on their minority status), but Puerto Ricans are considered particularly underrepresented at many mid-level schools. You will be eligible for minority student fellowships, and departments absolutely LOVE to brag about the percentage of their students on university-wide fellowships. My department recruits minority students quite aggressively for this very reason and has even set up a special search committee. And please be sure look into the Ford Foundation Fellowship, which defines Puerto Ricans as a group "whose underrepresentation in the American professoriate has been severe and longstanding."

3) No, not at all. Most R1 professors went to famous programs.

Edited November 26, 2010 by lifealive

[stormydown]

On 11/24/2010 at 7:34 PM, Tails said:

Does it help to get letters of recommendation from professors who went to one of those 5 schools for their PhD?

I almost had an alum write me a specific letter for that school, and he was happy to do it, but the consensus from my professors seemed to be that it probably wouldn't make much of a difference, especially since he's older and doesn't know as many people in the program anymore. So I just took a chance with the letters I had and was rejected anyway. I doubt his letter would have changed anything.

[Phedre]

One thing I would recommend to have your "diversity" factor work in your favor is to apply for the Andover IRT program (institute for the recruitment of teachers). I can't recommend it highly enough.

There are 80+ schools which have all signed a commitment to try to accept IRT alumna into their graduate programs (including all of the schools you listed). Therefore, doing IRT will absolutely give you a huge boost. Your application fees are waived or reduced (a HUGE financial help when you have 8+ applications) and they give you step-by-step SOP editing, a GRE bootcamp class over the summer, and more. It's really an amazing program, totally free, and you just have to show commitment to teaching excellence and diversity. Apply this year for sure (deadline should be in early april 2011).