English and Comp/Lit applicants: How many of you corresponded with faculty before applying to a department [especially those accepted to a program]

[Grunty DaGnome]

As results roll out, I'm curious about this issue. Please don't answer if you're not applying to a lit. faculty, simply because different disciplines tend to go about this process differently, but feel free to post a similar poll for your area.

Edited February 2, 2012 by Grunty DaGnome

[koolherc]

your poll has problems, buddy. i emailed profs at some places and not others, and got into some places and not others.

[Grunty DaGnome]

your poll has problems, buddy. i emailed profs at some places and not others, and got into some places and not others.

When you get a final decision, you can answer once for each program, but don't answer until you know the final result [obvi].

If you want to explain more, you can put it in the comments.

[Also, please don't include your history programs, as I'm trying to get a sense of Lit. Departments, even though that's probably random a random distinction anyway.]

Edited February 2, 2012 by Grunty DaGnome

[figuredso]

Does a "contact" necessarily mean getting in touch with a POI and discussing one's interest, or does contacting the DGS to ask about the program in general, or the admissions process, count as well? Also, I did contact some and not others, but I can follow the lead and answer as I get responses on a program-by-program basis.

[TheLadyT]

I will respond once I get in or get rejected...but I came from the old school thought process of networking, so I contacted programs. In fact, I even visited two. But then one of my profs said that some peeps could see that as a waste of their time. Ugh. Anyway, so far my result is: contacted three programs, 1st on wait list for one, invited to recruitment weekend for another, pretty sure I'm getting into the third because they nominated me for a university-paid visit, but I got rejected by the grad school for the visit because I'm not from an "underrepresented" population, and that was one of their stipulations. So...it hasn't backfired so far...

[TheLadyT]

Oh - and what's a POI? Professor of Interest?

[lcm]

I'm still waiting for responses, but I did not apply to a program until after I'd contacted someone in the department to verify that they had a professor (or multiple) who found my research interesting and confirmed there would be enough professors to serve on a dissertation committee.

I did receive two notices that the professor thought the program wouldn't be a great fit-- so I didn't apply to those schools.

[Galoup11]

Only "got in touch" with one university, and that was because their website specified to talk to the DGS if applying without an English major. Not sure if that'd count for the purposes of your poll. Will try to update when I hear back from some places.

[ourfinalproblem]

I didn't contact anyone and I got into Northwestern. It's the only school I've heard back from so far, though.

[0000000000AAA]

I made no contact with anyone and got into NYU.

[ComeBackZinc]

This is the most controversial question, it seems, in discussing applying to grad school online.

I'll say this: it's impossible to make a rule about this. A lot of people tend to want to look at their own experience and pronounce that as best practice. (That's a temptation I have to fight myself.) To me, the details are essential. Cold emailing somebody and attempting to ingratiate yourself with them for a slot in a grad program could easily be a disaster. But it's also simply the case: there's no competitive human endeavor where social factors and networking don't play a part. Who you know matters in applying for a job, and it certainly matters in grad school applications writ large. It's not a crude or malicious situation where unqualified people jump the line because they have a personal connection to a prof. It's the simple fact that in a brutally competitive environment, programs are choosing between hundreds of super-qualified applicants. And academia is a small, small world, particularly in some fields. And that isn't less true at the most competitive programs; in fact it's likely most true in those situations.

There's plenty of people who get in without making contact; there's plenty of people who will tell you it was key to their success. Just another complicated question in an often obscure and arbitrary process.

Edited February 2, 2012 by ComeBackZinc

[effess]

This is the most controversial question, it seems, in discussing applying to grad school online.

I'll say this: it's impossible to make a rule about this.

I have to say, though, that seeing that the majority of people who have answered the poll have been accepted into programs without contacting faculty directly is the most reassuring thing that's happened to me all week, so hurray for this thread!

[JeremiahParadise]

Do you want votes from folks who applied to MA programs in the past, or just PhDs?

[Grunty DaGnome]

Hmmmm. Good question J. I'm going to say let's keep it PhD only on the poll, just because there's no way to distinguish on the little bar graph. If you feel comfortable putting your results in the comments, then go for it. I think gradcafers appreciate any and all info they can get.

[ComeBackZinc]

I guess it just seems to me that a question of equal relevance is "do any of your recommenders have personal or professional relationships with faculty at schools that accepted you?" But perhaps that's a separate issue.

[0000000000AAA]

I think this helps (or starts to) to put to rest the idea that it is necessary. And though it's an admittedly low sample size, it doesn't even seem help that much. I suspect it's an older model that is now a bit outdated. The only professors who have recommended me to do it were several decades from the PhD process. Anyone who had received their degree in the last 10 years suggested it was a potentially disastrous move, and at best, meaningless.

[Grunty DaGnome]

Wellspring,

Thanks for that feedback. I also feared it could hurt more than help to make a nuissance of yourself. Plus, how intelligent could you sound just sending out a cold email? I can't imagine what a Columbia Profs Fall semester would be like if all of the 680 applicants each wrote to one or two profs in the department, let alone, everyone thinking of applying who didn't in the end.

[Grunty DaGnome]

I guess it just seems to me that a question of equal relevance is "do any of your recommenders have personal or professional relationships with faculty at schools that accepted you?" But perhaps that's a separate issue.

Hmmm. This might make a good poll as well.

[Two Espressos]

This is an interesting poll, Grunty DaGnome. I hadn't thought it necessary to personally contact POIs, as it seemed like brown-nosing to me, and the results from this thread, while clearly a limited sample size, have proven that at least some applicants have had demonstrable success without it.

[wreckofthehope]

Last year, I contacted faculty at one program before realizing that, contrary to the UK norm, it was actually really not required for US applications. I didn't get into that program. I was accepted elsewhere, having made no contact, and was also waitlisted at a couple of places, also having made no contact (I'll add a caveat here, which is that I was waitlisted at a Canadian university where I suspect it may actually have helped to have made contact as they seem to be slightly closer to the UK way of doing things...just to drop a small spanner in the works of our neatly delineated ayes and nays).

[ComeBackZinc]

Well, I'm clearly in the minority on this-- and I didn't exactly contact profs before applying, myself-- so I'll move on, but I will leave by saying that the bias on a forum like this is always going to be towards what people want to hear.

[TheLadyT]

Now I'm worried that I *did* contact people! But, that was the "older" way of doing things...you made personal contacts, you networked. It was just automatic for me until my adviser told me that perhaps it wasn't the best idea, as some profs view it as a waste of their time. And that totally makes sense, when you consider how many people might email/visit/call/etc. ARGH. Oh well - it hasn't appeared to have backfired yet.

[Grunty DaGnome]

Well, I'm clearly in the minority on this-- and I didn't exactly contact profs before applying, myself-- so I'll move on, but I will leave by saying that the bias on a forum like this is always going to be towards what people want to hear.

It's also possible that Rhet Comp programs are a whole different ball game. It seems to me Rhet Comp is dedicated to one specific goal for it's graduate students, namely teaching, and actually knowing the applicant may mean more where the curriculum might be more standard. For Lit., if you're looking at someone with a focus in early modernism and another with a rise of the novel focus and you have one advisor left who's in early modern, then it doesn't really matter if you found the "novel" grad student personable. There's just not a space for them this year.

[jma310]

I don't think either contact or your recommenders having "connections" necessarily help. One of my recommenders is the sister of the chairperson of a very prominent department that I applied to, and my chances are probably still microscopic.

[Aubergine]

I didn't vote because I'm not applying to lit programs, But I wanted to add that when my partner applied to English lit programs three years ago, he had email correspondences with POIs at all seven of the programs to which he applied. He was offered admission to five of those programs (all ranked in the top 10 I think). His emails introduced his researched interests, asked about fit and resources, and whether or not that particular prof would be accepting students in the coming year(s). The profs whose interests closely matched his own were more than happy to correspond. Would he have been accepted anyway? Probably? But the emails certainly didn't hurt his chances!

Edit: Just read this and wanted to add, he was also coming out of the British system.

Last year, I contacted faculty at one program before realizing that, contrary to the UK norm, it was actually really not required for US applications. I didn't get into that program. I was accepted elsewhere, having made no contact, and was also waitlisted at a couple of places, also having made no contact (I'll add a caveat here, which is that I was waitlisted at a Canadian university where I suspect it may actually have helped to have made contact as they seem to be slightly closer to the UK way of doing things...just to drop a small spanner in the works of our neatly delineated ayes and nays).

Edited February 3, 2012 by Aubergine