Fall 2013 English Lit Applicants

[Two Espressos]

Hi everyone! So glad someone made this post for our year! I'm a Victorianist looking mostly at East Coast/Midwest Schools. Also interested in critical theory, comparative arts, gender/sexuality studies. So glad to find other people who are doing this too...my school mostly churns out pre-meds and future CEO's, so I am glad to find a community of other hopeful academics.

Ditto. My school mostly churns out nurses, engineers, and education majors...with all the other majors maybe comprising 10% total of the student body.

[margarethale]

I was just accepted to my dream PhD program straight from my BA and I thought I'd just give a little specifics about my process to give some hope/advice about the application process.

All of my professors told me that the single most important aspect of your application isn't your scores or your GPA - it's your writing sample. Pick something that plays to your strengths and interests. Also, if possible, pick something that is in line with your academic interests as outlined in your Letter of Intent. If you write about how much you want to study British Modernism, don't turn in a writing sample about Medieval Literature - it will make you seem unfocused and make your application feel disjointed. It also helps to choose a writing sample that is an excerpt from a greater work (like an honors thesis or a masters thesis). For mine, I chose a 25 page excerpt from my 86 page undergraduate honors thesis. Graduate schools (according to my professors) prefer to see one large writing sample (one 25 page paper) rather than two shorter papers that add up to the page requirement. They want to see you carry a lengthy argument and if you can handle larger papers and the research that they require.

As far as your GRE scores go - a solid GPA, good letters of rec, and a great writing sample can offset less than stellar scores. Also, don't freak out about the math section. I am an english major through and through and did terribly on the math section. The thing is, you're not going to grad school to study math (and your programs will know that). Don't sweat it. For the record, I scored in the 90% for verbal but only the 53% for math.

The GRE Literature subject test is an instrument of torture. A lot of very reputable programs (like Columbia, UPenn, etc) don't even require it because they know that it's a terrible test that doesn't accurately reflect your academic capabilities. If your dream program requires that you take it - just shell out the extra cash and buy one of the Princeton review books. You're essentially going to be tested on anything that was ever written. One sample question that I vividly remember was: "The author of Lolita also wrote which of the following texts?" While I know that Nabokov wrote Lolita, I had no clue what else he had written when I took that exam (my undergrad didn't offer any literature courses outside of the American and British traditions). If your background is similarly weighted towards American and British literature, get a review book.

I contacted my POIs in the summer right before I started my application process (so around August). Personalize each letter that you send so that the professor in question knows you're not just spamming. I made sure to ask if they were able to take on new students. If you have your heart set on working with someone in particular and then find out that they're on leave for a year, it might make you change your mind about applying to that specific program. Here's a great guide for sending thoughtful emails to your POIs: http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/advice/prospective.html

One final suggestion: even if you fail to get into any of your schools this application season, don't give up. I didn't get into a single program last year and after taking some time to really polish my writing sample and refine my application, I'm going to a fully funded PhD program. One of my good friends from undergrad was rejected from his PhD programs for two years in a row and is now getting 5 years of full funding from UPitt's PhD program in medieval literature. It's entirely possible to get rejected from everywhere one year and get in somewhere great the next year. It's also entirely possible to get into a top 50 PhD program without earning your MA first (for any undergrads out there with your eye on a doctorate). Earning an MA will certainly make it easier, but it's not necessary.

Hope this was helpful! I'm always available to answer any lingering questions so if you have any, shoot me a message.

[asleepawake]

It also helps to choose a writing sample that is an excerpt from a greater work (like an honors thesis or a masters thesis). For mine, I chose a 25 page excerpt from my 86 page undergraduate honors thesis. Graduate schools (according to my professors) prefer to see one large writing sample (one 25 page paper) rather than two shorter papers that add up to the page requirement. They want to see you carry a lengthy argument and if you can handle larger papers and the research that they require.

I think this is mostly all solid advice, but I want to make note of one place where I have heard different advice.

I've been advised to not send (I <3 split infinitives) a part of a larger work as a writing sample. Despite the common advice to send a part of your BA or MA thesis, this may not be a good idea if you're going to fill the writing sample with footnotes or other references to your larger work, which the adcom cannot see. Instead, it is best to submit something that reads like a journal article. As well as you think you can summarize missing sections of your argument, it simply doesn't read smoothly like a singular document does. Rewrite a thesis chapter with this in mind. I completely agree that sending two smaller works will work against you, but you have to work with what you have. If you're applying straight out of you BA, you may not have a 25 page paper. Only send work you're confident about!

Edited May 2, 2012 by asleepawake

[lazaria]

I contacted my POIs in the summer right before I started my application process (so around August). Personalize each letter that you send so that the professor in question knows you're not just spamming. I made sure to ask if they were able to take on new students. If you have your heart set on working with someone in particular and then find out that they're on leave for a year, it might make you change your mind about applying to that specific program. Here's a great guide for sending thoughtful emails to your POIs: http://www.cs.virgin...rospective.html

Thanks for sharing that link!

[margarethale]

I took the practice exam and, well, let's just say I bombed it. Like well-below-50th-percentile bombed it. Mostly because I left a lot of questions blank (I got almost all of the questions that I answered correct).

My professors have been urging me to apply to the top schools, but with the prospect of seriously failing the lit GRE looming, I'm starting to feel anxious. Thoughts?

Honestly, even if you are looking into top schools, I wouldn't worry too much about your scores on the subject test. A lot of top schools (ex: UPenn, Columbia, Brown, etc) don't require the subject test. I took the subject test and scored terribly (not "oh, I did so terribly, I was only in the top 85%" - more like holy hell i barely made it to the top 50%) but I still got into a number of great programs including my top choice. I wasn't applying to all Ivy League programs, but a number of the schools in the top 20 (and almost the majority in the top 50) don't even ask for the subject test. If your absolute dream program requires the subject test, then of course you should study, but even then it's not a guaranteed deal-breaker. I applied to UT Austin's PhD program and they require the subject test. I submitted my measly 54% score and got wait-listed and eventually accepted. It's not necessarily a deal-breaker if you have other great things on your application to balance it out.

Edited May 10, 2012 by margarethale

[thestage]

The GRE lit test is really dumb. This means you can game it if you are a good test taker and feel like spending the time to stoop to its levels. If you are not a good test taker you will not do well unless you have been steeped in (not just read) an unnatural amount of literature. There is not much middle ground, as far as I see it. My preparation was slightly above minimal and I got 87% percentile. Then again, I'm an excellent test taker and 87% percentile is literally the worst standardized test score I've ever gotten. It's not an easy test. You have to play defensively, so to speak. Here's a small tip that is of some actual use: I took three practice tests, one as the result of idle curiosity long before I even decided I was going to apply to grad school and two for real. I scored better on the test I actually took than I did on the first of those practice tests, but worse than I did on the other two. I wanted to know why, in general terms. Now, I do think the real test that I took was "harder" or less tailored to my knowledge and my studying than the other tests, and I do believe this played a role, but the main point is that I did not finish the real test in time, while I finished the other three with somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes to spare. The reason? In the practice tests, I wrote the letter of the answer down on a separate sheet of paper; on the actual test, you are bubbling. Bubbling takes more time than writing "A." There are 230 questions. So when you practice, bubble.

Other than that, standard test taking measures apply--skip, guess, don't get flustered, look for ways in which a question undermines itself, play the logic, assume the answers are more obvious authors rather than more obscure ones when you are debating between options. Know the characteristics of eras and movements so you can recognize them whether or not you recognize a specific author or text. Read wiki summaries and character lists of longer works that you feel are important (ie, Victorian novels), make sure you can read and recognize The Canterbury Tales, for fuck's sake don't ignore the non-Shakespeare, non-Milton 17th century, assume any passage with questions of grammar or syntax is from Milton unless you have good reason to believe otherwise, know poetic forms and genres (no, really: know them, be able to recognize them very quickly, and not just to be able to answer "what form is this in" but to be able to recognize that a passage is from The Divine Comedy or The Faerie Queene without even reading it or knowing anything about the texts at all just because you saw Terza Rima or a Spensarian Stanza (shame on you, you should read Dante anyway)), Charles Lamb will appear for some reason, there will be at least three passages identifiable as mock epic and about 40 questions with something related to mock epic as a possible answer, I swear Borges showed up on all my practice tests but not on the real one, fuck Samson Agonistes, people tell you the grammar questions are supposed to be free points but in actuality most of them are really hard, read The Rape of the Lock, I hope you've read Paradise Lost, if I had to recommend one book-length work to read in total with the specific aim of assisting you on this test and I can't pick Paradise Lost I'd actually pick Ovid's Metamorphoses.

Umm

you will run into shit that you've never even considered hearing of. don't sweat it.

[Augusta]

I'd like to second thestage's suggestion to bubble in answers on practice tests. After registering for the Lit exam, ETS sent me a copy of their official practice test. I made copies of the answer sheet to use for the practice tests I had in pdf format. I wanted to take those exams in conditions similar to those during the real thing. Of course, I have no idea if this had any real effect on my performance, but it certainly didn't hurt.

Well, scores for last month's Lit test are supposed to available via phone in about ten days. To everyone planning to call in when that happens, good luck. I hope we will all find out that we did much better than we thought.

[asleepawake]

Well, scores for last month's Lit test are supposed to available via phone in about ten days. To everyone planning to call in when that happens, good luck. I hope we will all find out that we did much better than we thought.

I'll be up at 9am next Monday with phone and credit card in hand! I don't know why... I'm not expecting to do well, but I still want my results.

[Augusta]

I'll be up at 9am next Monday with phone and credit card in hand! I don't know why... I'm not expecting to do well, but I still want my results.

For me, I just want to know what my next move needs to be. If I completely bombed the test, I'll feel pretty crappy about it but I can start preparing for the retake. If my score is actually decent, I'll be relieved that I no longer have to think about this one application component.

[asleepawake]

For me, I just want to know what my next move needs to be. If I completely bombed the test, I'll feel pretty crappy about it but I can start preparing for the retake. If my score is actually decent, I'll be relieved that I no longer have to think about this one application component.

I'm thinking at this point that I'm not going to retake it no matter what happens. I'll just adjust my list of schools accordingly. I really don't think the best use of my time during application season and as I finish my thesis is studying for a giant trivia test. I've accepted whatever my score is, I think.

[id quid]

Just back from my visit to the UK. Walking around Oxford has made me realize just how different it will be to study literature in the place it was written. The difference between the US and the UK, culturally and environmentally, is unfathomable until you get to experience both. There are certain things you can take for granted in England that would just never occur to an American, like the fact that the floors of your library are likely just as old as the Colonies themselves, and that's before you even think about the materials on the shelves.

Guess that means I'm gearing up for a monster funding search so I can make studying in the UK a reality next fall!

[bigdgp]

Saecla Vincere,

I studied in the UK, had the chance to stay at a hallowed institution to do my PhD, and chose to return to the US for my doctorate instead. First of all, you don't get to teach during your PhD in the UK, which makes it hard to get a job back in the USA. Second, the cards are stacked against you as an American. You can try and be as worldly as you like, but there is a competitive spirit that you just aren't going to overcome. Finally, the way things are done in English departments--the assumptions you are and aren't allowed to make regarding theoretical approaches, academic lines of inquiry and the definition of "conservative" scholarship--are very different. I'm not saying don't go, for I never stopped being enamo(u)red of the history and beauty I got to experience daily during my year studying in the UK. I just want to warn you that there are difficulties that you can't yet anticipate.

[id quid]

I'll be pursuing a Master's degree if I do end up in the UK, but I take your point. This stage in my career, exploring a few more methodologies would be helpful (and I say this decidedly as a medievalist, not an English major). Paleography and more medieval languages are going to be important skills for my future in scholarship.

I likely will end up at a US PhD-granting institution for my terminal degree. My ultimate goal is research and teaching, and the latter definitely finds its home more easily in the US. That said, I see value in expanding my experience to include faculty members that are just as prominent in the field as those here at home and, of course, the value in having direct access to the very things I'm studying.

[antecedent]

Hey Saecla,

If you're serious about studying at Oxbridge (or any other UK institution) for a Masters, I would highly recommend applying for the big scholarships - the Marshall, the Fulbright, and of course the Rhodes scholarship for Oxford. I went into this ordeal with a British institution as one of my top choices, but somewhat foolishly expected I'd get in to an American PhD program and therefore wouldn't end up doing a British masters. However, once all the dust had settled, of my three offers, the one from Edinburgh made the most sense. Now I'm faced with the prospect of cobbling together enough scholarships to cover my tuition, which is doable, but only if I get every one that I apply for. It's not a fun place to be in, and if possible I'd recommend trying to avoid it.

I'm super stoked about studying English in the UK at one of the ancient universities though...so cool!

[Augusta]

It looks like the Lit test scores were released a day earlier than expected. I've been calling in every day in case that would happen, and this morning, I discovered that my score was available. So anyone who's been waiting for results should try calling.

I'll hold off on posting my actual results but for now, I'll just say that I'm quite uncertain whether to retake it. I didn't do terribly but I didn't do great either, and I was aiming for great. Objectively speaking, I know my score is definitely acceptable for grad school admissions (at least, based on what I've read here), but I'm only eleven points away from my target score. I suspect that if I were to start studying now for the October retake, I would probably surpass my goal, especially now that I've taken the real thing already. But I'm really not sure if it'd be worth it.

[transcendental]

IMO it may not be worth the money and time you'd invest to retake it. Both score sets would be reported to the schools you send it to anyway, so making an 11 point jump is not going to be that impressive of an improvement, I would think. If you needed to go up by 100 or something, that may be worth it, but if you did well enough, you should be in good shape. FWIW, the school that made me the best offer required the lit GRE and my score was awful (I think below 50 %ile, but I try not to remember). Good luck in whatever you decide to do!

(Edited for a typo!)

Edited May 20, 2012 by transcendental

[Augusta]

IMO it may not be worth the money and time you'd invest to retake it. Both score sets would be reported to the schools you send it to anyway, so making an 11 point jump is not going to be that impressive of an improvement, I would think. If you needed to go up by 100 or something, that may be worth it, but if you did well enough, you should be in good shape. FWIW, the school that made me the best offer required the lit GRE and my score was awful (I think below 50 %ile, but I try not to remember). Good luck in whatever you decide to do!

(Edited for a typo!)

Yeah, you're most likely right--retaking it just for an eleven point percentile jump would be absurd given how little emphasis is placed on test scores anyway. As the day's gone on, I've been gradually nearing a place of acceptance. I made that earlier post within minutes of finding out my results, so the sting of my initial disappointment was still quite painful.

Well, at least I can cross one thing off my to-do list. My next move is preparing for the general GRE while working on my writing sample and SOP, which actually do matter a lot.

[transcendental]

My reference to the 100 point jump was for the score itself of course, haha, though who wouldn't want to be in the 150 percentile, but yeah 11 percentiles isn't a huge deal. That test is horrible in so many ways, so I don't blame you for fretting about it. I've also heard from my former DGS that the test might be especially important for an applicant whose original major wasn't English or who maybe did poorly in lit courses (which I don't imagine to be you). Good luck on the regular GRE and congrats for surviving the lit one.

[Augusta]

transcendental,

Thank you for your well wishes. It's kinda strange how reassuring a completely anonymous person on some message board can be. Thanks, also, for sharing your DGS' advice. I did major in English and performed well in my Lit courses, so I guess that's even more reason to let all my test-related anxiety go.

[asleepawake]

Oh snap. I just called at 9:53 Eastern and they're telling me to call back "before 10pm Eastern 7 days a week." I call BS! I want my score!

I hope everybody who got their score today did well. I an endlessly annoyed by the early closing of the phone lines, but I think I'll survive another day.

Edited May 21, 2012 by asleepawake

[Fiona Thunderpaws]

I just want to echo Transcendental and congratulate everyone who survived the lit GRE! But I also want to echo her/his point that if you do poorly, it's not worth retaking. Think about it--we're all specialists here, so we all own one section of the test only to do terribly on the ones we don't know. I got below the 50th percentile and am going to a top 20 school this fall. Just celebrate you were wise and got one annoying requirement out of the way long before you have to get applications in!

[JeremiahParadise]

I just want to echo Transcendental and congratulate everyone who survived the lit GRE! But I also want to echo her/his point that if you do poorly, it's not worth retaking. Think about it--we're all specialists here, so we all own one section of the test only to do terribly on the ones we don't know. I got below the 50th percentile and am going to a top 20 school this fall. Just celebrate you were wise and got one annoying requirement out of the way long before you have to get applications in!

I love reading stuff like this. I haven't taken the subject test yet, but knowing that you and others with similar scores still got into great programs (thanks to your writing/recs, etc) is really great to know. Thanks! And congrats

[JeremiahParadise]

Also, I hope posts like Fiona's will encourage folks in this thread to move on from discussing/stressing about GREs and deal with what really matters: the writing sample! How are folks doing with those? I've been working on mine for a few weeks -- it's a (reworked/shortened/tightly focused) version of my MA thesis -- and it's been tough! What sorts of strategies/tips have you heard about/been using to help get through these mothers? How are you dealing with your programs' differing page requirements? I think I'm going to shoot for 15 pages and just use that for all my schools. Ugh. You? 2012 applicants?

[margarethale]

Also, I hope posts like Fiona's will encourage folks in this thread to move on from discussing/stressing about GREs and deal with what really matters: the writing sample! How are folks doing with those? I've been working on mine for a few weeks -- it's a (reworked/shortened/tightly focused) version of my MA thesis -- and it's been tough! What sorts of strategies/tips have you heard about/been using to help get through these mothers? How are you dealing with your programs' differing page requirements? I think I'm going to shoot for 15 pages and just use that for all my schools. Ugh. You? 2012 applicants?

A sample/version of your MA thesis sounds like a solid idea. I used an excerpt from my undergrad honors thesis and that worked really well for me. The biggest advice that I have is to make sure you check out the specific requirements of your programs before you get a specific page requirement in mind. I applied to a lot of programs last season and didn't check on some of the actual requirements until pretty late in the game. Some schools require 25 pages, others like 15. There are also some curveballs. For example: UVa requires two separate writing samples not to exceed 25 pages together. I didn't find plan ahead for that one and I didn't have enough time to edit another paper to writing sample quality so I just didn't apply. Other schools have much larger page requirements than others. Ex: Brandeis has a 35 page maximum requirement. Even though it's a maximum requirement and you can submit a shorter paper, submitting a paper that's less than half the length of a suggested amount could be a little risky.

This is where using a writing sample that's an excerpt from a larger work (like an MA or undergrad thesis) can really come in handy because you can just add more pages that you already have written.

I guess what I'm saying is that aiming for a 15 page writing sample may not work for some specific programs so you may want to check out the requirements at where you want to apply before you settle on a specific page goal.

Other advice:

- Have everyone that you can read it. You never know whose perspective could help you. Also, if you feel uncomfortable/embarrassed showing your writing sample to your friends or your professors, then why should you feel comfortable sending it to people who will actually be deciding your academic future?

- Advice that a professor gave me: If possible, try to have your writing sample reflect the academic interests that you express in your SOP. If your SOP paints you as a post-modernist, then try not to use a writing sample about Romanticism. This will make your application seem stronger and more cohesive.

- If you have a writing resource center at your university (or its equivalent) take it in and have someone copy-edit it for small grammar or punctuation mistakes. After you finally press that submit button though, don't reread it (if you can) until after you get your decisions back. This takes some will power but I reread my writing sample the week after I submitted it and found a typo. It drove me crazy for months. If stuff like that bothers you, for your own mental sanity, just don't read it.

Hope this helps and good luck!!

[Fiona Thunderpaws]

I'm with Margarethale on the whole "don't read it after you sent it out" thing. Probably the worst thing about applications is that you're done in December roughly, and then you have two months or more to sit around and reflect on what you could have done better. Don't make waiting worse by going back and re-reading your stuff! Save your grad stuff on a flash drive and give it to your friend if you must. Not looking will make you much happier.

As far as the sample itself goes, if page requirements are an issue, I recommend contacting the program and asking if it's okay if you send something slightly longer/shorter. I did this with one school, and they were fine with it. While it's good to meet the required length, sometimes there is just no possible way your 20 page paper can become 12 without some serious damage.

If you've got the time, it helps to put your sample away for a few weeks and come back to it. When I did this, I found it was much easier to edit with a distanced perspective than when I was working on it 24/7. Since you 2013 people are way ahead of the game here, I recommend it. Especially if you've hit the point where you just don't even know what to do anymore.