First Year M.A. in Ph.D Track at Penn State, Ask Me Almost Anything

[Galoup11]

I recall there not being a ton of current grad students on the forum (gradcafe alums, so to speak) when I was active last fall, and I pledged to at least do an open thread for questions if I got in.

I'm studying 20th-century/Contemporary American Literature and Film. I teach a freshmen Composition & Rhetoric course as well.

Feel free to ask if you have any questions whether it's about the application process or graduate school itself.

Good luck to the incoming '13 cohort.

[sebastiansteddy]

Hello Galoup11,

I am a current MA in English student (with similar research interests as your own). I am interested in Penn State, but have heard that they do not like to accept many students who already have their MA. Do you know how many students with an MA they tend to accept into the PhD program? Thanks for your help! I appreciate that you started this thread!

[waparys]

I recall there not being a ton of current grad students on the forum (gradcafe alums, so to speak) when I was active last fall, and I pledged to at least do an open thread for questions if I got in.

I'm studying 20th-century/Contemporary American Literature and Film. I teach a freshmen Composition & Rhetoric course as well.

Feel free to ask if you have any questions whether it's about the application process or graduate school itself.

Good luck to the incoming '13 cohort.

If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?

[Galoup11]

Hello Galoup11,

I am a current MA in English student (with similar research interests as your own). I am interested in Penn State, but have heard that they do not like to accept many students who already have their MA. Do you know how many students with an MA they tend to accept into the PhD program? Thanks for your help! I appreciate that you started this thread!

Only one person in my cohort came in with an MA in English, but I know at least a handful of older students, so I'm guessing 1-3 per year, though I'm guessing it's largely contingent on the qualifications of the application pool and so forth.

If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?

This might be a better question for folks who are farther along, as I haven't experienced the cynical malaise you sometimes hear about. In terms of the application process, I would have liked to have started preparing sooner (not great advice for folks applying this Fall), but I am truly happy at Penn State so far and so I don't really have any lingering regrets.

[Deadinthewater]

How did you "connect" to Penn State in your personal statement? Is this asking too much?

You said, "ask me almost anything...."

[Galoup11]

How did you "connect" to Penn State in your personal statement? Is this asking too much?

You said, "ask me almost anything...."

My personal statement process for each university I applied to was to briefly discuss the professors I was most interested in working with and why. I've known others to go more in-depth about who they want to work with, but I don't think it's a problem if you're not announcing who you'd like to direct your dissertation (plus, this can be problematic if that professor is leaving or not really interested in overseeing graduate research).

[anhonestmouse]

Okay: so I'm (overly) early to the grad school process. I'm hoping to apply for Phd or Ma-Phd track programs for Fall '14. I am already panicking about applications. Maybe I've gotten cynical because of too much googling, but I'm fairly certain I'm not going to get in anywhere. Penn State is my first choice, based on the program offerings, job placements, location, etc. I was wondering if you had any first hand knowledge of what the general stats needed are to get in. I know this is basically THE question on the grad cafe (that what are my chances threads), but I'm more or less looking to see if you've heard anything about cutoff numbers, focuses in SOPs, etc, from people in your class.

Thanks a million

[Two Espressos]

Galloup11: I'm not applying to Penn State, but since you offered, I've got a question for you!

A professor of mine referred to Penn State as very traditionalist. She offered a mostly negative appraisal of the program. Do you agree with her, or is her statement contrary to your experience?

[Galoup11]

Okay: so I'm (overly) early to the grad school process. I'm hoping to apply for Phd or Ma-Phd track programs for Fall '14. I am already panicking about applications. Maybe I've gotten cynical because of too much googling, but I'm fairly certain I'm not going to get in anywhere. Penn State is my first choice, based on the program offerings, job placements, location, etc. I was wondering if you had any first hand knowledge of what the general stats needed are to get in. I know this is basically THE question on the grad cafe (that what are my chances threads), but I'm more or less looking to see if you've heard anything about cutoff numbers, focuses in SOPs, etc, from people in your class.

Thanks a million

I honestly have no info about hard cutoff numbers or anything like that, but my entire cohort is not summa cum laude with 99th percentile GRE scores, as far as I know. There is a pretty diverse background among students--I was a psychology major, for example--and I've come to a general conclusion that "fit" is the most important at the end of the day. At PSU we teach from Day 1, though, so if you have or can get any experience tutoring or T.A.'ing, that would probably be a plus for your application. Professionalization is another trait the department emphasizes, so a career-oriented statement would also be a good approach. This doesn't necessarily mean knowing exactly what you want to study and write your dissertation on (of course), but you really don't want to come off as though you're totally unsure of what your interests are or why you want to go to graduate school (beyond education for its own sake). Hope that helps.

Galloup11: I'm not applying to Penn State, but since you offered, I've got a question for you!

A professor of mine referred to Penn State as very traditionalist. She offered a mostly negative appraisal of the program. Do you agree with her, or is her statement contrary to your experience?

Hmm, "traditionalist" is difficult to unpack, so I'm not sure exactly what your professor meant. I had heard of PSU as a relatively "conservative" institution before, but then English departments are generally one of the more liberal wings of universities anyway. Comparing PSU to other schools I visited, nothing jumped out at me. If you could interpret a little bit more of what your professor meant, I might be able to be more helpful. I'm just unsure of the proper connotation of "traditionalist." Obviously from my original post I have a positive appraisal of the program, though.

[lavender_be]

Greetings. I am 6 years away from academia but am applying for 2014. My major research interest is children's literature, overlapped with Victorian studies. Considering my research interest, could you tell me whether Penn State would be a good place to go for me, considering my research interest? The only professor that seems likely to be interested in children's literature is Prof. Robert Lougy. I emailed him once, but he didn't reply. I am not sure if I should pursue correspondence with him. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a million. 

[iExcelAtMicrosoftPuns]

Howdy! 

Penn is high on my list for Rhet/Comp. 

 

You said "ask you almost anything" Sooooo. 

Can I ask you to toss out every rhet/comp app that doesn't have the Tardis on it?

But seriously, what's the vibe? what's the emotional support? Is it pretentious? Are they stuffy? Are they people you'll want to spend the next half decade of your life with?

[Francophile1]

Are you familiar with Penn's comp lit department at all?

[champagne]

Hi! This is pretty auspicious as a former professor recently recommended I look into Penn State. She didn't really mention why except that she seemed to think that I would love some of the professors there and really congeal with their personalities. I know that doesn't help much.

 

This could be too personal, but which professors have you enjoyed the most and why?

[bfat]

Howdy! 

Penn is high on my list for Rhet/Comp. 

 

You said "ask you almost anything" Sooooo. 

Can I ask you to toss out every rhet/comp app that doesn't have the Tardis on it?

But seriously, what's the vibe? what's the emotional support? Is it pretentious? Are they stuffy? Are they people you'll want to spend the next half decade of your life with?

 

I'm a first-year at PSU this year, and while I'm not in Rhetoric, the people I've met from that dept. are really fantastic. The teaching that you do your first year (and potentially other years as well) is a low-level rhetoric course, which is really fun to teach. No one that I've met is pretentious, even when they're "famous." So far everyone from the English dept. that I've met or worked with has been very open and supportive (though I hear there are a few "scary" professors as well). I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop and things to get nasty or competitive or something, but seriously, everyone I've met here is incredibly friendly, encouraging, and supportive.

 

I'm not sure how many rhetoric students they admit in a typical year, but my cohort has 4, which seems to be a lot (that's 1/4 of the incoming class).

 

I hope this helps!

[bfat]

Hi! This is pretty auspicious as a former professor recently recommended I look into Penn State. She didn't really mention why except that she seemed to think that I would love some of the professors there and really congeal with their personalities. I know that doesn't help much.

 

This could be too personal, but which professors have you enjoyed the most and why?

 

What is your area of interest? I've met many of the professors in the department, but I'm only in 3 courses right now, so I haven't "worked" with many.

[champagne]

What is your area of interest? I've met many of the professors in the department, but I'm only in 3 courses right now, so I haven't "worked" with many.

Southern lit, masculinity and the performance of masculinity in different spheres. Of course, things can change. She insinuated that regardless of interest, there were professors there that she thought I would get along with handsomely. I guess that means grumpy professors, specifically ones with beards, as that seems to be the type I have been drawn to the most in my academic career thus far.