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Posted

I am set to graduate this April with my BA in German language and literature and a minor in international relations. I would really like to stay in academics and hopefully, one day, be a German professor. My main areas of interest are West German terrorism, "Entartete Kunst", Weimar culture and East German lit. So really, I get interested pretty easily. My professor highly recommended programs at prestigious universities such as UNC-Duke, Michigan, Minnesota, Texas, etc. I would be looking to apply for Fall 2014 entrance, but I'm concerned about my transcript. I have a 3.26 GPA with a 3.55 in the German major. I also have 3 withdrawals on there too. I made some mistakes early on and that would really suck if it hindered my education prospects. I have not taken the GRE yet, but with this shaky record, what should I shoot for? If anyone has an honest opinion/advice for me, I would really appreciate it! I just don't want to start this long process and get my hopes up, if I don't have a shot at getting into the programs that are best suited to my interests. Thanks!

Posted

In theory, the department will be looking at you as an entire package - this is unless they do a sweep of applicants based on GRE or GPA to weed out some of the applicant pool.  I would not assume this to be the case going in.  Therefore, you need to focus on everything you *can* control: SOP, letters of recommendation, writing samples, recordings (if programs want to hear your spoken German), GRE score, CV.

 

Tips:

- See if your German professors have any contacts at any of the schools you want to attend.  They may be able to send out an informal email to a colleague and feel out the department for you.  DO NOT DO THIS YOURSELF!

- You have the opportunity to explain some of your issues in the Statement of Purpose.  Don't dwell on them, though.  You don't have much room in an SOP, and you want to convince the committee of your future possibilities, not make excuses for past failures. An alternative to the SOP is to ask a professor to comment on your improvement over the years as part of his/her letter of recommendation.  Yes, the recommender will ultimately decide what they choose to include, but it is not abnormal to request that the letter address this or that.

- Apply to a wide range of programs.  Prestigious universities are great, but if you find someone with your research interests at a "less prestigious" program, check it out to see if the rest of the school might be a fit.  Ask more than one professor for recommendations.  I ended up having an initial list of almost 40 schools by talking to 3 faculty!

- Consider taking a year or two off to do something that would bolster your resume and show that you are committed to future excellence.  This is a completely acceptable path in all regards.

Posted

My professor highly recommended programs at prestigious universities such as UNC-Duke, Michigan, Minnesota, Texas, etc.

Be aware that some programs (e.g. Minnesota) require a MA for their PhD tracks. Have you considered getting one? Maybe even getting one in Germany could be worth thinking about.

I also got the impression that most German departments try to offer funded spots, mostly with teaching assistantships. Do you think you could teach German?

Posted

For those particular programs you will want to shoot for a Verbal that is at the very least at the 80th percentile. With those GPAs it will help to be closer to 90th+. (And don't bomb the math!)

GRE is always important, but your entire application will be weighed.

The real questions concern the rest. Is your CV stacked? (Most aren't.) Do you have a strong writing sample? (This is critical.) SOP? LOR?

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