Plan B's

[The Whistler]

You aren't as likely to run into random possibilities through networking, but there are a ton of calls of papers here, and a number are for publications: http://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/

 

Wow, thank you! This is pretty awesome. I guess It's going to pay off too, in case I don't get in this year. If nothing else, one of the papers I might write for any of these calls (regardless of whether I actually submit them or not) could end up as my next WS for the next application season.

 

 

I'm going to become a cat lady.

 

I already have five cats, do I qualify, or do I need more?

Edited February 10, 2013 by The Whistler

[InHacSpeVivo]

Just a note of hope: this is my third app. cycle and I got into a solid program with 6 years funding/fellowship.

 

I was, like some of the other posts, demoralized by the shock of unfamiliar failure. I just decided it was less painful to keep working at it than it was to wallow.

 

My new and improved strategy was to retake the GRE (the first time I skipped the math section not thinking it mattered which was ludicrous, obviously), retool my statement, and write a new sample. I improved the statement and sample by making them more integrated with eachother and also more conservative. My 1st sample was an old paper on Kafka and Borges which got me on a waitlist but clearly is not right for an ENG application. The second year my sample was on poetics but included Dickinson, Language Poetry, and Twitter: too much pop-culture studies sillyness, which may be ok once you're in a program but isn't good for GETTING in as I found out. This time I wrote on just a single Dickinson poem and threw in some Heidegger and Auerbach.

 

My plan B was to keep working in construction (where I've been for 12 years) while I reapplied, listening to lectures etc. at work on MP3.

 

Thank you so much for this! I may need to PM you if I end up venturing in to a third app cycle...

[Datatape]

I already have five cats, do I qualify, or do I need more?

 

[The Whistler]

 

 

Well, to be fair, my family has five cats, I'm not the sole owner. But that box is kind of what my kitchen looks like while we're cooking.

 

Come to think of it, who needs a PhD? I'll just collect cats until neighbors start paying me to stop. Especially those neighbors who wish to have a flower garden.

[BlueSiren]

Happy to see that the common reply is not some variation of "roll-over-and-die." 

 

I do have a question, however: how CAN we improve our chances next time around? (I know I can raise my GRE--162 V/158Q/5AW--and I can retake the Subject exam, but I can't really adjust my BA--4.0 out of Rutgers.) I thought about taking some more courses at a small, private college to bolster my WS and make some contacts.

If you don't get in, you should probably consider submitting articles and book reviews. This will definitely improve your chances. Building your CV is probably the best thing you can do!

[slvitale]

If you don't get in, you should probably consider submitting articles and book reviews. This will definitely improve your chances. Building your CV is probably the best thing you can do!

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll check out asleepawake's link!

 

P.S. I'm a bi-feline Cat Lady (Schrodinger is picture left, and let me tell you, that photo of "the Box" gave him anxiety...)

[iExcelAtMicrosoftPuns]

My plan B. is to become a pirate king. 

[pomoisdead]

Plan B seems to be current life, really... I've managed to hash out a decent adjunct living, though it kills all creative spirit. I teach around 12-14 adjunct sections all year, which makes for a decent living. I'd attempt to write and publish more, though...maybe write a new sample, as the current one is a bit of a stretch as it is. Simplify, simplify, simplify...hard to do while married and pushing 30 I think. Hopefully I won't have to find out!

[sr0304]

Happy to see that the common reply is not some variation of "roll-over-and-die." 

 

I do have a question, however: how CAN we improve our chances next time around? (I know I can raise my GRE--162 V/158Q/5AW--and I can retake the Subject exam, but I can't really adjust my BA--4.0 out of Rutgers.) I thought about taking some more courses at a small, private college to bolster my WS and make some contacts.

 

seriously, your GRE is totally fine.

What could you do, in particular, is choose some public colleges that aren't all top tier...Duke, Brown, UPenn--these are some of the hardest programs to get accepted into.

You find at least six or seven programs that are a good fit, and that adhere to this formula:

1-2 schools that are your dream schools, the long shots

3 schools that you are pretty sure you're going to get into

1-2 schools that you *know* you can get into

 

if you don't get in this time around, i think everyone needs to question fit.

as for me, I was only accepted into 2/6 programs when I applied for a PhD in English (Rhet/Comp). i hated my PhD program (did not pay attention enough to fit) and realized that Communication was more appropriate for my research. I'm 6 for 0 with acceptances, have 2 fellowship nominations, 1 recruitment grant, etc.

 

it can pay (in many ways) to reapply.

 

But, the point more directly related to this thread:::

 

Sometimes it's not your CV that needs to be fixed. Sometimes it's your application. Because remember, as many rejection letters announce, "[they] reject many qualify candidates every year."

[Taco Superior]

Thank you so much for this! I may need to PM you if I end up venturing in to a third app cycle...

 

Ok, for sure. PM me even if you don't have to and let me know how it turned out.

[Gleemonex]

Does the quantitative score on the GRE matter for English admission committees? I've heard different things from different people. I was under the impression that it did not, and also glossed over it.

[It's (Not) About Me]

I've been thinking about this so much lately! Especially since at this point my confidence is extremely low. I'm not ready to decide whether to reapply to English programs... Oh god, it'd be so awful to go through this process again. But I can't imagine stopping my education where it is right now.

 

In the short-term, I will probably stay where I am and keep working at my current job for at least another year. I like my employer (my undergrad institution) and I like my boss. I figure that since the job is half research and half secretarial duties, it might help me move towards future jobs in academic administration. Yeah, that will probably be my Plan B.

 

If that doesn't work out, my best friend and I have been making plans to become motivational speakers.

[DontHate]

Math GRE really doesn't matter. As long as you don't get a zero on it, the school won't notice.

[champagne]

I have been told it could have an effect on certain fellowships but beyond that, not to worry about it. I got 79th percentile, and while I would have liked to have gotten a better score for my own vanity, I seriously doubt a bunch of literature/rhetoric PhD's are going to care how good you are at geometry. 

Edited February 11, 2013 by champagne

[Gleemonex]

Has anyone else gotten that FLAS application email from Columbia? I know that this thread doesn't really have anything to do with this question, but I know that at least one person posting (DontHate) has applied to Columbia. 

[DontHate]

Has anyone else gotten that FLAS application email from Columbia? I know that this thread doesn't really have anything to do with this question, but I know that at least one person posting (DontHate) has applied to Columbia. 

 

Yeah I submitted my FLAS yesterday. Does your department do interviews?

[Taco Superior]

Does the quantitative score on the GRE matter for English admission committees? I've heard different things from different people. I was under the impression that it did not, and also glossed over it.

 

It's not about getting a good score, it's just about not looking like a slob by getting a zero, as mentioned above. One of the professors from a place I was waitlisted at actually told me that this affected my application. I studied math for three months this time to get a 151... pretty sad, but I think I would have been in the bottom %10 without the studying.

[slvitale]

seriously, your GRE is totally fine.

What could you do, in particular, is choose some public colleges that aren't all top tier...Duke, Brown, UPenn--these are some of the hardest programs to get accepted into.

You find at least six or seven programs that are a good fit, and that adhere to this formula:

1-2 schools that are your dream schools, the long shots

3 schools that you are pretty sure you're going to get into

1-2 schools that you *know* you can get into

 

if you don't get in this time around, i think everyone needs to question fit.

as for me, I was only accepted into 2/6 programs when I applied for a PhD in English (Rhet/Comp). i hated my PhD program (did not pay attention enough to fit) and realized that Communication was more appropriate for my research. I'm 6 for 0 with acceptances, have 2 fellowship nominations, 1 recruitment grant, etc.

 

it can pay (in many ways) to reapply.

 

But, the point more directly related to this thread:::

 

Sometimes it's not your CV that needs to be fixed. Sometimes it's your application. Because remember, as many rejection letters announce, "[they] reject many qualify candidates every year."

Yes, I suppose I was overly optimistic to think that I'd get into these programs...

[Gleemonex]

Yeah I submitted my FLAS yesterday. Does your department do interviews?

 

I don't think so. I applied to English, though I did ask for consideration for Comp Lit. My background in languages would (I'm pretty sure) exclude me from any actual consideration, but at that point I figured I might as well get as much as possible. The email that I received to apply for the FLAS award seemed pretty generic, like "you applied, therefore we send this prompt," but to my knowledge, no one else (besides you) has mentioned it.

[Gleemonex]

It's not about getting a good score, it's just about not looking like a slob by getting a zero, as mentioned above. One of the professors from a place I was waitlisted at actually told me that this affected my application. I studied math for three months this time to get a 151... pretty sad, but I think I would have been in the bottom %10 without the studying.

 

I answered randomly to every question except for maybe 2 (I think they both involved referencing a pie chart to derive an answer ). My score was 20% percentile. Isn't that scary, for some reason?

[Two Espressos]

It's not about getting a good score, it's just about not looking like a slob by getting a zero, as mentioned above. One of the professors from a place I was waitlisted at actually told me that this affected my application. I studied math for three months this time to get a 151... pretty sad, but I think I would have been in the bottom %10 without the studying.

 

I got a 151 with about an hour of apathetic studying, so I do feel better about myself now.  Not that I think I'm awesome or anything because of that: 151 was 48th percentile this testing season. 

 

Really though, the math score basically only matters for funding considerations, usually at state schools.

[DontHate]

You can only get a FLAS for studying specific languages, and one of the requirements for continued funding is that you are enrolled in a language course every semester. For example, they basically never fund Spanish studies. Check the website.

[sapienasinum]

My current plan B - 

I got in to a CMU MA program last year and deferred because I only applied to three schools and had a snafu with transferring language credits to finish my undergrad. If I don't get in anywhere else then it's off to get my MA I go. 

[asleepawake]

I got a 151 with about an hour of apathetic studying, so I do feel better about myself now.  Not that I think I'm awesome or anything because of that: 151 was 48th percentile this testing season. 

 

Really though, the math score basically only matters for funding considerations, usually at state schools.

 

Another quantitative 151 over here! I did the same - tried to remember a few formulas, and then went in cold. I used to be good at math once upon a time so I counted on that because it seemed like a waste of time to focus on it too much when I had so many other things to work on. A lot of the questions I just stared at because I could not even begin to remember how to approach them (F'in triangles). When I took the text, 151 was 56th percentile, and a month later, it fell to 48. It is what it is. 151 club or bust!

 

I agree that if you can prove that you are capable of doing a bit of mathematical work and meet University minimums, you're in the clear. I would not waste much time working on this part of the test if you're scoring at least 40th or so percentile.

Edited February 11, 2013 by asleepawake

[waparys]

I was excited to see I'd scored in the 700s only to find out later it was the 70somethingth percentile. Which I know isn't bad, but still. Math people jackin' up the score (as opposed to upper 600s verbal which is in the 90th percentile).