Fall 2014 applicants??

[aGiRlCalLeDApPlE]

No, to the comp. lit question.  

 

I'm aiming at the Gender & Sexuality Studies cluster.  There are others that interest me, but I think I'm strongest as an applicant to that one.  

 

Anyway, I started the statement at 1:15 p.m. and I finished about fifteen minutes ago (4:15 my time), so it took me three hours to write the damn thing.   I didn't treat it as seriously as I would an SOP, but close.  I mean, it's of similar importance, I imagine.  I'm about to start their diversity statement.  Northwestern requires so much work.  It's a good thing for them that they're in Chicago (want to be there) and that one of my professors told me I'd be a fool not to apply there, given my interests.  Otherwise, I'd be way too lazy to do all this.  Looking forward to my other applications which are mostly just about fit paragraphs for SOPs!  

 

p.s.  Northwestern even costs more to apply than most other schools.  $95 to most other schools' $50.  

 

Northwestern thinks it is soooo hot or something.  lol.  

 

I forgive Northwestern, though.  I forgive them, especially if they let me in.  

Well, good luck with all that writing. I don't think they have a diversity statement for the comp. lit. program. I didn't even know they require a cluster statement. Anyway, I'm glad you're done, almost. I'm currently working on my GRE cuz the test is next week. I feel horrible about it and I'm not optimistic at all cuz I suck at vocab. After next week I'll start working on my fit paragraphs. Ah, best of luck to all of us  

[champagne]

Question: when applying for PhD programs at universities that also offer an MA, is it always appropriate to add in your statement of purpose that you'd like to be considered for the MA if they don't want you for the PhD? Or is this something that you should only do if the program's website specifically instructs you to?

Hmmm. This is a good question. Perhaps it's best to get specific answers from the DGS at each program. I'm really not sure at all, though.

[id quid]

Sitting outside Elusive Professor's next class, an hour early, hoping to ambush her. It's my last chance to get that F cleared off my transcript, and, if she's still willing to write a letter for me (like 2 years since the last time I connected with her) apply to more than one program. Yikes!

Not like my whole future is riding on this one encounter or anything...

[ProfLorax]

Sitting outside Elusive Professor's next class, an hour early, hoping to ambush her. It's my last chance to get that F cleared off my transcript, and, if she's still willing to write a letter for me (like 2 years since the last time I connected with her) apply to more than one program. Yikes!

Not like my whole future is riding on this one encounter or anything...

Sending you all the good vibes! Let us know what happens. 

[jazzyd]

There's usually an option to be considered for M.A. if not accepted into the PhD program, right? Otherwise, I think it's just sort of natural to be considered for Masters if you don't quite make the cut of PhD. I got MA offers from places I don't recall explicitly checking off an "MA + PhD" box (and I didn't mention MA in my SOP).

 

I don't think it'd be inappropriate to mention in a SOP. If you do, I'd just be careful about phrasing. I wouldn't go with "Well, if I'm not accepted to your program, I'll take an MA offer" but more in the lines of "if further academic development is needed, I feel various components of University of X's Masters program such as A, B, and C would also make a great fit and best prepare me to continue with my aspirations, etc." whatever.

 

Asking the DGS as champagne suggested is a good idea, though.

[aGiRlCalLeDApPlE]

regarding the GRE: I didn't find any of the vocab that I study for the test (those that we find in the famous lists of Barron's...etc.). Is this only because it's a practice test? Or really I won't find much of the words that I take hours and hours to memorize? Has anyone who took the test recently encountered the same problem? 

[id quid]

(tentative) SUCCESS!!

 

I managed to catch her before her class started, and asked if she had a few minutes after class. She suggested her office hours, and my heart sank -- but then it turned out they were today (man I dodged a bullet there). So I camped outside her office 30 minutes before they started, since I know she's a popular professor and would have a line, and met with her.

 

She remembered me! Even though I haven't seen her in about four years. That was awesome. She also remembered my coursework, and my paper. 

 

She filed out the form right then and there (gave me an A- for the course, which, hey, is DAMN better than an F!), then asked me to wait in her office while she dropped it by the department office! I'm calling it a tentative success until it actually changes the grade on my transcript, but WAHOO! This is a massive weight off my shoulders.

 

Also: she agreed to write letters for me, and agreed with my list of schools, including encouraging me to have Oxford and Cambridge among them.

 

SO. DAMN. HAPPY. And relieved. I just have no words.

[repentwalpurgis]

(tentative) SUCCESS!!

 

I managed to catch her before her class started, and asked if she had a few minutes after class. She suggested her office hours, and my heart sank -- but then it turned out they were today (man I dodged a bullet there). So I camped outside her office 30 minutes before they started, since I know she's a popular professor and would have a line, and met with her.

 

She remembered me! Even though I haven't seen her in about four years. That was awesome. She also remembered my coursework, and my paper. 

 

She filed out the form right then and there (gave me an A- for the course, which, hey, is DAMN better than an F!), then asked me to wait in her office while she dropped it by the department office! I'm calling it a tentative success until it actually changes the grade on my transcript, but WAHOO! This is a massive weight off my shoulders.

 

Also: she agreed to write letters for me, and agreed with my list of schools, including encouraging me to have Oxford and Cambridge among them.

 

SO. DAMN. HAPPY. And relieved. I just have no words.

I've been back and forth about 5 times in the past month from my old campus and home to meet with old profs: on the way there, I felt convinced they were going to tell me I'm not fit for grad school, call my proposals for research amateur crap, et cetera.  After each fantastic meeting I wanted to marry each and every one of them (here's a pretty clear cut outline of the general extremes in my emotional makeup).  Professors really can pull through at times, and they want to help us.

[Datatape]

(tentative) SUCCESS!!

 

I managed to catch her before her class started, and asked if she had a few minutes after class. She suggested her office hours, and my heart sank -- but then it turned out they were today (man I dodged a bullet there). So I camped outside her office 30 minutes before they started, since I know she's a popular professor and would have a line, and met with her.

 

She remembered me! Even though I haven't seen her in about four years. That was awesome. She also remembered my coursework, and my paper. 

 

She filed out the form right then and there (gave me an A- for the course, which, hey, is DAMN better than an F!), then asked me to wait in her office while she dropped it by the department office! I'm calling it a tentative success until it actually changes the grade on my transcript, but WAHOO! This is a massive weight off my shoulders.

 

Also: she agreed to write letters for me, and agreed with my list of schools, including encouraging me to have Oxford and Cambridge among them.

 

SO. DAMN. HAPPY. And relieved. I just have no words.

 

[Hal]

i made a mistake on one my applications for Fall 2014. On the actual application I wrote in Fall 2014 but on the SOP I wrote Spring 2014. Don't ask me why I did this.

 

But, I received an email from the school saying that my transcripts, application and SOP for Fall 2014 had arrived.  So I'm guessing they saw the mistake and thought nothing of it. Or realized it was a mistake. I'm wondering if I should email them and mention I made a mistake or just leave it be.

[champagne]

regarding the GRE: I didn't find any of the vocab that I study for the test (those that we find in the famous lists of Barron's...etc.). Is this only because it's a practice test? Or really I won't find much of the words that I take hours and hours to memorize? Has anyone who took the test recently encountered the same problem? 

Actually, the way they've re-engineered the test plays to context rather than just remote vocabulary skills, so that's probably why you're not seeing the words you're studying. So, the bad news happens to be that you won't find many of the words you've taken hours to memorize. The good news is that it's based on drawing connections from surrounding information which everyone applying to literature graduate school should be pretty good at!

 

The verbal section of the general GRE is not a big deal. Of course, you want to focus and take it seriously, but you should not freak out over it. I've (usually) been a good test taker, and people have asked me how to do well. I think I've given them simple, obvious, good advice:

 

Will your worry about the score you're going to make on the test five minutes beforehand give you a better score on the test? No, of course not. Then, don't worry! Trust in the preparation you've done previously, and the rest will take care of itself.

[BunnyWantsaPhD]

Question: (and I'm sure this has been answered before, but I need some quick advice) Are you guys (or did you in the past) talk about the coursework you did in your Statement of Purpose? Are you mentioning theories you learned about and how you later integrated those into your thesis, etc? Or are you just letting the transcript do this work--because I'm worried about that since the transcript doesn't always list the title of the course, and even then there's only so much information you can glean from a transcript. 

 

I'm just having a difficult time trying to figure out what to say in the SOP to make sure that it's academic and not too personal (i.e. I'm trying not to talk about family, race, etc). So, if the SOP isn't the place to talk about our classes, then what do we talk about?

[purpleperson]

Question: (and I'm sure this has been answered before, but I need some quick advice) Are you guys (or did you in the past) talk about the coursework you did in your Statement of Purpose? Are you mentioning theories you learned about and how you later integrated those into your thesis, etc? Or are you just letting the transcript do this work--because I'm worried about that since the transcript doesn't always list the title of the course, and even then there's only so much information you can glean from a transcript. 

 

I'm just having a difficult time trying to figure out what to say in the SOP to make sure that it's academic and not too personal (i.e. I'm trying not to talk about family, race, etc). So, if the SOP isn't the place to talk about our classes, then what do we talk about?

 

My transcript does the same -- that is, it has some courses listed in a not very specific way.  What I'm doing is also sending an "Abstract of Courses" which tells the names of all English courses I've taken and the grade I received in them.  Some schools ask for that anyway.  I wouldn't spend too much time on it in your SOP.  However, I'd say that you can mention past course work to the extent that it has something to do with how your intellectual interests have evolved.  So basically, don't just list courses you've taken (or anything close to "listing"), as if to say...look, I'm educated in literature.  But if a course or two, in particular, had a major impact on you and helped form your current research interests, it makes sense to touch on them.  

[BunnyWantsaPhD]

My transcript does the same -- that is, it has some courses listed in a not very specific way.  What I'm doing is also sending an "Abstract of Courses" which tells the names of all English courses I've taken and the grade I received in them.  Some schools ask for that anyway.  I wouldn't spend too much time on it in your SOP.  However, I'd say that you can mention past course work to the extent that it has something to do with how your intellectual interests have evolved.  So basically, don't just list courses you've taken (or anything close to "listing"), as if to say...look, I'm educated in literature.  But if a course or two, in particular, had a major impact on you and helped form your current research interests, it makes sense to touch on them.  

 

Thanks for the advice-- I'm definitely not listing them. I included a discussion of them in order to talk about how my interests were formed. I just looked back at my draft and...you're going to laugh...I mentioned 8 courses. I really think that each one speaks to who I am today, though. Grr I'm not sure what to do. I can definitely cut down how much I talk about each course, but I'm not really sure how to delete a discussion of a lot of these. 

 

Here's an example of what I talk about: 

1) First class on my main area of interest--how it got me interested in this field, what paper I wrote for it which was eventually expanded in a later class (#2)  and then later into a conference paper

2) class 3+4 -- another class with a big wig in my field and then a class on what i specifically study now--I tie the two together to show how they influenced my thesis later on

3) class 5,6,7 = how I learned about various concepts that I used in my thesis and want to continue to research in the future--I mention how I learned about specific critics who happen to teach at the school I'm applying to and thus showing why I want to work with them

4) class 8 = study abroad course at Oxford--I don't want to leave this out bc not only is it Oxford, it also greatly shaped my MA thesis

5) back to class #2 = last class I took in my area which not only helped me with my thesis, but I also did a presentation in the class which I recently turned into a paper that I just presented at a conference. 

 

See my predicament? I just don't get how we're supposed to talk about our academic backgrounds without sounding like we're talking about unnecessary things....

Edited November 10, 2013 by BunnyWantsaPhD

[aGiRlCalLeDApPlE]

Actually, the way they've re-engineered the test plays to context rather than just remote vocabulary skills, so that's probably why you're not seeing the words you're studying. So, the bad news happens to be that you won't find many of the words you've taken hours to memorize. The good news is that it's based on drawing connections from surrounding information which everyone applying to literature graduate school should be pretty good at!

 

The verbal section of the general GRE is not a big deal. Of course, you want to focus and take it seriously, but you should not freak out over it. I've (usually) been a good test taker, and people have asked me how to do well. I think I've given them simple, obvious, good advice:

 

Will your worry about the score you're going to make on the test five minutes beforehand give you a better score on the test? No, of course not. Then, don't worry! Trust in the preparation you've done previously, and the rest will take care of itself.

Thank you so much for this. I really needed that. I've been depressed for the whole week and still just because I knew that my plans to apply this year would all fall apart if I didn't score well on the test. And I have to confess that I'm really bad at memorizing new words, so If I don't get a decent score this time, I won't have any better chances in retaking it, which will make my dream of studying abroad impossible. I'm sorry if I depressed you or something but I needed to talk. I'm taking the test this Thursday, so please y'all pray for me  

[Katia_chan]

A quick question, for anyone who is applying or has applied to U of Georgia:

 

In their online application, there is a place to upload a SoP.  But on the English department's site, it says that we should mail in our SoP.

 

I'm not sure what to do.  It won't send out information to my recommenders until I submit the application online, but my SoP is still in progress.  I don't know if it's the same document, if it's different, if anyone looks at the uploaded one,  if it's just a place-holder for the grad school office, etc.

 

I Emailed the graduate coordinator a week ago, and haven't heard anything.  The deadline is Dec. 1, so I want to get this out to them immediately.  But if this SoP is going to be a part of the app, I don't want to screw it up--this is one of my top choice schools.

 

Info appreciated.

[BunnyWantsaPhD]

A quick question, for anyone who is applying or has applied to U of Georgia:

 

In their online application, there is a place to upload a SoP.  But on the English department's site, it says that we should mail in our SoP.

 

I'm not sure what to do.  It won't send out information to my recommenders until I submit the application online, but my SoP is still in progress.  I don't know if it's the same document, if it's different, if anyone looks at the uploaded one,  if it's just a place-holder for the grad school office, etc.

 

I Emailed the graduate coordinator a week ago, and haven't heard anything.  The deadline is Dec. 1, so I want to get this out to them immediately.  But if this SoP is going to be a part of the app, I don't want to screw it up--this is one of my top choice schools.

 

Info appreciated.

 

I'd just go ahead and do both, but make sure you definitely send it to the department if they want it sent to them. Always go with what the specific department wants over what the online application says. If you really want to know, call the department--people don't always respond to emails. 

[aGiRlCalLeDApPlE]

If a school says that GRE is "not required but highly recommended", would it hurt my application if I don't submit it?

[hj2012]

Hi everyone! I'm new here and had a question about the SoP...

 

It seems that the general consensus (from lurking and reading through threads) that it's a good idea to mention a few professors you're interested in working with at the end of the SoP. However, I got my statement reviewed today by one of my professors, and she strongly recommended me to NOT include names. Her reasoning was that: (1) you don't know if that person is accepting new Ph.D. students, (2) you might mischaracterize / misrepresent their work, (3) there might be someone who fits your interests better at that school that you somehow missed and (4) you're pigeon-holing yourself...

 

However, at the same time, some programs explicitly list in their SoP prompts to include specific faculty members that they're interested in working in.... 

 

I'm just a bit lost. Help!

[dazedandbemused]

Hi everyone! I'm new here and had a question about the SoP...

 

It seems that the general consensus (from lurking and reading through threads) that it's a good idea to mention a few professors you're interested in working with at the end of the SoP. However, I got my statement reviewed today by one of my professors, and she strongly recommended me to NOT include names. Her reasoning was that: (1) you don't know if that person is accepting new Ph.D. students, (2) you might mischaracterize / misrepresent their work, (3) there might be someone who fits your interests better at that school that you somehow missed and (4) you're pigeon-holing yourself...

 

However, at the same time, some programs explicitly list in their SoP prompts to include specific faculty members that they're interested in working in.... 

 

I'm just a bit lost. Help!

 

I think this is really something that has enough pros on both sides that you'll just have to decide which makes you most comfortable. If you really feel like you've got a grasp on that person's work and want to make it clear that you'd like to work with them, then do it. I got the same advice as you and ended up taking it because my interests were such that I didn't feel comfortable just choosing 2 or 3 people to mention. I only got into two PhD programs and three masters. I don't know if I would have gotten into more if I had named people, but I did get into my dream program, and I'm loving it.

[hj2012]

Thanks for the input, dazedandbemused. I really appreciate it!

 

Also, not to be all stalkerish, but I see that your location is Austin, TX....are you by chance at UT-Austin?? They're up at the top of my list! 

[ProfLorax]

I did some digging, and I found this thread from last year's applicants about whether or not to name POIs. 

 

I did name, and I got into 5/9 programs. But I don't think my success had anything to do with naming. Also, I am working closely with one of the professors I named at Maryland, but I am also working closely with a handful of professors who weren't even on my radar. I think departments know this will happen; your interests will shift, and you'll make new discoveries and new connections while a student. No one said to me, "You can't work with Professor X! You didn't even mention her on your SoP!" So, while mentioning specific professors may help applicants to frame their SoP, once you're in, it won't affect you either way. 

[champagne]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that requiring application materials to be sent through the mail does not do much to help literary study's image as being egregiously outdated.

[jazzyd]

Are you talking about UVA? That was the only school on my list that required mailing materials that I recall. Saves them the printing and the ink I suppose, but a little bit of an unusual hassle in this day and age!

[practical cat]

Hi everyone! I'm new here and had a question about the SoP...

 

It seems that the general consensus (from lurking and reading through threads) that it's a good idea to mention a few professors you're interested in working with at the end of the SoP. However, I got my statement reviewed today by one of my professors, and she strongly recommended me to NOT include names. Her reasoning was that: (1) you don't know if that person is accepting new Ph.D. students, (2) you might mischaracterize / misrepresent their work, (3) there might be someone who fits your interests better at that school that you somehow missed and (4) you're pigeon-holing yourself...

 

However, at the same time, some programs explicitly list in their SoP prompts to include specific faculty members that they're interested in working in.... 

 

I'm just a bit lost. Help!

I named names at every school but the one I got into. Naming names probably didn't keep me out of anywhere but it definitely didn't make anyone see a fit where there wasn't one. Definitely do it if they ask for it, otherwise do whatever makes you feel comfortable knowing that some committees find it really important.