Fall 2014 applicants??

[queennight]

Not sure whether or not this clarifies for anyone, but I know US News (Grad School Rankings) creates a list of English Ph.D.s as ranked according to different areas. Here's the link in case anybody is interested: http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/english-rankings

 

You can also select the 'specialty' and see where a school ranks. This being said, I'm pretty sure most of this is decently subjective nonsense hahah and your success in English as a profession will more be based off of your own personal dissertation than just the school that you attend. (But then again I'm applying for Fall 2014 and have no idea, so also just a general thought.)

 

Also a side-note - the rankings totally change in the global market. Here's the link to supposed 'global university English Ph.D. rankings': http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/university-subject-rankings/2013/english-language-and-literature so hopefully you can see exactly how subjective everything is. I also think it's pretty subjective to compare somebody who is maybe working on Australian Indigenous Poetry at University of Sydney with postmodern Canadian Literature at UofT (12 vs. 15), but take from the rankings what you may.

[TeaOverCoffee]

I'm trying to compile information to make an Excel Chart for grad school info. For those who did this or something similar, what information did you add to your chart? Schools, writing sample page length, SOP length, deadline to turn in application, how many recommendations are required, and the average date in which they usually inform applicants about acceptance/rejection (I'm still a bit unsure exactly how to get this information by the way. Is it through the results page and just looking at the dates people begin to respond?). Am I missing anything important?

[ProfLorax]

I'm trying to compile information to make an Excel Chart for grad school info. For those who did this or something similar, what information did you add to your chart? Schools, writing sample page length, SOP length, deadline to turn in application, how many recommendations are required, and the average date in which they usually inform applicants about acceptance/rejection (I'm still a bit unsure exactly how to get this information by the way. Is it through the results page and just looking at the dates people begin to respond?). Am I missing anything important?

I also included a column on transcripts (some schools want unofficial transcripts uploaded, others want three official transcripts mailed to three different campus offices), supplemental info (a few programs want a typed list of relevant coursework or a diversity statement), program name (Rhetoric and Composition; Rhetoric, Literacy, and Composition; Rhetoric, Composition, and Teaching English, etc.) department and faculty contact (and when and how I contacted them), resumes/CV's (most, but not all, programs required one), application fee, GRE code, and my username and password for each application website (perhaps the most important column in my spreadsheet!). 

[bhr]

I had an account with Highrise from my old sales days, but any contact management software will probably work better than a spreadsheet. you can key in reminders, deadlines, track contacts, etc. in almost any of them.Of course, anything you use to manage this list is only as good as the information you put in. (Something I learned the hard way) so double check everything.

Edited May 21, 2014 by bhr

[km2304]

Hey :-)
So, I was wondering whether anybody here could give me his/her opinion on my case. 

I got accepted for the PhD program at the Department for English (UT) for this Fall, but I will conduct research exclusively in Linguistics. They do have a handfull of researchers who are doing Linguistics in the English Department, one of them will be one of my two main advisors. The other advisor works in the actual Linguistics Department. We already set thing up, even a research project that I will work on, which is great. However, I will be a TA at the English Department, teaching/ assisting in literature and/or rhetoric classes, but I will only take Linguistic classes myself.

It all sounds good to me, but I am just a little worried about a couple of things: Will it be negative for my prospective CV if I only teach literature, but not linguistics (concerning future job positions)? Where will I truly belong to - the English or the Linguistics Department? (Yes, officially, it is the English Department that I am working for, but I am studying Linguistics..). Will I be "in between"?  Will people view me as a colleague in the Linguistics Department? 

 

I am thankful for any thoughts/ideas/advice!

 

Not that it matters, but I'm an international student, so I might not be aware of some things that will be obvious for you.

Edited May 22, 2014 by km2304

[rhetoricus aesalon]

Are you hoping to be hired in a linguistics department after graduation? Do you mind me asking why you chose to enroll in an English department and not a linguistics department?

 

In my opinion, the two fields share common interests and even share scholars (as you've pointed out), so I'd think you shouldn't have an unnecessarily hard time fitting into either department. I would suspect that if it was a detriment to your future professional goals, it wouldn't really be possible to do what you've already done in lining up advisers from both departments.

[km2304]

Thanks for your reply @Chadillac. 

Yes, I want to stay in Linguistics after the program. I met the linguist, who is in the English Department, at a conference where he asked me to apply to the program and work with him if I get accepted. I told him I would probably not want to focus on Sociolinguistics, which he does like the other linguists at the English Department. He replied that it should not be a problem and I could work both with him and another person from the Linguistics Department (who I also talked to). He advised me to apply to the English Department (financial reasons). It's not that I don't have a background in Literature; in fact, I am studying Linguistics and Literature here in Germany. I just want to do my PhD and future research in Linguistics. 

[Nyctophile]

I'm trying to compile information to make an Excel Chart for grad school info. For those who did this or something similar, what information did you add to your chart? Schools, writing sample page length, SOP length, deadline to turn in application, how many recommendations are required, and the average date in which they usually inform applicants about acceptance/rejection (I'm still a bit unsure exactly how to get this information by the way. Is it through the results page and just looking at the dates people begin to respond?). Am I missing anything important?

each school's requirement for the GRE gen and/or subject test, whether there was a separate deadline (or extra materials) for financial aid/fellowship stuff, if there were any supplementary statements that the school wanted (diversity, history of economic hardship in the family, first gen college attendee, any other criteria that are applicable to some available fellowships). I also put in a few notes for each POI after I did some reading on their CV, publications, and CURRENT research interests (sometimes the faculty pages maintained by the university aren't updated frequently).

[poliscar]

On 5/14/2014 at 11:26 PM, Chadillac said:

For graduate schools in your sub-field, "top tier" will probably be something more like 1-3 schools. For the organizations that rank universities and focus on undergrad, "top tier" is around the top 50 schools. USNWR uses the term "Tier 1" to describe the top 130 or so universities as well. Bottom line, it's a very subjective term.

Be wary of focusing too much on sub-fields though, because they don't necessarily matter when it counts, i.e. during the hiring process. Hiring committees aren't always going to be aware of sub-field reputation, so in a lot of cases institutional prestige will have more influence. In this context, ranking graduate programs is difficult, because it comes down to an institution vs. subfield conflict. Of course some departments have both institutional and subfield prestige, but if comes down to a situation (entirely fictional) in which you have to choose between a prestigious school (i.e. Harvard, Berkeley, Stanford, etc) with a lower sub-field ranking, and a less prestigious school (say Fordham or Stony Brook—and this is not to attack these programs) with a higher sub-field ranking, you're arguably better off choosing the more prestigious school. It sucks, but name-brand recognition still has a lot of clout in hiring processes, and can be utilized to cut down a pool of applicants before they are examined in depth. 

[rhetoricus aesalon]

On 5/23/2014 at 7:25 PM, poliscar said:

Be wary of focusing too much on sub-fields though, because they don't necessarily matter when it counts, i.e. during the hiring process. Hiring committees aren't always going to be aware of sub-field reputation, so in a lot of cases institutional prestige will have more influence. In this context, ranking graduate programs is difficult, because it comes down to an institution vs. subfield conflict. Of course some departments have both institutional and subfield prestige, but if comes down to a situation (entirely fictional) in which you have to choose between a prestigious school (i.e. Harvard, Berkeley, Stanford, etc) with a lower sub-field ranking, and a less prestigious school (say Fordham or Stony Brook—and this is not to attack these programs) with a higher sub-field ranking, you're arguably better off choosing the more prestigious school. It sucks, but name-brand recognition still has a lot of clout in hiring processes, and can be utilized to cut down a pool of applicants before they are examined in depth. 

 

I think this is a great point, and it also hearkens to a debate that's been played out (perhaps with no real resolution) in these forums before: does institutional prestige equate to better chances for employment. It's tough to say for sure, especially in a market like the one before us. And--perhaps most confusing of all--prestige will depend on sub-field as well. Certainly the most prestigious schools in medieval literature are different from those in rhetoric and composition--and if we know the difference, certainly a hiring committee will know the difference. Plus, I can imagine that every hiring committee will have its differences, not least of which are obvious differences between committees filling positions for R1s vs. SLACs.

[Eternal Optimist]

Hey guys!

My visa is approved! I will be heading to Boise this July! So excited, wanted to share the news with y'all.

[MedievalMadness]

I got accepted last minute by Texas Tech!!! Full funding! OMG OMG.

They started accepting applications about a month ago for three additional funded positions in their English Department, so I applied on the off chance that I might get in. So excited!

[Dr. Old Bill]

Woo hoo! Congrats, Medieval Madness! You and I haven't interacted on these boards yet, but I've gone through a ton of old threads, so I've followed your plight to some degree. Way to go!

[MedievalMadness]

Woo hoo! Congrats, Medieval Madness! You and I haven't interacted on these boards yet, but I've gone through a ton of old threads, so I've followed your plight to some degree. Way to go!

Thank you!! I am so desperately excited to be accepted into this program! And lol, I didn't realize just how loudly I had broadcasted my plight.

[ProfLorax]

 

Congrats, MM!! I know how much you wanted this, and I'm so stoked that you will be joining a program you love! 

[MedievalMadness]

 

Congrats, MM!! I know how much you wanted this, and I'm so stoked that you will be joining a program you love! 

 

Pro: Thank you so much for all your support during this whole grueling process!! And thank you for the dancing!Abed!!

 

Side note... I got my paper accepted to that conference at UMD in October! Are you going to be there? (It's the 'Knowing Nature' two day conference at the end of October.)

[ProfLorax]

Pro: Thank you so much for all your support during this whole grueling process!! And thank you for the dancing!Abed!!

 

Side note... I got my paper accepted to that conference at UMD in October! Are you going to be there? (It's the 'Knowing Nature' two day conference at the end of October.)

So much good news! I could burst! I probably won't attend the conference itself (it's pretty far from my interests), but I'll be on campus that Friday. As the date approaches, let's chat about potentially meeting up! 

[Katia_chan]

I got accepted last minute by Texas Tech!!! Full funding! OMG OMG.

They started accepting applications about a month ago for three additional funded positions in their English Department, so I applied on the off chance that I might get in. So excited!

 

Congratulations!!!!!!  I disappear from GC for a month and come back to see this awesome news.  I'm so happy for you!

 

We were almost classmates, too, which would have been awesome (I just couldn't do Texas because I'm a wimp), but I hope to see you at conferences.

 

Congrats again!!!  You've earned this, and you're going to have such a great time there; the school looks amazing.

[MedievalMadness]

Congratulations!!!!!!  I disappear from GC for a month and come back to see this awesome news.  I'm so happy for you!

 

We were almost classmates, too, which would have been awesome (I just couldn't do Texas because I'm a wimp), but I hope to see you at conferences.

 

Congrats again!!!  You've earned this, and you're going to have such a great time there; the school looks amazing.

 

KC: Thank you!! I am so excited to be going to TTU! Their Early British Lit program looks great and the professors are exciting.

 

I too was ambivalent about Texas, but I'll make do. I forgot. Where did you end up going? SLU? Isn't there a big conference at SLU every year?

[Katia_chan]

KC: Thank you!! I am so excited to be going to TTU! Their Early British Lit program looks great and the professors are exciting.

 

I too was ambivalent about Texas, but I'll make do. I forgot. Where did you end up going? SLU? Isn't there a big conference at SLU every year?

 

Someone I knew did their undergrad there, and is still totally in love with the school.  Their book history program is great, and early Brit, and and and...  Basically all your classes will make me drool.  You will have to let me pick your brain.

 

And yeah, I ended up at SLU.  I'm not positive about the conference thing, but it sort of rings a bell.  And I know they let their grad students set up conferences too, which could be awesome.

[MedievalMadness]

Someone I knew did their undergrad there, and is still totally in love with the school.  Their book history program is great, and early Brit, and and and...  Basically all your classes will make me drool.  You will have to let me pick your brain.

 

And yeah, I ended up at SLU.  I'm not positive about the conference thing, but it sort of rings a bell.  And I know they let their grad students set up conferences too, which could be awesome.

 

That's really reassuring to hear! I haven't really been in touch with the cohort yet, but I'm almost ready to dig in. 

 

Isn't Tom Shippey at SLU? That is reason enough to be there! Grad students can set up their own conferences? Or panels at conferences? Either way, that's really great. I'll be keeping my eye on that. We should exchange e-mails, especially since our research interests are so well aligned. 

[Imaginary]

I finished my M.A. thesis!!!

[queennight]

I finished my M.A. thesis!!!

Congrats!! What an incredible accomplishment - can't say I'm not intimated by the pile of research I've got in front of me for September.