Fall 2014 applicants??

[BunnyWantsaPhD]

Who else is freaking out?  Who else can't possibly look at that writing sample again without wanting to puke?  I mean, I know this is hard work, and a lot of hard work that I should expect, but the anxiety.... how do you refresh your brain?

 

Me! I'm so over this process! I can't bring myself to look at my writing sample again. It's a chapter from my thesis, and I was already tired of working on my thesis as is, so turning it into a writing sample isn't fun. I just wish I could have someone from the admissions committee sitting by me telling me if I'm on the right path. The uncertainty is no fun. 

[Creffecreve]

As terrible as I feel right now finishing apps, I can't tell if this is worse or if the two month waiting period with nothing to do but wait will be worse!

[purpleperson]

Who else is freaking out?  Who else can't possibly look at that writing sample again without wanting to puke?  I mean, I know this is hard work, and a lot of hard work that I should expect, but the anxiety.... how do you refresh your brain?

 

I last looked at my writing samples (I have two -- one going to some schools, the other going to others) about six days ago, and I won't look at them again for any reason.  I'm burnt out on the whole thing.  I've completed half of my intended applications and have come too far to not finish the remaining apps.  But I am tired of it all.  And I think, in general, that my resentment about the whole thing is a good thing, because it actually makes me feel somewhat indifferent to getting in or not.  I'm gonna start planning for other things.  I want to move from where I live even if I don't get into a Ph.D. program, so starting January 1st, my boyfriend and I are going to start job searching in a particular city we like.

 

That being said, I can't say I'm "freaked out" or all that stressed right now.  The work I have left...which is transcripts, some fit paragraphs (I'm not going all-out on fit paragraphs, just enough to demonstrate I know a bit about the department and that there are some things I like about it, not so far as to name people and talk about how their work meshes with mine), and final submissions.  When I say I'm "tired of it all," it's not so much the remaining administrative work of submitting, but tired of the highs and lows of feeling competent one day and like a loser the next.  

 

This is my first round...never done this before.  I can see MAYBE trying it again next year if I don't get in this year, but it won't be at the same intensity.  I'm going all out with fourteen apps in my first attempt.  In the future, I see applying to something like 4 to 6 schools.

Edited November 26, 2013 by purpleperson

[repentwalpurgis]

Me! I'm so over this process! I can't bring myself to look at my writing sample again. It's a chapter from my thesis, and I was already tired of working on my thesis as is, so turning it into a writing sample isn't fun. I just wish I could have someone from the admissions committee sitting by me telling me if I'm on the right path. The uncertainty is no fun. 

Yeah... I am going to try to look at it for the last time today or tomorrow.  I wrote an entirely new paper over the summer using some ideas I developed in two different classes, and that alone was a real trying process - at the very least, I'm pretty proud of forcing myself to write an almost entirely new paper.

 

 

As terrible as I feel right now finishing apps, I can't tell if this is worse or if the two month waiting period with nothing to do but wait will be worse!

 

I want to plan for myself some kind of distraction plan - you know, get a lot of other goals settled so that even if I don't get in, I'll still feel accomplished.  Yoga every day, saving money, you name it...namaste~

[semicolon2013]

I'm pretty stressed.  My writing sample feel close to finished, but my SOPs don't feel done at all.  I keep second guessing them, and I still have to write most of the fit paragraphs.  Also, the tedious work of filling out the online apps is not appealing right now.  The weather here has been terrible and all I want to do is stay in bed all day and read good books.

[aGiRlCalLeDApPlE]

Same is here, nothing seems to be done. I'm afraid I'll miss my first deadline, although I hope not cuz I'm only applying to 3 schools. I know it doesn't look good but I'm still hopeful, "Who knows"?

[Creffecreve]

Another question: So NYU says that their writing sample should be "10-12 pages, double spaced." Would it be okay to send in my sample of 12 pages, double-spaced, in a size 11 font, instead of 12? My writing sample is 18 pages for other schools, and I can't cut it down any further!

[Katia_chan]

I cut my sample to 13 pages including the works cited.  I refuse to mess with it anymore--between submitting it as a thesis, presenting it at a conference, and using it for apps, I hate and loathe it with a fiery passion, and if I read it one more time I'm going to grab a TARDIS and go back in time to strangle Geoffrey of Monmouth.

 

...All that to say, I don't think NYU will have a huge problem with that.  It's not like size 11 is pinpoint small.  And they have to know that it's getting used multiple places.  Or at least they should.

 

Also, can I get a general cry of hate for the schools who want the SoP to be 500 words or less?  750, I can do.  1000, I can do.  500-? asdlfkj;ljdsfalkjdf;.

 

Sorry, pent up frustration and "...you ever gonna write that letter?" anxiety building up over here.  Hope everyone's surviving.  Let us all drown sorrows in mashed potatoes.

[BunnyWantsaPhD]

Another question: So NYU says that their writing sample should be "10-12 pages, double spaced." Would it be okay to send in my sample of 12 pages, double-spaced, in a size 11 font, instead of 12? My writing sample is 18 pages for other schools, and I can't cut it down any further!

 

I think that would be fine! 

 

Though, on a similar note, I'm wondering what people think about using a conference paper for a writing sample. I'm using a chapter from my thesis for most of the applications, but NYU's is the only one that wants it to be so short! My hesitancy is that the conference paper doesn't have a lit review/seems to be less refined since it is a beginning of a future project. I think it has a strong and unique argument, but I'm still worried about it. Also, it focuses on Victorian femininity, but I say that I want the focus of my studies to be on Victorian masculinity--so does this matter? The chapter from my thesis is on masculinity, so I'm not sure if I should try to cut it down to 10 pages--though, I can't imagine how the hell I would do that. Ugh. Help! 

[repentwalpurgis]

Georgetown wants an 8-10 page writing sample and I want to scream.

[ProfLorax]

I'd suggest to not use a size 11 font. Faculty members notice all the tricks to meet paper length requirements: font sizes, margin sizes, Courier New. Every time a student attempts to bypass a length requirement by changing the format, I am instantly annoyed. Do they really think I don't notice?, I wonder.

I've talked to enough professors and instructors to know I'm not alone. Don't give them a reason to roll their eyes before they even start reading your writing sample! Either cut it down to the page requirement or be honest about the fact that your paper is, indeed, 18 pages.

[jazzyd]

Obviously, this is "at your own risk" type of advice, but I remember being advised by a professor last year to just send in my entire sample (~25p), page limit be damned. I don't believe I was told the reasoning behind this, but my guess is that by the 9th or 10th page they'll know if they've seen what they're looking for or not. 

 

Of course, the cautionary side of the tale is that I was offered a place in their master's program, not the doctoral program like intended... whether this had anything to do with me skirting the rules.... the world will never know

Edited November 27, 2013 by jazzy dubois

[BunnyWantsaPhD]

Obviously, this is "at your own risk" type of advice, but I remember being advised by a professor last year to just send in my entire sample (~25p), page limit be damned. I don't believe I was told the reasoning behind this, but my guess is that by the 9th or 10th page they'll know if they've seen what they're looking for or not. 

 

Of course, the cautionary side of the tale is that I was offered a place in their master's program, not the doctoral program like intended... whether this had anything to do with me skirting the rules.... the world will never know 

 

Unfortunately, NYU seems to be pretty strict about things. This is what they say on their website: "Please do not send a sample that exceeds the page limit with instructions to read only certain pages; applicants should instead edit the writing sample to meet the length requirement."

 

Other places do say that you can designate certain pages to be read, so for those I think it would be fine.

[Creffecreve]

Well, my paper is around 14 pages after I cut it down... so I don't know whether it would be better to send that, or send size 11 font, since technically nothing is specified. I guess I'll work on whittling it down by another page...

[pinkrobot]

I'll echo proflorax. Please, no size 11 or any other assorted fiddlings. I've been there and trust me when I say I understand the frustration you're feeling (which never ends: I just sent in a long-shot conference abstract that's 250 words, and my guess is that it only gets worse!), but please also trust me when I say that everyone can tell something's been fiddled with. Also now speaking from the point-of-view of a TA, it's not just that folks can tell that something's different, but it's also that there are inevitably plenty of people who followed the guidelines to the letter: I can't help but wonder, every time, why this particular student felt entitled to go above the limits, or deserved more words than her or his classmates. It's a perfectly understandable reaction and temptation (I did it myself as a UG and during my first application cycle!), but I genuinely think it reads as entitled in some way, shape, or form, no matter what--the rules are both for the sanity of your readers and to make sure (as much as possible) that each applicant is playing with the same-sized deck of cards.

 

For whether to send something longer than the limit, I'm really not sure. But I do think that sending something that is obviously longer would be better than sending something that tries to hide the fact that it is longer.

[Creffecreve]

^Okay, thanks for clarifying that. That does make sense. I shall heed your advice.

Back to the chopping board it is.

[repentwalpurgis]

Is there a Shakespeare or Milton scholar around that would be willing to glance at a writing sample?  Having a similar problem where the promised proofread from a professor never quite happened.  I had another prof look at it, but I'd like someone who doesn't know me to take a look, too.

[Strong Flat White]

So not to belabor this, because I do agree wholeheartedly with the recent posts from pinkrobot on down that say not to mess with font sizes, margins, etc., but I do have a question about the conventionality/acceptability of shrinking font sizes ONLY for block text citations and/or for abstracted portions, specifically to set it apart formally in a way that signals abstraction.  I could see it going either way: I believe the most recent MLA guidelines call for these sorts of things to remain at 12 pt. Times New Roman; by the same token, it's not exactly crazy - I've seen plenty of journals and/or Chicago-style formats that actually instruct authors to shrink certain texts to 10 pt. when it falls into those categories.  A recent PhD admit who was helping me to workshop my writing sample, for example, suggested that I abstract certain portions and we had a little discussion about how formally odd it felt to do so but that it nonetheless was a part of the "genre" of a writing sample, sometimes.  I asked how it really worked: do you put the abstracted text in brackets or what, and he said that he's seen it indented or inset so as to call attention to a section as formally abstracted, and this got me to wondering whether it fit the sometimes-acceptable shrunken fonts of a block text...So the question is, should I still avoid that like the plague, or is it an acceptable convention in those rare instances? Penny for everyone's thoughts, and, as always, apologies if this is covered in another thread somewhere (it seemed in keeping with the spirit and direction of recent conversation).

[BunnyWantsaPhD]

question: should I mention my 8 semesters of teaching experience? Just writing out that I've taught that long seems like it should be significant enough to mention, but since it's on my CV I didn't know if I really needed to talk about it...

[aGiRlCalLeDApPlE]

Guys, I know the font and size format, what about the margins? I used the default margin for my paper and I'm afraid it's not what is required

[ProfLorax]

RoseEgypt, MLA format is one inch margins. Check out OWL Purdue's website on MLA formatting for more specifics.

[ComeBackZinc]

Check out OWL Purdue's website on MLA formatting for more specifics.

 

[hj2012]

Hi! I have a quick question -- would it sound strange / desperate if I described in my SOP a program as "my dream school"? I won't say it in every single application, but for the school in which it's true, I want to really emphasize that I'd love to go there...

[BattyBoy]

Hi! I have a quick question -- would it sound strange / desperate if I described in my SOP a program as "my dream school"? I won't say it in every single application, but for the school in which it's true, I want to really emphasize that I'd love to go there...

 

Yes...

 

Every guy that comments, 'You're so HOT' on a pretty girl's selfie is totally swimming in pussy. Every. Guy.

[ComeBackZinc]

An SOP is a document intended to demonstrate that you're ready to transition into being a professional scholar. I would not use a term like "dream school" in that context.