Women/Gender/Feminist Studies fall 2014

[Huckleberry620]

Just thought I'd start a thread here for anyone applying for women/gender/feminist studies programs for fall 2014. (If there is one already please direct me there, I couldn't find anything.)

I thought maybe we could discuss applications, GRE scores, statements of purpose etc... and keep each other posted on progress! 

 

To kick things off... my first choice to the PhD in Feminist Studies UC Santa Barbara, also looking at Cultural Studies at UC Davis, MTL at Stanford, and maybe Rhetoric or Ethnic Studies at Berkeley with the designated emphasis in women, gender and sexuality. (In case it isn't obvious, being in California is crucial for me - I've been living abroad 8 years and am really keen to go home!) 

 

So where are others applying? How are people feeling about GRE scores, letters of rec, personal statements etc...? 

[macmc]

There was right below this one, actually, but no one else is posting yet, so I'll post in here too! I'm applying to both history and WGS PhD programs, with a couple sociology programs thrown in for good measure -- my research interests are extremely interdisciplinary. The WGS-specific programs are UCLA, Indiana, and the joint PhD at Michigan, but every school to which I'm applying has strong gender/women's studies faculty, since that's what my dissertation will focus on. I was going to apply to the UCSB program, but decided to apply to their sociology program instead and do the feminist studies specialization if I get in, since I've heard their placement record for the Feminist Studies program isn't the best.

 

 

I'll tell you my research interests if you tell me yours 

Edited September 4, 2013 by Meg11

[crackerjacktiming]

Hi!

 

I actually started a thread two posts down.

 

Right now I'm looking at Canadian WGS MA programs. I'd love to live internationally again and Canadian unis offer more funding at the MA-level generally. 

 

My tentative plan is to pursue a Soc PhD in the long-term. I'm coming from a non-Soc background so I'm looking at Women's Studies programs to bridge the gap and to further pursue my current research interests. I'm also a big fan of the Sociology program at Santa Barbara. The Feminist Studies program looks great, but I do have some concerns about placement. 

 

At the moment I'm piecing together my statement of purpose. Time to put the kettle on for a tea break!  

[macmc]

Hi!

 

I actually started a thread two posts down.

 

Right now I'm looking at Canadian WGS MA programs. I'd love to live internationally again and Canadian unis offer more funding at the MA-level generally. 

 

My tentative plan is to pursue a Soc PhD in the long-term. I'm coming from a non-Soc background so I'm looking at Women's Studies programs to bridge the gap and to further pursue my current research interests. I'm also a big fan of the Sociology program at Santa Barbara. The Feminist Studies program looks great, but I do have some concerns about placement. 

 

At the moment I'm piecing together my statement of purpose. Time to put the kettle on for a tea break!  

 

Yeah, the UCSB program looks awesome! I've actually found multiple faculty there that I'd love to study with. And, semi-unrelatedly, I'm feeling way better about doing a hippy, interdisciplinary type degree since I've started tracking academic job postings. It looks like more and more places are wanting to hire folks for WGS-specific slots, rather than as a dual appointment. University of Arizona just announced that they're hiring four tenure-track faculty in transgender studies, first program of its kind in the country. 

[Huckleberry620]

Great things all around then! My research area is gender and migration, specifically violence in gender and migration - I've been working in refugee and related issues for a long time, so I'm hoping to be able to draw on feminist/gender studies, critical theory, feminist geography and other related fields... 

 

How are people feeling about GRE? I'm pleased with my verbal/writing scores, but my math score is, frankly, awful. I don't want to foolishly assume that just because these aren't hard science programs it means no one cares about math. What do people think? 

[k_angie]

Hey!

 

I am planing to apply to Gender Studies at LSE and SOAS, along with international development. Though, judging from the posts above, I dont think anyones applying to UK. Though still, any info on which is better amongst the two? As, I was talking to some other people and they totally advised against LSE. :/

[macmc]

Hey!

 

I am planing to apply to Gender Studies at LSE and SOAS, along with international development. Though, judging from the posts above, I dont think anyones applying to UK. Though still, any info on which is better amongst the two? As, I was talking to some other people and they totally advised against LSE. :/

 

I didn't want you to feel like no one had seen your question, but I don't know anything about the UK. Sorry

[k_angie]

I didn't want you to feel like no one had seen your question, but I don't know anything about the UK. Sorry

Thats very sweet of you Meg11 and I did manage to get the answer from one of the alumni so no problem  

[Sijae]

Good luck everyone! I was on the thread last year and now I'm at UCSB

[macmc]

Oh awesome, congratulations!  Were you at all hesitant to pick UCSB? I had heard that their placement record isn't the greatest, but I can't find any actual stats on it.

[Sijae]

UCSB was my top choice. I'm not sure why you would have heard of poor placement rates. Like many of the women's/gender/feminist studies Ph.D. programs out there (there's only about 20 total in the U.S.), it hasn't been around for very long. UCSB got it's PhD in 2009 and will have its first doctoral graduates this spring.

Edited November 11, 2013 by Sijae

[jogatoronto]

Hey!

 

I am planing to apply to Gender Studies at LSE and SOAS, along with international development. Though, judging from the posts above, I dont think anyones applying to UK. Though still, any info on which is better amongst the two? As, I was talking to some other people and they totally advised against LSE. :/

 

I took classes in the Gender Institute at LSE. It's a good department and they support their students.  My friends at SOAS had almost no complaints.  You'll be fine either way.  You might want to check out KCL's Department of War Studies.  I think they run a one masters program in development. 

[macmc]

So, with deadlines rapidly approaching, how are everyone's applications coming? I took it upon myself to write an entirely new writing sample for my programs, so I'm feeling a little panicky about that now (first app is due 1DEC). Hope y'all were more proactive than I was!

[k_angie]

I took classes in the Gender Institute at LSE. It's a good department and they support their students.  My friends at SOAS had almost no complaints.  You'll be fine either way.  You might want to check out KCL's Department of War Studies.  I think they run a one masters program in development.

Thank you! I applied to KCL's International Development already!

[marneasada]

Hi there!  I'm in the middle of application chaos too. I'm pretty sure that I'm applying to UCSB, Emory, Rutgers, UMN, UMD, and Ohio State, all women/gender/feminist PhD programs.  I'm halfway through my MA right now and it's the first time that I'll be applying to PhD programs. 

 

 

Would anyone want to trade SoPs in the next couple of days?  It would be great to get the perspective of someone else in the field.  I feel like some of my ideas about what I've done in the past research-wise and what I'd like to work on in the future still veer towards the fluffy, and I'm curious about how other people are scrunching their hopes and dreams onto two pages. 

 

Good luck to everyone!

Edited November 28, 2013 by marneasada

[widefellow]

I am applying for only one WGS program, which is the one at Emory. I will be applying for a few interdisciplinary though.

Anyone has more info regarding MTL at Stanford, or WGS at Emory?

 

 

Hi there!  I'm in the middle of application chaos too. I'm pretty sure that I'm applying to UCSB, Emory, Rutgers, UMN, UMD, and Ohio State, all women/gender/feminist PhD programs.  I'm halfway through my MA right now and it's the first time that I'll be applying to PhD programs. 

 

 

Would anyone want to trade SoPs in the next couple of days?  It would be great to get the perspective of someone else in the field.  I feel like some of my ideas about what I've done in the past research-wise and what I'd like to work on in the future still veer towards the fluffy, and I'm curious about how other people are scrunching their hopes and dreams onto two pages. 

 

Good luck to everyone!

 

Hey I am willing to exchange my PS with you.

[macmc]

I am applying for only one WGS program, which is the one at Emory. I will be applying for a few interdisciplinary though.

Anyone has more info regarding MTL at Stanford, or WGS at Emory?

 

 

 

Hey I am willing to exchange my PS with you.

I'm applying to the MTL!

[widefellow]

I'm applying to the MTL!

Hey there. I just finished my personal statement for MTL. I know, so late! How is your application going and who are you planning to work with there?

[macmc]

My apps are going well...today, I cranked out twelve pages of the writing sample I took it upon myself to create for my applications, so I feel really relaxed. I'll be done by tonight, and then we submit!

 

I'd be looking to work with Estelle Freedman in the history department, primarily, as well as Dr. Davies (Feminist Studies), Dr. Brody (Drama), and Dr. Dierkes-Thrun (English). How about you?

[widefellow]

My apps are going well...today, I cranked out twelve pages of the writing sample I took it upon myself to create for my applications, so I feel really relaxed. I'll be done by tonight, and then we submit!

 

I'd be looking to work with Estelle Freedman in the history department, primarily, as well as Dr. Davies (Feminist Studies), Dr. Brody (Drama), and Dr. Dierkes-Thrun (English). How about you?

Nice! It's so good to feel relaxed, but I am not there yet, ugh.

I mentioned Stephen Sohn (English), Matthew Sommer (history) and Matthew Kohrman (Anthro) in my personal statement. I feel reluctant to mention names because I don't know exactly how they feel about MTL, whether they would take new advicees, or anything that might play negatively on my application. 

[macmc]

Yikes! Minnesota has started reviewing applications -- my status changed to "Awaiting Program Decision." AHHHHH!

[Huckleberry620]

Hey all

I've had an email from feminist studies at UCSB saying I'll be nominated for a central fellowship and that I'm likely to get robust funding - wondering if anyone knows (in actual numeric terms) what that means? I've been on the UCSB website and I have seen the info about $10k/quarter but it seems to me that there isn't any info about what constitutes a small/normal/robust package. Anyone have any ideas? I've seen a few posts about fellowships from other UCSB departments (I think someone in Physics or Chemistry had a 28k stipend) but nothing from feminist studies or even another humanities/social science program... thoughts anyone?

[TakeMyCoffeeBlack]

Hey all

I've had an email from feminist studies at UCSB saying I'll be nominated for a central fellowship and that I'm likely to get robust funding - wondering if anyone knows (in actual numeric terms) what that means? I've been on the UCSB website and I have seen the info about $10k/quarter but it seems to me that there isn't any info about what constitutes a small/normal/robust package. Anyone have any ideas? I've seen a few posts about fellowships from other UCSB departments (I think someone in Physics or Chemistry had a 28k stipend) but nothing from feminist studies or even another humanities/social science program... thoughts anyone?

 

10k a quarter is rather robust.

[Huckleberry620]

10k a quarter is rather robust.

$10k per quarter is the maximum central fellowship, and yes that would be great. However it may be that robust - in the current UC budget crisis - means half that or less, that is what I was wondering about. 

[marneasada]

Hey all

I've had an email from feminist studies at UCSB saying I'll be nominated for a central fellowship and that I'm likely to get robust funding - wondering if anyone knows (in actual numeric terms) what that means? I've been on the UCSB website and I have seen the info about $10k/quarter but it seems to me that there isn't any info about what constitutes a small/normal/robust package. Anyone have any ideas? I've seen a few posts about fellowships from other UCSB departments (I think someone in Physics or Chemistry had a 28k stipend) but nothing from feminist studies or even another humanities/social science program... thoughts anyone?

 

Hey Huckleberry,

 

I just had an informal  Skype 'chat' with UCSB on the 27th about a place there/funding.  I think the 'chat' didn't go very well, so I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but I was wondering if you had talked with your POI there at all, or if your news just came as an e-mail?  In terms of money, I have some friends in the social sciences and humanities at the UCs who all report receiving way less than the maximum-- around 18k, 19K mostly, but I bet if the dept is telling you you'll likely get  'robust' funding, you'll likely be fine.  Congrats!