Megeen Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Maybe (probably) someone has started a discussion like this before but I was wondering how you guys evaluate "fit." I know that it's a big thing but to be honest, it's hard for me to judge that about myself. I kinda had to use other criteria as I was narrowing down my choices, such as, do they require me to do a TOEFL test since I'm an international student and English is not my first language. The GRE has a verbal part anyway and so I picked schools that waive the TOEFL requirement because I have an American M.A. Apart from that, I'm focusing on American Romanticism and 19th century American lit in general, and basically every uni has at least a couple of people who work in that field. If I get in I assume I'll do my own thing so I looked for a diverse faculty that might be able to give me input, but you can basically find that anywhere. Also they tend to have a similar voice on their website (some are better at it or more elaborate, but still...) so I'm mythed as to how you evaluate your fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidipse Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I picked schools that waive the TOEFL requirement because I have an American M.A . . . Apart from that, I'm focusing on American Romanticism and 19th century American lit in general, and basically every uni has at least a couple of people who work in that field. If I get in I assume I'll do my own thing so I looked for a diverse faculty that might be able to give me input, but you can basically find that anywhere. Also they tend to have a similar voice on their website (some are better at it or more elaborate, but still...) so I'm mythed as to how you evaluate your fit. My impression was that you don't need the TOEFL if you have a university degree from an English speaking country. Of course every school is going to have a Romanticist (it's not, after all, a niche like ecofeminist noir or even bioethics etc.), but approaches vary a lot. If I wanted to write on Wordsworth, I would much rather have studied, say, with M. H. Abrams (now, alas, retired) than with, say, Geoffrey Hartman (likewise retired, I think). I wasn't, I think, too picky regarding location, but I would prefer not to live in a megalopolis, but near one. So I limited myself to only one school in NY, and only one in LA; there are more schools in those cities I'm interested in, but not enough to justify the location compromise. Also, certain schools might have special library collections (Wordsworth manuscripts at Cornell; Mark Twain at Berkeley) or programs (the Digital Humanities stuff at Stanford; the Ellison Poetry Room at U Cincinnati) that might make them more desirable for some people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creffecreve Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I would also consider looking at what current students are doing. If a couple of them seemed to be doing related stuff, I figured that was a good sign. You could also look at the kind of classes that have been offered over the past couple of years to see how many would be of interest to you/related to your research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megeen Posted January 31, 2014 Author Share Posted January 31, 2014 Haha, maybe I should have expressed my self more clearly. I looked at all those things as well (in addition to my TOEFL elimination), and I think I came up with schools that I would really like and that would be a great fit. But at some point it started to feel kinda arbitrary because there are so many things to consider. So, I am just generally interested what you guys personally consider to be more important in terms of fit and how you came to your decisions if anyone wants to share their thought process while we wait for results. I would imagine that the factors and emphasis each of us chose are very different. For example, apart from the fact that I think I could do great work in each of the programs I applied to, I would be ecstatic about any of my three Chicago schools because I love the city (in addition to the programs), and I think it's also important that you feel good about the place since you're probably going to live there for 5 years. Did you guys only go by program? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfLorax Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 When I was applying, I looked for a few things to signify fit: faculty I'd like to work with, guaranteed funding, and good job placement. That was pretty much it. However, fit was much more on my radar after I had been accepted. During visits, I became much more interested in the culture of the department: was it stuffy? casual? too casual? How did the students interact with the professors? How did the students interact with each other? What kinds of events did the department hold? What opportunities for professionalization did the department offer? Could I see myself hanging out with these students and professors on a weekly basis? Was the funding offer enough for me to survive? Were good benefits (health insurance, parental leave, etc) offered? What graduate classes were offered over the next few semesters? Could I easily take classes outside of the department? Does the department offer travel funding? Is it difficult or easy for sixth years to receive funding? Were the teaching loads too heavy or too light? Did the department offer various teaching and administrative opportunities for the students? What research resources were available to me off campus, in the community? Could I see myself (and my partner) living in whatever city for five (or more) years? Was there good food? A Trader Joe's nearby? After I was accepted, the programs readily offered answers to these questions. It was only then that I realized what had been my former top choice was no longer, and I ended up accepting an offer from a different program because it really was a better fit. But I couldn't have known that beforehand! So I agree; when you are in the phase of choosing schools to apply to, fit is elusive. For me, it only really became clear when I was visiting and chatting with the programs after I had been accepted. slouching 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iExcelAtMicrosoftPuns Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 What courses do they offer? What course will you teach? Languages? Secondary Interests? most importantly - Is there a good pizza place in the area? Eternal Optimist and Ozymandias Melancholia 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megeen Posted January 31, 2014 Author Share Posted January 31, 2014 Oh my, can you imagine writing in your statement that you made the effort to calculate the distance from campus to the next Trader Joe's, or saying you want to study at this specific department because the pizza at X close to campus is devine, or in my case, because there's deep dish pizza in Chicago? At least that'd probably be a memorable SoP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozymandias Melancholia Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 most importantly - Is there a good pizza place in the area? I'll second this statement and raise you with this: where's the closest microbrewery? iExcelAtMicrosoftPuns 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzyd Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 If we're using pizza as a litmus test, obviously any (and only) schools in Chicago are the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozymandias Melancholia Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 If we're using pizza as a litmus test, obviously any (and only) schools in Chicago are the way to go. Shots fired. antecedent 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toasterazzi Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 When I was deciding which schools to apply to, I looked for professors doing research and/or teaching courses about areas that interest me. I also looked for schools that seemed committed to guiding students through the professionalization process. Location was also a consideration to some degree because there are places that I really just couldn't see myself living in for five years or so. And the whole idea of getting out of Indiana (as indicated in my username) is to get to some place that's at least marginally better. Popular Culture and Young Adult Literature are really my top two interests (with several subcategories in both), so it was important to me to find schools where these areas were highlighted along with all of the more standard research areas because I think that'll be more beneficial for me in the long run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swagato Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 If we're using pizza as a litmus test, obviously any (and only) schools in Chicago are the way to go. Excuse me, New Haven here. We'll convert you. I know I converted from deep dish to New Haven-style! As for OP's question, it's pretty simple. Where did the people whose work I admire/love/am inspired by/find relevant do their own PhDs? Which current faculty members/departments emphasize the kind of research directions I would like to take up? How have recent graduates from these departments fared? What are some recent dissertations emerging from these departments like? Those were my primary questions. Everything else was secondary (such as department culture, flexibility, etc.). I honestly didn't even think about location (and had applied across the coasts from California to Connecticut). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toasterazzi Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 If it's a matter of pizza, then Chicago all the way. Unless you want to/can go to school in Italy. In that case, Italy wins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iExcelAtMicrosoftPuns Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Jazzy - I nearly downvoted you for your silly comment. But then I thought, "I can fix ignorance." Detroit Style Pizza - nom nom nom. Or Il Mondo in Boston. ooooooh Il Mondo... sanfram 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzyd Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 (edited) Where are all these other cities coming from?? I thought the age old debate was Chicago v. NYC (for good reason hehe) Edited January 31, 2014 by jazzy dubois Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iExcelAtMicrosoftPuns Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Where are all these other cities coming from?? I thought the age old debate was Chicago v. NYC (for good reason hehe) It's a forced dichotomy promulgated by New York & Chicago. They fear the power of Detroit Style Pizza. sanfram 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graditude Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Him, interesting question. In deciding where to apply, I checked the lists of recent theses and staff research interests, and tried to find places that emphasized rhetoric as much as composition. Immediate disqualification for any program that was notoriously hard to get into. Then came the real decision, using a sort of Venn diagram of personal interests. These were the sets: places with funding places with reasonable cost of living places that were likely to appreciate an applicant in his 40s with years of teaching experience places with community college physiotherapy programs for my partner, who's switching careers when we move back to the US places that had attractive neighborhoods Then we tooled around town on Gmaps and figured out where we could live between the uni and the community college, and tried to figure out the bus routes, etc. In the end I only applied to 3 places: El Paso, Phoenix and Syracuse. Anybody else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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