What I would do differently

[Horb]

I'm not sure if this will be helpful or not, but as some people will be applying again next year, and might enjoy some advice, I figured I'd ask: what would you do differently?

 

I'd submit my applications two weeks earlier than the deadline rather than a few days and I'd make sure I looked over my personal statements more carefully (though I'm pretty sure there would ALWAYS be a typo somehow).

 

Anyone else?

[Kamisha]

I made an egregious error on my applications this year: submitting a writing sample that was out of my area of interest. It was a calculated risk (and one that my current advisors signed off on), but when I’ve emailed the schools who have rejected me and asked what to do in the future to make myself a more competitive applicant, every single one said this was my downfall.

 

I have a couple of options for next year (and am still waiting to hear back from 5 schools), but we’ll see if I apply again. If I do, I definitely will be making sure my writing sample is directly related to my area of interest. 

[ComeBackZinc]

I'm not sure if this will be helpful or not, but as some people will be applying again next year, and might enjoy some advice, I figured I'd ask: what would you do differently?

 

I'd submit my applications two weeks earlier than the deadline rather than a few days 

 

 

 

I'm curious-- why would you submit your apps earlier?

[Horb]

With a few schools I had some issues. Rutgers, for example, has you submit everything but supplemental documents, then you wait "24 hours" for a login code to update them. They, unfortunately, didn't put that anywhere on the website as a warning, so I though I submitted everything on time, it'd be nice to know beforehand so I am not freaking out about "what if the code is late." I also think it is unfair because I'm sure there were people submitting on the deadline that then had to wait. 

 

Another schools also said to mail in transcripts unless the department said otherwise. The department site said EVERY THING should be submitted online, so I figured, hey that must be what the "unless otherwise" is meant for. Now I'm over-thinking it because the generic site for applications for the GSAS has it up as required. 

 

Just simple things like that. I guess another way to put it would be maybe contact GSAS directors when app stuff is unclear.

[ComeBackZinc]

No, that makes perfect sense-- giving yourself more of a buffer/wiggle room.

[mmorrison]

I would ask around to other students about their experience with recommenders before asking them to write. Back in APRIL, I asked three professors to write for me. They all said yes, and over the summer I trickled supporting materials to them as I had things ready. Then I started sending the notifications through the apps, so that they could upload their letters.* Well, one of my recommenders, the only full professor of the three, completely flaked. She later sent me an email, at the end of January, saying "I know I have a letter due for you to UCLA soon; what's the deadline again?" Yeah, that school's deadline was 1 December, and the other 8 schools' deadlines had also passed by that point. Fortunately, one of my other professors had since taken it upon herself to insist that given my research interests, she should write for me as well. Basically, she saved my biscuits. (Did I lovingly hand-knit her a thank-you gift out of $60 worth of luxury yarn? Why, yes. Yes, I did.)

 

 

* - There's another good bit of advice: be aware that while some schools let you enter recommender contact info ahead of completing your app, so that your recommenders get their link and can upload their letter at their leisure, SOME schools do not send those notifications until you have absolutely finished every smidgen of your application. ::horror face:: 

[DyslexicBibliophile]

I made an egregious error on my applications this year: submitting a writing sample that was out of my area of interest. It was a calculated risk (and one that my current advisors signed off on), but when I’ve emailed the schools who have rejected me and asked what to do in the future to make myself a more competitive applicant, every single one said this was my downfall.

 

So it's okay to contact the schools and see if they can give you information as to why you were rejected and what you can do differently next time? I was wondering about this a few days ago; it's something I would like to do, I just didn’t know if it was an acceptable practice or not.

So it's okay to contact the schools and see if they can give you information as to why you were rejected and what you can do differently next time? I was wondering about this a few days ago; it's something I would like to do, I just didn’t know if it was an acceptable practice or not.

I'm also a little scared now - I didn't have any viable writing sample for my area of interest. My concentrations are Victorian/Women’s & Gender studies, and I have a big thing for Gothic literature. The best sample is American gothic, but only ten pages. Another sample has gone through extensive editing and review over the last two years, but it’s Restoration with a Women & Gender spin (and while I have improved the grammar/mechanics in the paper, the analysis is still from when I was greener & less sophisticated). The final option is my most recent work – has received the least review – but I feel is the strongest where analysis/central argument is concerned. Unfortunately it’s on Melville with a Queer studies spin, so it barely relates to my future interests.

 

I went with the Restoration paper for most schools, and where some schools would allow it, I submitted it with the Gothic paper or with both the Gothic and the Melville paper.  I was told this was also risky (even when a school allows or encourages multiple samples), but I felt it was a risk worth taking. I hope I was right.

 

 

As for what personally I would do differently (and what I will do differently this next round) - start the applications much earlier. I was delayed this year because I was still indecisive about whether I wanted to pursue Lit or Psych - which means I was really behind once I made the decision. I seriously would make sure I got every application done over the summer, so that all applications would be submitted in September/October. Additionally, I would keep re-taking the GREs until I got a score I felt was the best I could do. And finally, I would write a sample that fit my actual future concentration.

[Kamisha]

So it's okay to contact the schools and see if they can give you information as to why you were rejected and what you can do differently next time? I was wondering about this a few days ago; it's something I would like to do, I just didn’t know if it was an acceptable practice or not.

So it's okay to contact the schools and see if they can give you information as to why you were rejected and what you can do differently next time? I was wondering about this a few days ago; it's something I would like to do, I just didn’t know if it was an acceptable practice or not.

I'm also a little scared now - I didn't have any viable writing sample for my area of interest. My concentrations are Victorian/Women’s & Gender studies, and I have a big thing for Gothic literature. The best sample is American gothic, but only ten pages. Another sample has gone through extensive editing and review over the last two years, but it’s Restoration with a Women & Gender spin (and while I have improved the grammar/mechanics in the paper, the analysis is still from when I was greener & less sophisticated). The final option is my most recent work – has received the least review – but I feel is the strongest where analysis/central argument is concerned. Unfortunately it’s on Melville with a Queer studies spin, so it barely relates to my future interests.

 

I went with the Restoration paper for most schools, and where some schools would allow it, I submitted it with the Gothic paper or with both the Gothic and the Melville paper.  I was told this was also risky (even when a school allows or encourages multiple samples), but I felt it was a risk worth taking. I hope I was right.

 

 

As for what personally I would do differently (and what I will do differently this next round) - start the applications much earlier. I was delayed this year because I was still indecisive about whether I wanted to pursue Lit or Psych - which means I was really behind once I made the decision. I seriously would make sure I got every application done over the summer, so that all applications would be submitted in September/October. Additionally, I would keep re-taking the GREs until I got a score I felt was the best I could do. And finally, I would write a sample that fit my actual future concentration.

 

The idea of emailing schools is controversial to some, but of the 7 schools I’ve been rejected to thus far, 6 have responded very, very positively (Oregon said they wouldn’t respond to individual inquiries). As a matter of fact, several of them thanked me for taking the initiative to write them and said they very much appreciate when students do so. 

 

I don’t think you have as much to worry about on your writing sample as I did: my area of interest is film studies and my writing sample was in postcolonial literature...so, you know, not remotely related. Haha. I was planning on submitting part of my thesis, but had to do major reworking on it. It was a last-minute swap out and wasn’t a good plan. I really, really regret it. The only tangential connection that it had was that it was largely a study in cultural liminality, which is what I want to study in film. 

 

I’m sure your sample is great and that you’ll have far better luck than me I should say that even with my writing sample being out of my area, I do currently have two acceptances, so it wasn’t the end of the world. It just kept me out of the schools (I should say I’m sure it was part of the reason I was kept out of schools) that I was really excited about. 

[DyslexicBibliophile]

The idea of emailing schools is controversial to some, but of the 7 schools I’ve been rejected to thus far, 6 have responded very, very positively (Oregon said they wouldn’t respond to individual inquiries). As a matter of fact, several of them thanked me for taking the initiative to write them and said they very much appreciate when students do so. 

 

I don’t think you have as much to worry about on your writing sample as I did: my area of interest is film studies and my writing sample was in postcolonial literature...so, you know, not remotely related. Haha. I was planning on submitting part of my thesis, but had to do major reworking on it. It was a last-minute swap out and wasn’t a good plan. I really, really regret it. The only tangential connection that it had was that it was largely a study in cultural liminality, which is what I want to study in film. 

 

I’m sure your sample is great and that you’ll have far better luck than me I should say that even with my writing sample being out of my area, I do currently have two acceptances, so it wasn’t the end of the world. It just kept me out of the schools (I should say I’m sure it was part of the reason I was kept out of schools) that I was really excited about. 

 

You are a very, very nice person. Thanks for the encouragement . . . though I'm still worried.

 

And thanks for the info regarding contacting schools. I will definitely do this with the one rejection I already have (even though I suspect that was mostly an issue of "fit") and any future rejections that come in. Do you have any advice for wording (I was going to send an email)? I'm a little afraid of it sounding peremptory or arrogant.

[Kamisha]

You are a very, very nice person. Thanks for the encouragement . . . though I'm still worried.

 

And thanks for the info regarding contacting schools. I will definitely do this with the one rejection I already have (even though I suspect that was mostly an issue of "fit") and any future rejections that come in. Do you have any advice for wording (I was going to send an email)? I'm a little afraid of it sounding peremptory or arrogant.

 

I don’t know if mine is the best wording in the world, but this is what I used: 

 

 

Dr. NAME,

 

Thank you for the opportunity to apply to NAME AND PROGRAM. If a moment in your schedule allows, would it be possible to find out what I might do to become a more competitive applicant in the future?

 

Thanks again for your time and consideration during this undoubtedly busy time. 

 

Best,

 

SIGN

 

 

I hope that’s helpful!

[DyslexicBibliophile]

I don’t know if mine is the best wording in the world, but this is what I used: 

 

 

Dr. NAME,

 

Thank you for the opportunity to apply to NAME AND PROGRAM. If a moment in your schedule allows, would it be possible to find out what I might do to become a more competitive applicant in the future?

 

Thanks again for your time and consideration during this undoubtedly busy time. 

 

Best,

 

SIGN

 

 

I hope that’s helpful!

 

 

That is absolutely perfect and beautiful. It hits the perfect tone of appreciative and humble. Thanks for sharing - it'll definitely be helpful when I write my own. I plan to have someone read over whatever I end up writing to make sure it's okay.

 

Again, thank you so much for sharing!! You're awesome.

[Katia_chan]

I think this thread is a great idea.  I came *this* close to (probably) 0 acceptances, so even though I thankfully won't be needing to reapply, there were still plenty of what-ifs going through my head.

 

There are a few things I would do.  The first one being one a lot of other people have said--I'd submit everything earlier.  Maybe not over the summer, but at least by Thanksgiving.  I had a few crunches, and while nothing screwed me over, it was still stressful.  I was finding out about transcript issues long after some deadlines, and not getting LOR writers their notifications until rudely late.  Luckily I think they've all forgiven me, but I still feel like it wasn't very considerate of me.

 

Secondly, I would get over myself and have more people read over my SoP.  I'm fairly shy and insecure, so I was scared to have people look at it.  It's a bad habit I need to shake in a lot of areas of my life.  More input, as long as you can weigh it, is always good.

 

I'd also spend more time prettying up my writing sample.  While it was a nicely representative piece, I think it could have been made much better.  (also someday I want to publish it maybe, if I'm ever confident I located all the plotholes, and if I'd spent more time on it now I'd have less work to do later).

 

Hope that's helpful to someone.  Hopefully those looking at this who don't have acceptances yet will still get them this year.  But, if not, there is nothing wrong with getting up, dusting yourself off, doing something interesting for a year, and putting yourself through this hell again.  Eventually it pays off...

[DyslexicBibliophile]

Secondly, I would get over myself and have more people read over my SoP.  I'm fairly shy and insecure, so I was scared to have people look at it.  It's a bad habit I need to shake in a lot of areas of my life.  More input, as long as you can weigh it, is always good.

 

OH MY GOD - YESSSS. This. So this. I had a few people read over my SoP(s), but for some reason, I was too embarrassed/shy/insecure to ask my professors to read it over. This is seriously one of the stupidest things I could have done. Also – the people that reviewed it were way too complimentary now that I think about it – I really wish I had someone read it that would have ripped it apart, only because then I would have been forced to doubt what I wrote and then justify it.