Recs/Terror of Upcoming English Lit. Ph.D App. Process

[cillian19]

Dear Members of Gradcafe.com,

I'm very thankful for your helpful posts on this board; I've been lurking for a month or so and am relieved to find others who have the same questions as I do. I'm a 2005 Harvard graduate (B.A. English, High Honors) and a year ago received a fiction M.F.A. from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. I hope I can find some advice from some of the posters here and thank you in advance for your time.

After a couple of years of living out in the world (one year working at a magazine, a pretty good experience at Iowa, and this past year floundering self-employed while plugging at a short-story collection, soon to be followed by another similar year) I'm beginning the mental preparations for applying for an English Lit. Ph.D. for fall 2010. After reading the terrifying "Graduate School in the Humanities: Just Don't Go" at the Chronicle of Higher Ed, and even then re-evaluating my reasons for wanting to get a Ph.D., it seems I still want one :roll: . I'm vaguely terrified about the process---

My question here is about recommendations. I about to reach tentacles out through typed letters to undergraduate professors who knew me relatively well. I'm asking them very clearly if they would like to support my application. One is a 'heavyweight' (sorry to use that repulsive word) critic that I took a class with, who gave me an internship recommendation, and who wrote a rec back in 2006 for my M.F.A. application. The second is a professor who taught my freshman seminar and who I saw often in the years up to graduation; however, I lost touch with him since graduation. Although it would be a stretch, I am fairly sure he would give a great recommendation. The third is a literature professor who doesn't know my academic work (his class was run by his T.A.s) but was on the board that evaluated my undergraduate thesis super favorably.

After speaking to a former T.A. who had some good advice on the process, I was wondering if I should try having a third recommendation not by a technically 'academic' professor, but by one of my fiction professors at Iowa, all published novelists and long-time teachers of creative writing. She strongly suggested that this would give my application an extra 'push', and that Ph.D. programs enjoy having creative writers in their ranks and might want to see this type of support. However, in undergrad I had a creative writing teacher write me a very scattered rec. for an ill-fated application for a UK fellowship. I'm not sure if having a creative writing professor- regardless of all the infinite respect I have for them- write a recommendation discussing my ability as a creative writer, whatever that may be, would bolster my application. Would it be wise to ask one of them to discuss my abilities as a student/thinker/scholar in general? What do some of the posters think? Should I stick to the pure academics (simplifying here)? Thanks again!

[jasper.milvain]

I would try to get someone from your MFA. You've done graduate level work, and need someone who can speak to that. A scattered letter recording your graduate work sounds better to me than a solid letter saying you were great as a freshman.

If you're worried about the quality of the letter, you can try politely steering the content towards what you need by giving the writer a bunch of information.

"Thank you again for agreeing to write me a letter of reference.

XYZ University asks specifically that you comment on my research potential, writing skills, and professionalism. There are a few of my accomplishments that I feel fit these categories that you may not be aware of: blah, blah blah. I enjoyed my time at MFA school very much. I came in to the program seeking X, and am very happy with my Y result."

Good luck with your applications! Now that I'm on the other side, I wish that I had been calmer through the application process. It seemed like utter hellish misery at the time, but there IS a light at the other end of the tunnel. If you look for the Expectations and Results thread, you'll see that most people responding did as well as they thought they would or better. Here's hoping you're in that situation this time next year.

[cillian19]

Dear Jasper.Milvain,

Thanks so much for your thoughtful reply! I have took your advice and am going to try to get someone to speak to my graduate work; your points are all excellent. I'll also work on steering my request and giving as much information on my research potential and professionalism as possible.

Thanks for your good luck as well. I am going to try hard not to focus on the misery element of all this and maybe even see it as a huge, wonderful Alice in Wonderland type game. Maybe that will help.

Best of luck in your work and take care!

[jasper.milvain]

You're very welcome, Cillian! Thinking of the process as Alice in Wonderland would certainly help with some of the absurdity of it. Next time I hit some red tape, I'm picturing Tweedledee and Tweedledum

[glasses]

You're very welcome, Cillian! Thinking of the process as Alice in Wonderland would certainly help with some of the absurdity of it. Next time I hit some red tape, I'm picturing Tweedledee and Tweedledum

I see the Cheshire Cat. Every. Single. Time.