Spanish PhD 2015

[BeatrizBear]

So I'm applying for a PhD in Spanish Lit for the Fall of 2015. I've narrowed down my list to Indiana U, NYU, UT Austin, and the University of Pittsburgh. I'll be applying to a few more too but I'm still on the fence about them. Where is everyone else applying? Is there any school that could be called a safety school in this field? I'm pretty anxious that I'll be rejected from everywhere that I apply.

Edited October 10, 2014 by BeatrizBear

[victorydance]

What about Vanderbilt? Don't they have a good Spanish and Portuguese literature program?

[BeatrizBear]

I've heard that too. I've been looking at Cornell as well. I'm trying to find some programs that specifically have faculty in US Latino Literature and/or Latin American Literature (especially the period of the Boom writers and forward). What about everyone else? Anyone else around here applying or am I alone here? Hehe.

[xolo]

I'm applying to UT Austin also, otherwise my schools are more out west than yours.  Maybe someone else will share a different point of view, but in my opinion when you say "PhD program" in "Spanish", there is no such thing as a safety school.   Are you a traditional student with a bachelor's or master's in Spanish? 

[BeatrizBear]

Yeah, that's what I got the impression too. It seems like they take very few students per school to accurately call any school a safety school. I'm not a traditional student. Although I did minor in Spanish and tested out of the language courses. I also speak Spanish as a first language. My MA is in Humanities but I'm writing my thesis over the Mexican writer Elena Garro and I took some graduate Spanish courses. I mainly did Latin and Ancient Greek before as a Classics major.

 

Oh, which schools are you applying to eyepod? I got pretty partial to the East Coast after doing my undergrad in Boston. But I was born on the West Coast. I lived in the area surrounding USC as a kid. Actually, I lived within walking distance of the university. Although right now I'm in Texas, about three hours from Austin, actually. It's a nice place. It has a good art and music scene. Mostly hipsters, though. It's the most liberal place in Texas, probably, and it is full of young professionals.

Edited October 11, 2014 by BeatrizBear

[joanlba]

I've heard that too. I've been looking at Cornell as well. I'm trying to find some programs that specifically have faculty in US Latino Literature and/or Latin American Literature (especially the period of the Boom writers and forward). What about everyone else? Anyone else around here applying or am I alone here? Hehe.

 

 

Hey! Glad that there are some of us here. About you interests, I know its late but it depends on the specific area of Latin America (north, central or south) and its subdivisions (Southern Cone, Brazil, Andean, Caribean, etc).

 

I'm going for a PhD after doing my masters in a school in the midwest. Doing Columbia, Princeton, Brown, Michigan, Minnesota and UNC. Not in any particular order. No safety school, no dream school. I like all the programmes for different reasons and I would gladly go to each one. I think I learned that after applying for the MA. I had a dream school and ended up going to the one I had not heard about at all but just liked the town and the vibe. Good choice. 

 

All applications already sent and just have to play the wait game now.

 

How about all the silent readers around here? This thread has been read  200+ times, it is either one of the 5 of us with serious OCD or someone else that is just shy! Come out!

 

#

Edited December 5, 2014 by joanlba

[xolo]

Hopefully some other people will join in.  Was your MA in lit or linguistics or something else? I am officially in the waiting game.  I thought getting the apps together was going to kill me but I managed to get it done.

Un saludo

Edited December 5, 2014 by eyepod

[joanlba]

Hopefully some other people will join in.  Was your MA in lit or linguistics or something else? I am officially in the waiting game.  I thought getting the apps together was going to kill me but I managed to get it done.

Un saludo

Spanish Lit.

 

It is the wait that kills you. I have done this 3 times, counting this one.

Edited December 5, 2014 by joanlba

[xolo]

So far I'm just relieved to have gotten the apps done. Maybe the waiting will become more nerve wracking as we approach the time when decisions will be made. Right now I'm too busy with finals to worry about it much. I'm not lit, I'm linguistics, but I'm not a traditional student so I'm relying more on my writing, recommenders, and SOP than my academic record. I gave myself 6 months to write the SOP and Writing Sample- way too little time.  Maybe I am slow, but I damn near killed myself. How'd it go in previous cycles?  Was it very competitive?

Espero, sinceremente, que veamos más aspirantes por aquí.   Un saludo

Edited December 5, 2014 by eyepod

[fernandofantastico]

Hello everyone:

 

I'm applying for Spanish PhD programs as well. I'm currently applying to Columbia, Michigan, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Indiana, and Florida State University. My area of concentration is Spanish Caribbean Literature with an emphasis on gender and sexualities studies. I'm glad that I found this website.

[xolo]

Good luck to you too and welcome Fernando. Fingers, are you applying to UT Austin and UCLA in the Linguistics department? I didn't think they had a Spanish MA. I'm applying to those schools too.

[joanlba]

¡Qué bueno que tengamos más personas por aquí! Veo que alguien en el grupo está aplicando a mi antigua alma mater. Fernando, are you going for the PhD in Lit in ND or the MA in Spanish?

[fernandofantastico]

¡Qué bueno que tengamos más personas por aquí! Veo que alguien en el grupo está aplicando a mi antigua alma mater. Fernando, are you going for the PhD in Lit in ND or the MA in Spanish?

 

Joan, I'm applying to the MA program in Spanish at ND. What school is your alma mater? Just curious.

[xolo]

Fingers, thanks for that clarification. I was curious because I have been flagellating myself over the schools during the application process. I'm in waiting mode right now and just went back and looked at my application material - it really needs a lot of additional work! At least that's what I thought, but I suppose that's true of any writing. I'm applying to UT Austin, UCLA, UCSB, USC, UA, UNM. It's great to see some activity in this forum. My interest is in language contact, especially little languages fighting for recognition against a much larger language.

[FingersCrossed12]

I feel your pain. All we can do is wait. I refuse to read my applications anymore after submitting them.... Keep us posted on interviews/contacts/acceptances! Hopefully interviews come around quickly Good luck!

[joanlba]

Joan, I'm applying to the MA program in Spanish at ND. What school is your alma mater? Just curious.

ND. Yo estudié mi MA en español ahí. I'm just asking because of your interest in literatura caribeña. I pressume you will want to work with Tom A.?

[joanlba]

I'm in waiting mode right now and just went back and looked at my application material - it really needs a lot of additional work! At least that's what I thought, but I suppose that's true of any writing.

They always can be improved. My writing sample kept evolving everytime I did a final spell check. Don't worry. They will now better, even professors get multiple re-writes on articles.

 

Waiting is easier if you are, like me, in the southern hemisphere and its summer time.

[fernandofantastico]

ND. Yo estudié mi MA en español ahí. I'm just asking because of your interest in literatura caribeña. I pressume you will want to work with Tom A.?

Yes!! I'm glad that I could find an alumni from there. Pues sí, quisiera trabajar bajo la supervisión de Thomas Anderson porque su área de investigación es muy similar a la mía. ¿Cuál es tu área de investigación?

[nuclearves]

I am applying for Comparative Literature.  I took an ACTFL exam in Spanish and scored Advanced Low.  I feel like I should have tested at Advanced Medium.  French is my second language.  I have no formal coursework in Spanish but would like to use it as my 3rd language.  Any thoughts on the ACTFL oral exam.  (A computer asks you questions and they grade you anonymously based on the recording.

[joanlba]

I am applying for Comparative Literature.  I took an ACTFL exam in Spanish and scored Advanced Low.  I feel like I should have tested at Advanced Medium.  French is my second language.  I have no formal coursework in Spanish but would like to use it as my 3rd language.  Any thoughts on the ACTFL oral exam.  (A computer asks you questions and they grade you anonymously based on the recording.

 

From what I read at the ACTFL website and their descriptions of each stage, Advanced Medium and Low are a step above basic skills adquired during a year 1 Spanish course in the university (I taught that for 2 years). By all means you speak some Spanish and are able to talk to Spanish speakers about normal everyday situations. But it is not advanced really. I think that at that level (by looking at the samples provided in their website or each stage) you might not be able to use Spanish for critical thinking or philosophical discussions (or overly complex creative, literary language that can be sometimes used in narrative and poetry).

 

The good news is that you can improve it during the first semester (or year) if you choose to. Also, knowing another romance language might serve you to be a faster learner.

 

About the feeling of being a Medium instead of Low, its a matter of perspective. Personally, I don't like the "feel" expression because it might imply that you deserve something based on effort and not really on your skills (not trying to be a jackass here). I think that grading in the US educative system is too inflated and that leads to students thinking that they should have higher grades than they do (also talking from experience as a professor). But, on the other hand, it might be that since you speak French you think that you have better understanding of Spanish that you do (bc is romance). That happened to me when doing Portuguese, I thought I had it easy (a common error to Spanish speakers).

 

About the type of exam I think it might be actually better for really determining your level of Spanish. I have taken the TOEFL twice and I didn't feel that the scores really represented my level of English at first. The first time in '09, scored 111/120. After that I did a MA and when I took it again I believed it was going to change somehow, having lived in the US for 2 years, doing most of my daily live in English. 2 months ago I scored 110/120. The scores were consistent by section (listening, writing, speaking and reading) to the '09 exam. From this experience I gather that even though my level of English improved in fluency I tend to commit the same mistakes (and I have actually tested that with native friends) all the time. The test identified my mistakes both times.

 

 

My 2 cents.

Edited December 25, 2014 by joanlba

[nuclearves]

I think it is so awesome that you took the time to write me such a thoughtful response.  I am going to work harder on my Spanish.  Is Spanish your native language?

[joanlba]

Yup.

[BeatrizBear]

I turned in my application to NYU, Indiana, and UT Austin. I'm about to turn in one to Boston University, Washington University, and the University of Pittsburgh. Mostly my research interests run toward women writers during and after the Boom. I have a thing for magical realism, but also really like reading women. Also, US Latina lit (especially Latina writers), Border Studies, and immigration in the United States. I don't want to be a lawyer, but I am interested in the political side to immigration in the USA. I'm nervous about being offered an interview because I will 100% mess that up. I get so nervous. My biggest fear is that they'll say a word that I don't know and then I'll be like, "Uuuumm...."

[joanlba]

Don't worry about interviews. From my experience there are 3 scenarios about language usage:

 

 

1. A English native-speaker: Introduction in Spanish and then fold back to English. They usually feel more cómodos in English, as any native speaker would.

2. A Spanish native-speaker: Spanish or English, and will give you a chance to codeswitch if necessary (remember that they teach to undergrads and it is common for that to take place in advance lit classes)

3. Several professors: Mixture of 1 and 2. (Actually I had a terrible experience with this, yo creía que me entrevistaría con un profesor y cuando me llamaron por teléfono me dijeron: Joan, we are going to put you in the speaker. Conmigo está el profesor X, director de estudios graduados, el profesor Y, coordinador del programa, la profesora Z, el profesor K, etc. Be prepared for that!).

 

By all means, they will ask you first which language do you rather use but of course a section will be in Spanish just to check your level (remember, you will be teaching it during  the next few years). They understand that sometimes the students feel more comfortable discussing academic ideas in their native language. I know several american professors that had classes of Spanish Lit in English because they actually liked it better that way (hispanistas, usualmente medievalistas). Also, they understand you are under stress during the interview (unless you forget Spanish completely, you'll do fine).

 

And finally, remember, codeswitching is OK. It happens all the time in informal discussions, classes and lectures.

 

Y, como comentario de lado para quienes hablen español, recuerden que del mismo modo que intentan determinar cuán bueno es el nivel de español de los estudiantes angloparlantes (even though they had to submit a piece of work in Spanish) harán lo mismo con nosotros sobre nuestro inglés (a pesar de que enviemos un TOEFL) porque mucha de la vida académica será en inglés. Puede que te entreviste un argentino, chileno o mexicano, pero en algún momento te dirá: OK, So, what do you think about X or Y. Y quieren una respuesta en inglés. Pero usualmente dirán esto al principio de la entrevista claramente: la vamos a hacer en dos idiomas, yo te aviso cuándo cambiamos.

 

Another 2 cents.

[BeatrizBear]

Thanks! That actually helps a lot. I'm a native speaker of Spanish but was born in the USA and my English ended up surpassing my Spanish, so sometimes my vocabulary is better in English and it makes me self conscious. Joan, what are your research interests?