Spanish PhD 2015

[BeatrizBear]

On 2/8/2015 at 8:10 PM, fernandofantastico said:

I have still not received an answer from some of the places that I applied, so my top choice is not set in stone yet. What is your top choice?

 

I meant in general, which one do you want to go to the most of all the ones you applied? I think my top choices are a tie between Pittsburgh and Washington University in St. Louis, but only Indiana has replied to me. =/

[BeatrizBear]

Just so you guys know, Boston University and other schools in the area like Harvard are closed on Monday due to snow. Dunno about schools in nearby states.

 

Also, congratulations to the person who got into the University of Miami.

Edited February 9, 2015 by BeatrizBear

[EuQuero]

Has anyone else back from any other universities? 

[FingersCrossed12]

Nope.. Waitlisted at one and one interview, but I'm feeling like this week will bring more news? How about you?

[BeatrizBear]

Has anyone else back from any other universities? 

 

Nope, but there's still some time left in the day. When I got that mail from Indiana it was already past 5 PM over there so I guess sometimes they send stuff outside of business hours. And some people from other departments got notices on the weekend.

 

Nope.. Waitlisted at one and one interview, but I'm feeling like this week will bring more news? How about you?

 

I've still just heard from Indiana. =/ Did you get waitlisted at your top choice?

[EuQuero]

Nope.. Waitlisted at one and one interview, but I'm feeling like this week will bring more news? How about you?

Nothing yet. I called most of the schools and for some it will be one to two more weeks until I hear something and at others they told me about three more weeks. I also think a lot more people will be hearing back this week and especially next.

[FingersCrossed12]

I don't really have a top choice. I only applied to 5 schools, but they are places where I know that I will be happy. Kind of regretting that decision right now and feeling like I should have applied to more to increase my chances, but not much I can do now.

[BeatrizBear]

I don't really have a top choice. I only applied to 5 schools, but they are places where I know that I will be happy. Kind of regretting that decision right now and feeling like I should have applied to more to increase my chances, but not much I can do now.

 

I tried to apply to more schools but I didn't feel that they fit me and the six schools I applied to were the ones I felt fit me best. 

[SDB]

Nothing yet. I called most of the schools and for some it will be one to two more weeks until I hear something and at others they told me about three more weeks. I also think a lot more people will be hearing back this week and especially next.

Y de Wisconsin te han dicho algo ?

[BeatrizBear]

My application to the University of Pittsburgh finally says it's complete...and that's it. Still no new message from them after the four messages I sent through their messaging system and the two emails. When they reject me, I'm going to throw my laptop out the window because I was ignored for about three weeks and got nothing for my troubles. D:

 

Also, someone just posted an acceptance to Pittsburgh. Welp, time to go throw that laptop.

Edited February 9, 2015 by BeatrizBear

[EuQuero]

Y de Wisconsin te han dicho algo ?

Nada de Wisconsin aún. Hablé con la secretaria la semana pasada y me dijo que dentro de 1-2 semanas van a tener los resultados.

[BeatrizBear]

It looks like Boston University and Harvard will be closed today again. Man, that storm must be bad.

[SDB]

Nada de Wisconsin aún. Hablé con la secretaria la semana pasada y me dijo que dentro de 1-2 semanas van a tener los resultados.

Muchas gracias!  Pues a esperar un poco más...

[scarvesandcardigans]

Imchandl - gracias. Aún no he recibido nada de Davis. Veo que estás en el wait list. Te llamaron o por email? 

 

Email el 31 de enero. He visto que dos personas han recibido ofertas pero sé nada más

[BeatrizBear]

Today I cleaned my room to take my mind off things and now I'm organizing my desk.

[Mr. McSuck]

Greetings. I'm not applying for a PhD, just an MA, but I reckon the process is similar, so I decided to post stuff here. I've never gone through the Grad school application process before, so I have a few questions (bear with me):

 

What kind of format do the interviews usually have? What would you recommend that I do to prepare for one? Are they usually all in Spanish?

 

Also, I put on my application that I have "advanced" reading knowledge of Catalan, which I honestly thought I had at the time, but in retrospect I'm not so sure: I recently sat down to try and read a whole book in Catalan, and now I think I was a bit too generous by calling my ability "advanced". Would I have to worry about them testing my knowledge of Catalan in an interview? Should I bring up that I might have overstated my Catalan reading ability to some prospective interviewer? 

[BeatrizBear]

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.

 

 

Greetings. I'm not applying for a PhD, just an MA, but I reckon the process is similar, so I decided to post stuff here. I've never gone through the Grad school application process before, so I have a few questions (bear with me):

 

What kind of format do the interviews usually have? What would you recommend that I do to prepare for one? Are they usually all in Spanish?

 

Also, I put on my application that I have "advanced" reading knowledge of Catalan, which I honestly thought I had at the time, but in retrospect I'm not so sure: I recently sat down to try and read a whole book in Catalan, and now I think I was a bit too generous by calling my ability "advanced". Would I have to worry about them testing my knowledge of Catalan in an interview? Should I bring up that I might have overstated my Catalan reading ability to some prospective interviewer? 

 

I quoted something that someone said earlier in the thread because I thought it might be helpful to you. Not all programs have interviews and sometimes they only interview certain people, like only international students or perhaps only students studying a certain track (some departments have both literature and linguistics tracks). 

 

I wouldn't worry so much about the language thing. Really, what languages you'll need for your degree will depend on your research interests anyway so while knowing other languages is good, you might not even end up using it. I doubt you'll be quizzed that hard on your Catalan, if at all. And typically you'll either have to test out of a language or take courses on it and you can choose which one.

[Mr. McSuck]

I quoted something that someone said earlier in the thread because I thought it might be helpful to you. Not all programs have interviews and sometimes they only interview certain people, like only international students or perhaps only students studying a certain track (some departments have both literature and linguistics tracks). 

 

I wouldn't worry so much about the language thing. Really, what languages you'll need for your degree will depend on your research interests anyway so while knowing other languages is good, you might not even end up using it. I doubt you'll be quizzed that hard on your Catalan, if at all. And typically you'll either have to test out of a language or take courses on it and you can choose which one.

 

Thanks for the info, Beatriz--it was definitely illuminating. That scenario outlined in the post you quoted, about being on speakerphone with practically the whole department listening in, seems terrifying, so I guess it's good to keep in mind that it is a possibility, albeit an unlikely one.

 

The other stuff doesn't seem too bad though. And I bet they're a lot easier on an MA candidate than they would be on a PhD, in terms of the sophistication of responses that are expected. Anyway, we shall see... maybe I won't even have to do any kind of interview. 

[scarvesandcardigans]

Thanks for the info, Beatriz--it was definitely illuminating. That scenario outlined in the post you quoted, about being on speakerphone with practically the whole department listening in, seems terrifying, so I guess it's good to keep in mind that it is a possibility, albeit an unlikely one.

 

The other stuff doesn't seem too bad though. And I bet they're a lot easier on an MA candidate than they would be on a PhD, in terms of the sophistication of responses that are expected. Anyway, we shall see... maybe I won't even have to do any kind of interview. 

 

Too true. I'm a mixed level applicant (MA and PhD) so I appreciate an MA applicant chiming in here.

 

I found that for two schools I applied to (UC Davis and NC State), the committee requested a recording sample of me speaking Spanish. Davis's sample was supposed to be like a casual conversation but State had a prompt that they wanted me to follow, time limit, etc. I didn't have an interview with them and all of my correspondence with each program has thus far been in English. However, I cannot attest to programs that do not have a speech sample requirement (yet) but from what I understand, interviews might take place in your native language but I am sure that casual conversation or questions in Spanish will be held. Also you could always ask your professors if they are familiar with the programs to which you are applying! That has been a big help for me to get some "inside info" on some things. Good luck!

[BeatrizBear]

I got rejected from UT. =/ I didn't get an email, but I checked on the website.

[SDB]

. When did you find out? I just checked the website but it still says "in review"

[BeatrizBear]

I found out today. They probably haven't updated everyone's account yet. This is making me lose my confidence since the other schools I applied to I feel are harder to get into. If I don't get into Indiana then I'm going to probably need to re-apply next year. D:

[SDB]

Don't worry, you still haven't heard from a lot of schools! Sometimes people get in the ones the y think it's impossible. Austin está perdiendo una buena estudiante de doctorado!

[BeatrizBear]

I was hoping to get into Washington University but it feels like a far off dream. D: I'm just not good enough.

[SDB]

No te desanimes, seguro que entras en un programa! Es que todo el proceso de espera es horrible