Medievalists out there?

[Cicero44]

I am an undergraduate applying to English PhD programs, specifically Medieval. I am starting to feel less optimistic about getting into a program on my first try. Does anyone know the competition level for my specific program? I never meet anyone else who is trying to do what I am doing- I'm trying to gauge my chances at this point.

[NewVolunteer]

Well, I have to believe that getting into a reputable PhD program is going to be highly competitive no matter your specialization, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. The key is finding a school that fits your *specific* interests, and, perhaps more importantly, demonstrating that those interests fit within the department. While setting out as a medievalist is a good start, you would probably be better-served by narrowing your interests down to the early or late part of the period. Are you planning to focus on Anglo-Saxon literature or Middle English literature? Of course these are only artificial distinctions, but you'll probably find most departments to recognize them. Very few schools (and fewer scholars) are strong in and committed to both.

Further, are you knowledgeable in medieval languages? One of the difficult (but highly rewarding) parts of studying medieval literature is immersing yourself in ancient languages (and their wonderful manuscripts). You'll definitely need Latin, and, depending upon your concentration, Old English, French, or German. You don't need to be fluent in any of the above to enter into a PhD program, but you should be at least acquainted with the languages you'll be studying. Some schools like Notre Dame and Toronto expect you to be moderately proficient in Latin before they'll even consider your application (or so I've been told).

All that said, don't be discouraged! If you have a good writing sample (ideally, about medieval literature), strong recommendations, and a focused statement of purpose, you'll have a chance no matter what. And be sure to address the topic of languages in your statement of purpose (highlight it if you're strong in the languages or point out how you're working on them or plan to work on them in the coming months).

[lotf629]

The previous poster is right about the language work. On the one hand, I think there are relatively fewer medievalists than, say, 20th century Americanists out there. On the other hand, the previous poster is right that you are going to be facing long odds no matter what your specialty, and one of the reasons that there are fewer medievalists is because medieval as a field requires more technical skills (languages and sometimes manuscript work). It's somewhat more common for medievalists to have MAs already in hand for that reason.

This application season, on the meet-and-greet circuit, I encountered two kinds of medievalists. Some were straight-up medieval specialists; these people more or less invariably had good Latin and a strong command of at least one other language (some had three or four), and often had some background in manuscript work. Others did some kind of "medieval-plus," like medieval literature in Victorian England, or medieval literature and WWI poetry, or something. These people often lacked the purely technical background of the pure medievalists (i.e. languages and paleography) but had a much stronger background in a relevant later literature. If you feel your technical background is weakish, but you have a strong interest in a related later period, you might try the hybridizing approach.

Lastly, as a safety net, you should probably look into some funded MAs if it's an option for you. Medieval is one area where an MA can really help your application because it allows you to acquire languages and manuscript work, and languages and manuscript work will almost always help you out.

[lotf629]

Oh P.S. The previous poster is also right that you need to define your interests within medieval lit very carefully and match them very closely to faculty.