Fall 2017 Applicants

[anxiousphd]

2 hours ago, Yanaka said:

Oh my... Something else I'll be able to stalk!

It's a trap!  Once you're on there, it is SO difficult not to obsess! 

I've made "projections" of when I expect to hear back from my schools based on when they notified for English PhDs in the last two years... On the one hand, it's keeping me from obsessing until late January. On the other hand, it may drive me insane come late January.

Best of luck to you! Try not to freak out too much; I'm not a Comp Lit person, but I imagine studying abroad will help to make you one of the top applicants.

[angel_kaye13]

3 hours ago, Wyatt's Terps said:

 I would normally agree with you, @angel_kaye13, but it looks like there's also a MSU rhet/comp rejection from this year, and acceptances and rejections from mid-December last year as well. It's not my field, and I don't know their process, but it looks like MSU does indeed make its rhet/comp decisions around this time.

@Wyatt's Terps: MSU is the only one/one of the few that this is happening with, though, correct? That's why I was couching my argument: not to be too skeptical (although I am that, since posted results are easy enough to post), but to merely assure anyone who might be nervous that we Humanities people still have a pretty long wait. That was the first thing we learned in our Intro to Grad Studies unit, that the Sciences get first funding consideration, the Humanities second, or third. This doesn't mean that a few people won't get notice. But just a reminder that - for most applicants - it's better to be calm and not freak out until at least January or February. --> That much stress can take a toll on a person's mental state, and I wish people had said as much to me, when I was applying a couple cycles ago.^^

 

[hmss9245]

I believe there's no need to be stressed at all especially for those applying to programs wherein the first round of selection takes place at the Grad School… My application, as far as I can see from the notification letter, is reviewed by the faculty, which makes it less time-consuming.

[tvethiopia]

2 hours ago, mullcj15 said:

I've made "projections" of when I expect to hear back from my schools based on when they notified for English PhDs in the last two years... On the one hand, it's keeping me from obsessing until late January. On the other hand, it may drive me insane come late January.

haha i've been doing this too! when did they notify last year, the year before, when did acceptances/waitlists/rejections come out, etc etc etc......

research is my coping mechanism, this stuff actually keeps me (slightly more) calm. i guess it's just the illusion of control?

[Dr. Old Bill]

2 hours ago, mullcj15 said:

 

I've made "projections" of when I expect to hear back from my schools based on when they notified for English PhDs in the last two years... On the one hand, it's keeping me from obsessing until late January. On the other hand, it may drive me insane come late January.

 

16 minutes ago, tvethiopia said:

haha i've been doing this too! when did they notify last year, the year before, when did acceptances/waitlists/rejections come out, etc etc etc......

 

 

Oh yes. Most definitely. I have a list of when the thirteen programs I applied to typically notify etc. For literature programs, OSU is typically the first of the top programs, making their first decisions in the fourth week of January. I'm guessing they like to make their decisions before the semester starts, which seems pretty sensible to me.

Last time I had a gut feeling that after I got my M.A. offer at UMD (which was on February 14th), I wouldn't get any more offers...and I was right. In other words, I'm hoping that if I am to get an acceptance, it's by mid-February...

[hmss9245]

4 hours ago, Wyatt's Terps said:

 

Oh yes. Most definitely. I have a list of when the thirteen programs I applied to typically notify etc. For literature programs, OSU is typically the first of the top programs, making their first decisions in the fourth week of January. I'm guessing they like to make their decisions before the semester starts, which seems pretty sensible to me.

Last time I had a gut feeling that after I got my M.A. offer at UMD (which was on February 14th), I wouldn't get any more offers...and I was right. In other words, I'm hoping that if I am to get an acceptance, it's by mid-February...

Wow, I've applied to UMD's CompLit and OSU's English programs this year, but feel like less positive to be admitted… Richardson's field of interest in the narrative of drama is the most overlapped with mine, but besides him, there's virtually no one else there I could mention in my SoP for UMD; the faculty of narrative at OSU are also good, but few of them are really doing drama and narrative performed…So I need to apply for both, with a minor chance of being admitted by either xD

[Yanaka]

From what I've gathered, I am thinking that it is only bad news after February.

[Dr. Old Bill]

2 hours ago, hmss9245 said:

Wow, I've applied to UMD's CompLit and OSU's English programs this year, but feel like less positive to be admitted… Richardson's field of interest in the narrative of drama is the most overlapped with mine, but besides him, there's virtually no one else there I could mention in my SoP for UMD; the faculty of narrative at OSU are also good, but few of them are really doing drama and narrative performed…So I need to apply for both, with a minor chance of being admitted by either xD

Ah, Richardson's great. I've taken two courses with him, and have nothing but positive things to say. PM me if you have any specific questions about him. As for UMD's comp lit program, I don't know too much other than that it's now run by Jerry Passannante, who is also great. If you get accepted, let me know and I'll put you in touch with one of the Ph.D. students I know.

50 minutes ago, Yanaka said:

From what I've gathered, I am thinking that it is only bad news after February.

Nah, despite my earlier comment about gut instinct etc., lots of people get accepted after February. There are a few programs that don't begin to notify until March (I can't remember exactly which ones they are, but there are definitely some), but March is when much of the waitlist movement starts to happen. Think of it this way: anyone who receives more than one acceptance has to drop at least one of those acceptances, leading to a waitlist spot freeing up. So while news is typically not as good after February, it really "ain't over till it's over," as the saying goes...and "over" usually means April 15th.

[crugs]

So I have just discovered this site and am already thinking about blocking the results boards from my browser...How do you not obsess over every update and detail?

I've applied to 11 PhD programs that cover a pretty good range (I think?) (UChicago, Northwestern, UIC, Brown, URI, UMass Amherst, UConn, George Washington, UTexas Austin, UDenver, and UofM Twin Cities) but I have never had this much anxiety before. Currently teaching HS, looking to teach at University Level...Graduated from my MA program 3 years ago and Undergrad 8 years ago.

Does anyone here have experience applying with several years' worth of gaps in your education? The time between has been filled with teaching (I even taught as an adjunct at a college this fall and that is what motivated me to finally apply for PhD programs), so it hasn't been dead space...but I'm so nervous that that will be looked on poorly...And general worries I haven't applied to enough/given myself enough options/etc. 

(Research goals involve Shakespeare in Education)

 

[jungThug]

Penn app is "ready for review"

 

Edited December 20, 2016 by jungThug

[LouPlease]

21 hours ago, crugs said:

So I have just discovered this site and am already thinking about blocking the results boards from my browser...How do you not obsess over every update and detail?

I've applied to 11 PhD programs that cover a pretty good range (I think?) (UChicago, Northwestern, UIC, Brown, URI, UMass Amherst, UConn, George Washington, UTexas Austin, UDenver, and UofM Twin Cities) but I have never had this much anxiety before. Currently teaching HS, looking to teach at University Level...Graduated from my MA program 3 years ago and Undergrad 8 years ago.

Does anyone here have experience applying with several years' worth of gaps in your education? The time between has been filled with teaching (I even taught as an adjunct at a college this fall and that is what motivated me to finally apply for PhD programs), so it hasn't been dead space...but I'm so nervous that that will be looked on poorly...And general worries I haven't applied to enough/given myself enough options/etc. 

(Research goals involve Shakespeare in Education)

 

It is not abnormal to take time off before applying for a Ph.D.  I am 7 years from my BA, 4 from my MA, and have also been working on and off as an adjunct. Youve remained involved in academia, too, which is consistent. Honestly I think it shows maturity and that you have thought through your choice. My age and the time I took off are at the bottom of my list of application concerns. It's so easy to convince yourself that you're a terrible applicant. I think we do it to mitigate our hopes, so that if we don't get in we can say, oh well I'm not surprised (as if that makes it hurt less). But its always better to put positive thoughts out there, even if it means disappointment. So fret not and be proud of yourself! 

[Dr. Old Bill]

1 hour ago, jungThug said:

Penn app is "ready for review"

 

That just means that they've received all of your documents and scores etc. Nothing to get excited over yet.

[crugs]

14 minutes ago, LouisePlease said:

It is not abnormal to take time off before applying for a Ph.D.  I am 7 years from my BA, 4 from my MA, and have also been working on and off as an adjunct. Youve remained involved in academia, too, which is consistent. Honestly I think it shows maturity and that you have thought through your choice. My age and the time I took off are at the bottom of my list of application concerns. It's so easy to convince yourself that you're a terrible applicant. I think we do it to mitigate our hopes, so that if we don't get in we can say, oh well I'm not surprised (as if that makes it hurt less). But its always better to put positive thoughts out there, even if it means disappointment. So fret not and be proud of yourself! 

This is so helpful, and so true! All through sports growing up and the extracurricular activities I do (mostly theatre) I've always kind of been a "well if I don't show confidence I won't disappoint people when I don't succeed" type of person...Hadn't really identified this within myself for this process but it's so good to hear others are in the same boat...

Thanks so much!!!

[Yanaka]

For the sake of variety, can I write "Professor" once in a while so it's not always "Doctor" in my SOP? (When I'm speaking thrice of the same person, that is)

[othersamantha]

12 minutes ago, Yanaka said:

For the sake of variety, can I write "Professor" once in a while so it's not always "Doctor" in my SOP? (When I'm speaking thrice of the same person, that is)

I used only "Professor" in my applications. At my undergrad, everyone is called "Professor" and never "Dr.," but I wasn't sure that this was the case everywhere, so I initially used "Dr." in my statement of purpose. However, my advisor crossed out "Dr." and changed to "Professor" every time. So, from my perspective, I think it's fine, but maybe you want to check with one of your letter writers or someone else to see what they think.

[othersamantha]

Just now, othersamantha said:

I used only "Professor" in my applications. At my undergrad, everyone is called "Professor" and never "Dr.," but I wasn't sure that this was the case everywhere, so I initially used "Dr." in my statement of purpose. However, my advisor crossed out "Dr." and changed to "Professor" every time. So, from my perspective, I think it's fine, but maybe you want to check with one of your letter writers or someone else to see what they think.

To add to this though, I think it might seem odd to call someone "Professor Smith" and later "Dr. Smith" -- I would be consistent with one term. But again, just speaking from personal preference!

[Yanaka]

Thank you guys. I've kept "Dr." when I write "Doctor X", and used Professor when I write "the Professor...". 

[Caien]

So I found a typo in my writing sample... In the title

Edited December 23, 2016 by Caien

[Yanaka]

51 minutes ago, Caien said:

So I found a typo in my writing sample... In the title

Ouch! Hopefully that means they'll forget about the typo while reading the sample!

[echo449]

I mispelled the name of one of the poets that I intended to write on in many copies of my SoP, so I'm sure you guys will be fine. 

[LouPlease]

12 hours ago, biyutefulphlower said:

To add on to these tales of woe - just discovered I used the wrong 'whose' in my SoP to Chicago.

It is what it is, but...aaarrrgh.

 

And I used "crises" instead of "crisis" on the first damn page of my writing sample. ?

[Dr. Old Bill]

21 minutes ago, LouisePlease said:

And I used "crises" instead of "crisis" on the first damn page of my writing sample. ?

I refuse to reread my materials for this very reason. My WS went through several rounds of revision (and was read by several sets of eyes) which should weed out any typos, but they always manage to creep in. That said, I wouldn't worry too much about a typo like this -- there's a decent chance that it won't be caught, and if it is, it will probably be seen as just a typo (i.e., a typing error as opposed to a conceptual error). Chin up!

[JessicaLange]

4 hours ago, Wyatt's Terps said:

I refuse to reread my materials for this very reason

Same! I'm too nervous to do it. I'm sort of saying c'est la vie to the whole thing. I want to think that if I don't get in, it's something on their end and they desperately wanted me, but couldn't fit me in. I don't want it to be because of a spelling error. You have to create your own reality sometimes.

[Dr. Old Bill]

52 minutes ago, JessicaLange said:

Same! I'm too nervous to do it. I'm sort of saying c'est la vie to the whole thing. I want to think that if I don't get in, it's something on their end and they desperately wanted me, but couldn't fit me in. I don't want it to be because of a spelling error. You have to create your own reality sometimes.

"One of the candidates with the exact same interests as yours walked in here wearing a bomb jacket and threatened to blow us all up if we didn't admit him! We're really sorry, but we had no choice!"

Edited December 31, 2016 by Wyatt's Terps

[Caien]

I hadn't intended to reread @Wyatt's Terps, my WS had been read by three professors and four of my friends with humanities degrees, and I myself has proofed it so every comma was exactly right. But, in a horribly ironic twist, my writing sample was published just a few weeks ago. I proudly sent an online link to my mother to read, and when I got home for Christmas:

Me *pleased as punch*: Did you read the editorial before the article?

Mother: Yes, but um...

Me: What?

Mother: I don't fully understand the title.

Me: What do you mean?

Mother: There seems to be a word missing.

Me: ... What?

Mother: Its probably just some English literature-y way of saying it that I don't get... but shouldn't there be an 'a' in here?

Me: ...I'm going to go cry now.

Where the missing 'a' went will remain a mystery, it is in an older version of my WS then disappears around November. Somehow I must have been so used to the title that my eyes skimmed it, and my proofreaders must not have looked at the title. Suffice to say, it has somewhat spoiled my first publication. Also I had my mother proofread my last few SoPs...