American Studies programs

[kekology4]

stop i love check please!! 

@towonderland72thanks for the kind words, and im sorry youre dealing with that. I still get moments of panic and worry, because of how much getting into the academy means to me, knowing there are other strong candidates this year, and also knowing that part of getting in is luck. Those things can also turn into sources of comfort though if I think about them right. Knowing that it's not about personal failings, and that we are at least partially so scared because we care so much about our work. Remembering that passion that drove me to apply in the first place brings me to a place of calm, even if its not total calm 

[NoirFemme]

8 hours ago, towonderland72 said:

I think it's very cool that both you and @NoirFemme have that confidence, and I bet it'll serve you guys well wherever you end up. Wish I could say the same. I went to Cambridge and USC, but still suffer from perpetual 'am I good enough' syndrome when it comes to academics. I feel like I'd thrive at the schools I applied to--why apply otherwise?--but am more scared than excited. Second guessing myself, like- should I have applied to more 'safe' schools? Should I have applied to more schools in total? (Rhetorical questions, obviously.)

Going off of your post, @NoirFemme: do you think programs are more likely to accept students with good-not-great grades from top schools than high flyers from 'no name' schools? Asking mostly because I'm curious, not having gone through the US system as an undergrad. At Cambridge, the grad students I knew were not always the most diligent bunch in terms of production and proliferation of research. There was certainly a difference between those who were also undergrads at Cambridge--despite being intellectual powerhouses, they didn't seem to work so hard--and those who went there to grad school having been the Wunderkind at some other place. 

I get impostor syndrome often--especially when I see academic Twitter chats between people who are already in or have completed PhD programs. Why do I think I'm learned enough to participate?

I don't think programs are more likely to accept name over grades. Mostly because Yale/Harvard/Stanford/whatever undergrads are usually already the top of their class. The topic of academic hierarchy rears its head if: Student A comes from XYZ State University and Student B comes from Cornell. Both have similar credentials (GPA, GRE score, research, statement of purpose). Student A has excellent letters of recommendation from faculty who know their work well; however, Student B has letters of recommendation from faculty who know their work just as well, but are "stars" of their field. I don't assume anything about the admissions committee, but which student will have an edge?

[The Shade King]

I think we all deal with impostor syndrome at some point. I think its healthy to have confidence in ones abilities but its also good to be humble and realize you dont know and you cant possible know everything. I love to learn so my thing is, if I dont know teach me if you think you know more. I am always open to learn from people for better or worse. Now once I get it, does that mean that you are necessarily right, nope I will research and look up. Thats something that I will always do. But one professor told me you have to have a short cockiness to be an academic and its true in sports as well. I think finding a good balance is the most important. 

 

I am curious though after reading many people interests and where they applied that so many schools that I think would be good fits for people were overlooked. I feel like I am the only person to apply to Minnesota, Michigan, and Kansas in addition to the heavy hitters of Yale and Brown. Also while I didn't apply UT Austin( I ran out of time on that dec 1 deadline) it would have really fit you @towonderland72. Your interest in memory would have been well served by the Chair of the dept.  I would love to hear how everyone came to American Studies. 

[kekology4]

I only applied to three american studies programs because I also applied to four women's studies programs this application cycle, and 7 felt like my limit. They all feel like great fits. 

I came to the field through learning a friend from undergrad had started harvard's phd program this past fall. It was my first time learning of the existence of the field, and it was when I was looking at women's studies phd programs. I did some research and the field seemed really critical, and it seemed like there was a greater presence in american studies of scholars doing work in my areas of interest like security, sovereignty and bio- and necropolitics, than in women's studies. The 2016 ASA conference really drove that home, there were so many interesting projects going on that I knew that it would be right for me. I later learned that my undergrad advisor, and bit of a mentor, wrote a paper on the critical and anti-oppressive trends in the field, which felt like a sign and gave me a bit of a push. Then when I started looking at programs, they all felt like the perfect place for me. The final sign was when I was looking at NYU's courses, and they were offering a course on particular theorists of the concepts I just listed. I had been trying to find an institutional presence of these theorists and their work for years, so it felt right. 

[NoirFemme]

See this is where I feel very clinical and ruthless about the application process and grad school. American Studies is still a difficult field for university bureaucracy to understand. There are departments across the US, yes, but most of the faculty come from traditional disciplines like History, Sociology, English, etc. The job market is already tough enough, and getting tougher, and my faculty advisers basically told me "top school or traditional discipline." So I applied to ten amazing programs across four disciplines.

As for how I came to American Studies, I discovered it fit me better than the African-American Studies program at my school, which was very sociology/social science based. It was also the first time where my brain went "this is me!". I love being able to grab from a variety of sources, theories, and fields to build my arguments. 

[towonderland72]

14 hours ago, The Shade King said:

I am curious though after reading many people interests and where they applied that so many schools that I think would be good fits for people were overlooked. I feel like I am the only person to apply to Minnesota, Michigan, and Kansas in addition to the heavy hitters of Yale and Brown. Also while I didn't apply UT Austin( I ran out of time on that dec 1 deadline) it would have really fit you @towonderland72. Your interest in memory would have been well served by the Chair of the dept.  I would love to hear how everyone came to American Studies. 

I looked at Minnesota and Michigan, but location factored pretty heavily into my decision. My entire family is in London, so I didn't want to go too far away--being in California taught me that it wasn't right for me. This time I really thought a lot about the time difference, ease, and cost of being able to travel back to the UK. I'm 24 and my family is pretty tight-knit, so it's important to me to be able to do so if I need to--especially since all of my grandparents are alive but sickly.

I did like the look of UT Austin, so that's a good call, but it's a way more difficult and expensive move, and I wouldn't do well in the Texan climate either (being in California made me terribly sick, and I started getting cluster headaches). I was really looking for somewhere on the East Coast with a proper winter! It was also important to me to be somewhere that there's a lot of hockey being played (so Minnesota and Michigan would have been great there). I also liked the East Coast because culturally, it's more like home, and I'd be less homesick.

If I don't get in anywhere next year, I'm going to think seriously about what I could afford/handle, and see about widening my parameters and reapplying. This year, though, I was constrained by what I could afford and where I could see myself living, as well as the programs themselves.

[anon4now]

On 1/12/2017 at 4:57 PM, cypressknee said:

I read Wynter's On Being Human As Praxis for a MA seminar on Race and Cultural theory. It's fascinating stuff, but MAN was it difficult to parse through. Reading theory is a muscle, though, I suppose---it gets easier the more of it you read.

I am also a 19th century American lit person (and early 20th)! Do you have any particular authors you'd like to focus on?

Glad to hear there are other 19th century people! I'd like to revisit really classic 19th-century texts by Frederick Douglass, Herman Melville, Harriet Jacobs, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mary Prince, Harriet Wilson, and several others but those are the main authors.

Clearly I'm mostly literature-based. What I really like about AMST programs though–– and I'm sort of just now figuring this out–– is how undisciplined the discipline actually is. It's really hard to define AMST programs and the kinds of projects they support. Wish I had applied to more of these programs–– Maybe next year! (well, hopefully it works out this year lol)

[The Shade King]

I just realized when Yale and Brown finally make decisions it's gonna be a mess around here ... I low key hate stem fields for getting all this janurary news .. 

 

and I I have one application to complete and I am dragging my feet ? 

 

 

 

[kekology4]

Right lol, and me too this wait is the absolute worst!!!!!!  I have been working for this for so long, to have the moment be so close is... wild

[The Shade King]

So it seems American Studies programs are making decisions, someone posted that they were admitted to UT Austin. Congrats to them!!!

[towonderland72]

3 hours ago, The Shade King said:

So it seems American Studies programs are making decisions, someone posted that they were admitted to UT Austin. Congrats to them!!!

Aaargh. I don't know if that makes me feel better or more afraid!

Congrats to whoever that is, though. Where did they post that?

[towonderland72]

Okay, ignore that question. I just discovered the 'results' section of gradcafe!

Still, seems unusually early. I'd like to think it means there was a smaller applicant pool to sort through this year and therefore WE might also hear sooner, but I'm thinking it's just likely that the accepted person is a strong candidate. 

[The Shade King]

3 hours ago, towonderland72 said:

Okay, ignore that question. I just discovered the 'results' section of gradcafe!

Still, seems unusually early. I'd like to think it means there was a smaller applicant pool to sort through this year and therefore WE might also hear sooner, but I'm thinking it's just likely that the accepted person is a strong candidate. 

Haha no worrries. thats one of the best parts of the site!! glad you found it. Yeah stuff will be a foot. I research to see the different ways programs I applied to contacted folks. I am lowkey mad I didnt apply to UT austin now tho.

[Assotto]

On 1/16/2017 at 7:07 AM, towonderland72 said:

Okay, ignore that question. I just discovered the 'results' section of gradcafe!

Still, seems unusually early. I'd like to think it means there was a smaller applicant pool to sort through this year and therefore WE might also hear sooner, but I'm thinking it's just likely that the accepted person is a strong candidate. 

 

I agree--it seems totally way too early. In fact, UT-Austin classes have not resumed yet and their AMStudies doctoral program website says decisions notifications will be sent out Late Feb/Early March.

[The Shade King]

So happy I did my last application tonight. I didnt want to do it but I made myself push through as I had a nice program with my potential advisor and he was quite a nice guy. I applied to 14 programs,7  american studies and  7 misc.  African American, Communications and Cultural studies programs. The sad thing is I had two schools I really wanted to apply to that I ended up not applying to due to my lack of time management. So happy that all my applications are now done.

[kekology4]

Congrats! A shame you couldn't apply to those two, but that's a great number of applications to have. 

[towonderland72]

20 hours ago, blackscholar said:

 

I agree--it seems totally way too early. In fact, UT-Austin classes have not resumed yet and their AMStudies doctoral program website says decisions notifications will be sent out Late Feb/Early March.

According to the results board, UT Austin contacted someone else yesterday to waitlist them for their American Studies program. Eep.

[cypressknee]

9 hours ago, towonderland72 said:

According to the results board, UT Austin contacted someone else yesterday to waitlist them for their American Studies program. Eep.

Yep---I got an email yesterday from UT Austin informing me that I am waitlisted for the American Studies program. Exciting!

[towonderland72]

49 minutes ago, cypressknee said:

Yep---I got an email yesterday from UT Austin informing me that I am waitlisted for the American Studies program. Exciting!

Congratulations!! It's so exciting to know that someone has had a response!

[The Shade King]

17 hours ago, kekology4 said:

Congrats! A shame you couldn't apply to those two, but that's a great number of applications to have. 

Yes thanks. I am happy that I could do so many applications. I kept revising my statements and depending on program had to add or adjust many things. Many programs had varying things they wanted. It was definitely a job in itself not to mention the cost. That why I didnt buy christmas presents this year .. all my extra money went to these applications. At least I had 3 fee waivers. That helped.

[The Shade King]

2 hours ago, cypressknee said:

Yep---I got an email yesterday from UT Austin informing me that I am waitlisted for the American Studies program. Exciting!

Congrats!!! Its a great program and I wish I had applied to it.. The DGS is a great guy!! SO many good faculty in other departments as well. Good Luck.

[kekology4]

congrats @cypressknee!

5 minutes ago, The Shade King said:

Yes thanks. I am happy that I could do so many applications. I kept revising my statements and depending on program had to add or adjust many things. Many programs had varying things they wanted. It was definitely a job in itself not to mention the cost. That why I didnt buy christmas presents this year .. all my extra money went to these applications. At least I had 3 fee waivers. That helped.

Yes it really was a job, the cost was part of why i didn't apply to more schools. It's just too much. The labor was also too much to apply to more schools, I felt like I was working myself to the bone and I wasn't even in school yet. Though I shifted my plans to applying this season as opposed to a later one pretty late. 

 

[The Shade King]

1 hour ago, kekology4 said:

congrats @cypressknee!

Yes it really was a job, the cost was part of why i didn't apply to more schools. It's just too much. The labor was also too much to apply to more schools, I felt like I was working myself to the bone and I wasn't even in school yet. Though I shifted my plans to applying this season as opposed to a later one pretty late. 

 

I am just happy I got it down to 14 schools as I dropped one at the last minute as I was just over it at 13 schools. My initial list had  20 programs on it with a few extra programs serving as alternates. And yeah talking with DGS and POIs definitely shaped what schools I ended up applying to.

Shifting gears a bit, I am curious which school had the best online application in your estimation ? George Washington and Boston U by far had the nicest online interfaces imo. But GWU seems to like freaking you out by sending emails letting you know the department has your application. Seeing an email from them  in my in box this morning had me shook for a bit.

[Assotto]

4 hours ago, cypressknee said:

Yep---I got an email yesterday from UT Austin informing me that I am waitlisted for the American Studies program. Exciting!

It looks like they have started early then. Congrats! 

[cypressknee]

Thanks, everybody! UT Austin is a great program and according to their email, they potentially offer more than 5 years of funding. I've heard something positive from 2 of the 9 schools I applied to (the other was not in American Studies), so hopefully it bodes well!

2 hours ago, The Shade King said:

Shifting gears a bit, I am curious which school had the best online application in your estimation ? George Washington and Boston U by far had the nicest online interfaces imo. 

Right??? Aside from BU, the rest of the applications were clunky, ugly, and generally confusing to use. Why can't there be something like a Common App for grad school?