Comparative Literature Programs

[vordhosbntwin]

my best friend is at yale, doing comparative literature and she says that the faculty doesn't really like theory. (when you expect the opposite) But overall, she is very happy with everything; especially poetry and american lit. she chose yale over upenn, stanford and harvard and didn't regret her decision. the only thing is, as you can imagine, she's not a big fan of new haven.

i'm not sure if you're saying that i expect the faculty to like theory, or if one in general would expect yale's faculty to like theory. as i said in my original post, it would likely come down to yale versus a more theoretical program. regardless, i'm not very interested in literary theory as such, but i am interested in 19th and 20th century philosophy and its relationship to aesthetics. if the program isn't interested in philosophy either, that would be strange, considering that my application revolved around my interest in it.

does your friend just do poetry and american lit? that seems more like english department territory, but perhaps there is more to your friend's interests.

i think you deleted your original post - why? the information seemed fine, i was just trying to get further clarification.

Edited February 12, 2012 by vordhosbntwin

[miércoles]

Hey all, I'm one of the two Stanford acceptances on the board. I also know someone who got into U Penn Comp Lit but have not received any news myself.

[vordhosbntwin]

Hey all, I'm one of the two Stanford acceptances on the board. I also know someone who got into U Penn Comp Lit but have not received any news myself.

so UPenn has sent out acceptances?

[miércoles]

so UPenn has sent out acceptances?

Yep, at least one of them.

[Enzian]

I'm going to pretend that's not real.

[pel]

@ vordhosbntwin: oops, I was trying to edit my thing but it ended up being deleted.. sorry for that.

A friend of mine received her stanford acceptance (last year) three weeks after someone posted his/her acceptance on the board. I think they do rounds of application reviewing.

[maximillianalvarez]

Hey guys,

Did anyone apply to Stanford Comp Lit? I've seen two acceptances on the board and I haven't heard anything yet. Did anyone hear something other than the news on the board?

I tried the ol' "just checking to make sure all my materials were received and whatnot" approach, and got stonewalled. This was all they said: "We hope to be in touch within the next week with our decisions." I've all but given up on Stanford, but that's mainly due to the fact that one of my MORONIC recommenders wouldn't submit his recommendation on-line, then mailed his recommendation to the wrong address, then took until late January to get his second letter to the Department. Good luck to all of you who chose your recommenders more wisely.

Haven't heard anything from UPenn or NYU. It looks like NYU's acceptances have all gone out (from what I can see on the forum). Lame.

Accepted By:

• University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
  
• University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA)
  
  Rejected By:
  • University of California - Berkeley
    
  • Brown University
    

  Awaiting Notifications From:

  [*]University of Chicago

  [*]Northwestern University

  [*]University of Pennsylvania

  [*]New York University (NYU)

  [*]Stanford University

  [*]University of Wisconsin - Madison

Edited February 13, 2012 by maximillianalvarez

[Refresh refresh]

Hey maximilion, what is your subfield? I was accepted at umich also, and am doing Persian diasporic lit. What do you know about the comp lit program, in terms of hearsay (obviously I can "research" the program on my own, I'm more interested in if you know anyone who went there and what he or she thought). Good luck on all your other schools!

[maximillianalvarez]

Hey... refresh? Congrats on Umich! Where does it rank on your list of hopefuls? When I started applying, Michigan was around 3rd on my list, but it's been steadily climbing since. The thesis I proposed to the Department, in a nutshell, is a study of the political/cultural/artistic interactions and influences between Russia, Mexico, and the U.S. in the 20th-century. I really think I got in because there are (according to the department chair) a number of professors in Slavic, Romance, and English Lang/Lit who took a personal interest in the project. BUT... I'll take what I can get. I've only ever heard great things about Michigan. The program would be stellar for me as the university has really strong English and Romance Lang/Lit Departments, and an amazingly strong Slavic Department. I just had a phone conversation with the department chair yesterday, actually, and I had also spoken with Benjamin Paloff in December. Both conversations have pushed Michigan near the top of my list; not only because they informed me of many great benefits of Michigan's program, but also because they've made a lot of effort to make me feel welcome/wanted, which, as we all know, is just about the best thing to feel after so many months of misery. I'm still waiting to hear back from Uchicago (where I did my undergrad), Northwestern, NYU (I'm pretty sure they've given out all their acceptances already), UPenn, Stanford, and UW-Madison. I've also got an offer from UCLA but, at the moment, my scales are tipping more on Michigan's side. I think Michigan has a better program. From what I've gathered, Complit students do very well at Michigan; they're well-received by a lot of other departments, they're fully funded, there are plenty of opportunities to study abroad (with funding!)... but I'm sure you've heard about all that by now.

I do know a couple people who went to Michigan for undergrad, and they absolutely loved it. I also have a friend who's doing a masters there and she seems to be having a great time. Ann Arbor is supposedly one of the best college towns in the States. Having gone to a stupidly nerdy and wimpy school for undergrad, I'm totally excited to be involved in the sports and bar culture up in Michigan.

Does that help?

I think I'd pass on Michigan's offer if I got into UPenn or Stanford... possibly NYU.

[Enzian]

A single Penn Comp Lit rejection went up today. Notification by e-mail. Cryptic.

[vordhosbntwin]

that was mine - got it directly from copeland.

i should probably add - it said they accepted 4 out of 106. so i'm assuming if you haven't heard, you're out.

Edited February 14, 2012 by vordhosbntwin

[darjeelingtea16]

that was mine - got it directly from copeland.

i should probably add - it said they accepted 4 out of 106. so i'm assuming if you haven't heard, you're out.

Those are crappy odds. I feel the panic setting in now...

[maximillianalvarez]

Those are crappy odds. I feel the panic setting in now...

Ditto. I haven't heard anything yet, so I can guess what's coming. LAME!

[Aubergine]

that was mine - got it directly from copeland.

i should probably add - it said they accepted 4 out of 106. so i'm assuming if you haven't heard, you're out.

Congrats! I have some friends in that program, and they all really like it.

[vordhosbntwin]

Congrats! I have some friends in that program, and they all really like it.

haha thank you! but i meant that i was rejected... :-(

[Aubergine]

Oh - whoops! I didn't read back far enough in the thread. Sorry about that! It seems that you already have some tough choices, anyway!

[Enzian]

Bummer. I wonder what the odds are that none of the 4 were gradcafe members? Evidently pretty good.

[vordhosbntwin]

anyone want to claim that hopkins rejection?

[Origin=Goal]

Hopkins is only just getting around to rejections? That's cruel...

[vordhosbntwin]

Hopkins is only just getting around to rejections? That's cruel...

no one's been accepted yet; they're just rejecting the folks who didn't pass last week's interview.

Edited February 15, 2012 by vordhosbntwin

[vordhosbntwin]

is it safe to assume that Cornell will only be sending out rejections from this point forward?

[yellowbird8666]

I applied to six Comp Lit programs, all for PhD, as I'm currently finishing up an MA in Comp Lit. I applied to Duke, UPenn, UC Santa Barbara, Brown, CU Boulder (not too worried about getting into the PhD program here, ha!) and UMass Amherst. I have an unofficial acceptance (via department contact) at UCSB, a rejection from Brown, and a lot of nail-biting on the rest.

I really, really have my heart set on Duke Literature, but it seems they already sent interviews out and I did not get one. I haven't given up hope, especially since I'm in a unique position (Fredric Jameson is visiting my program during interviews week and I will be meeting him a few times) but I'm also not holding my breath anymore. Very disheartening.

Hi, are you the one who has received email from UCSB saying they were enthusiastic about your application?

have you got formal offer?

[vordhosbntwin]

in at johns hopkins humanities center. not sure what to do....

[Heather Hoffman]

Hey, just curious, anyone hear from USC, UCLA, or UCI Comp Lit? I also applied to UCSB, but I think from reading this forum I'm going to assume that those spots are taken. There are a bunch of UCLA acceptances on the results survey, so I'm assuming that I'm rejected from there as well, although I haven't heard anything from anyone yet.

I was an Italian major for 2 years, did a lot of upper division work right away since I entered the program fluent. Then switched to English major, graduated from UCLA in 1995... so I have a lot of Italian coursework on my transcript... but my language skills are a bit rusty. Nothing I couldn't spruce up with a summer intensive, but I'm curious - for those of you who've had comp lit interviews, do they talk to you in your second language? I have an interview coming up where the prof doesn't speak Italian, but it's a long day, perhaps they'll swing me around to the Italian prof as well.

Good luck to all..

[aliko54]

About two weeks ago I got an acceptance from USC..good luck Heather