Tips for Applying to English Ph.D. Programs

[maengret]

I'm looking for input on a happy hiccup in my application process. I applied for MAs at schools with either Rhet/Comp majors or concentrations. My career goals are professional writing/editing and marketing (my writing sample discussed the use of religious rhetoric to subjugate women). I've been approaching the MA as a terminal degree. However, I've been open to the idea that I might finish my MA and want to continue to a PhD. But I do not want to teach college so I don't need the PhD.

A program admitted to the PhD track (I can earn their MA concurrently). It's a very good offer. But is it the right offer for me? If you were in my shoes, what information would help you make a decision? Is there are resource to help me get a handle on what "alt-ac" employment rates are like?

[LibraryLivingJT]

My biggest piece of advice, and one that has greatly helped me, comes from my mentor from my MA program, and that is to "keep your eyes wide open." Meaning, you need to look at what would be the best fit for you, as well as learning to protect yourself in the field of academia - meaning not being taken advantage of labor-wise, etc.

[rrk686]

On 3/3/2018 at 5:40 PM, maengret said:

I'm looking for input on a happy hiccup in my application process. I applied for MAs at schools with either Rhet/Comp majors or concentrations. My career goals are professional writing/editing and marketing (my writing sample discussed the use of religious rhetoric to subjugate women). I've been approaching the MA as a terminal degree. However, I've been open to the idea that I might finish my MA and want to continue to a PhD. But I do not want to teach college so I don't need the PhD.

A program admitted to the PhD track (I can earn their MA concurrently). It's a very good offer. But is it the right offer for me? If you were in my shoes, what information would help you make a decision? Is there are resource to help me get a handle on what "alt-ac" employment rates are like?

My two cents: it doesn't sound like the PhD is the right choice for you. If you want to work in professional writing/editing and marketing, why get a research-based degree that takes six years and trains you primarily to research and teach? You're already qualified for the work that you want to do. You would be better served, professionally, by working in writing/editing/marketing.

[maengret]

9 hours ago, RK092089 said:

My two cents: it doesn't sound like the PhD is the right choice for you. If you want to work in professional writing/editing and marketing, why get a research-based degree that takes six years and trains you primarily to research and teach? You're already qualified for the work that you want to do. You would be better served, professionally, by working in writing/editing/marketing.

Not sure how you arrived at me already being qualified, but thanks for the vote of confidence  

I was hoping for questions and information that would help me make a decision, hoping particularly to hear from the forum members who have some hindsight on the PhD.

[CulturalCriminal]

11 hours ago, maengret said:

Not sure how you arrived at me already being qualified, but thanks for the vote of confidence  

I was hoping for questions and information that would help me make a decision, hoping particularly to hear from the forum members who have some hindsight on the PhD.

K, but you don’t need a PhD, much less an MA to work in marketing, professional writing, content writing, or editing. Even just getting the MA R/C is meant to direct you towards teaching; it’s not a professional degree. This is not to say that you shouldn’t get either, just be aware that (except for tech comm) a graduate English degree isn’t going to do much for you in professional writing save being able to say you have a Masters. This is information you should consider in determining if this is really something you want to do.

 

Despite all this, if you think the PhD is at a better program with cooler faculty, nothing’s stopping you from going there and leaving once you’ve gotten to the point where you can walk away with a MA.

[rrk686]

13 hours ago, maengret said:

Not sure how you arrived at me already being qualified, but thanks for the vote of confidence  

I was hoping for questions and information that would help me make a decision, hoping particularly to hear from the forum members who have some hindsight on the PhD.

Fair enough, but I don't think one needs to have graduated with the PhD to understand that a PhD is a degree that professionalizes students in research and teaching. That's self-evident. 

I say you're already qualified because I'm assuming you have a BA in a writing-related major, though I might be wrong. None of the people I know who are successful marketing writers have anything above a BA. 

As for questions, I did pose a question: Why do you want to pursue a 6-year degree, the purpose of which is train you in research and teaching, to work in marketing/professional writing/editing? I ask genuinely. I think answering that question is fundamental to deciding to do a MA/PhD--why do you want to do it? 

Of course, you can do an MA/PhD for the experience alone or to be able to say you have a higher degree. Those are valid answers. I'm not trying to discourage you necessarily. I'm just suggesting that you consider the purpose of the commitment you might make and whether it aligns with your goals. 

[LibraryLivingJT]

Another piece of advice is to attend conferences and institutes in your field - they are fun and a great way to network!

[punctilious]

Hi everyone! I wanted to share this resource I built with the help of @Warelin and @a_sort_of_fractious_angel! It's a spreadsheet for prospective English PhD students to fill out to determine which schools they may want to apply to. 

I'm calling it The Fit Finder.

Please feel free to check it out, and if you like it, you should be able to hit File -> Make a copy in order to save it to your own Google Drive and use it! Let me know if you have any issues or questions. I used a similar spreadsheet to help my husband decide where to apply, and we would have been in absolute chaos without it.

[jusrain]

5 hours ago, punctilious said:

Hi everyone! I wanted to share this resource I built with the help of @Warelin and @a_sort_of_fractious_angel! It's a spreadsheet for prospective English PhD students to fill out to determine which schools they may want to apply to. 

I'm calling it The Fit Finder.

Please feel free to check it out, and if you like it, you should be able to hit File -> Make a copy in order to save it to your own Google Drive and use it! Let me know if you have any issues or questions. I used a similar spreadsheet to help my husband decide where to apply, and we would have been in absolute chaos without it.

Can I just say you’re an absolute angel? Thank you! This is an amazing resource/ organization method! 

[CulturalCriminal]

@punctilious how exactly is this fit finder supposed to work?

[punctilious]

8 hours ago, CulturalCriminal said:

@punctilious how exactly is this fit finder supposed to work?

You fill it out with potential schools to determine which you’d like to apply to based on the factors most important to you. It can also help with writing your SOPs and making final decisions. 

When we filled in our spreadsheet, we were able to see whether a school was in a location we wanted to live, had multiple strong POIs, etc. I also have a pretty crappy memory so it was helpful to look at my spreadsheet to see oh yeah, that’s why we aren’t applying to Stanford, Oregon, Northeastern, etc.

Building my spreadsheet was one of the first things we did the summer before he applied based on advice here and elsewhere—it was invaluable in our process so I wanted to pass that on!

[LibraryLivingJT]

On 2/19/2018 at 1:43 PM, It_Must_Be_Abstract said:

Excuse me if this question has been covered in other threads (I'm new to the GC). But reading your post here, @Isocrates2.o, I'm wondering what people think about this: should emailing faculty at the PhD programs to which one is applying be treated as a necessary step in the application process?

Sincerely,

Someone who didn't email any faculty 

I did not email or reach out to any faculty until this, my third application season, and I think it definitely helped, especially in terms of tailoring my application materials, especially to the programs I was accepted to. One of my POIs at U of Delaware even did a mini phone interview/advice session with me while I was working on my application, which really helped me edit it and tailor it to one of my top choice programs. SUNY Binghamton faculty were also very helpful regarding what they look for in an application. 

Faculty I reached out to (from 8 of 9 programs - all besides UCLA) emailed me back with advice about the application process and well wishes.

So, while not required, I really think emailing faculty helped me with my applications. 

[Kilos]

Definitely posted something in the wrong thread.  Oops.

Edited April 15, 2018 by Kilos

[M(allthevowels)H]

On 4/14/2018 at 10:17 AM, punctilious said:

Hi everyone! I wanted to share this resource I built with the help of @Warelin and @a_sort_of_fractious_angel! It's a spreadsheet for prospective English PhD students to fill out to determine which schools they may want to apply to. 

I'm calling it The Fit Finder.

Please feel free to check it out, and if you like it, you should be able to hit File -> Make a copy in order to save it to your own Google Drive and use it! Let me know if you have any issues or questions. I used a similar spreadsheet to help my husband decide where to apply, and we would have been in absolute chaos without it.

Oh my stars! Thank you ( and @Warelin and @a_sort_of_fractious_angel) for providing this. I see it as a "Fit Finder" but also a "Final Decision Assistant". I love *love* that it has a space for "concerns". It's easy to get so excited (especially after we've gotten an acceptance) to forget things that actually made us hesitate before; having fields for all of the abstract information that isn't numbers or names is so valuable for comparison.

[foampoem]

If I can offer a tip, and one that may seem rebarbative to many, but I would consider applying to the same places your referees got their PhDs from, if that's at all possible. I applied to four top 15 universities, and was accepted to the two where my referees had got their degrees from (whereas the other two I had no connection with, and was rejected from). In some respects, it may seem obvious, but I don't think I've seen it mentioned on this forum before. An admissions committee is more likely, I think, to trust the words of someone they're familiar with, and someone who successfully went through their program. Of course, this is not at all a hard and fast rule—and may indeed play no role whatsoever in the committee's decision. It's just something to think about!

[merry night wanderer]

On 3/11/2018 at 3:01 PM, CulturalCriminal said:

K, but you don’t need a PhD, much less an MA to work in marketing, professional writing, content writing, or editing. Even just getting the MA R/C is meant to direct you towards teaching; it’s not a professional degree. This is not to say that you shouldn’t get either, just be aware that (except for tech comm) a graduate English degree isn’t going to do much for you in professional writing save being able to say you have a Masters. This is information you should consider in determining if this is really something you want to do.

I'm going to agree with all of this. If you want to go into a professional field that uses your writing skills-- and there are many-- get an internship, or look into certifications that will help you get an internship, or look into ways to specialize meaningfully within those fields (tech writing, etc), and get an internship afterwards, and really, at any cost, find yourself some actual professional experience.

A Ph.D is usually going to be a detriment in the professional world. A Master's might not even be looked at well; my profession (training) loves them, but it very much depends, and I have friends who left my MFA program having much better job success when they left their graduate degrees out of their resume.

I say this kindly: don't clog up the applicant pool in academia if this is your goal. If you need any advice on getting a corporate job with English skills, though, feel free to message me.

Edited May 2, 2018 by merry night wanderer

[Warelin]

On 4/30/2018 at 8:30 PM, foampoem said:

If I can offer a tip, and one that may seem rebarbative to many, but I would consider applying to the same places your referees got their PhDs from, if that's at all possible. I applied to four top 15 universities, and was accepted to the two where my referees had got their degrees from (whereas the other two I had no connection with, and was rejected from). In some respects, it may seem obvious, but I don't think I've seen it mentioned on this forum before. An admissions committee is more likely, I think, to trust the words of someone they're familiar with, and someone who successfully went through their program. Of course, this is not at all a hard and fast rule—and may indeed play no role whatsoever in the committee's decision. It's just something to think about!

I'd like to offer a different perspective. I was denied admission to a school where 3 recommenders had earned their Ph.D from, accepted into a school where 1 recommender earned their Ph.D degree from, and accepted into two schools where my recommenders had no connections to. I do think that if you have similar interests as your recommenders and you're applying to a similar field that it might be helpful in terms of navigating how well you'd fit in.

[Indecisive Poet]

On 4/14/2018 at 10:17 AM, punctilious said:

Hi everyone! I wanted to share this resource I built with the help of @Warelin and @a_sort_of_fractious_angel! It's a spreadsheet for prospective English PhD students to fill out to determine which schools they may want to apply to. 

I'm calling it The Fit Finder.

Please feel free to check it out, and if you like it, you should be able to hit File -> Make a copy in order to save it to your own Google Drive and use it! Let me know if you have any issues or questions. I used a similar spreadsheet to help my husband decide where to apply, and we would have been in absolute chaos without it.

This is amazing @punctilious, thank you! And tells me I'm on the right track since I had a very similar spreadsheet going already.

Some questions -- how does one use the NRC rankings? Which of the million numbers supplied is the definitive number? Also, graduate handbook? What is this/how is it relevant? Lastly, how does one know whether a program prefers that prospective applicants reach out to professors or not? I've never seen a suggestion to do so or a warning against doing so on a program's website, and from asking around it seems like this is up to the individual applicant (and from what I've heard is usually not a good idea for English programs, though some have had success).

Edited May 18, 2018 by indecisivepoet
Taggin'

[Warelin]

1 hour ago, indecisivepoet said:

This is amazing @punctilious, thank you! And tells me I'm on the right track since I had a very similar spreadsheet going already.

Some questions -- how does one use the NRC rankings? Which of the million numbers supplied is the definitive number? Also, graduate handbook? What is this/how is it relevant? Lastly, how does one know whether a program prefers that prospective applicants reach out to professors or not? I've never seen a suggestion to do so or a warning against doing so on a program's website, and from asking around it seems like this is up to the individual applicant (and from what I've heard is usually not a good idea for English programs, though some have had success).

A program's handbook usually has critical information regarding the specific department at the school. It might contain information regarding stipends, conference funding, program layout and expectations. The stipends might help you decide if you'd be able to afford to live in that city on that stipend alone or if you'd have to have one or more roommates. Some people have no problem sharing an apartment while others would prefer living alone. Conferences are an important part to your career. You'll want to make sure to know how funding works at that school. Some schools offer guaranteed funding; others have you compete for it. Some provide none. You'll want to know if you'll have to set aside money for those expenses. Program layout and expectations can provide a general timeline for when everything is expected in order to graduate on time. It'll also show you how many electives you can take outside the department. If your project is more interdisciplinary in nature, this is more important because there might be classes outside the department which can influence at how you look at your research that interests you. Looking at classes offered in recent years can also help you determine how well your interests align with current faculty interests.

[a_sort_of_fractious_angel]

2 hours ago, indecisivepoet said:

This is amazing @punctilious, thank you! And tells me I'm on the right track since I had a very similar spreadsheet going already.

Some questions -- how does one use the NRC rankings? Which of the million numbers supplied is the definitive number? Also, graduate handbook? What is this/how is it relevant? Lastly, how does one know whether a program prefers that prospective applicants reach out to professors or not? I've never seen a suggestion to do so or a warning against doing so on a program's website, and from asking around it seems like this is up to the individual applicant (and from what I've heard is usually not a good idea for English programs, though some have had success).

Hey, @indecisivepoet - I'm not punctilious but I have some info/opinions that might help you. 

I found the NRC rankings more useful than USNews precisely because they don't have one definitive number (like USNews does with the rank number and its corresponding 1-5 score.) The more holistic score gives (I think) a better sense of how programs are perceived IRL. Granted, the NRC rankings are now, what - ten years old at least? Bear that in mind. Also, USNews is not "updated" for this fall (it's the 2017 rankings, I believe.)

When I first started thinking about programs, I looked most closely at the S-Rank, Research, and R-Rank columns. What I found interesting is that there are programs that score well in Research but not so much in R-Rank. I paired that info with the dept's strengths (which I learned from the websites/etc.) 

Doing so made me realize that some programs are generating powerhouse scholarship BUT - for myriad reasons - maybe aren't viewed that way by other programs. Could be that faculty at school A don't really know anyone at school C, so they don't have a favorable (or unfavorable) perspective on scholarship (so, like, if a 19th century scholar is asked about a program that really doesn't do 19th century scholarship, they probably won't have a high score to give.) Could be a handful of other reasons. 

So, if you're going to go down the rankings rabbit hole, I think the NRC is better than USNews because you can use it to learn a bit more about strong programs that you might not have otherwise considered. Beyond that, both of them are pretty much useless. 

My advice would be to skim both lists to see if there are any programs you hadn't thought about looking at, but then turn your attention to what kinds of info the programs themselves are offering and what kind of work the faculty/and students are doing. 

Re: handbooks - @Warelin is spot on. The handbooks explain what milestones you need to meet by when. And it gives you a sense of what kind of support is offered by the program beyond "we will fund you."

Edited May 18, 2018 by a_sort_of_fractious_angel

[punctilious]

On 5/18/2018 at 1:27 PM, indecisivepoet said:

Lastly, how does one know whether a program prefers that prospective applicants reach out to professors or not? I've never seen a suggestion to do so or a warning against doing so on a program's website, and from asking around it seems like this is up to the individual applicant (and from what I've heard is usually not a good idea for English programs, though some have had success).

Since my friends have already answered your other questions, I thought I might jot down some notes here. Funny enough, husband did reach out to one professor almost a year before he applied (when he was debating taking a Master’s offer at Cambridge). He never responded, but that ended up being the first professor who called him from Harvard. Did it make a difference? Unlikely. He probably never even read husband’s email. But others have found success in contacting professors at prospective schools I think. We didn’t contact anyone else. I do recall some applications asking you to note faculty you’ve had contact with, though. 

This has less to do with what the school explicitly wants and perhaps more with the experiences of those who have applied at those schools. Kind of like how husband and I now know a bit more about what’s harvard was looking for, others who have applied to schools you’re interested in may have found that reaching out to professors did or didn’t work for them. 

[Indecisive Poet]

On 5/20/2018 at 12:14 PM, punctilious said:

Since my friends have already answered your other questions, I thought I might jot down some notes here. Funny enough, husband did reach out to one professor almost a year before he applied (when he was debating taking a Master’s offer at Cambridge). He never responded, but that ended up being the first professor who called him from Harvard. Did it make a difference? Unlikely. He probably never even read husband’s email. But others have found success in contacting professors at prospective schools I think. We didn’t contact anyone else. I do recall some applications asking you to note faculty you’ve had contact with, though. 

This has less to do with what the school explicitly wants and perhaps more with the experiences of those who have applied at those schools. Kind of like how husband and I now know a bit more about what’s harvard was looking for, others who have applied to schools you’re interested in may have found that reaching out to professors did or didn’t work for them. 

Right -- it seems like from what I've been reading on GC, many people have found reaching out to potential advisors not necessary, but helpful in learning more about what the program is like and what the university might be looking for in a SoP.

I realized after I posted that the section in the "Fit Finder" is about whether universities want professors mentioned in the SoPs or not, not whether they would like you to reach out to professors or not. I also haven't found anything spelled out explicitly about this -- any thoughts?

 

On 5/18/2018 at 2:16 PM, Warelin said:

A program's handbook usually has critical information regarding the specific department at the school. It might contain information regarding stipends, conference funding, program layout and expectations. The stipends might help you decide if you'd be able to afford to live in that city on that stipend alone or if you'd have to have one or more roommates. Some people have no problem sharing an apartment while others would prefer living alone. Conferences are an important part to your career. You'll want to make sure to know how funding works at that school. Some schools offer guaranteed funding; others have you compete for it. Some provide none. You'll want to know if you'll have to set aside money for those expenses. Program layout and expectations can provide a general timeline for when everything is expected in order to graduate on time. It'll also show you how many electives you can take outside the department. If your project is more interdisciplinary in nature, this is more important because there might be classes outside the department which can influence at how you look at your research that interests you. Looking at classes offered in recent years can also help you determine how well your interests align with current faculty interests.

Thanks for the thorough explanation! Of course funding information is crucial -- I didn't realize this and all the specifics of the timeline, etc. are in the handbooks. I had kind of just assumed the handbooks were for explaining administrative procedures to currents students. I've since been looking at a ton of them and they've had much more specific and useful information than the websites themselves.

I am finding it difficult on most websites to determine whether funding is offered to all students or not. It seems that those who do fully-fund are usually very explicit about it, and those who do not avoid any mention of it or opportunity to lay out exactly what funding looks like there (even in the handbooks). I suppose in this case I would reach out to someone at the university to find out details? Or perhaps, if it's a program I'm very interested in, just apply and see what type of funding I am offered?

[Warelin]

6 hours ago, indecisivepoet said:

Thanks for the thorough explanation! Of course funding information is crucial -- I didn't realize this and all the specifics of the timeline, etc. are in the handbooks. I had kind of just assumed the handbooks were for explaining administrative procedures to currents students. I've since been looking at a ton of them and they've had much more specific and useful information than the websites themselves.

I am finding it difficult on most websites to determine whether funding is offered to all students or not. It seems that those who do fully-fund are usually very explicit about it, and those who do not avoid any mention of it or opportunity to lay out exactly what funding looks like there (even in the handbooks). I suppose in this case I would reach out to someone at the university to find out details? Or perhaps, if it's a program I'm very interested in, just apply and see what type of funding I am offered?

Private Universities are more likely to offer similar funding to all applicants. As a general rule of thumb, the top 50 schools (per USNews) should guarantee funding. I think there is only one in the top 50 in where funding isn't offered to all applicants and 2-3 that don't guarantee funding for all years.  Some alternate the number of years of guaranteed funding. I'd be more than happy to share what I know via PM if you want to talk. There are a considerable amount of schools outside the top 50 which do offer guaranteed funding, have a good placement record and do very well in certain specializations.

[Indecisive Poet]

On 5/21/2018 at 5:42 PM, Warelin said:

Private Universities are more likely to offer similar funding to all applicants. As a general rule of thumb, the top 50 schools (per USNews) should guarantee funding. I think there is only one in the top 50 in where funding isn't offered to all applicants and 2-3 that don't guarantee funding for all years.  Some alternate the number of years of guaranteed funding. I'd be more than happy to share what I know via PM if you want to talk. There are a considerable amount of schools outside the top 50 which do offer guaranteed funding, have a good placement record and do very well in certain specializations.

Messaged you -- thanks!

[Singsalot]

Wanted to follow up on the question about listing POIs in your statement. Has anyone found success or does it come off cloying?