Introductions from the new wave?

[gre06]

Greetings -- I'm applying to PHD programs in English for 2007-08, and I just wanted to introduce myself and see who else is out there. Things seem pretty quiet here, and I'm wondering if that's because it's still (relatively) early or if others are just browsing anonymously like I was.

Anyhow, I took the GREs and did pretty well, and I'm taking the GRE Lit in November (scared shitless about says it). I'm still in the process of finalizing my list of schools, with the biggest problem being finding "safeties" or back up options in a field where safeties seem to be a moot point. My general interest areas are modernist and postcolonial lit/thought, although I also hope to work with the philosophy of language. I'm applying with only a BA with zero publications and conference presentations (yikes...?), although my undergrad institution has a pretty well-respected Eng dept. At this point, I'm too scared to make judgment calls on my recs, statement of purpose, or writing sample since based on preliminary message-board and LJ browsing, everybody and their grandmother twice removed seem to think that their's are "solid," "excellent," "spectacular," etc...

A (hopefully) quick question about recommendations -- Most of the schools to which I'm applying request three letters. I have three in the Eng dept lined up, but a history professor who's worked with me signicantly promised (offered!) to write a "stellar" recommendation. The project I did with him does tie into my prospective research, and I'd like to include his recommendation as well. Is it okay to send four? Should I check with each department beforehand, or would even asking make a negative impression?

Sorry about the length of this introductory post. If others feel like chatting, exchanging SOPs, or hypervenilating, I'm always up for it... Good luck!

[mercadia]

Hello, I'm also applying for PhDs. I have a Masters in lit from a middle-upper ranked school...I don't know where we start deciding who is in the middle or upper. I'm applying for Renaissance lit to a variety of schools. I don't have publications or presentations yet either, so who knows if that will make a difference.

I think it's fine to send four. I'm not sure though...I have four as well, but perhaps I will only ask three of the four to send them. If the history person is most relevant to your project, you want that letter of recommendation more than someone who is not as important to you. If you want to know anything else about me, that's cool. I'm not in your area, but I enjoy knowing who else is out there.

I'm applying to Brown, Pitt, Ohio State, Rutgers, Vanderbilt, USC, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and maybe somewhere in Canada, like McGill or UBC.

Where are you applying?

[gre06]

Hi, thanks for responding and your helpful insights on the recommendations. We do have overlaps in our school interests. My tentative list is Berkeley, Cornell, Irvine, Stanford, OSU, Minnesota, UCLA, Brown, and Duke. A few may get added or cut...

I've also semi-considered Canadian or UK schools, but haven't really done my research... What are your thoughts on McGill and UBC?

[mercadia]

My thoughts on UBC and McGill probably won't help you--McGill has a huge renaissance faculty but it seems like a very prestigious school. I don't know how many spots they hold for international candidates, but I might apply and see what happens. Montreal looks like an amazing city.

UBC has one specific professor that my advisor recommended for me, so the school peaked my interest.

That's about all I've thought about there. I thought about Duke, but I read a few articles by the professor I wanted to study with, and the writing style really irritated me so I don't want to work with them .

[cridamour]

Hi Mercadia and gre06,

I want to start by wishing you all the best for your applications. I'm in Comp Lit, so it's a bit different, but I think I can offer some useful advice. Apply to as many schools as you can afford but make sure you hand in as perfect an application as possible for each of your schools. 4 recommendations are OK, but make sure all are excellent, if you are unsure about what one of them might have written, toss it out and keep the ones you know are great. I also had a history professor write one of the LORs because he was my thesis supervisor during my MA in American Studies, so he could say a lot about my research and writing skills. Selection of universities is very important and if you take into account that programs only admit very few students, you need to apply to a lot of schools. And indeed, safety schools do not exist and you'll see that many students will get rejected from lower-ranked universities and get accepted to higher-ranked ones. At the end of this year's round, nobody was left with a large choice of universities with funding, many were admitted to just one, some two, but very few had more admits with aid than that.
So, any questions, please post! Ah, and don't worry too much about published papers and such, there are many other ways to distinguish yourself. Most people admitted to high-ranked Comp Lit programs had one or other international experience (exchange programs and such), but then again, languages are more important in Comp Lit than in Eng Lit. But, just to give you an idea of some other things that can be important: tutoring or teaching experience, other work experience or college newspaper and similar things, research with a professor, awards for honors thesis, etc. And, of course, things that you can still do now: outstanding gre and gre lit scores, great project proposals in statement of purpose, great match with professors (contact some beforehand!!!), etc.
And now I'm going to watch the news about the terror plot at Heathrow! (I'm leaving in 2 weeks and flying from London to the US and a US plane, so I'm interested in the developments...)

[mercadia]

Thanks Cridamour, comp lit is sort of different in terms of applicant pools and numbers, but I think the grad application process is the same. Your advice is good.

One thing I'm chewing on is whether to list award nominations on my applications. I was nominated for best undergrad thesis, and best seminar paper in women's studies but did not win. Unfortunately our graduate department only has three awards: best narrative theory paper, best seminar paper, and best dissertation. You would think they would create more for their students, but whatever. I have two years of teaching composition. I don't necessarily agree with contacting professors beforehand--I've been told that it's not unheard of but is never entirely productive. You can contact them, but I'm not sure of what you would say that you couldn't say in your statement of purpose that would be equally effective. Unless you have specific research-based questions, an email saying "Hi, you're great, i want to study with you" would be ineffective.

[cridamour]

Originally Posted by mercadia

I don't necessarily agree with contacting professors beforehand--I've been told that it's not unheard of but is never entirely productive. You can contact them, but I'm not sure of what you would say that you couldn't say in your statement of purpose that would be equally effective. Unless you have specific research-based questions, an email saying "Hi, you're great, i want to study with you" would be ineffective.

It doesn't guarantee anything, of course, and I didn't say to just send them an empty e-mail to tell them that you want to work with them, it needs to be better than that. I do know, however, that my contacting the professor I wanted to work with at Brown increased my chances. 5 students out of 200 applicants were admitted and at that point, the department's guess of whether you're really going to join is worth something. They want to know that you are particularly interested in their program and it's not just one of the many universities you applied to and for which you recycled SOPs saying the same thing about different universities. This doesn't mean that you should just contact everyone when you have nothing to say to them. I certainly didn't contact a professor at every university, but only those who had written something about my specific subfield. I just think it's worth considering if you find a professor who is a perfect match. It's a choice and it worked for me, but of course, everything depends on your particular situation and character. If you've just finished undergrad and have done very little research, there is really no need to contact anyone. If instead you have done some conference presentations, have published something, etc., you have a better idea of what you want to work on and you also have some work to show them. It's not for everyone, but it's worth considering.

[mercadia]

What did you say to that professor? I have professors whose work has influenced my theses, but I don't have much to say to them per se, and I was told never to send them anything unless they ask to see it. What did your email say?

[cridamour]

It was a short e-mail (two paragraphs) just telling them I was applying (or had applied, I only wrote in December or so) to this program and their work in particular had caught my attention. (naming particular things, such as, books/articles you read and they wrote, classes they are teaching and you are particularly interested in.) You then also want to include how this links to your interest and to your proposed dissertation project as you have mentioned or will mention it in your statement of purpose. It can also be a genuine question to confirm or ask whether your proposed project would be something they would be interested in supervising and whether it falls within their field of expertise. (All of this depends on the particular situation) So you add your fields of interest while discussing this. All of this should be as brief as possible of course, I'd say 2 to 3 paragraphs. I then also included links to my CV, my statement of purpose, and a writing sample reflecting my interests and overlapping with the research the professor is conducting.
All of the professors I sent e-mails to replied, though, contrary to science programs, they do not try to establish some further communication, which, in our types of fields, is not necessary, because we're not looking for lab projects and RAs. They will usually reply something along the lines of: Dear X, Thank you for contacting me. Our research interests our similar indeed and I look forward to reading your application material." or "I will read your application material with great attention." And that is the main thing we want to achieve with the e-mail. You might have real questions about whether they'd be interested in your proposed project and such, but the main goal is to get them to remember your name when they have to go through a pile of applications. Of course, make sure to only contact those who's work you're really familiar with, when, e.g;, you've used one of their texts in your honor's or MA thesis.
To give you an idea, of the 16 universities to which I applied, I contacted 5 or 6 professors. Of the 4 admits I received, 2 were from universities where I had contacted someone. My experience is really about 50-50, but I know that for small universities (like Brown) where only few students are admitted (in my program, it was 5 out of 200), they don't want to waste admits on people whom they expect will not attend. But I'm rambling and I've said all of this before; I'm getting a bit nervous for my departure next Sunday... Too little time, too many things to arrange before...

[gre06]

Originally Posted by cridamour

I'm getting a bit nervous for my departure next Sunday... Too little time, too many things to arrange before...

Good luck! That's so exciting. Thanks for the advice you've given regarding contacting profs. I've heard conflicting opinions about that, and I think my position is similar to mercadia's. That said, I've become a lot more open to the idea of contacting profs whose more specific interests overlap with mine, as opposed to those who are in my general areas of study. (I think that more or less goes along with what you've already said.)

Do you mind me asking more about your research interests? I was initially drawn to comp lit programs since they tend to be more theoretically oriented, but I don't quite have the language background (or, at this point, the theoretical scope), so English Lit is a better fit.

Anyhow, thanks again for your detailed replies, and good luck to you -- let us know how things go