[These remarks were prepared in my capacity as adviser on Graduate School Applications for a workshop organized by the Berkeley English Undergraduate Association in Fall 2000.]
Applying to Graduate School in English
Priya
Joshi
Going to school is what most of us have been doing every September since kindergarten, and continuing into a Ph.D. program may seem the natural thing to do come the fall after you graduate. It needn't be. There is life outside the academy that is intellectual, spiritual, fulfilling, and yes, even exciting! (I have no experience of this myself, so I can only speak of it with authority gleaned from such experts as Stephen Dedalus and Quentin Compson, with whom some of you are equally well acquainted…)
However, for those of you who insist that a Ph.D. is the only way forward, we're here to outline the application process and to answer any questions you may have.
Before applying to a Ph.D. program:
1. Consider the academic job market and acquaint yourself with its persistently abysmal contours. This need not dissuade you from applying, but I think it's wise to know what you're getting into before devoting 7 to 9 years–the national average–completing a Ph.D. that may not land you a job in the area for which you trained.
2. Research Ph.D. programs and find the ones that are best for you.
- Is location important? (Be honest, you're going to be spending a good bit of time at that place.)
- How important is faculty mentorship?
- Is school status significant?
- Is a particular research cluster of faculty and institutions such as library collections vital for the research you wish to pursue?
- Is there a joint program in an adjacent field at a particular place that you feel crucial for your intellectual development?
- Are you not sure what you're after and, therefore, do you think a program with few formal requirements and structure is the one for you?
- Try to find the programs that give you the combination of things most important for you. Research the size of the Ph.D. program and its entering class, faculty specialization and publications, the job placement record of the institution for recent graduates in your area of study, the average time for completion of a Ph.D., the attrition rate, and graduate student funding. These vary considerably from institution to institution so the more informed you are ahead of time, the better. This research can help you to avoid schools that will simply not work for the person you are and direct you to apply to those that do.
- Compare potential programs. After your undergraduate professors who are your best resources for information on these matters, other good sources are the web (most departments have extensive sites listing their faculty, research strengths, and resources); Barron's and other publications put out information on graduate programs that make comparisons relatively easy; ditto for such "ranking" publications such as US News and World Report. Additionally, there are serials such as the Chronicle of Higher Education, and the New York Times that routinely cover higher education. (It seems that after the stock market, academia is the most interesting news out there, and these serials do a good job covering au courant matters.)
3. Investigate admissions requirements. These usually include:
- taking the GREs (either General or Subject test, sometimes both)
- language skills (most graduate programs require reading skill in least one foreign language demonstrable upon admission; many require two; a few three)
- a respectable GPA
If you decide a Ph.D. program is the way for you to go, you're ready to
start:
- Come up with a short-list of schools. Opinion on how many should be in a reasonable short-list is divided. You want to apply to the schools that are good matches with your interests and possibly a few "safety net" schools that might be your fallback choices. Some see 5 as a reasonable number; others go to 10 or more. Keep in mind that applications are expensive with fees running to $60 to $75 for many programs.
- Request applications (most deadlines are in mid-December or early January; decisions are usually announced in mid-March).
- Take the GREs.
- Contact professors from whom you will be requesting letters; give them at least a month to write you letters (see separate memo on this).
- Draft a statement of purpose and get feedback on it from a few trusted people. Leave yourself plenty of time to revise it at least a dozen times.
- Put together a curriculum vitae (or cv), which is an academic resumé.
- Choose a 15-20 page writing sample that you will be sending to those schools that require it. If necessary, spend some time polishing it.
- Locate a typewriter to type your application materials (hand-written applications just don't look polished).
- Complete your portion of the applications to arrive by the stated deadlines.
- Wait for application decisions to be mailed out in March or April.
Questions?
Speak with your professor-mentors in the Department, consult friends in graduate school in the same or similar disciplines as you are pursuing, and remember to take all advice with a pinch of salt. As the noted philosopher, Alvy Singer, gravely informed Annie Hall: "Harvard makes mistakes too, you know. Kissinger taught there."