My experience is personal and anecdotal, based on my own application to Medieval Studies and English PhD programs, friends’ applications to English programs, and three years of coordinating the Medieval Studies Program admissions at the University of Connecticut. You are strongly encouraged to talk to faculty in your specific fields about their experiences!
Questions to consider:
• What is it that you eventually want to do? Teach college students and research/ write papers? Do you like this career enough and can live with the stress of knowing it may take a year or more to find a job teaching? Or would you prefer a more stable career that would allow you to work in a university setting, without (as much) teaching/ researching (like reference librarian)?
• Are you prepared to commit the next four to seven years working on your PhD? Do you like what you do on a daily basis now?
• It’s quite common to feel MA burnout in the second year. If you are experiencing this now, do you think it’s a burnout that will pass, or has it permanently colored your attitude toward graduate school?
• Can you support yourself (through teaching and loans) and still live in a way that is not destructive to your psychological/physical self?
The Application.
The application will consist of the following parts:
• Actual graduate school application (name, contact information, etc).
• GRE scores that you will order to be sent to each program. You will need the general exam and probably the subject exam. Study! Remember that if you retake the exam, both sets of scores will be sent to the school. The admissions committee sees all the scores.
• Official transcripts, both MA and undergrad. “Clean up” your transcript before you apply—incompletes don’t look good and raise warning signs to admissions committees.
• Statement of purpose (a.k.a. personal letter/letter of introduction).
Each program may ask for something slightly different, but in general this is your chance to let the admissions committee know who you are intellectually and what you are interested in. Generally 2–3 pages. For specific suggestions, see pg. 4.
• Writing Sample: This should be an example of your best scholarly research/writing (approx. 15–25 pgs, but requirements will vary). If you are using a paper you wrote for a class, revise it and make it as close to “perfect” as possible.
• Letter of Recommendation from faculty members (not employers/ friends/clergy) who know you well (at least three). Make sure you talk to your recommenders in advance. If possible, give several months warning. Provide any cover letters that they need to fill out, stamped/addressed envelopes, etc. Your job is to be organized and plan ahead of time (you’ll get a better letter that way). Recommenders might also ask to see your statement of purpose and writing sample—ask them what they need to write the letter for you.
• Other: You may be asked to include other supplementary material, including a vita, supplementary writing sample (for example, encyclopedia articles you’ve written), statement of teaching philosophy, etc.
• Application fee (ballpark: $50‐$100).
[Remember that it’s your job to make sure everything arrives in a timely manner and is filed correctly. Expect delays and lost materials. Call the schools to make sure your application is complete (don’t expect them to contact you), and make certain you send the materials to the correct departmental addresses. Start early, don’t panic, and don’t be rude. Administrative assistants talk to faculty, so be warned that if you are a hot‐head with a secretary on the phone, the admissions committee will probably hear about it.]
Who reviews the applications?
The graduate school will ensure that you’ve met certain requirements (you’ve fulfilled your MA degree by the start date of your PhD, paid your application fee, and met minimum university GRE requirements, etc.), but the decision is up to the admissions committee that the individual department forms. Who is on the admissions committee? The committee membership often changes every year, so there will probably be no way to predict who will be on it. Some schools will identify the head of the committee as a contact. Committees will weigh the parts of the application differently. The most important parts of the application may likely be your statement of purpose and letters of recommendation. Some programs will insist on minimum GPA and GRE scores that are higher than what the graduate school itself requires.
Steps to finding good programs:
Where you do your PhD is very important. Few people will ever ask where you did your MA, but you will carry the name of your PhD institution with you wherever you go. You want to find a program that has a good name in your field. This doesn’t mean it has to be an Ivy League—different schools are known for strengths in different areas.
1. Talk to your professors.
Make a list of programs they mention. Consider whether you want to do an English degree, or if you would prefer a related field (American Studies, Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Comparative Literature, etc.)
2. Research programs on the web.
Look at class descriptions, faculty profiles, student profiles, resources, etc. Remember that websites are designed to show off the program, but are often only as good as the people who made them—a poor website doesn’t necessarily mean a poor program. I recommend that you look at private colleges/universities, all “University of state” programs (the main campus usually has the PhD program, and also universities with “state” in the name (like Utah State U). The Modern Language Association website (www.mla.org) has useful advice for choosing and applying to graduate programs (click on “reports”). Also check sponsoring associations in your field; the American Studies Association website, for example, lists schools with PhDs.
When checking out schools, consider these important factors:
- Find out the resources available at each school (Who gets TAships, and for how long? What are the library resources?)
- Find out what the job placement rate is: What percentage of PhD graduates get jobs? Where have recent graduates gotten jobs?
3. Request application materials from each school you’re interested in.
Some won’t send costly catalogs and will instead direct you to the website where you may read the materials and apply online. Consider the materials closely, but remember they are promotional.
[Be careful of basing your decision entirely on the promotional material. For example, the UCONN medieval studies program used to include all the emeritus faculty on its brochure. It made the program look very well staffed, but in reality half of those listed were retired. It turned out many applicants didn’t know what “emeritus” meant and were applying to work with specific people who had retired years before.]
4. Attend conferences in your field.
Talk to faculty members and graduate students at those conferences (their affiliations will be listed on their nametags or in the programs). Invite them for food/drink and ask them questions about their programs’ strengths. (If appropriate, ask what the weaknesses are). Be prepared to talk about your interests. Are these people you would be excited to work with?
5. Read secondary literature.
Find researchers whose work you find interesting or whose writing you admire. Then correspond with them about your project (or about the program in general) to make certain you can work with them.
[Maybe they’re planning on taking a research leave the following year or retiring—they will not tell you their personal plans, but at least you’ll know if they are encouraging of your application. Do your research! Make certain that professor is still at the university. When I was applying for my MA in medieval studies, I read articles by Wendy Harding from UCONN and wrote in my application that I wanted to work with her. It turned out she was a graduate student. If I had done my research, I would have figured that out.]
6. Visit the campus.
If you’re serious about a program and have financial resources/time, arrange a campus visit. Tour the library, make appointments to meet with faculty who you’re interested in working with, ask to meet some graduate students (you’ll learn what the program is REALLY like!). Some schools are more encouraging of campus visits than others, so be sure to phone ahead—don’t just show up and expect people to meet with you. If a campus visit isn’t feasible, ask for the names of graduate students who would be willing to answer questions about the program via email or phone.
7. Funding Assistance:
Find programs that will support you with a teaching or research assistantship for the full length of your program. They won’t be able to promise you funding, but they can say something like, “Most students are fully funded for x years while they work on their PhDs.”
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