Applying to a Spanish PhD Program

Graduate School
1

<p>I want to apply to a PhD program in Spanish Lit. I didn't major in Spanish as an undergrad. I graduated Cum Laude with a 3.49 GPA from Boston University. My major was Classics. I think what brought me down was a mediocre Freshman year and I have varying grades in my Ancient Greek and Latin classes. I did better with some texts than others in regards to translation. I minored in Spanish after testing out of all the language classes and received an A in every class that I took.</p>

<p>Right now I'm in an MA program and am getting a degree in Humanities. The program is designed in such a way that although everyone gets a degree in "Humanities," you can concentrate in any field you like. I started in Classics but ended up in Spanish. I'm writing my MA thesis on a Mexican writer that I really enjoy and I took three graduate level courses in Spanish (you only need 10 classes to graduate). I also got an A in every Spanish class that I took. I'm a native speaker and I have a good idea of what my interests are. My GPA is a 3.7 in my MA program. I also took German, Latin, and Ancient Greek as a graduate student to complete my language requirement.</p>

<p>I'm looking at NYU, Columbia, University of Texas at Austin, Indiana University Bloomington, and University of Pittsburgh as possible choices. I got into NYU as an undergrad (barely any financial aid!), waitlisted at Columbia as an undergrad, and accepted into an MA program in Classics at the University of Pittsburgh (but rejected them because their department was getting a budget cut). I guess I'm a little confused about my chances of getting into the graduate program that I want. I find it a little hard to tell the difficulty level of getting into a graduate program at the schools that I'm interested in and Im starting to become very anxious about it. I did average I feel on my GRE scores, although I can't remember what the score was. I'm taking it again very soon, though.</p>

2

<p>Why not seek advice from the prof who is supervising your thesis? Are there any other faculty who can provide guidance? Do you want to be an academic? If so, you should definitely talk to your professors about job prospects in your field. Are you currently funded,I.e., teaching or research assistantship? Going forward you should seek funding and having a faculty mentor is extremely helpful.</p>

3

<p>Yes, first of all, why do you want a PhD? You should be aware that the humanities is experiencing a contraction of faculty positions, not an expansion. This is especially true in the modern foreign languages; many of those departments are collapsing or combining with other departments as state government slash educational funding to universities. Many required foreign language classes are taught by adjuncts, and many universities are skimping on the foreign language literature classes altogether. So if you want to be a tenure-track faculty member in Spanish, you may spend 7-8 years getting your Spanish PhD only to find that there is no job like that for you.</p>

<p>Your prior admission to schools for undergrad is irrelevant. I agree that you should ask your current thesis advisor and/or other professors in your department or the Spanish department at your university. </p>