<p>I'm currently an English major with a creative writing concentration and a Philosophy minor at Fordham University. I'm in my second year of undergraduate study but I'm definitely going to be graduating a year early. So, basically, I have to apply to grad schools for my English PhD in the fall and take my GRE as soon as possible. I'm just totally overwhelmed because the normal timeline of how to apply/what to do/when to test don't seem to apply to me.</p>
<p>I currently have a 3.6 GPA, but I'm confident that I can raise it to approximately a 3.7/3.8 by the time I graduate. I have a ton of extracurricular activities in which I hold leadership positions in, as well as internships and outside experience in related and semi-related fields. I'm positive I'm going to get some great references from my professors, seeing as I talk to professors more than I do students my age. I'm also going to do an independent study to write a senior thesis that should be completed in time to send in with my applications. </p>
<p>I feel like I'm in an okay position to apply to grad schools, but my graduating a year early is throwing me off. Will grad schools look down upon it because I'm younger? Will it look like I'm rushing through things, or just that I'm ambitious? What should I start doing now in preparation for my applications?</p>
<p>Also, what kind of schools should I apply to? I plan to stay in the Northeast. Cornell is my absolute top choice because of the combined MFA/English PhD program they have. Other schools I want to apply to are NYU, CUNY Graduate Center, Yale, etc. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>A tip for your application: Extracurriculars aren’t relevant to graduate admissions unless they’re in some way related to your field. So if you were an editor of the literary magazine, that would be useful to discuss. President of the chess club? Not so much.</p>
<p>You also need to define and articulate why you want to pursue graduate studies. What do you want to research and what do you want to end up doing with your Ph.D? You don’t have to get ridiculously detailed, but you need to have some sense of direction, more than “I got good grades in English classes so I want to do grad school.”</p>
<p>It’s a common mistake among new grad applicants, to think that what works for undergrad admissions works for grad school. They’re totally different universes.</p>
<p>As a prospective graduate school applicant to literature Ph.D program, I will be plainly honest with you that going to graduate school will not solve any of your problems. It will be, in fact, the biggest problem of your life if you don’t manage it well. </p>
<p>Grad school in humanities is designed for two kinds of people. 1.Future professors. 2. Rich People. If you don’t belong to either of those categories, Grad school is going to be your most miserable eight years. The job market is literally nonexistent. Currently, my mentor is reviewing 200+ applications for one assistant professor job opening at my university. Many of those applicants have already written several books, and one of them got Fredric Jameson’s recommendation.</p>
<p>Forget about Northeast and Cornell, you do not choose location. In grad school, location chooses you. </p>
<p>Now, let’s move on to grad school admission. You are competing with hundreds of applicants who know EXACTLY what are they going to be studying in graduate school for a handful of spots. By handful, I don’t mean to scare you. I mean it: 3-5 spots each year, sometimes zero because they don’t have funding for any. Some applicants have already contacted their prospective mentors, and some of these have already gotten their master’s degree. </p>
<p>Lastly, let’s talk about your field. What is your interest? You need to be very specific. 20th century American poetry won’t do, Henry James’s use of metaphor won’t do, the theme of death in Henry James’s Portrait of a Lady won’t do, instead, you got to have interest both broad and narrow. That is to say, for instance: vested interests in 19th century trans-Atlantic periodicals centered on the tropes of queer sexualities. </p>
<p>Humanities is a dying field, and it is not a very healthy environment for writers or artists. You need to have this mentality when asked “why grad school in english?” you answer: “imp of my perversity.”</p>
<p>Also, just because you graduate early does not mean you have to apply early for a PhD. You could do something edifying and apply during that year off.</p>
<p>Im in a similar boat, Sqiddles. Im graduating early next semester, and am also interested in graduate programs in English (though Im leaning towards early French literature), but I am almost definitely taking a year off. I did a few apps, but only seriously looked at two programs. So, this coming year, Im thinking Ill probably work fulltime paying off my loans and start sending some of my writing off to publications and conferences, since Ive accumulated a decent portfolio of essays and research projects. Im sure if you tried that it would look pretty good on a grad school application, showing that you recognized the fact that you were younger and could use more experience but also used your gap year profitably. It would also probably look good if you did some travelling and developed proficiency in a third language, especially if theres a lot of scholarship written in that language on your field of interest. For example, I have a decent background in Latin and and grew up speaking Spanish, but my interest in French literature would necessitate acquiring proficiency in that language as well (and unfortunately I have no room in my schedule to take that language before I graduate). That would be another good way to use a gap year, if you decide to take it. One difficulty I see (for both of us, in the event that we would take a gap year) is the issue of recommendations. I too talk to professors much more than my peers do, so I am a little concerned that even though I would get good recs from them now, will they still remember enough in a year to write equally good ones? Im not sure. </p>
<p>In terms of where youre applying, you may want to include a few that are not quite so competitive since, as others have wisely pointed out, there is really no guarantee of a spot in ANY grad program and especially when youre interested in the humanities. I dont mean this to be discouraging its just a reality. Anyway, I hope this gives you something to think about. Keep up the good work!</p>
<p>You could certainly ask the profs to submit a letter now to interfolio, but also if you are a senior applying, you apply before you complete those senior courses, if you take a year off, you apply in the fall immediately after graduation and may be even more connected with that professor.</p>
<p>The language is a good point, my DD did this, she worked in a European country for several months in order to further her fluency.</p>