Let’s not keep the good news waiting — I was informed by e-mail Thursday morning that Claremont has recommended me for admission to their master’s program in English. Woo! They’re also offering a 25% tuition fellowship, which is not huge, but still significant. The quick turnaround time surprised me, since I only submitted it about three weeks prior. After checking thegradcafe.com, though, it makes more sense. It seems that most programs send out several acceptances and rejections the last week of February and the first week of March. The ones that they can’t decide on immediately have to wait until later in March, or even April. Anyway, it’s my first official yes or no. I’m excited about being accepted, but it’s more strange to me that things are actually happening!
So back to the application process. And it is very much a process, mind you. This next part is probably the one I most wish I had known more about when I was doing it, because it turned out to be far more complicated than I anticipated.
You would think that applications for English masters or Ph.D programs are pretty much the same, regardless of the school. They all require GRE scores, university transcripts, letters of recommendation, a letter of intent, a writing sample, etc. But that “etc.” throws in enough variance that each application demands your undivided attention. If I had known, I would have given myself two weeks for each application instead of just one week (this is me working two jobs). Half the time I spent putting an application together went to just figuring out the school’s exact requirements. For example: some schools need only one official transcript. Fine. But where do you send it to — grad department or English department? Some other schools need two transcripts. But only one official or two? One of the schools I applied to wanted not only an official set, but also a typed list of the English classes I took and my average English GPA. Not hard to type up, but several of these kinds of program-specific requirements add a lot of time and preparation to the process. Another example: letter of intent might sound like you just send the same letter about yourself to each school. But that is a BIG application no-no. While some parts of your statement may stay the same, each school wants to know why you would be a good fit for their program, not “generic English department program.” And admissions committees can tell if you’ve sent the same words to every program you’ve applied to. Again, not hard, but this necessitates a thorough study and understanding of each school’s program. I read the program handbooks of each department to get a feel for its goals and purpose. Some schools are nice and give you a list of specific questions to answer — and if they do, make sure you answer them!
I could list other things, but I think you get the idea. In sum, I would set apart not less than two weeks for each school you intend to apply to.* Be aware of deadlines. If you need to, write out what you need to send out and prepare for each program. Ironically, it’s not uncommon for English department websites (maybe other departments too, who knows) to be a bit unclear about some application requirements. That’s why they list contact info on almost every page. A lot of the people I wanted to contact seemed to be on vacation, so don’t wait to e-mail or call somebody if you have a pressing question.
* That’s for the actual applications. GRE scores, transcript requests, and requests for letters of recommendations should be sent out at least a month in advance.
Reading: Confessions, St. Augustine; Stones into Schools, Greg Mortenson
Listening: Muse, Glee soundtrack
Watching: Bones is on break until April (sniff sniff tear), so I must fill my time with other stuff, like Legend of the Seeker (don’t laugh, it’s great swords ‘n’ sorcery indulgence), United States of Tara (AMAZING show by Steven Spielberg, Diablo Cody, and Toni Collette), and When Harry Met Sally… (how have I not seen it before?)
Playing: Legend of Zelda, sort of; need to start Diablo soon, though
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