What do I have to do to get into UPenn for graduate studies coming from St John's College?
>>7695578
as a current penn student why do you want to come here/what research interests?
>>7695583
I'd like to get into the PhD program because of the facilities and the professors. I'm interested in exploring avant-garde movements in relation with linguistics and literary theory. Bernstein is someone I've always wanted to work with. Not to mention the fact my parents are in bankruptcy so I don't have much money, UPenn will provide tuition largely reduced.
>>7695590
hey i'm actually in Bernstein's class right now, though just an undergrad. really great and unique readings of poetry, poetics, and aesthetics
yeah all of the professors i've worked with/learned from are fantastic
>>7695595
Ahh I really, really want to get into their PhD program since they place 70% of their graduates in tenure tracks, not to even mention that not all grads want to teach so it's basically... yeah. if you want to be a professor UPenn is the place to go, which has been a goal for a long time the job market is just pretty saturated in academia.
But yeah just really wanna work with Bernstein. How would I go about entering their PhD program from St John's? I've already done a research project on the lingual and anthropological bases behind the concrete poetry movement(s) (evolved a lot and the medium was involved in a lot of other movements). I'm just nervous desu.
>>7695607
ah yeah that makes sense—good handful of assistant professors who completed PhD's at Penn, and they emphasize pedagogy and eventually teaching your own undergraduate course during your 3rd/4th years of the program. seems really neat
honestly i wish i could help you more but, again, i'm a dumb undergraduate that just happens to be studying English and knows almost nothing about graduate admissions. i guess the generic advice is to focus on test scores/application/honing research topics, which you seem be doing pretty well
>>7695624
Yeah. Well thank you for taking the time. What is Penn like exactly? How'd you get in?
>>7695628
applied early decision, started out as pre-med and switched halfway to english and engineering. had good standardized test scores and an unconventional essay i guess. not a minority student
really great professors—top of their fields like you'd expect, but, for the most part, they care a lot about teaching and their students
student body atmosphere is alright. grad students kinda distant from the rest and they do their own thing. wharton business finance/consulting culture strong influence and lots of people i know end up working at banks or hedge funds or tech companies. english undergrad enrollment is shrinking noticeably, department a little concerned i guess. students are usually pleasant but always preoccupied
>>7695637
I see. Was considering transferring when I was at a community college. I still wonder if I could have been admitted since I wrote very very good essays at that time but I never had the 4.0 and 2400. Thanks for the info and good luck at Penn.
>>7695665
thanks man—i wish you all the best on your applications and i hope you end up here or somewhere just as great
>>7695595
>hey i'm actually in Bernstein's class right now, though just an undergrad
>Bernstein
/pol/ was right
If you have subpar GPA and tests, good networking (with luck) + original research angles + writing sample will set you apart.
If you can, get good recommenders and get in very good with them, especially ones with nepotistic or at least recognisable connections to the departments you're applying to. Develop a legitimately killer research proposal that makes unprepared "I kinda think I'd be a good PhD student :^)" apps look like bowls of piss. Put together a writing sample of publishable quality. You'll get noticed even if you don't have perfect grades.
It's still a gamble. Never bank on one school, or put all your hopes on it. Lots of places have fellowships, not just UPenn.
>>7695700
Oh. None of the SJC professors are prominent in their field since SJC isn't a research university (though I finished my research project here). However they all have terminal degrees from prestigious institutions. A lot have graduated from UPenn. What sort of research proposals are would be enough to gain admission?
>>7695718
That's not a bad thing. But if you start networking early on, you might find more interesting connections than you think. It's kind of cynical, but you might stick in an application reviewer's mind more easily if their old buddy, who was in the same program 20 years ago, is the one writing your letter. It's no guarantee or anything, but sometimes you get lucky in little ways like that. Just keep an eye on networking and building relationships with professors if you can. This piece of advice isn't the be-all end-all but it really helped me in some surprising little weird ways. YMMV.
Proposal-wise, just try to have something actually good. If you genuinely know your field and discipline well enough that you can propose a feasible and interesting project to a committee, something that makes the professors reading your file go "this nigga knows his shit, and that idea is actually pretty fucking cool," it goes a long long way. A lot of apps are much hazier. Mine definitely was, and I was agonising over it. I just didn't have time to elaborate something REALLY killer, but I wished I had. Networking helps again here - every one of my recommenders and several other professors with whom I had good relationships was more than willing to review my personal statements and research proposals like a dozen times and offer advice. One of the most helpful pieces of advice I received flat-out "this is not a competitive application and it makes you look like a dilettante." Brutal, but was a great reality check.
The general idea, holistically speaking, is that you just want to look serious, prepared, and plausible. 98% of the substance of the 500+ applications these dudes are going to be reading is well-intentioned idealism. 500+ people who at least seem convinced they can hack it. But having actual PROOF that you can hack it is another thing. From what I've been told, plenty of writing samples and research proposals show *precocity,* but when they show immediate scholarly plausibility, it's much better. An article that you published in a peer-reviewed journal is obviously a better writing sample than a really precocious undergrad term paper. A proposal that looks like a tenured professor could have written it is obviously better than "boy, I sure am interested in _______, and I sure did study it a lot in undergrad."
No one's perfect and I definitely don't want to give the illusion that everyone, or even a sizeable minority of applicants will have stellar applications like I'm describing. I fucking didn't. But knowing what the absolute ideal is can be helpful. This is what I gathered throughout my experience with the process.
>>7695750
But seriously, don't bank on any one school. I don't mean to imply that you're NOT networking, but if you aren't, DO IT NOW. There is so much hidden pragmatism and gritty humanity behind the shimmering edifice of fancy Ivy league university bureaucracy. The more you know if it the better. Decisions that will affect your whole future are often made on the basis of a committee member simply being a fucking dismissive prick who didn't like the smell of your sample. Or someone's retiring but doesn't want the news getting out, so you make it through the whole vetting process, get on the top 10 list of approved applicants, and he says "not interested" without ever explaining why. Cast a decent net. And the best way to do that is to have people who are on the inside on your side.
>>7695751
Thank you for all of this advice. My professors have told me from my freshman year I write like a grad student and those comments haven't stopped. I know I have what it takes. It's just about bridging that gap. How exactly would I network well? SJC and the Ivies generally aren't intertwined.
>>7695665
Of course you wouldn't have been admitted. You came from CC. And I highly doubt you'll get into their grad program, pleb.
>>7695946
I'm at St John's College. Been here starting as a freshman. I was planning on transferring to a state university, and like I said I'm broke.
>>7695813
>>7695967
Ohhh it's CC? Sorry, I'm bad at American education system stuff.
I do know I've heard of people transferring after 2 years at CC to high level schools for undergrad (Berkeley I know for sure).
If you're at CC I'm not sure. We don't really have CC's where I came from - they are more explicitly for trades, I think, whereas American CCs are sort of like mini-public unis for people who can't afford absurd US tuition rates.
I can't imagine there's no avenue whatsoever for moving up, in that case. But I don't know. Definitely getting good letters is going to be harder. I'm wondering whether you might pursue an MA at a more recognisable university and use that time to build a network of profs enthusiastic about your work. Would CC --> MA be more of a thing in the US? Maybe even at a state school, as a stepping stone to PhD higher up?
Networking is kind of unfair. The better the uni you go to, the more "famous" profs will go there, and the more valuable their letters are to you. It's sort of a rich-get-richer thing. But like I said, at least where I'm from, even the shittiest public unis still have "Actual Professors" working there. If SJC is at all similar - like, these people aren't low-prestige "teachers" rather than professors? - I think you could still be fine. But then some American more familiar with the academic caste system in the States will laugh, so I don't want to give false hope.
>>7695578
Not being a retard, which you clearly are.
>>7697463
you're obviously a pseud/retard. Take your pick. St. johns college has an 81% acceptance rate, basically a glorified CC.
