Panic? Or procrastinate?

[aody24601]

Hi y'all,

I'm so glad I stumbled upon this forum - what an amazing community.

I am at a strange quarter-life crisis point/wondering what my next step should be. Any insight or advice is welcome.
Seriously, thanks for reading this because it's looong...

Comments

[silverthief2]

Regarding the letters of rec, you don't need all of your professors, just two (if you can get the third from a supervisor at your job, perhaps? That's what I did with a 4-year gap between undergrad and applying). I would recommend asking your advisor; let him be the judge of whether he can write The Letter for You.

Were I in your position, I would go ahead and apply this year; you sound well-organized, with GREs scheduled, even though they're a bit late in the game. That said, if you choose to go ahead, ask recommenders for letters right away. My first deadlines were around December 15 last year, and I'd already asked in late September (one of them never responded, so I had to ask another professor, which meant the extra time was key).

[arantzain]

First, good luck!

Second, I can only note that it might help to expand your program criteria a little--a Ph.D in English Lit is by its nature a narrow undertaking, and while some departments will be more receptive to interdisciplinary work than others, it may be hard to suss out which--although from past experience, folks in this community could probably be a tremendous help in making suggestions. I'm more struck that the kind of writing it sounded like you most enjoyed are not the kinds of writing you're signing up to do for the next seven years--though, you know your goals and wishes best.

Otherwise, nobody's ever as prepared as they wanted to be for the GRE, so don't let the fact you haven't chewed up three prep book stop you from at least taking the test.

For my money--which this isn't, of course--I would say, give applying a shot this year. If you don't get into the programs you want, or get the scores you need, you have a benchmark from which to work, and time to do all the revisions and preparation you'd like.

[smyleykyley]

I think most English programs are interested in incorporating some element of film and media studies these days. You can easily run through the list of faculty to see if this is the case. Some departments are, definitely, more open than others

[crazypumpkin]

I was 7 years out from undergrad. My three letters came from 1. a professor who still actually had written evaluations from the class I took with him, I offered to meet with him and fill him in in person on what I'd done since school and what I hoped to do, he wasn't interested, but said he'd happily write my letters. 2. a past boss in a semi-related field that I worked in for four years 3. the boss that was current at that time, thankfully I was working in academia, so he was already helping me with the process any way.
If you are going to apply this year, as your potential LOR writers soon, as someone else said, you might have someone who can't/won't do it for you and you'll have to find a back up.
And really, in the grand scheme of things, if you wait another year, it's unlikely to ruin things for you. Though I completely understand the idea that NOW is the time. That's the frame of mind I had too when finally after 7 years I got myself into grad school.