Advice, recommendations, queer theory, rejection, etc.
A few questions. I imagine most, if not all, have been answered in the past, but since I have several, I'm clunking them all together.
First: it's been five years since I graduated with my B.A. Since then, I've enrolled in an English Ph.D. program but left it after only one semester, and I've also completed a master's of library and information science (MLIS). I now want to go back to school to get a Ph. D. (to finish what I started). I'm wondering where I should go for recommendations: my undergrad professors, who haven't seen me or had me in class for over five years? The professors from the program I left (and am probably reapplying to)? Or the professors who had me most recently (about a year ago) but in an entirely different program and context? Will recommendations from older professors (in the sense of haven't-seen-me-in-a-while) become suddenly less valid or hurt my application? Also, will having the MLIS somehow seem like a the-end to admissions committees? Should I leave it off of an English Ph. D. application?
Second, I'm very out of the loop on graduate programs, and I'm wondering if anyone knows or has links to a place I can find out about schools that are good in the areas of cultural studies and queer theory/GLBT studies, which is where my research interests lie. (Also 20th century American poetry, and poetry in general, but I think those are rather well-represented everywhere.) I'd like to stay in the eastern half of the country, from Chicago to Boston, if at all possible. The only schools I'm considering so far are Pitt, CMU, Tufts, and BU.
Third, is it bad form to re-apply to a school that rejected you once?
Fourth, what is the standard expiration time on a GRE score? I recall something about five years, but again, just like recommendations, are scores from five years ago somehow less valid than more recent scores?
Thanks. Sorry for the bombardment. I finally feel like I know what I want to do with my life, and I've been rejected from doing that once already (last year, the only school to which I applied said no), and so this go-'round I'm a bit panicked. Any advice, experience, suggestions, etc. would be appreciated!,
First: it's been five years since I graduated with my B.A. Since then, I've enrolled in an English Ph.D. program but left it after only one semester, and I've also completed a master's of library and information science (MLIS). I now want to go back to school to get a Ph. D. (to finish what I started). I'm wondering where I should go for recommendations: my undergrad professors, who haven't seen me or had me in class for over five years? The professors from the program I left (and am probably reapplying to)? Or the professors who had me most recently (about a year ago) but in an entirely different program and context? Will recommendations from older professors (in the sense of haven't-seen-me-in-a-while) become suddenly less valid or hurt my application? Also, will having the MLIS somehow seem like a the-end to admissions committees? Should I leave it off of an English Ph. D. application?
Second, I'm very out of the loop on graduate programs, and I'm wondering if anyone knows or has links to a place I can find out about schools that are good in the areas of cultural studies and queer theory/GLBT studies, which is where my research interests lie. (Also 20th century American poetry, and poetry in general, but I think those are rather well-represented everywhere.) I'd like to stay in the eastern half of the country, from Chicago to Boston, if at all possible. The only schools I'm considering so far are Pitt, CMU, Tufts, and BU.
Third, is it bad form to re-apply to a school that rejected you once?
Fourth, what is the standard expiration time on a GRE score? I recall something about five years, but again, just like recommendations, are scores from five years ago somehow less valid than more recent scores?
Thanks. Sorry for the bombardment. I finally feel like I know what I want to do with my life, and I've been rejected from doing that once already (last year, the only school to which I applied said no), and so this go-'round I'm a bit panicked. Any advice, experience, suggestions, etc. would be appreciated!,