How safe is safe?

[speedracer05]

So, since I've completed all of my applications and have had a little time to wait, I've started to wonder if I spread out my safeties and reaches appropriately to have a decent chance of getting in somewhere. Your opinions on these schools, i.e. did I choose safeties correctly or apply to enough programs? I still have some time to throw in a few

Comments

[starcrossed]

I think it's pretty reasonable- especially with Ohio State in there and an MA program. Are your GRE scores/GPA/subject GRE, letters of recc etc okay?

[speedracer05]

My GPA is very good, letters of rec stellar, Subject GRE decent, general GRE a disaster...

[dragondaisy10]

osu funds their english ma students, and so yeah, it's more competitive than some other ma progs.

[speedracer05]

From what I remember, they are a top 20 program.

[dragondaisy10]

i'm also applying to english programs, and your list looks pretty solid. if you want to be safe, and i mean probably unnecessarily safe, you could add a couple more large programs (i'm thinking some state schools that are big like michigan, maybe) or some relatively obscure programs that don't have a big reputation. but you probably don't need to worry about that; it just comes down to how much you want to flat out go to grad school.

i heard that syracuse is a gross city. i certainly wouldn't feel bad about dropping a school if you didn't think you'd be happy in the location. best of luck!

[saralinds]

haha agreed. I have to drive through Syracuse between my home and my school (in CNY) and it's just bleh. The only entertaining part of the city is driving on 690 through downtown... whee it's like a race car track!

[adequaticus]

That's an *extremely* wide net you're casting... Michigan/Cornell PhD programs and Bowling Green MA program??? Interesting...

How are we supposed to know if this is an appropriate spread of safeties without knowing what your application looks like? It's certainly a very WIDE spread, but that's about all I can say about it.

[speedracer05]

Well, I can justify those choices, actually, if you're interested. I have a very strong application in every aspect aside from GREs. I think that I would be a good candidate in PhD programs such as Mich and Cornell, especially since my field is queer theory and I have a strong fit with all of the programs to which I'm applying. However, my GREs are seriously bad, and while I know that (and have been continuously told that) I could excell at a school like Cornell, I am really tired of this year off and office work, and I want to go to grad school next year no matter what. I do not want to get my PhD in a program like BGSU or CMU, but I wouldn't mind getting my MA there if I don't get in anywhere else. I have made this decision both based on location and on the types of programs they offer, BG being a literary and textual studies program and CMU being a literary and cultural studies programs. They are both strong in my area, innovative, and in the area of the country I would most like to live/stay. Make more sense?

[speedracer05]

And sorry for the horrid grammar. I just spent the last hour and a half shredding paper.... Oh the regrets of taking a year off.

[adequaticus]

Ok, fair enough. Thank you.

[azraeldeadlight]

Let's see. Cornell, Minnesota, Michigan, and Carnegie Mellon are all harsh bringers of the application smackdown. OSU and Pitt have middling programs. Bowling Green is well out of the top 100 English programs, based on faculty quality and educational effectiveness, according to phds.org (http://graduate-school.phds.org/rankings/english/rank?w1=5&w7=5).

It looks like you have a pretty good spread going. If nothing else, Bowling Green probably has a 50% admit rate, so at least you know you'll get in somewhere.

Check the results at the Grad Cafe, and you'll see how many people got rejected from last year at each of your schools. It's nice to have those data lying around, well-organized.