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So you want to go to graduate school? Listed below are a number of important tips in helping you research, understand, and fulfill that goal.
- Get to know your professors: By the beginning of
your senior year, you should have built a relationship with at least 3 of your professors.
You are going to need them to write letters of recommendation – and the better they know
you, the better their recommendation.
- Build a high-profile student image: How good do you look
on paper? Are you an honors student? Write a senior’s Honors thesis (see the English department's
Honors Program information)
so that you graduate with “Distinction in the Major.”
- Select an Area of Specialization: The English Department at
UCSB offers three choices for an area of specialization:
American Cultures,
Early Modern Studies,
and Culture of Information.
However, if your area of interest does not fall into
one of these three categories, you may design your own and seek approval for the department.
(See Carolyn Butcher for full information)
- Begin researching Graduate Schools early: Look at the
bibliography below; check www.gradschools.com;
check www.petersons.com. Go to the websites of
universities in which you are interested and look at the graduate courses they offer. Do
the courses fill your area of interest? If no, cross them off your list no matter how prestigious
the reputation. Are the schools in an area in which you can see yourself living? No? Cross
them off your list.
- Write your statement of purpose early…and rewrite itoften: Show it to
the professors who you will ask for letters of recommendation and take their advice.
- Don’t give up if you are turned down the first time you apply:
If you really want to have a higher degree, you will lose nothing by going out in the world for
a year or two. In fact, taking a year or two (or more) off between undergraduate and graduate programs can be immensely useful and help clarify why you want an advanced degree.
Bibliography
- Lingua Franca's Real Guide to Grad School: Volume One: The Humanities by Edward Batchelor (Editor)
- Getting What You Came for: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning a Master's or a Ph.D by Robert L. Peters
- The Best Graduate Programs: Humanities and Social Sciences (2nd Edition) by Jonathan Spaihts, Princeton Review
- Graduate School Admissions Advisor 2001 by Catherine Barnes
- Graduate Admissions Essays: Write Your Way into the Graduate School of Your Choice (Graduate Admissions Essays) by Donald Asher
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