<p>Hello everyone,
I know NO ONE else who is going through this process and am in need of some sort of… balm for the wounds, perhaps.<br>
I graduated two years ago, received BA in Spanish, BS in Anthropology from Virginia Commonwealth Univ, magna cum laude, and with research and TA experience. Wanting to “beef up” my experience, I have spent my last two years teaching Spanish at a private school. The school which I am immediately considering is Univ. at Buffalo in NY. Has anyone heard about any acceptances to this or other Romance Lang. and Lit. programs, and if so, do you folks think that my teaching experience might make up for lack of formalized research over the last two years? If any more information might be needed, please let me know!<br>
Again, I am just looking for some kind of direction. Many on this and other sites seem to be focused more on IT or medical programs, less on humanities.</p>
<p>OP, I’m in the humanities but not in Romance languages, and I’m basically parroting what a number of people have told me, so take this feedback for what it’s worth:</p>
<p>a) Publishing at the undergraduate level is far more rare in the humanities (and in lang/lit areas in particular) than in the sciences. It does happen quite a bit in the humanities, and it’s certainly a worthwhile objective, but plenty of people get into the most selective humanities programs in the country every year without published research. If you have solid undergrad research experience, strong letters, and excellent LORs, there is no reason you <em>have</em> to have publications.</p>
<p>b) Teaching experience is often valued by committees for practical reasons: accepted PhD candidates will typically be teaching courses in the department, of course.</p>
<p>c) That said, teaching is not the equivalent of research, and you may damage your application if you suggest that your teaching experience should compensate for your lack of research experience. Most research universities want researchers who can teach, not teachers who can research. While a lack of published research on its own won’t necessarily hurt your application, and while your teaching might be seen as a plus, presenting your teaching as a compensation for a lack of research might do harm. It suggests that you see good teaching as an acceptable substitute for good research, which will run counter to the basic priorities of most institutions to which you’re applying.</p>
<p>So, in sum, I think you are most likely fine: just relegate your teaching to your CV and a brief mention in your SOP, and emphasize the research experience that you have been able to acquire.</p>
<p>Hi tcooper! I am on the verge of obtaining my B.A. in Spanish; I have finally found another person in my field on this forum! Hooray. </p>
<p>I agree with lotf629; if you wrote any papers you could brush up on and use as writing samples, that will be particularly important. What I have gathered from admissions committee members from various departments is that not only do you need to seek out professors whose research interests match your own, you need to be able to show that you are capable of undertaking graduate-level research. Did you do an Honors thesis or something similar? That would be useful.</p>
<p>The teaching will not reflect negatively on you by any means, but I think it is #2 on the list of priorities for grad. programs - which is funny, because they’re producing professors. But like the previous poster has mentioned, they are interested in potential contributors to the field more so than excellent teachers. </p>
<p>Suerte con todo!</p>
<p>Thank you both so much… your opinions both reflected what I believe to be true too: that the focus should be on what i have and wish to research, not as much on my current career. In undergrad I earned BA spanish and BS anthropology, so my portfolio included some of my research from both, which I’m hoping was an appropriate move. We shall see! It is impossible to know and it is driving me to insanity. </p>
<p>A secondary question: although in my statement I want to include the mention of professors who I would like to work with, my argument with myself is whether I should be more general or specific (i.e., “I would like to work with Dr. Jones”, vs. “I would like to work with professors in the dept. who focus on women’s studies”). Any opinions?</p>
<p>The advice I’ve always received is that you should be as specific as possible about who you want to work with and why you perceive it to be a good match. I think it’s a good idea to name professors in the SOP and give your specific reasons for wanting to work with them.</p>
<p>So, with regard to this part of the SOP (which is a little awkward b/c the professor you’re mentioning is probably going to be reading it!), here it how I handled it:</p>
<p>I make a fairly general comment about how a particular professor’s course (or courses) will be helpful to me, then I mention that Prof. A’s extensive research in such-and-such area will be extremely useful to my specific area of interest, or that Prof. B’s emphasis on ______ will provide an interesting perspective, Prof. C’s suggestion to focus on ______ aspects of the literature will contribute to the comparative nature of the project, etc. etc. </p>
<p>By the final application, I had this down and was able to elaborate a lot more. I wish I had been able to do this with every application, but some professors were simply more expressive about their interests and what I would be able to do in their programs, so I was able to discuss those things more freely in my SOP.</p>