Applying to Grad School: Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough

Sep 26, 2017
3 min read

During my senior year as an undergraduate, a professor gave my class an article to read that changed the way I thought about my education and my career path. In “Hiding It from the Kids (With Apologies to Simon and Garfunkel),” Gerald Graff and Andrew Hoberek (both scholars in the field of English) discuss their experiences in reading mountains of graduate applications. They realized that although many of those applying to graduate school were immensely qualified and prepared for the rigor, most did not know what graduate schools were looking for in an application. They write:

For example, in the statement of purpose every applicant is asked to write, the vast majority say they want to go on for a doctorate because they “love literature”—or art history, philosophy, classical archaeology, history, and so forth…It is not that love of literature is no longer considered a good thing, but that in a graduate application this love is taken for granted and therefore doesn’t score any points: it’s a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition for entrance into graduate school. After all, the other five hundred or so applicants also presumably love literature, impressionist painting, or what you will—there are precious few other reasons for getting a PhD these days…we suggest to students that the point they need to get across is not that they love their subjects but that they are ready to join an intellectual conversation about what they love. (244-245)

What I took away from this, as I sent off applications to graduate schools, was that it wasn’t enough for me to LOVE books. Having a passion for something is not the same as having a desire to study that something for a living. This essay challenged me to think about why I was applying for graduate school and if I was prepared for what it would entail.

Obviously, many of us love books and love stories. To succeed in graduate school, however, we must also love the analysis of those same books and stories. Loving Harry Potter and doing an analysis of Harry Potter are very different. We have to want to debate Harry Potter and reread Harry Potter and examine Harry Potter and talk about Harry Potter with others. We have to want to enter the academic investigation of Harry Potter.

(This illustration is by Oli Moss. You can find the image here, and find more information about the artist here.)

It was also a shock to me at the time that my love and passion were not enough to get me accepted to a graduate school. But my passion is real, I thought. No one loves books like I love books. My passion is special and different.

But it’s not.

Even today, I recognize that my love for texts and for stories is not unusual. I see hundreds of students and colleagues each year with the same love; most of them could out-trivia me in two seconds on any of my favorites. The difference between those individuals who love books and those who will find success in a graduate program is that the latter knows to always be aware of the historical, social, and political context of a text. We not only want to think about stories like The Great Gatsby, we also want to rip them apart and look at the pieces. How does this story work? Why does it do what it does? Is it effective? Often, this means that we have to admit and recognize that the stories we love are complex, ideologically problematic, and maybe even poorly written. We also have to be prepared to read a plethora of not-great books because the best examples of how or why something works are often the counterexamples.

This is not to say, of course, that a love of literature or writing isn’t necessary. I am not sure I could have gotten through seven years of graduate school if I didn’t love what I was studying. Rather, it was this shift in my thinking that helped me understand my new role as a scholar and academic. Yes, I love books. But I also love studying books. I love looking at how they impact the reader and how they influence the world. That is why I do what I do.

Oh, and once I started including this kind of material in my application letter, I was accepted to 100% of the graduate schools I applied to.

Works Cited

Graff, Gerald and Andrew Hoberek. “Hiding It from the Kids (With Apologies to Simon and Garfunkel).” College English 62 (1999): 242-54

Are any of you thinking of applying for grad school?

What did you think of Dr. Smith's advice? Let us know in the comments below what your dream school and major would be if money wasn't an object.

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The English Society