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Information for Prospective Ph.D. Students

Application deadlines, the appliation for fall 2024 will be available in september 2023. application deadline is december 1 2023..

PhD Admissions Open House Want a PhD in English? Why NYU? New York University, Department of English

Friday, October 20, 2023 at 11:00AM EST https://nyu.zoom.us/j/91310527661  (approximately 1 hour)

2022 Open House:  Zoom Recording 

Are you considering a PhD in English? Come meet faculty and graduate students from the NYU Department of English, who will share their experiences about the structure and culture of the program. You will get a quick overview of what a degree here entails, including the university’s new Advanced Certificate in Public Humanities. We hope to highlight what we (and New York City’s landscape of civic and arts institutions and archives) can offer you as you prepare for a future in teaching, research, and writing. 

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS 

Your application to the PhD program should consist of the following components:

• The Online Application .
• A Curriculum Vitae (CV) or resume.  This should provide an overview of your academic and, if applicable, professional experience.
• A Statement of Academic Purpose.  The work of the faculty of the Department of English at NYU is characterized by a wide variety of interdisciplinary approaches, encompassing literary history, theory, and criticism, as well as careful reflection on the methods of literary study. We are especially interested in graduate students who will be comfortable bridging historical periods in their reading and writing, and who are curious about a wide variety of approaches to literary studies. The admissions committee requires from all applicants a statement of academic purpose, which will be judged as a piece of writing. It will use this statement to evaluate how well your aspirations and interests suit those of the Department of English at NYU. This statement of academic purpose should be succinct (no more than 1200 words) and address most, if not all, of the following questions: What kinds (genres, styles, forms, etc.) of literature most engage you? What, for you, is the purpose of reading literature critically? Are there particular kinds of criticism/theoretical approaches/methods of literary study that you would like to work within or learn more about? How have your intellectual and scholarly interests been shaped by your time outside and beyond the college classroom? In the light of the description above, do you have a particular reason for wishing to work within the Department of English at New York University?
• A Writing Sample  of academic literary criticism is required. It should demonstrate your strongest work in that mode and should not exceed 20-25 double-spaced pages, including any bibliography or notes.
• Three Letters of Recommendation . It is important to have strong letters of recommendation that come from professors and instructors who know you and are familiar with the your academic work. Applicants who have been out of school for several years should make every effort to reconnect with former teachers to ensure that their letters of recommendation address their academic preparation and abilities and their readiness to pursue the degree for which they are applying.  http://gsas.nyu.edu/admissions/gsas-application-resource-center/faqs/letters-of-recommendation.html
• Transcript . An official, electronic copy of your transcript.For further Admissions information, please visit http://gsas.nyu.edu/admissions/gsas-application-resource-center/faqs/academic-transcripts.html  
• TOEFL or IELTS:  TOEFL or the IELTS is required of all applicants who are not native English speakers or who do not have a bachelor's or master's degree from an institution where the language of instruction is English.  http://gsas.nyu.edu/admissions/gsas-application-resource-center/faqs/testing-requirements.html

All accepted Ph.D. students in English receive up to five years of funding through the Graduate School’s MacCracken program. In 2023-2024 students will receive a $32,888 stipend for nine months, plus a full tuition scholarship, registration and services fees, and full coverage of NYU student health insurance for an individual under the comprehensive plan. The MacCracken award includes a one-time $1,000 Dean's Supplementary Fellowship Grant. This grant is intended to provide support for start-up research and educational expenses such as books, academic supplies, and computer equipment. In addition, the Department of English offers a one-time $3,000 Supplementary Grant that may be used at the student's discretion and a $5,500 stipend during both the first and second years of study to help defray the cost of housing. While teaching is not required as a condition of the MacCracken award, the English Department still sees teaching as crucial to the professional development of its doctoral candidates. We therefore expect that our Ph.D. students will teach for four semesters starting after the second year of study, typically scheduled across the third through fifth years. Students who participate fully in the department's teaching program will receive in excess of $22,000 in adjunct-instructor compensation for their four semesters of teaching service, over and above the fellowship stipend payments they will receive during the term of the MacCracken award.

The English Ph.D. program is designed to be completed within the five-year term for which the MacCracken award ensures full funding. However, students can arrange to set aside as much as half of the fellowship stipend they receive during each semester in which they teach, to be drawn on at later points in the period of their enrollment. Thus if they follow the Department’s recommendation and teach for a total of four semesters during the MacCracken term, they can guarantee themselves an additional year of full funding in case they require a sixth year of matriculation in order to secure employment and complete the degree.

Teaching opportunities primarily include serving as a recitation leader in general education courses in the undergraduate college, and in departmental undergraduate survey courses. Students who follow the department's teaching protocol will be assigned to a range of different courses over their four semesters of service, and will thereby achieve the breadth of literacy-historical knowledge appropriate to doctorate holders in the discipline. Students who forgo teaching may be required to demonstrate the breadth of their literary-historical knowledge through other means.

If your question is not answered, please contact the director of graduate admissions, Jenny Mann. 

Open House for Newly Admitted Doctoral Students

Students who are admitted to the Ph.D. program are invited to attend our annual Open House for Newly Admitted Doctoral Students, which this year will take place on (dates to be determined). Admitted students will be asked to arrive in New York City the afternoon of (TBA), when there will be an informal cocktail party with English Department faculty and current students. Scheduled events on (TBA) will allow admitted students the opportunity to interact with faculty as well as current graduate students and other admitted, prospective students, attend classes and tour the campus.

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Zombie colleges roam the internet, here's how to spot a legitimate, living university

A USA TODAY investigation has exposed websites set up for closed universities posing as viable colleges.

Whoever is behind the copycat sites has been collecting application fees and personal student identity information. Once USA TODAY reached out to them for comment, some of the sites and their application links came down.

The investigation also found a network of fictitious colleges claiming to be accredited, generally the gold standard of legitimate universities in the U.S., however, those accreditors appear to be fabricated as well.  (Do you know more about these colleges, tell us. )

Investigation: Zombie colleges? These universities are living another life online, and no one can say why

So how can prospective students know which schools actually offer an education and which may be fronts for something else?  Luckily, there are telltale signs.  But it may take some sleuthing. 

Is it accredited?  

If a university wants to offer federal student aid, it has to be:

◾ Approved by a college accreditor.

◾ Approved by the state it resides in.

◾ Certified by the U.S. Department of Education, based, in part, on the first two.

Oversight of a school’s academic offerings falls to the accreditor, who is expected to review curriculums regularly. These accrediting agencies also visit schools in person.  

Prospective students can see if a school is truly accredited by looking it up on the federal government’s consumer guide to schools, the College Scorecard . Universities also often list their accreditors on their websites, which students can check against the accreditors’ own lists. Many states maintain a list of schools they have authorized as well. 

Check the web address 

It can be as simple as just checking the end of the university’s web address. 

Generally, only accredited colleges can use a .edu domain in their URL. Domains ending in .college, .education, or .university aren’t restricted to educational institutions, though. The website backed by former staffers at Marymount California University is marymountcalifornia.edu whereas the imposter website is at marymountcalifornia.education.  

Or pick up your phone and try to reach someone in college admissions. Legitimate colleges have entire staffs eager to talk to prospective students. It’s their job.

Some of the questions to ask: 

◾ When is the next application deadline?

◾ What do you need for the application? An essay? Test scores? Do you accept the Common Application , a form used by hundreds of colleges?

◾ How much does your program cost? Do you offer federal financial aid?

How do I tell if a college accreditor is real?  

Some of the imposter websites appeared to have created their own accreditors. Skeptical applicants can verify an accreditor's legitimacy by checking the Education Department’s list of approved agencies .

Note: Some accreditors are set up to approve only specific academic programs. Look instead for institutional accreditation, i.e., approval of all of the schools’ operations.  

Pay close attention to accreditors’ names too. Some counterfeit schools claimed accreditation by the “United States Higher Learning Commission.” That is close to the actual accrediting organization known as “The Higher Learning Commission.”   

Does the school have an address? Google it 

Some of the counterfeit universities claim strange addresses. The original Stratford University, for example, was in Virginia, but the imposter says the university is in Kentucky. In that case, a Google Street View search of the Kentucky address reveals no signage for a university.  

Many of the fictitious universities on the website of the Ministry of Higher Education Commission, one of the made-up accreditors, list unusual physical addresses too. The address for “Dakota Hill University,” for example, is actually home to Black Hills State University, a school that is accredited. USA TODAY found other schools with addresses that showed up on Google as nondescript office buildings, even parking garages. 

Be aware of the university’s size too. Some legitimate and smaller schools focused on career skills can be in office parks. But such a location would be unusual for large state or private colleges.  

Has anyone else attended this college? Who teaches there?  

Try to find past students. With LinkedIn, it’s easy to locate graduates of any college. Some schools also have alumni associations where prospective students may be able to learn more about the institution.  

Be wary of student testimonials that live solely on a college’s website because those could be fabricated by the operators of the university. Apply the same skepticism to sites that gather anonymous reviews such as Yelp – or even the reviews you might find on Google or Facebook.   

University professors should also have a web presence. Legitimate colleges often have individual web pages for their faculty members. Some college websites also feature past course catalogs. The new Stratford website, in contrast, listed only broad descriptions of its degree offerings and did not indicate who would be teaching those courses. That also was true of other zombie sites.  

Chris Quintana is a reporter on the USA TODAY investigations team with a background in higher education and student loans. Contact him at  [email protected] , @CquintanaDC on Instagram and X, or by Signal at 202-308-9021.   

Usman Iqbal 2024 Convocation Alumni Speaker

A Letter to Our Graduates, the Class of 2024

Usman iqbal 2024 convocation alumni speaker ..

Usman Iqbal Selected as 2024 Convocation Alumni Speaker

Iqbal has worked for several of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies in various aspects of the industry, and also uses his expertise as a clinical development and medical affairs consultant for small biopharmaceutical companies and health care think tanks., michael saunders.

Usman Iqbal (SPH’03), chief medical officer for Julz Pharma, has been selected as the alumni speaker for the 2024 School of Public Health Convocation.

He has nearly two decades of experience across multiple sectors in the biopharmaceutical field, built on a foundation of academic training in health economics and multidisciplinary research. After graduating from medical college in Pakistan, Iqbal moved to Boston for graduate study and earned his MPH and MBA at BU en route to a career in pharmaceuticals.

Since then, he has worked for several of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies in various aspects of the industry: research and development; global medical affairs; and improving access to drug therapies for neuroscience, oncology, autoimmune diseases, and rare disorders. Iqbal also uses his expertise as a clinical development and medical affairs consultant for small biopharmaceutical companies and health care think tanks.

In a free-ranging conversation ahead of his presentation to students at the May 18, 2024 SPH Convocation, Iqbal says he believes the School’s emphasis on practical training is an important aspect of the SPH experience that should be expanded, if possible. Current MPH students are required to complete a minimum of 240 hours with an organization for their practicum, hours that may be completed in a single semester, or spread out over multiple semesters. 

Iqbal is also hoping to encourage the expansion of data science classes and entrepreneurship guidance to provide students a smoother transition into fields where they can leverage their public health training in new ways.

with Usman Iqbal, MD, MPH, MBA

Are there ways that you incorporate what you learned at BU into some of your day-to-day activities?

I did a fellowship at BU after my MPH that was extremely useful, even to this day. I was a senior fellow at the Boston University Center for Assessment of Pharmaceutical Practice back in the early 2000s, a center set up by [professor emeritus] Dr. Lewis Kazis . I was there for four years, first as a fellow and then a senior fellow, because this was a unique arrangement where I went for my part-time MBA after my MPH at BU.

In order for me to continue to secure tuition reimbursement, I had to continue to be an employee of BU. So that’s why my fellowship was extended, and that was the best thing that could have happened to me, because in two years you can condition yourself with a good amount of research, but four years is what really solidifies you. So the research that I did at the school was very multi-disciplinary, cutting across health economics, using real-world evidence, working with big databases, patient-reported outcomes, quality of life. There was just a lot of groundbreaking, thoughtful research with different stakeholders.

We worked directly with the government—the VA, the CDC, the [Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality], as well as the [National Committee for Quality Assurance]. And then on the private side, we worked with a lot of biotechs and big pharmaceuticals on standard research and health outcomes projects.

You learn a lot during a fellowship—a traditional pharma researcher doesn’t usually go through that kind of a track. They go through a very standard academic environment, and then they usually go directly into the industry. So the level of rigor that you’re supposed to achieve during your time in school, that usually comes from spending a good amount of time with the material, and that’s something that I did.

With the benefit of 20 years of hindsight now, are there any things that you would change or add to the instruction you received?

I think I would encourage more of the practicum piece. There should be an opportunity within the school to be able to extend that practicum to six plus months. The world is really complex when it comes to any branch of public health, and sometimes three months is not enough to crystallize your thought process and link the actual real-world experience to the academic aspects that you’re learning.

It would also be good if more students had the ability, like I did, to be able to be involved in research as soon as you graduate. The school has such a huge platform across so much research. SPH has so many interesting grants, so many interesting topics, like climate health and housing. I mean, few schools of public health out there are actually doing that kind of research. The best option would be to absorb the same student population that’s studying in the school to be involved in that research on a full-time basis. The more practicum-oriented the school can get, the better.

What are some of the things that students can expect once they leave SPH, that might not be on their radar yet?

The first and most important thing is that they have to continue to learn. Learning doesn’t stop at graduation. It actually just moves into a different, translucent phase. Within a couple of years, they should have at least some understanding of what additional aspects they need to learn. And that should not be something that kind of takes them by surprise, that, “Oh, okay, I thought I was done with school, and I can just hang onto it until the next decade or so.” Public health is getting modernized at every level, so you want to chalk out an executive learning path as soon as possible.

The second aspect is, develop your own digital brand. You have to do it right away. And it can morph into a more sophisticated branding exercise later down the road—I’m still learning how to build my brand. These things sometimes don’t come to mind as students move into the professional phase, because naturally, one thinks, “Well, I have to learn a lot before I can think about branding myself.”

Building a brand and having a powerful digital presence, that just exposes you to a whole variety of different cultures, different people, your outreach basically extends to the world. Otherwise, you just stick to work and your ecosystem in which you are in, which is probably the city that you’re living in.

Did it take a while for that realization to set in? Was that one of the things that you found that you had to learn once you left?

My case probably is not the best case because we never had those digital tools, we never had that digital world. I mean, we were just exposing ourselves to the internet when we graduated. Now we have all these social networking platforms, we have LinkedIn. And then especially post-COVID, a lot of the professional world has simply gone virtual. The realization came late to me because of the fact that the world that we moved into after graduation was not a digital world.

But as soon as it became that way, it still took me a few years to realize I need to have a digital brand. So I’ve been working on it for the last four to five years. Because while you can create your own philosophy, while you can create your own persona around your brand, it has to be aligned with where the world is going— otherwise you can become irrelevant very, very quickly.

What are some of the ways students can be encouraged to build that presence once they’re at SPH, so that they have the foundation started for when they want to take off in their careers?

There could be a whole new paradigm shift in the school’s offerings towards this aspect of students building their own digital brand, with the school providing all of the tools, the resources and guidance for that, with the goal that as soon as they graduate, students have an actual brand in place.

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MarComm Writing Director

Michael Saunders is the Director of Editorial Content at the School of Public Health Profile

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