horrificmodernist

Hey, anyone going to Southwest PCA and possibly want to meet up for a panel/dinner/something? It's my first conference, so I'm very excited and very nervous!

Hey guys! This might be an absolutely ridiculous question, but I'm going to ask anyway. I just started a (fully funded) MA program, and I'm trying to figure out if I want to pursue a PhD after graduation. I've been trying to find some conferences to boost my CV but I've kind of run into a roadblock - how do you guys find conferences?? My professors will occasionally send along emails for conferences, but none of them have really related to what I'd like to specialize in (Modernism/horror studies). Should I just google it and hope for the best?

John Carroll University in Cleveland, OH has a fully funded English MA program where you can specialize in rhet/comp. They seem to offer a lot of teaching experience, too, if that's something you're looking for. The standard of living in CLE isn't too bad either, so it's pretty livable.

I should also mention that I'm waiting on responses from a few other programs. While this is one of my top choices, I may follow the funding to other programs that I think would be a good fit.

I think this is the right thread to post this! So, the awesome news is that I got accepted to one of my top programs the other day (English lit MA). My (possibly future) advisor emailed me extending the offer of admission, that they were impressed with my application, and that they would keep me updated with funding decisions. My problem is that I just have no idea how to respond, since I don't want to commit to attending without knowing about various funding possibilities. My plan is to say something like this: "Dear [future advisor], What great news! I'm very excited to be offered admission at [university] - I look forward to hearing about funding opportunities! Sincerely, horrificmodernist" Is that too short? Too impersonal? Too focused on funding? I absolutely hate writing emails so this has been a struggle, haha.

That's really frustrating, I'm really sorry. I think the best plan of attack would be to go to their office. If you're not close enough to visit campus, I'd recommend calling the department/their office and see if you can get a hold of them that way. Like a lot of people in the LOR forum have mentioned, sometimes professors know that programs are a bit more lenient with LORs and see it more as a soft deadline. If you haven't already, I'd also call the departments of the programs you're applying to. I contacted the departments and they both said that they appreciated me calling and that a late LOR is okay (not preferable, of course, but it doesn't automatically disqualify your app) and that they would make a note on my app that the third LOR was on its way. This can vary from program to program, but it seems to be the case with all of the programs that I'm applying to. Good luck and stay positive!

This definitely sounds frustrating, but I'm not sure if it's something you need to be really nervous about just yet. He still has plenty of time to get check his mailbox/email and write you a letter - still a month and a half away! If it were me, I think I'd wait to check in until the end of January/beginning of February. My third letter writer that I was SUPER concerned about basically ignored my email giving her all the info (CV, SOP, etc) AND my reminder email, then sent me an email 5 hours before the deadline saying that she had submitted everything. We had a pretty good relationship, so I've just come to the conclusion that she's just lousy at answering emails haha. If you still haven't heard after that check in, maybe call the department and see if they have any information? Good luck!

Yup, that's exactly what I ended up doing and they said a few days late would be fine. Good news is my professor emailed me today and just said she was having some technical difficulties and after talking her through it, we managed to get all of my recs in! Huge weight off of my shoulders, but I'm still glad that I called the departments to double check!

This is similar to the situation I'm going through now. The first thing I'd do is call the graduate admissions office for your schools and let them know what's up and see how hard that deadline is. I called two of my schools and both of them said that they realized this was something that was out of the applicants control and that the deadline was for your application/writing sample/etc. The first school said it wouldn't void my application but to check in with the department to make sure. See what they have to say about that - the second school even told me that they could upload information for a new letter writer after the deadline if my current letter writer never got back to me, so I would start thinking about a possible third letter writer that could possibly submit by the end of next week. I was absolutely freaking out about this, and calling the departments made me feel 100 times better. Definitely call the grad admissions or department, though, 'cause my second school said they were pretty accommodating for students if they were upfront and let them know what was happening. I hope this helps, and I hope you hear from your letter writer soon and that everything works out!

I think it might be kind of strange if you don't have any letters from your MS program. I agree that 1, 2, and 5 seem like good choices, but maybe try emailing your grad research advisor and seeing what kind of response you get (if you're not in a time crunch for your LOR)? Maybe see if you can get 1, 4, and 5 and work from there - if you feel like you can't get a solid recommendation from 4, get one from 2. Just my two cents!

From what I've read/heard, having two good letters and one okay one is pretty common. While I'm still in the process of applying to programs myself, as long as the rest of your app (personal statement, writing sample, work experience, etc.) is decent, you should be in good shape, I think.

Hey guys! So I asked three professors about a month and a half ago for LORs and they all said yes, so I sent along the info for them. I have a pretty solid relationship with all of them, so I wasn't too worried. However, the deadline is two days away and my final professor hasn't uploaded her letter/responded to my reminder email! At the beginning of the week I sent her an email trying to gently remind her that applications were due at the end of the week and that "I've submitted all of my applications and am really excited to take this next step"! I'm applying for the MA English program at a few universities, but Georgetown and Kent State both say that applications will not be considered if anything is late. Am I totally screwed?