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Jarndyce

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  • Location
    Philadelphia
  • Application Season
    2015 Fall
  • Program
    English MA

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  1. Yes I'm going to a state school. The school didn't mention about whether I needed to become a resident in order to maintain my tuition waiver, but I have heard of other schools requiring that you become an in-state student for the second year. And thanks for the feedback Romanista. I did know about the no state income tax in FL, which is another reason I thought it would be better to become a resident, because otherwise I'd be paying the PA piper...I feel like it would kind of be a wash
  2. I apologize that this is off-topic, but I was wondering whether those of you who moved out of state for grad school changed your residency. I currently have my permanent address at my parents' house in Pennsylvania, and my fiancée and I will be moving to Florida this summer. When looking into getting car insurance in Florida, one insurance agent suggested that it would be cheaper if I kept my residency in PA, had my car registered in PA, and had PA insurance on it, because FL insurance is more expensive. I'm just wondering whether this is wise/legal. I have a graduate assistantship and an apartment in Florida, and I plan on living and working there over the summer. Florida requires that if you move there and accept employment that you declare residency/register your car within 10 days(!), but I don't know if there are exceptions for full time students. Does anyone have any experience with this?
  3. Thanks for all your feedback guys. Part of the difficulty is that I don't have the opportunity to visit school A, because they only have me 15 days to respond, and the school is halfway across the country. I've never been to that part of the country, so agreeing to go there kind of feels like agreeing to marry a blind date. Also, the more I look at the funding package, the more I get the feeling that school A will want me to do my PhD there, which is not something I want to get roped into. I think this is one of those situations where I knew what I wanted, but wanted encouragement that it was ok to make the choice that didn't look as good on paper.
  4. It's interesting that you mention that thepriorwalter. I think what you're saying would actually be more of a problem at school A. I noticed that they only require TAs to take 6 credits a semester, which would make finishing in 2 years (the length they fund for) impossible. The only way to get additional funding if you don't finish in two years is applying for the PhD... which makes me wonder whether they try to funnel students into the the PhD. I don't particularly want to do my MA and PhD at the same place on principle, so it's something to consider.
  5. I did mention the Chancellor ' s Award to school B, but only in the sense of "Hey, I still haven't received my funding packet in the mail and I have to respond to A in 15 days." So they emailed me the PDF of the contract I would be signing for my TA position. My fiancee wants me to call school B and negotiate once I get my official package in the mail, so I may do that. If I go to school A, I think I might regret years from now putting money ahead of family. The only reason I would regret school B is if it hurt my PhD prospects.
  6. Hey guys, I know there's already a thread on decisions, but my situation is a little specific. I've been accepted to two MA programs. Both are state schools, but School A is ranked signifcantly higher than School B (50 vs 100s). Both expect the same teaching load, and both are offering full tuition for two years. School A offered me a slightly larger stipend (about $500 more a year), and the Chancellor ' s Award, which is a one time monetary gift of $5000. So it seems like it should be a no brainer. But here's the issue: over the past year, I've really fallen in love with the idea of moving to the area where School B is. I have family there that I currently live 18 hours away from and usually only see once a year, and was looking forward to spending time with them. (One of these family members is my favorite uncle who had been fighting terminal illness for 5 years). Not to mention that it's a beautiful area (the higher ranked school is in an arctic tundra). It's also worth mentioning that I've never been to the area where School A is, neither will I have time to visit because I only have 15 days (!) to accept the Chancellor ' s award. Honestly, the reason I applied to School A is that I've been going back and forth all year on whether I should do my master's at 1) the location that I love and that is near my family or 2) to the best school that will give me money. And now the rubber meets the road and I have to choose. My heart is telling me that I should obviously go to the area that I want to live in and that is near my family. My head is telling me that I should obviously go to the better school that is falling all over itself giving me money. And write frankly, I know what I want to do: I want to go to school B. But I feel like I'm making that choice for emotional reasons, and that I'd be fool to turn down A ' s offer/that A would help me get into better PhD than B could. I've been mulling over the same pro con list for the past 24 hours, so any fresh perspective will be greatly appreciated.
  7. Good to know! I will have to take teaching composition, but I also get one other elective, so I'm definitely going to try to make that a rhetoric course. I'm glad to hear that the transition is feasible, because I still feel very green to all of this, and I really just want some time to get my feet wet and really figure out what I want to do. I have this general fear in various areas of life that I'm going to make decisions today that will situate me in a position where I'm painted into a corner ten years from now that I don't want to be in. It's helpful to hear from experienced people that that's not quite where I'm headed.
  8. Luckily my school offers both an MA and a PhD in Rhetoric/Composition. They also offer a certificate in teaching composition, but when I contacted the program director he said it wasn't rally feasible to finish the MA and that certificate in two years. That said, because I'll be a TA, I will have to take teaching composition. I'll also have one free elective, which could be a rhet/comp course. This is all very helpful, I'm feeling much less dreadful
  9. Thanks for all the feedback guys! To answer your question ProfLorax, my issues with the slightly higher ranked school were two fold. First, I'm not only waitlisted for funding, but the letter seemed to imply that even if I get funded for year 1, it's not guaranteed for year two. Second, I have relatives by the other school, so my heart is there more. ( At the same time, this contributed to me worrying that I chose the school for emotional reasons). Related to your question Wonton (I also posted this in the rhet/comp thread, but I might as well share it here too): I applied for the MA in literature because I always assumed I was going to want to study literature. But over the past couple of days I've been looking into rhet/comp, and thinking that I may want to purse that for a PhD. Is the MA in Literature going to be a waste of time if I end up in rhet/comp? Will I even be able figure out what I'd want to study in that field? Thanks again guys! Already feeling better
  10. So this might be a silly question, being that so many of you came from different fields...But I'm planning on starting my MA in English literature this fall, and then moving on to a PhD program. It wasn't until very recently (I.e., about two days ago) that I realized how interesting the rhet/comp field is, and that I might like to pursue a PhD in that, rather than literature. Will applying to Rhet/Comp PhDs with a master's in literature put me at a major disadvantage to those who already have rhet/comp degrees?
  11. Hey guys! I'm a long time reader on grad cafe, but this is my first time posting. I graduated with my BA in English from a small university in the Philly suburbs last May, then took a gap year before applying to grad programs. Even though I graduated with a 4.0 and scored well on the GRE, I opted to look at funded MA programs because I was unsure how I wanted to specialise. I was accepted to both programs I applied to, one for a state school ranked in the 50s that waitlisted me for "competitive funding," and one for a state school ranked in the 100s, but that offered me full funding for two years with teaching both years. So I know I should be thrilled, but of course now my anxiety is kicking into full gear. I apologize if this is beating a dead horse, but I'm just concerned whether getting my MA from such a low ranked state school is going to hurt my applications to PhD programs. I'm not really looking to go to an Ivy; my dream school is a well-ranked state school with good placement rates. But I'm fully aware of how cutthroat this process is, and I'm just worried that going to a less prestigious master's will shut me out of even those programs. Any feedback is helpful. My fiancee is growing weary of listening to my self pity
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