BrookeSnow

I'm seconding this as my experience with Buffalo.

Has anyone applied to or done the summer publishing institute at either NYU or Columbia? I'm interested in carving out a career in publishing eventually. Right now I'm just looking for general impressions of the programs i.e if people found the programs useful. If it helps, currently I'm a graduate student working on my M.A. in Literature. I'm working to get an internship with a publishing house over the summer (2014). I'd like to explore my options and these programs sound interesting/informative way to learn more. I wouldn't be applying to these programs until next year (2015). Thanks in advance for any information ya'll can provide. * Note: I put this under journalism because Columbia's Journalism school runs the Summer Publishing Institute, if there is a better forum to put this under please let me know.

I used SUNY Buffalo in all of my SOP materials. They accepted me so I figure that was okay.

I wouldn't lie. I am currently in an M.A. program with no intentions of going on for a Phd, which seems to shock everyone. "But why wouldn't you want to be a Professor of English??" I was upfront and honest about my career goals and had no problem getting into schools. Now, I don't know if this changes if you are applying to Phd. programs but I would assume if you have to lie you are not going to enjoy your experience in the program.

Hi everyone, I have a graduate assistantship starting this fall. I will be responsible for teaching a freshman composition class. I will have full responsibility for designing the class, teaching, grading etc. I am trying to get my hands on an advance copy of the university-made collection of essays. I feel kind of like I cannot do anything until I know what the student will have to read. Is there anything I can start doing now to prepare for this? Like picking out a semester long theme or something?

My to do list: 1. Upgrade to a smart phone: I've had the same flip phone with no internet or texting forever 2. Decide if I am going to get a new laptop 3. If I dont get a new laptop am I going to get an ipad or just hang on to the old laptop 4. Figure out banking in my new town 5. Figure out if I need a car or bike ( Need to know if I need to drag these across the country or not) 6. Find winter clothes and summer clothes. Ohio's summers and winters are more extreme than where I am now and none of my current staples will cut it. 7. Throw out or donate stuff to make room for the above mentioned items.

Thank you, this eases my mind so much.

Is a thank you gift required? I had planned to send a nice thank you card. I think I'm hesitant because I always was told that putting anything that looks like a monetary value on a recommendation is bad. Would it be awful if I just send a hand written thank you note?

I applied to 14 and got into 10. I think I thought most of my schools were reach schools. At this point I'm not sure what I thought anymore. I probably should have applied to less but I think my application got stronger with every school and the school I will attend in the fall might not have made a shorter list. I think 10 schools is typical for my field though maybe for the PhD instead of the M.A.

Does anyone have insight into how tuition waivers work? Do you get a bill for tuition and then get a second statement showing the balance is zero? Does every school have a different way of handling these sort of things? Is this the sort of thing that works differently for different departments? For example waivers work one way in literature departments and another in Comp? I plan to call the school on Monday and ask questions but I wondered if anyone had any idea how these things usually work.

For those who use Vera Bradley bags. Are you using the tote or the weekender? I really like the look of the tote but I think I need the strap. What are you opinions on the bags?

Has anyone tried the Vera Bradley Grand Traveler bag? I've found one on sale online and it looks like it might fit all my stuff (laptop, books, files, lunch, water bottle etc). Im trying to figure out if it might be too big. Any thoughts? Found here http://www.verabradley.com/product/Category/Travel/Grand-Traveler/1001910/defaultColorVariantId/179103/pc/638/c/0/sc/646/p/1001910.uts

Proflorax and thatjewishgirl- Thank you for the insight. The class I am going to teach is Intro to College Writing. I'm pretty sure it is the Freshman Comp class. There is not a required reader. Proflorax I would appreciate any advice or syllabus help possible. I've never taught at the college level and I'm unsure how this is supposed to work. I like the idea of keeping the theme vague, so students have some choice. I will have to think about what type of general topics I find interesting but would let students embrace their own voice.

Question for those who are going to teach. How did you figure out what to teach. I have some leeway and am starting to stress about what I should focus the class on.

I am trying to get back into academic reading. I feel like I have been out of the loop for the past two years and need to brush up. Especially as I will be teaching in the fall. Also, trying to not panic about moving across the country and figuring out how to get my stuff from point A to point B.