thepriorwalter

Have you thought about Ohio State and Maryland for rhet/comp? UC Boulder also just got a pretty great hire this year but I'm not sure what the program there looks like beyond that. ETA: that was in reply to bowtiesarecool! Bah, Internet forum posting.

Internet forums are also sensitive to posting norms, which have slowly shifted as the more prolific application season posters have found less need of the board, thus allowing negative, and in some cases troll, voices to be amplified and define new standards of acceptable posting style. ETA: as a new season picks up on the board, I believe it is possible for another good community to emerge.

I asked a professor of mine who I loved for a letter of rec for grad programs this year. While they initially agreed, when I met with them to discuss the letter, and explained what my future project was, they tried very heavily to dissuade me from using them. They said their preference was not to write the letter. My feelings were hurt. But they also told me they felt two professors in our department who I had worked with (one who I had worked with much less intensely than I had with them) would be more strategic for my application. They also said they'd write the letter if both other professors told me no. After getting over my own pride issues, I asked the other professor I mentioned. I know for a fact that his letter of rec was the reason I was accepted to a program I had been rejected from the first time I applied, because the program told me as much. It was the difference maker. (I didn't go there, but it was a good offer to have on the table.) Long story to say your professor might be doing something similar and, if they feel other professors might be more strategic, it could be good to listen to them.

For the school I ended up choosing, I had gone to the movies alone to see Big Hero 6. I had my phone on "do not disturb," which sends everything straight to voicemail (and rarely tells me if I missed a call that didn't leave a voicemail). I got home and took my phone out to call the friends I had plans with that night about what time I should meet them and saw I had a voicemail from Ann Arbor, MI that was 3 minutes long. Stared at the screen for five minutes before I could make myself press play.

As an applicant with an MA, only 2/5 of my acceptances were giving me any credits at all for my MA. You stay in coursework just as long as an applicant wih only a BA but the department has the knowledge that you are capable of completing a degree in a timely fashion. Anyway, something for MAs to think about: your dream program may not give you advanced standing for your degree.

I had a lot of family/family friends invested in my decision because of my parents talking up their kids (my sister is deciding between law schools at the moment), so I ordered a Michigan sweatshirt and posted myself wearing the sweatshirt on social media, to alert everyone of the decision. No violating family politics about who to tell first, no leaving anyone out. And an excuse to buy school spirit stuff.

INHAC!!!!!!!!!! I AM THROWING A PARTY

I sent a crazy paranoid email to the DGS about whether all my paperwork was in (with the graduate school, for a schoolwide fellowship). That's how to celebrate April 15th, right??????

Congratulations, Wyatt's Torch! Just don't become a Caps fan, y'hear? This seems like an excellent opportunity for you, and I hope it's fruitful and productive.

Ramus! Congratulations! I take it that means you loved OSU's visit weekend?

InHac!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

To second Chicago, they also have a really good Slavic studies department (I believe Eric Santner is there?). If you're looking outside the top 30, Florida is a pretty interdisciplinary program that values the study of non-literature texts and, although the German and Slavic Studies department has been undergoing some serious changes, there are wonderful professors there, who work closely with the English department, with whom you could take courses and who could sit on a committee. Unsolicited advice: the statement of purpose is not really at all like a college admissions essay, with the exception of a few schools (like Michigan) that ask for a second essay documenting your personal story/personal investment in graduate work. The SOP is really its own genre and one of the hardest things, for me, in the application process was figuring out what a good SOP looks like. To that end, read as many as you can get your hands on before you write yours. Then, if you want to take a risk in your SOP, you know exactly how you're breaking from convention and can be purposeful with it, instead of writing something off the mark. Or you can just write a really good SOP that is very similar in structure to other successful SOPs because you've studied the form.

ME. I'm so sorry that happened to you!

Can't upvote on my phone, but congrats on all the fantastic news today, 1Q84!

The programs to which I was accepted made it clear that without a decision by 5 PM (3 PM in one case) on the 15th, they couldn't hold my seat in the program. I was under the impression not much action happens after the 15th.

Turned down: Alberta, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, University of Florida Accepted: Michigan Areas: gender and sexuality, pop culture, 20th-century American

In my experience, this is actually one of the benefits of attending a lower-ranked (not in US News top 35) program at a large public university. There tends to be A LOT of teaching opportunities, with varying degrees of freedom. Yes, composition classes, but also literature classes where you design the syllabus (both readings and assignments) and even upper-division courses. No, it doesn't set you up for a top research-oriented job, but it does make you attractive with respect to more teaching-oriented jobs.

Did anyone else receive one? If you are a Rackham Merit Fellow, how do you feel this is impacting your time at Michigan? I know the summer bridge program is now becoming the RMF Connection program -- anyone have thoughts on whether the summer programming is worth it or are you considering it?

I'm a second-year MA in UF's department and was planning on going to some welcome events. PM me if you have questions or want to meet up!

As someone who did a master's, I do feel as though my successful application season was owed to getting an MA degree and that having teaching experience did help. I don't know that any school looked at my application and said, "She's the person we want because she has tons of teaching experience," but I do know that having teaching experience meant I had a teaching philosophy and was able to make connections between it and my research methodology, which in turn made me look like a more directed applicant than I had been previously and gave me practice in talking about myself as a teacher/scholar in coherent ways. For an MA degree I would: (1) Follow the money. (2) Really follow the money. (3) The money being equal, follow the teaching opportunities. (4) Avoid one-year programs, because they generally still require a gap year, so why not spend two years in the MA program if both take the same amount of time?

I feel this way about Michigan, and I've vowed to be present during next application cycle for people who are admitted. But even the current admits aren't really around. Interesting how some schools draw bigger TGC crowds than others.

Officially turned down my last out-standing offer today (Pitt) and confirmed my decision to attend the University of Michigan.

Hey, everyone! In February, I made travel arrangements to visit my two top choices. After visiting department A, I am fairly certain it's not the place for me, and I think I am ready to accept department B's offer. Will department B still pay for the cost of my visit if I've formally accepted their offer already? There isn't a real rush to accept, except that (1) turning down department A's offer might give the person they call off the wait list a chance to visit and (2) it would benefit me re: a specific housing opportunity to have formally accepted the department's offer. Can't decide if this is a silly question but figured I'd ask. Thanks!

InHac!!! Congratulations! That IS a small wait list! Glad to hear it.

I am gender and sexuality studies or pop culture; I don't actually know which was the group that accepted me. I also do 20th-century lit, so it's possible I am not that helpful for you. Sorry! Campus visit was very enlightening as to the fact that the department I visited was not the place for me!