Pranayama

Thanks so much, sf210, Datatape, and AurantiacaStella . I am going to visit the program in question in a few weeks, and I will formulate some questions for faculty/current grad students based on your feedback. One tricky response I've gotten in the past is that it "depends on funding." It's difficult to tell whether they are just covering their arses in case there is a financial crisis, or they just don't want to be upfront about the unlikelihood of funding coming in for everyone. I've never taught before (although I have tutored extensively and done classroom presentations), and I am concerned about doing the kind of quality work I want to do for my courses with such a high teaching load. I am not afraid of hard work, but I don't want to be delusional about my capabilities either. (and apologies for the bold font, my comp. is spazzing).

Thank you for this. What I'm gathering is that a 2:2 teaching load (which one of my schools offered me) is quite high in relation to other programs. Which is a bit nerve-wracking. Can anyone with a current 2:2 teaching load weigh in here?

An additional question: does anyone know about the unfunded MA in rhetoric at Carnegie Mellon? I just got accepted. There is no way I will attend as I already have two other funded offers (one MA and one PhD), but they have some wonderful faculty at CMU that I would have loved to work with (namely Suguru Ishizaki and David Kaufer). Is it a money-making sort of program, similar to the MAPH at U of Chicago? I am not trying to offend students or former students at either program, I am just curious.

Yes the faculty at Miami seem absolutely lovely. I just spoke with a colleague who is ABD at CUNY, and she told me about the 3 or 4 course teaching load that many CUNY students take on for financial reasons. Comparatively speaking, that made me feel a lot better about the 2:2 at Arizona.

Yes, I will be at the Miami event! My partner's schedule is pretty tight up until April 15, so there is a chance that we will visit Tucson this weekend. Crazy, I know. I could theoretically go on my own later, and I might, but I want him to get a good feel for the cities we might live in before I make any decisions. But yes, U of A seems like a phenomenal program. Also in regards to the load, Dr. McAllister mentioned some fellowship opportunities, so hopefully those could help? Ahh I have many, many questions.... I am just a bit worried about doing the kind of quality research and writing I want to accomplish while juggling a heavy teaching load.

Hey Ploroflax, congrats I received a phone call acceptance from the RCTE director over the weekend. I really want to visit if possible, to get a better sense of the program's environment. But it seems fantastic. What are your thoughts on the GTA load? Also I see that you are considering Miami of Ohio as well, which is my other option thus far!

Thanks for the info, Zachary HHEoS: Solid advice. My app for Madison still reads "pending" and I am waitlisted there, so that might be the case. I have been in touch with the Assistant Director of Graduate Admissions. I will try contacting the English department directly.

Thanks, will do. I have called multiple times about this issue, and I have been in frequent contact with their office. I was told that my newly completed file would be reviewed this Monday via email, so I was holding off for a bit. Their admissions office makes it sound like they have no direct contact with the admissions committee in charge of acceptances/rejections, which is plausible but makes this whole process all the more difficult to navigate. At this point I have a complex about "annoying them," but really this needs to be resolved one way or another.

Am I the only person whose application is still "in review" for OSU? I had some issues with a study abroad transcript, which apparently has finally been resolved on their end. And yet while I was initially given optomistic feedback by a women in the graduate studies office, I was recently told that "they [the admissions committee] could have gone ahead without this information." I am not terribly hopeful, but I am quite confused. Waitlist perhaps?

Nope, no email.

Sorry :/ This whole thing is so painful I know. When she paused before telling me this information over the phone I blurted out "ITS OKAY DON"T FEEL BAD JUST TELL ME THE TRUTH" or something really awkward like that.

Hey girl who wears glasses and other Madison applicants: I spoke with Robyn over the phone yesterday (don't judge me please). She told me that even though my application reads pending, I am waitlisted. She also informed me that Madison has two waitlists, first tier (I'd assume that's people they really do want, but don't have the funding capacity for), and second tier. I am second tier, so frankly not counting on anything, although she said "please don't write us off." Frankly I am very surprised I even got waitlisted, as it was one of my earliest and shittiest applications. But maybe you guys made it to tier one.....

Plus my online status still reads "incomplete" because they never removed my previous transcript that had issues from the system. So it is doubled. I guess I should trust them that they are actually reviewing my application and giving me a shot? So tempted to call...

I had a similar thing with OSU, which really only cleared up this Tuesday. When I first called about the issue, I was told that it was a "good sign" they wanted a better copy of my transcript. Most acceptances and rejections and even waitlist notifications have already gone out for OSU though... ahh so painful!

Excellent! Thanks for the information!

Has anyone here applied to/heard from University of Arizona?

FYI, I called the OSU office today for something else and their director of graduate admissions isn't in the office today. So if she is coordinating these announcements, or if RCL department members are off for President's Day too, the notices won't be going out until tomorrow.

Okay, thanks for sharing!

For those of you whose applications are still "pending" at Madison, are you just waiting patiently or do you think it's worth contacting the admissions office? I am assuming it means waitlist at this point (or maybe a flat out rejection) but I wish I knew. On the other hand, I don't want to be a pain in the ass. Rational or irrational reservation?

Thanks for the update. I feel slightly ill....

Okay, the general consensus here seems to be that if you ultimately plan on applying to PhD programs, a one year MA is not the way to go for a combination of financial, academic and professional reasons. That said, does anyone know anything about the one year MA in rhetoric through Carnegie Mellon? Carnegie Mellon is a great fit for my research interests, and I don't yet have an MA (I am considering an pursuing an MA degree first if I don't get into a strong program this time around).

At risk of sounding extremely naive (which I'll admit, I am), what percentage of attendees usually have fellowships? And practically speaking, how does that affect your experience at the university? More time to do research because you can TA less, correct? Are you regarding as a "second class" student if you aren't on fellowship? And does it vary from program to program? Thanks in advance for any explanations.

this wait is killing me. i am thoroughly pessimistic, but then occasionally i find myself harboring these overly optimistic delusions of imminent grandeur and success, and then i plummet back down to reality again...

x3! While we differ in that this is my first time applying, I feel your pain guys. It's nice to know I'm not the only spaz whose early apps were somewhat sloppy. And of course, those are now the schools I want to attend the most. Classic.

Impressively mature reaction. Was the letter via post, or email? And did your online app status change? Sorry to grill you, but my status is still "pending" and I am trying to gather all the info I can here....