WriterTyger
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Posts posted by WriterTyger
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Also, showing up directly at this professor's office hours unannounced could also be unwelcome simply because you are currently facing the end of semester shuffle.
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Depends on your relationship with that professor.
If you've not spoken to him in years, perhaps a polite, professional email would be a good starting point.
It might not even be a bad idea to include in the body of your email the class(es) you completed with him. If you've not v seen him in years, and haven't kept in contact, remind him why you would want him to write you a letter. Did you connect especially with him? Did your research mesh with his? Did he serve as a supervisor for you lab wise or teaching wise. It's important to reconnect!
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As I worked through my MA, I made sure to find time to see friends at least one a week, even if it was just to grab a cup of tea and a scone. You need reminders that there is life outside your department, research, classes, teaching load.
I also made sure to meditate whenever I could, typically between my office hours and my own classes.
And tea. Lots of it.
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I've had roommates of either gender and any sexuality (I'm female). Honestly, as long as you and the roommate(s) establish rules for yourselves-personal space, cleaning up, having guests over-life should be peachy regardless of genders.
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I have so many...I'm going with the first one I thought of.
Mel Brooks History of the World, Part 1
The entire "Spanish Inquisition" sequence. It just makes me giggle.
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If you're worried about your letters of recommendation, start asking your recomenders now and let them know what schools you will be applying for. If they choose, they can start drafting their letters early, or they can simply have the information and wait until it is closer.
Professors understand the application process, so they should be (in my experience anyway) okay being asked now and simplyv waiting until the season opens back up.
I'm reapplying this coming year, for example, and I've already spoken to two of my recommendation writers for next year.
Best of luck!
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Another strategy to use in order to prevent this from happening again is to take time before you start writing to create your works cited page. On that document, you not only put your citations, but you also work up the parentetical citations and just leave the page numbers blank.
Having your citations in another document forces you to remember to continually cite, but this way you just have to copy and paste and add a page number. Super easy.
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I began with a mind map. Put the program/school in the center than branched out from there. I covered everything I could think of. When that was done I had something solid to work from to create an outline. From the outline I wrote the paper. Even though I began with a first word to a first paragraph, it wasn't my opining paragraph. I answered the questions asked in the essay prompts, filled in the necessary details, and then wrote the first paragraph last as it was really a summery of what was to come in the rest of the essay that followed.
I really didn't use a hook.
I don't know why I haven't used a mind map as a starting place before. I'm facing reapplying next season and I think this will help me reformulate my SOP into something a bit clearer and more coherent. Thanks for the idea!
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I'm going to echo others who have commented already. You need to own up to this ASAP. If you are given the chance to resubmit, be sure to cite everything exactly. If you are not given the chance to submit, which is completely possible, be gracious and understand that you made a mistake.
Use the resources people have listed previously to make your life easier and be sure that this never happens again. Professors talk to one another within a department, and you don't want this kind of thing sticking with you reputation wise.
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Can you give any more info on what you mean by this? Like an example of what you wish you would have done?
I can sure try. A lot of people find ways to start email conversations with faculty they wish to work with.
As a literature student, I wish that I would have been able to read more writing produced by the professors in wanted to work with. With that basis, I would have been able to better tailor my SOP to best fit the program that I wanted to work within. I really wish that I had emailed professors within the department or found places that they were speaking (lectures or conferences) so that I could have made a personal connection and thus maybe have a POI who would be willing to serve as an advisor for my research goals.
I'm sorry, that was probably rambling...did that help to clarify at all?
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I'm not sure if this has been stated already, but...
1. Make sure your research topic is broad enough to give you a lot of choices but narrow enough to attract specific POIs. This is something I'll be working on for this coming application season.
Also 2. Find ways to connect with your potential departments. I wish I would have done both of these things, as I feel they might have helped nudge me off a wait list and into acceptance.
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Fantastic :-) I think having others involved will keep me writing. I hope.
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Reading wise, I adore Young Adult literature (though I moonlight as a middle/high school English teacher when not frantically applying to grad school).
Food wise, anything with chocolate in it is a surefire win. Though a good pastry sometimes can just make my day.
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Are we just PMing links to one another?
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Bowties, I just PMed you a link. :-)
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While I'm not in the grad school in the fall boat (yay reapplying), I've decided that I'm going to blog my way through the Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism as a start while I work through the process of reapplying.
I decided this yesterday, so I've got nothing started really.
If possible, I'd Love to connect through blogs and research.
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The two I am considering seem to both be 12 hours when unattached to a specific degree.
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Crazy, I already have the MA, so this would be in addition. A "get back on the horse" mentality for me.
As it is only 4 classes, I could get it done in a semester. So out of pocket wouldn't necessarily be terrible.
Are certificates typically only 4-6 courses long?
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Writer Tiger, I have one. I am glad I did it; I learned a ton, and I use a lot of the information in all of my research.
I've been thinking about it for a while now, and with this season turning out not so stellar, I think this would be the perfect chance. Now to figure out how to afford it.
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So I'm giving some thought to working through a graduate certificate in a more specialized field- women and gender studies. As I'm not considering shifting my PhD research goals to align more with this field, I think it might be beneficial when reapplying next cycle.
It would only be 4 classes, I'd be enjoying what I was learning about, and I think it would help in terms of the application process.
Thoughts?
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I'd find some balance between striking while things are still fresh in their memories (particularly if you were on wait lists and your application was recently reviewed) while also not harassing them too soon--maybe next week?
That sounds like a smart plan. Next week it is...
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I'm so glad to hear that changing your research focus is actually a good thing.
For whatever reason, my quotes aren't working...but Staircase, thank you for the advice overall. That pretty much describes my steps for this coming season. Which has officially started with some GRE studying and restructuring of my research goals.
When would be the best time to contact the department about the application? I'm figuring that I would wait a little bit for things in the department to settle down from the hectic application process. Logical?
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I'll also be retaking my GREs and attempting to contact a few POIs from the two local universities. I'm still location bound, so two again for next year.
I'm working on making my research more of a fit, so...a lot of work to do.
We can do this! ...right?
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So, after the heartbreak of no acceptances (though the wait list was better than outright rejection...), I'm already starting to consider the next round of applications. I'm stuck locally, so I have two options for an English PhD. Limiting, I know.
I'm hoping to be able to chat with others...our own little grad cafe cohort...in preparation for next season. I know we have the advice for applicants thread, but I figured this could be a sounding board for SOP, research goals, General panic...
As for me, I'm reconsidering my research goals entirely to more align with fit...and the "New" focus is just another aspect of the field that I've been interested in.
So, who's with me in starting up a new sounding board?
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