twlk417

Anyone know what all we should be wearing to the D.C. orientation...? Business casual, maybe?

So I guess I'm a little confused--what exactly is our next step? Like obviously we need to fill out forms, but what about things like visas? It'd be great if Jonathan Akeley would give some input. I'm so lost!

Um. So I just got an ETA to Mongolia. I screamed and jumped up and down for an hour and now I'm absolutely terrified. I absolutely don't believe this is happening.

That's a relief to hear. As passionate as I am about academic research in rhetoric, I am very committed to my endeavors in playwriting and musical theatre as well. While I'm sure I won't have as much time for these as I do now, it's comforting to know that graduate school won't completely cancel out the artistic part of my life.

Something that's been concerning me lately. Obviously grad school takes up the majority of one's time, but do any of you current antendees ever have time for those extra things you like to do (i.e. musical instruments, art, sports, theatre?) If so, when do you have the time and what do you like to do?

The wait list at USC didn't convert. Oh well. I'm only 22, right?

Rejected from Purdue's masters program for rhet/comp. I'm pretty bummed, but I'll just tell myself I made it to the invisible wait list and that's good. ...I'll just tell myself that.

I'm dying over here. I'm one of "a small number" of people on the USC wait list. They were due to give final decisions on April 1st. I know that 2 of the 3 initial acceptees have already accepted (including the lucky person here!), and there is one holdout. The committee has to figure out if an international grant will cover that student's extra expenses or something. The wait is destroying my soul. I wish they'd just reject me so I can get it over with. I want to attend so badly, but the "They like me! They really, really like me!" feeling wore off about two weeks ago. I know it's my first time applying, but GAWD.

Congratulations on Iowa, tjack! If you need any advice or info on the Theatre department or Iowa City, feel free to PM me.

Thanks for the advice - that was my initial instinct too. One final concern. Say that money isn't necessarily as "big" a problem for me as it might be to some other people. If I have other possible sources of funding through personal relationships, not necessarily enough to mooch off of worry-free, but enough to significantly decrease the debt burden and the relinquish the pressure of immediately paying the tuition money back right after the degree, would that change your answers at all?

Hey guys! I'm a long-time lurker, and I'm feeling a bit shy about posting, so please be kind! I am still waiting on a couple schools (I am a MASTER of waitlists...), but I have received an offer from CMU's MA program in Rhetoric. The department seems very kind and they have sent me a lot of emails inviting me to Pittsburgh and encouraging me to enroll. CMU is a dream school for sure. I love their curriculum and I know it's super prestigious. The cohort is usually only 10-12 students, so there's the promise of personal attention. But still, I was deferred from their PhD program down to the MA, which gives me some big concerns. Firstly, the tuition. My little bro attends the school, so I'm well-aware of how stingy CMU is with scholarships. Still, I'm not particularly happy with the fact that at a school with 38,000 in tuition, I was offered a 17,250 scholarship. That's a large chunk of change left unaccounted for, not including the living expenses in Pitt. Granted, there ARE opportunities for employment--tutoring in the communications center, RA-ships, and an occasional TA-ship. Still... $12 for probably only 10-20 hours a week isn't fantastic at a school that expensive, is it? But still, the school offers a 1-YEAR MA. That would make the tuition less painful. However, that does pose some potential problems, doesn't it? Is a 1-year MA too fast? Does it not offer me enough time to gauge where my interests lie and make stronger applications to PhD programs? I'd love to attend CMU's PhD program, but it's not necessarily a feeder MA, so... So I guess my real question is this: If none of my other schools pan out, and I'm left with CMU's MA in Rhetoric as my only real option for grad school, should I follow my heart and attend CMU's awesome and interdisciplinary Rhetoric program, or should I follow my brain and not go into a bunch of debt for a stingy, 1-year program? I'm just not sure, and it's KILLING me. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!!!

Hey, I'm in undergrad at Iowa so I thought I'd fill you in. Our incoming class of MFA playwrights is usually around 3-4 people. The program is decent enough, but there aren't actually any active playwrights on the faculty anymore. The closest they had to one just left for a job at a nearby college, so the program is running on reputation alone at this point. If you get in, that's fantastic! Iowa City is fun and the theatre scene is really, really strong. If you don't, you don't. The program is good, but...nothing stellar. I truly believe you'd be just as happy at another program. Best of luck!

Hi guys! This is my first post. Apparently I made te waitlist at USC, and I'm BEYOND psyched. I was expecting zero good news since I'm applying right out of undergrad. Apparently they only accepted three students...so do you guys think there's a realistic chance of me getting off that waitlist? I have no knowledge of how many they waitlist or what the enrollment rates are. Apparently I'll know by 4/1, but I can't stand the waiting...