rising_star

I'm in the social sciences and it's pretty standard now to see pronouns in people's email signature. I have it in mine and I am neither trans nor nonbinary. I would definitely correct them and use that as an opportunity to assess their openness to it and thus the kind of environment you'd be walking into. I would definitely do so in advance if they're using gender as a basis for housing assignments (e.g., trying to have people room with someone of the same gender) as you wouldn't want to make a fellow interviewing applicant uncomfortable. Otherwise, I'd wait and make corrections in person so that you can read body language.

So, I have an undergrad degree in literature. I like reading and read a ton growing up but studying literature in an academic context was very different than reading it for pleasure. It's also different from the way you approach and look at texts/data when studying law, political science, etc. @Warelin has already given you some excellent advice. In addition to it, I'd just add that I think the best way to determine if you want to study literature and conduct literary research as an academic/scholar is to start by taking one or two upper-level or MA literature courses as a non-degree student. That way you can determine if this is really, truly your calling before going through the application process for and entering into a graduate program that may not be the right fit.

I've sent out a bunch of rec letters this year. What I enjoy about doing is highlighting things that the student themselves hasn't/can't in their SoP due to space limitations. So, I'll write in greater detail about a project they did or a time they handled a difficult situation well or something they did that pushed themselves outside their comfort zone and how they succeeded. Alternately, I'll explain someone's grades (e.g., why a student failed a course and what they learned from it, or how that failure changed their path) or personal life circumstances if necessary (e.g., taking an overload to graduate early for financial reasons, which of course inhabits one's extra and co-curricular opportunities). All of that is valuable for the admissions committee and not something the applicant is likely to share in their own materials or in a 15-30 min Skype interview where everyone is being asked the same questions.
As someone who has been on the job market, I've done a number of Skype interviews. Trust me when I say that they don't always give you the chance to shine in the way you might want as an applicant, in part because there are 3-7 people asking questions, you can't know the questions in advance, and they want everyone to answer the same questions in the same order. And, having been on a search committee, I can say that doing 4 straight hours of 15 minute interviews is exhausting and all the candidates start to blur together, which you hate but also can't entirely avoid. There's no world in which I'd do Skype interviews with 50+ people unless it was specifically for a research project and there was no other way to collect those data.

I've sent out a bunch of rec letters this year. What I enjoy about doing is highlighting things that the student themselves hasn't/can't in their SoP due to space limitations. So, I'll write in greater detail about a project they did or a time they handled a difficult situation well or something they did that pushed themselves outside their comfort zone and how they succeeded. Alternately, I'll explain someone's grades (e.g., why a student failed a course and what they learned from it, or how that failure changed their path) or personal life circumstances if necessary (e.g., taking an overload to graduate early for financial reasons, which of course inhabits one's extra and co-curricular opportunities). All of that is valuable for the admissions committee and not something the applicant is likely to share in their own materials or in a 15-30 min Skype interview where everyone is being asked the same questions.
As someone who has been on the job market, I've done a number of Skype interviews. Trust me when I say that they don't always give you the chance to shine in the way you might want as an applicant, in part because there are 3-7 people asking questions, you can't know the questions in advance, and they want everyone to answer the same questions in the same order. And, having been on a search committee, I can say that doing 4 straight hours of 15 minute interviews is exhausting and all the candidates start to blur together, which you hate but also can't entirely avoid. There's no world in which I'd do Skype interviews with 50+ people unless it was specifically for a research project and there was no other way to collect those data.

@skhann You are potentially missing the fact that even if you choose a letter writer who will write a good letter (which is expected!), what they say is more important than the fact that they think you are amazing. People reading those letters care about your specific interactions with that letter writer. If you conducted research with the individual, what roles did you play in the research? Were you independent or did you need constant guidance? Did you take a leadership role, or were you simply following the instructions of others? Etc.
Those are the most important details in the LOR, rather than simply "do you like this person"?

Ummm... this is going to bother/upset some people but, I really don't see it as my job to manage students' mental health. Instead, I point them to the appropriate campus resources and encourage them to take advantage of them. Because I am not trained in mental health care so beyond general statements that almost anyone could find on the internet, I don't have much to offer students.
As far as grades themselves, I generally remind students who are freaking out that X assignment is worth only Y percentage of their course grade. That context can be helpful because it reminds them that they may have failed a particular assignment but that assignment is only worth like 5% of their course grade so they could still, in theory at least, get an A. Oh, and I frequently tell them that grades don't really matter, that you don't need a 4.0 to get into grad/law/med school, and that employers are going to care about things beyond your grades when hiring you. Better to have real experience and interests than anything else so I push them to do internships for credit, get summer jobs, do summer research, etc.

I should've said some of what @TakeruK said in their post, btw. I accept late work with no penalty provided a student tells me in advance (and that could be 5 min before class, but shhh I try not to tell them that). Why? Because it's like a job where you ask for permission to miss a deadline and then wait to see if you'll be allowed to. I also don't care about the reason for that extension and typically ask students to tell me when they can realistically expect to submit the work. The only time I change deadlines is to push them back for everyone, not just for one person.
I hold more than the required minimum number of office hours each week, am available by appointment, and encourage students to just drop in when they're in the building/hallway to chat. I tell jokes about my own college grades and those of other faculty. Once I showed an entire class my college transcript as a way of pointing out that their grades in that one course weren't going to keep them from achieving their goals AND that your major in college doesn't really determine your life since I'm now in a completely different field than what I studied in undergrad.
And this is a small thing: no extra credit. Ever. For any reason. Why? Because students will work themselves up in a tizzy trying to do every last bit of extra credit to salvage their grade rather than focusing on the work itself. (Also, because if something is so important that I want people to do it, it's going to be an assignment and not extra credit.)
At the end of the day, we can encourage students to develop the skills needed to manage their anxiety but we can't keep it from existing and that's important to remember for the sake of your own mental health. I've been known to tell students that the campus counseling center is basically the only time in your life where you can have an almost unlimited number of weekly appointments and go to group sessions all without having to spend a dime out of pocket (ours is fully covered by their campus fees). I couple that with telling them that as a working adult, I pay over $100/month for health insurance and would have a $20 co-pay to see a therapist if I wanted to AND there's probably a 2-3 month wait for that first appointment. The message for them? Do it now while it's cheaper and you have easy access to it. That approach has worked for me with several students so I keep using it.

OP, in addition to what everyone else has said unless you are the accountants for your classmates you really don't know what their finances are like.  They could be running up thousands of dollars in credit card debt or their parents might be on their behalf.  I also think its important to point out that you're choosing to live solely on your stipend even though it is extremely difficult.  I don't know your financial situation, but student loans could be an option for you and could be worth considering if they would improve your standard of living enough to prevent suffering (which it sounds you are from what you've said).  I'm not saying use them irresponsibly by getting a luxury car or vacationing in Europe.  However, there is nothing wrong with borrowing enough to make sure you have clothing, food, housing, and transportation.  Yes you have to pay them back, we all do, but that is all the more reason to handle them wisely.  As far as I know there aren't any awards for lived most frugally in grad school and if there is an option for you to improve your standard of living that you are refusing to consider then it is unfair to blame your classmates for having different circumstances and choosing not to live as frugally.

I've read this a few times and, like @eternallyephemeral, can't figure out why you'd want/need another master's or a PhD to do this. There are plenty of people who go into macro/advocacy work after doing a MSW so, why not be one of them? Were I in your shoes, I would seek those folks out and do some informational interviews with them to learn about their career path, see how they got where they are, and see what they think you should be doing to best prepare yourself. 
Also, you're not graduating until May, right? So why not start volunteering, doing an internship, or working part-time in these areas so you can get your foot in the door and prepare yourself for a job after graduation? Given your interests, you may also want to look into things like HealthCorps (is that still around?) or AmeriCorps as post-graduation opportunities to gain experience. Once you've got years of experience, you may then decide to do something like a MBA or Master's in Nonprofit Management if your ultimate goal is to start a nonprofit of your own.

Yes, it demonstrates interest but it also has a hint of desperation to it. That seems like a ridiculously long drive to make without having any formal contact with the department, the professors, and the current graduate students. What are you going to learn by showing up unannounced?

These are interesting macro goals that you have. In a perfect world, what would be your ideal career title/employer? This might help guide your search and any advice that I and others might give to you.
 
From a policy perspective, I know plenty of MSWs from my work with a major non-profit during my undergrad that do macro-level advocacy for a niche area of medicine and research. What allowed them to get into their advocacy perspective, however, was 20+ years of applied clinical practice. Frankly, as someone who could see myself going into advocacy/non-profit work after a 25+ year in academia or private practice, I think we need more people in advocacy who have in-the-trenches experience and offer that expertise as an advocacy perspective. Book-knowledge really can only get you so far in identifying problems and advocating for solutions, in my humble opinion. 

The right people to ask are your advisor and any professors you've had for research methods. You should read articles which have used an pre-test/post-test or intervention a approach (e.g., showing videos and then seeing if there's been an effect) and read up on the methodology they use. You'll likely need to incorporate some level of baseline (pre-test) in order to know if watching videos had any effect. Given that these are minors and students with an intellectual disability, you'll need additional ethics approval and the approval of their parents for their participation. I hope this gives you a starting point.

PhDs are HARD. I'll tell you what every professor I know has said of getting a PhD: "If you have any inclination to do anything else with your life - do that instead". Why? They're time consuming. And expensive. And even if you enjoy what you're studying... they're relatively joyless. If you don't need a PhD to do what you want to do, I'd suggest you forego it.

There are a few questions that arise here:
What is your perception of what an English Graduate student does. There's a big difference between enjoying literature and being a dedicated scholar in literature. What makes you want to switch from Law School to English?  Are you aware of the terrible job market in the humanities? Did you know that In 1975, 30 percent of college faculty were part-time? By 2011, 51 percent of college faculty were part-time, and another 19 percent were non–tenure track, full-time employees. In other words, 70 percent were contingent faculty, a broad classification that includes all non–tenure track faculty (NTTF), whether they work full-time or part-time. Which areas in English are you interested in? Which time periods you're interested in? What questions have been unanswered that you hope to answer? Is there a way you can build a bridge to combine your previous interests to one in English to show committees why this should be your next step? Do you have professors who can give you a strong recommendation letter about your ability in English? Some programs prefer these be written by tenured or tenure-track professors of English. Some programs don't care. Do you have any experience  teaching, peer tutoring or working as a research assistant in Literature? While not necessary to gain admission, it might help you to get an understanding of what some of the field entails before diving into a MA/PHD program. Are you okay with failing? A considerable amount of PHD schools accept less than 10 percent of applicants. It's estimated that somewhere between 33 and 50 percent of students never finish their PHD. There are often hundreds of people applying for each tenure-track job. Are you comfortable living anywhere to teach in academia? Most jobs are not at R1 schools. A great number of jobs will be at lesser-known institutions. Some of these institutions can be in rural locations. The best course of action really depends on what you hope to achieve. "Fit" is less important in MA programs than in PHD programs. Location is a huge factor to some people but it isn't a factor for everyone. The GRE in English Literature used to be a requirement for a lot of schools. However, that number has been decreasing in recent years as more schools have chosen to make it either "optional" or to not consider it in its admission decisions. I'd consult your college's English department and ask them what they feel would be the best course of action based on your end goal.

Ummm... are you sure you don't need IRB? Even if it's low-risk research, you still need to get approval.
As far as timing, a lot of that is going to depend on your personal process. How certain are you that 10 interviewees is the right number? What methodology are you using to determine that 10 is the right number? Do you know for sure how you'll select interviewees and what their availability will be? What happens if you can't get 10 done right away? Are you planning to revise the interview protocol based on previous interviews? If so, you'll need to listen to recordings and/or transcribe between interviews, which may require you to build in some time between interviews. How long it takes to transcribe depends partly on the analytical process you decide to use. Will you need to transcribe word-for-word every single thing that your interviewees have said? Is your method of analysis one which will require you to allow participants to review the interview transcripts and/or the analysis produced based on it? 
I guess I'm wondering why you're trying to graduate in February, since that's likely the middle of the term? In all honesty, and especially if you're planning to go on to a PhD as you've said earlier, you should probably take your time so that you can do a more thorough MA thesis that will be publishable. 

If they're making fun of you and you're spending all of your time judging them it doesn't sound like a continued relationship beyond what is necessary is good for either of you.

My advice is to get in to see a therapist/counselor ASAP. It sounds like you may be suffering from depression and/or anxiety issues which you should definitely seek treatment for. Besides that, my advice is to do exactly what you need to do to get through your comprehensive exams and then take a break (at least 2 weeks) from doing and thinking about school stuff. At that point you will have enough distance to be able to more clearly evaluate whether you should leave with a MA, continue on in your program, or pursue some other option. Good luck!

Ummm... are you sure you don't need IRB? Even if it's low-risk research, you still need to get approval.
As far as timing, a lot of that is going to depend on your personal process. How certain are you that 10 interviewees is the right number? What methodology are you using to determine that 10 is the right number? Do you know for sure how you'll select interviewees and what their availability will be? What happens if you can't get 10 done right away? Are you planning to revise the interview protocol based on previous interviews? If so, you'll need to listen to recordings and/or transcribe between interviews, which may require you to build in some time between interviews. How long it takes to transcribe depends partly on the analytical process you decide to use. Will you need to transcribe word-for-word every single thing that your interviewees have said? Is your method of analysis one which will require you to allow participants to review the interview transcripts and/or the analysis produced based on it? 
I guess I'm wondering why you're trying to graduate in February, since that's likely the middle of the term? In all honesty, and especially if you're planning to go on to a PhD as you've said earlier, you should probably take your time so that you can do a more thorough MA thesis that will be publishable. 

If you've already worked out the time frame and details with your advisor and they didn't reject your plan, why did you post here at all? I guess I'm completely confused about all of this. We don't and can't know how much preparation you've done for your thesis, which is why we're all asking so many questions to try to understand where you are. We don't know how familiar you are with using NVivo, which definitely has a learning curve and learning the software can take time and slow down your analysis. We don't know how many hours a day you have to spend working on your thesis, which is a factor. 
But really, why are you trying to finish in February if it's a two year program where the term runs through April/May? IME, it always makes sense to take the extra time to produce a higher quality project. I can understand wanting to have a full draft done by February (that's what I did during my own 2 year MA). That left me ample time to revise it into a stronger thesis and to visit the PhD programs I'd been admitted to.

If you've already worked out the time frame and details with your advisor and they didn't reject your plan, why did you post here at all? I guess I'm completely confused about all of this. We don't and can't know how much preparation you've done for your thesis, which is why we're all asking so many questions to try to understand where you are. We don't know how familiar you are with using NVivo, which definitely has a learning curve and learning the software can take time and slow down your analysis. We don't know how many hours a day you have to spend working on your thesis, which is a factor. 
But really, why are you trying to finish in February if it's a two year program where the term runs through April/May? IME, it always makes sense to take the extra time to produce a higher quality project. I can understand wanting to have a full draft done by February (that's what I did during my own 2 year MA). That left me ample time to revise it into a stronger thesis and to visit the PhD programs I'd been admitted to.

If you've already worked out the time frame and details with your advisor and they didn't reject your plan, why did you post here at all? I guess I'm completely confused about all of this. We don't and can't know how much preparation you've done for your thesis, which is why we're all asking so many questions to try to understand where you are. We don't know how familiar you are with using NVivo, which definitely has a learning curve and learning the software can take time and slow down your analysis. We don't know how many hours a day you have to spend working on your thesis, which is a factor. 
But really, why are you trying to finish in February if it's a two year program where the term runs through April/May? IME, it always makes sense to take the extra time to produce a higher quality project. I can understand wanting to have a full draft done by February (that's what I did during my own 2 year MA). That left me ample time to revise it into a stronger thesis and to visit the PhD programs I'd been admitted to.

Soda water in a highball glass with a lime and a small straw is always a good alternative! 

Ummm... are you sure you don't need IRB? Even if it's low-risk research, you still need to get approval.
As far as timing, a lot of that is going to depend on your personal process. How certain are you that 10 interviewees is the right number? What methodology are you using to determine that 10 is the right number? Do you know for sure how you'll select interviewees and what their availability will be? What happens if you can't get 10 done right away? Are you planning to revise the interview protocol based on previous interviews? If so, you'll need to listen to recordings and/or transcribe between interviews, which may require you to build in some time between interviews. How long it takes to transcribe depends partly on the analytical process you decide to use. Will you need to transcribe word-for-word every single thing that your interviewees have said? Is your method of analysis one which will require you to allow participants to review the interview transcripts and/or the analysis produced based on it? 
I guess I'm wondering why you're trying to graduate in February, since that's likely the middle of the term? In all honesty, and especially if you're planning to go on to a PhD as you've said earlier, you should probably take your time so that you can do a more thorough MA thesis that will be publishable. 

I think discussing this with your advisor after winter break makes sense. FWIW, I wouldn't say all of what you've said here. I would say something about how you've thought about your career goals and future plans and realized that, at this point in time, leaving with a certificate rather than a degree makes the most sense for you. I don't think your advisor or anyone else will be offended or upset by that, nor do I think it would jeopardize your future LORs. I hope this helps!

@Adelaide9216, it's definitely possible. A lot of mixed methods research involves a blend of qualitative and quantitative approaches to answer  a question.