rhetoricus aesalon

It's certainly a growing trend, and probably one that will continue at least for a few years.

Since when did this happen, proflorax?

From what I understand, serifs can complicate the understanding of words for someone who is hard of sight. To be honest, certain fonts and typefaces can be quite difficult to understand even for someone with 20/20 vision. But, in general, the most accessible typefaces are those without flourishes--like Arial, which is the one I wrote my MA thesis in! Surprisingly enough, Times New Roman is a serif typeface--so, a less accessible option. Here's some more info on design and accessibility from an organization in the UK: http://www.abilitynet.org.uk/quality/documents/StandardofAccessibility.pdf (Random note: my wife and I were in DC this past weekend, and I was thinking of you! Hope you and your family are doing well!! Can't wait to see you in Tampa in March.)

You will not get a unanimous answer either way on this forum, but in my opinion: you've broken the 300 combined limit. I wouldn't take it again. Your scores aren't the best, but you have--like--really impressive professional experience. Focus your energy on that POS and WS. Test scores matter, but more so for university-level fellowships and funding.

Of course you will want to follow guidelines that you find. But for those schools that do not specify, select forms that you feel best represent what you are trying to achieve in your documents. You're trying to come across as a full-fledged academic, so maybe formatting your letters like a student paper (e.g. double-spaced, header in the top left) isn't the best representation for you here. For my five cents worth, I learned throughout the applications process that Baskerville has been shown to have a positive correlation to a writer's perceived credibility. Sans-serif fonts are disabilities friendly. And Helvetica makes you look like a hipster. I guess what I'm trying to say is design can be your friend. And deserves some intentional rhetorical moves in your SOP/PS.

This. I will just echo that it is absolutely a way for programs to gauge their perceived competition with other schools. This can both work for you and against you. It can help you because it can motivate schools to offer you more funding, opportunities for fellowships, etc. It can work against you because if a school believes you will get offers from "better" schools you've listed, you may not receive an acceptance since they will assume you will not decline their offer until late enough in the season to affect their recruiting other students high on their list.

So, I wouldn't by any means consider my experience typical--especially if you're a lit student, but I scored in the 10th percentile on my first attempt at the subject test. The second? 4th percentile. I'm dead serious. I was accepted to 5 of my top-choice schools, wait listed at 3, and rejected from 3. Even though my subfield is rhet/comp, a number of these schools still required the subject test.

Keep in mind, too, that the DGS may or may not have much power in swaying admissions decisions anyhow. If you live very close to the school now, you might consider taking a class or two as a non-degree seeking student. I've done this in the past with great results. Yes, you have to pay for the classes you take, but you get to network with faculty and show that you are very serious about enrolling in their program. Plus, the credit you earn will transfer into a degree-granting program in many instances, though you'll want to look more into that. Of course, this option is not for everyone, but it is an option.

In my opinion, anyone who is not having the same worries as you is in serious denial--though I have to be honest and say I've never met anyone who didn't have these same concerns. While there's something to be said for being aware of the issues facing us as we professionalize for the market, realizing this early and having frank conversations with your advisers and colleagues--in my opinion--is healthy and shows you are serious about what you do. But putting that all aside for a moment, why not start asking about what you can do with a PhD besides working in academia? Is there really no value for our work outside the English department? Increasingly, I believe departments (at least the good ones) are trying to consider ways that graduate professionalization might take place outside of academic work.

Not that I know of, no. But who knows? I feel like I don't really know who anyone on GC is in real life sometimes.

I neglected to mention, this was during my MA.

That makes at least three of us that I know of! It's great that even so close to retirement, Cindy is offering to be close to the incoming cohort. She's great.

I found the terms in which I taught two sections of the same course excruciating. But everyone is going to be different. I think as long as you understand the priorities of both your classes and your courses, you will do fine. But I wouldn't be surprised if it's a tough term. I never took more than two classes in the term teaching two sections, and I don't know if I could have done a third class successfully.

Awesome! How was the move? It wasn't too far, right? My wife and I get into Columbus in a couple weeks. We should totally hang!

Right. In my opinion, I think your interests are varied and general enough to be applied to many, many grad programs in rhet/comp. Primarily, because pedagogy is such a strong part of rhet/comp in general, most if not all programs will have a strong emphasis here, though you might want to check out the International Writing Centers Association (IWCA) or the Writing Center Journal to see which institutions are represented by their scholars as being leaders in writing center pedagogy specifically. Generally speaking, feminist rhetoric will be similar: there are lots of people doing work here at many institutions. You might be interested in checking out (or joining) the Coalition of Women Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition (CWSHRC) and more specifically the related conference FemRhets to see where scholars interested in this work are located. Here's a link to former conference programs: http://femrhets.cwshrc.org/past-conferences/. Though, if you have a specific historical interest related to this area (maybe with your interests it would be contemporary feminist and cultural rhetorics?) you might be able to narrow down the search a bit. Nonconventional texts and media, which you will see more under the term of multimodal composition, is also a big topic, but narrowing it down to graphic fiction is helpful. I just did a bit of poking around on the Kairos website and found a number of articles that might point you toward scholars and institutions doing work in the area; here's the link: http://www.google.com/cse?cx=006155699516671758047%3Abyaez4fl6ce&ie=UTF-8&q=comics#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=comics. With all that said, I stick to my claim that you will have the resources to succeed at many programs. Nearly all unis have a writing center now, and feminist and multimodal scholars are a staple to any department. Though, with that said, you might want to look into Michigan State if you haven't already. It will not be a safety school by any means--it's regarded as one of the top programs in the country--but I feel as though the program would align well with your specific interests in cultural studies. I have some personal reservations about the program we can talk about if you PM me, but there's no arguing it's a great program. I'm sure you'll get better advice from others on the thread, but I think this is at least a good place to start!

Hi, madhusirmani. Welcome! As Wyatt's Torch mentioned, each school will have a slightly different process for applying to their program, so you will want to look at the university and department websites for each school you are wanting to apply to for more information. These websites will list their GRE requirements, too. From your thread's title, I see you are interested in English lit, so you are right in thinking that most schools will require you take both the GRE general and GRE subject tests. If you do indeed need to take the subject test, I recommend you look to enroll to take it as soon as possible, as there are a very limited number of times per year in which you can take that test. The GRE general, on the other hand, can be taken just about any day of the year. Have you done some looking around the GRE website? If not, the link to do so is here: http://www.ets.org/gre. Best of luck with your applications!

I, too, agree that the idea of safety schools can be unhelpful at the grad level. Here's a former thread that discussed the idea at length last season: One thing I did want to mention, too, is that it sounds like you are in a great place to be a competitive applicant. Of course it's just my opinion, but having conference participation and taking the steps to do independent study in rhet/comp at the undergrad level are great points that will be invaluable as you are drafting up your SOP. Have you come across any scholars that are particularly of interest to your studies? Any topics that peak your interest? As proflorax mentions, knowing a bit more about your interests is tremendously helpful in offering suggestions for programs that may be more/less competitive in their applications.

In my experience, rhet/comp is a bit different. If only because there still aren't very many undergrad programs in rhetoric, it's unreasonable to expect these two documents to connect when in practice most students don't have substantial experience with the kinds of research being done in rhet/comp as undergrads. For example, I used a paper in medieval lit for my MA applications to rhet programs, and I don't feel like it was a detriment. I should also mention my BA is in rhet/comp. I'm trying to remember, too -- you're applying to MA programs, right? If that's the case, my opinion is you'll have minimal to no issues with a paper in a different subfield. But for a PhD, even in rhet, it will be more to your advantage to have a united SOP and WS. Applications at the PhD level don't just show you're capable of writing and supporting an argument but also that you are knowledgeable in a topic that you are planning to undertake in a dissertation. It's more of a risk for an adcomm to accept you based on a sample that is out of touch with your stated research interests, though certainly not a deal breaker. Best of luck with your applications!

The SOP is a forward-looking document, so back-story usually has no place in it. It has one purpose in my view, and that is to show your research interests fit into the program and will be supported adequately by the resources of the department. Speaking about why you fell in love with your field, while poignant, is white noise here. Focus instead on your research and why that research needs to be done at XYZ University.

I agree. I don't feel like other programs will make you overqualified. Though, it might be easier (i.e. more cost efficient) for networking with these schools to stay in Oklahoma--especially as you attend local conferences in the area. Another thing you might look into is what you need in order to be qualified to start teaching in the area. In Oregon, I was offered the opportunity to teach at a local CC after my first year of grad school--without a degree in hand--because I had completed a certain amount of graduate coursework in the area I'd teach, so this might be another reason you decide to stay in the area. But my strongest recommendation is to find a program that will fund you. For me, this would be the first priority--even over location of the program. Funded programs will often offer you funds to travel to attend conferences, so you can still network in the area even if you're not living there. Plus, you will not be tens of thousands of dollars in debt for a job that may or may not pan out in the end.

All schools will have different interpretations of what it means to be "fully funded," but in general you will not pay much for a graduate degree if you are funded in any program. Of course, funding is usually better for PhD students over MA students, but there are many funded programs out there for MA students. Proflorax offered a good resource to start your search, and another might be the Rhetoric Review Survey of Doctoral Programs in Rhetoric and Composition, linked here: http://rhetoricreviewsurvey.wikia.com/wiki/Rhetoric_Review_Survey_of_Doctoral_Programs_in_Rhetoric_and_Composition_Wiki . The wiki is new (at least it is to me--I've only seen the journal's published version online), but it does at least give you the opportunity to sense the type of funding programs will have--though, keep in mind the listed information and stipends are for PhD students. It's quite a bit faster than looking at each school's individual website, but that's going to be your best bet for up-to-date and specific information on funding.

Genius. What a great strategy! I must have been so giddy to be finished with the test that I sent my "free" scores to my top schools ... probably because I was so happy to be applying to them. Your method sounds much better.

So, I'm with the majority: DON'T DO IT! But you can certainly use this moment to your advantage. There are two times when academics have any sort of power in this game, and it's when we're accepted to a grad program and when (if ever) we've been offered a TT position. So you haven't been offered funding. That doesn't mean you can't network. Make professional contacts with scholars in the program. Ask to talk with current grad students. See how others who haven't been offered funding end up paying to live in one of the most expensive places on earth without going into crippling debt or spending their entire life's savings. You might end up being surprised by the resources that ARE available to you, even if that means you don't get to go to Columbia right now.

Great advice, and I'll add that (in the stress of waiting for and worrying out your scores) the GRE is just one element in a portfolio of materials that you are submitting with your application. And, in my experience, it is one of the least important pieces, too. While I agree that you can always improve, consider whether or not your time (and money) might be better served improving your SOP or WS. These are the stars of your application.

In my experience, schools tell TAs very late (as in a week to a month before the term) when and where they are teaching, though you should know if you're teaching well, well in advance. Also, I've only ever found out my teaching schedule after scheduling my own classes as a student; the departments figure out when TAs are free and then schedule around their class conflicts.