rainy_day

This! Also you can take classes in the Fall of your senior year with faculty members who you had in Fall of your junior year. They won't be writing your LoR until the middle-end of the semester, so you will have this time to remind them of how awesome you are. Definitely keep in touch while in Istanbul! Write emails every month or so saying hello! This is very helpful--I've been out of undergrad for over 2 years now, but I am still close to my will-be letter writers, in part because I've dropped them periodic notes. Also, I would recommend doing an independent study when you return from Istanbul. Those look really good on your transcript, will give you a way to get to know a professor better, and will allow you to do research in an area that is not available in your current department.

This is all such excellent advice! Thank you, everyone!

I don't think it is the least bit disrespectful to call someone "Professor." In my job, I have to email faculty members every day, and I got into the habit of writing "Professor" as there are some folks who teach college and have an M.A. I stick with Professor, even when emailing potential advisers, because that is what they *are.* You aren't calling them by their first name, or saying "Ms./Mr." and you aren't starting your email with "Hey!" so I think you are in the clear. Honestly, anyone who was put off by being called "Professor X" is rather insufferable, and I would not want to have them for a mentor.

How do you think this list stands up to English PhD programs that aren't RhetComp? Do you think these measures are similar across the board. (I imagine teaching experience would not be as important in English Lit/Theory programs.)

Check out the web page for the program. Lots of schools publish this information. You could also email the program and inquire. The biggest thing, which I'm sure you've heard, however, is fit. Some schools might only accept 5% of their applicants, but your interests might match up perfectly. Other schools might accept 35%, but you might not have matching interests. This is where the SoP comes in. That is your chance to prove to the school that you have done your research, and you will succeed there, not just because you are smart and hard working, but also because you make sense within their program. My $.02 is that refining an existing writing sample is always time better spent than writing a brand new paper from scratch. You *definitely* don't need two writing samples, so focus all your energy on making the existing essay as strong as possible. I'm planning on digging back into mine, doing a bit more research, and generally slashing parts of it to bits. This. LoRs are NOT held in as high regard if you don't release the recommendation. If you don't think a professor will give you a shining LoR, then find someone else. It is always a terrible idea to retain the rights to see your letter.

Thanks for catching that! I was confusing their English Grad program and the MCM.

There is nothing wrong with those GRE scores. You are right in line with the average you are aiming for. This process is extremely stressful; do not create more anxiety for yourself.

glasses, if we pm you with our email addresses, will you initiate this GRE support group of wonder?

I second the recommendation for Asher's book. There are lots of SoPs in there!

For financial reasons, I'm actually holding off until next year to apply. To appease my anxiety, I'm lurking on this site and dabbling in SoP writing/school research. I made a massive spreadsheet, and just started plopping in information about location, faculty of interest, funding, etc. and some jumped out at me right away (Berkeley Rhetoric), and some jumped out right away as poor fit (Harvard, Claremont), and now I'm sifting through the rest. I'm doing this by looking into those "faculty of interest" folks and I cut and paste into my spreadsheet. It's such a crazy process! What has yours been?

The advice I have received from my mentor is: Don't apply to a school for one professor. People move, get better offers, don't get tenure, retire... If there are a handful of people at any one department, I wouldn't worry if some are not tenured. But if there is only one person at a school with whom you would like to work, then its probably not a place to apply.

I'm not taking mine until April, but I'd love to be on an email support group/discussion!

Brown's Media Culture & Modernism program might be a good fit, and they have both an MA and a PhD route.