arthad

More would be great! http://db.tt/ebhEnLt

Disclaimer: I'm not very familiar with UK higher ed, so take the following for what it's worth. It sounds like you're not resident in the UK. Is that correct? A quick glance at the EPSRC website seems to indicate that EPSRC studentships are available only to people who have been living in the UK for at least three years with "settled status" (http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/students/Pages/eligibility.aspx). If that's the case, and you were applying for a studentship, that explains why you weren't granted one. That would also mean that an unfunded offer from Oxford is not the equivalent of a rejection, as it might be for a UK resident; it just means that they offered you what they usually offer international students whom they wish to accept. If you were applying for something other than a studentship, I would still imagine that EPSRC funding is still available only to UK/EU citizens, as is the case with AHRC. Your friend from the UK was probably speaking from the perspective of a UK resident, for whom no EPSRC funding would be more like a rejection than anything else.

I would suggest posting this question at http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/.

At first glance, I would think the pros of Illinois (especially cost and program ranking) outweigh the pros of Maryland. Does Illinois offer opportunities similar to Maryland's for an internship or capstone project? As for networking, I would guess that if Illinois is the #1 MLIS program, the faculty would have plenty of contacts, so you wouldn't lose much in that way by not going to Maryland (I understand that the urban area would be beneficial though).

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I'll plan on sending an email along the lines of your suggestion in about a week, if I haven't heard anything. Thanks!

Here's my situation: I have a funded offer from my second-choice school (School B ). I have not heard from my first-choice school (School A). After I applied to School A, I received an email stating that my application was complete and that I would receive a decision between March 15 and April 15. My deadline for School B's offer, of course, is April 15. It's only March 16th, but I know this department has already released admissions decisions for a lot of folks, just no one in my subfield that I know of. If I'm rejected, I need to know so I can accept School B's offer and get housing and such things in place soon. How long should I wait before I email School A and ask when a decision might be released? Would it be appropriate to mention in the email that I have a funded offer from another school? Thanks!

Has anyone heard anything more from the Purdue English department (rhet/comp or otherwise)?

Thanks for the advice! I've emailed the department, so we'll see . . .

Yesterday, I received an acceptance email from one of my programs, but it contained no information on funding (a TAship). Would it be in poor form to ask the department when they usually make funding decisions? Or should I wait a few weeks and then ask? arthad

I'm a senior at an unknown small liberal arts college, graduating in December. I majored in English lit, but my interests have shifted from literature to language (my school doesn't offer a linguistics major or even a minor, though we do have a few linguistics courses offered periodically). Although I'm primarily interested in applied linguistics and teaching ESL/EFL, I'm interested in programs which provide a solid grounding in theoretical linguistics in addition to more practical training in methodology and classroom management. Stats Major: English lit Minors: Spanish, philosophy GPA: 4.0 GRE: 710V, 690Q, 5.5AW One regional conference presentation on writing center theory Teaching experience: TA for a world lit class, TA for a composition theory class, and TA for an ESL grammar class. Also completed the Cambridge CELTA in Budapest. The writing sample, unfortunately, will be a critical essay on Macbeth, since I haven't had the opportunity to do any real work in linguistics yet. My letters of recommendation should be strong (two are from faculty members I TA'd for). I'm applying to Purdue (MA English, ESL concentration), UIUC (MA TESL), and possibly Pittsburgh (MA Linguistics, Applied Linguistics concentration) and Georgia (MA Linguistics, SLA concentration) as well. Just in case, I plan to find one or two rhet/comp programs as backups.

Arizona (University of), Purdue, and Pittsburgh have good reputations. Tony Silva and Margie Berns are both at Purdue. You might also look at University of Hawai'i at Manoa (http://www.hawaii.edu/sls/?link=view_handbook&section=8).