bhr

Made a five second movie for an applied digital writing class. That was a lot of fun.

I know most of you are Lit, but what's the perception of C/R at Maryland? I had a heavy push to apply, but after living in the state for nearly 30 years I decided to explore out of state schools for my next step. That said, my folks are around 70, so I may decide to come home if I don't get a PhD admit and just do my MA now? I've had the chance to get to know a prof who occasionally works with the Lit folks (she's primarily Women's Studies) but I really don't know anything about the program (which is particularly sad since I'm finishing my BA at a state school)

That's actually a bit funny. One of the big reasons that I didn't apply to Syracuse was that they seemed to have a program full of folks in their early 20s. I met a handful of Syracuse PhD candidates last summer and I think the oldest one was 25 or 26.

I've noticed that with MSU, and it actually was a bit of a concern, since I want to focus more on the tech side. At least Danielle DeVoss tends to focus on that side of the field, and is apparently a fantastic advisor. They've also had a few grads that have come out and jumped right into WPA roles, so that says something about the quality of work on that subject that is being produced.

I think comp/rhet folks tend to be a bit older than lit folks, at least on the few campuses I've had experience with.

Ha, I've got a few years on the both of you, if I don't get in (and funded) I may have to go back to... ugh.. sales. And that's a second MTU MA acceptance posted. That was as close as I felt to having a safety school. so this is annoying. I know they don't have the prestige of some other programs, but they have a fantastic PhD and TT placement rate, so I was hoping for an offer.

Nothing quite as bad as seeing responses going up and not having a yes or no. I've gotten bounced now from all my PhD admits, but honestly, I think I prefer going MA first (assuming that I get funded).

Ya, I don't get why people think that going straight to the PhD is all that big of an advantage. Yes, you usually wind up knocking a year off your total time, but at the same time you are making a pretty major commitment without a clear "out" if you realize that you are on the wrong path. Maybe I misunderstood my applications, but 90% of the programs I considered were very specific that they will not consider BA/BS applicants directly for the PhD. (I'm aware that there are drawbacks to being an MA in a PhD providing program, like funding allocation,) As for getting jobs, I'm not sure that not having the MA is an advantage either. In two years (or ideally, about 15 months), I'm going to have a marketable degree, a better resume to get fellowships and funding, a few publications and some additional presentations when I hit the PhD market. At that time, I may opt to stay where I am (I've made it clear in my SOP that I'm planning to pursue a PhD) but I can also seek out new opportunities, new connections and new research avenues, all of which will make me a better candidate for tenure. Hell, two years of writing center or teaching work may mean that I can get some paid teaching work while still working on my PhD (assuming that I'm in a market that supports it).

Happy to oblige! We had a snow day today, and all I could think to do was obsess over my applications or drink (and there is too much snow to get to the liquor store.) I'm about as far ahead as I can get in my classes without just being annoying. I've done my reading responses for my practicum for the the next month already, and it looks like we're going to have another snow day tomorrow.

I sit here waiting for the phone to ring, my email to chime or beep the anxiety is getting to me I can hardly study or sleep for my next five year are out of my hand as I wait for grad school admission but the web portals all still stubbornly says AWAITING PROGRAM DECISION I try to will the damn things to change just give me some small piece of mind but I log into the sites up to 10 times a day and it's always the same thing I find day after day, they all seem to say we're still reviewing your application submission and the web portals all still stubbornly say AWAITING PROGRAM DECISION I'm writing this poem to relieve the stress and I know that it's well below par my creative writing skills, if I had to admit will never get me too far so instead I applied for all of those schools for programs in rhet/composition but the web portals all still stubbornly say AWAITING PROGRAM DECISION I think that I'm going out of my mind FOR FUCK SAKE JUST CHANGE ONE DAMN LINE and my advisor's getting sick of having to say "just shut up, you're going to be fine" but I just won't believe, without acceptance in hand that I've earned a grad school position but the web portals all still stubbornly say AWAITING PROGRAM DECISION I see those damn words now everywhere that I go I just can't avoid going crazy Worrying about grades I received freshman year why was 18 year old me so damn lazy I afraid that each C (or honestly, D) has screwed me in this competition and the web portals all still stubbornly say AWAITING PROGRAM DECISION I can't recall the last time I felt like I had some control of my fate I'm actively searched for news from these schools I'm that desperate for any update I would call the schools for my status if it wasn't a huge imposition because the web portals all still stubbornly say AWAITING PROGRAM DECISION I know I'm not the first to feel this way In fact it's an annual tradition And obsessing over things we cannot control Is part of the human condition But if I was in charge of the world today I'd vote for the strict abolition of those three fucking words that are driving me nuts AWAITING PROGRAM DECISION

And there are a pair of posts from Michigan Tech.

I don't. I'm coming out of a small state school, and could see myself being happy in a similar situation down the road. The other day I got taken down pretty harshly when I suggested that (based on a different comment) that I don't see why FYC has to support lit programs. Someone else was bemoaning the recent call for comp/rhet to split off of English, and take the "cash cow" of FYC with them. In my opinion, I would rather see schools spend the money hiring more dedicated comp folks, rather than use FYC to essentially subsidize underused English programs. Don't get me wrong, it's great that some schools can afford to have 3/2 lit folks thanks to having adjuncts teaching a couple sections of FYC, but I would rather see those positions go toward either FYC specialists or to support more tech and scientific writing. Maybe it's my work experience that shades me that way. I spent a decade working before returning to undergrad, so I see a lot more value in comp/rhet than I do in the rest of the English department (I have been told to stop trying to talk sophomores out of creative writing.)

Thanks for the feedback. Ohio State's program was one of my favorites, but I just ran out of application time last semester, which knocked them and Penn State out of the running. I'm glad I'm not the only one who has the perception that on the Comp/Rhet side it really does come down to what "niche" you are going for, rather than overall prestige. It's funny to me, looking at the Lit thread, but I never considered an Ivy. The Big Ten seems to have so many solid programs, with great placement rates, funding and interesting research, that it never occured to me that somewhere like Harvard would be a better option.

So, I may as well ask here. Is there a consensus "top tier" for Comp/Rhet like there seems to be for Lit/English over on the other thread? I applied to programs that had stuff I wanted to learn more than anything, and am worried a bit that I didn't apply aggressively enough. Of course, I'm also worried that I overreached with my 2.something GPA.

CW was a blast last year, and that was in the middle of nowhere. Definitely bring drinking money.

CompRhet MA? How did they notify you? My status just moved from submitted to awaiting program decision (after a month), so I wonder if I'll hear something one way or another soon.

Someone else suggested that, I was just responding to their assertion that comp needed to be kept in English to keep the rest of the department flush.

What if we don't want it to change? I'm a comp guy, with a heavy tech focus, and I'm not sure if the future of Comp/Rhet is in the English department at all. I argue that comp/PW shares more with Mass Comm that it does with creative wrting or lit, and departments should reflect that. If Composition is the "cash cow" that keeps Lit/CW afloat, maybe those departments need to be reassessed. Philosophy, Art, Theater, all get funded based on majors and minors that those department enroll, and if Lit/CW can't support their current model maybe they do need to get cut back to those levels. There is amazing research being done in Comp these days, stuff that can change the entire college writing model. Shouldn't schools use the money generated by comp to support... comp?

I'm waiting until I graduate in May (a personal thank you will suffice until then), but then my four LOR writers are going to get a mid-line ($30ish) bottle of booze. Just didn't want to make it weird before that time.

Ya, that was a little me-centric, sorry. What kills me are the pair of applications I have that are just still in "submitted" status. What am I supposed to do with that? At least out to department ones I know are being considered (eventually).

Well, I got my first two responses this week. One MA acceptance, one PhD rejection (with the caveat that they will consider me for the MA there as well.)

Thanks, I may just take you up on that! A old interweb friend of mine came out of their history department, and still works in the area, so I'm hoping to use him to my advantage. I've never been to Michigan, except for the Traverse City Airport, but I met some decent folks from there at C&W last summer so they are among my top choices. Just found out yesterday that my travel funds are likely getting denied since I'm not presenting myself. Plus side, I found out I'm going to Washington State for CW in June.

I'm going to C's (Assuming I get some travel funds from SGA). I've got a prof that's going to be presenting, and I'm going to hitch a ride since it is over spring break. I'm hoping to have a yes or two by then, but I'm slowing melting down while waiting. (doesn't help that MSU's app status has changed from "out to department" to a notice that they haven't received my application fee. I'm hoping that just means they boobooed an update somewhere.)

I've noticed. At this point I think only MSU has met, and that's my worst situation. Honestly, I'm a bit worried in general, My jr/sr GPA is fantastic (4.0), and I've got some really good externals, but my overall GPA is still under 3.0 and my writing samples weren't up to snuff. Part of that is that, honestly, I haven't had a paper over eight pages in my undergrad at this point.

Put me in this boat as well. I will finish with a GPA just short of 2.95 (assuming all goes as planned.), but I have had a 4.0 over my last 35 credits (with 16 more to go), all in my field, mostly 400 level. I took a long break in the middle of my undergrad, so I'm hoping that they only look at the late stuff. What annoyed me was that, thanks to early deadlines, my most recent semester (4.0 in 18 credits, all 300 and 400 classes) wasn't on my transcript.