bhr

The short version is "if you can be a fucking adult about it, then sure," because a whole lot of people can't be, and grad students, in general, tend to be a bit emotionally stunted (med students/residents are worse, but still...)

I'm not sure if you are just new to graduate school or research, or what, but researching usually includes some sort of data. That can be quantitative (studies, survey, etc), but can be as simple as doing a read around of different articles and looking at what others are saying about an issue. I'm in Rhet/Comp, which is as humanities as you can get, and have friends in philosophy, english, religious studies, etc. Every single bit of research any of us try to publish is grounded in some sort of data collection, unless you are just writing an OpEd. Every single paper I've ever read or edited includes a section about how they came up with their conclusions, whether it came from small group discussions, observations, empirical research, lit reviews, software testing, etc... Believe me when I say that your field is not unique, and that knowledge isn't just created from nowhere.

Huh? I'm in the humanities as well, and all of our publication comes from some amount of data collection, field work, personal observation, etc. What are you thinking when you say that you don't have data?

I guess this is more a "culture of the department" thing. I just would want to avoid any situations where one person gets put in position to have some power/control/influence over the other (like on grad oversight committee or w/e).

Go talk to your writing center. Almost every R1/PhD granting institution is going to have a solid writing center full of people who can help you navigate the different questions you may have here. As for determining methodology, that's usually pretty simple to determine. It usually just comes down to how the collected their data, and that should be described at some point in the article/book. IF there isn't data of some sort (even observations can be a form of data in this case) than this probably isn't an article you want to use.

Eh. My program has had multiple couples during my time here, two of whom have gotten married during graduate school, and I know a ton of other couples across my field who started dating in their PhD programs. On it's face there is nothing wrong with dating inside your program, as long as you are capable of being adult about it, there are no power structure issues involved (lab supervisor), and no one is married to someone else (long story). In grad school you spend years where most of your time is around the same people, so it's natural for relationships to form. You spend lots of time together, travel to the same conference, share the same interests, etc, so it's not a shock that this happens. That said, I'll give you some advice: If you are interested in someone, ask them out. Be upfront that this isn't just a "hang with colleague" moment. Do this in private, but don't make them feel confronted or trapped. Don't put them on the spot. IF they say no, walk away. Drop it, drop the crush, avoid them in the short term. Do nothing to make this seem like harassment. If you choose to date, disclose this to your advisor or graduate director. (This depends on the nature of your department, but it's best to be aboveboard if anything goes sideways). Realize that the nature of academic life means that being in a couple can severely impact your job search.

You're also going to probably need to provide more details about what you want to do with the degree (both area of study and end goal) before anyone can give you real advice.

I'll second @fuzzylogician and say that it is incredibly dependent on your program, advisor, and even funding packages. For example, I got an extra "research incentive" with my package, with the understanding that I'll have at least one project formed coming out of this year (instead of taking an extra quarter time assistantship). There are also going to be opportunities to jump on projects with faculty or other graduate students, depending on your program. In addition, I would start looking at your coursework and TAship to see if there was anything coming out of them that can be turned into a larger project. In my program, most graduate level classes have a "big project" that you can kind of tailor to meet your own needs, which is how most people get their first couple conference submissions or publications.

It's like you didn't even read the OP's post. Honestly, OP, there isn't much in the way of demand for a FYC paper for publication outside of your university. There are a couple places that do publish them, but most of the time it's vanity press stuff that isn't worth the effort. If the student writing is about an issue, have them submit it to a local paper as an editorial. That will benefit them more than an academic publication, as no grad committee is going to care that someone got a FYC paper published. For what it's worth, I specifically ask my students to think of a venue for publishing their work on a couple projects. I expect them to find a place to send it, analyze the platform/genre conventions and limitations, and then do an analysis of a couple articles. They write that up and submit it as part of their rubric for the paper, with the idea that they are being graded for the audience they chose/researched. This sort of work has resulted in maybe a half dozen students getting published in the local/campus papers, and a couple getting published on websites (one woman actually managed to sell her work, with my help, to an online magazine). This sort of effort is probably a lot more useful than getting them in a "best of freshman writing" journal.

Probably about $350 for six programs, though I had taken the GRE for my MA and was able to reuse it (so that would have added another $150-ish?). Make sure to take advantage of the "Free" reports from your GRE the day you take it. One program accepted a print-out of the GRE score page, with the understanding that they wanted the official score before offering funding. Two programs didn't want my scores. My undergrad will mail out official transcripts for free, and my MA program was $10 a pop, but most programs would accept an upload the unofficial ones for now, with official ones to come after acceptance. Definitely check before you send anything. I had application fee waivers from both HarvardNorthwestern and USF, though I opted not to apply to either. Both were extended after I had met with faculty at a conference. Add another $140 or so for an unreimbursed campus visit to a B1G school. They had offered me a significant funding package, but no travel money to visit, so I drove in for a quick stay. I stayed in a hotel, though they had offered a spare room with a grad student (not my thing).

Maybe. The biggest problem with "fitting" your work with pre-tenure folks is that they may not be there (or even planning to be there) by the time you start working on your diss in earnest. A friend of mine went to a program only to see her hoped-for advisor get denied tenure/fired the summer before she arrived. Now, if you have 2-3 faculty members that you fit with, that's another story. That gives you backup if one or two get the boot/move on. The good part of working with pre-tenure folks is that they 1) likely don't have a ton of people they are chairing, and, if you are at a program where you basically are accepted to work with a particular PI, that can matter. They also tend to have heavier article/conference output with fewer established contributors, so you can have an opportunity to jump on to some projects.

Thanks for the backup, but I'll disagree with this bit. Even if it's self-contained, I think these sorts of documents are always useful. As someone on a hiring committee now, I find context for writing samples, course designs, ect. extremely helpful to let me know what I'm reading and how it falls into a larger body of scholarly work. For your writing sample, this could be as easy as including the prompt that came with it, or what the goals were for the paper. For example, part of my MA writing sample was a paper I wrote for an American Lit class where we had to compare influences on works from two different eras. I was really proud of the paper, and thought it showcased my writing ability, but my goals would have been nonsense (I really reached to pick two very different works) without the context for the class/paper.

No worries. Was just trying to say that there was no "one size fits all" way to express appreciation.

I do too, but in this case, she really doesn't want that sort of vocal appreciation, so I respect her wishes (FWIW, she also gets beer). I "bribe" our admins by bringing them baked goods every couple months. Cookies/brownies/fudge make getting those travel authorizations or whatever go much smoother.

It really comes down to knowing the relationship you have with your advisor, and how to show it. My department head (a mentor, but not on my committee) really appreciates when I introduce her to other grad students who are studying her work/are intimidated by her. I would never thank her for doing mentoring stuff, since I know she considers it normal behavior (and resents that some people don't) I often tweet about good meetings (not always mentioning my committee by name, but they all follow me). This is particularly important when they have given me opportunities (like on a grant application, or paper, or w/e). Something like "I have to thank @ Advisor and @ CommitteeGuy for the chance to represent @ Department at #Conference." I may even tag the university/college if I have space, to make sure that the people who matter see it. (I also work in a field that really embraces/researches social media, so this is normal) Also beer. I regularly go out for beer/food with my advisor/committee, and they often treat for at least the first round. When I go out of town, I try to bring back a six pack of something they can't get locally, as a repayment/thank you.

I had a 15 page-ish sample (it was actually my thesis proposal+annotated bib, basically chapter one of my thesis). That's what I submitted everywhere. No one is checking page counts, and no one is reading all 25 pages from every application they get. Schools that asked for a second one got a conference paper that was 8-10 pages. The biggest thing with writing samples and your teaching statement is to include a "readers guide" that gives people some context. This should be a one page sheet that tells them where the work came from, the context of what they are reading, and how it demonstrates your particular skill set/interest.

Am I the only one a bit concerned about OPs comments irt dating and emotional maturity. It sounds like he (?) is targeting younger students in a way that just doesn't feel healthy to me, and is something that could be highly problematic for a graduate student and future academic. I understand that being a virgin/sexually inexperienced (?) is difficult, but targeting partners who are significantly younger than you because of that is bad. OP, are you +/- 24? If you are older, you have no business being in places with people who are under 21, and doing so puts you at a lot of risks, both professionally and legally. It's one thing if those groups form over shared interests outside the university (say, a church young adult group or a local gaming club) but if you are just showing up to undergraduate events and clubs, I think you really need to reevaluate your personal decision making process. While my current cohort is mostly 32+, myself included, my MA group included a couple of students directly out of undergrad. I get along with the younger folks just fine, because we are at the same place in our lives (academically) which makes it easier to connect. While I have good relationships with some of the undergrads I've mentored/supervised/taught, I can't imagine a situation where I would want to participate in their social lives. OP, try attending graduate events at your university. The people who attend those tend to be younger and unmarried, and will be more likely to share your life stage.

There is a massive sub 3.0 GPA thread in the general forum, but let me give you my (non-SW) summary. Programs will take people with shitty GPAs, but they are looking for the following: An improvement in your grades during junior/senior year or after a break A reason you did poorly before, how you handled it, and why grades got better (could be as simple as immaturity or time management, but you need to explain how you addressed it) A better major GPA Strong letters of support Experience, research, service that shows a dedication to hard work and potential for success. You need good letters, an honest reflection on why you had failings before, and a plan for PhD success. You may also need to consider taking non-degree courses or an MA before applying for a PhD (In my case, I turned a 1.8 gpa into a 2.5 gpa in 18 months, after an extended break, and had good research experience.

I have a friend who finished her PhD in just three years. Everyone in her cohort was happy for her that she was able to finish/get a job. Her success reflected well on the program to boot, which means everyone else is better off too.

Most programs will share with you their placement rates and schools, and may be a good way to start looking. I'm always going to lean toward telling you to apply to a program that has a PhD program that you would want to be in, since you'll often have a leg up on applying for PhDs, but that's not required. That said, CompRhet is a big tent field, and some schools are more diverse than others in the type of students they bring in. Programs like Maryland and Michigan are both English/Ed based with R/C tracks, but still place people in good PhD programs and jobs. I'm currently at a top program that has people who came from linguistics, english, C/R, education, and classics. If you want to do Comp Rhet work at the phD level, it's fine to wind up in associated MA programs, as long as your work still applies. Studying language acquisition in an education program will probably be fine, or working with classical rhetoric at a place like CMU or Penn State, as long as you are able to articulate to the PhD program you want to go how it prepared you for your future work. I'll also caution you to ask the "what if this doesn't work out" question. Good programs (like Purdue and PSU) took their smallest cohorts in years this season, and this wound up being a rough job season even for top candidates (though it seems to be still shaking out as people are being hired to replace people who moved on/up), and, until the smaller cohorts catch up with the market that is unlikely to change. Because of that, you are going to want to consider what that MA will prepare you to do if you don't get into a funded PhD program right away/at all. A digital rhetoric MA may have much better job placement opportunities outside of the academy than a classic rhetoric one. (I'm saying this to be kind, and, I think everyone here will attest, I'm the last one to be negative about the market for C/R folks, but I saw highly qualified people wind up with 5/5 fixed term jobs this year)

The biggest problem you face (and this is universal to this sub) is the poor major GPA. What is your junior/senior GPA in major? How have you done in your upper level courses? A strong finish to your academic career will usually help overcome a bad year or two, but 15 credits isn't going to be able to redeem a 2.0ish major GPA. You have an incredibly difficult personal narrative (that is sadly not unique at all), and you should reach out to resources at your campus for help. There may be an ability to retake courses or remove bad grades received after your assault. There should be someone on campus that can help you navigate this process. You may even be better off going full time, since you'll be able to get more financial aid, and use that to retake some poor grade courses.

I want to add that you should ask things that you want to know. Ask about their writing process. Ask why they want this postdoc. Ask about what conferences they like/dislike. These should be social, not interviews, and give both sides a sense of each other.

I would also heavily suggest looking at Cultural Rhetorics programs (Syracuse, UT, MSU, ect.). Comp Rhet is one of the few humanities fields that is not (yet) bleeding jobs, and you can do cultural studies work from a rhetorical perspective.

gotcha. It's good to be clear on this stuff. DM me if you have questions about WRAC

Let's be very clear here. When you say COMM, what do you mean? I ask, because WRAC is most definitely not a Communications department (and isn't even located in the Comm Arts College). What are you actually trying to accomplish with this degree? OSU/UNC/UT have r/c programs located inside English departments, for example, while Davis and UM both have great English/Ed style programs.