bhr

Definitely look at what Prof said about GRN and RNF, but don't give up on presenting this year. There are lots of smaller conferences that have yet to put out their RFPs yet but will soon, plus some unconferences, which offer a chance to present. To give you some sense, most of my cohort will have 2-3 national conferences by the time we apply this fall (counting upcoming acceptances). I don't remember where you are, but DM me, and I may have an opportunity for you in the very near future.

Talk to me about CW. I'm trying to put together something myself. I'm also doing CCCC in Houston Listing a few that still have open CFPs (or haven't sent them out yet) CW is May 19-22nd in Rochester SIGDOC is in DC/NOVA in September (which, grrrrr, would have loved it to be over the summer) HASTAC is May 11-15th at Arizona State SXSWEdu is March 7-10 in Austin (panels are closed, playgrounds are open) and the WIDE-EMU unconference is next weekend at MSU.

Very few, as far as I know. Ohio State does, as does PSU, I believe, but even they are structured to complete an MA on your way to the PhD, with similar timelines to doing them independently. The good news, if that's the field you want to get into, is that many, if not most, of the top MA programs offer funding, and the average time to the PhD, even including the 2 MA years, is similar to PhDs in English without MAs. (about 6.5 years)

Lets clarify that the freedom to change focuses that drastically is highly program (and funding) dependent. At my current school you can flip from one side of R/C to another, but you couldn't jump to there from English because they are separate departments. If your funding comes through a specific professor/grant/RAship, you may find it difficult to switch focuses as well.

70 days until Deadline #1 and I've got bupkis.

I'm Rhet Comp, so unless there's a rhetoric of delusional digital self promotion paper in there, I think I'm going to pass

Wait, are you really on here trying to get someone to write a critical paper about yourself? That's possibly the most conceited thing I've ever seen.

I'm not publicly posting my SoP. Sorry. There's personal stuff there that I don't need to put out there like that

While the AA's aren't on the committee, being obnoxious to one definitely gets back to them. I think calling repeatedly is a horrible idea. Confirm your materials got received, then leave it be until you hear something (or we get to mid March and you haven't heard anything)

I'm not sure why I'm engaging with this person, but it's completely idiotic (as most of your claims are) to make claims about the job list the week after it opens. Here's an article on just this subject last year that says that yes, a majority off jobs post early, this is hardly a bad sign yet. https://chroniclevitae.com/news/708-are-more-mla-faculty-jobs-on-the-way (btw, this year's is ahead of last's on the same date). Also, I'm hearing from many people that the R/C,TC market is expected to be decently robust this year. I don't think anyone on this site really is clueless about the realities of the situation, we just don't need some know-it-all whiner to bring it up OVER and OVER again.

By the time I got to my current program I already had built up a small network of FB/conference contacts that I am comfortable talking too. While my advisor (and other senior faculty) have been more than happy to introduce me to people when we are all in the same place, I tend to find my own circles at conferences, and just go to him if there is someone specific I want to meet. The reality is that, as a grad student, I'm more likely to get honest conversation and future collaboration out of my peers than senior faculty, so I much prefer spending my time with that group (current students and junior faculty). This year it feels like a lot of my friends are starting TT jobs, so it will be interesting to see how that social dynamic changes

While not a parent myself, I have a cohort-mate with a very similar family situation. I second Eigen though, that the best thing you can do is treat it like a full time job. Whether that's 8-5, or 6-3, or whatever works for your particular schedule, just dedicate yourself to spending those 40 hours or so a week to school and school alone, as if you went to work every day (since plenty of parents do just that). As for the social stuff, it really just comes down to the group. Have you tried initiating some activities? I have a similar issue (older, feeling disconnected from my cohort), but I've discovered that people show up when I organize something.

I'm just a lowly MA at the moment, but I put an extra person on my committee because I felt like it added something I was missing. I think most places let you "flex" your committee either temporarily or permanently.

DM me. I've got a pretty strong letter in one field, but am a bit lost in education

I used a number of different signatures, depending on the need. For my students, (I'm a TA/Instructor of record) I use First Last Instructor Course Name/Number/Section Twitter Handle (because I encourage that sort of engagement) Elsewhere in the department, or with faculty/academics elsehwere, I use the slightly more formal First Last Graduate Student Department Name University Name Website/Twitter Handle For contacts in industry, listservs, or when I feel like I need some extra authority/heft First Last Graduate Researcher Long Ass Name of Respected Research Group that Sounds Impressive Department Name University Name Website/Email/Twitter Handle

Two different field. Rhet/Comp programs, primarily, where I will be a bit (or more, sadly) older than the average student, and education, where I'll be a lot closer, since there are more career-stage folks.

My MA cohort (in a field where they aren't considered terminal/fallbacks to PhDs) included 3 early 20s and 4 30+ members. I'll be starting a PhD next year (fingers crossed) at 38, and have been told, repeatedly, not to worry about it. In fact, the only one who really cares about age here seems to be me (which is a personally thing I'm having hard getting over).

As someone who dropped a school off my transcript (attended at 17, did poorly, never tried to transfer my few earned credits, I don't see a problem with it (under some circumstances). There is no reason that a student who dropped out of school, like the last example, should need to include credits that they don't claim and have nothing to do with their current studies. College doesn't appear on a standard background search or credit pull, and a school has no reason to ever find out about it. Now, if you fail out of one program in a field and try to apply elsewhere, that's a completely different issue. The chances in a small community of it coming up, or of running into someone from your former program, are pretty high. Plus, the school has an interest in knowing if someone has wasted an investment in you before (and why it failed). I know plenty of people who have kept old jobs off resumes when there isn't a good reference and the time gap isn't long, and don't see a problem with it either.

My guess, honestly, is that it's less about publications and more about the other stuff (GRE, TOEFL, if required), your person statements and your school/letters. Many candidates get into programs without any primary authored papers (or just a couple), so I'm guessing that you have more than enough for most programs.

Um, I don't think that there is a Maryland Institute of Technology (except for the UMD DH stuff)

I feel like we may be at the same school, as we too got a "pay cut" recently (when, in reality, we got an email with a raise that turned into a smaller raise months later). Contact your grad union

As a sub 3.0 GPA applicant (sub 2.5 when I applied), it's definitely possible to get into grad school without a great GPA, but you need to nail all the other parts of the process. Find volunteer or job opportunities that put you in contact with people in the field. Look to see if there are any workshops, conferences or talks locally that you can go see/meet people at. Read all the current literature you can and make sure that your SOP reflects current needs/research being done by the professors you want to work with. Also, make sure to address why your GPA sucked and how you fixed that problem. Having a 2.0 semester, for example, won't kill you, but not identifying why it was that low and offering a solution will.

Why I mentioned him.

I'm also going to put in plugs for Digital Rhetoric, by Doug Eyman, and Rhetoric and the Digital Humanities, by Bill Hart-Davidson and Jim Ridolfo.

If you are applying to CUNY, consider addressing any DH work or interests you may have, as that's a big focus on that campus.