reflect2

j, I suspect I know you from the UNC visit! Hope the honors thesis wrapped up okay And, insider info if you are the person I suspect you are: the school that you had the weird phone call from ended up admitting me... after I asked that I be taken of their waitlist. So odd. I won't say you should definitely go to UNC or definitely go to Iowa. I will say, though, you are not crazy to turn down the better ranked school if you're afraid that is a nutty move. If you feel better about Iowa and you can reconcile yourself to the fact that having 'U of Iowa' on your CV instead of 'Chapel Hill' might keep you out of some jobs down the line, then go to Iowa. I turned down the school that offered me the most funding, had the most professors, and showed the most interest (granted they were not ranked the highest, but are well known) at least in part because they came across as a bit desperate. If it helps you to know what kind of decision I was making and what the factors were that have helped me decide, here you go: I was accepted and funded extremely well at 2 schools (I declined both), accepted and funded okay at 4 school (declined 3 and accepted 1), accepted and not funded at 2 (obviously declined both), and am currently faux-waitlisted at Penn State. Even if I get into Penn State, which is undeniably the top school for my field, I will likely stick with the school I've already chosen. (Oh, and so you know, UNC is not the school I've accepted at.) I chose the school I did based on: Location--I've never lived in the part of the country the school is located in, and I like living new places. The city is not too small and is within driving distance of a big city. The climate is not unbearably hot in the summers. Name/Reputation--I'd say this program is in the top 5 to 7 of my field and grads regularly get good gigs. Friendliness of Grad Students--I tend to be an introvert, so it's hard for me to meet people and relax. During most of the time during my visit to the school I've ultimately chosen, however, I felt comfortable and felt like I was "clicking" with a few different students and at least one person in my potential cohort. The students didn't seem distant or pretentious and they also weren't all drunk all the time... One Professor--There is someone on faculty who is a name and who I would love to work with. I recognize the risk in going to a school hoping to work with one person (he could hate me, he could leave, he could stop teaching, whatever), but it's a risk I'm willing to take because of the other reasons I liked the school. And, to wrap this long post up, I'll say that know wherever you end up will have its problems (and great things too!). There is no such thing as a perfect program. Much of your success and happiness during the PhD process relies on you not the school. You can get to know your field really well at any school. You can make yourself read and write daily at any school. You can go to conferences coming from any program. You can teach well at any school. You can pursue difficult questions while in any program. Good luck with these final days of contemplation! You're going to be great wherever you go.

Ah, I just looked back over the URI stuff. I did send the teaching cover letter (or at least I have a file for it on my computer... I don't know how anyone manages more than 10 applications--organizing these almost killed me!). I'm hoping they just skipped over my name or something when sending out emails. I'll let y'all know if/when I hear something.

I definitely didn't get an email. I'll email them tomorrow to see what is up. I also am not sure what you mean by a separate funding application which probably means I blew it and didn't do something I should've.

Hm.... I didn't hear anything at all...

I got the same email. No info on funding except that I'd hear by 3/12.

While Timshel and homeric_voice might be right about usually needing to adjunct first, that has not been my experience. I joined the full-time faculty of a CC right out of my MA. I do think it was important that I was already in the area (about an hour and a half away) because all of the candidates they interviewed already lived in the area (the CC is in a very small town near a couple bigish cities, so "in the area" is actually a fairly large area) despite getting applications from all over the country. Feel free to message me if you've got any specific questions about what it's like to be on faculty at a CC (teaching load, service, admin craziness, and so on). I've discovered that this is not the place for me, but I can see why it would work for others, so I promise I won't be one of those "teaching at a CC is torture" people should you have any questions.

So you know, Hermia 11, I was just accepted to URI (rhet/comp) via the website without any info on funding. You're not alone in wondering if that means no funding. I was admitted similarly to Nebraska and found out via mail several days later that being notified only by the website did indeed mean no funding at all (unless other accepted and funded students did not accept and a TA position trickled down to me in April).

Thanks for the update, ahhjudy. Congrats on their continued interest--I hope it pans out for you. I already have an MA and haven't heard anything from PSU, so I think I can forget about them.

Congrats on the acceptance, impending. I wish it didn't come along with the stress of an early decision deadline. I think it's entirely unfair to pressure us to make decisions that quickly (especially when it seems like so many rhet/comp programs move slowly). URfreakingI sent an email out this week saying that they won't even have decisions made until April 1st... a whole month after your school wants to know if you're coming or not. Crazy. I didn't apply to any of the schools Amiee mentioned and only share Penn State with impending, so I can't really help you guys gauge what your programs are doing. Here's to hoping they're taking extra time to decide how many millions of dollars to give each of us...

I'm wondering how the rhet/comp crowd is doing? Everybody hanging in there? I also want to know if anybody has had any news from Penn State? I've heard from almost everyone else and am holding out on making some travel arrangements for a visitation weekend at a different school in case Penn State accepts me.

I was just waitlisted at UMD about 20 minutes ago (via a sort of strangely worded email), so there may be more waitlist emails on the way today. Keep in mind, though, that I'm rhet/comp which seems to mean different notification timetables in a lot of departments.

Hillary Chute at Chicago has done a lot of work on comics and graphic memoirs. I taught Maus a few years ago and assigned this (I think it's her first article) along with it: http://www.jstor.org/pss/20479765

I don't know if these are really the best way in to space and place, but they're where I started: de Certau's The Practice of Everyday Life Lefebvre's The Production of Space