francheese

Congrats on the acceptance!! Did you get a TA position? My heart broke when I didn't receive one, so I'll be doing my Rhet and Comp at WSU. Anyways, I'd love to hear how you're enjoying the program once you start. Everyone I talked to there seemed incredibly nice.

In addition to the post above, I want to add that I have heard a lot about the drinking culture and being an undergrad at WSU. I am, of course, more interested in graduate life there and binge drinking undergrads is nothing new to me- my alma mater has topped many "drunkest school" lists, I'm not proud but my nose isn't so high that I can't stand to be surrounded by the activity. And I kind of like hippies, so I don't really see that as a negative either. Thanks again!

So I may be a Pullman-ite afterall! Reading though this thread, I was a little worried about some of the descriptions such as "small town", "lonely", "middle of nowhere" ect. So I compared my current town's population (actually the town next door, we have a mere 2,000 where I live) and it is still over 15,000 less than Pullman. Is it that there aren't many neighboring towns that makes it seem so small? Or have I been living in small New England towns so long that I don't even know what the term "small town" means anymore? Even my college town in Keene, NH has less people than Pullman! If anyone has any perspective on what it feels like to live in Pullman v.s. a small town in Southern, VT or anywhere in New England, could you give me some insight? I guess it is necessary to confess that the most Western U.S. state I have been to is Utah. I was raised in RI so really everything out West just seems so damn big to me. Thanks!

So, I "got in" to ASU.... yesterday.... I was about to move to Thailand. I emailed in a last ditch effort and they told me I was admitted and I would get a letter soon. Has anyone else heard from them? Anything about funding? AHHHH!

No, they didn't give me indication... though I thought it was odd that he promised a good chance for admission AND a TA position...

Thanks! I'm finding many schools require an intermediate knowledge of a second language. I have a decent proficiency in Italian that just needs some more work, so I hope these can go hand in hand.

I'm so happy this thread exists. I was accepted to one school but wait listed for funding. I think I made every graduate school application mistake. Including poor GRE prep and starting too late.... I'm planning on taking the next year to revamp my application and try to find work in the field (I currently sell furniture). Does anyone have any advice on interships/jobs to look for to better my application? My idea is to apply for a TESOL certificate and work in that field for a while.

I was wait listed. The email I received assured I had a better than 50/50 chance of admittance with a TA position. I'll admit, I made all of the grad school application follies, including having "safety schools" or what have you. I don't have my heart set on WSU but then again, I don't know too much about the school. I know the Rhet/Comp program looks great though. What are your thoughts? Why did you choose WSU?

Thanks for the advice, all. Just to clarify, juilletmercredi, it is an MA program, so I appreciate your perspective on funding. The TA position is important to me not only for the funding but the experience (but mostly the funding). Should I hold off this year, I would want to gain experience in my field. Does anyone have any advice on internships, ect. that could advance my candidacy? I am seriously considering a SIT TESOL certificate and work experience. I might try posting on the Rhet/Comp pages about this too. Thanks again Liz

Thanks, this helps a lot. How did you deal with recommendations? This year I used professors from my alma mater and my current boss. I am very grateful for their help and would have a difficult time asking them to renew their recommendations, especially when I will be three years out of my undergraduate. I was thinking of taking courses at a community college in a related field to give myself a leg up and seek other recommendations. Did you find new recommendations or ask the same people to submit the following year?

I was recently admitted to NCSU and I find their program favorable and I wouldn't mind moving to Raleigh, however, I am on the waiting list for a TA position (though the waiting list is quite short). Other than that, I have two rejections, one waiting list and a two more hanging out. I should preface my dilemma by saying I could have done better on my GREs and, in hindsight, my application as a whole. As you can tell I applied several places desperate for an acceptance due to my applications starting late and in the midst of big life changes. Anyways, I would love to go to NCSU if I knew I had a TA but otherwise... would it be worth it to wait another year? I am 23 and working in an unrelated field. I could take the time to explore other jobs related to my field, though I would be sorry to leave the money I am making in my job which is, consequently, helping me save for moving to Grad School. Thoughts? Is anyone else contemplating waiting until next year to apply again and make their application stronger?