Dr. Old Bill

All of the above is true. I will say, however, that there's always the Unraed / Hreademus example: two undergraduate Medievalists who got accepted to several of the same top programs, and are currently in the same cohort at Berkeley. So if you're an excellent, can't miss candidate, there's always hope regardless of other field / era circumstances.

This has been said in a bunch of threads elsewhere in months/years past, but for what it's worth... Specialization is obviously important at grad school level. You know this already, of course, but something I didn't fully realize when I was applying is that many (perhaps most) graduate students don't have an ultra-specific idea of what they want to specialize in when they arrive. Having an area or era is usually good enough. Now, when it comes to filling out your grad school applications, it is important to suggest that you have a firm idea of what you want to do. Committees are investing between two and six (or more) years in you, as well as various funds in most cases, and so they want to know that their "investment" isn't going to flake out or be too whimsical. They want to see indications of focused thought, is what I'm getting at. That does not mean that you need to know that you're going to spend your career working on gender ambiguity issues in Woolf's Orlando, for example. It just means that you should be able to present one solid avenue for future study, supported by a strong writing sample in the area (and all the other aspects). Having said that, bear in mind that most programs are still quite tethered to historical era. When I was introduced to people the other day, the DGS said I was an early modernist. It's true, for the most part, but I haven't officially declared anything one way or another -- it just reflects how I presented myself in my grad school application. If I wanted to, I could leave early modernism in the dust and focus on digital humanities or rhet/comp. Will I? Probably not, but had I fully grasped this notion when I was applying (i.e., if I had treated the SOP and WS as strategic documents geared toward entry, as opposed to documents that outline my entire graduate career), I might have had a better overall showing at grad schools across the board. Or perhaps not. Fortunately I'm very happy where I am, so it's a moot point in my case...but it's worthwhile for you and other new applicants to keep in mind.

It's funny because you're right, of course, about the seminar papers...but I was actually rather relieved in my Super Heavy Seminar to discover that I only have to write one paper. I mean, it's a 25-page paper (or, incidentally, a creative project with a 7-10 page explanation of the project's methodology, which is slightly intriguing...), but still, I think one of my favorite aspects about grad school is the relative lack of exams. Give me papers to write and I'm happy. Give me lots to read and I'm happy. Give me topics to present and I'm happy. Give me exams to take and I'm...not so happy.

Two weeks down and I'm happy. Lots of reading, of course, but it remains in the "heavy, but manageable" realm. I have a particularly heavy reading load this weekend, so the wife and I are watching Alcatraz movies all night, obviously.

Yes, they're all great schools. I applied to five of the ones you mention. 1Q84 is right, however -- it's not just about the quality of the school or the quality of the program...it's about what your general interests are within that program, and how you essentially "fit." The one thing I can confidently say about Penn State is that their program has a good reputation, but their admissions administration is abysmal. You might hear about your rejection after April 15th, or you might not hear at all. Other than that, I had neutral-to-positive experiences with the application process to Princeton, Yale, Harvard, and Stanford. I can't speak to the quality of their programs from within, however.

Absolutely. There was a good thread about this last year that sums up a lot of the reasons why. So long as you have a reason to reach out, and so long as you have something worthwhile to say / ask, it's a-ok to contact a POI.

Thanks Ramus! That makes me feel a heck of a lot better.

So after one week, things are still going well...I think. There's a lot of reading, which I expected, though it turns out that one of my research seminars skews heavily toward philosophy texts (Heidegger, Blumenfeld, Nietzsche, Descartes, Pascal etc.) despite being listed as a Renaissance course. It's fine, and I'm sticking with it, but it will definitely provide the lion's share of my weekly reading material. I am a little curious about how much of the assigned readings graduate students actually read. I'm not lazy in the least, and my aim is to read everything, but on particularly heavy weeks, I may have to "skim" a little bit given the weight of the readings. This week will be the first full week where I balance my GAship and my courseload. I should have a three hour gap on three days out of five between work and class, so hopefully I'll be able to close my office door and use that time productively. We'll see if that works as well as I hope it will (i.e., I suspect people will be knocking on my office door quite frequently...)

Incidentally, Bill Hart-Davidson has one of the concepts in Naming..., dealing with genre.

I should preface this post by saying that I am not ultimately a rhet/comp person, even though the field is a minor interest of mine. That said... I've just read what I consider to be an excellent book on the subject -- one that can be of prime importance to those teaching freshman comp in the near future, as well as one that can help communicate the importance of rhet/comp as a viable, independent field of study. Naming What We Know, edited by Linda Adler-Kassner and Elizabeth Wardle, was essentially crowd-sourced from a bunch of rhet/comp luminaries on a highfalutin Wiki forum, and the breadth of the discipline was distilled into 37 key concepts and subconcepts...all of which are discussed in individual (yet linked) articles of no more than 1000 words. The concision is impressive, considering the significance of many of the concepts. A few are seemingly self-evident, but given that the work as a whole is largely intended as a legitimization of the field, and a presentation of its essential mores, a few "it goes without saying" moments can be forgiven. It's not a book you can go peddling door-to-door, Book of Mormon style, but I do think that it has the potential to be a game-changer if it makes it into enough hands of those who have less-than-savory thoughts about rhet/comp as its own field. Even beyond that, there is a lot of wisdom imparted in the key concepts and subconcepts, as well as the lengthier explications later in the book. I hope this post doesn't come across as too proselytizing ("Hello! My name is Elder Wyatt, and I would like to share with you the most amazing book!"), but it's not often that I sit down with a book of theory and find myself nodding vigorously, instead of nodding off. I think a lot of you would find it very useful.

Gawwww.

I'm using my 1000th GC post to say... I met ProfLorax in person today. You should all be VERY jealous.

That's exactly it. My move was only 70 miles, and yet of all the moves I've made in life (around ten, all told), this one was the worst...even though virtually ALL of the factors of the move (close to school, close to my wife's job, closer to the city, far better neighborhood etc.) were positive. I was miserable for three or four weeks on either side of the move...largely because moving plain sucks. And I'm built like a tank! Honestly, moving across country was far easier, because I had to pick and choose what to bring with me, and what to either sell or put in storage. Completely uprooting everything and replanting is literally one of the most stressful events someone can undertake. Fortunately the end result is usually a good one!

Thanks as always, Lyoness. I'm honestly not sure whether I'm going to pursue that track right now. I may still go down that road, since it's clearly a major interest of mine, but I've been exploring other options over the summer, and have promised myself I will keep an open mind in terms of long-term research goals until the end of the fall semester. That said, I will most likely remain in the early modern vein, and Italian is obviously a critical language to know for that.

Casey's indeed! I only wish they were open later. I went over there with a professor / colleague / friend after work on Friday, but they were closing up. They were out of Black Satin, though even the remnants of their house blend was delicious. Yes, I'm definitely hooked on their coffee. As for Franklin's, I've never actually eaten at the restaurant, but my wife and I have been to the store portion many times over the years. My father-in-law is a big fan of receiving gag gifts for his birthday, Father's Day, Christmas etc., so we often go and buy $50 or so of amusing knick-knacks. It seems like every time we go there we're watching what we're eating, but one of these days, during a "non diet" period, I'll be sure to hit the restaurant side and pig out!

Don't ask my why, but knowing that several of my fellow GCers care as deeply about good coffee as I do makes me feel all warm inside. Or perhaps that's the cup of Black Satin I just consumed. But still! And @ProfLorax: I can't wait to meet you as well! I'm actively looking forward to Tuesday's GEO luncheon and meet-and-greet...hope you'll be there!

Oh! I'm so glad you mentioned coffee places, because I came across a place right by my campus that sells the most amazing blend of coffee that I've ever drunk in my 36 years of existence. It's called "black satin," and it manages to be both smooth and incredibly bold at the same time...which is exactly what I've always been looking for in a coffee. I've bought 3lb of beans already, in addition to stopping there for a cuppa every morning before work. Hooray for habit-forming addictions!

Oh, it was fantastic. There's a ton of hype surrounding the show (to wit: Denzel Washington, Aziz Ansari, and M. Night Shymalan were all in the audience for the performance I attended), and normally I'm a bit leery of hype...but in this case, the show totally lives up to it. I'm sure it will still be playing next summer -- I suspect this show will win a bajillion Tony awards and will be a Broadway staple for years to come.

I'm more excited than nervous at this point. I have 150 pages of theory to read (and a 300 word assignment) for my first class, which starts on the 31st, on top of my day job in a Writing Center, and some other reading material for two other courses (one of which has had exactly ZERO professor interaction so far). That said, from the two syllabi I have so far, I think juggling three graduate courses and a full GAship will be "heavy, but manageable." It helps that I have a legitimate interest in all three courses (research methodologies revolving around Shakespeare's Sonnets, intro to teaching freshman composition, and metaphor and analogy in Renaissance literature). My goal, at this point, is to take three courses in the fall and spring, then only two for NEXT fall and spring so that I can have a heavier teaching load, if possible. I would also like to audit a language course at some point (I'm undecided on whether that will be Latin or Italian), but I might have to do that during a summer session. Finally, I was thrilled to get my first choice for graduate mentor. I hit it off quite well with this professor during the open house back in March, and we have corresponded a few times over the summer. She reminds me a lot of my UG advisor, and is also quite distinguished, so I think she'll be a great fit, and should be able to help me a lot moving forward. Tuesday is the big departmental graduate orientation. Even though I've been working in the department for a couple of months, I'm excited to finally meet most of my cohort and a few more professors. I've made a point of using the weekends to extract as much from summer as possible (I've hit the beach three times, and went and had a whirlwind trip to NYC last weekend to see Hamilton), since fall is going to be UBER busy!

Great thread topic! So far, so good for me. I was able to start a GAship in my department two months ago, which has really helped me to become familiar with faculty, staff, and the office politics of the place. I don't officially start classes until the 31st, but I feel that having a couple of months of daily work, not to mention having my own office, has given me a bit of a leg up. I've been debating with myself whether I'm more sad about summer coming to a close, or more excited about classes (and, by extension, the next phase of my academic career) beginning. It's a close race, but I think the latter is winning by a nose.

I typically start with "Professor X" until I'm either told or get the gist otherwise. Funnily enough, in the Writing Center I work at, I call the director by her first name (by her request, early on), but I hear others call her by "Dr. X" all the time. What amuses me about that is that they don't call one of the assistant directors "Dr." even though he too has a Ph.D. Ultimately, I suspect it doesn't really matter to most professors, but it's best to err on the side of caution and start with "Professor" and see where it goes from there. Remember that while most professors will have a Ph.D. in hand, that's not always the case, so "Professor" is the safest bet.

I'll just say that there's a reason why I didn't go back to school until I was in my 30s. Family ignorance / disdain can be hard to overcome. @Piglet33's comments (the first paragraph in particular) ring true for me as well. Sometimes parents just don't get it, and that manifests as judgment and scorn. It's not fair, and it's often downright detrimental, but it exists, and sometimes we just have to cut them out of our lives to some extent to make what we want to happen, happen.

Way to go, J-heff!

That's definitely a positive! You've clearly prompted a reaction like this... But seriously, it's a good thing. She's likely looking for a 300 - 500 prospectus. After doing a quick Google search, this overview of a prospectus from Wichita State seems pretty solid. She wants to see an outline and your proposed methodology. How you're going to go about doing your research, and what you're hoping to achieve. It sounds more difficult than it is -- you're just demonstrating that you can do more than pitch an idea. Good luck!

Actually, admission statistics indicate that Harvard is not much harder to get into than many other top 50 programs. I don't remember the exact figure off the top of my head, but recent acceptance percentages were around 6%...higher than places like Vanderbilt etc. I mean, any graduate program is technically a long shot, but there are no programs not worth applying to because of their perceived exclusivity. So long as your research interests seem to fit, it's worth applying.