empress-marmot

Did your contact not respond to your note? If so, I don't think it would be rude to follow up with a nice email. I would reassure them that they are your first choice, that you plan to attend the open house, and that you hope to hear from them soon. As long as you're honest and polite, I don't think a follow-up will come off the wrong way.

I took a look at placements for my field, and it seemed like PhDs from the southwest placed at schools in the region. I don't have any real numbers on this, and I am certainly not implying that some PhDs "only" place in regional schools. As other users pointed out, you would have to look at placements and draw your own conclusions. ...perhaps regional biases do exist. If I were on a hiring committee in the Midwest, and I interviewed a candidate who had spent his or her entire life on the East/West coast, I might ask a question about how he or she would feel about moving to a new part of the country. That being said, I'd be happy if the worst question I face in an interview is "Marmot, you moved from the midwest to the south to the (other region)...are you sure you can settle down here?"

Goodness, I've never thought about that. While it wouldn't be the first thing I would consider when choosing a program, I can imagine that high school in one part of the country, college in the same part of the country, MA in the same part of the country, and PhD in the same part of the country might feel a little...confining? If you're the type to feel confined. Actually, way down on my list of reasons for declining a program (after research fit, professor fit, program requirements, courses, etc.) was that it was in the Midwest, and I wanted to try out a different part of the country. However, if it had matched my research interests better than other programs, I would have squashed my wanderlust.

Placement in US schools is beginning to be a big factor in convincing students to attend, so programs are starting to keep better records. It may not be such a big issue in the UK. You could always try contacting the professor you want to work with, and asking him/her where his/her former students are now.

Aww, I just got a letter from Oregon. I had applied to the PhD straight out of undergrad, and though it was a long shot, I put together what I thought was a compelling application. Though I didn't make it into their PhD (15 slots, 200 applicants), they offered me the MA. The first year, however, is without funding, and I can't afford that. But it's lovely to know that they liked my application too. The letter they sent was very, very kind.

I won't be applying to PhD programs till 2017, but this sounds like a good idea. It might hurt a bit to have a DGS tell you, "we're not looking for more students in this field," but I would much rather know before spending hundreds of dollars/emotional investment in the school. I visited a program last year before application season. In retrospect, the professors were warning me away from applying--they told me again and again that I would be competing with candidates with MAs. Of course I didn't listen. Of course I was rejected. So far, it sounds like all these DGS interactions have been face-to-face. Professors on The Chronicle's forums complain about receiving these sorts of emails from students, though. (Granted, some Chronicle posters seem like awful human beings.) bhr, have you ever emailed a DGS about program/applicant fit? How did it go?

Chiming in from an MA perspective here. For the first time in my life, I don't really know what I'm doing. I'm (prospectively) committing to the program which has a very clear vision for who they want me to be. I'm going for the supportive, inspiring people. By the time I'm applying for PhD programs, I really hope I'm the sort who knows what to do and doesn't need handholding. That's a legitimate wish for an MA, right? And ToldAgain, congratulations on both your acceptances!

I was thinking about this today, because my undergraduate university's department head wants me to write about my application experience for the program's blog... What I worked out was that I scored 163, and I probably wasn't ruled out because of it. Then again, no one glanced at my application a second time because of it either. The hard thing, though, is how to communicate this to future applicants. I know the demographic of my university, and retaking the GRE isn't a feasible option for those students. I guess my advice will be to study for a good six months, take every practice test possible, and as long as your score is pretty close to 90%, focus on the writing sample/SOP. What I really want to write is "I know nothing. Go find the GradCafe."

First, I never congratulated you on UNC! Congratulations! I know that you're dealing with five-year decisions between fantastic PhD programs, and I'm making a two-year decision between small MA programs. However, I am turning down two better offers to attend my top choice. Money was a hard thing to turn down, so I worked out a budget. If you're really worried about the stipend not being enough to pay for your room/board/car/contentment, then that's a large consideration. Otherwise my idealistic advice is to go to your dream program. Even better if it's by your family. My program's an hour away from my parents, and they told me pragmatically, "Sunday dinners, and you can take home the leftovers." Congratulations again on UNC!

I read something like that before, and I think it's an absolutely charming idea. Every professor needs a new coffee/tea mug.

I'm not sure if this is the right thread for the question, but it does have to do with making decisions. Has anyone ever heard about an offer not working out the way it looks on paper? I'm being paranoid, but I am terrified that I will accept an offer and then be hit with invisible print. I have it in writing that I get free tuition+healthcare+stipend, and that I still have to pay student fees. But what if I get a letter that says, "Dear Ms. Marmot, we know we promised you two years of funding, but we lied."? I'm being paranoid, right? Most of my mind knows that this doesn't happen, but could someone reassure me that this doesn't happen? Thanks!

On one of my campus visits, a grad student mentioned that she'd heard of other students taking on additional teaching classes to raise their stipends. In turn, I mentioned that to the program head, and asked if it was common. Apparently the program head thought I was asking about working outside the department, because I received a very, very terse response. The professor actually told me that if money was that much of an issue, I should think about student loans. Ouch! Try not to let one bad departmental experience reflect on the entire school. Professors are human, and goodness knows what they thought we were asking them.

I agree with you. Funding shouldn't be something to brag about (I think education should be a right of citizenship, but let's not be political), but it is significant. If funding isn't an issue and placement is about equal, (You can always be the first to be placed at an Ivy!) then I would start looking at course offerings, as you mentioned before. Which program is most likely to help you as a scholar? For example, I am about to accept an offer from a program which focuses on rhet/tech, over offers from pedagogy-focused programs. And since you're a playwright, you may want to think about the best population for your works. I know nothing about the drama business, but if I wanted a theater group to test out something I'd written, I would probably have better luck finding one in a larger, more artistic city.

That is terrifying. No wonder people are scared, if that sort of thing happens often. Your mentor must be very compassionate, because he could have ended that assistant professor's career. If it happened to me, I would be tempted to send hard evidence to the miscreant's department head, though that would backfire on my career as well. Is this why people in the humanities don't collaborate as much as those in the sciences? Fear of the idea-snatchers?

Question for the Rhet/Comp crowd. I won't be able to make Cs this year, but some of the presentations look really interesting. Would it be rude to email presenters and ask for an abstract? Personally, I'd jump for joy if someone seemed interested in my research. I know that there are a lot of concerns about plagiarism/intellectual copyright, though, so people might be suspicious. What do y'all think?

If I were to take that test again (and I probably won't), I would study key line, author, and title matching. That part was utterly humiliating, as I remember. Good luck!

Hey, wetheplants! Congratulations on your acceptances! Personally, I'd choose the program with the best funding and best placement I could (assuming that you think all programs are a good fit). If the PhD is your goal, ask the program where their MAs have been accepted. Sometimes PhD programs ask for your teaching philosophy/student evaluations, so having teaching experience is a good thing. However, if your best offer doesn't include a TAship, I don't think this would exclude you from PhD program consideration. A TAship isn't your only opportunity for teaching experience, though it is probably your best one.

I spent my week dealing with snobby landladies, which was entertaining. Judging from forums in previous years, people get kind of snippy around this time, but at least none of us make a point of sniffing at our career choices. ("Oh, you're a graduate student? How nice...we are very particular about our residents, so you would have to prove that you will be able to support yourself on your income, that's your income--we don't accept cosigners or student loans.") And I suppose I'm unsettled because four of my schools are still silent. While I wouldn't wish for four rejections, at least if they sent me the fatal email, I would have some closure. Other GCrs feel this way too, right? The desolation of silence? In positive news, I signed up for the Red Cross. The orientation leaders actually treated me like an adult, and they seemed eager to work with me. (Yay community service! Yay networking!)

I went on a campus visit as a "prospective applicant," and I really think it was a mistake. Even though the DGS and the professors he directed me to speak with were very gracious, there was an undercurrent of why are you here in every conversation. People in the sciences might view it differently, but I wish I had kept my exchanges email-only. Perhaps you could pick one POI on campus, email him/her, and if s/he seems enthusiastic, mention that you will be in the area and would be happy to meet.

I was mailed two contracts for two universities, and a pdf to print out and mail to a third. While it might be fine to accept an offer via email/phone, I don't think anything can be considered official till you sign the contract. At least, that would be my take on it. I know different disciplines work different ways.

I missed this due to being on a library-book-ordering marathon last night. Thank you so much for discussing this, everyone! SOPs and Writing Samples are such closely-guarded possessions that for all the advice out there, it is hard to find actual examples. I understand. The Internet is a scary place, after all. Plus, since I know now how absolutely inadequate my generalist SOP was, I couldn't bear to expose it (and myself) to ridicule. The advice here is specific and harsh-in-a-good-way. I wish the professors who read my SOP would have asked, "Marmot, do you know anything about Rhetoric and Composition other than a couple of outdated buzzwords?" And I would have whimpered, "no." Then I would have revised. Thank you again for discussing this topic, and thank you to Wyatt's Torch for posting paragraphs from your SOP--it sounds really interesting! The forum is right; professors probably want to mold students, not take on a student who already knows exactly what they're going to study. If anyone would like to read what not to write, I would be happy to provide an outline. It might be too soon to revisit the actual document.

I'm sorry to you two, and everyone else whose application season did not go as happily as they might have wished. I think my recommending professors were a little bit unaware of how competitive the PhD admissions process is nowadays. Most of them did this a couple decades ago, after all. They thought my materials were fine, and I don't want them to blame themselves. When I break the news to my professors, I will try to focus less on the rejections (still haven't collected all those yet) and more on the merits of the program I will attend. What do y'all think? Another round of handwritten, hand-decorated thank you notes? Or a sincere email?

Yes! A week or so ago, I ranked programs (in my field) by how many of their PhDs they placed in other PhD programs in my field. But that's not enough: I should have noted how many recent graduates (say, from 2010 onward) are at other PhD programs. Yup. I know the risks. No use thinking toxic thoughts.

I was saving season 3 of Sherlock for a particularly bad day. Best decision ever. Who cares about grad school rejections when there's an east wind coming?

^^ I was 85% sure I didn't want to attend one school, and declining the offer made me 100% sure. Having three MA offers on the table was terrifying enough--and I was only deciding the next 22 months of my life. Good luck to all you PhDs out there making five-year decisions!