mmmscience

Officially selected Madison today. Cold winters and great beers here I come!

Ack, that is so many waitlists! I'm realizing now that the WL is both a blessing and a curse. I hope your path clears up before April 15th! Also, one week until CCCCs! I hope everyone is totally prepared for their panels/presentations. *is totally not prepared for her panel*

My go-to when stressed is Castle -- so that's basically all I've been watching since the applI cation season started. Nathan Fillion's antics just make me happy.

This is beyond wonderful! It should be a thing everywhere. I shall try to institute it wherever I go...when I am no longer a first year.

I, too, started in science (physics and science journalism). I originally came to English in hopes of doing a creative nonfiction specialization to hone my feature writing skills. And in my MA's intro research methods course I discovered discourse analysis and never ever looked back. Like LCB said, I love the interdisciplinary nature of R/C. I can be both science minded and humanities minded, which just fills my split-brained personality with a lot of joy. I also do love teaching and pedagogy -- which is another reason I like R/C. I feel like I am fully encouraged to do my own science literacy research AND pedagogy research. It's a lot of both/and and not so much either/or. Also, R/C people are amazing!

Congratulations, foucyeah! What's your research interest?

Yeah, the original Chronicle article about this interviewed a Dean(?) of UW-Steven's Point, and he said the same thing. A flagship can weather the storm; smaller schools are in for a world of hurt. And the same for all the k-12 schools, that I'm sure will be hit by a trickle down by this. So many programs are going to be cut -- especially outreach ones, I would think. That's so terrible! I hope that at least gets sorted out. I know that the issue of tenure is a major facet of what's to change if the budget cuts/full separation of UW from the state government actually goes through. I do so hope people in TT jobs don't suddenly have their world pulled from under them.

I was pretty shocked by how big the list of emails was when they were coordinating the welcome weekend thing. So that number might not really be too far off.

So I've been accepted to two Wisconsin schools and am super stoked to go tour the campuses. But I have to admit that Gov. Walker is making me very nervous as far as the future of the universities and funding are concerned. I've been reading a ton of articles, but I was wondering if there any Wisconsiners (Wisconsinites?) on the board here who might be able to give a more candid insight to the atmosphere of the universities. Is it really something I should be worried about or is it being blown out of poeportion by the media?

Legit, I am on a one-woman crusade to figure out how to stop schools from even accepting the GRE. It is a hellbeast that needs to be put down. Would going to a conference be possible? Sometimes it's nice to put a face to a name, and if you could stalk POIs in person, that might help? And if you are still in school, do you have access to the writing center? I went obsessively during SOP writing and writing sample polishing. Having a great WC consultant was great not only to improve my samples, but also because she often talked me back off the ledge. I needed as many of those ledge talker-backers as I could get in my life during application season!

I for one am flabbergasted that 1200 people applied to an MS program! Is that like the top program in field? Ug, what a nightmare for them!

I echo all the In Hac said. I am also finishing my second MA. My first was in science writing/journalism. For me, going to a straight English program for a second MA was really helpful. I got teaching experience, lots more research stuff for my CV, and a better idea of just what i wanted to do for my research focus(es). I would definitely say go for one that is funded, but my experience at this MA was super rewarding.

Congrats to Hannalore and morristr!!

Okay I spoke a smidgen too soon. Just got off the phone with Kansas' DGS. Accepted with a fellowship!

I applied to Kansas but have heard nary a word! Though I am rhet/comp, which might not be the same field as you. And congratulations on your acceptance, CarolineKS!

I know this has been said somewhere else, too, but yeah, MAs are wonderful. They are definitely nothing to look down upon! When I first attempted to apply for a PhD three years ago, I was shut out. This time around, after a master's degree that really helped me hone research focus and gather better letters of rec, much more networking, research experience, and professional growth, I am a much, much stronger applicant. An MA should be viewed as and embraced for what it is: an awesome stepping stone to bigger and better things!

I was accepted to Iowa State, which is a perfect fit for what I'd like to do! I see a few others in the results search. Any of them lurking around here? I'd love to chat about their thoughts on the program.

As someone also at UNO, though the deadline for the TAship is next week, they've been known to extend slightly in order to get the best candidates -- send an email if interested and see if something can be worked out! The website is here. http://www.unomaha.edu/english/grad.php Hands down, I know that program set me on a path for PhD. Great faculty and great mentors all around!

We should definitely have a meet up there as a break from that slogging! A bit of de-stressing in the middle of the chaos!

No sighs! Big hoorays for 3 days of networking our brains out and getting sidetracked by all the other awesome research we could be doing! Yay!

Oh man, that sounds SUPER neat! Have you read Remembering Matthew Shepard by Dunn? It was in Speech Quarterly if I'm remembering right. It was a hella good article about rhetoric and memory and queer theory. It might be something you like! I've applied at Penn State, Iowa State, Kansas, and UW-Milwaukee. I'm working in rhetoric of science, specifically looking at science communication and rhetoric of the break down between what scientists say/do and what the general public hears/understands -- which I've decided I'll refer to as the rhetoric of science literacy, though I'm not sure if that's a legitimate thing to call it at all.

Agggg imposter syndrome. It's the worst! I'm super interested in the acquisition of rhetorical skills. My work in pedagogy research (such as it has been as a master's student!) has centered on that, specifically how the heck new academic writers are supposed to know how to write in varied discourse communities they suddenly find themselves in. I'm currently all about genre methodologies; those are the panels I'm going to stalk at CCCCs. So I definitely think it's a neat thing to study!

Good luck to you! I'm applying in that field as well. What's your research focus, obrial? Or anyone? I'd love to hear about people's research!