renea

Just received an acceptance from Texas Christian University with a fellowship, very excited to potentially be back in my home state.

Hey hey. I got into rhet/comp not lit, but I'll definitely hit you up if we have any questions. FSU is currently looking like our top choice

I'll be coming in on Thursday and for sure be there all of Friday. I'm going to try to get there in time to attend a digital rhetoric class, but I'm driving so it'll really depend on traffic. For VT, I received an email from the director. I don't think my portal has been updated. They hosted a preview day the other week (it's the one I missed due to flight cancellation), so I know they sent other acceptances, but since I wasn't able to attend I'm not sure how many were there or whether they'll be sending out more.

Well I'm a grad student currently, but I do teach and take classes and I'm finding it really hard to move my schedule around. Even though many second year MAs are currently in the process of applying, not all my profs have been helpful or understanding of my need to attend preview events. I already had one visit cancelled (due to flight delay/weather), but I had moved around my schedule for the visit still and missed a class. Now I'm having to reschedule the visit and I'm having a hard time juggling everything. My husband currently works full time, and luckily his job is flexible that he can make up hours- but it means his visit is requiring him to work extra hours the following week which is a bummer. I'm currently accepted into 3 programs which all have preview days, I'm attending 2 rn, one of which is scheduled on my spring break so I don't miss class. I guess one thing to think about is that you don't have to attend the full visit. It'll suck to miss part of the events, but at least you'd be able to visit.. I know I'm only attending Miami's event partially (since it's more than one day). I have a separate question for you guys: How many of you are paying out of pocket for your visits. So two of the programs I applied to are covering the majority of my visit (flight, hotel, most meals, etc), but one department I was accepted to is barely covering anything (only 1 night at a hotel, which for an out of state applicant my out of pocket expenses for travel and everything else would easily turn it into a $600-700 trip). I've already asked about additionally funding and was told there was no more available. I'm having a really hard time deciding whether or not to go. I don't really have extra money to spare, but I could probably get the money together by the time of the trip and I have a free hotel night through a rewards program that I could use. Part of me feels like I should just not go, but right now this is the program we'll most likely be attending (since it's the only school my husband and I have both been accepted to). If we end up there, I feel like I'll regret not going. Additionally, I feel like it's going to be hard to make our decision if I had the chance to visit the other departments and not this one. So in the long run is it worth paying for the visit? Are any of you guys turning down unfunded visits? Are any of you paying for your own expenses?

The best advice I've been given about negotiation is that you don't have to use a school as leverage, but you should provide explicit reasons as to why you need what you need. Now a school can give you leverage (it never hurts to show you have offers elsewhere), but you can successfully negotiate without those other offers. You might say, for @agunns situation: "I'm very excited about the offer, however I have done some research on Bloomington and the cost of living. While I'm aware that the cost of living, I'm concerned that on this stipend I might have to seek other work to live comfortably. A stipend of (idk $1k more per semester) would cover the books, fees, and other expenses that will help me graduate in a timely manner." None of that required a name drop. Another example: "I'm currently looking to expand my work on xyz, but it requires (insert thing you need: a new laptop, adobe suite, extra travel funds for research), with the current stipend I do not believe I'll have room in my budget to cover these items necessary for my research. Is their room to add this to my package?" You can see where I'm going. You certainly shouldn't advertise to schools that you'll accept no matter what, but do be prepared to accept immediately if they give you the things you ask for. Only ask for the things you truly need. And this goes the same for people with multiple offers. Don't waste people's time if you don't plan on attending. Don't try to create bidding wars among schools, and certainly never lie about your packages (not saying anyone here is claiming to do it, I just think its appropriate to mention). Additionally, for you @automatic, I would ask all the questions you want. Give negotiations a shot too. The worst they can do is say no. If someone asks you what else you're considering simply say you are weighing your options and still making your decision. I doubt someone will press for more. Have fun learning more about your program, and take advantage of the attention and experience.

I know that the Rhet/comp program conducted interviews and sent out some waitlist and acceptances this week (so I'm assuming they probably also sent some rejections). I would guess the rejections were from them not lit (although even if the rejections were from lit, I guess no news is good news?)

Congrats!

So I'll share my experience. I've been an instructor of record through my TAship for the past two years and worked in the Writing Center over the summer. My experiences may not be the same as everywhere, but they are pretty accurate for the department. As a TA, I've had a lot of freedom in how I run my classroom and what I teach. I've gained a lot of experience teaching that I think will help me out a lot when I go on the job market. I've created my own syllabi, lesson plans, assigned the papers, readings, and homework I wanted, etc. So far all my offers have also been a teaching assistantship. Currently I teach a 1:1 courseload that amounts to about 20 hours a week, and that's what I've been assigned through my offers as well. I will add though that 1:1 is way different than 2:2 and 20 hours as a TA is different than 20 hours as a WC assistant. The biggest benefit at my university to being a TA is the flexibility. Other than my classtime, I get to choose when my office hours are. I can grade from home (in my pjs with the tv on in the background). Our department has less required meetings than our writing center, and I get an office space (shared, but still a desk and key and my own space). Our writing center assistantship is also 20 hours, but those hours look a lot different. For our GAs this is 13 hours of consulting appointments and 7 hours of "project time." For the most part these hours have to be logged at the Writing Center (although occasionally meetings are done off campus). You have to account for your time and most WC meetings are mandatory. Most students in our department feel that the assistantships although payed the same, are not equal. There are benefits though.Our consultants work on various projects (like language statements for the centers, training materials, pedagogy research), and usually they let you pick which projects you work on. Over the summer I worked on 2 projects, a group that redesigned our online appointment training and another project that was a pilot program for a digital and multimodal lab. Many projects have opportunities for publishing and they look great on a CV. Additionally, if you are a very social person you may find the Writing Center to be more comfortable. Most of our consultants are close and there can be a lot of downtime to hangout (when appointments are cancelled or when you're working on projects). Lastly, and this is a big one in our department, the WC folk are way more likely to get a summer assistantship. For our department MA summer funding is not guaranteed, especially since there aren't many classes to teach over the summer (and they are set aside for PhD people). The Writing Center, however, is open all year. If you want to be a Writing Center Program Administrator, then you'll need WC experience. Keep in mind also, that while many programs will hire writing center tutors hourly (over the summer or during the school year), most will not let Writing Center people teach an extra class. So you might want to see if UArk has the potential to give you some WC experience even if you have a TAship.

First off: it is totally reasonable to want to visit earlier and offer to pay for your own expenses. However, I think you should really be looking to UBC for flexibility rather than your other program. It's ridiculous to make a funding offer expire before the April 15th deadline. Many applicants do not even hear from all their programs prior to then (even I haven't heard from all my programs yet). I would honestly try to talk to UBC again. Let them know that you have another offer and about the visit. I feel that they should be considerate of your options and your time.

First off, I am so sorry that the circumstances of the department are changing after already being accepted. This is an issue I think many of us need to consider- faculty can always leave and retire. I think the difference here is that the department is unsure of whether they will be able to replace them. I think the real question will be: what is important to you in terms of your future work? For your dissertation or just general mentorship, you could do just fine in the department. There are enough rhet/comp conferences, listservs, and online resources to get you by and expose you to the research. Personally, though, I would be concerned about the job market. You'll be looking for people to recommend you and help you through the process, and I'm not sure that you'll be able to supplement that with lit people. Though knowledgeable about the process, our field has different standards for hiring and one of the biggest will be who you were trained by, what classes you taught, what your formal teaching is in. Your classes will most likely be in lit, your committee will be lit people, and they will most likely have a different understanding of what your dissertation should look like compared to rhet/comp scholars. I do not want to sound pessimistic, it's just the reality of joining a graduate program. You're joining not for the piece of paper, but for the mentorship and instruction that will prepare you for a job in a specialized discipline. The rhet/comp job market is much better than the lit market right now, but there is a large problem (as I've been told by faculty in my department) that many lit people are trying to rebrand themselves as rhet/comp in order to secure these jobs. You don't want to appear to be one of those people. Additionally, you don't want the first thing people say when you apply to a job to be "I didn't know university xyz had a rhet/comp program." You want a program with some recognizability (note: this is different than rank). If you are open to lit or open to doing extra work to find those support networks (such as attending extra conferences, workshops, publishing in rhet/comp spaces, potentially finding mentors outside of your academy) it could work- but it'll be easier in a department that has that network built in. It also concerns me that the department does not have the budget to replace their only two rhet/comp people. It implies that their rhet/comp track is not a priority or that the department doesn't have stable funding (which is a concern for graduate student funding as well). I have a hard time believing their rhet/comp program is thriving with only two professors (and that the department was not aware of their potential retirement when they advertised for admissions to the program). Something else to consider will be the future state of the program. If those two professors retire, we can assume less rhet/comp students will apply next year and the next and so forth. Will you be happy potentially being one of a handful of students working in your research area? Will you be happy attending conferences solo (as I imagine a department with no rhet comp staff will most likely not be attending CCCCs, but rather MLA). These things seem small, but it can have a huge impact on your professionalization and happiness as a member of the field. You mentioned your family though and that can be a far more significant factor. So I'm offering these things up as red flags and concerns that I see from the outside looking in. In the end though, it's up to what matters most to you. Look at the overall offer, visit the potential people you could work with. See what your assistantship will look like. Weigh your other options (if you applied elsewhere or don't mind waiting another year and reapplying). But most importantly I would ask yourself where you want to be 5 and 10 years down the road and seriously consider what that requires.

Congrats!

This isn't for me (didn't apply to Syracuse), but for those trying to keep up with # of interviews- two of my cohort members had interviews these last two weeks

Finally heard back from Florida State- accepted with funding, which means my husband and I finally both have acceptances to the same school!

A few weeks ago Georgia State sent me an invite to a preview event...for "people interested in applying to their graduate program next year".... Today they sent another one. The first time I thought this is an auto-invite for anyone in their directory. Now I'm starting to think they're sending me a message....

nah. It can be helpful. I contacted a few people at a program that I got accepted into, but it was more so for me to figure out if the school was a good fit for me. I had a phone call with a faculty member who graduated from my current department and we just had a really casual conversation about the kind of work I wanted to do (and she gave me a lot of info about the program that wasn't necessarily easy to find online). I learned about another faculty member who was leaving soon and found out about a few opportunities. All in all it was pretty helpful (although I will admit the phone call aspect itself was very awkward for me). I don't think I got into the program because I contacted people, but I do feel like I was able to write a stronger SOP because I knew more about the program which was a result of the contact. On the other hand, if you're able to (this is more the general you for those who may be applying next year), I would highly suggest contacting faculty if you're ever at a conference with them. I was accepted to a conference last October, a very small conference in my field (think less than 250 ppl), and searched through the program for people at schools I was thinking about applying to. I emailed them to see if we could meet and ended up meeting with two faculty members and one grad student from 3 separate programs. After talking with a grad student, I ended up not applying to their program. I also ended up applying to an additional program because of a panel I attended and some faculty I met afterwards. It was nice to meet face to face with people and later I attended their panels or workshops. Getting to talk to them at that very beginning stage was so helpful. Most of the conversations were casual and they made me more confident about applying. I also made sure to subtly mention it in my SOPs too. I guess think of contacting faculty as less about "getting in" or being impressive, and more about an opportunity to network and figure out if the fit is good. I don't regret my decision one bit, and I plan on continuing to reach out to ppl at conferences even after I start my PhD. Last (important) thought: I wouldn't say these should be necessary to getting in. I have a program on my list I've had no personal contact with, and I know people who have gotten into plenty of schools without reaching out (I know I didn't reach out to anyone when I was applying for my MA and I got in at several places). Mostly if you do reach out to people, make sure it's for a real reason, be honest with the person you're talking to about your wants in a program and about why you want to talk to them. When possible reach out to people who you have a connection with (a conference, same research area, or perhaps your advisor suggested you reach out).

Currently living in MI and married so I'll try to address these two. For Michigan weather, I'd just suggest layers. Any day now we'll be expecting our last snow, so we're basically going back and forth between rain and snow. Do not wear any shoes you would be upset about getting wet though, when it's inbetween rain and snow we get lots of muddy puddles and ice patches. No one will bat an eye if you show up wearing comfy boots (although know that I wear vans or ballet flats plenty of days, our sidewalks on campus are very clear unless we're in the middle of storm or it's the weekend). Just bring whatever coat you have (in case), and maybe a light cardigan or jacket in case it's warm that weekend (we've had some weeks recently in the 40s/50s). Personally I go back and forth between a dress with tights, boots, and a sweater, or a flannel with jeans. If you have gloves and a scarf though you should be cozy regardless of what you're wearing underneat the jacket. If it's super cold (which I don't think it will be) I doubt the program will take you on a full campus tour. I've never been to a preview weekend, but I'm heading to one this week, and I'm wearing this dress with tights and some low heel boots. I, however, tend to dress like this on an average day. I was by my advisor that most preview weekends are fairly casual and to wear what you're most comfortable in. Basically, be yourself, but just a little more polished. If your visit is more than a day or so, I'd just pack a couple of nicer outfits (read: very casual business or whatever you would wear to meet your BF's parents for the first time) and a couple of more casual (like jeans and a nice top) things. If you notice everyone is more dressed up or down on the first day you can change accordingly. I'm at MSU, and most of the people at our recruitment last year wore jeans and button downs or blouses. In terms of the BF.... it'll depend on a few things. A few years ago I went with my husband to a recruitment weekend of his. I had scheduled a few appointments with people in my respective department, but since I wasn't attending an official preview weekend, I had a lot of free time on my hand. Luckily, the department paid for his own hotel room, so I stayed with him. He was fully scheduled for the entire visit so I explored the campus and city without him. I personally didn't mind (I enjoy my alone time and we were at the University of Oklahoma which has a very nice campus and an amazing museum on campus so I was fairly occupied). Later when the visit was over we ended up visiting a few places nearby before we headed home. If your boyfriend doesn't mind that you'll be busy or it won't be too expensive to have him come along I say go for it. If you have your own hotel room, then really it shouldn't matter to anyone but you and him if he tags along. If you wanted to be strategic, I'd task him with scoping out the city while you're doing all the recruitment stuff- see what he thinks and if you end up with spare time you'll have a buddy to go site seeing. I know though that this time we are not visiting departments together. With work and school it just didn't make sense, plus these visits are already adding up even if the departments are paying for the trips airport travel, parking, food, time off work- it's getting to be expensive. Luckily, we each have scheduled visits at our top two programs, so between the two of us we'll see both cities, just not together.

During my last application cycle (for my MA) my husband turned down a funded offer to wait and reapply. He applied to around 8-9 programs and got accepted into 1. We were both only matched with one school and after visiting and receiving our financial offers we decided it wasn't the right fit. On paper, correct fit, but for us at that time it wasn't. You shouldn't apply to anywhere you don't want to go- but sometimes things don't work out as expected. A school that looked like a good fit in November, may no longer be a good fit in April. Additionally, people would be surprised how much you can grow as a scholar in just a year at an MA program. I'm so glad I pursued my MA before my PhD. I have a much better idea of what I need from a program. I also now know that the other school we were considering would not have given me as many resources and opportunities. For us, we realized my husband wasn't ready for graduate school. He needed a break to decide if that was what he really wanted to pursue. He's in the sciences, so accepting an offer meant a 5-6 year commitment, whereas my MA I accepted was just 2 years. We're reapplying for PhD programs together this year and so far he's only heard back from one program, but it was an acceptance to a school that would be a really good fit for him (so yay! already a better cycle). He's had time to get some other types of work experience and figure out what he wanted to research. Ultimately it was a great choice for him. What it really comes down to is why you want to wait. For my husband, the waiting was less about getting into a better school or getting better funding- and more about taking time for himself and maturing as a person and scholar. Waiting only works if something changes, either you, your experiences, or your research. If you turn around and submit the same stuff hoping to get into a "higher ranked" ranked program or get a better funding package, you'll probably be disappointed. If you do as you're suggesting, improve your app, gain more experience, spend more time selecting schools- it could work out for you. Just realize though, that reapplying doesn't guarantee acceptance. The harsh reality is that you could do all those things and not be accepted anywhere. However, if you feel that the rewards outweigh the risk, then I would highly suggest waiting. Getting into an MA program would be an ideal solution, as you would have the ability to build your CV and figure out where you would fit for you PhD.

Most (ehh, the schools I have attended) don't take president's day off. I know our campus isn't closed today and I've been in contact with another program. Now Spring Break could be a different story, but that shouldn't be for another 2-3 weeks for most colleges.

Ugh I reached out, and got a swift no email. It was pretty awkward. It's weird, because I have found far more convenient (time wise) flights that are reasonable amounts (I don't know how much they paid, but the flight that I'm pretty sure they booked me is far more expensive than the ones I found). Although, I'm sure programs potentially get discounts or might have a preferred airline they use so maybe the flight they booked was the cheapest at the time.

Thank you, I will consider it (although the visit is this Thursday so idk if they'll be able to change things around that quick)

Other than a program's site, I cannot think of where you would find this info (at least up to date), especially considering that different schools define placement differently. Although, I would imagine that this would be a good question to ask on your visit. A DGS should know

Yay! Congrats!

In my undergrad I called all my professors by Dr or their last name alone, but now I don't do that. I always call people Dr in an email to them and wait for their signature, but otherwise I go by their first and last name (when referencing them in a conversation or paper), and by their first name in person or if I know them. No one in my department goes by Dr, and when we get new ppl who refer to them as Dr or professor it is super cringey and noticeable. Grated I'm in rhet/comp and our discipline had always felt more casual compared to lit.

Ugh I wish I had thought of asking this. I'm going to a visit next weekend which is a 3 day/two night stay with two days being travel. I told the graduate coordinator booking the flight that I was open to leaving early my first day and staying late my second because I wanted to see the area, and she ended up booking me a flight getting in at 9pm and leaving at 7am. I'm so grateful that they're paying for everything, but I'm basically only going to be there for one day which doesn't seem like any time to do anything besides see the school.

YESSSSS, Congratulations!