renea

Congrats on the conference acceptance! What you wear will be really dependent on: field, conference, and weather. My field (Rhet/Comp) tends to be more casual in general so it would not be unusual to see a man wearing anything from a polo and nice jeans/khakis to a full suit. At more "prestigious" (think traditional, national, or more longstanding) conferences like MLA, I think there is more of an expectation to dress formally (full suit or traditional businesswear like slacks). My husband is in the STEMs (physics) and he usually wears a full suit and tie for national/international conferences the day he presents and a dress shirt and slacks for the days he's just attending. I remember one conference I attended in which my first day I dressed very nicely for my own presentation, but upon seeing that most people dressed pretty casually, I opted for leggings and a tshirt on day two. I didn't stick out at all and was quite comfortable for the rest of the conference. 
The advice from @sigaba is sound, I might suggest seeing if your conference uses a hashtag as well and searching for past ones on Twitter. Just keep in mind keynote speakers or official conferences photos will likely show people who are dressed up the most. I'll add that you can also ask other graduate students or an advisor/faculty member who you know has attended in the past. They'll be able to steer you towards the right choices.
In general I can say these things have been helpful for me:
People tend to dress their best on the days they present and more casually on the ones they just attend. Local conferences are generally more casual than national/international. You can always take a layer off if needed: it's easy to remove a blazer if you feel hot, uncomfortable or overdressed. Dress for the local weather and conditions.  You can always mix and match or pack spare clothes. A tie takes up little room in a suitcase and can be added or removed from an outfit. A pair of dress shoes can be swapped for a nice pair of boots or loafers and can be dressed up or down.  Lastly, dress for your comfort and budget. If a full suit will make you nervous or put you in debt forget about it. People rarely remember what speakers wear but will remember a stellar presentation. 

I second this:
But also if you don't want to do awkward emailing, I've had great success getting articles from Academia.edu. Sometimes people just post pdfs but other times you can send a quick pregenerated response requesting them. I'm at a university but sometimes I don't have access and don't want to bother with interlibrary loans.

I second this:
But also if you don't want to do awkward emailing, I've had great success getting articles from Academia.edu. Sometimes people just post pdfs but other times you can send a quick pregenerated response requesting them. I'm at a university but sometimes I don't have access and don't want to bother with interlibrary loans.

I think what makes me the most sour is how so many departments talk about promoting diversity and making education accessible and equitable, and yet they continue to stick with traditional, outdated application methods. I'm sure the answer is that it requires labor and time to change these systems, but I also feel like faculty are so distant from this process they have forgotten what it feels like- or else they remember and feel like it is something everyone should go through because they had to do it.

This is a general rant/reflection as the application season is nearing an end and the waiting is happened. I know a lot of us have started considering what we wish we did better, but I'd love to know- what do you wish programs did differently. Also, I'm sure this goes without saying- but I'm not bashing, just recognizing how stressful this process is and the places that schools could improve. I'll start us off.
Just take the unofficial transcripts dammit. Don't make me pay $10+ dollars for each transcript that I have to send. Don't make me send paper copies. If you accept me, I'll happily go through the trouble. Quit with this community college bullshit. I just received an email from a program saying that once they receive an official transcript from a community college that gave me credit for a math class I took in highschool then my application will be complete. It was a dual credit class! It's listed on all my other transcripts and wasn't even taken at the college. Do you really care what I made in calculous 7 years ago? Do you really need that to review? Just give us the projected acceptance dates. Please don't make me crawl through the results page. Please don't give me anxiety checking the portals, email, mailbox... We're expected to turn in everything by a certain date and time. If our application is late, many schools won't even consider it. So I ask, why is this a one way street? We paid you the money, can't we at least know when we'll find out.   
What are your top 3 pet peeves of this application season?

Every school, "We consider all applicants holistically, we do not have any cutoffs for GRE scores....but........ successful candidates usually have xyz. Also unofficial scores will not be accepted"
Translation, "We believe that a highschool level test with nonsense questions that is timed in a cold computer room that won't allow snacks will help us decide if you're prepared for graduate level work even though you're literally already sending us a cumulative record of all your college classes, a writing sample you spent months on, a personal statement that you crafted, and letters from professionals vouching for you...but yeah, we'd like you to spend another $200 + $27 for that numeric score"
 

Hey so the confusion might be that $22k is what they quoted me for the total "offer" so this is the combined costs of your stipend, tuition credits, and out of state waiver. The original stipend was around $15k, but the costs of fees and health insurance (which was not fully covered) was $4,249.66- so at the end of the day my fall/spring stipend was barely over $10k. If it was $22k I'd be fine that's on the upper end imo. 
Now I will say that the department has fellowships, and when I told the DGS that the stipend was the only thing keeping me from accepting she worked on getting me more funding (roughly $11k total in fellowships added to my 4 years of funding which she secured in one week). That was not near enough for us to justify the costs- but I do want to give a shout out to her because she made me feel totally comfortable being honest with her and she was very understanding about me not being able to accept even after getting me extra money (she was also just super nice). It's really not the department, the fees & insurance affects the entire university- they killed my husband's offer as well- our combined offers was actually less than what I'm making this year at my current PhD program alone. 
However- if you were an in-state resident already and didn't need health insurance (it's required by the university, but if maybe you were on a spouse's or parent's plan) the program could work (and does for many students!). It's an amazing program and the people I talked to seemed very happy. Like you so smartly said- everyone's needs are very different.

There's a difference between the *intended* reasoning behind fees in a hope that it leads to more tailored applicants (this is the optimistic reasoning which we hope programs have) and the reality--which is that those with money generally have more resources and time to apply to far more programs thus increasing their chances of being accepted and increasing competition for those who can't afford more than a handful.
 
We should also recognize that fit does not always mean research interests. There are many individuals who do not have the privilege of applying to just a handful of programs that are the best fit. Some applicants are
limited geographically (perhaps limiting them to schools that even though aren't a perfect fit they would still thrive in), they have partners who they are applying with (thus narrowing their choices and simultaneously adding in another factor- both partners being accepted to the same school), they might have a weaker portion of their application such as spotty grades from when they were younger, gaps in their school due to family problems, health issues, or financial reasons, they may be unable to take a subject gre test (or even the regular gre) due to money or work schedules.  they might have niche research interests that don't have a clear "fit"  They might not have the resources, support, or mentorship at their undergrad to help them figure out what a good fit would be Applications are complicated. They take time and require a myriad of factors. When money is an issue or one of the above situations factor in, individuals would benefit from having lower application costs, because they'd be able to apply to more programs. My husband and I are both applying to programs. Of course I applied to programs that were a good fit for me, but some schools were a compromise (good fits, but not the best) because we both had to like the program. We also had to reduce the amount we applied to because of $$$. Had applications cost less, we could have afforded to throw one or two programs in that we loved, but didn't know if we were competitive enough for. Let's face it, there are programs we are great fits for, but on paper many institutions throw candidates out due to good, but not amazing GRE scores. I wanted to apply to Purdue so bad, but my husband's gre scores were not at their recommended score. Sure we could have risked it and applied as a reach school (a good fit, but not a sure thing), but we're barely could afford the schools we did apply to. We saved for months for these apps, and we didn't want to waste the money. Let's stop using fit and labor as an excuse for gatekeeping policies. 
 

There's a difference between the *intended* reasoning behind fees in a hope that it leads to more tailored applicants (this is the optimistic reasoning which we hope programs have) and the reality--which is that those with money generally have more resources and time to apply to far more programs thus increasing their chances of being accepted and increasing competition for those who can't afford more than a handful.
 
We should also recognize that fit does not always mean research interests. There are many individuals who do not have the privilege of applying to just a handful of programs that are the best fit. Some applicants are
limited geographically (perhaps limiting them to schools that even though aren't a perfect fit they would still thrive in), they have partners who they are applying with (thus narrowing their choices and simultaneously adding in another factor- both partners being accepted to the same school), they might have a weaker portion of their application such as spotty grades from when they were younger, gaps in their school due to family problems, health issues, or financial reasons, they may be unable to take a subject gre test (or even the regular gre) due to money or work schedules.  they might have niche research interests that don't have a clear "fit"  They might not have the resources, support, or mentorship at their undergrad to help them figure out what a good fit would be Applications are complicated. They take time and require a myriad of factors. When money is an issue or one of the above situations factor in, individuals would benefit from having lower application costs, because they'd be able to apply to more programs. My husband and I are both applying to programs. Of course I applied to programs that were a good fit for me, but some schools were a compromise (good fits, but not the best) because we both had to like the program. We also had to reduce the amount we applied to because of $$$. Had applications cost less, we could have afforded to throw one or two programs in that we loved, but didn't know if we were competitive enough for. Let's face it, there are programs we are great fits for, but on paper many institutions throw candidates out due to good, but not amazing GRE scores. I wanted to apply to Purdue so bad, but my husband's gre scores were not at their recommended score. Sure we could have risked it and applied as a reach school (a good fit, but not a sure thing), but we're barely could afford the schools we did apply to. We saved for months for these apps, and we didn't want to waste the money. Let's stop using fit and labor as an excuse for gatekeeping policies. 
 

I think what makes me the most sour is how so many departments talk about promoting diversity and making education accessible and equitable, and yet they continue to stick with traditional, outdated application methods. I'm sure the answer is that it requires labor and time to change these systems, but I also feel like faculty are so distant from this process they have forgotten what it feels like- or else they remember and feel like it is something everyone should go through because they had to do it.

There's a difference between the *intended* reasoning behind fees in a hope that it leads to more tailored applicants (this is the optimistic reasoning which we hope programs have) and the reality--which is that those with money generally have more resources and time to apply to far more programs thus increasing their chances of being accepted and increasing competition for those who can't afford more than a handful.
 
We should also recognize that fit does not always mean research interests. There are many individuals who do not have the privilege of applying to just a handful of programs that are the best fit. Some applicants are
limited geographically (perhaps limiting them to schools that even though aren't a perfect fit they would still thrive in), they have partners who they are applying with (thus narrowing their choices and simultaneously adding in another factor- both partners being accepted to the same school), they might have a weaker portion of their application such as spotty grades from when they were younger, gaps in their school due to family problems, health issues, or financial reasons, they may be unable to take a subject gre test (or even the regular gre) due to money or work schedules.  they might have niche research interests that don't have a clear "fit"  They might not have the resources, support, or mentorship at their undergrad to help them figure out what a good fit would be Applications are complicated. They take time and require a myriad of factors. When money is an issue or one of the above situations factor in, individuals would benefit from having lower application costs, because they'd be able to apply to more programs. My husband and I are both applying to programs. Of course I applied to programs that were a good fit for me, but some schools were a compromise (good fits, but not the best) because we both had to like the program. We also had to reduce the amount we applied to because of $$$. Had applications cost less, we could have afforded to throw one or two programs in that we loved, but didn't know if we were competitive enough for. Let's face it, there are programs we are great fits for, but on paper many institutions throw candidates out due to good, but not amazing GRE scores. I wanted to apply to Purdue so bad, but my husband's gre scores were not at their recommended score. Sure we could have risked it and applied as a reach school (a good fit, but not a sure thing), but we're barely could afford the schools we did apply to. We saved for months for these apps, and we didn't want to waste the money. Let's stop using fit and labor as an excuse for gatekeeping policies. 
 

I think what makes me the most sour is how so many departments talk about promoting diversity and making education accessible and equitable, and yet they continue to stick with traditional, outdated application methods. I'm sure the answer is that it requires labor and time to change these systems, but I also feel like faculty are so distant from this process they have forgotten what it feels like- or else they remember and feel like it is something everyone should go through because they had to do it.

So I'm about to start the first year of my Phd, and I got my dog just one year ago (in the summer before the last year of my MA). The big things I've learned (as they've applied to me):
Consider who will take care of your dog when you are at a conference or away. A weekend or day might not be that hard, but what about breaks? While my husband is around to take care of our dog, my program is about 16 hours from our family so Christmas break was rough, as almost everyone we knew well enough to watch our dog was also away. We ended up driving home and keeping him with our family, but it was a hassle.  Most grad students are rent dependent, if this is true for you then be warned renting with a dog can destroy your savings. We managed to find a rental that only had a $200 deposit, but many of the places we're looking to rent this upcoming year charge a $200 deposit, $200 fee, and "pet rent" anywhere from $10-25 a month (obviously we know pets can be expensive, but this in particular is a burden) Think about your routine and how long you're away each day. When I was taking thesis credits, my dog was pretty happy, either me or my husband were home most of the time, but when I suddenly had classes nearly every day the next semester I think it bummed him out. Suddenly he was alone for 4/5 hours, 5 days a week. He's gotten much better, but when we first had him he was still potty training, learning to be alone, had very severe separation anxiety... it was stressful trying to decide each day whether I wanted to leave for just a one hour presentation or meeting. So on top of what @jrockford27 said about irregular schedules- also consider the guilt. With all of that though, I want to say that I'm so happy with my decision to get a dog. Our puppy was with a family previously who had too many pets and not enough time to properly train or take care of him. We may not have as much money or time as some people, but he still gets a lot of attention and we have a set budget each month for his food/toys/treats etc. He's basically a spoiled only child and we love it.
In addition to providing me with company while I study and affection when I'm stressed- he's also helped me develop some better habits. We've started incorporating hikes, daily walks, and trips to the dog park into our routine. I'm forced to get up at a reasonable time to take him out. Plus, he "reminds" me (via begging and harassment) to play with him and take him out, forcing me to step away from laptop at least once an hour or so. Training has been terrible and getting up at like 4am to take him out those first few months was awful, but he just turned one and is starting to really figure stuff out (with a dog that is already trained, I'd imagine it being much easier). 
So, yeah- there are pros, there are sure cons, but if you love the dog, have the money, and can make a few small sacrifices, I think it's worth it. When we get settled in our next program, we're already considering adding a second dog to the mix so I guess it works for us.

eh it really depends on what field you're in and what school you lied about. Most likely it won't come up again (generally speaking, I imagine professors have better things to do than talk to other people about potential admits). 
With that being said, I'm in rhet/comp and our field is smalllllll, when I went on school visits nearly everyone knew my current advisors and there were plenty of people who came up and asked me about certain people (to say hi or ask whether I worked with them). But our field is small and I'm at a well known program. If you mentioned a lesser known school or are in a much larger field it probably won't matter at all. I wouldn't address it as it will probably never come up again, but as you clearly know it's not the best habit to get into. 

Officially accepted my offer at TCU's rhet/comp PhD program. Very happy to finally have made my decision. Good luck to everyone out there still trying to make a decision. It can be hard, but take your time, you've still got two more weeks

So I officially accepted my offer at Texas Christian University. For future rhet/comp ppl who are lurking or applying for their PhD next year, if you are interested in New Media studies, multimodal work, or food rhetorics I would highly recommend the program. I just visited last week and found the department to be very welcoming and the stipend is very competitive to the other offers I received.
For anyone waitlisted, I'm declining offers today at Miami University, Virginia Tech, Georgia State, and Florida State. Hope this helps someone out! 

So I officially accepted my offer at Texas Christian University. For future rhet/comp ppl who are lurking or applying for their PhD next year, if you are interested in New Media studies, multimodal work, or food rhetorics I would highly recommend the program. I just visited last week and found the department to be very welcoming and the stipend is very competitive to the other offers I received.
For anyone waitlisted, I'm declining offers today at Miami University, Virginia Tech, Georgia State, and Florida State. Hope this helps someone out! 

So I officially accepted my offer at Texas Christian University. For future rhet/comp ppl who are lurking or applying for their PhD next year, if you are interested in New Media studies, multimodal work, or food rhetorics I would highly recommend the program. I just visited last week and found the department to be very welcoming and the stipend is very competitive to the other offers I received.
For anyone waitlisted, I'm declining offers today at Miami University, Virginia Tech, Georgia State, and Florida State. Hope this helps someone out! 

Officially accepted my offer at TCU's rhet/comp PhD program. Very happy to finally have made my decision. Good luck to everyone out there still trying to make a decision. It can be hard, but take your time, you've still got two more weeks

Honestly... I wouldn't do it. There are enough programs out there that do fund for MAs that I personally wouldn't accept an unfunded position. You don't want to add to your debt when you could have taken a funded position at a lesser known program (I say lesser known rather than lower ranked, since in Rhet/Comp ranking is so subjective). I'll share a few reasons why I wouldn't do it:
An MA from a top program is helpful when applying for PhD programs, but it is no guarantee that you'll be accepted into a PhD program (top or otherwise). I have witnessed first hand this season great applicants from top programs get no or few acceptances even though they went to a "top program."  Not having funding can hurt your overall performance. Will you do just as well in grad school if you have to take on more work? Will you attend conferences if you're having to pay out of pocket for them? Additional school debt can change your career path. I have friends who are not able to take a gap year because they can't afford to start paying their student debt. I know people who are having to accept their only offer instead of reapplying for this reason too.  You can't predict the job market. Rhet/comp does have more job openings than other fields, but there's no way to know 6 years down the line what the job market (or economy) will look like. You might change your mind. There are lots of folk who decide that academia isn't for them after going through their MA. There's nothing wrong with that, in fact that's why an MA is so great- it lets you test out grad school without the PhD committment, but once again- is the debt worth the risk? I personally would wait it out and see if you get off the waitlist or get funded at the other program. MA funding isn't great, but any funding is better than no funding. Additionally, many people (lots of ppl on GC in fact) go to lesser known places for their MA and get into top programs for their PhD. If you don't end up with a funded offer you can always reapply the next year or  see if you can secure funding over the summer (then decline if you don't) sometimes funding opens up after April 15th. 
I will give the disclaimer though that this is coming from someone who has no college debt and will not be taking any on in my PhD, so maybe some people with more experience with loan repayment could weigh in on the pros/cons.

Honestly... I wouldn't do it. There are enough programs out there that do fund for MAs that I personally wouldn't accept an unfunded position. You don't want to add to your debt when you could have taken a funded position at a lesser known program (I say lesser known rather than lower ranked, since in Rhet/Comp ranking is so subjective). I'll share a few reasons why I wouldn't do it:
An MA from a top program is helpful when applying for PhD programs, but it is no guarantee that you'll be accepted into a PhD program (top or otherwise). I have witnessed first hand this season great applicants from top programs get no or few acceptances even though they went to a "top program."  Not having funding can hurt your overall performance. Will you do just as well in grad school if you have to take on more work? Will you attend conferences if you're having to pay out of pocket for them? Additional school debt can change your career path. I have friends who are not able to take a gap year because they can't afford to start paying their student debt. I know people who are having to accept their only offer instead of reapplying for this reason too.  You can't predict the job market. Rhet/comp does have more job openings than other fields, but there's no way to know 6 years down the line what the job market (or economy) will look like. You might change your mind. There are lots of folk who decide that academia isn't for them after going through their MA. There's nothing wrong with that, in fact that's why an MA is so great- it lets you test out grad school without the PhD committment, but once again- is the debt worth the risk? I personally would wait it out and see if you get off the waitlist or get funded at the other program. MA funding isn't great, but any funding is better than no funding. Additionally, many people (lots of ppl on GC in fact) go to lesser known places for their MA and get into top programs for their PhD. If you don't end up with a funded offer you can always reapply the next year or  see if you can secure funding over the summer (then decline if you don't) sometimes funding opens up after April 15th. 
I will give the disclaimer though that this is coming from someone who has no college debt and will not be taking any on in my PhD, so maybe some people with more experience with loan repayment could weigh in on the pros/cons.

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. 

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

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

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