mk-8

and only let's you use pencils... 
 
I understand wanting to prevent students from just randomly applying to every school they are remotely interested in, but come on-  some schools charge $80+ in addition to all the other costs involved (gre, subject tests, transcripts). Also let's ponder, where do these fees go? I know at my institution, faculty are not paid to review applications. It's all volunteer, sometimes grad students even help review. So where does the money go? How about if you get accepted they give you your fee back or we reduce the fees or provide fee waivers based on something other than my parent's income when I was in undergrad. 
 
Unless you're a McNair scholar, good luck paying for fees. I consider myself a strong candidate, and even I had to limit my schools down to 6. With mine and my husband's programs combined we spent a little under $1500 applying this year (and that was only bc I was able to use my gre scores from two years ago). 
 
Let's not even get started on the schools who take your money and never even give you a decision. 2 schools from my application season 2 years ago never even officially rejected me. These were top programs with top fees. There's no system to keep schools accountable after they take your money, and the anxiety over being professional keeps many of us from ever addressing the issue with directors or faculty at those programs.

I also have a rant about grammar and power structures and capitalism, and that one really is probably very pretentious! Haha

Having a rejection doesn't make the waiting any less droning on and on... believe me, I know!

Haha that is great! Whenever I start to date someone new, I  have them read some of the poetry I like.  It's a good litmus test and I feel like it is my small part of spreading poetry appreciation. On second thought, this is maybe why I'm single. LMAO 

My boyfriend (a very non academic) will listen to me talk/rant about basically anything (bless him). He was talking to his friend the other day and said something along the lines of, “She’ll just say the weirdest words that have absolutely no meaning to me.” His friend asked for an example and the first word my BF thought of was “pedagogy” which was just REALLY funny to me and then they argued about how to say it, which was even funnier to me.  
Not really the same but whenever I tell someone I’m an English major (especially when I was still dating etc) I’d REALLY hate the whole “oh so you’re a grammar nazi,” because 1) no not at all, 2) comparing a grammarian to a nazi is absolutely uncalled for. I did teach a guy on tinder what “grammarian” was though, so not a total loss there. 

Luckily, it’s a free market of ideas! Or is it free? Or ought it be free?? 
See ya next month, folks! 

My boyfriend (a very non academic) will listen to me talk/rant about basically anything (bless him). He was talking to his friend the other day and said something along the lines of, “She’ll just say the weirdest words that have absolutely no meaning to me.” His friend asked for an example and the first word my BF thought of was “pedagogy” which was just REALLY funny to me and then they argued about how to say it, which was even funnier to me.  
Not really the same but whenever I tell someone I’m an English major (especially when I was still dating etc) I’d REALLY hate the whole “oh so you’re a grammar nazi,” because 1) no not at all, 2) comparing a grammarian to a nazi is absolutely uncalled for. I did teach a guy on tinder what “grammarian” was though, so not a total loss there. 

Any time I'm out with friends and they use the selfie-function on their phones to check their makeup/hair/teeth, I make a faux pithy comment about their inability to develop past the Mirror Stage. No one ever laughs but me, but I laugh every time. 

Well, Wisconsin is probably the school that I would quit my job/move for... so I'll keep hold of that glimmer of hope. 

So, following the trend of the comp lit & early modern threads, I figured I'd start a topic for the 2018 rhetoric & composition applicants.
What are you interested in studying? Where did you apply? How are you handling waiting?

I just got accepted to the University of Minnesota!!!!!! I AM SO HAPPY!!! I was completely shut out last year so this is just unreal. I'm so thrilled!! 

Also accepted to OSU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
Gonna throw up in a good way now

Accepted to Carnegie Mellon's Literary and Cultural Studies PhD. When I stop shaking, I'll call back and let you all know what I find out! 

I GOT ACCEPTED TO OSU!!!
I knew my Home state wouldn't let me down!! 
Cannot breathe need help!! 

I too am treating this as an acceptance @a_sort_of_fractious_angel! Congrats! You’re so deserving; you’ve been such a big help to so many this application cycle (like me). 

Another Chicago interview.
The Good:
- Might mean that emails are still being sent.
The Bad:
- One more spot taken (how many people get interviewed?)
The Ugly:
- How worn my Email-refresh-button-pushing-finger is becoming.

It varies from program to program. Most of the time, when you log into an application portal, it'll have some sort of "check status" or "check activity" or something of that nature.

I think this whole anxious waiting thing is going to cut a chunk of time off my lifespan...

It doesn't help that I have a .edu email account from a school I applied to (I work in one of their museums) so previously benign email notifications are tormenting me. 
Email shellack?

I've been getting a call a day from an unknown number neighbor over the past 5 days - I'm losing my mind every time the "buzz buzz" starts.
Also, @mk-8 - HELLO, FELLOW IGGLES FAN! I had no idea!
I don't know about you, but I'm totally using the next 13 days to live in anxiety re: the Superbowl instead of applications, which is really just doubling up my anxiety but - whatever. 

Dad-shellacked! 
Also, @mk-8, how’re you feeling about the Super Bowl? Eagles looked pretty good last night (Poor Vikings)!

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!
I just got waitlisted for a Gender Studies program -- first non-rejection in two years; I suddenly feel like maybe I have a chance. 

ACCEPTED TO ILLINOIS AND NOMINATED FOR A FELLOWSHIP!

Thank you! I'm a massive Star Wars fan (like, I have a Star Wars tattoo and am getting another, lol), so I'm always excited to see new fans!!! My boyfriend had not seen any of the movies when we started dating. I really think he only tolerates them for me.
When anyone tries to defend Attack of the Clones to me, I only respond "I don't like sand." It is my very very very least favorite movie- gosh I hate it so much. 
TNT (or TBS, or one of the Ts) had a Star Wars weekend when The Last Jedi came out, so I pretty much watched every Star Wars movie twice that weekend. I had always been okay with The Phantom Menace (because Darth Maul is one of my favorite villains), but gosh, rewatching it was so rough. The prequels definitely are not good movies, but still mandatory watching IMO. 

My husband has been trying to get a "head start" for the language exam (at least Maryland's), which they want you to take in the first year. You have to choose two books in the language that they'll select a 350(?) word segment from for you to translate, I think. I gave him Omon Ra by Victor Pelevin for Christmas since apparently this dude is part of the Russian 'new sincerity' and I wasn't sure if that was in any way related to the American new sincerity. So he's reading it in English to see if it could work as one of the books for his exam (if he even gets into/goes to Maryland)! The other would probably be a Nabokov novel.
I loved The Good Place, and highly recommend Mindhunter!
And don't feel disheartened--it seems like this is such an unpredictable process, a rejection does not mean you aren't a stellar applicant. With such super low acceptance rates, amazing applicants are going to be rejected sometimes, for reasons we may never know!