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@TeaOverCoffee, you are living my dream!!! I love the program at Ole Miss for M.A., and the reason I am applying to Syracuse for M.A. is because I love their PhD program so much! Also, we clearly share a life motto (case in point: my profile picture). ... That didn't further the topic at all, but I had to fan girl a bit. It's nice to see familiar goals, outside of the realm of the Top 20.

@Warelin, in that case, I am very interested in Villanova. If you don't mind the quick question attack: why is their application deadline so much later than everyone else's? How many people get funded through the Graduate Assistantships, and will it help my odds if I have tutoring experience at my undergraduate university? How does Villanova rank for their M.A. program (what are their odds of being accepted into a Top 20 PhD program upon graduation)? Do you like where you live? What percentage of applicants are typically accepted?

@Quickmick, thanks for the link. I understand how difficult and daunting the road to becoming a professor will be, let alone obtaining a tenure-track position. It's a good thing I'm not doing this for guaranteed comfort or prestige. If I have to teach at the CC level eventually, I'm content with that. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Besides, I love being a student. @Warelin, I was interested in Villanova, but they are a Catholic school and I'm not sure what that entails. Not to get into too much detail, I am not exactly religious, and beyond that, I don't fully understand the mechanics of how graduate level education would be intertwined with religion structurally.

At first, I was just looking for an M.A. program that was funded, since I cannot afford to go otherwise. I applied to M.A. instead of PhD because I want the extra time to progress and gain research and teaching experience. I want to see if I can adapt to higher education before I jump into applying for a PhD upon graduating. Also, if the M.A. is funded, two to three extra years of schooling sounds like more of a perk than an annoyance. I hope to one day become a professor, with an emphasis in gender and sexuality studies through American literature, specifically relating 19th century to modern day. Syracuse and Ole Miss are my top picks, due to their interdisciplinary studies concerning Women's Studies and English Lit, but Purdue and Alabama are reputable schools as well, and I would make it work if funded and accepted.

Hi y'all. I'm new to this site, but in the past few days I've managed to lurk and read everything written since 2014, so I feel comfortable enough to ask this now. All of you seem to be applying to 7-20 of the top 20 schools, and it's beginning to stress me out that I didn't do that. I applied to only four English Lit M.A. programs: Syracuse University, Purdue University, University of Alabama, and Ole Miss. I haven't really seen anyone mention applying to them. Do y'all know something that I don't?

What Purdue funding issues are y'all referring to, if you don't mind me asking?