cowgirlsdontcry

You are correct Cultural. I am middle of the road and feel quite comfortable there (have friends I visit), but I can see how one might not like it. We need to be where we are most comfortable.

Do you have other publications? At my MA school, if it got serious, they asked for additional materials. Although I'm only a PhD student, my thought is that you should submit the dissertation chapter as it directly relates to the position. They can then see if your research and thoughts align with the current thought in the department on the topic. While the other WS is more prestigious, it is less relevant and by the time they actually get around to interviewing you, it may be published and you can refer them to the journal for a read. The wheels of department search committees move slowly. One other question--did the ad state that ABD was acceptable?

My master's thesis advisor said this happened to her. Her PhD dissertation advisor decided to retire. She said you just have to deal with it. She told me to be very careful in choosing my advisor, but how does one anticipate such a difficult and sad thing happening? I'm very sorry this happened to you.

Just remember that you need 3 weeks in between the tests. When I took the test, the good spots filled up months in advance. I had to drive over 100 miles to take the test. You need to start looking at what's available now, because seats fill up very quickly.

I understand that you want to do this on your own, but at this point in the game, perhaps you need a copy-editor. It would be a long and tedious task for a person to sit with you, going over how to clarify sentences. If you can't see or hear how sentences are "weird" (your emphasis), then it's likely you won't catch the slight variances simply because English is a second language. A copy-editor will only change the structure of sentences, not the meaning they convey. This person will still need to go over your thesis with you so that you understand what they are changing and to make sure context hasn't changed. In that regard, you will be involved every step of the way. This is going to cost you though. You need at least a master's student, and more likely, an English PhD student to help you with this. Personally, I would charge from $5 up per page to do copy editing for a thesis or dissertation, because of the close work and time that is involved. If there were more rounds of editing needed, the price would go up. Professional transcribers charge approximately $2 per page to transcribe exactly, either hand-written or dictated material. There is no analysis of material for grammatical correctness, simply a typing. You are paying for several things: the education of the person making the edits, the level of editing necessary, and the amount of time an editor needs to spend with you after edits are complete in order to ensure context remains the same. Since this is pricey, I would suggest you struggle as best you can through revisions, only giving a final draft to the copy editor. Remember also, that this is going to take some time, so be sure to leave sufficient time for an editor to work.

I know that Rice University in Houston has a strong early American position in their English department. I applied there and while I do significant research in American writings up through the 19th C, I am a 20th C Americanist and my WS revealed that. My application was rejected, which did not surprise me. Rice is a small prestigious university in the central part of Houston near the medical center. Lovely neighborhoods surround it (pricey). Unless you want to live in the burbs and drive in traffic, you will pay the price of rent in central Houston, which runs from about $1,100-$1,500 for a 1-bedroom, but Rice does pay a reasonable stipend. I like American Studies also, but decided to go for the English PhD in American lit. UMass has an American Studies program within the English Department. I spent a year of my undergrad there on an exchange. Nice town and the university is good. English department was varied and had good variety.

American students with funding and a stipend who work 20 hours per week cannot work additional hours on campus either without permission from their department. Honestly, by the time, I figure out my office hours, and add in teaching schedule plus my own class time, I don't know when I would be able to work any additional jobs unless it was in the middle of the night when I should be sleeping because when I get home, I still have to do close reading for classes and grade papers (I will be teaching English Composition 101 and there's lots of writing).

I did address the fact that I'm a non-traditional student by talking about having a previous career and how "life and professional experiences have given me an ability to completely focus indicating a continued commitment to a superior academic journey and the skills necessary to excel and be an asset" to the particular university. This works only if a program is interested in the diversity that an older student can bring. If they want a young student, nothing you say will change their minds. We never know what a committee wants exactly, and in that regard, it is better to be honest and pursue our own interests within the parameters of a university's program. What may be one committee's cup of tea, could be thrown out by the next program. My daughter lives in Houston and I did apply to Rice. However, their program is directed toward early American lit, and while I do research in those periods, I am not an early Americanist and they could see it in my paper. It was no surprise then, when my application was rejected, except it would have been nice to be close to my daughter. I am going to the University of Alabama and believe it is a good fit for me and for them. They have a general American program that covers the full spectrum of American periods and genres, with some Southern lit also. I am now in Tuscaloosa and begin a teaching orientation next week. UA is Alabama's flagship university and a huge university with 37,000 students.

During my MA, I TA'd for a professor who was also director of the Folklife Center at my school. I attended class with him and worked with students to get their papers into shape prior to final submission and grading. Several students told me over the course of those 4 semesters that I was the reason they passed the course. It was a good introduction into getting to know students and help them. I think it will make me a better teacher in the long run. This is a good decision you have made Global. Learning to be a good teacher takes many different paths. Your decision is just one more.

I wouldn't put too much stock in RMP. One of my favorite undergrad teachers had an awful score, obviously from students who did not want to work because he made his students think. He was very shy and students thought he was aloof, but if you took the time to go by his office and talk to him, he was great.

I'm not sure there is such a thing as a safety school. One never knows exactly what a committee is looking for any particular year, but there are programs that are a better fit. Those are the programs you need to find because if you think you would really fit in, then it's likely they will think the same about you, IF you show them how well you would fit in your SOP. Just as there is no guaranteed free lunch, there is also no guarantee of getting admitted anywhere. To think otherwise, may be setting yourself up for a devastating let down. Assume everyone has scores/grades as good as yours. Your SOP and LORs must be outstanding to rise above the crowd.

You're going to need in the 90+ percentile range. I agree with HJ that while GRE scores are not the most important, but you want to be competitive and most literature people are scoring in the 90s because there are so few openings. (Just my opinion.) You don't say what your BA was in, but if you want comp lit departments to take you seriously, you are going to need a serious WS that shows your ability to analyze and write about a text in a clear and unique way (your MFA will help here). I believe that because comp lit looks at literature in a global way, you will need a strong foreign language component. While you can gain that knowledge during your PhD, if you have the ability to do research in foreign languages right away that might be a swaying point. I did not contact any POIs as I like to meet people in person and because people leave universities for various reasons. I chose universities that had strong general American components within their English departments, with a Southern lit influence. The SOP is also very important, as this is where you get to discuss what you hope to do at their university (sell yourself). Although you are not starting the process late, you are going to have to work really hard to find programs that fit what you are looking for. You should aim for applying to 9-10 programs.

It does mean the market won't be nearly as flooded with PhDs who cannot get a TT job. I have outside income, so if I can get a permanent instructor job or a job at a smaller state university, I will be happy teaching upper level American literature.

Even if applications drop by 50% in the humanities, there is still a huge disparity between applicants and acceptances. The acceptance numbers are also dropping. When I was an undergrad and just beginning to look at English programs, PhD acceptances were in the 10-12 per year range, with approximately 200-300 applicants. Now some universities are accepting 4-5 per year and even if there is a 50% drop, that's still 100-150 applicants for 5 positions and an approximate acceptance rate of 3-5%. More than likely the drop in applicants isn't quite 50%, which makes the numbers even more abysmal.

Some universities require backup in the event there is a question about grades later. Usually, they will hand back tests for review, then take them back.

You will probably finish your MSW prior to the time any of your friends finish their PhD. I also believe that one must already have a PhD in order to teach master's level students. My MA thesis advisor said that I would not be able to teach graduate students (English) even if I have a PhD, if I don't have a TT position. The odds of any of your friends getting a job at the university they received their PhD from, is fairly remote. They might continue to be there as a post doc. I suppose in that instance, it's possible you might get one of them as an instructor.

I did not feel like an imposter as an MA student, perhaps because I knew everyone (it was my BA university). However, now that I'm entering a PhD program, I feel insecure about what I know and whether it will be enough. I think most have these feelings, as they came/come into programs; they simply do not admit it. As for outspoken, strong people,I had a career as a paralegal prior to doing the grad school thing; therefore, I do know how to deal with forceful personalities and when I feel confident my introspections are correct about a textual analysis, I have no problem revealing that. One thing I have learned as a parent that is useful in dealing with others--pick your battles carefully. Otherwise, you could get swept up into every petty argument going on in the department and lose valuable time, better devoted to your own work.

I have been paranoid about even talking with much detail regarding my master's thesis because I want to continue with the topic into my dissertation. However, it was other graduate students I was concerned about, not professors. How do you get the help you need as a grad student, if you become paranoid about your ideas and work being stolen?

I finished my MA program in May and begin my PhD program Aug 14 when I report for teaching orientation. Hopefully, you have a GA position and get to work with some cool professors. I think that what I learned from the professors I worked for over the course of two years was amazing. I learned things about my own writing, as I talked to undergrads about their papers and how to think in expansive ways. If you plan on writing a master's thesis, it's not too soon to begin exploring ideas and topics. During my first semester, I took the grad level research class my school required. As a result, I began with this humongous broad topic that would, if researched properly be enough to write three-dissertations (maybe more). During the spring I took a class and read Cormac McCarthy for the first time, and became enthralled with his writing. Then I read another of his books in a different class and became more engrossed, until three of McCarthy's texts became the basis for my master's thesis. I plan on expanding and writing my dissertation on McCarthy, as well. I knew all along that I was a 20th C Americanist, but not to the extent that was true. Sometimes you know and sometimes you don't. That first paper on McCarthy became a chapter in my thesis and my WS. It went through a number of rounds of editing. When I had done as much as I felt I could, I sent it early last fall to professors who had agreed to write LORs for me. They also had comments. You will find your path. Don't push it, it will come. Just always keep your eyes and heart open.

As a newly accepted English PhD student for this fall, I can tell you of my experience and those of my friends. Wherever your heart lies in English and you find yourself wanting to pursue, that is the type of paper I would submit. You don't have to submit a paper that focuses specifically on a piece of literature, if you aren't truly interested in pursuing a PhD in some form of literature, and I would completely take those off the table. While I'm contemporary American literature, I would say I like 20th C best. My WS was on Suttree, a book by Cormac McCarthy published in 1979, and a chapter of my master's thesis. McCarthy is very contemporary and post-modernism at its height, but he also reaches into the past to use other's ideas. That said, I find myself digging around in early American through 19th C works a lot. I chose programs that represent the whole range of the American experience. I think most programs today look at literature as encompassing many different things including different forms of media, although I do believe committees still want a written submission as a WS, rather than some combination of written and other media. For PhD programs, most of the programs I looked at want WS in the 15-20 pg length (excluding Works Cited). If you let your WS hover around 19-20 pages, programs that have 20-25 pg lengths can be included without much work. It really sounds as though you are more interested in literary theory or in some form of cultural interdisciplinary program, rather than literature itself. Submit a paper in the field you wish to pursue. Pursuing a lit PhD could be really boring if your interests lie in theoretical ideas. It's not just the classes you have to take, you have to focus on a particular area of literature in order to become superior in that area. Think about comps and the 100 or so primary texts you must read in order to take the test.

As someone in the humanities, I think your verbal score is too low to be admitted to many programs, especially if you're looking at top programs. Humanities' departments want to know their students have the ability to do close reading and discuss what they have read. The verbal portion of the GRE really is very much like doing close reading. I believe you need over 160--be in the 90 percentiles. To get that kind of score you are going to need to use one of the study programs or books. I personally liked Magoosh. I began with practice scores in mid-150s and by the time I took the GRE I ended up with a Verbal of 163.

I had not read some of the posts before I wrote the below. It may still be of value in some context. What context was this said in? Did you go with him somewhere outside of the university where he could get the idea that such a suggestion was permissible, not that you did anything to bring it on--but if he could have perceived it was a date, then it's possible he asked in that context? Or did he say this while in his capacity as a professor versus yours as a student? I see you're in Canada and I don't know how they handle situations like this. If you are a grad student in the US and working as a GA/TA/RA at a public university, then every faculty member, staff and grad student, as state employees, must take a sexual harassment test provided by the state every year. You watch a powerpoint presentation or a video, then answer questions. I was concerned for a moment when first reading your post, that the female faculty member was going to tell you that it was necessary for you to sleep with him. I have never, since I've been a student, had a professor say something like this to me. It was common in the workplace until the US passed federal laws against sexual harassment. I had men say lurid things all of the time to me and had no recourse. But now there is recourse. Since you aren't in the US, you don't have Title IX counselling on campus, which this might fall under. But I'm sure there may be similar laws in place in Canada. I'm sorry you are having this difficulty.

Tomorrow is moving day. I also have an assignment due for orientation (syllabus, literacy narrative assignment & lesson plan) due Tuesday. Mostly done, but will be going over that on Tuesday before submitting. Teaching orientation starts August 14. Classes start Aug 23. I have a hard schedule on Mondays. Both of my classes are on Monday, as well as teaching two classes. I start at 9:00 and don't stop until 4:30. So need to take a bottle of water and protein bars with me. Let me know how it's going with you too. I will be watching the board!

You go girl! Papers are ALWAYS messy things and in some state of fluctuation if they are good. It always seems overwhelming, but you will get there.

Totally get where you are. Do I want to save doc as it is and start a new doc that I scrapple with? Yes. If you're like me, you get very possessive over those words, you slaved over to write--no matter, that they all need to change. Saving the doc as a new WS doc allows me to know all my original words are safe! The new doc is just that, a new doc. I reread the whole thing and saw places where I needed to expand, etc. Sometimes I needed to cut, and I was brutal with my cuts. Took me a month to rewrite the paper, but it was now worth sending off to recommenders asking for their comments, which I sometimes made or sometimes just rewrote the section to clarify what I was discussing. Papers are messy things. They grow and change with us. You will get there. Keep plugging away. I work on one thing at a time. I make edits that are glaringly necessary first, without adding information. Sometimes, I feel reordering the paper is necessary as I want emphasis on a section to come before another, especially, if I know I'm going to be adding new material down the road. I make cuts the very last of major edits. Reread and polish. When I received comments back from recommenders, I read them side by side and put all comments that were at odds into one doc. I saved those oppositional comments for the next round. Usually, they came as a result of my writing not being as clear as it could be. That usually means a rewrite of a section. How you organize rewrites/edits/comments will be a personal thing. This is just mine.