snickus
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Posts posted by snickus
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On 2/7/2018 at 4:23 PM, jrockford27 said:
While we all inevitably find ourselves putting in a few 10-12 hour days at crunch time, if you're working smart you do not need to be doing that on a weekly basis.
This interests me greatly @jrockford27...What would you say is a typical amount of time needed to prep for a class? I recently completed an Ed.M., and they advised us to expect 10 hours of work per class (more for online courses), and I found that to be accurate. When large assignments were due, that would naturally go up quite a bit, and large assignments were frequently due in one class or another. I attended law school in the past and found my Ed.M. workload comparable (which I honestly hadn't been expecting). My student teaching semester had even longer days. I'd love to hear from you and others already in grad school for either Lit or Rhet/Comp about how much time it typically takes. I'd been expecting a similar workload but would of course love if it's less.
ETA: Oh, I just realized that the lighter workload could be due to the lower number of classes taken each semester. Is about 3 the norm?
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Thanks, Sandmaster!
I'd be so lost without Grad Cafe. This place is more informative than my academic advisor was!
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Yes, Waiting & Hoping, that helped a lot. Thank you!!
Knowing that there are programs that provide full funding is a relief. Now I'll hope that they'll want me.
I fear some of the schools on that list are way of out my league. I applied to Michigan this year and am an implied rejection there. From that list, I just checked out Temple's program and fell in love. I'm grateful to you for putting them on my radar! Wow, I *really* like them and am kicking myself for not researching literacy programs earlier.
As far as my age goes...I'm closer to the 40 side of things than 30. That's causing me a lot of worry, tbh. I'm thinking that I'll contact the programs I like and ask them if they've recently admitted older students like me. I don't want to make it awkward for them and ask if my age would make me less competitive in admission (bc I don't think any of them would feel comfortable admitting to that). So I'm hoping that way of phrasing it may help me sense if my app would quickly go to the trash. I'm a latecomer to education, did other things first.
Thanks again! I'll be checking out the other schools on the list too.
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Hi, I was hoping someone could offer me some knowledge and guidance.
I'm brand new to researching doctoral programs in Education. I graduated from a SUNY last year with an Ed.M in English Education (3.96 GPA). This past year, I applied to PhD programs in Rhet/Comp with the goal of being a writing professor. It looks like I'll be shut out this year. I'll apply again next year (and at more realistic schools! ). I also want to apply next year to Education PhD programs in literacy, reading, and writing. My end goal there would be a faculty position in developmental literacy classes at community colleges or universities. I think I'd also like to develop my own tutoring center one day, but that's not an immediate concern. (As another side note, I have a strong academic interest in revising how argumentative writing is taught. Just adding this in case any schools are recommended for research in writing.)
My main concern is finding a PhD program that is funded, has good job placement rates for the career I want, and is a place where I'd have a shot at acceptance. I'm a non-traditional student. I'm well into my 30s, and I suspect that will hurt my chances a lot (especially since I haven't been working in education). I went to a regional state school for undergrad on full scholarship. I double majored in English and Philosophy and graduated with a 3.65 GPA (3.8+ in English and 3.9+ in Philosophy). I took the GRE last year and scored 167(V), 157(Q) and 5.5 AW.
Although I'd prefer not to live in a hot and humid climate, I'm open to attending school anywhere in the country if the school fits my other criteria.
Thanks for reading. I'd appreciate any guidance so much! Mostly, I'm wondering, is it a dream for me to aim for full funding? I'm finding contradictory information on if that happens in Education. Also, are any schools known for accepting older students?
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Beachbody on Demand is a great program for access to a variety of workouts. Many are only around 30 minutes and are so effective. I also do batch cooking on the weekends so then it's really easy to throw meals together during the week.
That said, the semester when I was student teaching (I recently completed an Ed.M. that included certification), my work week was about 80 hours after factoring in my commute and part-time job. I was sleep deprived and not working out. I did keep up with meal prep, though, probably because I enjoy doing it and find it relaxing. My other semesters were far more manageable though, around 50-65 hour weeks, so keeping up with exercise was easier. I feel so much better when I exercise, so that helps me stick with it.
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1 hour ago, FreakyFoucault said:
LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO WORK IN A DEAD-END CAREER YOU DESPISE!!!!!!!!!
Sorry I had to scream that at Billy Mays volume, but it’s too important not to yell at the top of one’s lungs.
With all due respect to your dad, he’s flat-out wrong. That’s the attitude of people who despise their jobs and careers. If YOU don’t think law is right for you, then it ISN’T!! I applaud you for taking the absolutely terrifying but necessary-for-your-soul approach of hitting the reset button.
Listen, I’m not saying that practical realities shouldn’t be considered. After graduation, I needed to pay the bills, so I got a job that, while boring and utterly irrelevant to what I want to do, is nevertheless convenient in the short term (good hours for me and decent pay). Am I happy about it? Well, let me put it this way— I’m not jumping for joy when I get to work every day. But am I anhedonic at this point? No. Though my job sucks, it keeps me out of debtor’s prison, puts food on the table, exposes me to the business world (however I’m not impressed), and gave me sufficient time to prepare for grad school (both as an applicant and a person). Thankfully, I won’t be doing it much longer. But it played an important role in my life these last few years.
I can’t promise that hitting the reset button will work out for you on the first try. I sincerely hope that you aren’t shut out, and I’ll be crossing all crossable appendages for your success. But if this cycle doesn’t go the way you wanted, then hit the reset button again and hustle your way to happiness. You might have to take a stopgap measure (like I did) that doesn’t provide much in the way of short-term happiness. But if you keep looking toward the long game, and work your ass off, I’d venture to bet that you’d have a good probability for success.
The most important lesson, however, is that you’re the one who defines your own happiness and success. I don’t care how trite this sounds, but DON’T GIVE UP and DON’T allow yourself to become content with misery or bitterness. I’ve seen both destroy many people, but you don't have to allow yourself to be destroyed! There’s no limit to how many times you can hit reset. Life’s too short not to.
Ah, @FreakyFoucault you're a good egg.
Thank you for everything you said. It's important to hear that from the outside. It's funny because almost everyone I know outside of my family says what you say, and 80% of my inner voice says that, but most of my family wasn't supportive or understanding of my decision to leave.
at Billy Mays volume.
No worries about "due respect" for my dad. He's...uh...let's just say not the greatest guy. He's improved a lot since my mom died though. That's another thing. I'm old. Well, for academia. I'm in my 30s. About a month after I left law school, my mom was diagnosed with a terminal, untreatable disease. I moved in with her to be her primary caregiver. That ended up lasting a few years, then I needed some time to recover from caregiver burnout. So that delayed getting started on this path. Well, delayed me even starting to plan what path I wanted. So I'm way behind, and tbh I think my age is hurting me with admissions. I don't think it's an insurmountable obstacle, but I'd be willing to bet big money it plays a role in their decision-making about me.
My brother and I are really close. I think it hurts him to see me upset. It's a primal response to want to fight the one who's hurting someone you love. And, I guess, he sees me as inflicting this pain on myself by applying, so he fought back against the "me" doing that. Also, we had opposite experiences with school. He really struggled, was left back early on, ended up dropping out...I don't think he understands how I could find something academically easy yet choose not to do it. It's just too different from his school experience for him to relate to, I think.
My dad's words about work...I took that as 20 years of him struggling to make ends meet in low-paying jobs talking. I think when you've spent so long just trying to get by, self-actualization can look like an unaffordable privilege. He's changed though. I recently mentioned to him that I was thinking of going back to law school. I said I gave this my best shot and even though I don't like law, maybe I should give it another go. He frowned, shook his head, and said, "No. Don't do that." This time he's right.
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10 minutes ago, unicornsarereal said:
2/10 on the venting scale
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5 hours ago, la_mod said:
A vent / question: how do you deal with people who don't "get it" re: applying to grad school?
The past few days I've been quite upset with the anticipation of being rejected and my boyfriend (who is very pragmatic and whose parents both have college degrees and a lot of background information about how to get good-paying jobs, hence his choice to enter a lucrative and stable field) remarked "why are you going into something that you know is rigged against you?"
He totally means well and I know he's upset seeing me SO upset over this, but what am I to say to that / all of the other things that people have asked me? I think I said "this is all that I'm good at and all that I care about," but then remembered that I'm obviously *not* good at it if I don't get in.... I'm at a loss here, y'all.
I can relate to this. It's looking like I'll be shut out this year. Years back, I was attending a top 10 law school and doing well academically. But I found it incredibly dull and unfulfilling and left midway through the second semester. I recently said to my brother that it's looking like I'll be shut out this year, and he said I should've stuck with law rather than gone for a field that's so hard to get into. (I'd been warned by my undergrad professors that it would be especially hard to get into academia coming from a "no-name" school.) My brother said I was "spoiled" for not sticking with law simply bc I didn't like it. Back when I was in law school and trying to force myself to stick with it, I mentioned disliking it to my dad. He responded similarly: "That's why it's called work; you're not meant to like it."
Maybe it just isn't in the cards for me to do what I love professionally. I've worked in management, corporate training, instructional design, and tutoring. The only jobs I've truly loved have been my tutoring jobs, and I feel like my truest self when engaged in academic research. I know academia is the best fit for who I am, but life circumstances seem to have put it out of reach.
I'll try again next year though.
Sorry if this went beyond venting.
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Hi @sailorsunflower. Since your question was a couple of months ago, I'm guessing you've probably already contacted the particular schools you're applying to in order to ask their advice. But just in case not...I did an Ed.M in English Education at a SUNY. They did need all the requirements to be met, but they were somewhat flexible in what they would count as meeting the requirement. For example, one requirement was a global history course, but in undergrad I only took Western Civ. So to meet that global requirement, they allowed me to use a philosophy course I took on Zen Buddhism. If you shelved this concern while working on other things, I'd strongly suggest contacting the schools for how they'd approach it.
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8 minutes ago, midwest-ford said:
Just got accepted into the University of Massachusetts-Amherst PhD in rhetoric and composition!
Congrats!
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Congrats to the many acceptances the past couple days!
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Ha, freaky timing @evanmarie, I was just thinking about UMass and doing some daydream Yelp research in Amherst to pick out restaurants. Everyone needs a hobby.
I applied with a concentration in rhet/comp. By "just heard", do you mean you were accepted? If so, congrats!!!
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Congrats to every one who got in this past week!!
A special congrats for those of you who had been shut out previously. I'm so happy for you!
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Congrats @Crow T. Robot and @id_ot !
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Thanks, @JustPoesieAlong! I'm going to remove that news so as not to put a damper on an acceptances thread. LOL, wasn't thinking straight putting it here.
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Congrats to those with acceptances and interviews!
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@khigh
You spoil my travel-loving heart, thank you for that! I think your business idea is fantastic. I'm rooting for you and grad school, but your Plan B is a wonderful life too! For the past few years, I've been saying if academia doesn't work out, the only other career I'd really love is travel writing.
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20 hours ago, Carly Rae Jepsen said:
I'm just an applicant as well so I'm not quite sure how the language requirement is tested but as far as learning I can suggest purchasing a book on Amazon to learn a language for reading knowledge. I bought one for like 5 dollars to learn reading knowledge of German and it was good for my purposes!
I second applications like Duolingo and Memrise, too.
I don't know for sure either, so please jump in someone out there if you're reading this and know more about it. But from what I've read, I get the sense that most schools consider sufficient proficiency to be passing a translation like in that Harvard link. I think some want more than just reading proficiency, though. Michigan, for example, says on the program page for English & Education that they also expect listening and speaking proficiency. They may be the rare exception though and probably stress oral communication too because of the Education portion of the program.
I think for most tests, a book like you purchased is just the ticket!
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@khigh Being a travel lover, that was like poetry to me.
Sorry about the hold up in Iceland but congrats on the free beer!
Once I'm satisfied with my Spanish, I think I'll go back to studying French (self-studied that years ago). I don't anticipate using any language, other than possibly Spanish, in my field, but for my travel interests, I'd love to know more.
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41 minutes ago, khigh said:
I also use Duolingo to keep up and have picked up some of my favorite books that have been translated into my other languages.
I love that idea! I'm excited to jump right into that. It's frustrating how relatively slow my progress is with understanding spoken language, but reading comes much quicker to me. I'm definitely going to do that; thank you!
Your program of study sounds interesting. Have you gotten to travel for your research/anticipate doing so?
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@khigh What a wonderfully eclectic language repertoire! Watching familiar movies and listening to familiar music can be a great way to get in a language's zone for many people. I'm brushing up on Spanish, so I think I'll rewatch Pan's Labyrinth a few times.
Early on, listening doesn't help me that much though, unfortunately, because I have what I term dyslexia of the ears. Sounds get jumbled in my mind unless they're spoken incredibly slowly. I think this might be a very mild auditory processing disorder. That's right; I'm diagnosing myself lol! I had to take speech classes in 1st grade bc of poor pronunciation. A common cause for that is not hearing the sounds accurately, so needing some extra help making them out. I learned about this while studying teaching English as a Second Language and realized that I probably have a mild problem with auditory processing. Right now, I'm finishing up DuoLingo for a review, and I also purchased a course last night from Lengalia. It's on sale this month so cost only $60 for a year of access to the materials. It's designed incredibly well. I've only done a few lessons, but it's already helped a lot. Now that I've started studying it again, I'd really like to keep up with it and attain fluency.
Self Care in Grad School
in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition
Posted
@jrockford27 Thank you! I completely agree that pissing contests are pointless and destructive and horribly misguided. It's encouraging to hear that grad school coursework doesn't really require about 10 hours of work per class. That was my life for so long, and was similar to law school, so I just figured that must be the way it is past undergrad. This is encouraging news because now I'm certain I'll be able to handle working while in grad school w/o life feeling too hectic.