snickus

Helpful link! I'm bumping this for others like me who are brushing up on their foreign language proficiency.

Late letters are the bane of my existence! How important it is varies by school. UW-Madison, for example, *really* needs at least two letters to arrive not too long after the deadline. If you don't have those in, your application can't get forwarded to the admissions committee (which is already reviewing applications). MSU already reviewed apps, and it sounds like they're done with that. I only had 1 letter in at the time they reviewed. Here's to hoping they really liked the rest of my app enough to overcome that handicap. I'd suggest checking with schools where your letters are late to see when they start reviewing apps. I'd been assuming schools didn't really start reviewing until Jan, so I was lax with my late letter writers at first.

Hi guys, thanks for the replies! Sorry for the late response. I've been away and didn't check here until just now. I decided not long after posting that CUNY wasn't a good fit due to few rhet/comp courses there and at the other schools in the consortium. I'd thought maaaaybe Columbia could cut it, since I could take pedagogy courses there in their excellent Teachers College. Ultimately though, that route just doesn't offer the courses I need for my research goals, so I couldn't justify applying.

Penn State asks in the app for my Junior/Senior GPA. So, this will probably sound silly, but how do I determine when I was a Junior/Senior? Do I just do the obvious: the Fall/Spring semesters of my 3rd and 4th years? Or do I also use the courses I took in the summer before my Junior year? (Or go back even further, if I had the number of credits that put me at junior standing earlier than my 3rd year?) ETA: So, turns out it doesn't matter for me if I do/don't include that summer's courses because my GPA is the same either way.

@renea It's like we're living the same life.

@JustPoesieAlong Near perfect fits--that's just the thing! After finding programs that really speak to me, it's hard to add others that aren't quite as perfect for me. I have a vacation planned next week (made the plans months ago when I thought I'd be long done with apps by now, ha!). After that, I'll probably look more into adding another school or two. Yup, my program requires the personal statement too. I haven't written it yet though. Congrats on already getting started. For me, that's always the hardest part with writing. Good luck to you, too!

Practice Test (a few months before the real test): I don't recall the score, but I missed 3 questions total on the two verbal sections combined and didn't even attempt the quant! ETS Practice Test 1 (two weeks before the real test): 169 V, 151 Q ETS Practice Test 2 (two days before the real test): 169 V, 152 Q Real Test: 167 V, 157 Q, 5.5 AW I took a look at the Q section several months before the test. That's when I realized I'd forgotten almost all the math I'd once known! I bought "Cliffs Notes Math Review for Standardized Tests." I studied that book, off and on, for a couple of months and then took the ETS practice tests. I didn't go through the whole book, didn't even bother with the geometry section, but it still helped me tremendously. Even though my Q score doesn't matter for my program, I'm really glad I did that review! Without that review, I wouldn't have had a clue on the Q sections, and that frustration on test day might've hurt my performance on the verbal sections. Plus, this gave me a total score that keeps me in the running for fellowships. I didn't study for the verbal or writing sections. If I could do it over, I wouldn't have taken the second practice test so close to the real one. Better to rest, I think.

Is anyone else still settling on where to apply? I had a larger group, but I've cut it down to 5 schools. Is that crazy? I'm really happy with all of these and would be thrilled to attend any one of them. But with odds being as slim as they are in grad school admissions, I'm not sure how wise it is only applying to 5. I'm going for rhet/comp, and I narrowed my schools to: MSU, UW-Madison, CMU, UMich (joint program in English and Education), and Penn State. What makes my selection especially risky is: (1) UMich is probably a major reach since it's ranked so highly, and I have little teaching experience. (2) I've heard Penn State admits only a couple of students with a master's directly into the PhD program. (3) I've also heard UW-Madison doesn't admit many students with a master's, but I'm confused about that bc the Comp & Rhet program requires a master's to be considered. So does that just mean they admit very few students into that program at all? (4) CMU admits only 2-3 students a year into the program I'm applying (PhD in Rhetoric). (5) Two of my letter writers still haven't submitted to MSU; the deadline was 12/1. Hmm...Probably would be safer to add 1 or 2 more...

Anyone here know about CUNY specifically for rhet/comp? They offer that specialization, but when I look at their course schedules, they offer little (if anything) in that area. They have that arrangement with some other schools where students could take courses there. I guess I could look to see if those schools (Columbia, NYU, etc) offer some rhet/comp courses to supplement? Their certificate in Interactive Tech & Pedagogy greatly appeals to me, but without much in the way of rhetoric, idk...Can't seem to decide if I should apply. Any thoughts?

Thank you so much, @renea! Now if only those two slackers would get on it. I think I better call the third guy. No word from him in about a month now.

Oh, I hope so! I ended up with a 324, 167(V) 157(Q) and 5.5 on the writing. Even so, I'm still scared that I won't get in anywhere. I'll try to stay optimistic!

@WildeThing I know how you feel. I'm applying to MSU (rhet/comp) and their deadline is tonight at midnight. The last I checked only one of my three professors had uploaded a letter. I spoke with one of the other two on the phone today, so I know he'll get it in soon, if not tonight. However, I haven't heard a peep from the third guy in weeks! I hope he didn't forget about me. I sent him a reminder email on Wed. It's difficult not knowing what's going on with him...

I asked one letter writer if he has an opinion on which one I submit, but he hasn't responded yet. However, a different letter writer sent me a copy of the letter he wrote for me. In it, he discusses both of those papers (plus a third that I wrote in undergrad). So I feel less pressured to submit the more relevant paper, since he covers its material so well in the letter he wrote for me.

@renea Thank you, I appreciate your info! You gave me a game plan and also helped me feel a lot more relaxed about the WS. Right now, I'm strongly leaning towards the second paper (the more polished but less directly connected one).

@katie64 - Congrats on the publication! @unicornsarereal - You may have already done this since posting, but I'd suggest asking the school what they'd prefer you do. @Pezpoet - Good luck meeting your self-imposed deadline! I finally got the GRE out of the way today. It feels so good to be done with that! I'm happy with my score, so that's a nice boost as I go into the next phase of the apps: writing my statement of purpose and tightening up my WS. I aim to have both of those done by next Friday. Then I'll apply to my schools with the earliest deadlines, and spend some time researching more programs that might be a good fit and are still accepting applications. I'm about a month behind where I wanted to be in the application process. I hope that doesn't hurt me too much. Time will tell!

Thanks @xolo! Forming a theme makes a lot of sense to me. The program's web sites, when they speak to the WS, advise that route. So my guess is that's what admission committee members will say. I think I'll contact at least one though to ask them specifically about my situation and what they'd advise. I'm so relieved that one of the schools I'm applying to requires two writing samples!

Very interesting! I'm glad I asked because I would've guessed that it would be better to pick the more relevant paper. I'll need to sit with this a while. Thanks guys, I really appreciate your input! I'll run the question by my prof once he's free, as well. Decisions, decisions!

Hello, in undegrad I double majored in Philosophy and English. Both programs required 10 courses. I took 10 upper-level Philosophy classes, so calculating my GPA there is straightforward. However, I took 11 upper-level English classes. For the first 10 I took, my grades were 7 As and 3 A-'s. In the 11th class, I got a B. I took that last one during my final semester after I'd already completed all of my major's requirements. Since I didn't need that 11th course to meet major requirements but basically took it as a general elective, do you think I could exclude it when calculating my GPA in that major? Or is that abominably sleazy and it's expected that I count it in my GPA? I'd of course like to use the higher GPA but what I'm really trying to learn is what's the proper way of calculating in-major GPA: Count just the courses that filled my major's program of study, or every upper-level English course I took? I'm thinking the latter, since adcoms won't know what my program of study required, so have no reason to think that last course wasn't part of my program.

Update: OSU said they'd be able to accept my score past the deadline. Uplifting news!

Thanks guys, I appreciate your input! I've emailed ETS to clarify if it's business or calendar days. I'm going to contact OSU and ask how they'll handle this.

My concern there is these professors may feel like they don't know what rhet/comp committees are looking for since they're in different fields (one's in English lit, another's in education, and the third is an interdisciplinary hodgepodge of psych, phil, & education). I also feel like a bit of a burden asking them to read them closely enough to offer a judgement lol. One of the professors actually did already read both papers back when I first wrote them, so asking his opinion would make me feel less like a pain. He's currently heavily prepping for a job interview though, so I'll wait until the date he told me he'll be free. Thanks, you're right that asking their opinion would be smart and I need to just do it!

I'm taking the GRE on 11/16 and I'm (most likely) applying to OSU whose deadline is 12/4. ETS says that for the computer-based test, scores will be sent to the schools I select 10-15 days after taking the test. Anyone know if that's calendar days or business days? If calendar days, OSU will get it, at the latest, on Fri 12/1. Can anyone speak to how long it took the schools they selected on the day of the test to receive their score? Is there a gap between them receiving the score from ETS and them placing the score in my app, marking it as complete? I scheduled the test before I chose OSU. At that point, the schools I'd already selected had later deadlines, so 11/16 seemed safe. I understand this is a pretty specific question, so probably one I should contact OSU for advice regarding. Still, if anyone here can speak to it, I'd really appreciate it!

Probably what's causing me the most trouble is picking what to submit for my writing sample for some of the schools. I have one paper I wrote in my Ed.M program that closely ties into my research interests. It's a decent A paper, but I have another one that I think is much better quality: I heavily researched it and the writing is more polished. I presented that one at a conference, but it's not self-evidently connected with my current research interests (which I'll be discussing in my SoP) and even with explanation its connection isn't as tight. So I wonder if I should explain its connection in my Statement of Purpose--describe it as an earlier point in the evolution? Or should I instead spend time revising the other paper. Any opinion? Edit: I should also note that the more relevant paper isn't just more tied to my research interests. It's also more obviously related to the program I'm applying to, rhet/comp, than the more polished paper, which I think admissions committees will view more as a paper on pedagogy. I suppose it looks like the relevant paper is the obvious choice! I'm pulled towards the other because it better showcases my research and writing. I won't have time to bring the more relevant paper to the level of the other, which I wrote over the course of an entire semester.

Good luck, all! I know your pain. I'm getting there, slowly but surely! I have the GRE next week and will spend the following week completing my written materials (statement of purpose, writing samples) for my schools with the earliest deadlines. I've been writing a statement of purpose in my head for about a month now... Edit: I had a couple of questions but realized they belong in their own thread rather than mucking up this one!

Thanks @xolo and @eilonwy21! All of your comments have helped me see that if I'm measured against a similar candidate, Q is the last thing they'd use to decide (since its score doesn't even matter to them in the first place lol). In my case, one of the schools I'm definitely applying to requires a combined 313 to be eligible for a fellowship. Thanks to the practice test, I think my odds are good that I'll hit that on the real deal. I'll see next week!