maengret

Congrats! Don't I know it about that short notice. I'm trying to make it work. I teach a class on Thursday evenings and can't seem to find a red-eye out. I'm on the West Coast so travel is going to be a drag. I'm going to PM you about the POI

It's not obvious to me -- what would I be looking for in the handbooks?

HUZZAH! Got the email tonight -- accepted to Saint Louis University (MA English).

Congrats! I have friends who managed to do law school together and are still happily married 10 years on.

Thanks! Fingers crossed I’ll be joining you there.

@Trachtenberg, congrats on the good news from SLU! Are you person who indicated a waitlist from them on Jan 12? I’m wondering when you applied and what they said about the waitlist.

It sounds like this professor is on the graduate committee and will be advocating for you during the committee’s deliberations. Good luck!

I hate how long this process takes. Since the time my spouse and I decided we’d relocate based on where (if) I get accepted, a new company started recruiting him. New job would mean staying put. But he can’t decline the overtures yet because if I get shut out, we’ll need the better income (edit: and he’d probably love the job). But he may need to make a decision before I get decisions.

I wonder if these are people he’s treated in a similar fashion or who know what he’s like...

@GeologyBird after I suggested Karen Lasky earlier, I got an email about a webinar she’s doing on this topic. What you’ve described so far does fall into sexual harassment. The webinar info is here http://theprofessorisin.com/webinars/, scroll down to this description: #MeTooPhd: Sexual Harassment in the Academy In this brand new webinar inspired by the Sexual Harassment in the Academy Crowdsource Survey (now at over 2300 entries), I will discuss the range and scope of sexual harassment in academic settings (including departments, labs, research centers, campuses, academic conferences, etc.), patterns of predation, options for victims, and recommendations to institutions wishing to combat this scourge in the #MeTooPhD moment. I will discuss the profiles of predators that emerged from the survey, common patterns of protection/enabling/silencing of victims by colleagues and administrators, and particular vulnerabilities of women of color and queer/trans women in these contexts. I will address the reasons that academia is so conducive to this kind of harassment, and will focus in particular on helping vulnerable populations recognize and confront harassment, in order to empower victims and potential victims to protect themselves, find both formal and informal support and make educated decisions about going public. I’ll discuss the pros and cons of filing formal complaints, the current resources and limitations of Title IX policies, and immediate steps that departments and disciplinary associations can take to lessen the occurrence of harassment on campus and at conferences. Includes 30 minutes of Q and A All who register have access to a recording, even if they can’t attend the live event. This webinar offered at a reduced rate of $30 2/22 at 6 PM EST The survey results are heartbreaking. I think you might find you are not alone which can sometimes help us.

I am so sorry this is happening to you. You might have a look at online resources from Karen Lasky, who has been doing a lot of work on this issue under #metooPhd

THIS IS ME. I even have a sibling who has a PhD and he never mentioned this to me. Oh! And I wish it was standard for schools to publish application and acceptance rates for recent years. I appreciated it when programs listed a little info on their current students and their research.

When I completed the last of my applications, I write an essay about how much this process made me feel like academia must not want folks like me. I'm a mid-career professional who got my BA later in life and it's been another 6 years since then. My undergraduate school was not helpful, either. My advisor retired but they're also not an English professor. It took me over a month to be put in touch with them for a LOR. I paid for a one-hour consulting session to make up for not having an advisor to help, though it wasn't a lot of help. There's one school in particular where the application process sucked so bad at every stage that I feel like highlighting the issues makes me sound like a whiner. Generally, in addition to the above suggestions: Give clear instructions for accessing fee waivers. All applications I did had provisions for fee waivers but they didn't all provide instructions for how to get a waiver. Spend an hour UX testing the applications. Make sure the online application matches the school's "application info" pages. Make it easy for me to log back in to the application if I don't complete it in one sitting. Have sensitivity readers review your applications for bias. "Only academic recommendations are accepted, letters from professional contacts won't be considered" reads like your program doesn't want older candidates. Know how your own school systems work /or/ communicate the timelines to me. I was bumped from "early decision" to a later application deadline because of the delay between the admissions office and the graduate department -- admissions doesn't start connecting transcripts and GREs to an application until after the application fee is paid. Even though I'd sent records 3+ weeks before deadline, they didn't post to the department until a week after the deadline. The program director was not aware this of this process because, after I said "no, I sent that info last month..." they told me to call the admissions office. Other programs had vague language like "all materials must be received by deadline" but didn't say anything about the potential delay.

All the applications I submitted had provisions for waivers, though I don't know how feasible the process is. Unfortunately, there's no provision for fee waivers for transcripts or GRE scores.

It never occurred to me to study it, but I’m not sure it would interest me. There aren’t many schools that don’t do grades, and among them most offer some kind of equivalent for grade school applications. (Not mine!) That makes sense. Can’t say I noticed a similar trend with CMU credentials, though.

Hey, anyone here the person who got a call today from Oregon State’s rhet/comp program? Congrats! Did you also receive a funding offer? @katie64 I’d have to double check, but I don’t think so. [edit: just checked, and no, there wasn’t a place to indicate Rhetoric concentration. I addressed in my SOP, too.] @mk-8 Yes! Purdue is a long shot for me, I don’t have great GREs and my undergrad is from a school that doesn’t do grades so I don’t have an undergrad GPA @Wooshkuh yeah, the waiting may may do me in But, I had to try. It seemed like all the programs I looked at, their faculty is comprised of at least 30% PhDs from Purdue.

I applied to MA programs. I’m interested in studying the use of personal narratives in social justice movements. I applied to Saint Louis, Louisville, Iowa State, Purdue, and Oregon State.

Married no kids. @Daenerys you sound like a scholar whose work I'd like to read! I also applied to SLU but for an MA English (intending to concentrate on Rhet). As far as deciding where to apply, we talked about it. There aren't many programs in our area so relocation was on the table right away. He said he's game for almost anywhere because his company is national and transfers should be easier. We intend to sell our condo and use the proceeds for relocation. I looked at MA programs that offer funding and narrowed the list down to about 10 possible schools. Then we looked at cost of living and whether his company has a branch there. I ended up applying to 5 schools.

There's a post on the results page from an English PhD who got waitlisted at Saint Louis University. If you're on this forum, can you say when you applied? I applied there early decision for an MA. They initially said results would be sent by Jan 15 but I've heard nothing and don't see any other results posted from that program.

Did this get resolved? If not, I'd call the graduate program director or assistant for these schools.

I've had 3 schools contact me about late letters, 10 days to 2 weeks after the application deadlines. My recommenders were all on top of it for a December deadline, and then they just....flaked on the rest of the deadlines. The LORs have been the most stressful part of the application process.