Hermenewtics

I can offer a bit of anecdotal evidence from last year when it comes to waitlists. I had three waitlists last cycle (along with an acceptance). Waitlist spot #1 came through in the last week of March while the other two literally e-mailed me the evening before the 15th. Unfortunately, I had to hold an acceptance spot while I waited, and I'm sure many people wait out the process with multiple acceptances right up until the bitter end. This is all a long way of saying that if schools on your waitlist are your first choice, be prepared and plan to wait until the very last minute.

Private high schools generally, but the rules for certification vary from state to state, so I'm sure that some of them found public jobs. Honestly, I didn't apply to any high school jobs, so I'm not qualified to help you there. Sorry. Hm, well, I think summer and spring/mid-fall are usually good times. I typically attached my résumé or CV to a brief introduction. I would explain who I was, what I was looking to do, how many classes I'd like to teach, etc. I'd say I got about a 33% success rate. Some schools will keep that information on record and contact you a few semesters later when classes open up (happened to me more than a few times). Good luck!

Hm, I can speak to this. Teaching was a part of my MA, so while I planned to take a few years off before pursuing PhD plans, I was reasonably sure I could find full-time work. I was wrong. Experience is king to a lot of hiring committees for full-time jobs, and while I scored a few interviews and even made final consideration for one job, I ended up having to go with adjunct positions for a year. I think if you're willing to teach high school, however, the rules are a little different. I know plenty of people that were hired immediately by high schools/tutoring companies once they graduated. If you feel like you need to have education-related work experience I would go with high school jobs. The schools around me are always looking for people. There is a happy ending to my story though. After a year I started e-mailing departments again, and this time I took the initiative, e-mailing department chairs, looking for unstaffed classes etc. One of the people I e-mailed did, in fact, need a lecturer and they kept me on staff full-time until this summer (2 years). So in my experience, it was more helpful to reach out to individuals than to respond to job postings, in part because many of those jobs are posted as a formality anyways (they have a candidate they like, but HR requires them to make the position public). The huge caveat to all of this is that this is my experience in a large metropolitan area, so take all of it with a grain of salt. I'm happy to answer any questions/respond to any messages.

Welcome to the English board! Please don't be offended when I write this because it's not intended that way, but you need to do some research. This board is a gold mine of facts and information from past cycles and many people in your situation have asked similar questions, so I think you'd be well-served going back through the board's history and reading threads about each of your questions. In addition to reading this board, you should talk to professors in your English department ASAP. They've all been through this before and they know you better than people here do, so chances are they'll have plenty of helpful advice from a more informed perspective. With that being said, I can weigh in on a few of your questions: 1. Doesn't matter that much. If you do some reading you'll notice that most PhD/MA programs require a writing sample that's a maximum of 20-25 pages. While I'm sure it's a helpful, rewarding experience to work on a capstone/thesis, it's by no means a necessary step at this point in your academic career. Dig into the requirements of the programs you're going to be applying to and I think you'll see the same thing. 2. Again, don't worry too much. Getting into a graduate program isn't like applying as an undergrad, so banish any concerns about honors societies, etc. I think researching this process on this board and other places will be much more helpful than any other answers that will be offered here. Once you've got an idea of exactly what this process entails you'll be able to ask the best questions for you (and I bet a thorough understanding of the process will allay your concerns about most of these questions). I'm a Modernist, btw, so feel free to PM me if you have specific questions.

My areas of interest seem to overlap with yours quite a bit, so I'll tell you what a good friend (a published poet and tenured member of an R1 department) told me: UB is one of if not the best schools in the country for avant garde/contemporary poetics. Basically, if your background is any indication of what you're planning to do for your PhD I'd say Buffalo is one of the best places for you academically. I would guess that their placement numbers are different depending on what your field of study is, so you may want to filter results by what the individual in question was doing. If I remember correctly, @a_sort_of_fractious_angel was accepted at Buffalo, so they might have some advice. On the other hand, it's in Buffalo, so I sort of understand your trepidation. I can't speak to the city or the funding package, so obviously those are factors you have to weigh on your own. Feel free to PM me if you have questions

Just turned down an offer of funding at Temple, so hopefully that helps someone if you're still waiting to hear from them.

IU-Bloomington came through with a fellowship offer and summer funding, so that seals it for me. Took forever, but I feel good about finally making a decision.

@Warelin is the best resource for this question, but I do know that at all of the schools I applied to you have to make your decision by midnight on the 15th or they can pull your offer/funding. I believe once you've officially accepted you need a waiver to change your decision. It would make sense to me that some schools have spots after the 15th, but I assume there's not much movement after that.

If it helps anyone, I've heard that IU and Temple (a decision I'm still trying to make) only have a few (2) spaces left in their programs and they both expect to hear within the week from the remaining holdouts. But echoing @bpilgrim89, I have also heard that there's a lot of movement in the final days.

UW has some history of squirrelly deals with funding, but I've mostly heard horror stories about not funding the first year. If you have funding for, say, the first four years then I'm sure Warelin's right on and you've got nothing to worry about

PM'd you.

You should really post this on the English lit board. Searching previous posts wouldn't be a bad idea either. Frankly, I think the MAPH program is a waste of money, but it's ultimately your choice to make.

The advice above is top-notch, but I would add that this board is potentially an excellent resource for you if you're not familiar with the process. Take the time to read through similar threads, posts like your own, and talk to professors from your undergrad. I'll also add two more decision criteria to the ones listed above: field and adcom members. A university may decide that they want to strengthen the Modernist contingent of their grad students that year despite that school being well-known for their theory focus. So candidate X may submit an excellent application that names numerous theory people, but since the university is not interested in theory students that year candidate X gets a rejection. The same line of thought applies for committee members. For example, you're applying to Maryland and being the cagey, scrupulous applicant you are, you tailor an application designed to appeal to, say, Mary Helen Washington (I only use this name because I've met her and she's freaking awesome, so I figure anyone in her field would want to work with her). Guess what? MHW isn't on the adcom that year. Too bad. It's a strange process, so the more information you have at your disposal, the better equipped you'll be to make informed decisions. I don't think our interests overlap, but feel free to PM me if you have any questions

Declined a waitlist at Iowa, so I hope that helps someone. I'm near the top of my field for the IU-Bloomington waitlist, so if anyone isn't planning to attend please let them know. Indiana is my best fit.

I e-mailed both of my waitlists a few days ago just to ask where I was on each waitlist. Both of the e-mails I got back were very kind and explained that the majority of their waitlist movement happens in late March/early April, so I think those of us waiting will have to sit tight for at least a few more weeks.