Chomposition

Was behind on the update. Just finished my MA and am reapplying more broadly for PhD after failing to get into the couple of exciting local programs for fall 2018. 

Hi! I'm finishing my MA in comp/right this semester, and will be continuing on for the PhD at my school. I also have a BA in comp/rhet, so I can't really speak to anything capital-L since my education thus far has not dealt with it. But from my time in my MA program, here's my take:
I feel like an MA in comp/rhet is what you make it. Comp/rhet is an interdisciplinary field by nature, as it feels social sciencey as well something that belongs in the humanities. It straddles both. In my program, people typically continue onto the PhD/writing positions in education afterwards, and there's a big focus on pedagogy. Comp/rhet is often seen as a practical field where theories and research projects have a "so what" related back to teaching and our everyday practices. I've caught myself really entrenched in this, and expecting this of other disciplines. 
That said, you also can learn skills that will serve you well in a variety of situations, depending on your program. If it's digital-focused, for example, you can learn some cool web design or programming or other stuff. There was a digital comp grad seminar offered at my school this semester where students learned how to use different kinds of programs (yes-- also embedded in "here's how your students and your teaching could benefit from them" ) 
What is your end goal? Time in an MA program can help you figure that out, too. Like you, I worked at a writing center during undergrad, and I fell in love with helping writers work through their writing and achieve their goals. I felt fulfilled in a way I never had before, and when I taught my first class, I still liked it and realized that a PhD was the only path I wanted to take. Sounds so cheesy and romantic, but you just "know" sometimes. 
But I allowed myself time during the MA to feel it out. I knew by the end of my first year, and I faced some hurdles last semester and seriously questioned my decisions. But then it turned around this semester, and I'm again excited and eager to continue on. 
Best of luck! 

Hi everyone, I just wanted to thank everybody once again for your advice and give you an update. I eventually applied to the Hudson Strode program at UA. I was accepted into the MA program and I'm thrilled to say I'll be moving down to Tuscaloosa this fall. Now I just have to find an apartment!

I'm actually planning to go into a PhD, but I hear wonderful things from people graduating with rhet/comp MAs because they chose the right program. If you want to be a grant writer, run a Writing Center, advise, or even just teach lower-level composition classes, an MA alone works!
I understand the worry--two of my roommates are going into scientific PhDs and have actually said a Masters would have hurt their chances. I've not heard of that at all from my conversations with other rhet/comp people. For my MA, my school doesn't offer a PhD and works really hard on good PhD placements (and their recent ones were enough to impress me), so it seems having my MA will not hurt my chances later on.
I did take the GRE, though there were some schools I applied to who didn't require it or didn't want to see it altogether. I got an... okay verbal score(?) (English programs will not care about your quantitative score anyway) after studying for about three months. No MA programs I looked at had score requirements or even a general "this is our median score" number listed for your GRE, though I've seen a handful of PhD programs that do. Again, there are really good programs that don't want your GRE score, or even recommend you send it.
I will! Oregon State only admits students they can fund through some form of GTA. In their case, funding could come from a mix of teaching freshman comp with writing center work or some other composition teaching work. Other schools will admit more and only fund a few. My impression is that you definitely want some form of assistantship in your MA if you're considering a PhD, even if it means being a little broke for two years. I've also found no resistance when asking programs if I could speak to current grad students, and they almost expect you to ask what living off the stipend is like.
Are you only considering the MA program at your university, or looking elsewhere?

Hi! I'm going to speak as a total novice and based solely on my experiences, but I'll try to address some of your concerns:
The way I'm interpreting this is that you don't read what's considered "literature" often, but you do enjoy reading. If you said, "I don't enjoy reading anything, period," grad school may not be the route to take, but depending on the rhet/comp programs you pick, you may not have to dabble in capital-L Literature very much. I avoided Literature-heavy programs when applying myself because I dig rhet/comp and am not so good at the literary criticism stuff.
Unless you were a secondary school educator before your MA, I think it would be out-of-the-ordinary to have teaching experience. Plus, don't discount your Writing Center experience!
I'm saying this after speaking to two MA programs on campus visits: very few undergrads have any rhet/comp classes before they enter graduate school. I was very open and said I'd had maybe 3 or 4, with almost none of the classical philosophers and no Foucault, and I was told that was a lot. Multiple professors have expressed to me that they had no idea what rhetoric was until they were already in their PhD for it. Plus, that's what your masters is for. A lot of people on this forum point out that your masters is a time to get to know the literature better, and that's absolutely the case for rhetoric.
These are all careers that rhetoric MAs would prepare you for!
In my personal search, Rhet/Comp is a bit odd in that a lot of the PhDs ask for an MA first. However, my search was not by any means comprehensive. I'd also like to point out that the possible careers you list seem like they could gel well with an MA alone. There are rhet/comp MAs that prepare you for other futures if you decide to not pursue PhD work. ?
I'm not sure about books (I am also working on my own pre-grad school reading list), but someone on another thread mentioned finding the major journals of the field and just reading articles from the last ten or so years to see what's happening in the scholarship. I hope that helps!
Let me know if I can help any further!