thepeeps

Totally sorry, sometimes over the Internet things get lost in communication and I apologize for the misunderstanding. I will speak with them again. Thank you.

They are my professors. They all 100% think I'm a great student and would write me a letter of rec if I asked (they all have told me this, whether it was for a job or for a PhD application). They only discouraged me because of the job market, not because I'm not a great student.

I'm currently completing my Masters in English (Rhetoric/Writing focused), and did my Bachelor's in English as well (Rhetoric/Writing focus). I have a very strong application, enjoy research/teaching since I'm doing that as part of my Masters funding, my GRE scores are the weakest part of my application. For awhile I wanted to apply to PhD programs but many people discouraged me because of the job market. But I'm still kind of thinking "what if". Is it worth it to just apply to one school to see what happens? I don't want to be one of those people that asks "Is it true the job market for academia is really that bad?" but at the same time, I kind of want to take the chance and see. If I don't get accepted then I can go into industry. But I don't know if I should take a leap and apply to more schools, or if I'm just being silly since I'm only thinking of one school should I just forget about it. Has anyone been in this position before? I feel like my professors know better, and them telling me how bad it is is to find a job makes me feel like I'm going against them.

I'm doing my Masters right now and I was told I would have a 15,000 dollar stipend. I thought this was for the year, but I'm actually getting that for the semester. For PhD programs, when I read some schools offer funding/stipend, is that for the year or the semester?

Totally sorry if this is the wrong thread. I'm overall just curious on how difficult/competitive it is to get accepted into an English PhD vs a math/science/STEM PhD or really any other PhD. Also wondering how it would compare to say, applying to law school vs a English PhD program. Again sorry if this is the wrong thread, just curious.

What should I do when a school says their requirement is "less than 15 pages" or "less than 10 pages". Do people just send in a paper of any length that's less than that? One school on my list had a flat number of 15 pages. What's the wiggle room on WS like these?

Quoting myself to also say, should I mention information about my Masters degree in my Personal Statement/Statement of Purpose?

I'm doing my Masters as part of a one year program. Some of my schools that I'm applying for my PhD require a Masters degree, which is currently in progress. Can I still apply to schools with a in progress Masters degree? It'll be done by the time I leave for a possible PhD program. I'm guessing I could, but just wanted to confirm.

Although I read the response below you, this probably explains why at my university I had the option to have my Masters funded, because my university doesn't offer a PhD in English. Food for thought...but interesting regardless.

My initial goal for the fall was to apply to mainly Rhetoric/Writing PhD programs. It's not like I'm unhappy about it, but for a long time it's been a goal of mine to study in Toronto. U of T's PhD in English is literature focused, and as someone who is coming from a writing background and will be applying as a intentional student, I highly doubt I'd get in. That's why I was debating on applying to their Masters program. I just do not know if Masters programs are typically funded (because if it wasn't, I wouldn't go). My Masters are my school gave me the option to be funded (through TAing and other stuff) but it was a personal choice of mine to graduate quickly. I'm just not sure how likely that is everywhere else to given funding for a MA, especially as an American in Canada. So yes, my goal right now is to apply to roughly 8ish PhD Rhetoric programs. University of Toronto's MA program would be the only MA program I would apply to. I'm just not sure if it's worth it or not just for the chance to live in a city I want (at least for a certain amount of time, I understand moving will be a thing in the future)

Hi all. I'm playing on applying to PhD programs in the fall. I have my Bachelor's (Writing focused) already, but the thing is I'm completing my Masters in one year (I'm staying at my university, so I'm not worried about letters of rec). I know I had the option to have my Masters funded, but is it common for Masters degrees to be funded? Especially as an American who wants to study in Canada? My Masters degree will be in Professional Writing, and I was thinking about applying to one Masters degree that is literature focused. Just so I could possibly have more options in the future with applying for programs. Just not sure if it's even worth it, just for the chance to study in a city I really want. Thanks all.

The page limit is not including the works cited page correct?

I'm pretty sure that when health/personal issues have attributed to low grades, you would express that in your Personal Statement for sure when you apply. So that's no problem. Of course, I'm not sure how much admission committees would overlook things, but explaining these things in your PS would be ideal. Very sorry about your health issues I struggled with severe depression and basically pushed myself tooth and nail to be somewhat on top. It's tough and I express my sympathies to you. I would also suggest if you have the time or money, to perhaps retake courses you didn't do so hot in either at your school or a CC. That way you can kind of be like "I was really sick and didn't do so great at first, but I went back and retook the same courses and did way better" that could help improve your application.

Do you mind if I ask why your GPA is so low? I switched majors late in my college degree, from something that I hated (computer science) to something I loved (English). Despite the fact my cum GPA wasn't super high like my peers because of my CS background, my GPA is my major is def pretty good. Point is, I had a reason for my cum GPA not being high because I had engineering/math/hard science courses bringing it down. When I applied for my MA I had to prove that I could handle upperclassmen level English courses. I'm pretty sure most grad schools won't accept anything less than a 3.0 anyways, mostly from what I've heard so they can determine whether or not you're actually ready for graduate level work. Especially because at least from the GPA scale at my school, you were only achieving C+'s in your undergrad English courses. Some graduate schools consider a B- failure in a course. Not trying to be judgmental at all, and if you do have a good reason that's another story. But if you're struggling this much and believe you won't be able to achieve straight A's, or hell, B+'s, than you should ask yourself why you want to do graduate school in the first place. It only becomes harder from here on out.

It's funny because when I made my original post Stanford was on my mind, but I don't think the professor whose interests align with mine is even apart of the graduate program, or is a potential supervisor or advisor. Just says she's the director of one of the programs (not undergrad or grad specific). My fear was the email the professor and make a fool of myself you know? I think if anything I won't contact anyone. It just seems kind of risky to me.

Does anyone remember how submitting applications and uploading letters of recommendation work? I'm doing my Masters at the same school as my BA, and for the life of me I can't remember how this worked. Do professors get the email to upload their letter of rec only after we hit the submit/apply button? Reason why I'm asking is I'm trying to get fall grades from my MA on my transcript, and most of my deadlines are over winter break, and I know it will be a concern of mine to make sure my professors submit their letters. But I'm just not sure if they can do that ahead of time before I submit the actually application if that makes sense.

Hi all, Received my Bachelor's in English with a concentration in Writing and Rhetoric last month. I'll be doing my Masters in Professional Writing in one year (Sept 2019- May 2020) and I'll be applying for PhD Rhetoric programs this fall. I had to take one grad class this spring since I'll be completing my Masters in the next (school) year. My writing sample is pretty much the paper from that thesis class, even though I am editing and rewriting parts of it. Haven't got started on my PS yet. Looking at applying to 8 schools and taking the GRE at the end of the summer for the first time. I don't wanna make a new thread, but any advice for contacting professors? There's a professor at one school where her research directly aligns with my interests. I have no idea if she's involved in grad school selection, but I also don't know how to go about contacting professors without being like "hey you're a professor at this amazing school and we have the same research interests ain't that cool...also I'm applying for the PhD program any thoughts?" I really hate sounding like a buttkisser

Current PhD students: What does your typical day look like?

I'm planning on taking the GRE's at the end of the summer so I have enough time to study. Currently nervous about it because I've always been terrible at test taking. Whether it was SATs/ACTs or even the state exams needed to graduate high school, I've always just struggled with standardized testing. I've always done fairly well on the English/writing portions, but for the life of me, I'm TERRIBLE at math. Especially math that's on exams like the GRE. I know I have time to study, but the math portion is really freaking me out. How do colleges look at GRE scores, as one number or using both of them? I'm just worried I will do poorly on the math section and have my whole score drop. Do English departments really pay attention to the score you got on the math section, or will they look at your English/writing score more?

Thank you very much! My mind has been eased, at least a little bit.

That's what I was worried about, my friend whose in the sciences made it sound like rolling admission, such as they'll be looking at each application as it comes in and if I applied a week before they'll already have other students in mind and they'll automatically not want me if that makes sense. Thank you for easing my nerves! For me having those fall grades is kind of essential. If anyone else knows anything please contribute still

I'm applying to roughly 7 different programs this upcoming Fall 2019. I received my Bachelor's in English with a concentration in Rhetoric, and while my GPA in my English courses was fine and I'm doing my Masters from 2019-2020, I'd feel more comfortable and confident having at least my first semester grades from my Masters program show up on my transcripts. While my overall GPA for my English courses is high there's a couple English courses on my transcript that I got low B's in that I'm not happy about. I know I'm just hard on myself, but I can only imagine all the other people applying with me will have straight A's. I talked to my friend about this (whose applying for PhD's in the sciences) and she kind of freaked out when I told her I planned on delaying applying to some of my programs until fall grades were in. She told me that at least in the science, if you apply even two weeks before the deadline it looks bad and goes against you. Does anyone know if it's true? There's three schools I have to apply to regardless of grades since their deadlines are before fall grades come in. The rest fall between early Jan-mid Feb. Any advice? Should I just forget about grades from my Masters and applying to all my schools all at once? Should I apply at different times?

Would you recommend emailing/contacting each program about specifically the kind of writing sample they want? Or would they think that's dumb? Should I also take lit papers I've done in the past and bring them back to my professors in the fall and talk to them about how I would like to use the assignment as a writing sample?

Thank you so much. I've taken I think four lit classes in undergrad (one professor screwed me over though) but I did great work in the other 3. Since I've always done writing and rhetoric though is what had me nervous, especially because my MA will also be writing focused (and despite being close to my professors, apart of me feels like a traitor to tell my rhetoric professors I'm applying for English PhD's that are geared towards literature haha. Although one of my schools does have a rhetoric focus available for their PhD program). Now I know on most applications, they say "10-15 page writing sample" does that typically equal one full paper? Or can I send in both a literature paper and a rhetorical one? Or two literature writing samples? Again, I'm sorry if these sound like silly questions. I'm off of school currently and don't have anyone to discuss this with, and I want to get a headstart before fall/winter comes.

As you've perhaps noticed, I come from a writing background and will be applying to PhD programs in the Fall. For anyone that hasn't read my other thread, my BA is in English with a concentration in Writing, Rhetoric, and Communication while my MA (which I'll be completing as a 4+1) is in Professional Writing. Most of the programs I am applying to are Lit based, and it seems from what I've gathered online I can still apply. I took a couple literature courses in undergrad in order to graduate. I feel like this is a dumb question so I am embarrassed to ask my professors. For the lit focused PhD, I should be sending in a literature centered writing sample correct? Should I also only ask literature professors for letters of rec, or does it matter? There's some programs that state they don't even care if your degree is not in English in the first place, so that's why I'm unsure about what the writing sample should even be geared towards. Totally sorry if this is dumb. But I guess I wasn't sure about the writing sample, and would feel dumb submitting a rhetorical paper rather than a lit one for a literature PhD if that's not what would be recommended. Thank you.