zcat429

Thank you so much for both saying this and for elaborating on your earlier advice. Those are all really great questions, and some of them I don't have the answers to and plan on asking now!

That's a great suggestion. I haven't been able to visit either university in person because of the pandemic, and I'm also a first gen student who didn't have a sense of community in my other educational experiences. I think that's why I'm weighing their initial responsiveness and friendliness so heavily. I am looking for a community of teacher/scholars. This isn't to say that program 2 won't be communicative in the future or provide me with a sense of community. It just hasn't been as apparent from the start. I also don't mean for it to sound like I expect people to get back to me in one business day. That's why I said I definitely was planning to give it more time. I realize people have lives and work and many other things going on other than responding to my emails. I think after 5 days though, I feel a little forgotten about. Overall, I'm just trying to determine how important certain factors are vs others. You both made really great points about the larger stipend and 1:1 load and the fact that mode of communication and perception can play a sig role in how I'm viewing friendliness. I want to wait for program 2 people to get back to me, but I also want to free up the waitlist for other students. It's just a crucial time to get answers. Thanks again for your help, though.

Ha, yes I definitely plan to! I was mostly talking about professors I've written that have emailed me back and told me they've seen my email and will respond, but now it's been 5 business days. Sigh. But thank you for your other response, too. It definitely has given me perspective and factors to think about.

Thank you for your help! I have spoken with two grad students at the lower funded school and both had excellent things to say about the program. They also responded quickly and thoroughly, which made me feel like they genuinely wanted to help. I've contacted two students at the second program, but neither have responded. It's only been one full business day, so I'm giving it more time. I've also reached out to three different professors at the second program, and one has taken five days to respond now. I want to be as understanding as I can be, given the pandemic, but I also know emails are fairly quick to write. That said, the other two profs did respond, and were very nice, but I had specific questions they couldn't answer. I'm not certain this isn't just a reflection of a poor recruitment effort. But the more people I reach out to and experience delayed responses with, the more I think this is a trend and something I might encounter. It's definitely hard to agree to less money and a higher work load when I'm not sure how important a sense of community is in a PhD program. EDIT: Totally read the first sentence wrong. I definitely wonder about program 1 having a strong recruitment effort. The students made me feel like it was genuine though. Thanks again for your input!

Thank you so much for that input! I was leaning towards picking the program that feels friendly, as well. It's such a tough decision and want to let them know ASAP so they can move to the waitlist. Thanks again

Hi everyone! I'm currently still deciding between two programs for my PhD in rhet/comp, and I could use a little perspective. One of the programs has a 1:2 teaching load for the entirety of the program, and the other program doesn't have any teaching requirement for the first year. Is this something that should be weighed heavily, or is a 1:2 load manageable? I was also just admitted from the waitlist for the program that doesn't have a teaching requirement in the first year, and because of that, I've had little interaction with the faculty and students. When I've reached out, they've been slower to respond (some haven't even responded yet and it's been four days), than the first program. Is this a significant red flag or have other people experienced slower responses from programs they are choosing to attend? I'm not sure if this is reflective of how the communication will be in the future or if this is a result of the pandemic. Regardless, that program seems more hands off, but it also has a higher stipend, there's no teaching requirement in the first year so I can pursue other opportunities/focus on coursework, etc., the stipend accounts for all of summer (program 1 only offers a small stipend for summer), and a 1:1 teaching load after the first year. I suppose the main question is this: Do all of those factors just listed outweigh the slow/impersonal communication I've experienced from program 2? I want to be supported and mentored and I know program 1 can offer that, whereas I'm just not sure yet if program 2 can. Program 1 has been nothing short of phenomenal with making me feel like a part of their community and the current grad students have been accessible and so friendly. Thanks for anyone's advice!