transcendental

Good deal! I know what you mean about UIC, but I guess I never will get over the simple "DENY" that was listed on my website status when I applied there last year. They do not like anything resembling sweetness, let along sugar-coating, it seems. Also, BU is definitely awesome and has a great reputation. Edited to add: FWIW, I've been rejected by both of these schools, so I didn't want you to think that was the reason why I was advocating one over the other.

It seems like from the bolded portion above that you already know you want to go to BU. Trusting your gut and feeling that you want to go somewhere is important. I think some reason for hesitation on one year MA programs is that you basically have to wait another year to apply to PhD programs so that you can get relationships with profs for LoRs and a writing sample. The bad part then is, if you are in debt, you would have to find a job for a year or so and begin to pay back those loans. If you're not going to be paying back loans on the degree, your only worry might be finding a job, which is certainly a valid one.

Love.

While I do think a thesis option is nice, and I personally would have preferred that to a comprehensive exam, I did not have this at my two-year MA program and was able to get good writing samples from the seminars I was taking (if you're concerned about the WS). If UIC doesn't have people you'd want to work with on a thesis, why would you want to go there? If BU is friendly, helpful, about the same price, AND has people you want to work with, then go there! And honestly, don't worry about the rankings. For the schools that I've looked into, if a program does not have several people that I would want to work with, then in my estimation, it's ranked a lot lower for me. Besides, this is an MA program, for which prestige and name brand are less important than PhD, and if you think BU is going to be helpful to you in finishing their program, they are more likely to want to help you get into a good PhD program. Good luck!

Is it the number 42? Do you have the meaning of life tattooed upon your body?

That's awesome!

Whoa, 20 lbs! She must eat a lot of clothes. Awesome.

BTW -- my cat looks like the one in your pic (a tortie), except she's less furry; and yes, I live in fear of being the crazy cat lady. Well I've sufficiently done some good derailing. Go cats and tattoos!

Yeah, the crow confuses most people. I guess I just like them. They're very intelligent (see here). If I don't get a crow it'd be "and your very flesh shall be a great poem," which I think would rule as a tattoo. One of my friends was considering a Shakespeare quote (don't know if that ever panned out); knew someone else who got "riverrun," from Joyce. Literary tattoos, FTW! Thinking of tattoos takes my mind off of waiting, yay.

YES, get a tattoo! I have been putting mine off for a while and AM GETTING ONE once I decide where I'm going! (I'll likely get a Whitman quote or a crow.)

Anyone planning on declining Iowa?

I found this over in the Poli Sci forum (I don't even...) and thought it was really interesting and helpful, as I'm still struggling to understand the admission process myself. Here, a professor on an adcom provides a lot of insight regarding the decision process. Again, it is a different subject and the process itself will likely vary from program to program, but I think this is something that is not touched on a lot: "Our goal is to find people--and this is important, so read carefully--who can successfully complete our program and secure a tenure-track job. That is the outcome that we are trying to achieve; we are not trying to admit the smartest, the most unique, or even the most interesting students (although we do want these people too!). It's possible that other departments that care less about placement are more interested in just admitting smart people, and I bet that for schools like Harvard and Princeton, that's probably true. But for us, we want students who will succeed." Happy reading.

I don't know about everyone else, but I've ordered my Forever Lazy in 3 different colors for my first week of grad school.

Good to know. Yeah, then I guess at this point it's just a matter of riding it out. Easier said than done.

Yeah, I definitely think visiting is important, but since I'm working at a new job that does NOT know I have grad school in my future, it's been hard for me to secure time off for visits. I guess I'd like to know if I'm in at the waitlist before I visit. That's awesome. Maybe I will get some emails going in the next few days. My questions probably can be cleared up by email, but I think a lot of it depends on what sort of funding I might get and how many courses I'd take at one time, which leads to the time to degree question.

Ugh that sucks. This lady I've been in touch with at Iowa is the Director of Finances for the dept, not DGS or a prof in my subfied, and while in the email she does sound really hopeful they can find me funding, I still want to know a lot stuff about the program. I'd be really happy with Fordham so I want to know more about Iowa and am not sure if I'd accept Iowa at the drop of the hat just yet, but it does have a lot going for it already (ha). Iowa's not saying where I am on the waitlist or anything like that, but they do sound hopeful. BUT WHO KNOWS. Agh.

Wow, good thing I emailed the grad coordinator because she copied the rejection letter to me, and it had been sent to an out-of-state address I lived at 3 years ago when I applied the first time. ha!

Some questions for my fellow wait-listers. How are you handling getting information, asking questions, and possibly visiting the school(s) at which you're waitlisted? If my waitlist happens to become an acceptance right at the very last moment, I'd like to be able to make a decision quickly, but I still have lots of questions to ask of the waitlist before I can make an informed decision between my waitlist and my straight up acceptance. I was accepted with funding a while ago from one school and have been able to get many of my questions answered by email already and will get the remainder (non-deal-breaker q's) answered when I visit. What about the waitlist school? Should I wait another week or so before barraging them with questions? Should I even bother? I don't know what to do. Iowa told me they are hopeful they can let me know "well before April 15," which at this point seems to be a very relative phrase. My decision is going to be very close to April 15th anyway because of my work schedule-- I had to schedule a campus visit close to the deadline (April 13th, which is a Friday!). Also, if your acceptance from a waitlist comes on April 1/April Fool's Day, will you believe it?

I was/am in a similar situation, and I agree with the previous posters' advice. I wouldn't tell them about grad school. Most places want you to stick around and won't want to hire you if they know you'll leave or at least work at part-time in the future. Things are always uncertain anyway, so you can just frame it as you just found out you were accepted/decided to accept an offer you got when you tell them you would be leaving. Good luck!

I guess I would disagree with the other advice here about contacting the program. I received a waitlist letter and it specifically asked me to email them before accepting another offer. Since I am interested in the school, but do have another offer, I mentioned to them as much. I told them that I am interested in the program and would like to remain on the waitlist. Hearing from others in similar situations, sending an email to say that you are still interested in their program would not hurt anything. Something along the lines of: "I was pleased to receive a wait list letter from your program. I wanted to thank you for the consideration and to let you know that I am still interested in the program." It will help them to know that you're still interested; they do not want to admit someone from the waitlist if they don't think that person will accept. Good luck!

YES! I was actually just thinking about this as I was buying my tickets a bit ago. Then I wouldn't have to live in a dump.

That is very helpful, thank you!

Hi everyone in the CC realm... wanted to bump this thread because I'm about to interview for an adjunct CC position tomorrow and hoped to get some advice. I applied to an open job posting, having in mind that I would most likely only teach over the summer, or for longer if I did not get into a PhD program. I mentioned in my cover letter that I intend to enroll in a PhD program, but did not specify when, since I didn't know at the time (now I'm in! ) Should I be worried about saying I only want a job for over the summer? Should I try to avoid the question? The job description doesn't mention a contract length or anything; it's very vague and I only assume that it is for Composition. I'd really like to get a job like this so I don't want to ruin my chances. I'd appreciate any insights! Edited to add: Can one come to expect a certain contract length from these general job postings? That, I think, is my major question, since being in touch with the one who contacted me about the interview has not been lightning-speed, to say the least.

Thanks. The person I've been in contact there with seems hopeful, but I have no idea what will happen. I'm early/19th C American.

I don't think anyone is saying not to try finding a publishing job, but in my experience, I've actually been more successful getting into a graduate program than getting a job in publishing. (Meaning I got offers from grad programs and never so much as got an email rejection from many, many publishing jobs I've applied to). Perhaps it is is my own particular fate to be in grad school and not to be employed in publishing, but the field of publishing is quite simply not an easy one to get into. (And this is not me saying I went to grad school because I couldn't get a publishing job, or that others should go to grad school instead of finding a publishing job!). One's success in finding a publishing job may be largely dependent on what region of the country one lives in, however. Living in New York or Boston, you are going to see more publishing opportunities open to you than you would in Indiana, let's say. I'm from Chicago, and while there are some educational publishers in the area, the competition is extremely fierce. In fact, finding a job at all, let alone one that will not steal your soul or make your mind atrophy, is difficult right now. However, as lolopoxie says, it's a matter of looking in the right places for potentially satisfying work -- communications, documentation, social media, technical writing, etc. I feel that I need to temper my comments with a smiley face now: