Two Espressos

This is a fantastic post. My personal favorite so far. I'm just an undergrad, so I don't know much about prestige/placement. Another poster said something about PhDs getting jobs in schools slightly less prestigious than the one they attended. I had noticed something of the sort before, but I thought it was just me. I don't have solid evidence, but this phenomena seems to be occurring. As many of you may know, I have interests all over the place. I'm parsing them out, figuring out which ones I'm professionally interested in and which ones I'm merely interested in on a personal level. I'm really attracted to composition/rhetoric right now, and I think it might be the best fit. I brought that up because composition/rhetoric is really unique compared to literary studies. The job market for rhet/comp isn't exactly good, but students from top comp/rhet programs (Penn State, etc) boast tenure-track placement rates of 95% or so. That's fantastic, especially with the way the market is now. So they perhaps do not face the same challenges that Ivy-league PhDs in literature do. Prestige is a different animal in rhet/comp (and I like how it is so). Overall, this has been a very interesting discussion!

Wow, this is great information! I'll have to look into the University of Washington as well. I'm no longer interested in pursuing aesthetics/aesthetic theory *professionally* (though I'm still interested in it personally); my subject-to-change interests are in my signature. I'm having trouble finding professors with interests in the rhetoric of social activism/human rights (I'm found 2 professors so far, lol); does anyone know any professors or schools that are strong in this area?

This is a great place to start! Thanks again.

This is great! I re-posted it to my facebook wall and credited it to "one of the brilliant minds on thegradcafe.com." I'll have to print out some copies and hand them to my friends/family during my application season. As far as terrible things someone could say, these would be the worst: "You'll get in somewhere!" (bullshit--how can anyone know that?) "You weren't meant to go there." (what is that supposed to mean?) "God will work something out" or "That's just part of God's plan" or any combination of God's will and my rejection (these are the worst. I'm an atheist in an extremely religious family, so I'm probably going to hear responses like this... ) Any response that includes something like "Fuck school X" would be awesome. Here's to hoping I get some of those!

This is an excellent post! I won't have to worry about letters of recommendation for a while, but I'm definitely going to keep this advice in mind when I do!

My god, people pull last-minute all-nighters for conference presentations? If I were in your mentor's position, I'd likely do the same thing: it would annoy the hell out of me. That kind of stuff should be avoided as an UNDERGRAD, not to mention a grad student presenting at a major conference! Anyways, back on topic: I'm still an undergrad, but I'm presenting at a small, undergraduate-only conference this fall. I'm very nervous, but I think it will be a great experience!

I'm following ktel and calling "bullshit!" on this. As evidenced by your posts on this website, your grad school experience has been depressing, but it's because you *don't* want to be there and have spent the majority of your grad school experience bemoaning trite things that are ubiquitous in grad school (you have to maintain a B average, etc). It's impossible for you to state that "it is depressing, even if you want to be there." You have no idea what it's like to enjoy grad school, and unless you change your attitude, you never will.

Judging by the troll face, I'm assuming you aren't serious. Don't "an hero" on us though. If you are having suicidal thoughts, it's in your best interest to talk to someone. I'm of the (somewhat radical) position that everyone has a right to their own lives, including the right to end it. But you should seek professional help before so doing.

I've similarly been struggling to focus my research interests and to determine where I best fit. As posts on this site demonstrate, I'll vacillated between literary theory (aesthetics), philosophy, and rhetoric/composition for the past year. I won't be applying until fall of next year, so I have plenty of time, but it's still very frustrating. I think I may have made progress, though. The biggest challenge for me was to separate my "professional" research interests from my "personal" research interests. Everyone definitely has a variety of academic interests, many of which may not coalesce (not all of mine do). For example, I am interested in medieval/renaissance mythology, ethics, aesthetics, philosophy of language, 20th century literature (especially Beckett), and composition/rhetoric. It's definitely impossible for me to combine all of those, lol. Your interests seem much more focused than mine, so you may in fact be able to combine them in a coherent, specialized, and sophisticated way. I would still advise that you take a long look at your interests, though, and see if some of them are personal interests rather than professional ones. I've begun to do that, and it has proven to be most helpful. Good luck!

I'm bumping this thread! This is fantastic information; it was exactly what I was looking for. Does anyone else have anything to add to the great advice listed here?

Amazon. Absolutely, without a doubt, Amazon. I'm a huge fan of the website and have purchased all my books off the site for the past two years. I spend no more than $200-$300 a semester on books, which is an absolute steal. Plus, if you have any experience with selling stuff online, you can sell back the books you purchase. Sometimes, this actually results in a net profit (I once bought a psychology textbook for ~$80, and I later sold it for ~$90)! I buy nearly everything off amazon.com. I'm a huge proponent of it, if you can't tell.

Yeah, that sounds like a good plan of action! I'm thinking that composition/rhetoric could be a great fit, as I could possibly bridge my interests in philosophy (ethics) with English--I've seen professors with listed interests such as "ethics and rhetoric," etc. But if I do end up going the standard literature route, I think that having a secondary emphasis in comp/rhet would be very beneficial. It's nice to know that such a route is possible! Thanks for you input!

I suppose you're right. I think I'm overestimating the quality of my fellow presenters' papers, lol. I'm not even in graduate school, but I suffer from "Imposter Syndrome": I do well at my school, but I feel like it's only the result of inflated grading/easy professors. I'm worried that this will become apparent at this conference (there are 30 presenters total, myself included). I'm definitely going to follow dimanche0829's advice and ask some professors for feedback. I've had two look at it so far (and they both said it was good), but they are both very easy graders (in my opinion). I really want to ask the old, cranky tenured professor of the English department--widely known as one of my school's hardest graders-- for his opinion; I know he won't sugarcoat anything.

Well, I didn't think it was shit when I turned it in. After reading it (and rereading it, again and again) and considering the argument, I find it tenuous at best. The paper makes a unique claim, but I don't think I have the proper support. Basically, this paper is a close reading that links two authors, and two characters in two of those authors' works, who are rarely associated. I also contend that the earlier author's character/work largely inspired the character/work of the later author. I feel like I'd need strict historical evidence of the later author reading the earlier author to support this. I do have evidence that author B read author A, but I have no evidence that author B read the work of author A that I contend that he did. I would be a lot more comfortable if I had that explicit proof. But, you know, I can only work with what is known. I can't make evidence appear. That's really my biggest gripe. It's a small aspect but an aspect that I feel is tantamount to the argument being successful. Really, I'm my own worst critic: I've yet to write a paper that I like; I think its all mostly rubbish.

A paper of mine was selected for an undergraduate conference this fall, and I'm having this concern. I think the paper is total shit (it got an A in the class, but that means nothing with grade inflation...), and I'm really worried that I'll look like an idiot presenting it. I don't feel like I'm ready academically/professionally for this conference, even though it's undergrads only. I still have time to decline (I have to respond by September, I believe). Should I? I'm going to revise the paper (obviously), but I really hate the whole argument lol. I don't know what to do!

Oh look, another person with a foolishly Utilitarian view of a liberal arts education. If universities didn't require a broad, liberal arts education, they'd cease to be universities: they'd be trade schools.

Ah, runonsentence, I was hoping you'd reply! You seem like the go-to guy/gal for rhetoric and composition on these boards. Thanks for the MA suggestions! I think a generalist MA would be a possible option as well; I'm assuming such programs wouldn't expect their applicants to have everything figured out as far as subfield goes. Do you know of any other funded MA programs? Or, alternately, strong rhet/comp PhD programs that *don't* require a MA for admission? I have found PhD programs that don't, but I know little about composition/rhetoric so I'm unsure as to which programs are strong, not-so-strong, etc.

I'm going to post another question in this thread so I don't have to create another one: Does anyone know of any funded MA programs in composition/rhetoric? In perusing comp/rhet PhD programs, I noticed that several of them require a masters for admission. Plus as time passes, I'm increasingly convinced that I should weigh my applications more heavily towards MA programs. I'm starting to parse my interests out, but I don't think I'll have a tight enough focus come fall of 2012 for strong PhD programs. The only funded MA program in composition/rhetoric that I know of is Purdue. C'mon, grad cafe members! I know you are a source of great wisdom.

I have the French Rosetta Stone levels 1-3. I've taken two semesters of French so far, so I started out on the third level. It's still pretty simplistic at that level. Honestly, I think Rosetta Stone is very overrated. However, it does have one strength, one thing that I admire: it has voice-recognition technology, which allows you to improve your accent. That's a great feature, but I still don't think Rosetta Stone is worth the hefty price tag. Personally, I think the best way to learn grammar, vocabulary, etc is to take a language class. I'd imagine that studying abroad in a foreign country would be really beneficial too, as far as learning the nuances of conversation. At least that's what I'm convincing myself, as I'm going to France next summer.

I have heard two former professors use that word--one quite old, the other relatively young. In fact, I hear "irregardless" used quite frequently, even though it's not even a real word! *sighs*

Like another poster mentioned, this anti-Christian bias stems from the shit LGBT people have taken over the years from Christians. I think another contributing factor is the negative portrayal of Christians/Christianity in secular media. As a gay, non-religious person coming from a Christian family, I can definitely relate. There are a lot of crazy, bigoted Christians, but there are plenty of Christians who are both accepting and down-to-earth. That being said, in the situation you mention, I don't see the harm in having a pro-LGBT Christian band at the event. I think they judged them too hastily.

I was going to go in a blazer and jeans, but I'll take your advice and pair the blazer with slacks since I'm presenting. Thanks!

I'm presenting a paper at an undergraduate conference this fall at a small university. I think there are thirty students in total presenting, myself included. Would the rules for dress listed above apply at this conference as well? Just for the record, I'm in the humanities (English). From what I've gathered, this seems like a fairly informal affair (presenters are getting event t-shirts, etc). Thanks in advance.

Ah, that's one thing I forgot to mention in my post. Lyonessrampant is right: language preparation is vital. All the people I have talked to about graduate school have stressed this. I've taken 2 semesters of college French so far. By the time I apply to grad school, I'll have taken 4 semesters of French as well as 6 credits of intensive French language in Paris (assuming everything works out with my study abroad trip planned for next summer). I'm not worried about my foreign language readiness. What I am worried about is specialization (I realize this is perhaps the most important thing too...). My academics are relatively strong, but I keep vacillating back and forth between subfields/specializations. It deeply bothers me and makes me question whether I'm even ready for graduate school...

I'm a junior in undergrad. I'll post what I've done/am doing: -I joined Sigma Tau Delta International English Honor Society last spring. Admissions aren't very selective (3.0 GPA, at least 2 English courses beyond the freshman writing sequence), and I don't know if membership would help my CV. I figured I'd join nonetheless. -I'm presenting a paper at an undergraduate conference this fall. Once again, I doubt this will help my admissions chances much, but it certainly cannot hurt. -I'm taking an upper-level seminar in literary theory this fall. I've been watching lectures by Paul Fry on literary theory as well as doing some light reading in the Norton Anthology of Literary Theory and Criticism to prepare myself for the course. -I plan to present at another conference before applying to graduate school if possible. Preferably, I'd like to attend the Sigma Tau Delta International Convention next February in New Orleans. -I plan to do an independent study in the spring semester with the humanities department chair. Hopefully the independent study will result in one or two well-refined papers that can serve as writing samples for my application season. Also, I hope that the course will help me refine my research interests. I feel like my plan of action is respectable. There are certainly others who are doing more, but I think I'm doing okay.