runonsentence

Consider whether you feel like gambling the application fee. They will most likely simply cash your check and not look at your application.

If you feel the errors were significant, politely contact the graduate secretary/administrator, explain the error, and ask him/her if it can be corrected. I've done this and had incredibly helpful, polite responses.

Most of my writers for my applications asked me to proof drafts of their letters for me (this has also been the case for other grants and awards I've applied for). But there's one letter for my PhD apps—from the faculty member I was closest to—that I've never seen, and I do admit that I'm burning with some curiosity, there.

Recruitment (or whatever kind of visit, post-acceptance) is kind of fun, because it's all about wooing you. At our program we actually do their best to have potential students spend as much time with current students (rather than faculty), which I think helps take the pressure off. And most of the weekend is rather social, in nature. We certainly talk to potential students about their research and interests, but it happens over lunch, or at the department-wide party on Saturday night over drinks—it's very different from a pre-acceptance interview situation.

You should adjust your statements for your M.A. programs because "the [M.A.] programs [you're] applying to aren't really geared toward [your] stated research interests." Programs factor in do-able-ness when making decisions about applicants; that is, they ask themselves if they can support this student's research interests. The specificity of your interests may not be so damaging as the fact that you recognize that they're tangential to these programs. So articulate something that does fit in with these M.A. programs.

I have friends who love Evernote for things like this.

A friend of mine doing medieval/Renaissance is at Arizona State and really likes the program. I think their deadline is January 15th, and the website lists the subject test as "optional."

I committed myself to a book review for a journal over break, and also want to get a paper I wrote last quarter out for review. While my break from classes has involved a fair amount of idle couch vegetation so far, I do hope to have a productive break to get caught up on these kinds of projects that I don't have time for during coursework.

Hopeline, the national suicide prevention, awareness, and education organization, has a grad-student specific crisis hotline that I thought would be worth passing on for those feeling the pressure of deadlines, end-of-term craziness, and holiday hecticness: http://www.hopeline.com/gradhelp.html A number of other helpful resources are available at Grad Resources: http://www.gradresources.org/

As long as it looks professional and makes sense, they'll have no reason to notice it (and therefore, by extension, care). Trust me, the committees are going to be tearing through more applications than they'd like—this isn't something they're going to think much about, so don't spend much time agonizing over it.

My advice is actually to spend less time on your background. The SOP is generally a forward-looking document that focuses on your goals, interests, and scholarly identity. If you're spending most of the document doing this, then I think you have it right.

It can vary. My department has established a 93 as an A- in the first-year comp curriculum but the registrar's site lists a 93 as an A.

Sorry to say I'm not aware of reliable funding outside of one's own institution or the conference/sponsoring organization itself. Talking to people within your specific niche/research interest might be the only way of finding something—some conferences/research interests have strange awards floating around out there. For instance, Pearson sponsors an annual grant for CCCC (which I only know about because rhet/comp colleagues have passed on the emails to me).

Speaking as a rhetorician: listen to your audience (fuzzylogician et al.). They're telling you exactly how your writing/communication is being received by others. Either the rhetorics of your messages are intentional and need to be toned down, or they're unintentional and you've been presented with a fantastic opportunity to better tailor your message to your audience.

Paper copies are helpful if you're feeling the crunch of finishing to give recommenders time—I did this as well. I wouldn't worry much. If it's in a box with no formatting then everyone's in a box with no formatting, right? If all else fails you could use underscores around titles, like _To Kill a Mockingbird_.