runonsentence

Stipends either come in the form of fellowships (which are usually very selectively awarded at any school, as you're getting paid to do nothing but your own research), RAships, and TAships. When your potential program says that all admitted students are guaranteed to earn stipends, that means that all admitted students are guaranteed to be awarded a fellowship, RAship, or TAship. You'll need to take that portion of the application seriously for two reasons: the first is to get the award you prefer, and the second is because at some programs, competition for assistantships and fellowships can come into play during admissions decisions. EDIT: And no, I'd definitely fill out this section in full, even if it overlaps with some portions of the SoP. Different committees could possibly read each document, so you'll not want to leave anything out, just in case.

Just came across the following blog post on this article, and thought it was excellent: https://jsench.wordpress.com/2011/07/28/working-classes/

WornOutGrad: it's a sign of strength and insight that you know what you want and can articulate it. Now what's left for you to do is to go after it. If school doesn't make you happy, then find the path that will—and don't look back. Degrees don't define us.

I've never thought that name-recognition was as important as people make it out to be in the admissions process, anyway. Besides: I've heard of numbers showing that a substantial proportion of graduate students come from LACs. It makes sense, to me: the best of them attract and are dedicated to producing engaged, ambitious, driven students.

bdon19, you have NO IDEA how close I came to writing this exact thing about Harold Bloom in my post as well.

IMO, the best time to start presenting is: Right. Now. It's a good experience that can give you valuable feedback on projects you're working on, give you a confidence boost, and looks good on the CV. It's also great to shake some hands and meet others in the field with similar research interests. (Network, network, network!) If you're not feeling ready for a full-blown national conference, student conferences are still a great experience and a good way to get yourself initiated. Also, note that conference papers are much easier to prepare than publications, since (a) you're not preserving something for posterity, just reading it aloud to a room full of people who may or may not be daydreaming, and ( an ideal length is 8-10 pages. Ideally, one should be proposing presentations on papers that are already written. But in practice, many (most?) people write an abstract, then write the paper. (One of my mentors has a list of people he refuses to room with at CCCC because they will pull an all-nighter the night before their presentation, finishing their paper.) Now, writing after proposing can mean that your argument evolves in a different direction than your proposed abstract. While it's something that's best avoided—it's false advertising for conference goers choosing sessions when your abstract in the program that doesn't accurately represent the paper you read—it's also just sort of what happens.

This isn't a "what to do" post so much as a "things to chew on" post. 1. You will need to make a convincing case in your SoP as to what kind of career you envision that does not require teaching. (Virtually the only researchers who do not teach at all are the ridiculously famous ones in cushy endowed professorships at the Ivies, but I'm sure that even they need to teach from time to time.) Since your SoP needs to address what you envision doing with your PhD, you will need to tell them what kinds of viable career options your forsee pursuing with your degree that don't involve teaching. 2. Do you intend to only pursue faculty positions at R1s/research-extensive institutions (where, I might add, competition is keen)? Know that this will make your job market search incredibly difficult, nigh unto impossible. The market is bad enough as it is, without cutting out teaching-intensive institutions like liberal arts colleges and community colleges. 3. Are you interested in administration? Those who help direct programs or become dean, etc. receive teaching releases—but note that many/most still teach. 4. Are you finding many programs that fit your research interests and offer research assistantships and fellowships, instead of teaching assistantships (which are by far the most common source of funding)? 5. If you apply to programs where it is likely you would receive your funding in the form of a teaching assistantship, how will you convince the adcom that you will be an engaged, committed TA in your SoP?

Good for you, taking initiative. Never hurts to ask. Small liberal arts schools (I went to one, myself!) like to really advertise how engaged, committeed, and over-achiever-ish their students are, so it's possible the department could find you some kind of small fund to pay for something, especially if it seems like it would make it more likely that you go (and therefore give them something to brag about / advertise).

Academia, like many professions, is all about networking. So yes, potential connections can be helpful. I'm sure it contributed to some of my success in my most recent application season. It would certainly help to make your LoRs more compelling to an adcom, if your writer came from that institution. (Though I don't think you need to say things to your writers like, "Hey, can you be sure to remind the adcom you went to X university?") You might consider asking some faculty to write you letters if they came from universities you apply to. I've never asked a professor to specifically contact someone at his/her alma mater (outside the realm of LoRs) while I was applying, but maybe others here have and can speak to productive ways of suggesting this to your mentors. It's something to approach with tact, I think.

I have, over the summer. (Otherwise known as, "My awesome, awesome mentor saved my ass from food stamps. Twice.") I would recommend you feel out the potential PI and ask what kind of work s/he sees you doing. Some will delegate menial tasks, like Sparky's professor; my own mentor handed me a project, guided me with ideas and feedback, and had me run the show. I did my own research and blogged on my progress and about the literature I was reading (I created a research blog specifically for the RAship, separate from my personal research blog). The reading I did, while not necessarily a keen interest of mine originally, is nonetheless practical and marketable, and per some conversations I've had with others in the field and some editors, has given me some really promising publication opportunities. Your duties will probably also depend on the rhetorical situation at hand; that is, to what purpose are you helping your professor toward? In my case, I was given an RAship last summer on writing program assessment because my mentor (the director of comp) had other grants to work on that summer and didn't have time to read through assessment literature (which, she successfully argued to the grant committee, was a vital area of research for her to investigate). If you sound out the RA opportunity and it seems worthwhile, I'd say to definitely consider it. It'd be good to augment your CV with some diverse experience, IMO, and it could potentially lead to a new body of knowledge and/or some publication opps.

Ah, I see. I definitely can see commenting on Word docs for somewhat substantial assignments, instead of dealing with the tiny textbox. I'm thinking it might suit my purposes for low-stakes daily homework reflections and the like, though.

No, I believe rising_star is referring to Blackboard's comment functionality in the gradebook. It's possible to type in comments to the student directly into the gradebook when recording scores.

Congrats Zee! I beat Strangefox??????? Clearly I should be doing more of my summer reading.

Even though not every rhet/comp scholar has WPA or writing-instruction aspirations, I wouldn't hesitate to characterize rhet/comp as a field that places high importance on—indeed, embraces—critical approaches to pedagogy. There's no need to feel like writing instruction would be looked down upon. You should by ALL means mention that you want to teach writing. The only scenario I can imagine in which it would hurt you would be...if you applied to a school that isn't interested in training pedagogues. But then that's not really the place you want to be applying anyway, is it? Last, it is not in the least bit narrow-minded of you to have a firm grasp of your future career aspirations. Having a clear intent for not only your path of study through the degree but also for how you will use the degree beyond graduate school is key to writing a strong SoP.

Hmm. Perhaps you could submit two versions? The original, and also the one you choose to revise? I suggest this because it seems your advisor may want to do one of two (or two!) things: speak to how you did in her class, as compares to the typical undergrad she teaches, and also speak to your current abilities and your potential to do graduate level work. While I understand wanting to put your best work forward, she may want to read through the original and gauge how you did given the context ("Wow, Student really wrote a well-organized argument considering she only had a week to do it!"). You could put a note on your email that says, "I wanted to polish up my writing, so I've since revised the paper, but I wasn't sure if you wanted to see the original I handed in for class so that is also attached." She doesn't have to read both if she just wants to see the polished version.

You should get your LoRs from the faculty who know you best and are in the best position to speak positively about your work and your capacity to do graduate-level work in the future.

My thoughts are adequately summed up by the following headline: "Debt deal would end subsidized loans to grad students, produce savings equal to only three months in Afghanistan." http://thinkprogress.org/education/2011/08/01/284804/subsidized-loans-afghanistan/

I was going to post on this, but you beat me to it. (Thanks, Congress!)

I've also found a relationship within academia (my partner is an MD/PhD in molecular & developmental bio) to be helpful in that way. We can study together on weekends, and he understands when I have to stay up late to finish reading for seminar. We find balance, too, in being from different fields, as we can give each other advice from the perspective of an outsider to the field (but also, nevertheless, from the perspective of an academic).

When I was living with my parents after undergrad, I watched far too much TV for my own good. At school, I follow Modern Family and the Daily Show on Hulu. But hey, it ended up paying off, as I was able to publish an article about the family rhetorics of Modern Family earlier this year.

I think you're more an exception than a rule, though, Aaron. I've had the experience of asking someone to write me a letter who didn't know me as well as I thought she did, and it REALLY came through in my letters.

I've never applied for jobs with public schools, but I know that when I looked at summer adjunct jobs recently, they were very specific about hard-and-fast teaching requirements (i.e., if what they really required was classroom experience, they specified that and told you how many credit hours an applicant should have already taught). If the posting is ambiguous, it might mean that spinning the experiences you do have (a la Teacher4PhD) would be possible. Good luck!

Yes, but as has been said several times in the thread, the OP doesn't want one. I'm a Mac user and huge proponent myself, but I still was able to offer suggestions besides "get the machine you specifically stated you don't want."

I'm not in the lab sciences, so someone who is might have a better handle on the etiquette, but I would probably handle it by approaching the post-doc first. Ask her if she'd be abe to write you a strong letter of recommendation*; then perhaps ask her whether she thinks you should also ask PI to co-sign the letter. Then you can approach the PI yourself afterward, or perhaps she'll offer to ask him herself. *When you approach someone for a letter, don't just ask if they're willing, because most everyone would be. Always ask if they think they'd be able to, or feel comfortable with, writing you a strong letter of recommendation. This gives them an out if they feel they don't know you well enough or have any reservations, and gives you the opportunity to find someone who can write you a better letter.

List his new information; they want accurate contact information on the application. In the letter he writes for you, he will clarify how he knows you (it's typical to write how long you have known the recomendee and from where in the first paragraph of a LoR).