[TAing advice]

I've found changing gears every 15-20 minutes to be vital; otherwise, everyone's face gets a glazed look and there's a lot of shifting around in seats.

For example, I often find my 50-minute class periods structured as follows: starting with (1) some kind of discussion or lecture, moving to (2) application (whether it's an activity completed with a partner, a group discussion, or individual writing) followed by (3) more discussion, based on the students' findings from their activity/group discussion/writing.

[Publish or Perish?]

Publishing isn't everything. I know someone who got a postdoc with one publication where he was a middle author, and got an assistant professor position at a liberal arts college with 3 more publications as a first author- he published his grad school work while doing his postdoc. Teaching experience was more important for this position.

It would be foolhardy to avoid publishing altogether, but you're right in that different institutions will be looking for different levels of publishing activity.

Tenure requirements at R1s and other research-focused institutions are often looking for a book and several articles, from someone in my field. At a liberal-arts 4-year college like I attended as an undergrad, they'd look for fewer publications but more service and teaching at a tenure review.

[Finding Fit]

Regarding database access: you might be able to get a community member pass at institutions in your local area; I'm at a public university, and we offer community members some access to our resources if they sign up for a card.

My alma mater also offers alumni library cards. Have you looked into something similar with yours?

[Good Programs for Eighteenth Century British Literature]

I also second lyonessrampant's advice. I studied abroad in Oxford as an undergrad, and the head tutor at my program told me that I should look into American PhD programs, not Oxford's DPhil, if I wanted to teach.

In addition to whatever conceptions/prejudices are out there, an American program will give you more opportunities for teaching (and possibly for RAs as well?). And if you want to teach, it's vital to get a chance to do some TAing in your degree program.

[Have you seen this? Essay service scams.]

I honestly don't know if plagiarism just means copying things from published (print or web) sources verbatim and calling it your own words, or if it also includes paying someone to write a paper and putting your name on the top. I also wonder if a really determined student could sue one of these essay scam sites if their paper got them a failing grade, or they were found to be cheating and were thrown out or punished in some other way. Unfortunately, while buying an essay might be against student conduct codes, it's not illegal. So people won't stop doing it (and even if it WAS illegal, it still wouldn't stop many). But as said, just copying and pasting off the web is easy to discover...on the other hand, if someone writes something more original, the professor can only act upon whether or not they are familiar enough with the student's writing style to accuse them of cheating.

All I can say is if there's a rule, someone will figure out a way around it. Schools probably know they can't catch all the cheaters, so they just do things in order to catch the worst of them. I won't question the ethics of any of it because I'm not getting into a debate over personal opinions on how ethical or unethical something is.

Plagiarism means wrongfully appropriating someone else's words or ideas and passing them off as one's own (or at least, this is what I tell my freshmen). It can be done intentionally (copy/paste) or unintentionally (not citing sources properly).

By the definition above, the act of putting your name atop a paper you haven't written can be considered plagiarism at worst and academic dishonesty at best. Schools have formal codes prohibiting both.

No one has said it's illegal. It's unethical, pathetic and contemptible, but no has said it breaks any laws.

[Dog for a single grad student?]

I agree that you should at least wait a few months to settle into your new mode of life (though the suggestion to wait until the end of coursework isn't a bad idea—it's what many in my own program have done). Think about it: as a young single person trying to make new friends, you'll want to be able to be flexible to meet up with people, crash at someone's house after a raucous "welcome to grad school party," tool around campus, etc. Having a dog means dropping your plans to go home to let it out to the bathroom and give it some attention after you've been away in class all day.

I'd probably second the recommendation for a rescue group: you might try http://www.petfinder.com/index.html . Whatever you do, don't buy from a petstore!

[Whats the best pc to buy?]

What I do not recommend: I had awful experiences with Dell in college. The harddrive of my desktop died (blue screen errors) within 6 months of purchase, and tech support was an experience I hope to never replicate again. I did get a new one by mail, covered under warranty, but it took about 6 hours of phone calls (I do not exaggerate), and it was in the middle of my semester.

Another friend of mine had her Dell laptop completely die on her within 2 years of purchase. Unless they've upgraded the hardware they use in the last 5-7 years, I do not recommend Dell products.

Gateway, from what I understand, is also made quite cheaply and is not really built to last.

What I do recommend: If you decide to do a laptop instead of a tablet (or netbook) + desktop, my boyfriend really likes his Asus laptop and convinced his brother to buy one as well. He's in the sciences (MD/PhD, currently researching in Molecular and Developmental Bio) and it seems to meet his needs for his research.

Asus was originally a hardware manufacturer—they made one of the most popular (and reportedly, very reliable) motherboards—but they've now branched out to laptops as well. He's had it for three years or so, and it's been a good and reliable computer for him.

If you decide to go the desktop plus tablet/netbook route, you can build a tower pretty cheaply and easily. If you have a MicroCenter near you, they're great for low prices.

[Recipe Swap]

Another shout out for Mark Bittman!! How to Cook Everything (I have the original version, not the vegetarian, though there are lots of veg recipes in mine as well) was the only cookbook I bought before coming to grad school, and it changed my cooking life.

The index is fantastic. And the layout of the recipes really taught me how to start improvising in the kitchen; he starts with the "basic" recipe, and then afterward lists variations you can try, if you have more ingredients and want to make it more complicated. Or sometimes there are huge sidebars, like the one that lists like 25 different ways you can try flavoring cooked fish.

He emphasizes simple cooking, real ingredients, and healthy living. He also does occasional recipes for Runner's World Magazine; they may archive these online.

[What, exactly, is a good fit?]

In agreement with the posts above.

Think of it this way: let's say an admissions committee reads over your application packet and finds it impressive. Then say they put it in a pile with 4 or 5 other similarly impressive applications. Now say they can only accept 1 or 2 of the applications in that pile. What they'll do next is ask themselves why each applicant needs to do her/his research at their program. Why here, and not somewhere else?

To my mind, admissions committees want to know the answer to two questions: The first is, do we have the faculty resources and research background to support the interests that this applicant is expressing with her/his application packet? The second, which comes straight from my program's DGS, is, can I stand knowing/working with this person for the next 4-6 years?

[Publishing Papers]

Though co-authorship is becoming more common, most publications in the humanities are single-authored, so it takes a lot of time to work to publication.

I've heard, for my field, that 2-3 published articles that create a trajectory that speaks to your research interests would be ideal when going on the job market. (This means that perhaps one would have more publications, but some of them—especially early ones—might not accurately speak to the kind of work one is doing on the dissertation and hope to do as a faculty membe.)

[When do you make your academic webpage?]

Even so, it's still about 5 full pages, narrow margins, single space, with entries separated with blank lines. Even if I removed all the white space from the document, there is no way it could all fit in two pages. I guess that's another one of those field-specific things.

Must be. Mine is at 4 pages.

[Application in pieces?]

Most schools have online applications now, and if it's the case that the program you are applying to uses an online application, then the delay between when your letter writers submit their recommendations online and when you submit your application shouldn't be a problem, since the recommendations submitted would be linked to your application. Some online applications, however, only allow you to send the link to your letter writers (for them to submit their recommendations) after you have submitted your application - if this is the case then you might have to submit your application before September to comply with your letter writers' wishes. Most online applications aren't like that so hopefully your programs won't use a system like that. another concern is that some online applications 'open' in September (or even October) so if that's the case, your writers won't be able to submit until then.

This is true. I'd recommend you consider having your writers send in their letters as hardcopies.

I had a similar situation: one of my recommenders insisted she couldn't submit her letters to the online application systems over winter break, which was the earliest I would be ready with most of them. So my work-around was to have her submit a paper recommendation to all of my schools.

Most say on the website that, while they encourage electronic submission of LoRs, they'll still accept paper ones. (I think they recognize that it's not worth fighting with some senior academics still stuck in the stone age, hah.)

If a school did not mention that it accepted paper LoRs on its website, I called the grad secretary (who was usually more than helpful). All assured me that it was fine, and that I should just make sure to check in that it was matched up with the rest of my application before the deadline.

If you go this route, it takes a bit of administrative work on your end. I spent about two hours getting a list together of all the schools, addressing all the envelopes, enclosing some blank letterhead, printing out accompanying forms for schools that required them, and filling out the basic information on the forms for her.

[Need a Plan of Action for Junior/ Senior Years in Undergrad!]

I third that. I took two years off, and was really glad I did.

I'd also like to second (third? fourth?) the great advice to develop relationships with professors in undergrad. They will be a wealth of information and help if you ask them for guidance for your applications—you'll want to be able to ask their opinion on potential programs, for instance, or run your SoP by them—and it is vital that you get to know some of them well so that you can get some strong LoRs.

Definitely do some kind of independent research, be it an honors thesis or independent study. You'll want to show adcoms that you have the chops to do graduate-level work.

[How to TA a useless class]

Though this is a bit old, I'll bite.

If your institution supports writing across the curriculum (or even if it doesn't and you're looking to stimulate some critical thinking and get students into some active learning in the classroom), write-to-learn activities are a good fallback. Even just a simple freewrite about the assignment can be a good way to get students to decompress and think carefully about a reading, and thus can really enliven a discussion.

Also, something like a freewrite to open your period with students can be mildly therapeutic. In past terms, I was surprised to discover that my students just appreciated being able to come in and have a quiet moment with their thoughts, just writing what came to mind.

Some examples: http://wac.colostate.edu/intro/pop5.cfm. John C. Bean has also published the bible of WAC writing-to-learn activities, called Engaging Ideas; I highly recommend it.

[Where Do I Begin?]

I know how you feel (I did my master's in lit); it is tough when applying to English lit, because just about school has a grad program for lit.

I relied heavily on professors to help me narrow my list. This is the ideal, I think, but it's not always possible for everyone, especially if you're far out of your undergrad coursework.

Reading can also help; not only articles, but try looking through conference programs to get a sense for which schools have the kind of faculty you'd want to work with (or are producing grad students who are doing the kind of work you could see yourself doing, as well). The MLA is the biggie, of course, though that'll mostly be faculty or ABD grads, and it's a bit of a stuffy conference; perhaps some other gradcafers who are more familiar with postcolonial lit can suggest some other conference programs you should consider perusing online.

[Why do people hate big class sizes?]

By "class" do you mean the number of students enrolled in a typical course, or the number of students in the entering cohort?

[When do you make your academic webpage?]

I personally think it's best to build an online presence and identity as soon as possible, so that you can establish some kind of presence and some connections before you go on the market. Since it's electronic, your site/page is something that can grow with you as you develop as an academic. I go through my sites every break (at the end of each term) and update my CV and re-tool anything that needs tinkering (adding new research interests, etc.).

If it feels overwhelming to tackle all at once, there's a great ProfHacker post on the basics of creating an online presence (things you can do without having to build a website for yourself) here: http://chronicle.com...academics/30458

Because it affords the chance to enter field conversations online, and to show potential future job committee people what you do and think, I do think it's beneficial to have an online presence; thus, I have several websites. One is a research blog I use to help me think through things I read or to brainstorm; I have additional pages for my CV and a recent bibliography of things I'm reading.

Another site is my electronic teaching dossier. I have an "about" page (brief professional bio and description of my research interests), my CV, my teaching philosophy, applicable teaching documents (e.g., sample lesson plans and syllabi, excerpts from positive teaching evals), and a page devoted to my research projects. If you plan to be more research-oriented when you go on the market, then you could create a similar dossier that highlighted more of your research and less pedagogy.

I also have some social profiles (like Academia.edu) and a Twitter account that I use to network and carry backchannel conversations at conferences. I link all of these sorts of sites, as well as my two other sites/blogs, to a Google profile that comes up when my name is Googled.

[Under 600 verbal]

Aside from that, you need to be able to attenuate your writing skills to the level of, say, a twelve-year-old in order to impress the robot that grades the writing section. It's essentially looking for five, uninspired and formulaic paragraphs that hit specific sentence structures with a smattering of poignant quotes to show that you've read something at some point in your life. Oh, and apparently, it rewards for quantity of words over quality.

This. Oh, this.

[Schools That Don't Require Subject Test]

Thanks. this actually makes me feel a little better about taking it. I just have terrible test anxiety, and I'm already studying to retake the GRE, so taking the subject test has gotten me totally terrified, but I guess I have to do what I have to do. Are there certain numbers that schools want you to get on a subject test, or that look good? I really don't know anything about it, so I don't know what is a decent score or what number you want to try to get above.....

You can find this info on the websites of programs (the ones that have their act together, of course), or often grad coordinators/admins can furnish this info in a quick phone call or email. At my own program, they want to see a minimum 500 on the subject test.*

*And to back up truckbasket's post, note that I was 10 points shy of the minimum score. Do your best on the exam and study for it, but don't despair if your scores are awful, and don't make studying for the exam the most time-consuming portion of working on your application.

[Problematic Committee Member?]

The "good" news is that you're not months and months into your thesis at this point..it sounds like you've gotten as far as writing the lit review, correct? Perhaps this means it wouldn't be amiss to take Eigen's advice and talk to your PI about swapping this person out.

It'll make you feel better in the end not to have your thesis hinging on three red flags.

[conference attire?]

I think the new subforums are unearthing some perennial conversations.

[The GRE Literature Subject Test]

Okay, so with the new format, I'm not sure how to edit my last post, so I want to add that at UMass Amherst, it's not necessary if you are doing the American Studies concentration, which is what I'm considering there.

You may have had trouble editing because (in both the old format and the new) the site only allows the author of a post to edit within 60 minutes of the post's publication.

[Shipping]

Is there Greyhound in the states? That's the cheapest option I've found

Yes, there is. The OP should definitely look into this; freight shipping with Greyhound is pretty rock-bottom in terms of prices.

[Relocating questions]

Well, not that it'll probably help you to feel much better, but you're lucky to have such a high fellowship. You're also lucky to have paychecks coming in during the summer, whereas a lot of other grads are usually scrambling for summer grants/teaching/part-time jobs (a scramble I know all too well...).

I know how much it sucks to see savings dwindle. Unfortunately, them's the breaks in grad school. Just try to keep telling yourself that this will probably be one of the most expensive periods you'll have to endure for awhile (or during the duration of your degree?).

I was lucky enough to have a small pad of savings to draw on for moving expenses, and I worked up til the very last minute (literally, until 2 days before I was supposed to drive out of town), which wasn't my brightest idea. A lot of others I know took out small loans for the start-up period.

[Grad. School Supplies?]

Lol, you're right.

Ammended to: "Mmmm...french press coffee...."