runonsentence

This sounds like a question best addressed to current grad students at your program, as we'll only be able to speculate. But I would imagine that if it's some kind of research or fellowship, you can expect to do at least some work over the summer. A TAship would be less likely to entail summer work since universities are pretty lean on summer courses, but at my university they're never awarded as 12-month stipends, anyway, so that's pretty clear up front.

It is always worthwhile to make an SOP as specific and focused as possible. You're not just demonstrating to the adcom that you'll be a good grad student—they'll have a pile of applicants that can do that. You need to show them why their university, their program will make you into the scholar you want to be. I tweaked things throughout for each SOP (cut things that didn't make sense for one school, and the like), but the biggest change I made from version to version was to customize a paragraph.

I think that casual hats can be okay, but baseball caps are better to avoid if possible because they cover the eyes.

Ah. Actually, I was thinking more specifically of apps that minimize distractions in some way. (Should have been clearer about that!)

Yes and yes. It's possible to do street parking (I did this for a year when I was living in Norwood), but it's a huge headache. You'll have to get to know the side streets and tricks, and it will be really hard to find parking at certain times of day (like 12noon, for example). The cheapest lots around are somewhere in the neighborhood of $250 per quarter (so, somewhere just below $1k for the academic year). The walk's only about 15 minutes; apart from the pain of walking up the hill, it's honestly not bad. I do it just about every day, as does anyone else I know who lives in Gaslight (including a Los Angelos transplant). Get yourself a nice warm jacket and wear layers—though trust me, you'll keep warm walking up the hill. Also, there is a shuttle route that goes through parts of Gaslight (the "North" route). If you're looking in Gaslight, you're honestly already paying the premium for walking to campus. (That is, apartments in Gaslight are priced higher than comprable apartments elsewhere in the city because of its proximity to campus.) If you're dead set against walking and plan to drive, you'd be better off living in a cheaper neighborhood elsewhere in the city.

Just to clarify: restarting is only necessary when using Freedom or Antisocial if you want to have access to the Internet/social web before the timer runs out. So if I set my Anti-social timer for two hours but decide I want to cheat, I'd have to restart in order to turn off the program. But it's great to know there's an open-source version out there as well.

Do you have any applications that help you to be more productive? I've just discovered two, developed by the same person: Freedom (contrary to the URL, this is for both Mac or Windows)http://macfreedom.com/ Anti-Social (this one's Mac-only) http://anti-social.cc/ I've downloaded Anti-Social so that I can try the free trial this week (it's finals week for us; we're on the quarter system). It seems especially useful for writing papers, as it only blocks the distracting parts of the Internet; one can still do research online. EDIT: I've also heard tale told of an application that tracks how much time you spend on different tasks on your computer (or maybe it was on different sites on the Internet). Sound familiar to anyone? The cultivation of shame might be useful for me as well.

Most thrift stores are happy to take odds and ends (including random office supplies). I tell myself that it won't go to waste if I get rid of it; this is how I help convince myself to purge.

My quick and general advice is yes, I'd definitely spend more time working on your verbal (and writing) scores than math. Also, try not to let GRE scores stress you out too much. As others in this thread have said (but I feel it bears repeating), I can tell you that GREs are NOT the most important part of your application package. (Adcoms at my university divulged that they're usually the last thing considered; they may be a tie breaker if they have to decide between two strong students for one spot, or something.) In fact, I didn't meet the GRE benchmarks for either program that actively courted me with acceptances.

There's only one way to know for sure.

It IS possible to do a Fulbright fellowship as a doctoral candidate, though. One of my colleagues just passed her exams (i.e., she's officially ABD) and she's going to Korea to translate Korean poetry and write her dissertation next year.

Cautionary note on Media Mail shipping: it's definitely cheaper than taking up space in a rented van (and using up the gas to haul those heavy things), but make sure you (a) keep a packing list/inventory of what goes in each box and ( purchase the optional insurance. My former roommate shipped his books from Cincy to Tempe, AZ. A number of his academic books didn't make it (I think the USPS sometimes opens up boxes, especially heavy ones, to make sure you're only mailing media mail approved items) and were strangely replaced with books from the "___ for Dummies" series. This said, I still think it's a good idea, and I'd still do it myself if I was moving cross-country right now. Other ideas: Use alternative folding methods to pack your clothes more tightly (I got this site off of an NPR story): http://www.onebag.com/pack.htmlBuy large space/vacuum bags. I used these on my towels, afghans, sweaters, etc. and am convinced it helped me pack much more stuff into my car.

International conferences! It's only for a week or two, but that's how a good handful of my colleagues have gotten a bit of international travel in. If you work it so that you can stay an extra week or two post-conference, it's like a mini vacation.

Another variable is the venue. For instance, there are more and more journals out there dedicated to advanced undergraduate writing; it wouldn't be rare to see an undergrad as a first author in such a venue, though it would be odd in a flagship journal.

Gaslight's an historic town with big old houses and a number of smaller apartment complexes. So, I'm not sure of how many are corporate enough to have fitness centers, unless you start looking at the big complexes farther out of Gaslight and closer to Martin Luther King Drive (like Clifton Colony). Be careful of some of those big apartments down there, though (the Forum being an example)...I've had friends live in some of the ones off of Riddle Rd. and do fine, but I've seen Internet warnings about bedbugs at some of them (like the Forum). P.S. Also, though it's not as convenient as 24-hour access, note that Gaslight is walking distance from campus, and UC has a newly renovated, insanely nice fitness center. Access is free during the year, though we have to pay in the summer.

Don't let her guilt you into staying another day past what you want to work. You gave her the time; it's not your fault that she didn't get her act together with hiring. Plain and simple.

In English, PhDs join the MLA in part because most jobs are posted through the MLA website and most major in-person interviews are held at the MLA conference. Most professional associations also include journal subscriptions with membership. Sure I can get College Composition and Communication electronically through the library, but it's a nice perk to have copies in my living room to thumb through.

It's inspired by ProfHacker, but isn't run by the same contributers. Per some connections, I think some people at MSU may have a hand in it. From the About page:

You beat me to the punch with this thread!

If anecdotal evidence is of any consolation, I had two "A-"s—one of which was in Ancient Rhetoric (note my avatar, hah)—but still had two competitive offers and a third acceptance. Again, the SoP, writing sample, and LoR (possibly in that order, if you're in English) are most important, and would far outweigh one little A-.

Are you currently in a grad program or in the process of applying? If you're in the process of applying, it may help for you to know that most of the smaller awards you speak of—a really good example being conference/travel money—are awarded through universities. This varies hugely by school (for instance, I have a friend at Purdue in the rhet/comp program, and she tells me that they don't have ANY travel funding), but generally that's where you're going to find smaller pools you're talking about. For instance, at my university I'm eligible for an automatic $400/year for conference presentations (that is, by automatic I mean it's not competitive), plus there's an additional competitive source of funding for travel through an endowment. The endowment also has competitive "enrichment" grants of $2500/year for research activities like institute sessions, travel to archives, etc. We also have a smaller number of other awards sitting around the department (a small summer research fellowship of $1k, a $200 annual writing prize, etc.) and a few other competitive grants available through the university/graduate school at large. In all, if you're in the process of applying, I'd spend MUCH more time looking into programs that offer funding that you can live on and professionalization funds, rather than trying to cobble together outside sources. I'd recommend you take a school's ability to fund professionalization into account when looking at schools or deciding between acceptances; I certainly did so during my last application round. If you're a current grad looking to help keep costs down: certain conferences sometimes award graduate student grants as well, for travel; competitiveness varies by conference. (MLA, for instance, must be nigh-unto-impossible to get; travel grants at the much smaller Computers & Writing conference are insanely easy to get; awards are also available for rhet/comp students who join the WPA-GO, I know.) Some of the larger professional organizations also have awards available that carry cash prizes, though I'd expect them to be fairly coveted.

Grade inflation tends to vary by field/discipline. It may well be that it's not uncommon to see a lack of grade inflation in your field.

Dear Silly One, I was not asking you whether this really worked. I was asking whether someone on this board (presumably a grad student) could really be so stupid and insensitive as to post something like that. And as the daughter of an "Asian from a third-world country," I'd also like to ask you to kindly go stick your head up your rear. Sincerely, runonsentence.

The media mail service I was referring to in my post was a domestic shipping option offered by the USPS. (It is possible to ship things w/o insurance domestically—but I would suspect you're entirely right about insurance being less of an "option" with international shipping.) Yes, exactly re: the second paragraph.

What subfield are you in? (I suspect creative writing, judging by the "MFA" in your avatar?) Cincinnati (Creative Writing) and WashU (Creative Writing and English) come to mind. Chapel Hill is pretty solid on teaching as well, though that's primarily lit and rhet/comp.