runonsentence

Actually, no—a lot by Sarah Ahmed, and some excerpts from a recent reader on Affect Theory by Melissa Gregg and Gregory Siegworth (Lauren Berlant, Elspeth Probyn and Kathleen Stewart, specifically). Also some work reconceptualizing emotion in Aristotle by William Covino and Krista Ratcliffe's book on Rhetorical Listening.

I doubt it. Employment gaps matter on a resume in industry, but I really don't think grad schools are concerned by periods of unemployment. The only reason this job might help your applications is if it relates to your area of study and you can gain experiences to talk about in your statement (or skills to list on your CV).

Summer jobs are tough, especially "in these economic times" (I'm so tired of hearing that phrase, hah). Last summer I submitted 20-some application (even showed up in person to try to shake hands with a manager, etc.) but I only got one interview.

If you're really interested in what theory does, and not necessarily in its application to literature alone, you might think about going into rhetoric. Classical rhetoric (which largely takes persuasive communication as its referent) has a lot of cross-pollination with philosophy. Modern more contentious strands of rhetorical theory get pretty exciting; I've been reading a lot of work in affect theory and embodiment this quarter. There's a lot of application to cultural analysis, lived relationships, systems of discourse....something else for you to consider, as well, as you feel out these waters.

Does one position pay (or gross) more than another? Honestly, that would highly factor into my own decision-making. (For instance, you mentioned a longer commute for the "harder" job...).

Some of my applications specifically requested an objectives statement in the CV. I'd either keep it, or create two versions (one with, one without). You can get creative with some of your sections, too, to help save space. If your awards mostly consisted of things like scholarships, for instance, that could maybe be merged into the education section (i.e., list awards/scholarships after each educational institution).

Not sure if internationals pay taxes differently, but stipends are taxable by federal, state, and city governments, just like any other income. (Fellowships and scholarships—such as tuition remission—are not taxed.) However, you'll be in a low tax bracket, and as a student you'll be able to deduct your education expenses (see: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.pdf).

For the OP: I actually had a colleague in our master's program who was your same age when she arrived. No one ostracized her, and no one thought any less of her for it: we recognized her for being damn good at what it was she came to do (write fiction). Being as young as you are isn't so common, it's true, and I can understand your anxieties, but I think my best advice is to try not to let it make you self-conscious. The less you make your age a big deal, the less likely it is to actually become a big deal. I go to the bar fairly regularly, but I also enjoy low-key hangouts with my grad school friends as well. I spend a lot of time just hanging out in my apartment (or a friend's) with movies or board games. Take every opportunity you can when you first get there (especially during orientation, if you have one!) to reach out and grab a cup of coffee or suggest a low-key hangout with the peers you meet. Hopefully your living situation will be a great opportunity to do that. Suggest a one-hour study break in the common area, maybe, or making a meal together with some of your new peers in a common kitchen. (Food = awesome way to bond. And cooking together is easier and more fun!)

Um. Really?

New Media is an area that bleeds into the humanities as well, which might tie into your artsy/music background. (For instance, a lot of rhet/comp scholars with digital focuses work with New Media.)

Yes. In English, we generally suffer from hyper grade-inflation in our departments. I (and several of my colleagues) have also gotten upset over an A- in the past. That being said: no, I don't think it's something to fret about for applications. First, as you noted, this course was outside your immediate area. Second, the most important parts of your application packet are the writing sample, SoP, and LoR. You have a high GPA and good GRE scores; you'll be fine! I know that at my program, GREs and GPAs are more used to decide between two or more candidates who are at a sort of "tie," rather than used to decide which candidates get sorted into the accept/reject piles.

Having worked for a big academic journal press in a past lifetime: if the journal is both print and online, chances are slim (online and print need to be consistent).

The Purdue OWL has some advice for getting you started, I believe. You should collect several samples from people from your own discipline/sub-field, as well, to give you an idea of some successful ways to present information. If you don't have any friends/colleagues/mentors, just start googling. A lot of people make their CVs public on research blogs, department websites (including grad students), and the like. As for length, there are no hard-and-fast rules there, either. Just use common sense: don't overly fluff things, but don't get so verbose that a committee is reading a 15-page document. I think I sent out a 3-page CV in my applications; I'm up to 4, now.

I can see the logic behind this, but I've also heard "a publication is never a bad thing for a graduate student." And adcoms aren't going to be as picky about it as job market search committees (or tenure appointment committees). Though maybe the assumption behind the advice I heard was, 'I'm speaking to a room of PhD students...'.

Both these statements exactly describe my experience of my first year in graduate school. Even though I'd done an English major as an undergrad, and even though I'd only let my brain atrophy in the real world for two years (hah), this was still exactly my experience, and the experience of other colleagues of mine as well. Promise. Pinky swear. You're going to be fine. First year might make your brain feel like it's exploding, but that's a good thing. And your professors won't expect you to be as fluent in disciplinary discourse as your upper-level peers; they know what to expect from a first-year grad student still learning the ropes.

Interestingly, it seems that a lot of the single contingent of my cohort paired up fairly quickly once they got to town, including me. One of my colleagues met the man she's now engaged to within the first four months of the beginning of the term, and I met my partner about a month later (we've been dating for over a year, now). I noticed in my department that a lot of my colleagues are in serious relationships or married (particularly the men, though I won't get into the gender dynamics of the field here)—in fact, I was surprised that my department didn't have more single people in it. I'm not sure if this is what most other departments are like. I agree that cross-disciplinary social functions are great for dating. I met my partner at a mixer (that he helped organize...hah). Take advantage of any social events you can! A bunch of us from my department went together, which helped make it less awkward for us.

I use a JanSport that's still kicking around from high school most days on campus, but when I'm doing something "grown-up" like a conference, I use the beautiful leather laptop tote my parents bought me for my 21st birthday. I would suggest, for anyone thinking about it, that you invest in one "fancier" satchel, tote, or briefcase at some point, for use on more professional occasions. Our job search support committee has made it clear that while a backpack works for day-to-day use as either a grad student or faculty member, it's not quite going to send the right impression in a job interview.

This. The SoP should be a forward-looking genre, so you don't want to get mired up in discussing your writing sample for one entire (very valuable!) page. I think that I talked about my writing sample in about a paragraph (maybe it was even 3 or 4 sentences). But what you could do very profitably is to connect your paper with your "fit" as a scholar for that school: that is, explicate the lenses, approaches, questions and other meta-considerations you took with your thesis to your scholarly identity and the kind of work you'd envision doing there.

Yes, it would be daunting to try to do all of this at once—take it one step at a time, and have plenty of people read over it. (I had two grad student friends and two professors give me feedback on mine.) You can buy them beer or pizza in return. More reading over the summer is definitely a good idea. Maybe draft a bit, read, draft/revise some more....

Have you tried looking around in (or posting in) the forum for biology students? You might find the most helpful advice on programs to look at there.

I'm not in the sciences, but here's my take: In the words of my DGS, adcoms don't expect you to have a thesis in hand—after all, then you wouldn't be applying for this degree. But a strong SOP will be very clear about the future work you'd like to undergo. (Adcoms expect that this will change over time as you do your work/research, and it's not as though someone will hold you to it once you get in. But articulating a clear vision of what you want to do if you are admitted to school X is critical to a strong statement.) In my statement I spent about the first page talking about my research interests, the kinds of project(s) I envisioned doing if admitted, and my career goals. I'd say it's also important to be as specific as possible about the kinds of career goals you have (so what you said in your OP is a good starting point); perhaps you can tie these into the research interests/proposed projects you'd also talk about?

I wouldn't do this, actually. It's not something I've ever seen done at a conference; it'd be a little out of place. Not to mention that conferences are often held in hotel meeting rooms or other places without boards.

I think this is really my point, as well. Roommates sometimes work out, and sometimes they don't, period, no matter how you know them.

Even more specifically, if you're going to look to conference panels as indicators, check out the ACLA (American Comparative Literature Assoc.). Probably the largest Comp. Lit. organization out there (correct me if I'm wrong).

But is it just me, or is this post aimed at undergrads? I assumed this was spam, honestly.