ComeBackZinc

Many, many places won't inform you until the middle of March. You've got to way to go into your mental happy place. Maybe yoga. Maybe hobbies. Maybe alcohol. This is just way, way too early to be freaking out.

Email the graduate assistant and ask.

I have recently moved on to the dissertation stage and so I am adjusting myself accordingly. I finished course work and comprehensive exams in two years. Last semester, I taught my first graduate class, worked as a research assistant, and workshopped two articles for publication, which I sent out this winter break. My goal is to defend my dissertation in Spring of 2015, which would be four years. It seems a bit crazy, particularly considering that it took me five and a half to finish undergrad, but my director has helped students graduate in four years many times before, and he's confident I can do it too. Tentatively, my goal is to defend my prospectus the first week of February, then write two chapters this semester and two in the summer, when I will be fellowship funded and won't need to work. The goal is to be ready for the job market this fall if the perfect job comes along. If not, I can always take advantage of my fifth year of funding. Transitioning to this stage is gonna be tough, because I am someone who needs deadlines. So I'm working with my committee to ensure that they press me and give me firm requirements for when I submit chapters. I am trying to adopt the "a little bit each day" plan where I make a goal to make small but real positive progress every single day, so that I don't have to write big batches at a time. I am already filling a wall calendar with Xs. I also have a third article that I hope to be submission-ready in the next month or two. I would like to get another pub out of the way now so that I don't feel pressure to be submitting while I'm also working on the diss. It's all very intimidating! It's a weird feeling to be working on the diss. But I love my project and I'm getting great support and feedback, so... onward. PS Also, for me-- I have to work in the mornings. I'm just useless when it gets late at night. So I usually pop right up and get my best work done the very first thing.

My advice is likely what you are hoping not to hear: that as a sophomore in college, it's much too early for you to be thinking about graduate education. I'll go on record as saying that I think, unless you're in a situation where they have some sort of BA-to-MA program that would allow you to complete your MA quickly (and cheaply), it's best to take time off between undergrad and grad school. And even if you go straight through, sophomore year is just way too early to be thinking about it. You don't know that you'll really want at least 2 and possibly far more years of higher education after you complete these four (or five). That's all without even going into the terrible academic job market. So my sincere advice is to put grad school on the back burner and not to worry about it now. Sure, keep your grades up, but you should be focused on that anyway.

Many, many of you are not going to hear from some of your most important programs until the middle of March. You have to find a way to cool out.

Call or email the graduate assistant or secretary and explain.

Just speaking personally, I'm pretty close to a hybrid between rhetcomp and applied linguistics. It's rare but it does happen. As far as conferences go, you just never know. Our program is so big that we always have representation, but there's plenty of great programs with fewer people who don't send anyone to big conferences. And the application process is always a crapshoot. I have a brilliant, respected prof who was rejected seven straight years from Cs. With Purdue specifically, just bear in mind that you should freak if you don't hear anything too soon. The department has no waiting list and sends out admissions on a rolling basis. They don't want anyone to go into the program feeling different for having been on a waiting list.

I will again insert my constant advice: Just Work the Program. Meaning that you don't have to do anything special to get in, and schools aren't doing anything special to keep you out. I promise you, no adcomms are looking at the other schools you're applying to and saying, "oh, here's a good reason to exclude this person!" They don't need to find special reasons to exclude you, because the application process is brutally competitive already without having to do so. There are all sorts of conventional, boring reasons to reject people. They won't find special reasons to keep you out, I promise.

It really depends. I know how tight money is. If it's going to be a financial burden, don't go. I think going to the conference can be a great way to see what's happening in the field (and can frequently be a maddening experience, but that's a whole other story) and a good way to meet people, but don't shell out for it. As far as paying to register goes-- don't! It is very easy to get into panels without having officially registered. I highly doubt you'd encounter any trouble, but if you were worried about it, you could message me beforehand and I could chaperone you around. (Don't worry, I'm not a creep!) Purdue will be there in force, in terms of current students and faculty and in terms of our very large alumni network. I imagine a great number of those people will be at the Purdue reunion party, which will be either Wednesday or Thursday night. Prospective students often come to that party. Just email our Assistant Director Emily or Pat Sullivan or me and we can get you set up. Just let them know that you're a prospective student. We might even be able to find someone to put you up for an evening in their hotel room.

I will be there. I'll be presenting on Friday. It's only an hour drive away for me this year which is sweet. Traveling to Las Vegas was not cool last year.

Interviews for English PhD programs are very rare.

You know, I have no idea, vis a vis this actual study. But it should again remind us: a large majority of the people who write on this board will never get a tenure track job. I don't like to talk about it a lot because I figure most people know that and most people have already made the decision despite those odds. But that's the reality for those of us in the humanities.

So this study looks at political science, specifically, but I think this dynamic probably applies in most academic domains, and it's very discouraging. Something for everyone to think about. http://gppreview.com/2012/12/03/superpowers-the-american-academic-elite/

You guys, I say this with love-- chill out. I know it's easier said than done. But you need to relax. You've got months ahead of you, and the decisions are out of your hands. (Especially considering that, given the reality of the English academic job market, not getting in may very well leave you in better shape than getting in.)

Although I'm 90% sure you're trolling... no. No, grad schools don't test for weed.

^ Cosign without enjoying it. People do get hired from programs that aren't high prestige. But the odds are far better for those from name institutions, and punishingly long even for them.

No.

Almost all departments know that letter writers are notoriously tardy. They often expect letters to come in late. Send him an email with a reminder about all the deadlines. Make it generic and not accusatory. You'll be fine.

Sure, drop me a PM.

My thoughts exactly. You guys: details matter. I'm really confused by all these comments of the type, "they can't really care about this requirement or that requirement." Sure they can. Follow directions.

I would advise against it. Again, an SOP is a professional document. It's purpose is to demonstrate a) that you know what it means to have an academic career, that you have at least a preliminary plan for what yours would be, and c) that the department you are applying to is a place where you could pursue that plan in a way that is mutually beneficial.

Because of the standard practice of blind review, most journals will accept articles from anyone provided the survive the review process.

Also, the number of different processes out there is probably pretty close to the number of different departments out there. There's tons of diversity in this whole process. Seek advice from specific departments where appropriate.

Aren't footnotes at the bottom (the footer) and end notes at the back (the end)? Also, I do actually think that page limits matter. I'm sure people have gotten away with not sticking to them, but why give a department a reason to downgrade your application for not following directions?

An SOP is a document intended to demonstrate that you're ready to transition into being a professional scholar. I would not use a term like "dream school" in that context.