ComeBackZinc

I can't tell you what would be best for your applications. What I can tell you is that, with the job market the way it is, and the way that the university is changing, you better learn to teach, you better learn to love to teach, and you better be able to demonstrate that you can teach and that you love to do it.

Some programs are constrained by their universities or graduate schools, in that they have to reject anybody under a certain cutoff. But this situation is rare, and this board is littered with people who have had (relatively) poor GREs and got into elite programs.

Part of the problem is that the conventional wisdom, which I broadly agree with, points in a vague direction. What I mean is that I absolutely assert the importance of the SOP and writing sample, and particularly how they contribute to the "fit" chimera. The problem is that how that operates, what is being judged and to what end, is unknowable from the outside. Absolutely, devote yourself to your writing sample and your SOP. Invest effort in them and (especially) read other people's online and solicit critique of your own. But bear in mind that how those pieces of writing determine your worth or fit depends on individual departments, schools, faculty, and even individual applicants.

I'm a GRE skeptic, but a) while they can't get you in anywhere, they can keep you out of some places, and this is a process where hundreds and hundreds of applicants try to get very few spots at any given department. (Like, say, six.) You shouldn't be punting on any aspect of the process if you have a reasonable chance of improving on that aspect.

To be honest, given the choice I'd rather spend years devoted to work and study in Bloomington than in New York. But I'm weird. You can all pelt me with vegetables now if you wish.

Taking on half as much loan debt for schools that are so expensive will have a huge positive impact on your life.

All I can say is that, as someone struggling to live on a grad stipend right now, $7,000 per annum is a huge difference, and you should give it a lot of weight as you make the decision.

Nice! So glad to have you aboard.

Checking in from the 4C's convention. Conference has been really great. I went to see a panel of students from CUNY present on a project they're working on. (Big CUNY presence this year, it's nice to see.) It's an open-sourced "family tree" of Writing Studies, where people can log on and connect themselves to the tree through various relationships like "studied under" or "mentored." It's still pretty nascent, and so there's a lot of bias in what schools are and aren't adequately represented, but it's a cool project. Check it out, and add to it if you're involved in composition. http://writingstudiestree.org

Same question as above: an first year comp class, or an introduction to rhetoric and composition?

Funding, funding, funding, funding. And TripWillis is right, per usual.

I'll PM you.

I think you owe it to yourself to solicit more information from Oxford. Do they publish placement rates? What are the odds that you'll get some teaching experience? That is a big, big name, and a lot of the caveats about British schools go out the window a bit when it comes to a name that big. At the same time, the concerns you've voiced are legitimate ones, and if the other school is indeed in the top ten, that's the safer play. You need more info: are Oxford grads getting hired? And particularly at US universities? What are the teaching opportunities like?

It seems like all programs have those "Into to professional study" or whatever classes. I never saw much use, but then they again they know much better than I do.

I don't think that's lame at all.

You've got to imagine that a lot of people are waiting for the open house/campus visit to turn them down. I'd sit tight. I know it's frustrating.

In my experience, people significantly overrate area as a criterion for choosing where to go. You're not going to have the time to constantly be painting the town red. Then again, I'm in Lafayette, so maybe that's just sour grapes.

This is likely to be a minority position, but... you're in an funded. Who cares about fit? Obviously, if "fit" is defined as such that you literally can't do what you want to do as a PhD student, then fit matters. But English isn't physics. It's not like the schools you go to won't have a lab equipped to do the kind of research you want to do. Yes, you'll need sympathetic faculty who can advise you on your dissertation. In the broadest strokes, don't ignore that stuff. But there are very few elite English programs (like the kind you got into!) that just literally can't accomodate you based on your interests. Besides, fit changes. If you're like a significant majority of grad students, you'll end up doing something markedly different from what you think you'll be doing. I know a criterion I would take very seriously: what school gives you the absolute best chance to graduate with no debt or minimal debt added. It's a huge concern in the context of contemporary English.

Ahhh well I hope you have a great visit. If you feel like dropping me a PM, feel free, although I also understand if that's a bit awkward or whatever.

Personally, I'd like to think of the community here as people who are going to be unusually successful. Rationally, I know that the numbers say that some significant majority of the people who post here are going to expect to get tenure track jobs someday and won't get them. It's a lot to think about.

We have no official waitlist; we do a kind of de facto rolling admissions because of that. I can't say whether you'll get in or not, but the fact that you haven't been rejected yet means you have gotten through several rounds of rejections. Take it from me: don't judge the school by its deserted campus. It's Spring Break this week, so if you're coming now, it might seem a bit empty and bleak. But when you see the campus full of 40K students, it's a whole nother ballgame.

Two Espressos makes a lot of valid and important points.

Anybody coming to 4Cs (Conference on College Composition and Communication) in St. Louis and wants to say hello, drop me a line! We can enjoy drinks and food on Pearson's dime.

Location and funding are perfectly legitimate reasons to choose a grad program. This is your life, after all.

"ben-ya-MEEN," yeah?