surefire

I still don't see how waiting more than one day (say, give it a week) or taking a "benefit of the doubt" approach in dealing with graduate staff differs in a two year program vs a 4 year vs a 6-8 year program. 
 
Sure, you might lose a little bit of time at a good practical site. But if the tradeoff is earning yourself a bad name with the very people with whom it's beneficial to network (and it's beneficial to network with everyone), then you're probably losing more than you're gaining. Taking a proactive approach can help, but alienating the people that you need to work with and learn from will not. And judging by the OP, that seems to have been the result of her self-advocacy. 
 
None of us can tell if it was when, what, or how they were proactive, but I'm just cautioning some patience and caution to future students who might find themselves in a similar situation.
 
Also, I wouldn't assume that just because I'm in a PhD program, I'm only familiar with PhD programs. I've sat on our Universities committee on graduate and professional programs for several years (certification, evaluation) and I've also been in the position of coordinating and advocating for all of the graduate and professional programs (including MSW) to the administration for the last few years. It's not my primary area of expertise, but I do understand the importance of field placements, as well as the difference between terminal professional masters programs and full length PhD programs, or non-terminal masters programs. 

As long as the person is not teaching your class do what you want. Please note the Campsite Rule and the Tea and Sympathy Rule. 
 
 
 
 
 
(I'm getting a strong whiff of Troll)

Thank you guys for the advice and help.  I really genuinely did appreciate what they did for me - especially because I really was not close to any of them or anything. I know there are lot of posts saying it's a professor's job and they understand or whatever but to me - they could've said no and the fact is that they didn't.  I was pretty nervous when finding out I wasn't accepted - it's quite embarrassing and stressful.  But in a way telling them was also like lifting a small weight off my chest and they all replied back saying they will be happy to help again in the future and wished me good luck for now.  

In case someone else finds this thread - this is the letter I used:

 
 

Hurray, the first installment was finally deposited in my account (the day after I submitted borrowed monies to ensure I was't charged a late penalty). Now to wait for everything to be sorted out and a a cheque to arrive in the mail

I feel for you, but to be honest if one of our first year graduate students was assigned a rotation, went for a day, and then told the graduate advisor that they didn't think they could learn anything there, they'd likely be met with skepticism as well. 
 
The idea being that you didn't give it a lot of time, nor are you really in the best position to know where you can and can't learn something. 
 
Also, I would be very careful about falling into the trap of considering your tuition money as paying for a service, rather than paying for access to an education. 

As magog said, you might want to consider philosophy or comp. lit. programs too. I'm not sure if "Foucault studies" exists in sociology. That sort of thing sounds more like a history of thought or comp. lit. field. Sociology is more likely to use Foucault as a theoretical framework for empirical research into things like sexuality, penal systems, social control, etc., than to study Foucault's writing as such. As one example, I recommend looking into David Garland at NYU.

One thing I would add to others' suggestions is that just because you have so many publications and presentations, you do not have to include them all. Since you have limited space for research contributions, you have to be strategic about it. I applied for a SSHRC last year and this is what I would do:
 
1) Prioritize peer-reviewed publications, because they count the most.
2) Some non-peer reviewed publications may actually be relevant in demonstrating your ability to carry out your Program of Study, so definitely include them as well.
3) Many presentation, such as those given at academic conferences, are peer reviewed and should be included.
4) I would include poster presentations only if you have extra space and they are relevant. 
5) As TakeruK mentioned, reduce spacing between lines to as little as .5 lines or less. You don't have to use indentation. But make sure that you give enough information for each publication in order for reviewers to locate them easily (I used ASA or APA, don't really remember, and excluded DOI numbers, etc). Make sure that your margins at 3/4" and you're using 12 point font. Essentially this limits you to some free play with spacing/indentation/publication attributes.
 
Good luck!

Congrats on your acceptance and impending start!
 
I don't have a lot of insight on the industry vs. academy quagmire for your discipline, but I can give a little bit of advice for things you should do before you start!
 
1. Set up some mechanisms now that will benefit your life/work. Often, these are the kinds of things that, once set up, require minimal effort to maintain but can have a profound influence on your organization and networking. I'm thinking of things like: (1) going to the bank to set up something tiny and automatic fortnightly or monthly to address your debt - grad students are a broke bunch, but even a tiny arrangement to pay off some principle will compound advantageously over time; (2) set up a twitter account and follow your university, department, colleagues, relevant professional organizations, media that will put out stories regarding your areas of interest, and academic associations that will host the conferences you'll want to attend - it behooves you to partake in these conversations; (3) install software/apps and the like that will help you get organized - university libraries often provide "alert" systems that you can subscribe to that will notify you when someone publishes on your interests based on key words that you punch in and there is great (and free!) citation management software that will help you organize your research (many ppl tout the benefits of Endnote, I prefer Zotero).
 
2. Empower yourself with information. If you're at an institution with a Union, get acquainted with your collective agreement. Read through the expectations for your program and your School of Graduate Studies (SGS) (or equivalent, where applicable). Peruse the academic calendar to get a sense of typical semester-to-semester deadlines. Become familiar with funding/award structures and agencies via SGS (or, again, whatever equivalent) to get a sense of what's available in terms of things like conference bursaries.
 
The info empowerment also applies to getting acquainted with a few "advice-esque" sites that you can depend on for PhD navigation help. Here are some of my faves and example articles from them:
- ScholarShape: http://scholarshape.com/blog/2014/3/18/101-tips-for-finishing-your-phd-quickly
- The Chronicles of Higher Education Vitae (this one is really hit-and-miss and can be a little hostile about post-PhD prospects, so it's good for hard truths but it also easily produces cynicism, so beware; I joined and subscribed to the e-mail list, so I get weekly updates on what's being published on the site and I just access what's relevant to me): https://chroniclevitae.com/news/623-the-worst-advice-grad-students-get
- Get a life, PhD (this site is GREAT for easy how-tos on "things that you feel bad for not knowing but are actually tricky to get right", like building an effective Powerpoint presentation for a conference; I highly recommend this one!): http://getalifephd.blogspot.ca/
- Any other blog that might help you navigate. It's hard to find an exact match (something written in a style you're amicable to AND relevant to your discipline AND (in your case) with included industry vs. academia narratives) but, have a look around to find some voices that you trust, these places are solid refuges when you're feeling unsure about the role of your discipline (or YOUR role within it). You might like this one: http://andrewgelman.com/
 
3. Cultivate some good strategies now (this is connected to number 1). Get a gym routine (and a grown-up-ish sleep pattern). Figure out what time of the day you do your best work and make sure that those hours go towards the most important things (so, if you work best in the morning, research happens in the morning and the many other things that you'll be tasked with - bureaucracy, e-mails, marking - happens in the afternoon). Similarly, figure out under what environmental (ect;) conditions you do your best work and aim to cultivate your space/work habits accordingly.
 
HTH!

Congrats on your acceptance and impending start!
 
I don't have a lot of insight on the industry vs. academy quagmire for your discipline, but I can give a little bit of advice for things you should do before you start!
 
1. Set up some mechanisms now that will benefit your life/work. Often, these are the kinds of things that, once set up, require minimal effort to maintain but can have a profound influence on your organization and networking. I'm thinking of things like: (1) going to the bank to set up something tiny and automatic fortnightly or monthly to address your debt - grad students are a broke bunch, but even a tiny arrangement to pay off some principle will compound advantageously over time; (2) set up a twitter account and follow your university, department, colleagues, relevant professional organizations, media that will put out stories regarding your areas of interest, and academic associations that will host the conferences you'll want to attend - it behooves you to partake in these conversations; (3) install software/apps and the like that will help you get organized - university libraries often provide "alert" systems that you can subscribe to that will notify you when someone publishes on your interests based on key words that you punch in and there is great (and free!) citation management software that will help you organize your research (many ppl tout the benefits of Endnote, I prefer Zotero).
 
2. Empower yourself with information. If you're at an institution with a Union, get acquainted with your collective agreement. Read through the expectations for your program and your School of Graduate Studies (SGS) (or equivalent, where applicable). Peruse the academic calendar to get a sense of typical semester-to-semester deadlines. Become familiar with funding/award structures and agencies via SGS (or, again, whatever equivalent) to get a sense of what's available in terms of things like conference bursaries.
 
The info empowerment also applies to getting acquainted with a few "advice-esque" sites that you can depend on for PhD navigation help. Here are some of my faves and example articles from them:
- ScholarShape: http://scholarshape.com/blog/2014/3/18/101-tips-for-finishing-your-phd-quickly
- The Chronicles of Higher Education Vitae (this one is really hit-and-miss and can be a little hostile about post-PhD prospects, so it's good for hard truths but it also easily produces cynicism, so beware; I joined and subscribed to the e-mail list, so I get weekly updates on what's being published on the site and I just access what's relevant to me): https://chroniclevitae.com/news/623-the-worst-advice-grad-students-get
- Get a life, PhD (this site is GREAT for easy how-tos on "things that you feel bad for not knowing but are actually tricky to get right", like building an effective Powerpoint presentation for a conference; I highly recommend this one!): http://getalifephd.blogspot.ca/
- Any other blog that might help you navigate. It's hard to find an exact match (something written in a style you're amicable to AND relevant to your discipline AND (in your case) with included industry vs. academia narratives) but, have a look around to find some voices that you trust, these places are solid refuges when you're feeling unsure about the role of your discipline (or YOUR role within it). You might like this one: http://andrewgelman.com/
 
3. Cultivate some good strategies now (this is connected to number 1). Get a gym routine (and a grown-up-ish sleep pattern). Figure out what time of the day you do your best work and make sure that those hours go towards the most important things (so, if you work best in the morning, research happens in the morning and the many other things that you'll be tasked with - bureaucracy, e-mails, marking - happens in the afternoon). Similarly, figure out under what environmental (ect;) conditions you do your best work and aim to cultivate your space/work habits accordingly.
 
HTH!

Congrats on your acceptance and impending start!
 
I don't have a lot of insight on the industry vs. academy quagmire for your discipline, but I can give a little bit of advice for things you should do before you start!
 
1. Set up some mechanisms now that will benefit your life/work. Often, these are the kinds of things that, once set up, require minimal effort to maintain but can have a profound influence on your organization and networking. I'm thinking of things like: (1) going to the bank to set up something tiny and automatic fortnightly or monthly to address your debt - grad students are a broke bunch, but even a tiny arrangement to pay off some principle will compound advantageously over time; (2) set up a twitter account and follow your university, department, colleagues, relevant professional organizations, media that will put out stories regarding your areas of interest, and academic associations that will host the conferences you'll want to attend - it behooves you to partake in these conversations; (3) install software/apps and the like that will help you get organized - university libraries often provide "alert" systems that you can subscribe to that will notify you when someone publishes on your interests based on key words that you punch in and there is great (and free!) citation management software that will help you organize your research (many ppl tout the benefits of Endnote, I prefer Zotero).
 
2. Empower yourself with information. If you're at an institution with a Union, get acquainted with your collective agreement. Read through the expectations for your program and your School of Graduate Studies (SGS) (or equivalent, where applicable). Peruse the academic calendar to get a sense of typical semester-to-semester deadlines. Become familiar with funding/award structures and agencies via SGS (or, again, whatever equivalent) to get a sense of what's available in terms of things like conference bursaries.
 
The info empowerment also applies to getting acquainted with a few "advice-esque" sites that you can depend on for PhD navigation help. Here are some of my faves and example articles from them:
- ScholarShape: http://scholarshape.com/blog/2014/3/18/101-tips-for-finishing-your-phd-quickly
- The Chronicles of Higher Education Vitae (this one is really hit-and-miss and can be a little hostile about post-PhD prospects, so it's good for hard truths but it also easily produces cynicism, so beware; I joined and subscribed to the e-mail list, so I get weekly updates on what's being published on the site and I just access what's relevant to me): https://chroniclevitae.com/news/623-the-worst-advice-grad-students-get
- Get a life, PhD (this site is GREAT for easy how-tos on "things that you feel bad for not knowing but are actually tricky to get right", like building an effective Powerpoint presentation for a conference; I highly recommend this one!): http://getalifephd.blogspot.ca/
- Any other blog that might help you navigate. It's hard to find an exact match (something written in a style you're amicable to AND relevant to your discipline AND (in your case) with included industry vs. academia narratives) but, have a look around to find some voices that you trust, these places are solid refuges when you're feeling unsure about the role of your discipline (or YOUR role within it). You might like this one: http://andrewgelman.com/
 
3. Cultivate some good strategies now (this is connected to number 1). Get a gym routine (and a grown-up-ish sleep pattern). Figure out what time of the day you do your best work and make sure that those hours go towards the most important things (so, if you work best in the morning, research happens in the morning and the many other things that you'll be tasked with - bureaucracy, e-mails, marking - happens in the afternoon). Similarly, figure out under what environmental (ect;) conditions you do your best work and aim to cultivate your space/work habits accordingly.
 
HTH!

Congrats on your acceptance and impending start!
 
I don't have a lot of insight on the industry vs. academy quagmire for your discipline, but I can give a little bit of advice for things you should do before you start!
 
1. Set up some mechanisms now that will benefit your life/work. Often, these are the kinds of things that, once set up, require minimal effort to maintain but can have a profound influence on your organization and networking. I'm thinking of things like: (1) going to the bank to set up something tiny and automatic fortnightly or monthly to address your debt - grad students are a broke bunch, but even a tiny arrangement to pay off some principle will compound advantageously over time; (2) set up a twitter account and follow your university, department, colleagues, relevant professional organizations, media that will put out stories regarding your areas of interest, and academic associations that will host the conferences you'll want to attend - it behooves you to partake in these conversations; (3) install software/apps and the like that will help you get organized - university libraries often provide "alert" systems that you can subscribe to that will notify you when someone publishes on your interests based on key words that you punch in and there is great (and free!) citation management software that will help you organize your research (many ppl tout the benefits of Endnote, I prefer Zotero).
 
2. Empower yourself with information. If you're at an institution with a Union, get acquainted with your collective agreement. Read through the expectations for your program and your School of Graduate Studies (SGS) (or equivalent, where applicable). Peruse the academic calendar to get a sense of typical semester-to-semester deadlines. Become familiar with funding/award structures and agencies via SGS (or, again, whatever equivalent) to get a sense of what's available in terms of things like conference bursaries.
 
The info empowerment also applies to getting acquainted with a few "advice-esque" sites that you can depend on for PhD navigation help. Here are some of my faves and example articles from them:
- ScholarShape: http://scholarshape.com/blog/2014/3/18/101-tips-for-finishing-your-phd-quickly
- The Chronicles of Higher Education Vitae (this one is really hit-and-miss and can be a little hostile about post-PhD prospects, so it's good for hard truths but it also easily produces cynicism, so beware; I joined and subscribed to the e-mail list, so I get weekly updates on what's being published on the site and I just access what's relevant to me): https://chroniclevitae.com/news/623-the-worst-advice-grad-students-get
- Get a life, PhD (this site is GREAT for easy how-tos on "things that you feel bad for not knowing but are actually tricky to get right", like building an effective Powerpoint presentation for a conference; I highly recommend this one!): http://getalifephd.blogspot.ca/
- Any other blog that might help you navigate. It's hard to find an exact match (something written in a style you're amicable to AND relevant to your discipline AND (in your case) with included industry vs. academia narratives) but, have a look around to find some voices that you trust, these places are solid refuges when you're feeling unsure about the role of your discipline (or YOUR role within it). You might like this one: http://andrewgelman.com/
 
3. Cultivate some good strategies now (this is connected to number 1). Get a gym routine (and a grown-up-ish sleep pattern). Figure out what time of the day you do your best work and make sure that those hours go towards the most important things (so, if you work best in the morning, research happens in the morning and the many other things that you'll be tasked with - bureaucracy, e-mails, marking - happens in the afternoon). Similarly, figure out under what environmental (ect;) conditions you do your best work and aim to cultivate your space/work habits accordingly.
 
HTH!

Hi there Arcadian,
 
Warm greetings into Soc-land! You don't really mention the purpose of your inquiries, are we just chalking this up to discipline-curiosity?
 
These are good questions, and I'll prod at a couple of them. Hopefully others will chime in!
 
1. I think you're right to be wary of the dichotomy danger, but at the risk of kicking a hornet nest, I'd say that the short answer is "yes, we're a 'lefty' discipline". There are ongoing "advocacy versus objectivity" tensions of the discipline, and the discussion shifts depending on the field's orientation towards/role in public policy, social movements and the state. Stephen Turner put out an interesting "American Sociology" book lately that dissects some of the tensions (he also co-authored the delightfully-titled "The impossible science", which is worth a read). Both of these emphasize an American Sociology - to complicate things, there are regional/geographic divisions regarding the field, in addition to political ones; foundational sociology largely emerges from Europe and comes to prominence via American "pockets" like the Chicago school, and yet I myself sort of work in the realm of Canadian Sociology, which has its own identity issues. Anyway, it is glib to say that we're a "lefty" discipline, but there also are few distinct counter-examples. There is some conservative (but not republican) thinking with regards to the importance of social norms and order (and one might cite one of our foundational thinkers, Durkheim, as such, given his sometimes optimism regarding the role of the state and its capacity to maintain order). But contemporary examples? Maybe Robert Nisbett (Berkeley) or Edward Shils (Chicago), but they're both deceased.
2. As alluded to above, there are multiple points of fragmentation in the discipline from which you could formulate a case that a unified theory of sociology isn't possible. As a grad student, when I go to job talks and the like, I've come to recognize someone's reference to a unified theory of the discipline as an opportunity to sit back, grab popcorn, and watch the faculty fur fly. Maybe someone else on GC has had a different experience? Sociology has some not-totally-agreed-upon-but-nonetheless-present consistent fundamentals: the "holy trinity" theorists are Durkheim, Weber and Marx, and there are methods and stats courses that sort of encourage standardized application. However, the fragmentation does a couple of things: (1) it reflects, again, the shifting relationship with the state which goes through political "phases" of utilizing and then admonishing experts, (2) it permits the emergence and priority of not only distinct and contentious scholarship, but scholars from traditionally-excluded gendered/racialized/classed perspectives, (3) there is some unity via sub-field concentration (I work in crime and deviance, there are multiple other areas), (4) it encourages a "sociology of anything", which some people get defensive about, but I've seen this result in some innovative and playful scholarship.
3. Methods tend to fall on a qualitative or quantitative divide (though there are ample mixed-methods approaches that are fruitful). Some qualitative ones include interviewing and ethnography and some quantitative ones can rely on statistical analysis of a wide swath of different data sets (survey, census, demo, crime rates).
4. On epistemological-type questions, I find that classic sociological theory lines up with philosophy fairly frequently. At their most interesting, I find the connection engaging as it poses important questions about what we can "know" and "say" about groups and individuals. At their most aggravating, there can be fairly grating squabbles.
5. I don't feel at all equipped to answer this one!
6. Oh yeah, for sure. One of my faves, Howard S. Becker, is still kicking and productively publishing. This thread might be a good one for this question:
7. As alluded to above, there are complexities here regarding distinct impressions of the field's purpose (advocacy vs. objectivity) as well as political trends. For my own concentration, there is a lot of talk of a rehabilitative age of punishment where experts from fields like sociology were actively sought out to craft and comment upon public policy and then a shift in the 80s towards an era of punitiveness where the prevailing political attitude was that rehabilitation didn't work and things like "three strikes" measures came to the fore. Again, one shift doesn't neatly replace the other (it's not like rehab measures have been eradicated), but that hopefully gives a sense of the trend. I couldn't commit to comment on other concentrations, but I know there was a distinct "anti-expert" atmosphere during the political decline of the welfare state. And now, public sociology seems to be much more prominent and I actually commented recently that public policy hires are more en vogue. These are just my general impressions though. I know many sociologists that go on to have active roles beyond academia, but these are often advocacy-type things for NGOs (like, lots of people in my concentration work with the John Howard Society) or research institutes. I know a few who work for state-esque structures like StatsCan, but I couldn't really comment on their absorption or otherwise into strictly political system work. More often, I see them maintain "outsider" roles that maintain a healthy skepticism of the state and status quo (I've seen multiple sociologists recruited by media and otherwise to comment on the recent events in Ferguson, for example).
8. I get into this a little bit above. So, maybe more "outsider" than "radical", though you could easily search for and find examples of radical sociologists.
 
HTH!

I'm experiencing something sort of like this with regard to "stipend clawback" with a SSHRC. So, since I've secured the award, my minimum stipend from the program is now off the table and I'm "externally-funded" now. My situation is non-negotiable, but there's several distinctions between my case and yours:
- My award covers my tuition AND provides money to live off of. But, I'm also in-province and in a social science PhD - if you're out of province AND in a pricey MA (maybe a professional one?) than your costs might be quite a bit different from mine.
- The "clawback" is a departmental decision (the fact that the arrangement in your program is dependent upon/determined by your SUPERVISOR is an unfamiliar dynamic to me).
- There are ample TA-ships available in my department to supplement.
 
I think that fuzzy makes a good point that you should have a go at negotiating. Before you approach your supervisor though, I'd encourage you to do a few things:
- Talk to your departmental/program's administrative person to gauge whether or not they're aware of a situation where someone successfully negotiated this. Such arrangements will have come to their attention, and this is a "low stakes" conversation where you can do the recon to establish some precedent (which would aid your negotiation with your supervisor). If this has NEVER EVER happened, you could ask this person what students in your position typically DO in order to supplement/get through.
- If you're at a Canadian institute with a Union, you should get acquainted with your collective agreement and then, maybe, a union rep or steward. Your union might have either (1) funds to defray costs or (2) info on how one goes about securing TA posts from other programs and departments, where possible (even if you can't get a TA thing, there may be other avenues for work that at least pay you well for your time, such as invigilating undergrad exams, which you can mostly do regardless of your departmental/program orientation). Also, you don't mention any RA prospects, but perhaps that's another avenue that could be pursued?
- Again, I'm not sure if this is a professional MA or what, but if it's possible, you could talk to PhD students or former students who did your MA program and find out what they did.
 
HTH! Good luck!

Yes. Specifically, to the extent possible your fields should relate to the research you're interested in doing for your dissertation. Yes. Doing a field on an area/topic/method/subject that is central to your discipline will help you understand where you and your work fit into the bigger picture of the profession. IMO, no. Your fields of interest in and of themselves don't send signals. What you do with those fields and how you do it will send signals. That being said, you can leverage the time you spend preparing for your exam so you can later send signals. (As an example, as an undergraduate, I was mentored by a graduate student who prepared for his quals by writing the lectures he intended to use later as a professor.) My selection of fields were determined solely by my interests. However, as my interests were and are out of fashion, my choices mean that I will never be hired as a professional academic historian. But I'm not bitter. Bear in mind that the selection and definition of a field is an iterative process that includes a significant amount of negotiation with the professor administering the exam.

Do you have an intersecting area of interest that you might want to pursue in the future?  Your main area may be sociology and/of law, but there might be a 'minor' area of a secondary area that you also want to do research in.  Do you have a dissertation topic?  If so, is there a tangential area that it could be helpful to investigate for the purposes of the dissertation?
 
Methods is always a good thing to do an exam in.  It is beneficial for teaching (they always want someone who can teach research methods and/or statistics) but is also great for your dissertation.
 
Don't do a comp in a "sexy" area if you don't like it.  So maybe there are lots of policy-specialty sociology hires in your field, but if policy doesn't come easier to you and ethnography sounds like more fun - is it really worth it to take the comp in that area that you sound like you really don't want to teach or do research in anyway?  Also, personally when I chose my comp areas I tried to avoid anything I would have to take an additional class for.  The readings take enough time and work.  I think how much your comps bear upon your job readiness really depends on your field and how your comps are structured.  So the way I'd answer this is
 
1. Yes.
 
2. Yes.  That foundation is essential, and you'll be surprised how much more deeply you absorb literature and new ideas if you explore the fundamentals really well in a comp.  One of my oral comp areas was a fundamental one in my field and it changed the way I looked at the subfield.
 
3. I don't think it is.  They wouldn't even know unless you told them, and unless you did something really cutting-edge or different for your comps, they probably won't care very much.  It's not really about how you acquired the knowledge - just what you know.  Will taking this comp help you be able to teach an undergrad-level sociological policy class?  If yes, then it may be worth it; if no, then...I can't imagine it would matter.  I take a pragmatic approach, but I also don't think you should get yourself really into a 'marketable' field if you don't like it.
 
4. All of my comps (and classes, and dissertation work) were based on my personal/professional interests.  Personally I refused to be goaded into things I didn't want to do because of...whatever people thought.  My advisor tried to get me to add a qualitative component to my dissertation, and while I like qual methods I was adamantly against doing it for my dissertation, so I said no and didn't do it.
 
5. Pick something you're going to pass on the first try.  Also, you may want to pick something that you can publish on.  How great would it be to be able to publish a conceptual paper from your comps research?

Good advice above! Breathe!
 
I have a summer TA-ship that technically started in July, and the prof didn't touch base with me until last week (it was to ask whether or not I'd be available to invigilate the mid-term, which was yesterday). I used to stress about the TA assignments, but now I try to take a cue from the prof or instructor as to how laid-back or not the TA post is.
 
I usually abide by some CYA (Cover Your Ass) principles. When I first get confirmation of an assignment, I'll e-mail the prof or instructor just to introduce myself, "I'm surefire and I belong to you to the tune of 120 hours for SuperFun101 next semester". That way, they have my e-mail and an opportunity to elaborate on the appointment, if they feel like it (again, some profs are overzealous and others are laid back). Mostly they'll e-mail back quickly to say, "Thanks. I'll be in touch". On some occasions a prof will e-mail me back to say something like, "Here are the names of other TAs in the course" or "I'm out of town for a conference in October, you'll guest lecture on that date, cool?"; and sometimes I get radio silence. If I don't hear anything, I'll send another e-mail a week or two before the course under the auspices of "checking in". Maybe I'll mention that I read their syllabus from last year, or give them my ID so they can add me to Blackboard, or mention the "hours allocation" form that they typically have to do that gives me a breakdown of the tasks. If I'm a bit concerned about what the appointment entails, I might say, "If I understand the structure of the course, the first task to be attentive to is the assignment due at the end of September", just to try and establish what the first expectation is - this gives them a chance to say, "Oh wait, actually, you're running office hours that start the second week", or something. In any case, I usually get a response at that point.
 
During my early TA appointments, I would sometimes ask students who had TA-ed for a prof before what the assignment was like. That would put me at ease and help me establish the "tone" of the prof. Eventually though, you get good at getting a read on profs and taking a cue from them - it gets easier, promise!

Essential to a short SOP: making it EASY for the adcomm to see why you're applying for (1) THIS field (less necessary when you're entrenched and applying for a PhD, more important for MA applications, especially for diverse programs like the ones you're looking at); (2) THIS institution; (3) THIS department/program.
 
You've likely run across the advice that the SOP is for establishing "fit". "Fit" means (1) What you're bringing to the table and (2) what resources you'll draw upon to thrive and finish. So show them that there's fit by discussing what you've got that they'll be interested in, and what resources they've got that you'll utilize. This should be about your interest/intent/capacity and their faculty/specializations/resources. You could highlight one or two things from the CV to show that you know what's attractive to them, but I wouldn't really recommend re-hashing the CV. Instead, do the translation work for them and show that you have a plan. "(Specific faculty member's) research in (sub-specialty) would assist the development of my research interests in (something specific and parallel)"; "(Institution's research centre) would prove an invaluable resource for my project concerning (data source that the centre has access to)".
 
This is going to be exhausting, because you'll need a different SOP for each (for goodness sake, don't send a form letter), but you'll get better results by tailoring.
Look to each department's website, odds are they'll discuss a specific mandate that highlights their ideologies, what they emphasize, their timelines/expectations, and what they value/try to cultivate in their grad students. My program at U of T, for example, speaks at length about their specialized areas and their commitment to training research "producers", as opposed to "consumers". Don't parrot those things back to them, but take these into account and determine which of these values/resources are echoed by your own established background and future plans. I made damn sure, for example, that I "fit" in one of my program's specialized areas and that my project was "actively" framed to produce something new.
 
Good luck! If you wanna talk U of T specifically, feel free to PM me (you too Dedi, if ya want, though I'm quite a bit further from you, discipline-wise!)

My PI is seriously amazing! I brought a condensed version of our coorespondance with all of the worst moments and he was very troubled and took this very seriously. He said that on the scale of benign annoying crush to full blown assult that this is much closer to the assult side that he is playing on the borderline of expulsion. He said that putting that aside, he is unsure of whether he will be able continue working with the harrasser since he does not want anyone with that sort of character in his lab and making other students nervous. That really made me feel great. Especially since the harrasser if by far, the smartest, most knowledgeable guy in the lab and I know he is a huge asset to my PI. Also, he is a PhD student while I am an MS student so part of me worried that if my PI had to choose, the choice would be obvious. He said that legally he must involve his supervisor which he thinks needs to be done anyway to make sure this situation is handled properly. Since my PI will be out of town for the next couple weeks, he asked that I work from home during that time and that I forward him any correspondance that I get from the guy. He even told me that he didn't sleep at all last night out of worry about this situation and that he has been wondering why I seemed more reserved than usual over the past few weeks.
 
I feel so supported by people on here, my family, my department and especially my PI. I know that alot of women feel alone in these situations and I feel so lucky that I have had the exact opposite experience, with everyone in my life jumping my side to protect me.

Thanks so much for all of the support on here guys! It helps to get others perspective because when you are in the situation, it is really easy to feel like you are being too dramatic.
 
After talking to my fiance and family some more about this, in addition to all of your comments, I decided to reach out to my PI. HR may have been a better choice but since I know him and trust him, I felt safest going to him. I emailed him, without details, just letting him know that I was dealing with a harressment issue in the lab and would like to set up a confidential meeting. He responded back very quickly that he was very glad that I contacted him and had no idea that anything was going on and that this would not be tolerated in the program and especially not in the lab. We have a meeting set up for tomorrow morning and he is encouraging me to loop in someone else in the deparment who knows alot about HR policies. Whew, I feel so much better, like a huge weight has been lifted off. Thanks so much and I will keep you guys updated!

Proflorax makes an excellent point. This is a colleague and this is your workplace (and it's affecting your WORK, like, you feel inclined to refrain from a work meeting in the hopes of avoiding him). If you are at an institution with a Union, I would strongly encourage you to contact a departmental steward or HR-esque rep associated with the Union, today, right now. You can talk to someone like this about what your options are and glean advice without committing to a course of action. Often, people think that engaging with the Union automatically means that you're being adversarial, but there are usually multiple informal steps that they can take with you that don't automatically entail a formal harassment complaint. You want someone like this, outside of your department, to have your back. If you don't have a Union, I would recommend looking at a handbook from your institution (which will likely have a policy/statement re: harassment) and then contact some student affairs person associated with your school of graduate studies (usually, if you look up profiles online, you'll see someone whose job it is to consult confidentially with grad students). Worst case scenario: they can't help you but they can refer you or give advice - you don't lose anything by seeking these people out (unlike having the convo with an adviser, where one might fear "making it weird" indefinitely - not saying that that's "right", just that I sense that hesitation from the OP).
 
As others have said: Not your fault and keep on keeping on with not responding.
 
I would add: Don't be pulled in by his appeals for closure. Closure is a subjective construction and a lie - it allows someone to continue to engage you to say "you haven't given this to me and you OWE it to me" or "you've given me a little of it but not ENOUGH"... Like, what? You keep heaping attention on this guy until he says "when"?
 
Saying "no contact" is enough and a reasonable person respects this as a boundary that you set. It is unreasonable and, frankly, threatening for someone to persistently try to FORCE the situation so that THEY get to (re)negotiate/control the parameters.
 
Good luck and practice self-care OP!

Proflorax makes an excellent point. This is a colleague and this is your workplace (and it's affecting your WORK, like, you feel inclined to refrain from a work meeting in the hopes of avoiding him). If you are at an institution with a Union, I would strongly encourage you to contact a departmental steward or HR-esque rep associated with the Union, today, right now. You can talk to someone like this about what your options are and glean advice without committing to a course of action. Often, people think that engaging with the Union automatically means that you're being adversarial, but there are usually multiple informal steps that they can take with you that don't automatically entail a formal harassment complaint. You want someone like this, outside of your department, to have your back. If you don't have a Union, I would recommend looking at a handbook from your institution (which will likely have a policy/statement re: harassment) and then contact some student affairs person associated with your school of graduate studies (usually, if you look up profiles online, you'll see someone whose job it is to consult confidentially with grad students). Worst case scenario: they can't help you but they can refer you or give advice - you don't lose anything by seeking these people out (unlike having the convo with an adviser, where one might fear "making it weird" indefinitely - not saying that that's "right", just that I sense that hesitation from the OP).
 
As others have said: Not your fault and keep on keeping on with not responding.
 
I would add: Don't be pulled in by his appeals for closure. Closure is a subjective construction and a lie - it allows someone to continue to engage you to say "you haven't given this to me and you OWE it to me" or "you've given me a little of it but not ENOUGH"... Like, what? You keep heaping attention on this guy until he says "when"?
 
Saying "no contact" is enough and a reasonable person respects this as a boundary that you set. It is unreasonable and, frankly, threatening for someone to persistently try to FORCE the situation so that THEY get to (re)negotiate/control the parameters.
 
Good luck and practice self-care OP!

I just want to respond to victorydance's suggestion and provide an alternative perspective. This behavior is happening in the workplace, so therefore, it is a professional issue. I also don't believe that anyone on the receiving end of harassment should have to wait for it to escalate before reporting it, especially when escalation can mean violence. You have tried to resolve it, but he refuses to take heed. You are entitled to feeling safe in your workplace, and based on the title of this thread, it doesn't seem like you're feeling safe. 
 
Here's the deal: there's a reason we are telling you to log communication. It's because we recognize the potential for this situation to escalate, whether that mean simply that he causes problems with your fiance or DGS or he resorts to violence. ss2player, Munashi, and I are all recognizing his behaviors as the same patterns of abusers. I don't believe in telling people what to do, but I want to affirm that you are under no responsibility to protect him, his feelings, or his job. If you're up to it, find someone on campus you trust--your advisor, a counselor, the ombudsperson. Unfortunately for the world we live in, I can pretty much guarantee that you are not the first person to deal with this situation on your campus, and someone should be able to help you.
 
I once reported creepy behavior in the workplace. My situation was different, and honestly, not nearly as intense as yours. When I was an instructor at a community college, I found out that a student (not my student) was taking pictures of me in the library without me knowledge and consent, then sending them to his friends with sexual comments. I felt unsafe and violated, so I went to my supervisor. She agreed that the behavior was totally inappropriate and went to her supervisor, the VP of Student Affairs, who issued the strongest warning possible to the student. I didn't see the student for a whole other year, and he never made eye contact with me again. Frankly, I am fine that I resolved the conflict through my supervisors. He learned that his behavior was unacceptable (well, he was at least made to act as if he learned that), and I was able to continue putting my heart and soul into teaching and tutoring without worrying about my safety or privacy. 

I've sat on an adcomm (in Canada, for context). One of the things that distinguished a promising applicant were those that could say "My interests would fit with Prof. so-and-so AND I've touched base with Prof. so-and-so and they said they'd be into prospective superving/working with me". I read lots of apps where people just wrote "prof. so-and-so would be perfect" BUT maybe that prof was heading out for a long sabbatical (something that can be ascertained by looking at their faculty page or contacting them via e-mail). Give yourself credit for doing the recon, I promise that it does make a difference to your apps, even if it's not in immediate or obvious ways!
 
I will always and forever recommend the Female Science Professor blog post on this topic: http://science-professor.blogspot.ca/2011/10/writing-to-me-reprise.html
 
It pertains to the sciences (obv), so the context - as established by the posters above - IS different re: whether or not you NEED to secure a prof's supervision to apply, BUT the general templates for e-mails are really helpful to ensure that your correspondence decorum is on point and likely to get a positive response!
 
Good luck!

Advice on what to avoid:
 
Writing tips:

Congrats on the R & R!
 
I haven't been through an R & R myself, but I was at a workshop a little while ago that detailed the process and recommended different strategies for dealing with one (I'm in the social sciences though, so it might be a bit different).
 
With regards to deciding which reviewer recommendations to incorporate, I was advised to divide the feedback into "little tasks" and "big tasks" and to highlight which feedback was voiced by more than one reviewer - my sense was that if more than one reviewer brings something up, you probably should incorporate/address the comments, for sure. That gives you a "have to do" list. From there, you can get a sense of how much time you need to address the "have to" list and then make separate decisions about the rest of the feedback.
 
I've never seen a paper that said, "We wanted to do this, but had no time". "No time" isn't a compelling excuse. The phrase I read more commonly is "This task is beyond the scope of this current research". If you think that the suggested "extension" enriches the purpose/argument of the paper, then it might be worth addressing. If it's just a "neat offshoot" of your project, than you might be better off just mentioning it as a "future direction for research" - just acknowledging it in that capacity might be enough for the reviewer.
 
My advice then, would be to categorize the feedback, come up with a "have to" list and then write up a bullet-point plan for dealing with the feedback (either how you will incorporate it or mention it in the paper, or how you will acknowledge it and give a reason for not incorporating it in the R & R response). Then present the plan to your supervisor, and they can endorse or amend your decisions. Good luck!