babelcopter

I did an MA at an unranked large state school after doing a BA at a fairly highly ranked state school. I'm suuuuuch a better applicant now. It was funded by teaching, which was a great experience, but the number one thing I'll say is that you just need to avoid getting comfortable in the department. It's only two years, so attend conferences, submit papers for publication, apply for awards and grants and so on. If you really get after the professionalization and scholarship sides of it, it'll make you a way better candidate for PhD programs than you ever were straight out of BA.

Regarding Boston University: I'm on the waitlist and got a friendly and informative call from the DGS yesterday explaining the process. From what he said, I think the list is pretty much nailed down at this point.

That's fair! The MA program when I was in had (what I now understand to be) a pretty massive teaching load. They always harped on the importance of teaching for any future success, but it sort of seems, as I read more and talk to people, that that was more to placate us - given the amount of work we were doing - than to level with us.

I hate to be a party pooper (it's awesome that you were accepted!) but I have to agree. ~10k in student debt is an astoundingly low figure, and you should try and keep it low. The lack of teaching at Fordham will hurt you when applying to Phd programs down the road. Definitely consider something like Villanova or another, smaller program. I did an MA at an unranked state school (with teaching and tuition remission) and it put me in a good position to get into Phd programs that are waaaay better than my MA institution. Like you said, the MA is transitional; investing $60k in a transitional degree that will make you a weaker candidate (w/out teaching) isn't the way to go. Best of luck with your decision!

I see there's a WVU acceptance on the board -- I did my MA there, so if you have any questions feel free to ask me here or pm me!

Hey guys. I had this place chalked up as an implicit rejection until yesterday; I received a mass email from Kelly Delaney about possible employment at their writing center. Did anyone else (accepted, waitlisted or in the dark like myself) receive the same email?