ProfLorax

I am finishing up this semester nine weeks pregnant, with all the fun bodily adventures that brings. As soon as I turn in my last paper, I think I'm just gonna sleep right into my second trimester!

Thanks for your enthusiasm! The hubs and I are both thrilled about this little development. And you'll probably get to meet the little peanut at CCCC!

MRJames, you rock! Thank you for sharing your experiences. I'm glad to hear the success story of a fellow pregnant student! I have a quick follow up question: did you take any time off before the birth? I found out parental leave doesn't start until after I give birth, which makes some sense, but I am not thrilled about taking two grad seminars and teaching two courses while I am nine months pregnant. But if others have worked right up until giving birth, maybe it can be done! Thanks again!

My next step is working out my parental leave for next year!

Any part-time job should do! As an MA student, I worked one year at an after school program, and the next year at the tutoring center on campus. It's great if you can find a part-time job that aligns well with your field. I'd also suggest checking in with the department. My PhD institution doesn't fully fund MA's, but a few MA students have gotten assistantships just by advocating for themselves.

I personally couldn't handle arrangement like that. If the landlords are overbearing and controlling, but you signed a lease, you are stuck! If you are concerned about money, I'd suggest that finding a part-time job, maybe one at ten hours a week, is a better option. Why? Because if the job gets in the way of your studies or you hate your boss, you can just walk away. Unfortunately, with a live-in situation, you don't always have that option.

Hi All! So, I never got much feedback from the group, and since not much exists in the forum about pregnancy in grad school, I thought I would write a quick update since my first post. I am a little more than eight weeks pregnant. I had my first ultrasound yesterday and heard the heartbeat-- it was beautiful! We had decided to wait until the ultrasound before telling people, although I told a few professors earlier to explain my fatigue. Speaking of fatigue, holy crap. The first trimester is a doozy. All I want to do is sleep, so I let myself sleep. When I have energy, I plow through as much work as I can. Since my energy is so low, I have cut down on most of my socializing, so when I do have energy, I use it to work. Having a supportive partner has been key in all this. I carry saltines, cinnamon gum, and Jolly Ranchers with me EVERYWHERE. I haven't had much morning sickness, thankfully, but when I do feel queasy, those snacks help me perk right up. I have now told my advisors and my DGS (hence me posting with my actual account). Everyone has been wonderfully supportive. I'm thrilled my program has six weeks parental leave, so I am now trying to figure out which weeks to take off. My due date is December 15, right at Finals Week, so my ideal schedule is to just finish my coursework early and teach up until finals, then have the winter break and parental leave for prime bonding time. However, as it is known, babies don't really care about our work schedules. Fortunately, the office understand that and claims to be flexibility in case the Little Nugget arrives early. So, that's where I am right now! As of this moment, I plan on keeping on my current schedule; I am already a bit ahead, so if I have to push back my comps, I should still be on track.

So smart to think about new clothing for a new climate! I moved from California to D.C., and my best going-away gifts were warm coats, scarves, hats, and gloves. You may want to add rain boots and a rain coat to the list.

First, bowties, no worries about not attending cwcon! In all honesty, I won't travel to a conference if I'm not presenting; it's just too much time, money, and energy! I think most academics follow the same line of logic. Heja proposed some great solutions to virtually dropping in. Heck, the conference tweeting actually started months ago with the hashtag #cwcon; it seems that the community is in discussion about computers and writing year round! Second, I'm excited to see a few cwcon attendees! How are y'all getting to Pullman? I'm flying to Spokane and hoping that the shuttle they promised will be an easy mode of transport to the campus. Anyone else staying in the dorms?

TeaOverCoffee, I was accepted two years ago, and I'm happy to share my materials with you over PM. I was surprised by the short SoP length and the two writing sample requirement. And yes, they do accept MA/PhD students; in fact, I think they explain their preference of applicants with just a BA over an MA on their website (although I have an MA and was accepted).

For realsies, who is going to Computers and Writing this year? I know bhr is. Anyone else?

Do you have friends who are still students in your MA program? My friends and I used to share our log in information with recent alumni.

Me! I have a working draft of my proposal done, but finding panelists has actually been the hardest part. Everyone is already paneled up! (P.S. Anyone wanting to present on a panel on disability studies and accommodation rhetoric with two GradCafers, hit me up!).

I'm down. I've decided to push my exams up to next Spring, so I'm gonna try to barrel through some modern rhetorical theory this summer.

Awesome! I just PM'ed you my contact info for when you visit UMD.

Hey MM! I know I've said this before, but I'd really encourage you to take advantage of your proximity to your top choice schools over the next few months. UMD accepted four of its MA students; they are all brilliant, but I imagine having letters of rec from the faculty here probably helped them as well. Go to lectures, ask if you can sit in on a seminar, make yourself known! I think it's wise you are applying widely next year, but I also think that if you couple that with making an impression on the local universities, you'll have great success next year. Feel free to PM me if you are attending an event at UMD; if I am also attending, we can meet up beforehand and I can introduce you to people at the event (though, unfortunately, I don't know any of the medieval faculty).

Congrats all around! So happy for all of you! And especially for BunnyWantsaPhD; I know how hard you worked for this. Congrats, m'dear. I can't stop smiling at your good news!

If you're switching from one concentration to another, then I get your anxieties. My BA and my MA were in literature, but my PhD program is in rhetoric and composition; thus, I asked my POI and now advisor for a "rhet/comp starter kit." She sent me a variety of pdf's and a textbook recommendation to ground me in the language before I started my coursework. It was really helpful! Once I finished with that packet (it wasn't all that much to read), I just read for fun. And I'm so glad I did, because it is near impossible to do while in coursework. Find whatever novels, comic books, short story collections you've wanted to read for a while (for me, it's usually YA fiction) and dive in. While I'm sure lhommependu is joking, I do know several grad students who take long breaks as an opportunity to re-read the Harry Potter series. Because it's awesome.

For folks of all genders, Timbuk2 makes great, sturdy messenger bags. And if you care about these things, the company is upfront about where their bags are made and how they try to be green. Since the bags were originally made for bike messengers, they are HUGE and STURDY. And once you're done with your bag, you can return it to them and get 30% off your next new bag. Most importantly, unlike shoulder bags I'd buy at Staples or fashion boutiques, these bags are built to last, even when you have three textbooks, your lunch, a giant water bottle, and your laptop in them. My only regret is that I didn't spend the extra dough to get the shoulder strap; I'll do that next time!

I don't see the harm in asking. I really don't. You aren't demanding, you aren't assuming. As long as you go in knowing the DGS could say no, what is the harm in asking? Honestly, the program will take care of itself. If extending your deadline 24 hours will cause them any inconvenience, the DGS will say no. Dear DGS, Thank you for providing so much information for your program! I apologize for not informing you of my decision yet. I am still waiting to hear back from one program, and I want to talk to my family and investigate all my options before making a final decision. Could you extend my final decision deadline to April 16? All the best, So and so

As people said in the Decision Making thread, MA programs don't really have reputations or rankings, so it's hard for us to gauge which program is better for you. I'd suggest asking the DGS where students go for their PhD's after graduation, ask current students if they are happy there, and check which class schedule appeals most to you. At least in my observations, the majority of the MA is coursework, with some programs having a thesis or exam requirement at the end. I'd look at the Fall 2014 schedule and see which program offers the courses you are most excited about taking. Also, would you rather write a thesis or take an exam? That is something else to consider. You might also look into which program have a significant contingent of international students. And since reputation isn't all that important a factor when deciding between two unfunded MA's, I think andrewcycs was onto something: where would you want to live? LA or NYC? One thing to consider is that you will most likely need a car in LA, given that their public transportation isn't all that great. I'd choose NYC in a heartbeat, but I also grew up in San Francisco, and we are trained to hate LA from birth. Lastly, MA programs are really what you make of them. Choose the program you feel you can shape and shift to meet your needs. And good luck!

I'd like to add one more consideration to the mix. Lots of people are (rightfully) talking about the now, but I also want to remind all prospective dog parents to think about the future. We work in a field that requires lots of moving, and often with little or no choice on our behalf. I believe adopting a pet is a lifetime commitment, so before bringing Fido home, ask yourself if you're willing to bring your puppy with you wherever you go. If your post-doc is in San Francisco and it's hard to find affordable pet-friendly housing, are you gonna do what it takes to find a pet-friendly living space or will you give the dog up? If you win a Fulbright, will you bring Fido with you, do you have family who can foster while you are away, or will Fido end up in a shelter? Imagine your life in ten years: do you see an older Buster sitting on your lap? If not, I'd say look into fostering for a local shelter or dogsitting for your friends.

Like Roquentin, I'm a huge fan of the smaller, more focused conferences. I am currently at Console-ing Passions, a conference on feminism and media studies. It's small, intimate, and very supportive. Best of all, the registration fee for graduate students was $40, and that includes an opening night reception, a mentoring lunch, and a bag of swag. So far, I'm really impressed by the quality of the research and closeness of the community. I have found the regional MLA's (like PAMLA) to also be a bit smaller, a bit more manageable than the national MLA conference. For grad students in CA, I was also hugely impressed by the professionalism and organization of Significations, the grad student conference CSULA puts on every year. This summer, I will be attending Computers and Writing for the first time; I can report on the experience afterwards, but I've heard that the best part of C&W is the sense of community. I have never attended Feminisms and Rhetorics, but it's another conference I hear is a phenomenal, life-changing experience; my grad student friend cried with Dorothy Allison at this year's Fem/Rhets. I am also submitting a proposal to the International Society for the History of Rhetoric (ISHR), which I hear (again) is a lovely experience, especially for grad students; though, I'm mostly interested in the locations of the conference (this year is Germany!!).

Search "GRE Scores" in the literature/rhet/comp forum, and you'll find lots of helpful discussion about this very topic!

Staying in contact with a professor whose interests align with yours is not offensive or presumptuous-- it's smart networking! You'll do this a lot as a graduate student at conferences.