ProfLorax

Boo. I'm sorry for the bad news, MM! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for GWU. Since you're local, you should still come to some Maryland events, like the Sight/Sound conference at the end of the month. If you do have to re-apply again, you'll have some connections who know your name and face. And if you get into GWU and don't have to reapply, you'll know some fellow local academics! A win-win.

I just don't think "should you get a phd in humanities at all?" is a helpful question. I shall propose what I think are more constructive questions for people applying for humanities PhDs. -Are you aware that you may never get that TT job at the prestigious R1? That the only higher ed teaching options may be adjuncting, lecturing, or scoring a postdoc? -Are you comfortable with looking outside of academia for employment post-PhD? -Are you prepared to become an advocate for higher education and the humanities, no matter where you end up? To testify for the value of learning about writing, storytelling, memory, language and poetry? To organize to ensure that you and/or your colleagues have access to health care, job stability, and paid time off? To collaborate with all branches of labor and students to guarantee that any and all students can study art and philosophy and stories? If you answered yes, then welcome to the cause. The reality is we can no longer teach or research without consistently defending the work we do. But I, for one, have always been down for a good fight. While I am aware of the bleak nature of the job market (I was an adjunct for three years), I am not ready to give up on the humanities. After all, books were always there for me when I needed them; now, I want to return the favor.

For an outsider's perspective, I often forget that kayrabbit doesn't have an MA. She is quick, funny, dedicated, and ambitious. Our cohort (6 with MA's and 2 with BA's only) hangs out together, and I've never once thought to myself, "Oh that kayrabbit! She is soooooo behind the rest of us!" In fact, when I do remember she is sans MA, I think to myself, "Wow. I could have never handled the transition from undergrad to PhD program as smoothly or gracefully as kayrabbit did."

Oh wow. Yes, it's hard to apply widely when you have family and financial obligations locally. I'm still crossing my fingers for you (heck, offers can come in in April!), but if you don't have any luck this year, I would definitely chock it up to numbers. It sounds like you're a competitive applicant, and even then, luck and probability can play such a huge factor in this process. I'm hoping all the hope you get to stay in the DMV area and enjoy the pupusas! Hugs, love, and empathy, m'dear. I know it's hard to believe, but it is still early yet. Can you visit the school? Maybe you'll see it's a perfect fit (or not!) once you've visited in person. Good luck. Like Academicat awesomely said, it isn't for everyone. But I can tell you this: it was certainly for me. I LOVED teaching at the community college level. In fact, I applied for both PhD programs and a full-time CC teaching position last year. The teaching position ended up being eliminated due to funding, and the lack of funding and job stability are certainly drawbacks of community college teaching. That being said, the diversity, resilience, and creativity of my students made teaching so much fun. In fact, I wrote a bit about my experience in a short essay for my composition class last semester: "When I was first hired as an adjunct instructor at (so and so community college), a handful of people warned me that the level of writing would be egregious, that my biggest obstacle would be staying motivated in the face of 'bad writing.' After I started teaching there, people would still take the opportunity to bemoan the steep fall of writing skills from this new generation. I heard this conversation everywhere, including in department meetings. Everyone was fretting about the disappearing act of good writing. But the reality was, the writing my students produced was thought-provoking, challenging, and ripe for transformation. During my first semester, I noticed that many of my basic writing students had the knack of poetic turns of phrase, creative outlooks to mundane problems, and sophisticated ways of positioning themselves within a complex global issue. Sure, sentences and paragraphs needed revision, and students needed to consider what it meant to write for an external audience, but overall, the writing I had read was not bad at all—in fact, it was dynamic and risk-taking. Their writing was bursting with potential with seeds of brilliance shining through."

Hey MM: You may have mentioned this elsewhere, but I noticed that you only applied to four schools. Is there a reason you applied to so few schools?

No joke, I've been holding onto this gif, waiting for you to get good news. YAY!!!!!!!

Oh yeah! I actually live in DC, and I would guess that about 1/3 of the students do as well. From where I live, it's a 15-30 minute drive to campus, depending on traffic. Folks who live near the green line can easily take the metro to campus. And yes! The Sound conference has something for everyone. I'll definitely be at some of the events. Good luck! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

WHY ARE YOU POSTING HERE INSTEAD OF TRYING TO BECOME KATE WINSLET'S BFF?! ETA: I realize the premiere isn't until later tonight, but plans such as these take time! Or maybe I am alone in my absolute love and adoration of Kate Winslet? Also, we'll just ignore that I misspelled her name the first time I posted this...

Gauging the reputation of MA programs can be tricky. Your best guess is to ask the DGS about where their graduates end up, and see if that lines up with where you see yourself in two to three years.

Absolutely! I feel supported by the faculty, my fellow students, and the department at large. I work primarily with the rhet/comp faculty, so I can't speak about the 19th century Americanists. However, there is a ton of social and academic interaction between the various fields within the English Department, and the lit students here all seem to be as happy as I am. As for the students, we are all supportive and collaborative. There isn't a sense of competition among the students; rather, we all share sources and feedback both inside and outside of class. And the department itself is supportive, with a DGS and great administrative staff (Ralph, Manju, and Michelle), funding for conference travel and job interviews, and a ton of professionalization events and workshops. The only drawback of the program is also one of its greatest strengths: living near (or in) DC is expensive and can be hard to navigate with a grad student stipend, but living near DC also means access to the DC consortium, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, and great Ethiopian and Salvadorian food.

Ralph is great. He's approachable, fair, and pragmatic. I've been really happy with his leadership and guidance, and I'm sure he'll be warm and welcoming on the phone today. There is, indeed, a visit on Friday. I'm not sure who is invited; last year, it was all of the admitted students and just one of the waitlisted applicants. But that was a different DGS, so the application process could be totally different at this point. We current students don't get much info on the application process; I've been talking to the two admitted rhet/comp students, but other than that, I'm really unsure of what the numbers are this year. Good luck!

Oh well. Yeah, definitely doesn't sound like a good fit, especially if you can't pursue your research interests. (And honestly, location and campus culture were factors for me too. I get it! No reason to put ourselves into a situation that would doom us to unhappiness.)

More details needed! Why don't you see yourself there? Why could you see yourself there?

YAY! So exciting! This will be the perfect opportunity to distract yourself from applications/waitlists/decisions. Have a blast!

AC-- Did you ever go to the red carpet Divergent premiere?! Inquiring minds (mainly me) want to know!

Congrats!! May I suggest the tried and true method of... Puppies?

Forget surviving; I'm thriving! I'm reading in bed, still in my pajamas. Everyone warned me when I moved to DC that I wouldn't be able to handle East Coast weather. What they didn't realize is that snow days can be a gift from nature (especially for the PhD student who decided to watch the Oscars rather than catch up on reading).

Hey all! I'm (85% sure) gonna be at the lunch this Friday for the campus visit. My name is Ruth; say hi!

Yale U has an Introduction to Literary Theory course online, all free! It might help direct your readings of various theory, which I always found difficult to do without guidance or context.

I feel like this is a bad bad idea. Let me explain why: when you contact professors, it should be because you are interested in their work or you have questions about the program. At this point in the game, though, it would be apparent to the professors that you are only contacting them to better your chances of admission. I can't imagine many professors would respond positively to that motivation. At this point, admissions committee has all the materials it will consider to make a decision. It sucks to wait, but that's where we are in the game. Also, if it makes you feel any better, many discussions on this forum seem to indicate that contacting professors does not have a direct effect on the decision-making process. A conversation early on in the process may help an applicant shape their SoP or writing sample to a specific school, but that's pretty much it. Unless you had co-presented or co-authored a paper with a professor on the committee, I doubt prior contact would help.

I have lots to say on this topic. First, though, I want to stress that grad school does not require a complete neglect on one's personal life. In fact, I'd argue, a full personal life can make one's academic work more fulfilling. I have a husband I'm deeply commited to, I volunteer, and I am an avid baseball, concert, and TV fan. I did not give up these parts of my life when I signed up, nor do I plan to in the future. Grad school is a job, and like any job, balance is essential. Second, my partner and I have had tons of conversations about this very issue. Early in our relationship, I put my career on hold while he was working on some projects he enjoyed. Then, he was 100% supportive of moving anywhere with me. I was fortunate to have several options, including one that allowed him to keep his former job, just relocate offices. He did have to give up any chances of promotion, however. Now that we've been together for a while, some truths have emered: we have different priorities for our respective careers. Fortunately, our differences are complementary. He values stable yet interesting work, and as a software engineer, he has more options for him. He doesn't have the same need for constant change and creativity that I do. What this means is that, given my field, where we live will be based on my career, with the knowledge that he has a greater chance of finding the kind of work he enjoys and values in various locations. My story, unfortunately, doesn't map onto yours. What I learned is that constant communication and honest introspection are crucial for any making life decisions with a partner. I guess that's a "no duh" statement, but as a child of parents who were more fond of divorce than marriage, divorces, I had to figure that out on my own.

I'm reading this thread and seeing your stories and concerns, and they transport me back six years ago, when I first applied to graduate school. I applied to graduate school right out of my undergrad. All the PhD programs rejected me. This was after I had received such encouragement from my professors, a high major GPA, and several awards for both my academics and extracurricular activities. I was kinda a big deal in college and had told everyone about my pursuits. The rejection letters completely rocked my sense of self. I taped them to my bedroom door as punishment, because I wanted to feel them mocking me, putting me in my place everyday. Friends and coworkers were asking all the time about my plans, and each time I had to answer, I felt my inside shrivel up a bit. I was not in a good place. I don't know if I would have felt better if I could have seen in the future, but if I could have, I would have known that I had an awesome life ahead of me, regardless of those rejection letters. I ended up doing an MA program, where I met the best of people, produced some fun work, and presented at fancy conferences. I ran into an old friend during my first year of my MA program, and now we are married and have one adorable dog. In the past five years, we've traveled around the country and the world. I taught for three years at a community college, three years of the best years of my life, where I met the most tenacious, witty, and creative students. I am now in a great PhD program in a different field, one I didn't even know existed when I first applied out of my undergrad. It's impossible to know what next year holds for us. But I am hoping that my story demonstrates how little those rejection letters reflect who we are. For me, my letters did not signify that I was worthless or a loser, which is 100% what I felt six years ago; rather, the letters signified that I wasn't ready for grad school and I wasn't applying to the right field. So trust me when I say this: your rejection letters do not define you.

We should definitely be friends! I wrote a paper last semester about the accessibility statement on syllabi, specifically situating it within the discourse and definition of disability in federal policy. Like you, I complicate the definition through a DS framework. I'm hoping to revise the paper next semester. Seriously, whenever the CFP for C's 2015 pops up, we should talk putting together a panel!

Awesome! Do you get to dress up? Speaking of winning things, thanks to the data breach, I just won five full years of free credit monitoring! Yay?

You mentioned earlier that you work at your writing center. This is great and especially valued in rhet/comp! Perhaps start there. Ask the director if you could do a research project relating to writing center pedagogy and potentially implement it. Or see if you could help facilitate tutor training next year. Or ask if you could accompany the director to a writing center conference. When I was tutoring at the writing center as an MA student, I made it known my intentions were to teach, and I was given more classroom-based teaching instruction and opportunities than the other lit students. This is a huge reason I was hired as a community college instructor after I finished my MA (even though I had no actual classroom teaching expeirence), and three years later, my SoP for rhet/comp programs featured writing pedagogy extensively.