ProfLorax

Bumping because it's that time of the year again! This thread has so many great questions to ask when you're deciding among programs.

As for as I know, any funded MA program is a reputable one. There is no ranking for MA programs, so just make sure you do good work, produce a stellar writing sample, and make strong connections with faculty wherever you go.

My favorite time of year... the season of celebration gifs! Congrats, BarAndFrills! It's so nice to know this early in the game that you have an acceptance in the bag.

Mi fiesta es tu fiesta.

Was it amazing?! I love the idea of being paid to surround myself with flowers all day.

As the season goes on and the stress increases, I've noticed that the relatively calm, mild posters sometimes end up amplifying potential drama by jumping and piling on quick critiques and slings by newcomers or outsiders. How about we ignore the derail (AppliedScience isn't even in our field) and stick with the topic?

Plan B: I'd love to be a florist and own my own floral shop. Not even joking.

My dream is fairly specific and not realistic, ha! I would love to teach community college students at an institution with course offerings, funding, and support for research similar to an R1. And on the West Coast. And TT. I think the closest is a Cal State or a UC. I'd also be happy in a TT WPA-type role. Basically, I want to teach first-generation college students and also have support to research and write and raise our daughter on the West Coast. I WANT ALL THE THINGS!

In terms of wording, I think you already have it. Start with "I'm applying to a few PhD programs for Fall 2017 to see what happens." Follow with, "I want to give myself every opportunity to succeed and really would like their your help in the next application season."

Aw shucks, y'all. Thanks for your enthusiasm and support! This has been a whirlwind year, what with the whole baby thing and then comps, and you all have been such a great support. But seriously, who else has something to celebrate?! I know you are a brilliant, ambitious bunch!

I passed my comps today! I am officially ABD and a Candidate, which is SUCH A WEIRD thing to wrap my mind around. My only regret? I didn't work in a Hamilton reference. I wanted to start a thread where we can all celebrate each other's achievements this semester. Are you surviving your first semester? Will you be presenting at a Big Deal™ conference in 2016? Did you get a travel grant? Let's get a dance party started up in here.

Feeling you until this right here.

I almost amended my post to include something like this. I agree 100%. Really, what I should have said is that our critiques of CGU are not focused on the graduates of the program but the program itself. A program may have and produce brilliant scholars, but if they don't fully fund their PhD students, then it just isn't as reputable as other programs that do. And, it's unethical as hell.

I'd also be willing to believe CGU has produced scholars who have gone on and gotten TT jobs. I don't think 1Q84 was denying that. But I imagine some of the folks you name (like your mom) graduated and were hired 5+ years ago. Times have changed. The academy is a precarious place right now; even attending an Ivy no longer comes with a job guarantee. I see some full-time NTT jobs listed at $30-40,000 a year. Given the economic climate, it's just not sound advice to suggest that someone take $200K out in loans for a PhD in the Humanities. It's just not. This isn't about CGU as an institution or the people who graduated from there. It's about adjunctification, shrinking English departments, and anti-humanities rhetoric (if I hear another GOP candidate mention philosophy majors...). I know it feels like folks are attacking your institution, drugazi. I know it feels personal. But the advice isn't personal: it's prudent. That's all.

1Q84 was giving very sound advice that folks should only attend fully funded PhD programs. This response isn't warranted or even relevant to the conversation. (Eta: to clarify, I'm not speaking as a moderator here.)

Hi klader! Unfortunately, there's no real formula for this. I focused a lot on my past, but did so in a way to demonstrate how my past experiences shaped me into the scholar I want to be. I just want to chime in that you should absolutely mention the writing center interests! Any good rhet/comp program would be stoked to have a student who is interested in classical rhetoric and writing centers (btw look at UMD). That's the great thing about our field: it's rhetoric and composition, so teaching writing (which happens in classrooms, writing centers, communities, etc) is central to our field's identity.

Grad Cafe is a space for grad students and grad applicants to discuss their programs, applications, etc. This isn't an appropriate forum to ask for homework help.

That pretty darn specific (and super interesting!). Do you explicitly state this in your statement? I ended up adding a thesis statement of sorts to mind, one sentence that explicitly listed my interests and goals very early on. Something like: "At X University, I hope to study X, Y, and Z and gain the skills needed to be a teacher-scholar of English at the university-level."

What are your interests? Let's start there.

Oh my gosh! It's a 1 in your username?! I feel like I don't even know you anymore! (My apologies: I'll get your username right next time!)

I think EchoFromZero means programs that accept applicants with BA's only. Some programs, like University of Illinois and Penn State, describe their programs as being MA/PhD programs for students coming in from undergrad. Echo, do a search for international students in this forum. I feel like there's been talk about how private universities tend to be more open to international applicants due to financial factors.

IQ84, I see what you're saying now. Your strategy is a smart one, and I see how it would lead to a strong fit paragraph and perhaps a strong Writing Sample as well. That said, do you really think someone could be rejected due to referring to older work from a professor? I feel like in my own department, our established, big name professors who made their name studying X but now are more interested in writing about Y still advise students on topic X. That professor who wrote about Milton in the 80's is probably still teaching Milton and still a good resource, I'd think? I guess my own position is that if you do refer to professors, do so strategically and intentionally, but ultimately, I don't think that one aspect of an SoP will make or break an application.

I had no idea that SJSU offered TA'ships! SFSU does offer TA'ships, but Composition MA students have priority; as I remember, Lit students never got those TA'ships. So SJSU sounds like the superior choice. The CSU's are really a hidden gem in this country. My BA and MA are both from CSU's (Cal Poly and SFSU). Both my BA and MA colleagues who wanted a career in academia have ended up at strong programs, so a CSU degree is definitely not a disadvantage!