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ProfLorax

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Everything posted by ProfLorax

  1. This has been my experience as well. Many of these non-prestigious universities, especially public schools, are under pressure from administrators and politicians to refocus on "job training." In English departments, this means more TESOL and technical writing classes, and fewer resources on preparing students for an academic career. This line of thinking hurts undergraduate students who want to continue in their humanities education-- and really, the other students as well, because everyone could benefit from a world class humanities education.
  2. Speaking of factors we can't control in pursuing selective careers... have any of you seen the 1994 documentary Hoop Dreams? I'm a little late to the party, but I just watched it for the first time yesterday. The film follows two basketball prodigies in their high school years. Both young men are infused with raw talent, but racism, classism, a lack of connections, family issues, injuries, and the like continue to interfere with their dream on reaching the NBA. It's streaming on Netflix right now. I particularly recommend the documentary to fans of Friday Night Lights; it has a lot of the same plotlines, except the students play basketball and the pitfalls are more heartbreaking because they really happened. I do think the larger question of what societal forces can help or hinder our trajectory in academia is an important question to ask. It may not be the most helpful question for a bunch of anxious PhD applicants to ask while they await decisions, but the question is certainly worth examining-- especially once we find ourselves in positions of power as tenured professors at a university.
  3. I sure hope not, as I got a 161V! To read a good discussion about GRE scores, check out this thread: It's a six page long conversation about GRE scores in PhD applications. You'll find a bunch of different perspectives about the weight of GRE scores in this process.
  4. Heated discussions are not a bad thing. In fact, some of the greatest analysis comes from highly heated discussions. And, unlike most charged debates on the Internet, this did NOT spiral into a bunch of ad hominen attacks. So hurray! Ya'll defied the laws of the Internet! I have some scattered thoughts to throw out there, not really responding to anyone in particular. Here we go! We have to talk about class. Oh, and gender, sexuality, race, etc. Because, despite what we want to believe, academia is not a utopian den where classism or any other -isms don't exist. Like bfat, my class upbringing shaped how I saw myself as a scholar at the age of 17, so I didn't apply to any out of state or private schools. It wasn't some painful decision my family and I made after looking at the budget. I just never saw myself at a "fancy" school. Never even considered it. I see this with my community college students all the time; they have internalized where "students like them" go for their undergraduate degree, and they very rarely apply to top schools for transfer. One of my favorite parts of my job is opening students' eyes to their potential and to the programs that support students from low-income and/or minority families. That works on an individual level, but if we want institutional change, we have to keep talking about class whenever the opportunity presents itself. Ok, now onto "pedigree" and ranking. There seems to be two discussions: the ranking of the BA/MA program for PhD applicants and the ranking of the PhD program for job searchers. We are all agreed that it absolutely matters where we get our PhD's for the job search. However, I do firmly believe that the source of our BA/MA degree is not as important in PhD applications as what we do while we are enrolled in our BA and/or MA programs. Of course, I'm sure it helps if an applicant has a degree with a pretty name stamped on the top-- name recognition and prestigious connections are invaluable in academia. But while an Ivy league undergrad degree may get someone in, I don't know if a public, state school degree will keep a qualified student out. I went to a California State University for my MA, and a bunch of us worked our butts off to present at conferences, publish our own journal, volunteer with professional organizations, and the like. From my cohort, students went to Northwestern, University of Arizona, WUSTL, USC, UC Davis, University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign, and UC Berkeley. No Ivies, but still top schools in their fields. So, I believe it is possible to come from a "no name" program and do well within the world of PhD applications.
  5. Ooh! I've had pizza with fig, alongside caramelized onions and feta. So yum! Had pizza for dinner tonight. I'm obsessed with the whole wheat pizza dough from Trader Joe's. I can make the pizza however ritzy, fatty, healthy, or plain I want.
  6. Are you secretly me?! Seriously. Also 28. I have a brother, but he and I have different mothers, so all intents and purposes, I am my mom's only child. Also want to start trying to get pregnant at 30, with the baby popping out at 31. I told my mom in April so she would have a long time to get used to the idea, and it seems to be working. Phrases like, "oh please don't leave!" have been replaced with "well... Arizona isn't that far away!" When I remind my mom that I still have yet to get in anywhere, she replies with the infamous, "You'll get in somewhere!"
  7. "But what about my grandchildren?!?!?!" This was said by my mother immediately after I told her that I was applying to PhD programs out of state. Important points of clarification: My husband and I do not have any children. Nor am I pregnant. She's just really really excited about the prospect of us having kids ASAP.
  8. Mmmmmmm pizza! I am always happy with a olive, mushroom, and green onion slice, piled high with red pepper flakes and parmesan cheese, then washed down with a cold pint of Fat Tire. I once had pizza at a fancy schmancy restaurant with poached eggs on top, and it was surprisingly good. Yolk makes everything better.
  9. Hello, Jennifer! Welcome to the club. This is a good place to wait (although we don't do very well with the "patiently waiting," as seen in this thread!).
  10. My first response was, "gosh, I wish dinosaur zoos were real!" Then, I remembered that Jurassic Park taught us all what a bad bad idea dinosaur zoos really are. Sigh.
  11. My subconscious is out to get me because I have had this dream twice since submitting applications. One time, I dreamt that Purdue emailed me early because they LOVED ME SO MUCH. I knew it couldn't be real, so IN MY DREAM, I woke up, checked my email, and the emailed acceptance was still there! Since I thought I had "woken up," I believed that the email was real. Then, I woke up. In real life. Checked my email, and there was NOTHING. This has happened twice, now. My brain is out to get me... [insert .gif of person with crazy eyes darting from left to right. (Seriously, I have no idea where ya'll find these amazing .gifs all the time)]
  12. I imagine this will be a bigger concern when you are on the job market, so I think you'll be safe for now! I just can't imagine that the admissions committees will put forth the effort to google each of our names. That being said, if you are concerned, you can do what I do; I don't use my full last name on my FB profile: First Name Last Initial. That way, I can keep my profile authentic, but it is also hard to find via google or FB search. Also, this made me lol. It's amazing just how paranoid this process has made all of us!
  13. Jealous of all of these STEM folks who are already hearing back from programs!

    1. viggosloof28

      viggosloof28

      Man, me too! I'm in History, and won't hear back from my programs for at least another 4 weeks!! :P

    2. ProfLorax

      ProfLorax

      Same here! And 4 weeks is the best case scenario!

    3. Faraday

      Faraday

      Don't worry, you'll hear back soon enough! Good luck!

  14. For U of Maryland's ASF, click here. Then, log in with email address and password. The next page gives you the opportunity to select your application and click "View ASF." Hope that helps!
  15. I'll be in the minority here, but I don't think a thesis would matter as standalone criteria, simply because of logistics. How would the admissions committee know that Student A didn't write a thesis, unless Student A directly states it? I just don't think that the admissions committee will spend that much time pouring over transcripts and school catalogues for each applicant to see who wrote a thesis and who didn't. Considering that many top PhD programs also accept students with just a BA, I also don't think an absence of thesis will raise any red flags. I could be wrong, but my impression is that admissions committee go through our application packets pretty quickly. In the scenario posed by the OP, I imagine that whoever had the stronger writing sample, regardless of if it is a part of a thesis or not, would have the advantage here.
  16. I've already had TWO dreams about email acceptances; the dreams were so real, I was disappointed when I woke up to an empty inbox!

    1. Two Espressos

      Two Espressos

      I dream about graduate school all the time as well!

    2. ProfLorax

      ProfLorax

      Glad I'm not alone! Hopefully, our dreams are prophetic!

  17. bell hooks Angela Davis Simone de Beauvoir Eli Clare
  18. Also, I think there might be a whole thread devoted to fully funded MA programs in rhet/comp somewhere... if not, I believe that Miami U and Syracuse both have funded MA programs!
  19. Sadiespaw: Perhaps look into San Francisco State. It has a solid rhet/comp MA program, and many of its graduates end up in PhD programs or teaching positions afterwards.
  20. Well, my mom says I'm going to get into all the programs, so I'm going to bet pretty highly on myself.
  21. A friend in my MA program had a 3.7 GPA in graduate coursework, which I believe an an A- average. She is now a fully funded PhD candidate (ABD) at Northwestern. My point is, as has been suggested here, there are no absolutes in this process. I know most of you are applying to Lit PhD's, but this 2007 survey of rhet/comp PhD programs is really interesting; the programs listed their "Highest-ranked criteria for admittance," and while the order varies, you'll notice many programs list the SoP, writing sample, and letters of rec much higher than GPA. I imagine the criteria is similar for other humanities programs.
  22. My life right now: http://youtu.be/WVvKnq5XT-g YAY FINALS WEEK.

    1. Two Espressos

      Two Espressos

      Haha :) Good luck dealing with unmotivated undergrads!

    2. ProfLorax

      ProfLorax

      Thanks! I need all the luck I can get right now!

  23. Since this thread is angst-themed, I've decided that this unrelated but related rant can go right here... I love teaching. I really do. It's the main reason why I am pursuing a PhD in Rhetoric and Composition. But this week is the week of students demanding to know why they failed a class, despite the fact that they a.) never earned a passing grade on a paper b.) never turned in a paper c.) missed several weeks of work d.) all of the above It makes me go like this: AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! That is all. ETA: Sigh. I feel a little better now.
  24. hugs hugs hugs hugs hugs. I'm crossing my fingers that a solution presents itself to you soon!
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