ProfLorax

Wow! Maryland will start reviewing the apps in a few days?! The fact that my application will be in the hands of the admissions committee relatively soon... Holy crap! Shit just got real. And good luck with the third letter!

Word! I was home sick today due to a wicked cold, and I spent the day blowing my nose, watching old Doctor Who specials, and refreshing this page. Because I'm a winner!

Guess who is lobbying to be Twelve? Helen Fricken' Mirren. I know that's probably never going to happen, but just thinking about it gives me a nerdgasm.

I know, I know. It's trendy, but ten was my first, and he'll always be my favorite. Or can I choose Doctor Donna? Only a doctor for ten minutes or so, but what a glorious ten minutes they were!

I just got an email from Miami University confirming that my application is complete (woohoo!). My heart broke when I read that the admissions committee doesn't even begin to look at applications until March! Oh! The agony of waiting!

I was going to post something very similar about the first two seasons of Veronica Mars. A noir show set at a high school that features thoughtful musings about gender and class?! It really can't be beat. Give in a shot, folks; the very first episode will suck you right in. I wish Kristen Bell would leave those rom coms behind and return to television!

Confession: my first SoP, five or so years ago, was awful. I was rejected from all PhD programs, but fortunately, I was accepted into most of the MA programs to which I applied. My list of interests was totally scattered: "I love slave narratives! And Arthurian legends! And feminist theory! And teaching! And the Harlem Renaissance! And feminist theory again!" I made no attempt to find a connecting thread between all of my interests. It was bad. Fortunately, looking back, I am happy it happened this way, as my husband and I started dating while I was in my MA program and I discovered rhetoric and composition and refined my interests. I definitely learned from that experience, and my current SoP is much more cohesive and polished. If I get in this round, I will be happy to share both SoP's: one as an example of kiss of death inducing writing and the other as a successful SoP. Fingers crossed!

Oh snap! Just when I thought I was done with applications... I'll look into their program! Thanks for the recommendation!

You're right, Berkeley has a great Rhetoric program, but not a rhetoric and composition program. I was initially gonna apply there, but the more I researched, the more I realized that it doesn't offer much for those who want to pursue Writing Studies and pedagogy. My impression is that Berkeley's rhetoric program is more akin to UCSC's history of consciousness program, which is awesome, but not for me. As I love the East Bay, I was devasated when I crossed it off my list!

Really? It gets better? I should have known, since Whedon has a tendency to take his time finding his groove with each new series. I tried watching Dollhouse when it originally aired, but I couldn't get past the first few episodes. But I'll give it another shot, as well as Angel, this winter break. My To-Do list is lengthening by the minute!

Ugh, that fourth book is rough; I just quit about a quarter of the way through. Like you, I devoured the first three. I was so obsessed, I read the third book while on my honeymoon! (My husband was very confused by the sounds and facial expressions I made while reading Joffrey's wedding feast!) But the fourth book is tough to get through; I am just not attached to any of the plots. I figure I'll start trying to read it again when I hear that the sixth book is actually getting published.

I am thinking about location a lot these days. I have lived in California my entire life; I have never had a snowy winter or a humid summer. I have always lived within fifteen minutes of the Pacific Ocean. FIFTEEN MINUTES. My family lives here, as does my husband's. And I didn't apply to a single school in California because, quiet simply, there are no good rhet/comp programs here. So this PhD application process is about more than entering academia for me; it's about a radical shift in lifestyle. My husband has had the same, stable, well-paying job for eight years (his college internship turned into a full-time position upon graduation), and he'll have to get a new job wherever we move. We are both looking forward to this adventure, this newness in life and location, but we are also a bit anxious about what it means to be away from family and (for me) away from the big, beautiful Pacific Ocean. Still, overall, I am absolutely thrilled to try out something new-- I've always wondered what it's like to live in a swing state during election time!

I am by no means an expert, but I can share what I did for my CV. Towards the end of my CV, I have a "Professional Activities" section that lists work and volunteer experience that is relevant: writing, editing, student advising, and professional development experience. As for teaching, I listed the years, school, and courses taught for each position. Hope that helps!

Season 6 has so many great individual episodes-- and Willow as the big bad?! Amazeballs! But I could never get down with the Buffy/Spike relationship, and I think that ruined the whole sixth season for me. Still, I love "Once More, With Feeling." And for sebastiansteddy: did you get through the first season? The first season is kinda rough, but power through! The second season is pure brilliance, and one of my favorite TV seasons of all time. And girl who wears glasses, you have the right idea! Maybe this winter break will be the one where I learn about thing "balance" thing I hear about so often...

I was going to start a very similar thread, so I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who is worried about, well, worrying. I submitted all of my apps last week, so now I have nothing left to do but wait. I am struggling with remaining mentally present, in the here and now, because I am preoccupied with the news I'll start receiving in February. I'll be somewhat distracted next week by piles of grading, and my husband and I are doing a two-week vacation in Paris and Rome towards the end of January (so excited!). While I definitely have awesome things to look forward to, whenever I have a free moment, my mind automatically wanders to PhD applications. During the down time I have between grading and my Europe excursion, I will try to take up some healthy, productive hobby, like yoga, knitting, or cycling. Either that, or I will find a TV series to marathon, never shower, eat vast quantities of cheese, and frantically check gradcafe. My money's on the latter, but for the sake of my sanity, I hope I go the healthy route!

This made me chuckle because I re-watched all seven seasons of Buffy-- including the embarrassingly awful sixth season, which is only redeemed because of the brilliant "Once More, With Feeling"-- last winter break! Some may say that was not a productive use of my free time, but honestly, it was a blast!

I think MAKING A HUMAN BEING is a pretty big accomplishment!

Hey, after mentally listing all of my reasons I may not get into grad school, I need both a boost and a boast! I am really happy about how this semester is going. I tried a lot of new things in my classes (website featuring student writing, twitter to promote reading comprehend, book clubs, etc), and I'm happy about how they have turned out. My students seem to be engaged in the classroom and progressing in their reading and writing skills. Score! Also, I have been developing in my cooking skills. I made my own granola bars this weekend, from scratch, and they are delish!

YES. Exactly!

In addition to the peak of application season, it's the end of the semester! So Academic Coach Taylor has two messages for you. If you are in a teaching capacity: If you are in a student capacity: Good luck to all!

I contacted the director of the graduate program in rhetoric and composition at Purdue, and she told me there is no definite word length for the rhet/comp program. I'd imagine the same would apply to all of the English graduate programs at Purdue. To double-check, you can email Jill Quirk; she's super helpful and quick in responding!

Ugh! That's almost as bad as this frequently used hook: "Have you ever thought about the significance of [essay topic]?" It doesn't matter what the topic is; at least one student will always ask if I've ever thought about said topic in the first line of his/her paper.

I am going to be a college professor. I am going to write smart things about death in literature. P.S. I am super happy that Legally Blonde pops up on this forum on a weekly basis. Thank you for that.