ProfLorax

This writing instructor replies, "Where is the textual evidence to support your initial claim?"

Who else has started a massive spreadsheets of all things application-related? I just uploaded mine to Google Docs, so I can obsess over it during slow moments in the writing center.

It's amazing how many great schools are not close to an airport! I had to cross University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign off my list despite its stellar rhet/comp program.

Sigh. I initially attempted to limit my rhet/comp PhD application list to the West Coast, but I was discouraged when I saw how little is available here! I checked out U of Oregon's program; I was discouraged to find they only have three faculty members, and none of my interests overlap with theirs. Oregon State only has an MA. UC Davis has a designated emphasis in Writing, Rhetoric, and Composition for students in selected programs, such as English, but the English PhD is still primarily a literature program. Good luck with the search! My fiance and I both gave up on the West Coast; we decided that we would be willing to relocate for the right program, especially if its driving distance to a major airport. P.S. Congrats on the engagement!

Matt: Thanks for sharing your experience! Your suggestion doesn't sound hokey at all. My partner is not a social butterfly, and his work is very important to him, so I'll have to consider all of those things when the time comes. I'm glad I'm not the only one who's thinking about these things! (Oh yes, and congrats on the fifteen years!) I'm anxious about my writing sample as well. I know what I'm going to submit, but I wrote it three years ago; it's hard to get back into that frame of mind and revise. Also, I'm not sure who to ask for feedback; I'd feel bad asking anyone to read over a twenty-two page (yes, I'll need to shorten it!) paper. So, yes, I'm definitely down for some editing groups! I have a draft of my SoP done as well. I'm getting married this summer, so I'm trying to get as much done before the whirlwind of wedding insanity takes over my life...

Another guess, harvardlonghorn: I imagine a good indication is how any professors and associate professors are in your field at any given school. For example, at my MA program, there were a ton of early modernist scholars, so I assume they took more early modernist applicants. However, that also could mean that there would be more applicants for that field... Hmmm... Also helpful: my POI at Purdue told me that assistant professors typically don't advise dissertations, so I wouldn't even bother applying to a program that only had an assistant professor in my field. Maybe that is common knowledge, but I sure didn't know it until a few weeks ago!

Wow saecla vincere, your first two paragraphs mirror my own experience! My fiance would prefer to stay where we are, but he's been incredibly supportive of my application and our possible move. Just like your SO, my guy says "sure" whenever I ask about location (well, most of the time. He's definitely less okay with Kansas and Oklahoma, I've discovered). However, unlike your SO, my fiance is not an English person; he's a software programmer. I've convinced myself that there are computer jobs everywhere (right??). I’m still getting used to this whole lifelong commitment thing; it’s strange that my life decision will affect someone else so directly! Oh yes! I forgot to say: my interests within rhet/comp are feminist theory, disability studies, and new media studies! I was thinking it would be good to team up with a lit PhD applicant later down the road, someone to swap writing samples and SOPs for feedback. That way, we would be somewhat familiar with each other's fields, but we would never be direct competition! Think about it!

Hello! I'm also applying for the Fall 2013 cycle, so I thought I'd introduce myself. I will be applying for PhD programs in Rhetoric and Composition (which means I don't have to take the GRE subject test in literature! Weeeee!). I have a BA and MA in literature and have been teaching writing, reading, and Women's Studies at the community college level for a few years now. Because I've been out of school for two years, my MA friends have already applied and started their respective PhD programs. I was worried about being all alone in this application process, but now I see that I'm not alone! I've spent the past week reading pretty much every single post in this forum (which means now I have become emotionally invested in the application results of a group of strangers. My heart breaks with every rejection post and rejoices with each acceptance!). I'm so grateful to find this community early in the application process. Just out of curiosity: is anyone else married/partnered? Will you be dragging your partner along with you? My fiance has been incredibly supportive of this decision, but I'm still anxious that we'll end up in some city he'll absolutely hate. I've been remedying this by having him be a part of the list-making process. It's strange having to think of someone else's happiness when making this decision--but simultaneously awesome because my best friend will be coming with me (forgive the cheesiness... I'm in the process of writing the vows...)!

Awesome, ComeBackZinc! Thanks for the offer to answer questions; I'll definitely take you up on it!

Thanks, ComeBackZinc, for your response. Seriously. I think I was getting hung up on the general SoP advice, which tends to be directed at the sciences and not relevant to the humanities. And I do appreciate the note about rhet/comp's size. I think my irrational panic triggered some defensiveness, which led me to justify why I didn't have a dissertation topic in mind yet. In my current SOP, I explain my current interests, but I also stress that I'm excited to see how they overlap and discover new interests. I need to remember that it is only early April; I have plenty of time to freak out , so I should conserve my anxiety for the waiting period next year! I see you're in the Purdue program: PhD or MA? That is one of my top choices for PhD!

Hello everyone! I've been stalking this fora for a while, and now I'm coming out! I am applying for PhD programs in Rhetoric and Composition for Fall 2013. Because I'm a little bit anal, I've already started writing my SOP. I know it's early, but I wanted to give myself lots of time for revisions. Also, I'm getting married this summer, so as the big day approaches, my free time with start to disappear. So here I am! I'm curious about how specific I should be when describing what I hope to research at the PhD level. In the SOP fora, many posters have advised applicants to be as specific as possible about what they want to research. However, I'm not sure if that's applicable to the Rhet/Comp field. I spoke to my POI at my top choice school over Skype; when I asked what I should stress in my SOP, she replied that I should be clear that I'm open to new interests and discoveries. She said that students rarely ever write a dissertation on what they thought they would when they started the program. Her advice makes sense to me; after all, most rhet/comp professors I've talked to have a myriad of academic interests. However, she is just one professor. I'm curious about the expectations of the field as a whole. I have explained that I am interested in feminist disability studies, new media studies, and composition pedagogy, and specifically, how they overlap. In my SOP, I have detailed how I came to discover those fields and my past research in those areas. Honestly, I'm not sure what I want to do for a dissertation quite yet, and because there are very few undergrad and MA programs in Comp/Rhet, I think many of the PhD applicants probably aren't 100% sure either. Buuuuuuuuut I don't want to seem fickle or not ready for PhD study. I know it's only April, but I'm already ripping my hair out trying to figure out the right balance between mature and flexible. What do you think?