ProfLorax

I don't think judging other people's reproductive choices is a good life decision.

Do you have a writing sample with that grapples with an interesting research question and makes a clear intervention on a current critical conversation? That's the kind of research experience I think PhD programs are looking for.

I feel like a GradCafe member from a few years back had your same interests and happily attends University of Nevada, Reno.

Double post. Users can reply here:

I think I fixed it?

I'll confess: Wikipedia or Cliffnotes. I find it's helpful to read a bit about a Big Important text--its main ideas and contribution to the field as well as the conversations surrounding the text--before I jump in. That helps me critically engage with the Big Important Theory. I don't take the summary I read as Truth. In fact, thinking how I would write a summary--what I would emphasize, what I would demphasize, what I would critique-- and how my summary would differ from the one I read when I started is a fun (?) way to get through the text.

Right! I remember that feeling, especially since I was coming in as a rhetoric student... who had never studied rhetoric! I did read a few articles thought would be helpful, but then I spent my summer teaching, buying a house, moving across the country, settling in my new home, and then, finally, Netflix! But I can't stress this enough: you will have so many opportunities to build your CV once you're in grad school. This week alone, I submitted THREE proposals for the major conference in my field (facilitating a workshop, speaking on a panel, responding on a panel) and submitted a review for publication. That's potentially four new notches on my CV! In a week! Once you're immersed, so many openings pop up. The most important thing, I think, is to pay attention for those openings because you'll have to jump on them or even create them (I also just heard this week that I received funding for a reading group that I started!). Once you're in grad school, everything moves so fast. I think your plan of reading in a non-stressful way is great, but maybe also read some stuff for fun (yeah yeah I know we all love our field, but sometimes, a vampire sex novel really hits the spot) and veg on some TV. As someone who is a grad student and the mom of an infant, I can't stress this enough: take advantage of those rare, blissful moments when you have no deadlines to do something totally pointless, and therefore, totally wonderful.

Aw, shucks! But seriously, like dazedandbemused, it took me a long time before I started seeing seminar papers as beginnings rather than ends. I don't think I truly figured this out until last semester, when I had two options: turn in a mediocre paper I wrote in a day or turn in a stellar, overly ambitious paper that I wouldn't finish by my due date (the date the doc predicted I would give birth, not the paper deadline). I chose the former, but now I am revising it and getting ready to send it out. My former poetry professor used to tell us that a poem is never finished--merely abandoned. I would argue this is true for not just poetry but all writing. Hold that with you as you go through academia, and the pressure to produce brilliant writing all the time will slowly subside (slowly. very slowly).

Netflix.

Since this thread is no longer a productive conversation among several members, I'm gonna lock it. VirtualMessage and ComeBackZinc, feel free to continue your discussion over PM.

I think one trick is to move away from the seminar-papers-are-the-final-product mentality and toward the seminar-papers-are-just-the-beginning mentality. As you are focusing on one paper, keep some post-its or the Notes function on your phone open to jot down ideas that emerge. These will be the starting points for future projects. You can turn to those notes when, say, you're expanding a paper into an article or trying to come up with a conference proposal. So many ways for your class writing to evolve in graduate school, so there's less pressure to try to do everything in one paper!

Agreed with duran0. Take a breath! Enjoy! You likely missed all the deadlines for summer conferences (the deadlines are usually months and sometimes over a year in advance). Plus, as someone who rushed to present at a conference early in her MA program, lemme tell you, presenting a good seminar paper without being knee deep in the current conversations on your topic can lead to some awkward times during Q&A. Keep your eyes open for grad student conferences next year--they are a great place to practice!

WT: you had me until the end, when you seem to make a distinction between academics and HVAC: academics experience some happiness in their work, as opposed to those who are "tethered to a trade." My dad is also an HVAC guy. He never finished tenth grade, but there's a lot of intellectualism that goes into his work. He enjoys analyzing problems and figuring out solutions. He was just visiting me last week, and it really struck me on how we are similar: we are obsessed with our line of work, completely immersed in these unfamiliar languages, and ecstatic at the opportunity to unpack whatever challenge is starring at us. I took your post to mean that there's more esteem to our work because we find value in it; whereas, there's less to blue collar work because how could someone find value in that? Please let me know if I misinterpreted your post! Also, ComeBackZinc, I don't know if I have officially said this yet, but congrats on your job!

Agreed with CarolineKS! 75-80 hours a week is not required. During normal circumstances, I work 40 hours a week. Finals that goes up to 50-60. This semester, I'd say I work about 20 hours a week, and that's mostly reading when my infant daughter is napping (on me. Most of my comps studying will be done during baby cuddle times which is kinda awesome). The 75-80 hours a week thing? I feel like that's an expectation from the old vangaurd, the same crew that thought women academics shouldn't have kids before tenure because OMG kids will distract you from your research! That thinking still exists (academic moms are less likely to be promoted than academic dads), but at least in my experience, it's not as pervasive anymore.

Way to go, WT! The stars are aligning.

I'd be straight forward about the financial reasons. It's a very understandable reason, and it's good for programs to know they are missing out on good candidates because of a lack of funding. Something as simple as: "while I'm thrilled to have been accepted to your program, upon further reflection of my current financial situation, I have to decline your offer." Expand as needed!

My whole family has full medical through UMD! Grad students have access to the staff and faculty plans.

PM sent!

I 100% agree with this distinction! This question, what is the text doing, is ultimately what drew me to rhetoric; that, and like you, I really enjoyed teaching writing. I'm happy to share my SoP with you, so you can see how I discussed my transition. My strategy was to frame my former literary interests as rhetorical interests.

Greenmt: please do! For the time being, look into Takoma Park, MD. Great community with some green space, and I have heard that Montgomery County public schools are pretty good. There's loads to do with kids here!

Welcome to UMD! Let me know if you have any questions. I moved to DC (yup, I live in DC proper; it's only a twenty minute drive to campus) from California two summers ago with the hubs and our dog. My advice? If you have the money (I know, a big if there), pay movers to do the moving for you. Tell me more about this family caravan! Who does it entail? Kids? Pets?

As far as I know, transferring isn't really an option. That's why, when you look at grad program websites, there's no info about transferring. You would have to reapply to NYC schools and be considered alongside all the other applicants, and you'd likely have to start over. Just think about it: why would Columbia want to give someone its stamp who did most of their coursework elsewhere? Programs want to train their scholars from start to finish, which is why you'd likely have to start from scratch in a new program. Maybe you could transfer in a semester or two of coursework, but I can't imagine much more. The only other time I've heard of people transferring is akin to insider trading: an advisor gets a new job and brings her student(s) to the new program, or maybe, a professor goes out of his way to bring in a student he really wants to work with (I've never heard of the latter, but theoretically, it could happen).

My advice? Get to know your professors, take classes that sound interesting, and challenge yourself to write interesting final papers. And after that, make lots of friends, try different things, and enjoy. Undergrad is like nothing else in the world. Once you're done, you can never go back. So, as much as you can, enjoy. Oh! And study abroad if you can! This has nothing to do with grad school (though knowing a second or third language is always a good thing). I just wish I had studied aboard when I had the chance.

I'm smiling ear to ear right now! You deserve this. Andy agrees!

Email the graduate department ASAP and ask.