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So, following the trend of the comp lit & early modern threads, I figured I'd start a topic for the 2018 rhetoric & composition applicants. What are you interested in studying? Where did you apply? How are you handling waiting?

Thought some of y'all might be interested in the Rhetoric and Composition Programs Wiki. It is just starting out but is intended to make accessible programmatic information and GTA working conditions. If you're already collecting info about some of these programs your contributions would be helpful.

Hi, all – I apologize in advance if any of my questions are glaringly obvious, but I require gradcafe wisdom on submitting a multimedia essay to PhD programs in English literature and similar disciplines like cultural/media studies. As a point of reference, my essay examines the ideological edifice of two Steve Bannon documentaries, Torchbearer and Generation Zero, and draws on the theoretical framework of S. Žižek's The Sublime Object of Ideology. Such analysis requires that I embed clips from either film as textual evidence, and the platform I decided upon was WordPress, buying my own domain to give a little autonomy to the project. To start, how do different PhD programs deal with this type of submission? I'm sure disciplines like media studies have pretty clear-cut protocol for what I'm describing, but I'm not sure how English literature programs might differ, if at all, but they're my main point of interest here, so it'd help to receive as much knowledge as I can on the subject. Further, might there be an advantage to briefly describing relevant scenes in my essay, as Žižek so often does, in lieu of embedded clips? On the one hand, this move would streamline the complication by maintaining a purely textual essay; on the other hand, I can't possibly imagine paraphrasing a literary text, e.g. Ulysses, for an entire paper without losing rhetorical effect on some demonstrative level. (Good grief, I never thought I would ever align Joyce and Bannon in a metaphorical capacity – I think I may need an ice-cold shower, or perhaps a holy water blessing from Dr. Buck Mulligan himself.) If you're so inclined, I also have a few less-pressing questions: 1) Preferentially, is WordPress the best platform for a multimedia essay such as mine? 2) How does one formalize your page-count with embedded videos, or does this ultimately not matter as much as word-count when submitting to programs? 3) Submitted multimedia essays should preclude peripheral or paratextual content, like expository "About" tabs, right? Thanks everyone!

First time posting on here, so if I commit some type of taboo, sorry. I plan on applying to rhet/comp programs this fall, and I've been working on preparing my materials and such. My issue is deciding what to do for my writing sample. I have a 34 page piece that I am heavily attached to, and I really want to use it for my rhet/comp apps. I believe it shows my skills and my individuality the most out of all my papers, but the issue is the length. Most of the programs I am looking at applying to have a requirement.limit around 15 pages. I've been trying to find a way to cut it down, but I'm starting to realize that there is no way to revise that much out of the paper and maintain its original concepts and argument. I was told at some point that I could just take the first fifteen pages and state that it was an excerpt from a larger piece, but that seems like I might be shooting myself in the foot. Has anyone done this before? Is it something programs would accept? Basically, do I choose the piece that represents my writing (meaning either cut it down and suffer or submit an excerpt and risk it) or do I choose a piece that is a standard research paper with less personality?

Background: I am a rising senior at a small liberal arts satellite school in the southern US. I plan to start submitting applications to MA level Rhetoric and Composition programs in Fall 2017. I have three semesters of classes and one semester of student teaching for my education minor. My long term goal to pursue a PhD in Rhetoric and Composition, but I plan to take a few years off of graduate study after I complete the MA. My undergrad concentration is in Literature, but I want to pursue Rhetoric & Composition for several reasons: I want to teach and study pedagogy more than I want to write about literature, though I do enjoy writing about literature at times. I also think that Rhet/Comp is more employable outside of academia (am I wrong about this?). I also think that my education minor will be a good boost to my interest in teaching and pedagogy and, in conjunction with the Rhet/Comp MA, will set me up with a solid framework for further work in education and academia. Prospective Programs: So far, I have these schools which each offer a fully funded MA Rhet/Comp program in mind. In order of interest: University of Illinois, University of Georgia, University of Kentucky, University of Connecticut, and University of Alabama. These have been selected based on available funding, location, faculty, work experience offered, and graduate placement. Are these sensible choices for a Rhet/Comp MA? My resume thus far: One published article in a regional Writing Center studies peer-reviewed journal. One university research presentation, one regional Writing Center conference presentation, and one National Writing Center conference presentation (I won a travel grant from the national conference organization). I have two years of experience tutoring at a Writing Center. I have interned with one national literary journal and have produced one edition of my university's local literary journal. Next semester I will be taking a master's level course as an undergrad special topics course (I plan to use my term paper from this course as my writing sample for applications). I won a scholarship from my department for a CNF piece that I wrote. Before I graduate, I will have had one semester of secondary level student teaching experience. My concerns: Will this list alone be enough to be competitive at the institutions I listed above (if not at others)? I did most of these things in two semester last year, so what else can I do in the next semester before I start applying to make my resume stronger? How do I link all of these experiences together to make a strong SoP for Rhet/Comp studies?

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?

I thought I would start a thread for all of us that are applying specifically to rhet/comp programs. I am still waiting to hear back from any of the schools I applied to, but thanks to the results board, I know that I probably did not get into Michigan State :-( . Here are the other programs I applied to: Rhode Island, Milwaukee, Madison, Penn State, and Miami (Ohio). Best of luck to all and congrats to everyone that already got into their programs.

I received an offer from U of A yesterday for a place in their MA English program, with an RAship — after sleeping on it, I accepted this afternoon. (Although Alberta was more or less my top choice of all the programs I applied to, I felt a little impulsive accepting my first offer so soon in the process. But now that I have, what a relief.) My areas of interest are rhetoric and composition and medieval studies. Any takers for the other Alberta acceptances that have been posted? Other applicants to Canadian programs? Any alumni? Best of luck to everyone on their applications.

Hey rhet/comp people - has anyone else been invited to this recruitment weekend at MSU? -OR- Have you attended in the past? I'm trying to (a) perhaps touch base with people I might be meeting that weekend or ( get an idea from past attenders about what to expect/what this weekend "means." From what I gather, for some programs, it's basically a "You're in! Let's meet you" weekend, whereas for others it's an interview of the top candidates, and not a guarantee of acceptance/funding. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Hello fellow applicants to U of L's Rhet/comp program!!! I realize this is a longshot, but I figured it's worth a go. Here's my situation. My fiance is applying to his residency in anesthesiology this year, and I am applying for my PhD in Rhet/Comp. We have undergone this complicated process of trying to make our prospective programs match up and hope he gets interviews. The time for him to submit his match rank list is coming up shortly, in two weeks in fact. The way the match works, he only gets matched into one program, and the higher a program is on his list, the higher the chances of him matching there. He is largely basing his rank order list on my choice of PhD programs, and Louisville is by far, leaps and bounds, no competition my TOP choice. I got a lovely email back from Karen today saying that I'm "very high" on their waitlist, and she'll keep me posted as things change, but the problem is John won't rank Louisville high unless I'm accepted and he's got to make that decision soon! Aghk. I'm in a huge pickle here. So my heartfelt question/plea on my knees is this: If you have gotten a first-round offer from Louisville (congratulations btw!!) and know you will not be accepting it, I will love you forever and always if you were to tell them sooner rather than later. I'll even make you cookies (I make great cookies) or some other deliciousness and would be eternally grateful. Here's to hoping. :-) Jess :-)