Rhet/Comp and Waiting

[mrock]

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.

[andsoitgoes161]

Ah, i've been waiting for a thread like this to start! I'm applying to rhet/comp programs as well, and I too am sick of waiting! Most of my programs won't start notifying until the last week in February, but that is close enough that I'm starting to get a bit anxious. Not that I haven't been excruciatingly stressed out already We didn't apply to any of the same schools, but I look forward to seeing how things pan out for us both (and whoever else subsequently joins this thread!).

What are your basic research interests? I'm extremely interested in constitutive rhetoric and writerly ethos as "political" prose in the sense that craft is a reflection of the symbiosis between a writer and his/her world. These predilections tend somewhat toward sociolinguistics, but in a rhet/comp program I hope to learn more about theory and refine a pedagogy which will help students across the curricula to develop writing skills by seeing that techniques of the composition process can be as characteristic as the social frameworks of their authors--that not only "English majors" can write effectively. I'm also interested in how writing connects with an audience to achieve its purpose, more or less an argumentation/art of rhetoric approach, as well as critical theory. That was a less than stellar outline of my interests, but it generalizes them *somewhat* cogently I suppose. I'm hoping my SoP was much more eloquent!

[mrock]

I thought we needed a thread like this too. I just saw someone post a result for Madison, but my UW portal still says pending.

As far as interests, I plan to focus on the discursive configuration of Jewish education in Yeshivas. I want to identify issues within multiple discourse communities and the effects of literacy on marginalized voices and cultures. (writing pedagogy, multimodal and multilingual literacy practices, etc).

Best of luck to you as well

[andsoitgoes161]

Just saw an ASU Rhet/Comp/Linguistics admit on the survey. Congrats!

[mrock]

I see people are viewing this forum, so leave some comments. Us rhet/comp or comp/rhet (whatever you like to be called) deserve an active forum of peers. Please speak up friends.

[mrock]

Definite congrats to the ASU admit and all the MSU admits.

[ComeBackZinc]

When I applied last year, I heard (in the negative) from University of Illinois-Chicago quite early. That wasn't a surprise. I had a long conversation with Ralph Cintron (which was a thrill) and it became clear I wasn't what the department was looking for. Urbana-Champaign replied in mid-March, I believe. And, if you can believe it, Purdue (my dream program and where I currently attend) didn't let me know until April 7th. (Although the chair of my MA department knew before then.)

To the person applying to Rhode Island above, if you go I think you'll really like it. I got my MA there. It's a small department, but the university is very invested in it, and they'll be switching to a new building before too long. It's got a great group of dedicated faculty, They have a nice broad range of interests and of ages/places in their career, which is important.

[mrock]

I am very excited about the Rhode Island program too ComeBackZinc and I am glad to hear good things from their MA program. Rhode Island is high on my list and I like that it is a smaller program. Thank you for the info.

[ribeth]

I'm also very interested in Rhode Island's program, although I applied for the MA, not the PhD. I'm glad to hear URI was a great experience for you, ComeBackZinc--I got a good impression of the program from the website, but it's not the same as hearing from those who've actually attended.

I think the hardest part for me was finding MA programs that would let me take some solid rhet/comp classes. Hence why I only applied to 3 programs. =P

[ComeBackZinc]

It's a small, very tight-knit community. I miss many of the people there. If you're interested, the courses I took while there:

A two semester, 1.5 credit a semester introduction to professionalization class. I believe rhet/compers are no longer required to take it.

A teaching practicum.

Public writing and deliberative democracy. Lots of Habermas, publics formation, de Tocqueville, and public engagement.

History and Theory of Rhetoric

Seminar in Research Methodologies

Critical Theory

Seminar in Ecocriticism and Environmental Rhetoric

History and Theory of Composition Studies

and a independent study I set up in composition pedagogy research.

I also took a couple lit classes.

[mrock]

just received my MSU rejection in the mail. That is my first response so far. I hope it gets better from here.

[Scrantron]

I applied to MAs at Penn State, ECU, SDSU, DePaul, an Syracuse. I got accepted to Syracuse today, still waiting on PennState and SDSU. I don't feel confident about Penn State AT ALL and I still need to complete my ECU and DePaul apps. I plan on sending them out tomorrow. Good Luck to everyone in here!

[andsoitgoes161]

Just got my first rejection. Though I did not intend to go to this particular school had I been admitted (i.e. I'm not crushed), my worry over the rest of the schools to which I've applied proffering the same awful fate has been greatly exacerbated.

"Applicant has not been admitted due to academic background and/or experience not sufficiently aligned with program."

Cruel, cruel world. And a waste of fifty bucks.

Edited February 10, 2012 by andsoitgoes161

[mrock]

Hopefully we will begin to hear better news Andsoitgoes. If you don't mind me asking, what school had that line in their letter? It sounds somewhat harsh, but at least they gave some sort of reasoning. I promptly threw my MSU letter in the trash. Although, I still think MSU has a great program and would even apply there again if necessary.

[andsoitgoes161]

It was from Oklahoma State--a totally random application, and I'd be lying if I said I researched the program at all. I was sold on it simply being a straight rhet/comp PhD since there are so few of those programs in a part of the country I can picture myself living (I'm not big on the Midwest or east coast, but can apparently handle Stillwater, OK haha). It was probably a horrible fit, but I can't say the curtness of the rejection didn't sting. I found out through their campus portal, so that particular sentence was just in the box labelled "Admission Status." Eek. I hope these decisions aren't the beginning of a trend for us both!

Edited February 10, 2012 by andsoitgoes161

[ComeBackZinc]

I applied to MAs at Penn State, ECU, SDSU, DePaul, an Syracuse. I got accepted to Syracuse today, still waiting on PennState and SDSU. I don't feel confident about Penn State AT ALL and I still need to complete my ECU and DePaul apps. I plan on sending them out tomorrow. Good Luck to everyone in here!

Syracuse is a great program, congrats.

[gr1277]

I'm a new user to this forum, but have been looking around for helpful information for a few months. So far, I have heard back from two schools. The K-State English department sent me a letter stating they were recommending me for admission and would notify about GTA after all applications have been received (deadline was Feb 1 but I submitted mine late December). Today, I received a wait-list email from KU. This really disappointed me because I assume my top choice, Nebraska, will probably do the same if KU did. Any insight would be appreciated. I know a lot of people on this forum have applied to more prestigious schools, but I'd really just like to get into a decent FBS school.

[Jess Slentz]

I claim one of the Madison acceptances! I was SO excited on one hand as it is an amazing program and I would love the opportunity to work with Jim Brown, and yet kind of bummed out at the same time. 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. Out of all of the places that I applied to, Madision was the ONLY one that he did not interview at, so it happens to be the only one that is completely out of the picture. Cruel cruel world!! Why?!

I'm waitlisted at Louisville, which would be awesome for both of us! Gah!

Anyone in at Louisville and waitlisted at Madison want to trade? hehe :-)

Syracuse is an awesome program! If you end up going there definitely hit up Funk'N Waffles....underground specialty waffle joint that's a chill place to hang during the day and w/ awesome live music at night. Can't beat that!

Congrats to everyone on their acceptances so far! This waiting is terrible! A few more months, guys...just a few more months.

The upside is I've been so focused on the computer and my phone I've kind of forgotten it's winter in Rochester...went by so fast! So there's that. ;-)

[andsoitgoes161]

I'm a new user to this forum, but have been looking around for helpful information for a few months. So far, I have heard back from two schools. The K-State English department sent me a letter stating they were recommending me for admission and would notify about GTA after all applications have been received (deadline was Feb 1 but I submitted mine late December). Today, I received a wait-list email from KU. This really disappointed me because I assume my top choice, Nebraska, will probably do the same if KU did. Any insight would be appreciated. I know a lot of people on this forum have applied to more prestigious schools, but I'd really just like to get into a decent FBS school.

This is probably totally whacko, but by FBS are you referring to something football-related? If so, I love that forever. I feel like I am weird because I'm interested in a program simultaneously fitting my academic needs and offering some sort of viable social life/social outlet. I didn't apply to many "prestigious" programs either (though I have a few on my list), but I think all the ones I've applied are amazing in their own ways. I am also hoping to get an acceptance from Nebraska--I love the way that the program takes a very "create-your-own" approach.

Jess Sletz--congrats on your acceptance! I am sure it feels amazing to have gotten into Madison, and I hope something works out for you!

Edited February 10, 2012 by andsoitgoes161

[Jess Slentz]

Jess Sletz--congrats on your acceptance! I am sure it feels amazing to have gotten into Madison, and I hope something works out for you!

Thank you! Me too. It's been a crazy process!

What do you want to focus on? Have you checked out Louisville? It's a straight Rhet/Comp program, not really East Coast or Mid-West, the people are down to earth, the faculty is great, and the city is awesome! Lively, cultured, young and inexpensive. If you decide things don't progress as you hoped this year, I'd definitely recommend checking into them next year!

[andsoitgoes161]

Well...heh...the thing about my app process was that I wasn't sure I was definitively going to go through with applying to places this year until very late November (we're talking post-Thanksgiving November). I basically did my SoP, took the GRE, got my letter writers on board, and submitted apps in under two weeks, a huge stress at the time that has snowballed into an even greater mountain of anxiety because I'm sure my app would have been better if I wasn't such an idiot and started three months prior to deadlines like everyone else. As a result of being both geographically selective and bound to strict time cutoffs, I remember Louisville not being taken into consideration because their deadline had already passed--though I would have loved the opportunity to have applied there!

My interests are predominantly in rhetorical/critical theory, the art of rhetoric, the symbiosis between writer and his/her world and the writing style it produces, and in refining a pedagogy which will help students see how these play strategic roles in the composition process...kind of like, "Hey you're an XYZ major so you come with a set of linguistic values and structures, as well as a discrete composition goal--let's delve into those things and see how you might best connect with an audience and become the best writer possible for your particular field." This is, of course, a vague overview, but I guess it comes down to really, truly wanting to be a writing professor and helping students see we are all capable of writing effectively. How about you?

[gr1277]

This is probably totally whacko, but by FBS are you referring to something football-related? If so, I love that forever. I feel like I am weird because I'm interested in a program simultaneously fitting my academic needs and offering some sort of viable social life/social outlet. I didn't apply to many "prestigious" programs either (though I have a few on my list), but I think all the ones I've applied are amazing in their own ways. I am also hoping to get an acceptance from Nebraska--I love the way that the program takes a very "create-your-own" approach.

Jess Sletz--congrats on your acceptance! I am sure it feels amazing to have gotten into Madison, and I hope something works out for you!

Yes, FBS is a category of college football. Specifically, I'm interested in schools that are also BCS (Big 10, Big 12). I'm currently attending an FCS school (one that is very good), which is a ranking below FBS. College football is definitely a factor in my decision.

[ahhjudy]

Hi All,

I'm stopping in here to see if anyone who has applied to rhet/comp specialization at Arizona, Penn State, Miami (Ohio), or Purdue has heard anything yet. If you do or if you have, let me know! Don't think these schools have started notifying yet.

Edited February 11, 2012 by ahhjudy

[andsoitgoes161]

People have started to hear back from ASU. I emailed the English Graduate Coordinator there yesterday about a missing LoR in my file, and she was willing to take it and make sure the graduate school had it scanned and put it in my dossier--this makes me think that their review is probably not over, or at least that they haven't finalized a wait list.

I don't think the University of Arizona has started to notify yet. I haven't heard anything from them since an e-mail in January saying they were beginning app review. I didn't apply to the other three you're inquiring about, but I think it is safe to assume no one has started to hear from any of them since there's been no activity surrounding those schools/programs on the boards.

[ComeBackZinc]

Someone from Purdue has been notified and offered one of the fellowships. I can tell you that applications are still being reviewed and will be for awhile. In my cohort, acceptances were spread out between February and April.