Rhetoric and Composition PhD. Where did you apply?

[KenAnderson]

A new Rhet/Comp thread for 2013. Now the waiting begins! 

 

I am finishing my 2nd year in the M.A. English Rhet. & Comp. program at Portland State University and have PhD applications pending at:

 

1.) UC Irine

2.) University of Louisville

3.) UMass-Amherst

4.) University of Oregon

5.) Arizona

6.) Washington State

 

 

DECIDED not to apply to UCSB! No PhD funding and no Teaching Asst.!

Also Univ. of Washington Rhet.Comp. funding is unlikley for first year students!!

 

[This_madness]

I finished my BA in English and Italian last year. After deciding to take the year off, I applied to 8 programs.

 

-University of Nebraska-Lincoln (PhD)

-UMass-Amherst (MA/PhD)

-University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (MA/PhD)

-University of Washington (MA)

-University of Louisville (MA) 

-Penn State (MA)

-University of Rhode Island (MA)

-SUNY-Albany (PhD)

 

I considered applying to Northeastern's PhD program, but decided against it at the last minute. I don't really want to go there and, after a long application season, don't have the energy anymore.

 

Best of luck to everyone!

[ProfLorax]

Hello! I have a BA and an MA in Lit, and I'm making the switch to Rhet/Comp for the PhD. I've been teaching developmental writing, freshman comp, and reading for three years now at a community college. I love the CC system, but I'm eager to get back into writing and research alongside teaching. The schools I applied to should be in my signature. Good luck, ya'll!

[muchado]

After a BA and MA in Lit (finishing up right now), I'm super excited about making the switch to Rhet/Comp for the PhD. 

 

Virginia Tech

Carnegie Mellon University

Purdue University

University of Kentucky

University of Louisville

Texas Christian University

University of Texas - Austin

University of Houston

Florida State University

University of South Carolina

Louisiana State University

 

Good luck to everyone! I'm definitely hoping that we will all start getting news soon. 

[Eager]

My people, my people!  It is so good to hear from Rhet/Comp hopefuls.  We seem to be the minority.  I majored in English for my B.A. and have an MFA in Creative Writing.  I've been teaching freshman composition for six years and loving it!  Don't judge please, but I have applied to one program: The Graduate Center (NY).  Super excited about the program.  But alas, as I have said on other forums, I have no back up plans.  It is acceptance or bust! 

[YesPhDinHumanities]

Hey all,

 

Good to hear from comp/rhet peeps! It's so frustrating seeing all these science degrees popping up with early acceptances, isn't it? 

 

I have an MFA in poetry and a dozen years experience in Writing Centers (as tutor and then administrator). I've been working as a Writing Center Asst. Director at a small college for the last three years, where I've also been teaching first-year writing and our tutor preparation seminar. I'm largely going for comp, but I'm interested bridging worlds and bringing my interests in avant-guard poetics into composition work... So, basically programs will either eat me up or say, "no thank you!" Ha. At this point (having already gone through this with the MFA), I don't think I'll be surprised by anything that happens.

 

I applied to:

 

1) University of Pittsburgh (Comp. via Cultural and Critical Studies)

2) UNC Chapel Hill (Comp/Rhet) 

3) UMass, Amherst (Comp/Rhet)

4) Univ. of Maryland (Comp/Rhet)

5) NCState (Communication, Rhetoric, and Technology)

6) Univ. of Denver (Rhetoric and Theory, highly flexible dept, could dual focus in poetics)

7) SUNY Albany (where I could dual focus in poetics and pedagogy)

8) Buffalo (poetics, my one creative-only program).

[KenAnderson]

Okay...it has begun...

University of Louisville has started notifying! I think they email acceptance over several days. There are 4 postings here on the grad cafe , but I think 2 are duplicate postings! One was an internal admit. This is a great program.....stipend and fellowship at 20k. Highest stipend of all the Rhet.Comp programs.... One of my recommenders was on the faculty there and was Dr. Mattingly Phd dissertation advisor, but who knows if that will help my application.....

This is so very stressful! I had a good feeling with my applications, but have no confidence at the moment. Not sure what I will do if I come up with zero! Have not slept well the past two nights!!

Please post here too if you are accepted into a program! Best to everyone!

- Ken

Edited February 1, 2013 by KenAnderson

[muchado]

I got an offer from Louisville late last night via an email from the Director of Graduate Studies. I was absolutely not expecting to hear good news this early, nor did I think I had a chance at such a great school. I'm pretty sure I haven't stopped smiling all day. 

 

In addition to the acceptance, I was told that I was being nominated for a fellowship, so there's a chance that they are notifying in waves. 

 

Hope everyone else will hear good news soon!

[This_madness]

I got an email a while ago saying that Louisville's MA acceptances and fellowship offers won't be out until March. I was hoping they'd have them sooner, but that seems not to be the case. 

 

Congrats to those who've been accepted! Louisville is my one of my top choices. I hope to hear from them soon. 

[iExcelAtMicrosoftPuns]

So nice to see ya'll repping the rhet.

I'm thinking happy thoughts for you folks!

[KenAnderson]

Muchado:

CONGRATS! Tell us more!

Where did you get your MA from ? What was your M.A. GPA and your GRE Scores? MA focus? Research Interests? [Granted, GRE scores mean less for Rhet & Comp. applicants]   What faculty did you express you would like to work with?  What program is your first choice??

Edited February 1, 2013 by KenAnderson

[KenAnderson]

RE: LOUISVILLE

 

Yes, they are sending out notices over several days it seems. I emailed Karen H. last week and she said first round offers were starting the first week of Feb.  I would guess that internal admits would get the first notices....

Most of the other programs looks like late Feb and early March with notices.. Not sure I can wait that long.

Just checked email and also Louisville's website and nothing yet.....  

I need a glass of wine tonight and try to forget about all of this and just go to bed....  it is all out of our hands now, right? 

[KenAnderson]

Muchado, I saw your earlier post on the programs..  good choices.... I wonder if there really is such a thing as a bad program in Rhet and Comp??

UC Santa Barbara has a great program, BUT no TA positions and no funding!  It is in the Education Dept., which is the problem... had a nice phone chat a couple of months ago with Prof. Charles B. who heads up the program, but he acknowledge several times the lack of funding..... the word "caveat" came up  a lot! 

[muchado]

Thanks so much!

 

I feel like my stats are pretty average. I went to no-name private schools for my BA and MA (4.0 at both), have average GRE scores, and have presented at several conferences. My MA has been focused on literature, but I've been able to take two composition theory courses and write a comp-based thesis. 

 

Most of my research thus far has had to do with cultural tensions, both in rhetoric and in the composition classroom. I'm very interested in cultural identity and how that is shaped through language and writing. So, that's not broad at all. Haha. 

 

I really hope Louisville will be sending out more news next week. Like I said earlier, it seems that all the notifications have noted a fellowship nomination, so there's a chance they will send another wave of acceptances.

 

That being said - I'd love to hear more about what other people are interested in researching. And now that it's February, are there any schools that people are particularly excited/freaking out about hearing from this month? 

[ProfLorax]

What up, rhet/comp folks! I haven't heard anything back yet, but I haven't started totally freaking out yet. Just minor freaking out. I'm mostly anxious because my writing sample is from a lit seminar; it addresses writing and my interests directly, but it's definitely written through a lit perspective. So... we'll see!

 

My interests are feminist theory, disability studies, and writing pedagogy. I am interested in how our identities, particularly gender, sexual, racial, and ability identities, are shaped by writing (both in the classroom and out). I am also applying to a full-time writing/reading instructor position where I currently adjunct; because of the reading certificate requirement, the applicant pool will be much smaller than the average English instructor position. Plus, my school has a history of hiring from within, so I feel like I have a really awesome possible Plan B to pursue if nothing pans out this year. 

 

Congrats on the good news, ya'll! And I'm optimistic that we'll hear even more good news in the next few weeks!

[Eager]

I got an offer from Louisville late last night via an email from the Director of Graduate Studies. I was absolutely not expecting to hear good news this early, nor did I think I had a chance at such a great school. I'm pretty sure I haven't stopped smiling all day. 

 

In addition to the acceptance, I was told that I was being nominated for a fellowship, so there's a chance that they are notifying in waves. 

 

Hope everyone else will hear good news soon!

Congrats!  This is so exciting...We've been watching all the others get their acceptances, now it's time for the Rhet/comp people to get theirs!  Woo Hoo!

[KenAnderson]

Sursie, congratulations. Are you going to accept Louisville offer?

[Sursie]

Sursie, congratulations. Are you going to accept Louisville offer?

 

I still have 8 of 9 outstanding applications, so my decision-making process has not even begun. And though I've been nominated by the department for the fellowship, I won't have an official offer from the graduate school for several more weeks. I'd definitely like to know what my options are before I commit anywhere. But it feels great to have such an awesome offer!

[KenAnderson]

Sursie, Yes, but you were an internal admit at Louisville, and you know the faculty, and must have had some inclination they would accept you. Most internal applicants are admitted.

Too bad there is not a better system...something like med school placement..... Third party matches with the schools offered in the priority of your preference. All these multiple applications....acceptance, wait lists, and rejections, and it is not sorted out until late March or April!

And If one receives more than one acceptance, I would imagine a lot will be making decisions on the funding offered initially.

Edited February 4, 2013 by KenAnderson

[Pranayama]

Hey all, just joining this thread now. The schools applied to are in my signature. This is my first application season and I was pretty naive when I started the app process, so I am preparing myself for the worst.

 

My research interests include: the intersection of verbal/visual rhetorics (my BA was a dual degree in English Lit. and Communication Design), new media studies and multimodal pedagogy, writing across the curriculum, and writing center administration. 

 

Anyone else here apping to joint MA/PhD programs? And if so, are we reviewed alongside the applicants who already have MA's, as sort of second-tier applicants, or are they reviewing us separately?

[lewisthesamteenth]

Anyone apply to Berkeley's Rhetoric program?

[KenAnderson]

Stanford and Berkley....hmmmmm.......decided not to waste $100 application fee.......unless your undergrad or MA is from a top 15 school, perfect GRE scores,published, presented, and/ or have a vitae that borders on the unbelievable and also have an inside track with faculty , it seems that the odds are better playing the lottery.

[lewisthesamteenth]

C'est très gentil !

 

I try to assume a more positive attitude toward these things. Sure, statistically speaking, it's unlikely that any applicant, no matter how gilded his or her application or vitae or what-have-you may be, will be admitted to these programs. But, as the percentages admitted, despite being small, are in fact positive, then I've no reason to assume that my chances are nil.

 

Sounds to me that someone has caught a bit of the choler; temper your humors, s'il vous plaît.

 

And I'll re-iterate my inquiry: did anyone apply to Berkeley's Rhetoric program?

[muchado]

lewisthesamteenth - I'm in NY state right now, so I didn't apply farther west than Texas. I had enough options in that area, and I have ZERO desire to move across the entire country. I moved halfway across the country (Texas - New York) for my MA, and I'm not going further than that. Do you have any idea when your schools should start notifying? 

 

Pranayama - As far as I know, it seems that MA and BA students applying to PhD programs are considered at at the same time. I think it mostly comes down to strength of application, no matter your previous education. If you dig a little further in these forums, you might find better discussion of which students lean towards students who already have MAs and who prefer their PhD students right out of the BA. Personally, I'm glad that I ended up getting a general MA in Lit (not my original plan) as I think it's made me a better student and been a great experience, but you shouldn't count yourself out until it's over. 

[lewisthesamteenth]

Judging by history, I'd venture that I will be hearing back this week or next if I am granted admittance. No one on the forum has reported hearing from either of those programs, so my Hope maintains its feathers.