To Accept or Wait Another Year?

[francheese]

I was recently admitted to NCSU and I find their program favorable and I wouldn't mind moving to Raleigh, however, I am on the waiting list for a TA position (though the waiting list is quite short). Other than that, I have two rejections, one waiting list and a two more hanging out.  

 

I should preface my dilemma by saying I could have done better on my GREs and, in hindsight, my application as a whole. As you can tell I applied several places desperate for an acceptance due to my applications starting late and in the midst of big life changes. 

 

Anyways, I would love to go to NCSU if I knew I had a TA but otherwise... would it be worth it to wait another year?  

 

I am 23 and working in an unrelated field. I could take the time to explore other jobs related to my field, though I would be sorry to leave the money I am making in my job which is, consequently, helping me save for moving to Grad School.  

 

Thoughts?  Is anyone else contemplating waiting until next year to apply again and make their application stronger?

 

 

[katiegud]

I'm kind of in the same boat. I was accepted to 4 programs, but I have been rejected for funding by 3 of them! I still don't know about the fourth. If I don't get any funding, I'll defer for another year so I can try to get the money together and reapply for scholarships (and probably a few more programs) next year. If you aren't sure if you will get funding, I would say defer the acceptance. Then you can apply for other programs next year, but still have NCSU to attend if you don't get into somewhere that you would prefer to attend.

[ParanoidAndroid]

Keep in mind that some schools/programs only grant deferral of acceptances at their discretion. 

[milkman2500]

I applied to 5 programs, been accepted to 1 with funding and waiting for responses from the other 4. I'm older than you are and have been working for quite awhile making good money now. I did not send in any GRE scores to any schools, so I technically could reapply next year with GRE scores. For me I consider what my goals are for going: complete the Masters so I continue on to a PHD at specific schools I have in mind and eventually teach/research. The school I have been accepted to has a track record of graduates continuing on to PHD programs I am interested in. I'm currently setting up meetings to get a better idea of the probability of achieving my goals by attending this school.

 

At the end of the day, think about what you want to achieve and if your options this year get you there.

[Shake]

 I was in a similar position last year and really struggled with my decision. At the end I decided to defer and reapply this year.

The entire summer I was beating myself up and thinking that I should've sucked it up and go because who knew if I would even be admitted to any program again. Last year I applied to 4 programs. This year I initially applied to 12 programs and have been a little more on top of things. After applications went in and dedlines passed (February) I was contacted by at least 5 other profs in other programs thad I had contacted back in Sept/Oct. They were interested in my background and wanted to know if I was still interested in working with them. I decided to apply to 2 of those programs.

 

Now I have at least 8 admisions and funding offers at at least 4 places for now.

This is of course my story but in my book, waiting a year and strategizing better does pay off.

Just my two cents.

[francheese]

 I was in a similar position last year and really struggled with my decision. At the end I decided to defer and reapply this year.

The entire summer I was beating myself up and thinking that I should've sucked it up and go because who knew if I would even be admitted to any program again. Last year I applied to 4 programs. This year I initially applied to 12 programs and have been a little more on top of things. After applications went in and dedlines passed (February) I was contacted by at least 5 other profs in other programs thad I had contacted back in Sept/Oct. They were interested in my background and wanted to know if I was still interested in working with them. I decided to apply to 2 of those programs.

 

Now I have at least 8 admisions and funding offers at at least 4 places for now.

This is of course my story but in my book, waiting a year and strategizing better does pay off.

Just my two cents.

 

 

Thanks, this helps a lot.  How did you deal with recommendations?  This year I used professors from my alma mater and my current boss.  I am very grateful for their help and would have a difficult time asking them to renew their recommendations, especially when I will be three years out of my undergraduate.  

 

I was thinking of taking courses at a community college in a related field to give myself a leg up and seek other recommendations.  Did you find new recommendations or ask the same people to submit the following year?

[bsharpe269]

Thanks, this helps a lot.  How did you deal with recommendations?  This year I used professors from my alma mater and my current boss.  I am very grateful for their help and would have a difficult time asking them to renew their recommendations, especially when I will be three years out of my undergraduate.  

 

I was thinking of taking courses at a community college in a related field to give myself a leg up and seek other recommendations.  Did you find new recommendations or ask the same people to submit the following year?

 

 

I think it is fine to ask professors to resubmit next year. I mean they already wrote the letter so it wont be hard to submit that same letter again. I would just contact them after you make a decision and let them know that you didnt get any funded offers but are looking forward to improving your applicaiton and reapplying.

[Shake]

I agree with the previous poster. At least in my case, my recommenders did not seem to bother. I did go and meet each one in person.and explained the situation. They all were very understanding and agreed that maybe it was better to reapply than commiting to something financially risky. I also carefully warned them that this year I was going to apply to more schools and that I was sorry to burden them. But again, they were pretty nice about it. And as bsharpe269 says, they have already written the letter so it shouldn't be that much exxtra work for them.

 

If you are thinking of improving your resume and experience that is even better. In all honesty I haven't been able to add anything to my last year's resume as I planned but it does not seem to have hurt me that much.

 

All that been said, I also have to confess that today I'm having a huge case of self-questioning. Although I have great offers and I feel super blessed by the choices I have,  in my mind I'm still fixated with last year's program. Looking at something else I ended up running into those people's work and it is EXACTLY what I want to do in my ideal location. 
So I will refine my comment: If the research is 100% exactly what you want to do, where you want to do it and there are potential funding possibilities, reconsider. If you are just ok with it then I'd suggest to retry next year.

 

I hope that helped

PS: I might end up in Raleigh too after all!

[juilletmercredi]

Are these PhD programs?  If it's a PhD program, then definitely wait another year.  Don't attend a PhD program without some form of funding.

 

If it's an MA program, most MA programs in English/humanities fields are unfunded, so I would take that into consideration and decide whether you really want to go to NCSU and your chances of getting a TA position there.

[francheese]

Thanks for the advice, all.  Just to clarify, juilletmercredi, it is an MA program, so I appreciate your perspective on funding.  The TA position is important to me not only for the funding but the experience (but mostly the funding).  

 

Should I hold off this year, I would want to gain experience in my field.  Does anyone have any advice on internships, ect. that could advance my candidacy?  I am seriously considering a SIT TESOL certificate and work experience.

 

I might try posting on the Rhet/Comp pages about this too.  

 

Thanks again

Liz

[hj2012]

If you're interested in TESOL, you may consider teaching English abroad while obtaining your TESOL certificate. The money can be pretty good, and international experience might be helpful down the line.

 

Good luck!

[francheese]

If you're interested in TESOL, you may consider teaching English abroad while obtaining your TESOL certificate. The money can be pretty good, and international experience might be helpful down the line.

 

Good luck!

 

Thanks!  I'm finding many schools require an intermediate knowledge of a second language.  I have a decent proficiency in Italian that just needs some more work, so I hope these can go hand in hand.  

[hj2012]

Thanks!  I'm finding many schools require an intermediate knowledge of a second language.  I have a decent proficiency in Italian that just needs some more work, so I hope these can go hand in hand.  

 

In general, you won't be able to find a teaching position in Western Europe without prior experience / a TESOL cert in hand, and the money isn't quite as good as, say, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia. But yes, the boost in language proficiency will certainly be helpful, especially if you intend to move onto a PhD at some point.

[rockwell_]

I'm going to be 30 years old in two months and have had a lot of fun since my undergrad. So I'm incredibly tempted to try and defer an acceptance and have another year of work and travel while preparing a mind set and pocket-book. But really.... It's time to get to business!