Is my MA rhet & comp application going to be competitive?

[Cotton Joe]

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?

 

 

[klader]

It sounds like you have a good amount of experience under your belt already. What's your GPA? If it's on the higher end, then this paired with your existing activities puts you in a competitive position (especially at the MA level).

Regarding what else you could possibly do, is there any way for you to get some teaching experience at the college-level?  You've already got some secondary teaching experience, and college-level teaching experience could help even more. At my undergrad institution, for example, they offered an upper-level class where I served as a professor's undergrad TA. I helped the professor design classroom activities, responded to the students' weekly forum posts, helped lead class discussion, taught a couple classes on my own, held meetings with the students at the writing center, etc. It really helped me gain an understanding of what I'd be doing as a writing instructor and also helped bolster my application. 

Also, have you taken any rhet/comp courses? It might be beneficial for you to start learning about the field now. If you can't take a course in the field, maybe try reading up on it by leafing through the field's major journals to learn about how the field developed and has expanded (if you haven't learned about this already, that is).

That'll be helpful for when you craft your SoP because, if you can indicate that you understand and appreciate where the field has come from, it'll give you a good advantage (at least I'd imagine). The SoP is hard, but you should really focus on how each particular program can help you become the scholar/person you want to be. You definitely can tie in your WC experience and show how you're already devoted to helping others learn how to write, and depending on your specific research interests, you can also tie it in to work faculty are already doing and show how you would fit in with the department.

I don't know anything about those programs, unfortunately, but hopefully others can chime in.

Best of luck!

[Cotton Joe]

@klader Thanks for the advice! I have another question regarding my undergrad research that maybe you could help out with.

I have presented on two projects, both of which I personally designed and carried out. However, I don't think they are all that great or significant in any way. The first one I did was the first ever primary research project I have done by myself, and there were obvious and glaring issues with the methods and design, though I was invited to write my now published article based on the research. The second project was of slightly better design, but its focus is a bit contrary to more mainstream Writing Center studies, so I would be hesitant to use it as an example of my focus in graduate studies.

So what I'm asking is are admissions committees going to lambaste my crappy undergrad research for being crappy undergrad research, or will they be understanding that I was designing and writing those projects with no experience and little support? Should I mention that those were the first independent research projects I did, or should I try to play them up as some great achievement for my undergrad career?

[klader]

Actually, in my opinion, I feel like something that challenges the more mainstream aspects of WC studies could look well (if your arguments are solid and such)! A lot of scholarly writing challenges and complicates existing viewpoints, so if your project is able to demonstrate that and is written well, then I might consider using it (after revisions and advice from faculty, of course). For example, if you challenge the idea that non-directive tutoring is always better and offer a thoughtful argument filled with session observations, secondary sources, etc., I feel like that would show a.) Your understanding of the field and what people are saying about it and b.) Your ability to think critically and find faults or holes in existing research/scholarship. That's just one way to look at it, though.

I don't think your projects will be viewed in a negative light because, after all, you are coming out of undergrad and you did your own research projects while there. And if one of your projects was invited to be revised for publication (and was ultimately accepted), it may not be as "crappy" as you think it is

When it comes to your writing sample, you want to submit something that reflects your best writing and best critical thinking. If either of your projects can fit that bill, then I'd say to go ahead and use one of them! I don't think you necessarily have to play them up as anything too fancy - the admissions committee will recognize the merit of completing independent research projects. That's an important achievement for an undergraduate and will be useful because grad school definitely has more independent projects than undergrad programs.

What's most important is that your chosen sample offers them a taste of your best writing, shows the committee the kind of work you can do, and leaves them feeling impressed in some way (or, at least not UNimpressed). What was your feedback from professors on these projects? Was it positive? Do you have ideas on how to improve it/sophisticate it? Maybe you can use these projects as a base and re-work them a bit, perhaps fixing some of the methods and design (time permitting, of course).

[Cotton Joe]

Thanks again! Your posts are encouraging. The second project I mentioned is actually a challenge to non-directive tutoring, specifically through the lens of male attendance and experience in the Writing Center (turns out, sometimes guys just want you tell them how to do something instead of asking how they feel about minute details). So that's my concern there: both challenging the bread-and-butter of non-directive tutoring and doing it through the eyes of male students feels like a middle finger to the whole Writing Center world, and one I am nervous about expressing because I am just an undergrad.

What I plan to use for my writing sample won't be rhetoric and comp related; it will come from a term paper from the special topics master's course I am taking with my department head next semester. I will be taking that class specifically to get a feel for master's level study and to work closely with the head to create a strong writing sample, so I feel I will have that aspect covered.

The only feedback from professors I received on the projects came from my Writing Center director who sort of mentored me through the project. She offered to write me a letter of rec after I completed the article, so I assume that means she thought highly of it. Do you think a Writing Center director will be a good source for a letter of rec? She was the faculty supervisor for both of my research projects, so I suppose she has good insight into my research abilities/enthusiasm.

[klader]

Lucky guess on my part re: the challenge to non-directive tutoring!  Your project sounds interesting, and I think it offers a fresh perspective. Nothing to be embarrassed of, in my opinion! I've seen writing center folks challenge a lot of well-established norms when they present at conferences. Your project, I'm sure, is based on research, and with that, you are offering another take on something (as unpopular or uncommon as it may be). It also shows that you're not afraid to take a risk, which, as I'm actually learning about in one of my textbooks right now, is an important thing to learn  how to do when writing/teaching writing.

Sounds good to use a term paper from a graduate course, but will it be finished by the time you apply in the fall (i.e., will it be the final paper due in December, and are you going to be submitting your applications before that?)? I ask this because I originally planned on doing something similar but it backfired on me - I wanted to use my capstone paper as my writing sample, but I wasn't able to turn it in until December 18th-ish, and I needed to finish up half my applications before this since they required me to submit my application before my recommenders could upload their letters. Since most professors are on break between the time the semester gets out - Jan 1 (most of my deadlines), I had to get everything submitted in early Dec/Dec 15th-ish to give them time to upload their letters to all my schools, so I ended up not having time to submit my capstone paper. This is just something to consider if time will be sensitive to you!

And yeah, I totally think using a WC director is a good idea! I had mine write me a letter, too. I balanced my letters so that I had one professor each talk about my academics, teaching, and research. My WC director covered the research part since I presented at a few WC conferences, and I'd say yours can chat up your research as well since she supervised your research projects.