General Anxiety/ Thank you from a long time lurker

[klader]

This is an interesting discussion! 

Fwiw, I'm in rhet/comp, which usually requires you to apply for and earn your MA first/possibly separately and then apply for the PhD (either at your MA institution or another). There are some BA - PhD programs (I'm thinking of Penn State and Ohio State), but most all people I know in the field earn their MA and PhD separately (and at separate institutions, though some stay with their MA institution). So, that's something to consider, too. I'm a first-year MA in classes with second -year MAs, first-year PhDs, and second-year PhDs. Yes, we're all at different points in our graduate education, but we read the same stuff, talk about the same things, and are held to the same standards. I like it, really, because even though it's damn intimidating, they push me to be better and to work harder. 

Re: cohort, my institution groups all incoming students (in every concentration) who are new to the university in a practicum sequence, so we're all in a cohort and are very close. The ones who started their PhDs after just finishing their MAs at this institution don't feel like my cohort because they were already there (and because I only see them in seminars whereas I see the others in practicum, too). There is one person who came back for the PhD after previously finishing the MA at this institution, so I consider them to be in my cohort since they can relate to us adjusting ourselves to grad school. 

I definitely agree there's a difference in MA and PhD SoPs. I had no idea what I was talking about in my MA app last year, really. I mean, I knew my field decent enough and had some VERY general research interests, but I would have been the laughing stock of PhD apps if I had done it because my immaturity in the field really showed (even though I arguably had more experience with rhet/comp than is standard). I felt scared during wait time, too, and just stopped thinking about it. I busied myself with my last semester of undergrad and had fun because, hey, the apps were in and my grades didn't really matter as much.

What's done is done, and what will come will come. Hang in there! 

Edited January 4, 2017 by klader