Well kids, it looks like I am now applying to grad school!
Today I met with the head of the M.A. program in English and it went swimmingly. I was very nervous going into because I was afraid I would either come off as dumb or not knowing what I was doing. Or that he would tell me I was too late or that they had to have my GRE scores before they admitted me.
And none of that happened.
I walked away feeling more confident in the decision and more anxious about applying because I really want to get in.
I would be getting my master’s in English with a focus on literature. I eventually want to teach at the college level, and I knew I would go to grad school eventually, but the current job situation has just pushed it up on my timeline.
Also, almost all of the M.A. students have a teaching assitantship where they teach 2 sections of freshman composition classes.
Even better? An assitanship means FREE grad school AND a paycheck. He said, for the 9 month contract, T.A.’s get paid pretty well (I don’t know if I should share the actual amount, and while it’s not going to make me rich, it’s more than I’m making now on top of the tuition waiver for the graduate classes.
I won’t be able to go to grad school right now without the assitantship, so I am really hoping it works out because I am excited about this opportunity and really want to get in.
So that’s what’s going on.
I have to work on my application, which looks pretty intense. I need to get 3 of my college professors to write a letter of recommendation. They want a letter of purpose, which I’m not really sure what that means or what I should write in it. And they want a 10 page writing sample. So I need to find an undergrad paper, tweak it, and use that. And I have a week.
So next week?
Be nice to me please. I haven’t written a college paper in a while and working on one might stress me out.
College instructor. Literature Master's student. Law school wife. Crazy kitten mom. Lover of wine, good food, and bad tv. 1.5 years to go and then the real world. Yikes. 
New Teacher. New {ish} Wife. 
Yikes, a 10 page paper? That brings back such bad college class memories. But if it’s what you want to do, it will be stressful for a week to get the application done, and then it will be out of your hands! I’m thinking of you! 🙂
Yay! I am so excited for you. I will be sending you lots of happy-good-luck thoughts next week! 🙂
Good luck! You can do it. 🙂
Good luck! You are going to kick that application’s ass!
That is so awesome!!! My bestie got her MA in English Lit and taught freshman and sophomore composition and lit classes. She freaking loved it. She is actually still teaching at the college level but is starting her PhD.
I am so excited for you!!
Yay! And you’ll rock it! I imagine it’ll be fun after the work drama. 🙂
I’d assume a letter of purpose is along the same lines as a personal statement. Basically a who are you and why do you want to join this program and what will you bring to it and what do you want out of it. It’s a good way for them to be able to tell that all your writing samples are from the same source (e.g., another way to check out your writing skillz and voice) and a way to set yourself apart from the rest of the applicants. At the bare minimum, make sure it’s written flawlessly. Then, if you can put in something nifty to make them remember you, do so – but don’t do something contrived to make yourself sound interesting. I used to work in admissions at my law school, and I can’t tell you how many people wrote about how their MIP experience made them understand the law and respect it and want to be a better person. As if getting an MIP is at all unique. Ugh.
Anyway, super excited for you!!
I’m so happy to know what’s up next for you. Crossing my fingers and hoping everything falls into place! 🙂