A returning student on GWPA-L asked for a list of the “best” PhD programs in Rhet/Comp. Instead of posting one, I gave him the following Pick-Yer-Own-PhD-Program Plan, which I compiled during and immediately after my search.

Just to hedge your bets, you might as well get a broad view of what’s out there. Visit Doctoral Consortium of Rhetoric and Composition as well as Derek Mueller’s Frappr map.

There will be some programs that you can cross off easily because they’re far from what you’d be interested in. Then you can start asking yourself the finer questions about the ones that are left:

• What is the program? Is it a rhet/comp PhD, a PhD with a strong tech comm focus, an “English” PhD with a few comp courses, a teaching-of-English PhD?
• Who are their core faculty? Have you heard of them? Are they being published? Where? Are they presenting at conferences?
• Are their faculty studying things you’d be interested in studying? If you haven’t defined interests yet, you’ll start defining them as you browse. Certain areas of study will resonate with you.
• Does the program offer courses you’d be interested in taking? You can find a course schedule for the next couple of semesters on most university websites if you dig around long enough.
• Do they offer administrative work? Many grad programs give you opportunities to be on committees and work with WAC and undergrad comp programs, or to organize conferences.
• What kind of financial assistance do they offer? Full tuition waiver and teaching stipend for everyone? Competitive funding? None? Full funding for only a couple of years?
• If they pay a stipend for teaching, how much is it? How well does it match up with the cost of living in the area?
• How many courses will you be asked to teach per semester? How many during your dissertation? Some universities say none, some say one, some say more. That makes a big difference.
• What’s the cap on the courses you’ll teach? Could be 15, could be 30.
• What kinds of courses do PhD students get to teach?
  If you don’t teach, what sort of GA/RA work is available?
• What are the possibilities for summer work?
• Does the university offer health insurance to all PhD students/TAs/GAs? If not, add a grand or more to the annual cost of living.
• Does the program offer travel funding for conferences? How much?
• Are the program requirements distracting? Some programs’ literature course requirements are basically functionless relics of composition’s historically inferior status to literature; others (such as those of many of the Illinois schools) are more useful components of integrated English Studies programs. Some programs don’t require any lit courses.
• Similar considerations for foreign language. How intensive is the requirement and does it seem integrated or simply tacked on?
• What are the details of the exams and dissertation? What’s the time frame for these?
• Will the program allow you to enroll part time, in absentia, or evenings only, if that’s what you need?
• Can you get into the program, given your academic background? Some schools give more weight to GRE scores, some to grades. Almost all rely heavily on the personal statement and sample papers.
• What is their placement record? Most good PhD programs in rhet/comp are pretty close to 100% placement into tenure-track jobs.
• Does any of this information appear to be deliberately avoided or buried as you browse a program’s website? If so, that might be cause for concern.
• Is the university located where you could see yourself living for the next four years or more?

This will give you a narrower group of candidates. Then it’s time to start finding people who know more about the particular programs. Current and recent students will have valuable insight, though they’re usually biased toward their program. The best resource is experienced faculty who are not directly affiliated with any of your prospective choices but who have been around the rhet/comp “scene” for awhile. From them you can find out more about the following:

• Universities that have good people but don’t really have much of a program.
• Universities that have a good program but are short on people.
• Universities that have people and a program but are historically short on money.
• Universities that have all of the above but who don’t seem to have the attitude you’re looking for—too many arrogant or combative students or faculty will make for a miserable experience, no matter how strong the program is.
• Universities that have recently undergone a big change (in program, people or status) that isn’t reflected on the website or printed documents.

After doing this, you might find yourself adding schools back onto your list that you’d previously removed. But you’ll have good reasons for doing so.

What should I add to this?