crom11217

These are all great responses, thanks so much. I realize that a lot of what I hear about the job market, and a lot of what I want to know, can only be known in vague or unreliable ways. So these tips are useful for the year ahead.

Hi all. So, I'll be on the job market in about a year's time, and I'm starting to prepare job application materials and do a little planning. I notice that in my conversations with more advanced peers (especially people currently or recently on the job market), they always seem to have a good sense of whether the market for our discipline (history) is "much stronger than last year" or "really bad" or whatever. How does one even get a sense of these things beyond hearing just hearing other people's impressions? All I ever hear is the doom and gloom about the humanities job market. I can look on the job listings from the Chronicle, my main academic association, etc, but do people actually count up postings from each year and compare? Are there any websites where I can find this kind of data? Ultimately I guess it doesn't matter that much - I'm going to be applying for these jobs anyway. But it just makes me feel a bit under-professionalized to feel that I can't speak confidently about how the job market in my field is doing, how it's changing, etc. All I know is that it's bad, and it's difficult to get a good job. Thanks!

Hi all. I'm starting at the CUNY Grad Center in the fall as a PhD candidate (history) and i've been hearing all about the Inter-University Doctoral Consortium here in NYC. It looks all nice on paper (http://gsas.nyu.edu/page/grad.scholarlyprograms.interuniversitydoctoralconsortium.html)... after the first year, you can cross register at other NYC-area schools' classes for full credit. They also mention that you can get library access, but there's not much info on that. I'm wondering if anyone has had any experience using the Consortium. Are you allowed to take language classes (that are appropriate for your area of study)? Do you get library access and privileges for schools you cross-register at? Is the bureaucracy painful? I guess I'm just skeptical! But I shouldn't be, it sounds like a great setup! Thanks!

Checked my spam folder on a whim, and found an email from OSU History Dept. Grad Studies Committee Chair from Monday saying that i had been waitlisted... 300 applicants for 20 spots. Oh well!

Yeah, I'm in the same boat - not a peep yet. I'm thinking if I haven't heard anything from my POI yet then it's bad news, but you never know...

Haha ok, thanks for letting me know - sounds like I wasn't picked out for funding, at least at this stage. A strategic omission of funding info on their part, let's call it that. We'll see what happens.

I see... mine didn't have any mention of it. Maybe because it was from the dept and not from the Graduate School? They said this after congratulating me on my acceptance: "The graduate school will review our decision and issue you a formal acceptance letter in the next week or so." Maybe I will find out then?

I got an email saying I was accepted to MAAS at Georgetown, but it didn't say anything about funding at all... how did you guys find out about your funding?

CONGRATS! Did the email come from the Dept, or a Dept director, or a specific prof? I am eagerly waiting to hear back about the same prgm but biting my nails more than ever!! Thanks!