Notker the Stammerer

I'm currently researching archival studies programs for next year, and I noticed that the University of British Columbia's Masters in Archival Studies degree doesn't appear to be accredited by the ALA. However, their MSLIS program is accredited. This seems odd to me, since UBC is a highly regarded university and I've only heard good things about their iSchool. Have I overlooked something, or is only the MSLIS degree accredited? Most archivist job postings require ALA accreditation, so I would need to apply to their MSLIS program with a concentration in archival studies rather than the Masters in Archival Studies program if I actually want to be employed? I'm at the beginning of researching my options, so apologies if I've overlooked something or am overstating the importance of ALA accreditation.

You're applying for an English program, and no one will care about your quantitative score. They probably won't even look at it. Your essay score is perfect (congratulations, BTW), and your verbal score is...good? I don't know, it's certainly not bad. Your SOP, writing sample, and recommendation letters are far more important than any part of the GRE, anyway. Fuck math.

How does one find out which programs have a zero job placement rate? Or are otherwise terrible?

I haven't the slightest idea. He's never responded to my emails or phone calls. I'm currently overseas,and have been for the past year, so office visits weren't possible.

Definitely go see your him in person. But don't assume that just because a professsor agreed to write a letter that he will. Mine didn't. Almost $1000 in testing, application fees, etc. thrown down the drain, which is of course minor compared to the face that I won't be going to grad school this fall, if ever.

I'm in the same boat. One out of three has been remarkably uncommunicative. He agreed to write the letters, so surely he will...right? Do professors ever agree to write a letter and simply not follow through?

I'm an American considering applying to a couple of Canadian universities (University of Toronto and Queen's) and I'm wondering if anyone has any first hand experience with the process. I noticed that the University of Toronto asks for a research proposal, while Queen's wants a research statement. Are those the same thing? How much are you tied to these proposals? Unlike UK universities that require a research proposal for admittance, there's going to be at least a year of classes to go through before the hard work begins on writing a thesis, so I'm wondering if this is just an exercise to determine whether you're capable of articulating a research project in your chosen field rather than something you're actually bound to.

Aargh. I'm ironing out my SOP right now, and it's just aggravating. There is so much conflicting advice all over the internet about this, and it's driving me crazy. The fact that every program and every university has different expectations makes this so much more complicated, and the conflation of terms is also bothersome. A statement of purpose is not the same thing as a personal statement, which is not the same thing as a research proposal. Except when it is. I like Notre Dame's approach of having two separate requirements: a personal statement and a statement of purpose. Twice the work, but at least I know that the personal statement should be, um, personal, and the statement of purpose can be more academic and focused on my research interests and professional goals. And I know that if I apply to a Canadian or British university, my research proposal is just that: a research proposal. As it is now, I don't like the change of tone between the more academic research side of the SOP, and the more personal paragraph where I actually try to not bore my audience to death. Hell, I'm still not even clear if there should by any personal aspect to the SOP, or if it should just be focused on my research interests. This is more of a rant than anything, but if anyone has any advice about balancing the academic and personal sides of an SOP, I'd be happy to take suggestions.

They're fairly unrelated: different time period, different nation, same general cultural phenomenon. You're no doubt correct, but I'm irritated by the attitude that interests outside of your primary field automatically signifies being uncommitted. The atomization of history is something that I disagree with in a larger sense. I'm not convinced the future of the field is best served by professors whose only interest is labor relations between Episcopalian mill workers and their Scottish employers in New Haven from 1747-1751.

When writing my statement of purpose, should I stick to my primary research interests, or can I also discuss my secondary field? I'm considering adding a paragraph on my secondary field because it's what my master's thesis was about, and only tangentially related to my primary field.

It took three weeks for me to hear back from one of my recommenders, who happily agreed to write me a recommendation letter. I had already emailed a fourth professor (who probably barely remembers me, if at all) before she finally got back to me.

What about if you transferred credit from one university to another? The course information from my previous school is on my current school's transcript, so it seems silly to go through the trouble of trying to get a transcript from a university I haven't had any contact with for 10 years.

I feel like a moron for asking this, but what exactly does "Early Modern Global (Europe & South Asia) mean? That's one of the four fields Penn State is accepting admission for, according to their website. Does that mean that they want students of early modern European OR early modern South Asian history, or the history of relations between early modern Europe and early modern South Asia? If you're just studying early modern Europe or early modern South Asia, is that really global history?

You've got time, just make sure that you do well in your courses. Also, don't forget to keep in touch with your professors. This is very important. Go to their office hours, always participate in class discussions, etc. They're the ones who are going to have to write you letters of recommendation to get into graduate school, which are generally more important than GPA. They can't write you a good letter if they don't know who you are. BTW, I stumbled along miserably in a business undergraduate program before I started my master's in history. I had a 1.75 GPA my first semester, and I only went to school part-time for years while I was working. Not everyone takes the same path to graduate school. You're far from being the only one.

Haha, yes, three different professors. I could call, but if they'd rather not write me a letter of recommendation, I don't want to harass them.