Rosenphelia Godot

Thanks, man! Re: Other things, the things I mentioned to Eatin' Biscuits in the earlier part of the post: Money, and the like.

Thanks so much! How did you afford it, Biscuits, if you don't mind me asking? Did you just take out more loans? And did you have a full-time job while you were getting your 2nd PhD? @DroptheBase: Thanks. Do you happen to know how your classmates did these things as well? Now, assuming I wanted to do astrochemistry, how would I find out what are the best schools for that?

Hey everybody. Nearly 3 years removed from college--graduating with a lib.arts degree. Since then, I've gotten tremendously into science. I read about it daily and even have various textbooks for scientific fields that I read. More specifically, I've been reading a lot about exoplanets. So, yeah, I really love space and space exploration but I don't have the mathemetical abilities for astrophysics, yet I would ideally want to pursue something involving space in some capacity. From reading all the science textbooks I have, seems like it'd be most realistic for me to do chemistry but I love space, that's the issue. Also, at 25 it'd be potential life-dooming if I messed it up. So what do you guys think I should do? Like I wouldn't know the first thing about going back to school as an adult. Obviously, I know I'd have to get a bachelor's degree first but I'm posting here because I'd be pursuing graduate study afterwards. Have any of you ever gone back to school after your initial run? Is it worth it? Thanks so much. Please don't be mean or judge me.

But how do I find out who the superstars are? Just because I like a particular article or book does not mean that they are a famous/great historian, no?

Ahh but I am not so good at standardized tests. There is a very good chance I could do worse. Well the problem is this: I do not mind having a specialization throughout grad school but I do not want to have to write about one thing forever for my whole career. If this is a foolish notion I suppose I can rid it from my mind but this is just the way I feel right now. Understood. Understood. I have a question concerning this but I will save it for the end. What is good assurance that one will be accepted? Are there statistics anywhere on the average #s of grad students that are not rejected? You are jealous? I am shocked because I honestly thought that a lot more people applying to grad school had a 4.0! I guess I was wrong. What was your GPA and what school did you get into, if you don't mind telling? I would always stay american. See what I wrote above: " I do not mind having a specialization throughout grad school but I do not want to have to write about one thing forever for my whole career. If this is a foolish notion I suppose I can rid it from my mind but this is just the way I feel right now." I have been polishing the research paper since August in anticipation for grad school and it is based on at least 50% primary sources. I am not going to say what proffs have said in the past but lets just say I am confident about it, but not arrogant. Yes I live on the eastern seaboard. But is it not possible for a good historian to work at an average program? How do I really know what is good and what is bad beyond name recognition? Yes proffs I have told have made attempts to dissuade me from the profession, just like Rabbis try to dissuade people from converting to Judaism to see if they are really committed. Funny you should say that because it was those Universities I least wanted to go to as I heard Washington D.C. is a crime ridden dump in all non-tourist areas. I have been preparing things since August, I just found the site a couple of days ago though and wanted to see what you all thought. If I understood their website correctly, Penn State puts people who are pursuing a phd into a masters program first and all applicants that make it get at least four years of funding. I will consider other programs but I have heard that MA programs are a waste of time since many Phd programs dont take any transfer credit for them and basically dont acknowledge that you even did them. Also, I wanted to say: 1. Where are there rankings for the sub-fields of history? The U.S. news and world report only lists 11 or so schools. U. Virginia is on the list. There are other schools on the list I don't have on my "to apply" list. Should I apply there despite a professor not explicitly telling me to apply there? This brings me to my 2nd question... 2. I read a post here that said it was impossible to get a job as a prof if you did not go to a school that was in the top 20. If I do not get into U. Virginia what should I do? It is the 20th overall for history, 8th in Modern U.S. history(according to US news). Thanks a lot guys!

OK my main area of interest is early-mid 20th century US history. The problem is that while I like this area a lot as of now, what if I realize another area is more interesting to me later? Regardless of this, what I want to know is the "best" programs for this field but also good and above average ones. I have made a preliminary list with a prof I know. Admittedly, he is rather old and even said he could be wrong as many of the people he knew are either dead or retired so...are these good? Boston U. Penn State University of Virginia UConn WashU American U. Are these OK? What other schools can you recommended. Here are my "numbers", the are not very good: 3.85 GPA with a 3.9 GPA in just history classes. So far, I have an A in all of the honors college courses in my school. I know I can get at least one very strong and one strong letters of recommendation(One from the assistant dean of my school's honors college and one from the academic director of the said college). While the academic director has a Phd in history the assistant dean does not. So I will need a letter from my history department but I feel only one prof. there can write a letter for me and it may not even be that good. My GRE scores are abysmal too 570V 520Q 5.0AW. I really believe in my writing sample though. Also, I am fortunate that I have done and am doing a good amount of research in my general area. I have done a short research paper last semester about the U.S. politics of lend-lease and am doing a thesis over this semester and next about Cordell Hull, Joseph Grew and Japan(I do not want to go into details now). Ok so what should I do? What are good programs and schools? Should I even waste my money on one Ivy? Thanks so much and don't be too harsh on me! I am so happy to have found a forum like this!