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My kid just had a vehicle accident and this kind of brought things home with a bang. He's fine (just some minor scrapes and a bit of muscle strain), but his scooter is in many, many pieces. We live two hours away from him when there's no traffic. I left for grad school, so he did stay in his home community for college, where we have a large network of friends and acquaintances (no family). Luckily, my spouse was in town, and actually driving nearby when it occurred, so he was able to be on the scene in a few minutes. So, my advice? If you're new to an area, make an emergency plan. An, I ju

I'm so sorry to hear that your child was in an accident, but am very glad they are okay and not seriously injured. I honestly recommend EVERYONE carry around a few very important things in their wallet, on their person, at all times. It can be written on a blank business card or index card. Any thicker piece of paper will do: At the top of the card highlight it in lime green (or something distinguishable) and write MEDICAL (this part should be visible from its pocket in your wallet) Name, and emergency contact(s). Your DOB should be on an ID card anyways. Medical conditions (any/all

So I guess the time of year is starting again... === Undergrad Institution: (School or type of school, such as big state, lib arts, ivy, technical, foreign (what country?)... Overall Reputation in Biology?) Major(s): Minor(s): GPA in Major: Overall GPA: Position in Class: (No numbers needed, but are you top? near top? average? struggling?) Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority?) GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: V: W: TOEFL Total: (if applicable, otherwise delete this) Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any pub

Let's go back to the basic argument. You say that if all the spots are frequently filled in phase 1, then the school should do what.....? 1) the school should not actually accept any applications from outside the US? -- This results in a worse outcome than the current one since everyone loses. The school doesn't get exceptional international students and exceptional international students don't get a chance to attend. 2) refund application fees from applications outside the US if phase 1 fills all the spots? -- By this logic, the school should refund all fees from any students fr

If the program you're applying to specifically wants to know who you have gotten in contact with, it's in your best interest to get in contact with someone. If you feel worried about it, tell your advisor that this particular program requires or suggests it on the application itself (show them if necessary) and state that you understand the cold-email can be annoying but is perhaps a required irk of this particular program's admissions. See if your advisor has specific suggestions then, or just email this POI and explain your connection, your interest in the program, and that you'd initially b

Depends on the culture of your program. I wore a Darth Vader t-shirt and jean shorts to teach last Friday. Thursday, when I went to class, my t-shirt said, "Ask my about my AD/HD Highway to Hey a squirrel!" My Thursday class is a research methods course that grad students from several disciplines take every semester. There are two folks from the business school, one in public policy, and one in some profession blah blah blah that I didn't catch. The business school and professional blah blah blah wear formal business wear. Seriously, they're totally dressed to be an ADA on a Law & Orde

There are tons of programs which fit those really broad interests; I'm surprised you only found two! UCSF is going to be a stretch with that GPA. You will need stellar GRE scores and amazing recommendation letters. I'm not sure on if your research experience is going to be on the good side for UCSF or not. You're right that most students don't have publications going into their PhD. I had two in prep, but I was also almost done with a MS. I thought about applying to UCSF for a similar program, but they also required the subject GRE, and I decided my GPA and general GRE weren't going to cut it.

The main aspect that I have changed is my writing sample. My writing sample for last season was on Ethics (unrelated to my areas of interest). This time, the sample is on philosophy of logic. Other than that, you can see from my previous list that I was over ambitious, so I lowered my target. Also, I am going to spend more time on my statements and look deeper on how some professors' works are aligned with questions I am interested in. However, I still feel that I have not changed much from last time, and I am guessing that you feel somewhat the same because of your question. How about y

I'm sure some professors don't like getting emails from prospective students, but you need to figure out if your POIs are actually accepting students. I've heard on this forum that some programs say not to contact faculty, so in that case you wouldn't. Nearly all the programs I'm applying to explicitly stated on the department webpage that applicants should contact faculty of interest. Honestly, I'm shocked at how kind and generous nearly every person I emailed has been--and I emailed A LOT of scholars. Doing so helped me narrow down my list of potential schools--if none of the POIs were ac

I am attending a Leiterific MA program. I am also working on a new writing sample. And I will retake the GRE soon.

Consider this email: Or, Or, My argument is that all of these cases are ethical, standard practice and equivalent with the email you receive. Even if the program did not publish the 3.6 cutoff, or the preference for Biology degrees, or the fact that applicants prior to the deadline get priority (although they should indicate what the deadline is). There is nothing in this email that indicates any sort of wrongdoing. As for application fees in general, I think the main concern about collecting them in order to dissuade students from applying to 50+ schools is the bias against

You don't seem to be learning from the above responses. All PhD programs in history will be different, as will all MA programs. They will not all have the same length of time to degree, nor will they have the same teaching requirements or times. This is something that you seem to be having a hard time grasping, and it's an important basic to understand if you are interested in pursuing an advanced degree.

The email(s) from the OP have done nothing to demonstrate that there were any international students who did not get a review. As to why the application fee is for processing and not a "meaningful" review- it's who it pays. The processing is done by a full time employee who takes, sorts, collates and checks application packages. Their salary is largely covered by the application fees. The "meaningful" review is done by a committee of faculty who receive no compensation for reviewing your applications. If your application was received, processed, entered into the system, sor

Yeah, good question. I'm not sure whether app fees in general are ethical. You could make the argument that by having an app fee, you control the number of applications you get. Otherwise everyone would apply everywhere and it would put a strain on the admissions committees. But I think $100 is too high, and introduces a bias against lower SES applicants. I know a lot of schools will waive the fee for low-income applicants, but that's extra paperwork and could still sway such applicants to not apply at all. Putting an "international" label on the envelope and then throwing it in the trash

Yeah that's what I'm saying. I don't think there is any important distinction between the application being processed and then not reviewed and it not even being processed. Either way, the acceptance probability is 0.

Again, you're implying that the grad school isn't at fault because they in fact did review everybody's application. But that's not what we're arguing. The question is whether it is unethical for a grad school to accept $100 then drop your unopened envelope in the trash (which the OP's e-mail indicates happens at least some of the time). Poll 1,000 non-academics and you might have one person say it's ethical. The issue of "processing" is unimportant unless processing involves some sort of evaluation, i.e. looking at test scores, and in that case the application actually has been reviewed.

Contact the admissions office. They are the ones who will give you the best answer.

Okay, so you at least concede that "you would have a right to be upset" which is close enough to "it is unethical" for me. Here is the evidence that has happened here: Hi X, Thank you for your patience. We complete reviews, interviews, and admissions for applicants within the U.S. borders first. We then review external applicants. Frequently, this first phase fills the slots available. I will email you when a decision is made. Thank you for your interest in our program. X

They don't care as long as they get the scores by the deadline.

History is an interpretative and discursive (in the sense of discourse, not rambling) field. The first thing a professional historian has to learn how to do is "converse" with other works in his area of specialty. They have to learn how to critique and synthesize other historical narratives as well as incorporate them in his own. In the most of the classes I took at my masters program we would write a longer (12-16 page) historiographical essay that summarizes and critiques the major works(what kind of sources do they use, what kinds of frameworks do they use for interpreting those sources

If I were in the OPs shoes, I'd probably be upset, too. However it seems that the OP is more upset about not getting into his/her safety school than anything. Based on the few snippets of evidence provided, it seems probable that Madison has a preference for on-U.S.-soil applicants because of the weather associated with the upper Midwest during the time of the year they hold interviews. The potential for cancelled flights is high. It is simply easier for someone within the U.S. to make necessary changes to travel if needed (inclement weather). International travel will not be as easy.

Hey mrsmithut! Which program did you end up picking?

I'm just starting the program, but all of the evidence I have so far indicates that the students are more than prepared for the job market. The climate here is absolutely amazing. I've been in a lot of different department atmospheres, and this is one of the most friendly places I've been.

I have a scribe who follows me around and takes dictation.

From my understanding, an applicant's academic record is not just about their numerical GPA, but also about the composition of that GPA (difficulty of coursework, relevant trends in grades, etc). While of course an academic committee would prefer immaculate grades every semester, the next best thing is for the applicant to show a major upswing in motivation and grades before graduation, giving the admissions committee some inkling as to the student's true ability to perform at the highest levels. I am not privy to your complete application profile, but if the elision of final year grades did

Don't pad your CV, especially with irrelevant information. It is nice that you were in a choir, but the committee will see that and think "s/he is grasping at straws here" instead of "oh how nice, s/he can sing." Everyone knows what padding looks like, so its better just to leave it off and give only relevant information. Similarly, if your previous written work is non-academic, I would leave it off. It doesn't help, and could definitely hurt.

SMH.

Adam, please feel free to PM me about this...happy to share my perspective inasmuch as I have a broader experience than some of the other posters here. Keneisha's point is well taken. Gradytrip's is the usual mantra. Much of your decision should be based on what you ultimately want to do and how much debt you want to incur.

The verdict is in: Grad Cafe has no problem with the prospect of an international student spending many hours on an application and paying $100 and having zero probability of acceptance.

I'd say this happens at a lot of schools they just aren't up front about it....if their students are paid by grants or certain other methods, then you must be a citizen to receive these funds..also with international students you have to deal with visa issues and any number of other things. As an American if I choose to apply abroad, I assume I would be at the bottom of the list as I should be... I'm a bit confused as to why people don't have the same mentality when it comes to U.S schools....Heck U.S students face this when applying to certain schools out of state...