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erikmoorelaw

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About erikmoorelaw

  • Birthday 10/27/1978

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Kansas City, Missouri
  • Application Season
    2013 Fall
  • Program
    History

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  1. I am finishing up my second year as a PhD student at OU. I do not live on campus, but did check out the on-campus apartments when I originally toured the school. They seemed fairly nice and pretty inexpensive. I would have seriously considered it, but I was also coming to OU with a family. The space was too small for what I needed. As previous comments indicate, the cost of living in Norman is very low, but rent has been going up.
  2. I just went through the application process, and I think reaching out to potential advisors is really important. I emailed people I thought I would be working with should I be admitted, and I started with a limited list of schools. I introduced myself, my background, my MA advisor, and my research interests, and I asked if they thought I could be a good fit for that particular department and whether that particular professor would be willing to serve as a primary advisor. I received some responses that brushed me off and asked for more specific information, which I think comes from too many people sending out generic emails to the most popular programs. My responses to them showed that I was in fact serious about applying and had given it some though. I received a bunch of responses that told me the department was not likely a good fit, and a few responeses from professors who told me they were not in a position to take on more graduate students. I also received great recommendations of other programs, some of which I had not yet considered. A couple of these responses were very surprising because the situations seemed perfect to me, but there are many factors involved in finding a goodd match. I also received many enthusiastic responses encouraging me to apply, some of which turned into multiple email exchanges about the application process, research, or graduate student life in general. I was surprised at the number of times I was told to mention their name and my contact with them in my personal statement. I don't know what significance that has in the application package, but it was significant enough for people to tell me to do it. I was also surprised by the number of responses that discouraged me from applying. Whatever their reason for doing so did not much matter to me. It saved me an application fee and the trouble of applying to a program I had little shot at being admitted to. My communication with POIs started in late August, and, as my list of schools expanded based on responses I received and recommendations of other schools, I continued to reach out to people until early October. If these communications provide an applicant anything, they at least provide some peace of mind that you have some chance of being admitted. I don't think these communications were key to any offers of admission for me, but it was nice to hear back from and learn about programs I was excited about. However, POIs will probably remember if an applicant is not professional in the way they approach these pre-application communications.
  3. I earned my JD in 2004 and practiced law for seven years before returing to graduate school to pursue my PhD in history. I am using my legal training and experience now for legal history in U.S. foreign relations. Law school and history grad school are two very different animals with very different types of people. If you are not already aware of that, it is something to consider. The training received in law school has outstanding general applicability to graduate and professional work in history, among other fields, but I am not sure it is necessary for what you want to do. I am sure it would be helpful, though. Without question, a law degree opens up additional non-academic employment options to keep you working while you look for an academic job, if that is what your goal will be. I think the right history program and the right advisor would provide the training you are looking, though. Law school is just such a big undertaking and could be a demoralizing experience when combined with doctoral work if you do not ever intend on a career more directly related to the law. Then again, I am a bit jaded on the legal field. I did decide to leave it and pursue something I actually enjoy.
  4. I respect the rankings in that perception becomes reality. However, when discussing with faculty in my current school the doctoral programs to which I should apply, opinions of "rank" were all over the place. I got the impression that people generally have the same top 10 or top 20 and then schools seem to fall into tiers after that, but even those tiers get fuzzy and the ranking within the tiers gets even more imprecise. Grad students may be stunned to read this, but I am not sure a lot of history professors have the U.S. News and World Report memorized like we do. What I have been told by history professors from top 10 schools and bottom 100 schools is that the job applicants must distinguish themselves from the rest of the pile of CVs before a hiring committee. Committees want a reason to throw out applicants. A top school may help keep an applicant in the pile while a lower tier school may cause an applicant's CV to be tossed. After that, it's still a pile of CVs. The applicant must distinguish himself or herself on an individual basis and rise above the school label, whether that label is Ivy League or lower tier. No doubt, that process of distinguishing oneself is made more difficult without the Ivy League branding, and opportunities may come easier at first with that branding. But I have witnessed too many horrible job talks by the so-called Ivy League to lose hope in the compelling work being done by grad students at places like South Carolina, Temple, and Tulane. If you do great stuff, you do great stuff. We need to worry about that and not rankings that we have no control over.
  5. I received my rejection from Georgetown a few weeks ago.
  6. Thanks for looking into it. 10 days is better than 20 days, I suppose.
  7. I am still waiting on the University of Iowa, too. I am really hopeful that final word comes this week.
  8. What is the worst that can happen? If you seem crazy, maybe that causes someone to second guess an offer for admission and for good reason. Over the past two months, I politely contacted quite a few of the places to which I applied asking about time frames for decisions and they seemed nice and understanding in reply. At first I was just anxious to receive results, but lately I am having to juggle school schedule, work schedule, and campus visits, which is proving quite stressful. Having a general idea when I could expect the rest of my application decisions was pretty important in determining my travel plans. So, whether it seems like pestering or not, sometimes you just need to know some better information than the general February 15 to April 15 range.
  9. Anyone have any insight on the status of things at the University of Iowa?
  10. It is interesting reading the different perspectives regarding contacting POIs. I don't think it is critical for success in the application process, but I thought it was helpful for me. I contacted a lot of people, told them very briefly about myself and what I was looking for and asked if they thought their department would be a good fit and whether they were taking on any more doctoral students for advising. I received many emails expressing appreciation for my questions and for my interest in their department and many POIs told me I was doing the right thing. Many suggested contacting others within their department, ususally giving me specific names. I don't believe this guarantees admission, and I did not approach these inquiries as my ticket in. I simply did not want to waste money on fees on schools I did not have shot at getting into because of fit. Faculty members were very upfront when they did not think I would fit in well, and I was very happy for their honesty and told them so. Some people did not feel comfortable advising someone with my interests and some just did not want to take on more graduate students. Some just never responded. I made some great connections, and received some very good advice and suggestions in these responses. In fact, I applied to several schools that I had no interest in until I was pointed in their direction through this process of emailing POIs. Just as important, I crossed a lot schools off my list as a result of this process of reaching out. After I got all of my applications out, I followed up with those POIs of the schools to which I applied and thanked them for all their help in narrowing down my list of schools, let them know that I did in fact apply, and asked them to keep an eye out for my application. Most POIs told me to keep them informed about whether I did apply. So, I always approached it from the standpoint that they were helping me in this process. I was careful not to come off as looking for an inside track or unfair advantage. But, in the end, I don't think it matters. It was just gathering information for me. My application package is what it is.
  11. I am also waiting on Georgetown, and, I am sorry to say, am quite confident that results will not be sent out until next week. I hope I am wrong. I don't have any insider information about it. That just seems like the way things go in this process. And, for anyone interested, I have been told that the University of Colorado - Boulder is having the same meeting today to make decisions and that, if things go well, decisions will be sent out next week. I think this is reliable, so that makes two of my applications that will be decided upon today. All I can do is sit and wait. It makes for long weekend.
  12. No, you are not the only one. Vanderbilt rejected me as well.
  13. If I receive multiple offers, I am going to take my time and not start declining until I am absolutely certain. Once you say no, you can't take it back, and I always want to leave all of my options open. That said, there are those schools that will trump any other offer I receive on my list, so my decision will be pretty quick. I think it may just depend on what schools you have heard back from. I like the idea of freeing up space for others, though.
  14. Oklahoma admit here, for PhD focused on U.S.-Latin American relations. That was the first school I heard back from. And now I wait... and wait...
  15. Any info out there on Georgetown and where they are in the process? Someone mentioned on the Results Search board that decisions might be coming out this week.
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