History Time

I was speaking with a family friend a few months ago who suggested I might return to academia to work on an MPA, and that the WWS or HKS might be a good home for me. He’s a well-respected Poli-Sci prof. I have a B.A. and M.A. in History. I got okay grades during undergrad at what is more or less a second-rate party school in the Midwest, but was able to parlay that into an M.A. at UConn and did well there. Not bad, I suppose, given the circumstances. For the past five years I’ve worked in federal and state government, and currently work as a policy analyst at a small lobbying firm in the Midwest. I also serve on one of my city’s Community Councils (elected). Let’s put aside the fact the guy might have been blowing smoke up my ass and entertain the idea that I would be accepted, complete my work, and graduate. I have a few basic questions about job prospects for those of you who have completed or are currently working through a degree at the WWS, HKS, or others. I’m really wondering if this is something worthwhile, considering I already have a foothold established in state politics in the Midwest. Would I be committed to throwing that out, and starting fresh working in DC or elsewhere on the east coast? What are your experiences looking for jobs? If you're still in school, what are your career ambitions? Any information would be helpful. Thanks for reading.

115 pages later, it's all done!

One of my LOR writers is a JHU grad and he has nothing but good things to say about his time there. Best of luck and congratulations.

I finally accepted UConn's offer. Riverside still hasn't made an admission decision even though I was specifically told I would hear by the 15th. Oh well, just wish I would have known they would do this so I could have saved my money.

I will be doing that tonight with the rest of my drumline staff The high school (my old high school) drumline I teach won the Minnesota circuit championships in their first year of competition this weekend.

Well, I spoke with two of my three LOR writers today about my UConn/IL State dilemma. Both of them told me if they were in my position they would take UConn's offer. One prof is about as brutally honest as they come and told me outright that I would be crazy to turn down the opportunity to go to UConn. The other is a very passive and kind person who usually tip-toes around tough issues but told me that if he were in my position he would go to UConn. Both also said that going to Illinois State would detract from the likelihood of getting into a great PhD program.

MA for both

No departmental funding from UConn. Thing is, there is the possibility of three GA positions at UConn that are non-departmental. All offer full tuition+non-specified stipend. I won't hear back from them until after April 15th. I'm really afraid I will get one of them after I (hypothetically) commit to Illinois State and be kicking myself for two years in nowhere Illinois.

Illinois State offered me full tuition and a 12k/yr GA position with 10 days left to decision day. A part of me wants to take it, but a big part of me says a more prestigious university is better for my future.

Still waiting on UCR right now, but it's looking more and more like UConn will be my final destination, and I have no problem with that

Well apparently UCSD forgot about my application. I got the form email at 1:55am tonight. Real professional.

I suppose it depends on the professor. My upper division undergrad courses were all writing, thankfully.

I took several classes as an undergrad that were small seminars that had both grad and undergrad in them. The only difference was grad students had to write an 8-page paper at the end of the semester in addition to the weekly writings. These classes were what convinced me to pursue graduate study. I would highly recommend taking them because if you perform well in them, your professor will be able to write about that in a letter of recommendation

I finally said screw it and called UCSD and UCR since neither place responded to my emails 2 weeks ago. UCR said they're still deciding MA apps and that I'll get an email by April 15th and the lady at UCSD sounded very surprised that I hadn't heard anything. She said I'd get an email today or tomorrow. I wonder what that means. In other news, I found out that several places at UConn (writing center, etc.) are looking for Graduate Assistants that offer full tuition+stipend. This is HUGE since my MA is unfunded.

I like Jean-Paul Sartre. Nausea was one of my favorite assigned readings of all time.

This is precisely what I did. It's very tedious and frustrating--especially when the faculty pages are cumbersome and require a lot of clicking--but it works.

I went to an underfunded non-flagship state school that no one has heard of, got poor grades for two years, switched majors, had no content advisor for my senior thesis, and got average scores on my GRE. BUT, I worked my ass off the last two years and wrote a writing sample (thesis) and SOP that were solid. I visited archives for research, joined clubs/societies, and everything in between. If you haven't already, start studying for the GRE verbal and establish good relationships with your profs for LORs. Knock your SOP and writing sample out of the park and you will do fine. My plan is the same as yours--good MA program to launch me to a great PhD program. I was accepted into UConn's MA program for this coming fall partly because of a good POI fit but largely because they're in the process of expanding their 20th-century US program (specifically political history). They're also hiring a lot of new faculty to accommodate the new students because of a new president at the university, or something to that effect. That is the sort of thing you can't really predict without inside knowledge (which I didn't have), and in a way I guess I'm lucky I decided 2 days before the app was due that I should apply there. On the other end of the spectrum, there will be places that have 10 spots and 300+ applicants. My best advice is apply to a wide range of schools. Do everything in your power to make you the best candidate and hope for the best. I can't provide any info beyond the application process and others who have been through the process more than once will be able to provide better info, so take it as you will. This has just been my experience.

I would be overjoyed to attend UConn, but damnit I put $200 into the UC applications so I at least want to know!

I emailed both UC-R and UC-SD last week and still haven't heard anything back regarding my application. I just want to commit somewhere argh!

I'm not sure if it's incredibly popular now, but I think we're about to see a boom in 1980's/1990's U.S. political history.

I broke down and emailed UC-R, but I can't seem to find anyone listed as the DGS for UC-SD. I did it mostly because I want to start figuring out housing for UConn if I am rejected at both UC schools.

Maybe, but I applied for the MA program.

I'm really tired of UC-Riverside and UC-Sand Diego taking forever to get back to me on my MA apps.

At least they're being obvious that they are fake results. I got a good laugh out of the industrial scent one haha.

I received the official email from UConn's History department today and was invited to the Welcome Weekend. Says there will be a social function put on by graduate students "in my honor" (lol) as well as some roundtable discussions etc. I'm definitely going to attend, but I want to know what to expect and what is expected of me for these sorts of events. Any help?