dr. t

Just to clarify, there are two types of bikes with only one gear in the back, fixed gear (fixies, also called track bikes) and single-speeds. A single-speed bicycle is like a regular geared bicycle that has one speed (hence it's name), so if you want to stop peddling, you can, and the back wheel will still spin. A fixed gear bicycle has no freewheel or ratchet in the back hub. Whatever the peddles do, the back wheel does, and vice versa. If you peddle forward, the wheel goes forward. If you peddle back, the wheel goes back. If you stop peddling, the force of the wheel will either push your legs around or, if you resist, skid the back wheel. For those experiencing a fixie for the first time, the feel can be... disconcerting, and they're trickier to ride since you can't stop peddling through a corner. However, in bad weather (snow, etc.), a fixie is a lot more controllable, particularly since you can slow down by applying pressure to your peddles and not worry about locking up your rear wheel with your brakes. In an area with no (or even few) large hills, both fixies and ss are low-maintenance options that can be picked up new for fairly cheap. I am personally a fan of the SE Lager as an intro-level model (it's what I own). Most models will come with what is called a "flip-flop" hub - one side is a single speed freewheel, the other is fixed. By taking off the rear wheel and flipping it, you can chose which one you want to do. If you do go with a fixed gear, I recommend investing in some foot retention - I use HoldFast straps on BMX peddles.

Just an observation: a 1-year MA program makes language acquisition difficult. Sometimes the requirements are such that it's impossible.

My marriage survived choosing paint colors for our apartment! For now, anyway.

I gotta toss an abstract at Kalamazoo for next year, thanks for reminding me!

Oh, also, a good rule is to never buy something that comes in "sizes" (e.g. small, medium, large) and is not sized based on the measurement of the downtube ( e.g. 52, 56, 58 cm; 22.5, 25 in).

I would not buy a new bike from a large chain store. It will fall apart in a year, and end up costing you way more. You could buy a $150-$200 single speed from amazon or something, but these usually are not put together well, and your local bike store (LBS in the lingo) will probably tell you to do an unmentionable (or charge you a lot, or both) if you ask them to fix it. Lots of schools now have a bike club or a shop that refurbishes bikes abandoned around campus. This is also a good angle to look at.

In my experience, you can actually manage about a quarter of what you think you can.

If the professor leading the seminar is any good and you don't pay attention to the footnotes enough to know who the author's having an argument with, you will be found out and mocked. In my experience, anyway.

DR. HOO-HAH!

Cost is always part of the equation, since how much you want to spend determines what other things you should consider. Here are two general options: If you're looking to buy something new for commuting 2-15 miles or so, and you haven't ridden a lot, I would recommend a hybrid-style bike around the $600-800 range, e.g. the Trek 7.3 or 7.4 - Specialized also has a similar commuter setup. The bike you get is solid, but it's not so ridiculously expensive as to make you regret the purchase if you want to move up in a few years. If you ride in a wet or cold environment, I highly suggest you get disc brakes. They tend to add about $100-200 to the total cost of the bike, but they'll save you money in the long run as you don't have to replace worn rims. Plus, they stop way better. When you budget, keep in mind that extras (fenders, helmet, back rack) are way more expensive than they probably should be. If you're looking to buy a beater off Craigslist, be aggressive and always offer low. Most sellers have no idea how much what the have is worth. Sometimes, this works in your favor with a guy ditching his $7k carbon frame for $150 (NB: carbon is a performance race material - don't splurge for a carbon frame if you don't race), but usually it's people marking up a 30 year old frame from $50 to $300. When checking out a Craigslist beater, make sure: There are no large rust spots or cracks, particularly at the joints.The chain is lightly oiled with no rust. Put it into the largest gear in the front, pinch a link, and gently try to pull the chain away from the teeth. If it comes away so you can see light on the other side, the chain is worn and will need to be replaced (~$20)Make sure the teeth of both the front and back gears are rounded and not pointy. Pointy teeth are old, and mean the part needs to be replaced.Older models of bike have shifters in different places. Most are fine, but avoid those with shifters on the steer tube (the tube the steering connects to). These are like two dull pocketknives permanently aimed at your crotch.The brakepads look fairly new and are in good repair, with not too much slack in the cable before you begin to stopRun your finger along the rim of the wheels. It should feel smooth and flat. It should not be curved inward.Spin the wheel, holding the bike on the stays or the forks near the hub. You don't want to feel any grinding or vibration.Check the tyre for cracks or rips.For a bike that has fewer than 9 speeds in the back and passes all these tests, I would pay $150 or so. Hope that helps!

Why did I think being a Real Adult with Real Adult quantities of stuff to move was a good idea?

Seratim: Going from classical to medieval is no real difficulty - it's the usual direction. Look at the UToronto master's Latin exam. If that looks doable, then you're in a pretty good place. You will eventually be expected to take a reading exam in both, and the sooner you are fluent enough to digest an article, the better. Most English speakers find French easier to get down, and this means German is often... forgotten. So, German can make your app stand out. Consequently, the French literature is the better-known of the two in the Anglophone world, which to my mind makes German more important. FWIW, both Harvard and Yale more or less expect basic French competence, and their doctoral students spend a lot of time learning German.The only real downside to your unrelated MA, assuming you have a fairly persuasive explanation of your change of heart in your SOP, is the quality and relevance of your writing sample. This is particularly acute since you're still in the process of language acquisition, and thus any sample you have will be rather light on the primary source material.

I may or may not be in the middle of moving, which also puts me on edge From your post, it was hard to tell if you had a mentor responsible enough to give you "the talk". I'm glad to see that either they have or you've figured it out yourself. SLC (also sometimes SLAC) = Small Liberal Arts College - small enrollment, usually in the boonies, no graduate program. You're still expected to do research, but teaching is a much larger priority, say 3/4 load. CC is, as you guessed, community college. The "grade", in descending order, is usually R1, R2, SLC, CC. This is, of course, tremendously unfair, but we need to see the world as it is rather than as we want it to be. I remember seeing some numbers from the AHA which said about 4% of all TT jobs over the last 10 years were in an R1; only 50% of PhDs earned in that time had a TT job of any sort. That works out to 2% of PhDs ending up in an R1. They exist, but CCs usually expect people to teach far outside their specialties. A medievalist could easily be responsible for Europe from Homer to the fall of the Berlin Wall. I'm not sure how much we really disagree. I'm happy to admit to variation, but I would just as happily assert (based on no evidence whatsoever) that you could not find an R1 with, in practice, more than a 20/10/70 teaching/service/research split.

Sounds great. Two quick things. First, no R1 will split teaching/research 50-50. It's more like 10/90. Second, will you also love the SLC or CC with a 5/5 load where you will almost certainly end up (as most of us will)?

This looks very similar to another study that looked at TT hiring in History, Business, and Computer Science, which also skew very strongly towards a few (~20) programs. You can read that study (and poke at their data) here: http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/1/1/e1400005

1) I did not reply back. 2) I tried to get mine to my profs by the end of September. These were of course not final drafts of anything, and I made sure to update them if I changed anything substantial. 3) As much as you need to prove your point, but not so much as to make it seem like you're just showing off/ticking that box.

I would honestly drop UTenn (for ranking reasons) and maybe Princeton (I expect Jordan to retire soon). Do look at Berkeley (Maureen Miller), UChicago (Jonathan Lyon), Columbia (Adam Kosto), Notre Dame (Daniel Hobbins), UToronto (Isabelle Cochline), and OSU (Alison Beach). I would also be remiss if I didn't add Brown (Amy Remensnyder)!

Huh. Is that retroactive? If not, how do the current grad students feel about that?

I know, it's freaky, right? I have orientation the 3/4th; classes start the 9th.

It's never the actual driving the truck, just the whole putting things into boxes, putting the boxes into the truck, and then taking the boxes back out of the truck because I have pasty, noodley humanities arms and boxes are heavy.

If you are getting any sort of tuition remission or stipend from the university, be very careful to read the fine print - working an outside job during the school year is often explicitly prohibited, and punished by the loss of that aid.

Hey L13, what's your specific interest again? The first thing you should check with Madison is how that tin-pot dictator of a governor they have has impacted internal grants. It is simply impossible to work if you cannot travel to European archives.

Ugh, I don't wanna pack to move and you can't make me.

Does this paper pertain to your proposed subject of study? Does it make extensive use of primary sources and put them into conversation with the secondary literature? How many people (preferably professors) have given you feedback on it? You don't have to answer these questions here, but I think you can figure out what the good answers are. If your answers are less good, I would focus your energy on an MA, though if you have the cash it may not hurt to throw a PhD app or two at your dream school(s).

What would you intend to use as a writing sample? You can always apply to PhD and MA programs.