getitlow
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Posts posted by getitlow
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social and cultural history of Modern China. Right I'm most interested in the politics of gender and how the discourses played out in revolutionary moments when sex was a taboo to be discussed. In addition, I'm also curious about the undercurrents of everyday life politics- how people organized themselves and lived in under the system and the government's responses to that specifically in Republican China and the Cultural Revolution. Generally, I'm still open to whatever ideas that tug at me given that interests will possibly change as I experience grad school.
My undergrad thesis focused on the women of the Cultural Revolution mostly from a labor and sex perspective. I'm not entirely sure about continuing to pursue this track as I enter PhD but I will see. A major disadvantage of this subfield is that most of the primary sources that were used for the most prominent research in the field came from personal memoirs and oral history. As time goes by, people keeps passing away and if ones try to gear the research onto a new direction, there will be fewer and fewer historical witnesses to conduct oral interview. There are certain things that can and cannot be studied within this field for this reason.
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Sorry, I never answered your question! I'm still waiting on a couple schools but very interested in UB. Looks like you're still waiting, too?
I will be waiting until Mid-March, but I will consider UB very highly because the department has a professor who is very prominent in what I want to research on, plus the utility of the city and everything. Do you think UB has a prospect's weekend or something for admits to go visit the school before making enrollment decision?
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Some questions here; I'm hoping others in the community could help me out.
I've got offers from a few different schools so far, and I'm still waiting to hear back from others. However, I'm interested in the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. I really like the looks of it: the department has a lot of faculty that I'd be excited to work with, and it seems like a pretty large department. There looks like there is a lot of work being done there, and my professors at my current school actually know some UMass faculty that they speak highly of. My question: why does the university's political science program rank so low? I've heard from different sources that the university recently hired something like 15 professors. Is it likely that the department was small before but now resources are being invested, likely pushing up the rank in the future?
I have some similar questions about another school that's offered funding (most likely), the University of Delaware. I like this interdisciplinary "global governance" them they have, as it fits well with what I'm looking to research. Also I would really like to work with a couple of professors there.
What really do the low rankings mean? I know that they are related to job prospects in the future, but can a hard working student offset that by being published, working on enough projects, etc.?
Some of the schools to which I've applied are much more highly ranked, but I'd be less excited to go to them because they don't seem to be as much of a fit.
Hey I understand your concern. But from what I learnt from other people who have already attended PhD programs for several years, and throughout the application process, the fact that some department ranked really low on the chart doesn't indicate that it is totally a worthless department. I have no idea about the ranking methodology but I have never been a big fan of those ranking. It really depends on what you want to specialize within your major field because some low-ranking program may have a leading specialist in a particular area you want to focus on. The whole department as a whole may not be as strong, but one or two professors are especially prominent in the field. I have encountered many schools like this during my application process and I'm happy to apply there not because of its ranking, but because of a specific professor I wish to work with in the future.
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@getitlow: http://www.city-data.com/forum/buffalo-area/592435-elmwood-village-buffalo-ny.html
You'll see some youtube vids of elmwood if you click on the link. What you see, IMO, is pretty true to form.
Weather: you're not from the south or the tropics, so I think you'll deal. Wear a warm coat, get a quality pair of (warm) boots for the snow. Add on a hat, gloves, scarf and you'll be fine. Really. It's not so bad. You will have the "lake effect" = extra cold/damp. But, it is doable. P.S. the city does a good job clearing snow. P.P.S. No snow days :-(
Thank you so much for the videos! It feels really neat, organized and peaceful there. Elmwood looks like a great area to live in. I will definitely take this into consideration when looking for apartment. your information on the snow makes me relieved. In the Midwest, snow clearing is sometimes horrible. The weather is fickle so snow is going to melt before the clearing service jumps in and I really hate that !
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The American Studies program is actually through the Transnational Studies department, but I'm sure there is overlap with the big emphasis on interdisciplinary scholarship. What's your focus?
Mine is on Modern China/East Asia. The transnational department is great. I almost applied to the Global Gender Studies program which is also in the transnational department. Have you made the final decisions or you are still waiting? I'm researching more on the city as I'm curious about where I'm gonna spend the next few years living.
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I was just offered a fellowship for an American Studies PhD at Buffalo. I'm curious about renting with a pit bull type dog who is super friendly, loving, and submissive.
Hey congrats ! Did you apply from the History Department ?
Maybe there's a more direct route, but from my experience it may've been a 15min drive from S. campus? You def. need a car if you want to reside there. Oh, and Elmwood is in Buffalo...it's a village within it. Maybe I didn't make that clear.
I'm from NYC, so I'm probably biased, but I didn't think the downtown part of the city had much to offer...period. My family stayed at the Buffalo Hyatt (at the heart of downtown) and they were very disappointed w/ the surroundings. To be honest, I was shocked...I couldn't believe that that was "downtown". So, no there's no shuttle that takes you there. You'd just have to do normal, public transportation or drive. IMO, Elmwood was the only interesting spot. Cute shops, small restaurants...quaint, nice feel. Downtown Buffalo to me = cold, barren, blah. Oh, and I think Elmwood is near one of the museums in the area (huge plus!).
Let me be clear, there are other areas in the city where you can happily live, but just know you'll mostly be sleeping there. You can't roll out and hit some cute shops on the way home. From what I saw, that was the province of Elmwood (and perhaps another small part of the city I don't know about???). Oh, and north campus has its own little hub. It has a CVS, bank, various restaurants. So, it might be nice to live close to that.
Thank you for your elaboration! I'm a history person so I really enjoy museum. Elmwood seems like a good choice. As long as it has good restaurants around, some bookstores, and maybe some cute coffee shops for me to sit in and just enjoy the atmosphere, I will be basically happy. How do you cope with the weather at Buffalo? I went to college in the Midwest (very close to Chicago) so I have to bear the whimsical Midwest weather these 4 years. It can rain the morning and then snow at night. But at least the temperature never falls too low. I'm a bit concerned about the coldness...
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I'll try to help, as I was in Buffalo for almost a year. I didn't have a car. If I had stayed longer, I definitely would've gotten one. However, for short term, you can def. manage without. The shuttle btwn north and south campus is flawless. It runs regularly. There's also a shuttle between south campus and the Wegman's supermarket (if you're not from the area, definitely aim to food shop here...love wegman's!). I did have 2 friends with cars and never heard any complaints about that. So, I'm assuming both the campus and city are pretty car-friendly. I'm also assuming that the history department is on North campus. As a car-less student, I only considered housing complexes with shuttle service. So, I can't speak to (non-complex) rents in the area. I do remember that people recommended renting rooms in houses closer to north campus as opposed to south. If you're not afraid to spend a little more $, A LOT of students like living in Elmwood. HTH, maybe someone more familiar w/ the area can jump in.
This is great information. I appreciate it! Is Elmwood close to everything? Is there a bus that runs from North Campus to downtown, and other interesting places?
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It is awesome that I found this thread. I received an offer for a PhD in History from Buffalo the other day and I'm so interested in learning more about the city. I have been reading through all the posts but I'm still really curious whether it is necessary to get a car to live in Buffalo, and if I buy a car, is it convenient to deal with there?
I have not officially started to look for apartment or anything but I feel relieved to see from most of the feedback that the rent is low. I have no idea where the grad school of arts and science located. Where do you think is the best neighborhood for students to live in Buffalo on a very reasonable budget? I actually prefer somewhere within walking distance to campus, and convenient transportation to downtown (with a lot of bookstores and coffee shops ! I'm a huge fan of those)
Any future Historians joining next year's cohort at Buffalo?
Thanks guy for your information and feedback !
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To answer some of the above,
- There has been a small wave of Stanford acceptances, mostly by phone, but no rejections yet.
- There have been some UPenn interviews (for regular History) but no decisions yet.
- There have been some NYU invites to the admit weekend (does not exclude you from the running if you weren't invited) and interview requests, but I don't think any decisions.
Thank you for the information. NYU is really confusing in terms of releasing decision this year. Anybody applied to Penn State and heard back from the school? I checked the online status and apparently it never changed since I submitted my application. I'm applying for Modern China field by the way.
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Congratulations to all of you who have been admitted to a program(s)!! I just heard back from Yale, so I can join all of you in your excitement and joy!
Has anyone heard back from UPenn or Stanford?
Hey Congrats! Valerie Hansen from Yale just came to my school for a talk last week. It's a great department. You will love it.
Anybody heard back from Penn State or NYU? I have been really impatient with this waiting game. My first offer several days ago were total mood savior!
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Hi guys,
I'm a newbie on this forum. I have always followed up with the threads but I hardly posted things. I just got my first PhD offer from State University of New York Buffalo yesterday. The offer came with a very nice financial support package, but since I'm in the Midwest, I'm not too familiar with the school myself.
With that being said, if anyone of you attended UB or knew anything particular about the school, especially the graduate school experience there, would you mind giving me some information? I personally talked to some people and I know it's in the Association of American Universities and is among the best research universities in the New York State. However, I will really appreciate any additional pieces of information. Thanks a lot!
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This is my first time posting. I just received an offer from State University of New York at Buffalo today. Anyone else in the same cohort?
Also anybody heard back from Penn State and NYU? Some people told me that Penn State often released offers by this time but I haven't seen anything. As for NYU, apparently some people got offers to visit. I'm so confused. If you know any information regarding this, I appreciate it
Fall 2013 Applicants?
in History
Posted
Although I received one acceptance so far (I have 7 left with one rejection), I still feel like sitting on fire because the one I got admitted to with funding just sent me an email notifying me on fellowship and I have not heard back from any other schools on my list. Have any of you received official letters with funding offer from your schools? Does it take that long for department to prepare documents? I appreciate your advices !