Rogue856

Do you have an advisor or professor you are particularly close with who knows a bit about your health problems? I was in a similar situation, although my struggle was with family obligations, and my advisor addressed how that impacted my academic performance in his recommendation. That way it was out of my SOP and carried more weight because it came from someone other than myself. I got into all of the schools that I applied to so it was a good strategy for me.

I think it depends. I worked full-time all semesters except one as an undergrad and still managed an overall 3.9. I would say the biggest difference was the depth at which I learned the material. Working full-time I got by with great grades but didn't really master the material. I think the key is to really manage your time and set aside blocks for schoolwork that can't be interfered with. Not working though I learned a lot more, made more connections between readings from different classes and produced more polished writing. I will be working 20hrs/wk as a TA during my MA and I'm hoping it will be easier than having a regular job. It's definitely a tradeoff and in my opinion if you don't need to work, don't work. You're much better off getting as much as possible out of that MA program. You also have to consider how your job will interfere with department functions, conferences, etc. Those things are important for networking and in my experience employers are not keen on employees ducking out all the time for those things. But if working is best for you in terms of your debt burden then it can be done.

I just stopped in during their regular office hours. I plan on getting Thank you cards for the 3 of them and a small gift for my thesis advisor.

I got Q148, V165 and AW5...My scores, as far as I know, did not negatively impact me.

Yea, definitely not. I said I wasn't holding my breath for funding from UMass Amherst but I totally am.

Let me just say, you are not alone. I struggle with the same issue. I've had the same talks with my professors. One told me, in a very judgemental tone, that it was unfortunate that someone with such great writing skills and so much to contribute did not do so. It's weird for me too, I used to work in sales and regularly gave presentations, led meetings and had no issues. Jump to the classroom and I'm a stuttering, shakey disaster. My advisor told me point blank I should not even consider grad school (I'm in the humanities) if I can't handle discussion based courses since all my courses in grad school will be discussion based. Now, I have to suggest that given the praise you received after your presentation that perhaps you're not as bad as you think. Maybe you felt like you barely made it through but it's possible no one else realized how nervous you were. I had to give a conference presentation and I thought it was an unmitigated disaster. Afterwards the moderator said they were extremely impressed with the paper and hoped I continued to research and present. I also had to teach a class and thought I was a wreck. When I told a fellow student afterwards how nervous I was they seemed genuinely surprised and said they didn't notice. Most importantly, I think you have to identify why you are so afraid. For me, it's a simple lack of confidence in what I have to say. I often feel my thoughts don't "measure up" to my peers. In my case, I think this comes from lack of experience in expresseing myself in formal, academic environments. I'm a first generation college student and I don't know anyone, family or friends, who went to college or pursued academic interests. For practical steps I would strongly suggest a Public Speaking course. They offer them at most community colleges. Also, I've also found I can generally anticipate the questions professors will ask about the readings and I try to write down notes as I would speak the answer to the question. I've made it a rule that when the questions I expected get asked I answer at least one with the help of my notes. I rarely get called on anymore now that I do this. And if they do sneak attack me and I blank (which I inevitably do) I have notes I can read off of. I've also learned that when a professor asks a question and my brain goes blank it's ok to take a few seconds, take a breath and gather my thoughts before answering. Finally I've had to realize that public speaking takes practice, it is a skill and the only way I'm going to get better is to just do it. Sometimes I ramble through questions, sometimes my voice shakes, sometimes my brain blanks but it does get easier. I would say I have just as much fear as you and the only remedy I've found is putting myself out there in the classroom and accepting that it's going to take time and a lot of practice for it to get better. I've had to learn it's ok to stumble, it's ok to be less than perfectly coherent in my answers and that I can't beat myself up when these things happen. Just an aside, I have an older professor who is a natural in the classroom, hilarious, engaging, etc. When I told him I was terrified of public speaking he said it took him nearly 3 years to stop sweating profusely in front of his classes and another couple of years before he would deviate from his lecture notes. It's hard, but it can be overcome.

I'm still waiting to hear about funding. I was accepted to their MA program a few weeks ago. I e-mailed the department and they pretty much stonewalled saying they will have no idea about funding for a few weeks and it will probably extend past April 15. Personally, I am not holding my breath.

Just curious, how about GIS? I had never even heard of it until I picked up an edited collection on GIS and History at a Used bookstore a few weeks ago. I've found it fascinating so far. Seems to be a lot of geographers but I really liked the stuff by Geoff Cunfer. Edit: Just realized folks were discussing digital humanities at the beginning of the thread

For what it's worth I was brought in for a campus visit, met my potential PhD advisor, the department, etc. I was told all about funding packages and in an e-mail a few days after the visit my POI said he was "looking forward to seeing my on campus in the fall." After all that it took 1.5 months to get a formal offer. I would not worry if i were you. Also, for what it's worth, my GPA overall is comparatively low as well.

Thanks! Did you wait awhile between the e-mail and the stuff in the mail? I was admitted to their MA program about a week ago and have not heard anything. These applications have worn my patience down to nothing. Also, I'm not sure what it says about my present mental state that the thought of an "enormous info packet" is kind of awesome....

Just wondering if anyone admitted to the UMass Amherst MA program has gotten anything other than an e-mail from the dept. grad program coordinator?

Hi Everyone, I was recently accepted into my top choice program. The acceptance letter noted that funding decisions would be made in the "next few weeks." Their website does note that for some candidates funding decisions can extend beyond the April 15th deadline. Now I was also accepted into another program with full funding. For a variety of reasons, despite the financial package, the school is not as great a fit. I was curious, would it be bad form for me to e-mail my top choice program and ask about the timeline for funding/my chances for funding because I have another funded offer I need to decline before April 15th? Someone suggested to me it was good to mention the other offer when I inquire with my top choice. Just curious if anyone has any thoughts! Thanks!