rising_star

Honestly, even a master's program should be able to arrange some formal activities (e.g., sitting in on a class, lunch with current grad students) for you if you were to visit. I'd personally plan on a full day at each program. If they're three hours apart, you might consider flying into City A, renting a car and driving to City B (or taking a bus/train between the two), then flying out of City B. That would enable you to spend a full day at both without having as much total travel time. In either case, I'd see if you can stay with a current grad student so you can get additional insight into the programs. This most applies to me for MA programs. I was deciding between School A and School B. Going in, they were tied in my mind (both had great POIs and research fit, solid funding, etc.). Both flew me out for visits, which was great, and the visits were back to back, which made it easier for me to compare them. School A was good at first but, it was clear that the grad students had some issues with one another and with the faculty. It was also clear that forming a committee would be more difficult than I initially thought due to dynamics within the faculty. Neither of those were things I could've known about without visiting, mostly because no one was talking about it. None of the senior grad students seemed happy about being there, despite the funding, great facilities, and top-notch faculty. By contrast, the grad students at School B were happy. They were quite willing to talk candidly about what they liked and disliked about the coursework, funding, TA positions, and faculty. They also gave me good insight into living on the stipend (including one person showing me their apartment). But mostly, I liked the vibe of School B way better, which I couldn't tell on paper. Hope that helps!

Why not switch to the PhD and give it a year? If you hate the research, drop out, work for a bit, and then reapply to PhD programs that are a better fit.

If you ever want to collaborate on this for real, shoot me a PM. It's an area of interest to me too and one I haven't explored yet.

There's no requirement to take notes on a laptop. I varied in grad school between taking notes on a laptop and taking notes on paper. I still have stacks of paper notes from grad school that I always said I'd digitize but never have...

Hmmm... well, I didn't have a lightweight laptop for most of grad school. I had a clunky older laptop that I either left at home (during my MA, when we were all provided with desktops as part of our GA positions) or that took up a semi-permanent residence on my desk (PhD program). I did eventually get a more portable laptop, but that was partially due to fieldwork and the travel that required.

Actually, depending on the school, the MA may also be a research-based degree. The only way to know the difference within a particular department is to read their graduate handbook and review the requirements listed therein.

My only concern is that the low ranked MA program won't give you the training you need. That is, will you be able to gain experience with relevant archives and primary sources if you go to that school? Will you begin taking broad and specific grad seminars on European history in general and German history in particular?

I would definitely try to get in touch with current grad students to get their impressions of the program. From what you've written, it sounds like Lehigh isn't a good fit for you research-wise, which would have me leaning towards OSU if I were in your shoes. (Of course, I also like Columbus better than small town PA...)

Personally, I'd step outside of my comfort zone for a 2 year program, especially if the research fit is good.

Check the "Interviews and Visits" forum for lots of threads on this topic.

I'd go do the research I want to be doing.

If you're looking at the last ten years, there ought to be some people who have gotten tenure and/or been promoted to Associate (these are separate things at some institutions). If not, then that's also a concern. When I look at my PhD institution's placement list, there are several people on there who finished in the last ten years and whose current job status is one with tenure. That's also where I plan for my own career to be in ten years (that is, not just getting/having a TT job but actually getting tenure in that job) so that would be important to me. Of course there are many factors in whether one gets tenure, but the professional development one receives in grad school is a big factor.

I actually think that Visiting Professor/Scholar positions are probably less rare than you think even in the humanities/social sciences. Their aim is to entice a top scholar to visit their institution for a semester/year and then hopefully lure them away from their current position. You probably don't hear about them much because of the stage you're at but they're definitely out there in all fields, not just in STEM. Also, I'd push back on the "slightly more experienced" part of your statement. Many of the visiting scholar/professor positions (that is, those without "assistant" in the title) are very much looking for someone with years of experience. When they say that the title and rank depends on experience, they're explicitly saying that they are open to applicants of all career stages and willing to pay what it takes to get someone that's currently an associate or full professor elsewhere. This is so far away from the original thread, sorry. My recommendation to anyone and everyone applying to or currently in graduate school is to get in the habit of reading job ads regularly so you can identify trends and familiarize yourself with what's available, where the jobs are, and what materials they ask for in the application process. Anything else and you're doing yourself a great disservice. You can also then later follow up to see who got those positions (by checking the institutional/departmental website) and looking at their CV to get a sense of the qualifications needed. Obviously that won't tell you everything since much can happen on the phone, via Skype, and in-person but it will give you a sense of general expectations for those starting off in your field.

You don't really need to flood their inbox (or even write periodically) to keep the lines of communication open. If you have relevant questions or think they'll be at an upcoming conference, send an email. Otherwise, no need to write.

I would look into summer internships, especially since you're currently enrolled in a program. That could be a great way to gain experience doing research, particularly if you might be interested in the private sector in the future.

Admittedly, they're more common at SLACs than elsewhere but they definitely exist. See links below: Visiting Assistant Professor of Computer Science: https://chroniclevitae.com/jobs/0000414779-01 Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry: https://chroniclevitae.com/jobs/0000414714-01 Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics: https://chroniclevitae.com/jobs/0000414802-01 @CulturalCriminal, the term "Visiting Scholar" might be more common in the humanities (e.g., this position at University of Houston: https://chroniclevitae.com/jobs/225511-33725)

Is research fit really the most important thing though? As long as you can do the research and set yourself up for the career you want, I'd argue that personality fit with an advisor matters more than exact research fit.

It all depends on what you mean by fit. Are you talking research fit, personality fit, or a combo of both? Because, for me, research fit was less important than making sure it was someone I could work with and whose students finished in a timely fashion.

Average time to degree; placement of recent graduates; professional development while in the program (for teaching, research, grant writing, etc.); conference travel funding. These are the first that come to mind.

Actually, there are "Visiting Professor" positions in the humanities. These are, as @TakeruK said, typically for faculty visiting another institution (typically as part of a sabbatical or research fellowship). The key difference here is the stage of one's career. There are also "Visiting Assistant Professor" positions in STEM fields (definitely in biology, chemistry, environmental science, and physics), which are for those in the early stage of their career. I realize that complicates rather than simplifies... I'd also push back against the idea that a VAP is the closest to ideal thing for those who don't land a TT job since there are certainly a number of highly exploitative VAPs out there (e.g., the legendary one from a few years ago that wanted applicants to teach a 5/5 for under $30K).

It definitely varies a lot. I've worked at two religiously affiliated institutions and neither have required you to be of that faith or to sign a particular values/beliefs statement. That said, I know that BYU has moral standards requirements for faculty. I think Catholic and particularly Jesuit schools aren't going to require that you be Catholic. Especially at Jesuit schools, you'll find a variety of faiths represented on campus.

How's your research experience? Have you asked for additional funding from either Temple or Albany?

A funded research MA strikes me as a better opportunity to improve your application than trying to find a volunteer RA position.

I had a fellowship which required that in grad school. What it meant was that I took "directed research" or something like that as my summer course. So it's a course but more akin to an independent study than a traditional graduate seminar.

I'd actually be surprised if it were classes. There aren't many grad classes in the summer at most institutions. You could probably look for the schedule of classes online to get a sense of what the summer course options actually are.