rising_star

Louise, your attitude is absolutely perfect! Plus, I'm so jealous of you peeps in history. i regret not majoring in history as an undergrad.

You should keep in contact with the professors that will write your recommendations. Polish a writing sample. Start writing your personal statement. Start identifying programs of interest. Maybe audit or take a course in the field at a local university if you can. Keep reading journal articles if you can. Get a job you don't hate.

It may not be possible to modify. Would it be possible for you to complete some kind of certificate so that you'd have another line for the CV?

THIS. Seriously. The faculty and your fit matter so much more than rankings.

I wouldn't translate your sample unless they specifically ask for that. As far as editing, do what you think is necessary unless the school says otherwise.

My #1 Idea: Ask your advisor/a professor you trust. That said... Your senior thesis is going to be too long to use as a writing sample. Not to mention, if you're applying in senior year, you may not have enough of it ready to use. So polishing up a term paper may be a better idea. You definitely want to edit it and make it as good as you can. If it's related to what you want to study in grad school, even better.

Okay, these are two very different things. You'll need to pick and apply to just one, I think. For theatre history, I doubt you'd need a portfolio. I don't think you need to take more undergrad classes. What you really need is a strong, focused statement of purpose. You make contact with professors and, ideally, ask them in person if they feel they could write you a strong letter. You ask after explaining to them that you want to go to graduate school, why you want to go, why you feel prepared, etc. Yes, you use the same profs for all of them typically. All they have to do is change the addressee.

Conventional wisdom is that you shouldn't get your PhD from the school where you got your undergrad degree. Schedule an appointment with your current supervisor and bring this up.

sending an attachment might get you caught in the spam filter. only send attachments when asked to.

xzjohn, when did you email them? Summer is not an ideal time. Besides, it's not always bad if the prof doesn't reply. Some don't do email. Some dislike dealing with applicants. It's not a worst case scenario, it happens.

I just meant a puppy because they're a lot of work just like an infant is. Plus they do make good companions when they're older. As far as your commute, will you be able to take MTA? A monthly pass is under $90 and gives you unlimited rides. Most folks in NYC just get the monthly pass and use that to get around.

First, Amtrak has never stopped at Princeton Station (the one on campus), as far as I know. It does stop at Princeton Junction, though not regularly, and from there you would take NJ Transit's Dinky to Princeton Station (or a bus or a cab or whatever). There are countless problems with taking Amtrak, including frequent delays. That said, I never thought Amtrak stopped at Princeton Junction regularly. In taking Amtrak's NE trains, I usually went either south or north on NJ Transit because that was most efficient. If you wanted the cheapest way, you'd take SEPTA's R7 train to Trenton then get on NJ Transit's NE Corridor line going north to Princeton Junction then take the Dinky to Princeton's campus. It's not all that fun, as far as I recall, but it is doable. (Says the person that did the four train thing to PHL airport on more than one occasion and once with three bags...) I'd imagine that living in Princeton, unless you get University housing, is more expensive than living in Philadelphia. With less to do. And fewer ways to escape. If you can swing it, I'd live in Philly just for the diversity of options (housing, food, shopping, etc) and commute to Princeton. That said, the drive from the airport to campus is about an hour. Traffic can eat you alive though. And parking on campus isn't all that convenient though it also isn't terribly priced, if I remember correctly. If it were me, I'd probably do the train thing, just so you could get reading done while commuting. Plus the SEPTA trains are pretty nice.

During the PhD could be easier too. If you're going for a career as an academic, you'll never really be "stable". Do what you think is right. P.S. I still think getting a puppy is a good idea. You want someone/thing to keep you company in grad school.

I think it's better to have an infant when you aren't doing coursework. That said, my mom had me then went back to school. It worked out ok but she was married and had a support system in place, having lived in the same city for over like 7 years before I was born. This may sound silly but... if you want to have an idea of what it will be like, get a puppy. They're needy and don't sleep well. You could foster one if you just want a short-term experience.

If you're in a program with 2+ years of coursework, it doesn't really matter if that prof doesn't teach in your first year. If this theory of not working with folks going on a sabbatical were true, I'd be SOL because 1/2 the faculty I want to work with will be on sabbatical either in the fall or for the whole year...

I like the idea of you taking classes at another university. Just make sure they'll transfer before you enroll in them. Could you do a distance learning kind of thing? I was in a seminar where one person teleconferenced for the whole semester. It actually worked pretty well so maybe that could be an option for you?

Partially is a long way from finished. Mine was partially finished from November to April... I would talk to your faculty members about it and look at syllabi before committing to taking six courses in one semester. Plus, I think you might be underestimating how much you'll need free time to think, read for comps, have a life, etc. It'll get even worse midway through the semester when you're missing your family. If you sink into a phase where for even three or four days you don't do any work, you're probably going to be screwed. Could you take fewer classes this term and do independent studies next semester (from a distance) to complete your remaining course work?

You could end up slammed at the end of the semester. I had a fellowship and took four courses each semester in the first year of my MA program. It was a lot and probably unnecessarily stressful. It made reading for and writing my proposal really difficult.

No sooner than one month after classes start back.

Wisconsin pays more than that in many departments. Also, where in the world are you that you can make $10K flipping burgers for a summer??/

Plan 3. MPA/MPP programs look for work experience in applicants. Get some, then apply.

As ampersand said, it really depends on your background and your goals. There are many funded MA programs out there, it'll just take a good bit of searching to find them.

LOL... if only because hardly anyone knows Brown is in the Ivy League. But seriously, what Minnesotan said holds true for me (though I'm not a historian). There are no graduate programs in my discipline at Ivy League or other "elite" private schools like that (Stanford, WUSTL, etc) so you'll never find anyone bragging about acceptances there. What you do find is that people go to programs of all sorts of levels just to work with one or two people. I'm going where I am specifically to work with one person, who has already committed to being my major professor provided we're happy working together. I am going there with 3 of the 5 committee members I need already picked out and knowing that I intend to have them on my committee. (I should mention that this program was ranked top 25 in the last round but there are only like 60 US schools granting PhDs...) It really is all about fit. I got in because of fit, not because I'm the best applicant. I'll get job interviews because of fit and my credentials, not because I went to Berkeley. I really dislike the attitude of some who think that you cannot get a "good job" (whatever that is) without getting your PhD from a top 10 university.

I agree with Lauren. Get a scooter. I'd never characterize Tallahassee as bike friendly. Also, everything she said about flooding is right on. Try to park your vehicle on high ground, make sure your car insurance covers flooding, and get renter's insurance.

What do you mean? If you're applying for graduate programs, they're all going to be research schools, I'd imagine. If you're talking about work environment, at a "teaching school", the emphasis is on teaching undergraduates (maybe a 3-3 or 4-4 teaching load) while at a "research school", it would be a combination of teaching and research (with a 2-2 teaching load).