rising_star

It's really difficult to say if that will be enough because it will depend in part on the nature of your field research. Will you be doing qualitative, quantitative, or archival research primarily? Are there relevant accents or dialects you'll need to become accustomed to? How much time will you spend actually in Russia using the language skills you're gaining? Are there any language courses (or sections of courses) targeted to the vocabulary you'll need to do your research?

If you can't do a thesis, you can't do a thesis. But, producing original research if at all possible would be to your benefit (e.g., by doing something original for the final paper/project for research methods and/or survey data analysis).

You can and should directly ask the department about the placement of their recent graduates. For many departments, this information is available on their website. As far as the ranking in your discipline, you may want to ask on the Sociology forum or read older posts there to get a sense of the relevant ranking.

There's absolutely no reason you should be describing all the research you've done in your SOP. All of that is in the past. The SOP is a future document--it's about what you want to do and why you want to do it. As part of that, you should spend some time on your qualifications/past experience but, this really shouldn't be more than 1/3 of the document. Hope this helps. Good luck!

Honestly, I would give yourself at least a month off and maybe even six weeks. You need time to recover and grad school will be intense regardless of whether you spend your summer prepping or not. FWIW, I didn't spend the summer before my MA or the one before I started my PhD doing much to "ease" into the program. I did my MA in an entirely different field than my undergrad and, on the advice of my MA advisor, all I did the summer before was read three books they recommended to me (one of which was a novel, btw). The rest of the time I focused on relaxing, my mental and physical health and well-being, and trying to transition from undergrad to grad school so I would be ready to go in August. It worked and I was incredibly successful as a MA student.* *I went from the humanities for my BA to the social sciences for my MA, if that helps for context.

Whether or not deferral is possible is entirely program-specific. You'll have to contact the department which admitted you and ask them to get an answer about whether you can defer your offer to another year. You should also ask if the funding offer will be the same if you do defer to next year. As far as ranking, for grad school, the university's overall ranking is far less important than the ranking in your particular field IF you're interested in an academic career in the US/Canada. People know the best programs in your field and they'll know that something like University of Wisconsin is strong in your field even if it isn't the strongest/highest ranked university as a whole. If you're planning to go back to Egypt or not pursue a faculty position, then the name of the university may matter. Some questions to ask yourself: How well known is the Australian institution in Egypt? In other countries? How highly ranked is the department/program to which you were admitted in the US (top 10? top 25? top 50?)? Where do graduates of the US program typically find employment? Do any of those employment options appeal to you? Where do graduates of the Australian program typically find employment? Do any of those employment options appeal to you? Hopefully that's a helpful starting point.

Follow the funding.

I almost wrote a reply to this, then decided to just link to past discussions so that I'm not repeating myself. I hope these links are helpful!

No.

Duplicate post. Please see here:

Yes, it would be bad. Why would you prefer the Australian program?

Caveat: I have never interviewed for a high school teaching job. I would definitely have a mini-lesson prepared. I would also be prepared to explain how you teach, what has gone well for you, what you've done when things haven't been working in the classroom, how you assess students, your ability to teach to all of the different levels which may be in the classroom, etc.

Driving through Nebraska and Iowa is like driving through a cornfield, with the occasional soybean field to break up the monotony. That said, Lincoln and Omaha are both cool Nebraska cities. Des Moines and the Quad Cities are fun in Iowa. Denver is great but expensive. If you can still find reasonably priced lodging, I'd probably do SLC and Yellowstone.

Well, the people on the search committee and tenure & promotion committees will question your publications if they are in predatory journals. That might result in you not being considered for the position, not being promoted, etc. Basically, it casts doubts on your ability to be a scholar because they'll wonder why your work wasn't in truly peer-reviewed journals, what you have to hide, whether you even did your own research, etc. I've been on search committees and I definitely do pay attention to where applicants have published.

Based on what you've written here, there's no reason to believe that your acceptance would be transferred to another campus. You can always ask but be prepared to be told no. And, given everything else you've said, you should decline the Silicon Valley offer and apply again next year.

Pros: Individual attention; ready-made study buddy; potentially better access to internal funding since you're competing with fewer people Cons: Classes may be smaller or offered less frequently; if you two don't get along, things could be awkward and difficult; fewer people to bounce ideas off of and get feedback from It'll be important to build relationships with those in other cohorts either way.

In a non-writing intensive course, I would not spend time correcting mistakes like these or penalizing them unless they interfere with your ability to comprehend the answer and evaluate whether it is appropriate/correct. Definitely direct students to the writing center. If there is a ESL specialist, you may want to include their name so students know who to contact. In a course where writing is a key component (e.g., scientific writing, writing/research in the discipline), my approach would differ. In that case, I would meet with the student(s) individually to discuss ways in which to improve their work. Note that I do this for all students early in the semester. In those meetings, I try to walk through at least a page of their paper and explain to them what came to mind as I was reading the paper initially. This helps them see my thought process and also understand the key issues as I was grading.

If you want solitude, you may want to look into local monasteries or something similar. They often offer solitude and the space to relax and focus on what you need. Alternately, perhaps an AirBnB in a peaceful location might serve the same function.

This is really school specific. At the institution I work at, there's a form we can submit if we're concerned about a student. On the form, it notes that we aren't to speculate about the causes of what's wrong, but rather to report strictly on what we've seen and observed. (The reason for this is because under FERPA, students have access to those forms and thus could know exactly what you think is wrong with them. But also because most of us aren't trained in diagnosing these kinds of things.) If I were you, I would contact someone in the Dean of Students office about whether there's a mechanism for expressing concern for students in a formal way where someone else can then follow up on it.

Your next move should be to get training (coursework and research experience) in anthropology and/or sociology. Doing that will strengthen your applications. You might also consider applying to additional programs, including some lower-ranked but fully funded master's programs.

Your best bet is going to be to contact grad students and professionals in your specific subfield. Is their a listserve you can email?

Honestly, one of the things students should be learning is how to come up with their own research topics. It shouldn't be on you to provide all of these to them...

I would also investigate how many of those coursework hours are taken up by research, rather than classes. In my own PhD program, we had what some considered an excessive number of credit hours and there were still people who finished in 3 and 4 years who began with their MA in hand.

FWIW, I never use my personal mailing address for any work-related correspondence. I use my university address (both mail and email). As a grad student, I did use my personal cell phone number, though of course no one ever actually used it.

Some potentially relevant past discussions: There are more if you search. It all comes down to a matter of personal preference though.