rising_star

I don't think there's anything wrong with reading over breaks if that 's what you want to do but I also don't think you should feel like you have to be reading historical scholarship over break. I never really started doing work until at least 10 days after the semester ended and, even then, some of it was the more mundane tasks like cleaning out my inbox, reading the latest CFPs to see if there's something I might want to submit to, updating reference info in Zotero, reading the TOCs of recent journal issues to see if there's relevant new scholarship or book reviews, etc. like @Sigaba has suggested. If you don't already back up your digital files, figure out a solution for that ASAP. I use a service which backs up automatically everything on my multiple computers (personal laptop, work desktop, lab computer, etc.) and I consider that well worth the $75/year I pay for it.

It's kind of impossible for anyone here to answer your questions with the information you've provided. Are you going to say that the degree in China will be completed by the time you'd matriculate in your applications? If so, then you may be in trouble. If you're currently in a master's program and applying to master's programs in the USA, it probably won't matter whether you receive your degree next summer or not. @fuzzylogician will hopefully weigh on this as they have more experience in this area than I do.

I would probably do Project B because I can't see myself staying interested in anything that's easy (it's just not my personality). That said, you should also be thinking about the long-term trajectory of your career and which project will position you best for whatever it is you want to be doing after the PhD.

Honestly? I'm not really sure how any kind of complaint by a student, barring something of a sexual nature, could "leave a stain" on a professor's career. It's pretty clear that the faculty in the department aren't supportive of your project so it's unclear to me whether or how you'd ever finish your degree. If I were you, I would just move on with my life and consider this a bad experience but one you can learn a lot from.

I wouldn't bother with a cover letter unless it is specifically asked for. All of the information that you'd include in that cover letter should already be in your other application materials.

Choose one or the other. Do you want to write a thesis or not?

Agreed with the above. In addition, I'd recommend taking upper-level history and area studies classes in your area of interest because it's in those classes where you'll develop a deeper understanding of the historiography and have a chance to engage with the relevant scholarship. If your department offers undergrad courses on historiography and/or research methods in history, you'll definitely want to take those (ideally in your junior year). Since you're an undergraduate, I'd recommend looking at classes in disciplines besides history which also discuss the ancient Mediterranean, which could mean classes in religion, Jewish studies, archaeology, or literature. Having a more well-rounded base of knowledge about the region and time period you're interested in will help you develop research questions and refine your interests. Finally, I'd just say that it's not unexpected that you don't know what research questions to ask since you're basically in your third semester of college right now. You have lots of time to read and learn before you'll even consider applying to grad school so take advantage of that! You may also want to study abroad in the Mediterranean so you get the chance to work with other scholars interested in the same area and potentially have access to see original documents.

Have you considered giving yourself one weekend a month where you don't work on research/writing for the PhD? I ask because not taking any breaks is a way to exhaust yourself and could actually delay your progress long-term. I found that regular breaks were necessary to avoid burning out while doing the PhD. YMMV obviously. Good luck!

Focus on linking your Physics/EE experiences to what you want to do in CS and only talk about those experiences which are relevant and help you tell a coherent narrative about the experiences and interests which have led you to pursue graduate school in CS. Don't apologize for anything. Don't dwell on what you didn't like about physics/EE. Focus on the positive and the future.

I would call during the professor's office hours.

The rec letter request usually goes out automatically once your application is submitted. Ideally, you'll give your recommenders at least a week to submit their recommendation. You could probably cut that down to 5 days if they know the request is coming AND it's not close to finals/end of semester/the holidays.

I don't think it's a crazy idea at all. Having some background in the basics of sociology and sociological theory will help you as you start to figure out what you want to do research on. Once you narrow down an area, I'd recommend reading journal articles (review papers are super helpful) and upper-level textbooks in that area so you can get a better sense of what is already known and what isn't in that area.

To answer the question truthfully, you have to answer yes. Failure to be truthful in your application can get your application tossed or your admission revoked.

Pretty much everyone is interested in more than one topic. You just choose one to focus on in your SOP and everyone reading it knows that it may change. Or, if you want to be broader, you can write about a methodological or theoretical approach you want to take without specifying in detail what you'll use it to study. Alternately, you can talk about some big problem ("wicked problems" are a thing in one of my fields) and the multiple ways in which you might approach it without committing to a single approach. But I wouldn't write what you have above since everyone knows you can't and won't limit yourself to one theme (after all, comprehensive exams are about 3-4 broad areas in most disciplines).

In general, something like this (http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/literature-reviews/) should give you a broad overview of what a literature review entails. The best short answer I can give is that the literature review is not just a review of the literature but uses the sources to make a point about the topic under consideration.

To add to the wonderful posts from @Warelin and @Bumblebea, I'll just add that even celebrities who are Jewish are not immune to this, as Emmy Rossum has pointed out on Twitter. Here's an example of one of these tweets:

If I were in your shoes, I'd do some informational interviews and CV/resume-stalking before quitting the program. Here's why. You said, "I am still interested in doing program evaluation and legislative advocacy to improve the lives of the poor, but do not feel the PhD is needed for me to do those tasks." I would make sure you really don't and won't need the PhD to do the work you want to do before dropping out of your current PhD program. Talking to those doing this kind of work about the skills and degrees needed not only to get in the door but get promoted is a valuable step and one you really should take. Assuming that you really don't and won't need the PhD, then I wouldn't wait a few more weeks to let people know that you plan on leaving since they may want the chance to make your funding available to another grad student for the spring or it could be that they need to scramble to find someone to pick up your TA assignment. I'd be honest in talking to the DGS or department head about your reasons for leaving, focusing in particular on your intended career path and how the PhD isn't needed for that. Also, assuming you had a funded place in a PhD program, you may want to start applying for jobs now so that you have an income source once you exit your PhD program. Good luck!

Saying that a professor is a known tough grader in your SOP will not do you any favors because it'll make you look unprofessional at best and immature at worst. The better approach, if this really is a thing, is to have one of your recommenders address the course's grading in their rec letter. This of course presumes that the view of this prof's grading is as widespread as you think it is. Otherwise, you'll want to show through research experience, other coursework, and assignments that you are committed to and capable of excelling in graduate work in economic geology.

Get a basic book on research and research methods and use that to learn about variables, types, of research, etc. It's grad school so once you realize you don't know something like this, it's up to you to start reading so you can figure it out. You'll also want to pay attention to the methods section of various articles you're using to get a sense of the types of research being done on the topics you're interested in.

If I were you, I'd apply to a mix of both, in consultation with those who will be writing your recommendation letters. The question you have to consider is what you would do if that one professor left the school and they were the only person you wanted to work with. At that point, would you be able to stay where you are or would you want to leave for another institution?

You probably only need to modify the "fit" paragraphs of your SOP to fit with each program, assuming that the research interests and your interest in them is basically the same for each program.

If I were you, I'd definitely take whatever advanced GIS (and, if possible, remote sensing) courses you can. I'd also take an intro to computer science course or two since being able to program can be quite helpful for doing advanced work in ArcGIS. In your time between undergrad and grad school, you may want to see if you can find a job where you get to use GIS every day. This will likely mean starting off as a GIS technician and perhaps working your way up from there. There are often GIS jobs with the city, county, and/or state government that you may be able to get. That extra experience with GIS and working on projects will be a boon to your future master's applications.

I would include all of them at this stage in your career.

Teaching experience is definitely NOT necessary though it can be helpful when you're applying to PhD programs. I don't know that it would put you above other applications unless you designed and taught your own course as instructor of record and got outstanding reviews on it from students and faculty. And even then, the only way anyone would know this is if one of your recommenders writes about it.

Why would you branch outside of your thesis committee? They're likely the ones who know your research ability and potential the best, right?