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Everything posted by maelia8
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What to Expect & Wear for 'Invited Students Weekend'
maelia8 replied to untrachel's topic in Interviews and Visits
My university only held and event like this for admitted students, but I'm sure that the clothing expectations are similar. I wore a button-up collared blouse and a pair of nice jeans and leather shoes - in other words, what I would call business casual - and that seemed about right. One person there was wearing a suit and tie and it was definitely too much. Depending on how conservative the institution you're visiting is, I might wear dress slacks instead of jeans. Good luck! -
I made some New Years' resolutions for this year, several of which I've already managed to get on the path the achieving: 1) force myself to participate in physical activity by signing up for a martial arts class that meets three days a week and paying for a semester's worth of classes in advance. I go to free yoga and Pilates at the university gym once in a while, but since you don't have to sign up in advance or pay, I have a really hard time making myself actually attend on a regular basis. 2) put 10% of my income in a retirement IRA. I just opened the IRA and put in the initial deposit on Friday. 3) make (small) travel goals for school vacation periods and save up the money I need to go there (for example, skiiing in another part of the state or going to a fan convention) 4) volunteer at least once in a while 5) actually complete some of the craft projects I start, like knitting a hat for example 6) break some bad habits caused by nervous fingers (such as picking at hangnails or pulling at the seams on my shirt). Anyone have some advice on this? I'm not sure how to start. 7) get a low-stress part-time job to make a little bit of extra money on the side of grad school 8) stop settling for crappy living situations just because they are cheap or convenient
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I second fopdandyhomo, application is quite expensive, especially if you are planning on applying to more than 5 or 6 schools. My father agreed to fund me through one application cycle, and I applied to just 6 schools, but that still cost over $800 when all costs are factored in. I thank goodness that I managed to get in on the first try, because I might not have had the funds to try again.
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My honors thesis came in at around 75 pages, so I just chose my favorite sections from the introduction, conclusion, and one body section (my favorite) to submit as my writing sample. It's less important to have a perfect cohesive 20-25 page paper than it is to showcase your best writing and research skills, and in my case, the honors thesis represented the best work that I had completed at that time. Another issue is that writing sample requirements vary widely from school to school (some allowed submission of a paper up to 75 pages, others 25 pages, and the one that I ended up attending wanted just 10 pages!), so it's pretty much impossible to prepare one paper that fits all possible length requirements right off the bat. You're going to have to do some butchering regardless, and I personally preferred to pull small sections from a much larger paper rather than cut a short paper in half or by a third (which is harder to do and maintain the paper's integrity). However, this is simply my preference
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I recommend starting to look into post-undergrad programs that you can do between undergrad and grad school in order to make you a richer and more diverse candidate when you apply. I know a few people who applied to grad school right out of undergrad and were accepted, but the vast majority did something else for a year or two that made them even better candidates. For example, I got a Fulbright grant to teach English as as a foreign language in the country that I research (and whose language I speak), then spent some of the two years that I was there doing summer internships in the country (at vastly reduced cost, since I was already living there) and doing independent archival research as well as honing my teaching skills. I'm sure that it made me a much better candidate than I would have been coming out of undergrad. Other programs besides Fulbright include Peace Corps and other international English teaching programs besides the Fulbright one. Anything that you can do to get more time and experience in your primary country of research before grad school is a plus. I'd also start looking into the honors process at your university, and whether it's an option to write an honors thesis. This could eventually form the basis for a really good writing sample when you later apply to grad school. If you can't find a paid internship, try to volunteer at a local historical society or archive in the summer, just to get a feel for archival research and organization. I also second the language advice. My program requires French and German for scholars of modern Europe, along with any other local languages necessary for research. It's also possible to get scholarships for language learning at summer language intensive programs, such as the Middlebury or Monterey institutes. Good luck with your preparation!
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First Year Students Fall 2014 How's It Going
maelia8 replied to Threeboysmom's topic in Officially Grads
I finally got back my grades for this term and I am so happy!!! An A and an A+ in my grad seminars, and a pass in my language class! It's nice to know that when I thought I was working very hard, my fears of creating substandard work despite the amount of effort were unfounded. Thank goodness -
I am so over my divorced parents' fussiness over where I spend my time when I'm on vacation over the holidays. Just because I have several weeks off doesn't mean I want to spend every minute with you, and if I choose one of you one day, I am tired of hearing from the other one about why I didn't choose them instead. I am 25 and my sister is 23. We can make our own choices - this is not a custody battle!
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We generally get sandwiches or hummus plates, which make for a good lunch but can get tiring after a while. I usually manage to snag lunch or dinner at departmental working groups or meetings twice a week, and at least once more for a one-time event such as a talk or presentation. I also attend presentations in other interrelated departments every few weeks, and there are holiday and welcome parties with nicer food spreads every once and a while. However, keep in mind that departmental events tend to surge at the beginning and end of a semester with a dearth in between. I lived on department food at the beginning of the semester, but had to supplement it more and more as the semester wore on and then was able to live off of it again during the wave of holiday parties and end-of-semester events. Some weeks you get a lot, some weeks you get none. I wouldn't depend on it as a year-round food source when calculating your expenses.
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I've always lived with roommates during undergrad, my two years in the "real world," and now during my first year of grad school. I've had really great experiences with roommates and also really terrible ones, and there has been no correlation between great roommates and great friends (i.e. I've had great friends be bad roommates and complete strangers turn out to be amazing roommates). Before this year I always thought I'd dislike living alone (even if I could afford it, which in my expensive area is pretty much impossible on a grad stipend), but now, living with completely incompatible roommates for the second time in my life at age 25, the idea of living alone is starting to look more and more attractive. I've already made a vow for myself for 2015 that I will no longer move in with random people, but from now on will only seek out a living situation with people I know well and trust, such as long-term acquaintances or significant others. At some point you are allowed to stop compromising what you want inside the apartment for factors like cheapness or hipness of the neighborhood. It just isn't worth it if you're with people who drive you around the bend.
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That's the thing I love about Nin, you can pick her up, read five pages, and enjoy a delightful vignette without having to worry about losing track of the storyline since it meanders a lot and doesn't always make sense anyway. Perfect for a grad student!
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Normally I read about 2-3 fiction books per week (during the first three years of undergrad when I wasn't writing a thesis, as well as my two years of "real-world" work between undergrad and grad school). However, during this first semester of grad school, I managed to read about 3 novels over the course of the semester, largely because I just didn't have time to read more than a few pages a day after finishing with my required academic reading (and as a historian, it's a lot of reading). I've been really into Anais Nin lately and just finished ​The Winter of Artifice.
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First Year Students Fall 2014 How's It Going
maelia8 replied to Threeboysmom's topic in Officially Grads
I survived!!! Papers and oral language final exam were both on Friday, and now all I have is my written language final exam (with 12 whole days to study for it!! Now I finally have the time to catch up on reading I wanted to look at more closely and do all of the laundry and shopping that I'd been waiting on while I was in crunch mode. -
I've definitely been losing weight over the past month and a half as the semester winds down - forgetting to eat or living off hors d'oeuvres from department events is not the way to go while studying my butt off and writing papers! At least I know that my mom will remind me to consume three balanced meals when I go home over Christmas. Hopefully I can get back to a healthy place then.
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@Kleio_77 Thanks for the recommendation! I've read Hagen's German History in Modern Times: Four Lives of the Nation, and I loved it, so I'm looking forward to reading more works by him.
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At the end of this week, everything significant is due for this semester. Hello, no sleep/forgetting to eat/wearing dirty clothes because I have no time for laundry/surviving off of applesauce and canned soup because I'm too poor to go out and have no time to cook/feeling lucky if I have time to bathe ... I will be so glad when this is over!
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I'm nearing the end of my first semester as a graduate student. Classes end this Friday, next week is dead week, and the following is exam week. I am in one of the very few classes in my department in which the final project/paper (in this case, an annotated bibliography) is due this Friday rather than the following one, and I'm really feeling the crunch. I will be on campus for two weeks after the planned due date for this paper anyway as I have a language final exam at the end of exam week (an exam I'm not worried about and that will have minimal effect on my grade). In this situation, would it be appropriate to ask the professor of my grad course in which the bibliography is the final project for an extension, at least over the weekend to the 8th rather than the 5th of December (or possibly longer)? It's common for grad students in my department writing a paper to take an incomplete, finish the paper over break, and then get a grade for the course the following semester, but I only need 5 days max (long before the end of the semester when grades have to be posted) to make this a much, much better project than it will be if I have to rush through it by Friday. What is the etiquette of asking for a possible extension (at least 3 days in advance of the due date) from a grad professor? Is it rude/should I email or do it in person/what argument should I use? Thanks for any advice
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My guilty pleasures this semester have definitely been Christopher Clark's Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947 and The Sleepwalkers: How Europe went to War in 1914. So pop history, so lovely to read, such pretty writing and gorgeous narratives.
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I loved my undergrad experience and am incredibly happy that I went there, but since it was a small up and coming private liberal arts college that no one outside of the region has heard of, "pride" isn't really the word I'd use to describe how I feel about having gone there. My grad institution, on the other hand, is a lot more well-known and offers an incredible variety of great programs, so I guess at this point I'm more proud of myself for having gotten in here than my undergrad. I'll get back to you after a couple of years here though and see how I'm feeling after I have had more experience here
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I've definitely thought about this as a possibility as well if I'm unable to land an appropriate university job in my field after completing my PhD. I taught as an ESL teacher overseas for two years before going to grad school and loved it, and I honestly think that if I couldn't teach history at a university, teaching it at a private school would be nearly as much fun. Of course becoming a professor would be top priority, but if for some reason I can't find a steady or paying position, teaching at the high school level would definitely be a backup plan.
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One quarter of the people in my Ph.D. cohort went to my institution for undergrad as well, and it seems to be pretty average for our school - in fact, I've even heard that they expect to fill the cohort with at least 2-3 students from the undergrad program each year (which graduates hundreds of students each year, so they are the very best of the undergrad cohort). Our institution has a great reputation in our field, and honestly, if I'd wanted to go to a large school for undergrad, I would have been happy going there for my B.A. and then staying on for my Ph.D., but I wanted to go to a SLAC instead and was quite happy there. If your school is perfect for your interests within your field and you like the atmosphere, and it's a good program, I see no reason not to stay
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I positively dislike using pencil, whether mechanical or otherwise, because I'm a leftie and I hate getting graphite smeared all over the back of my hand. I avoid handwriting when possible and stick to typing, but when that can't be avoided, I use pen. The only thing I write by hand in pencil is my datebook, because things are changing in there so quickly sometimes that I have to erase or face running out of room on that day's page. I always disliked being told to use a pencil in math class during high school so that I could erase and make things "tidy," so I'm glad to hear that people doing higher calculations in grad school are allowed to use pen!
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First Year Students Fall 2014 How's It Going
maelia8 replied to Threeboysmom's topic in Officially Grads
I am leaving Sunday morning (the drive takes most of the day) so I'm really only going to be there for three days. It's really not worth it to go up for less than that because of the cost of gas and the time spent in the car. I'm planning on working as much as I can while I'm home, so we'll see how that goes. -
I feel like I'm not applying to enough schools. Help.
maelia8 replied to ivmeow's topic in Applications
Only apply if you truly feel that it's a good fit and you'd actually want to go there if you got in. I applied to six programs in my field and I felt that was quite enough (in terms of both time and money). Don't apply to a lot of schools just to broaden your net if you don't think you'd want to go to those schools anyway, especially if they are of a lower rank than what you'd actually like to attend. -
I am currently enrolled in a history Ph.D. program and I can tell you that interviews generally are not conducted in this field. At all of the programs I applied to, the official visit day occurred after offers for admission had been sent out, so all of the people who attended had already been offered admission and were there to get a feel for the program and make up their minds. i haven't heard of any history Ph.D. programs having visit days before students are admitted, although of course one could visit unofficially and take a tour to get a look at the campus.