TMP

OP, Only you can decide if you want to do the PhD. Be mindful of the opportunity costs, financial and otherwise, that you will face for being a PhD student for 6+ years. PhD stipends in the humanities are not high as those in the STEM so you will need to take this into account, especially with cost-of-living at places like NYU or Princeton or Harvard (even though Harvard has significantly raised the stipends). Museums are still quite tough to come by; one does not need to have a PhD these days. Connections matter more. I agree with @jpc34about your thesis adviser's letter. As long as it's strong, it's all it matters. Only the review committee and your POIs (persons of interest) can determine if you're ready to dive into this topic. which I imeagine would be simultaneously rewarding and challenging.

It's a school in the Deep South, @dr. telkanuru. The Program B, if I think what it is, sounds like a better deal to me, @Strider_2931.

Keep in mind, folks, as you calculate your stipend and cost of living (COL), please divide the total stipend by 12, not 9 and take out required student fees and 12% for taxes (at minimum!) to get your actual monthly take-home pay. If the school says 9 months, divide the total by 12 anyway. Ask grad programs about student fees -- they should have a list handy. You should also see which ones can be opted out. If your school offers health insurance and it's solid, find out the cost. If your university offers a retirement plan (like a state pension), please, please contribute if you can. The savings will build up over time and be transferred into a IRA. It might seem like a nightmare to give up $200 monthly for retirement when you can use it for a bigger apartment or a car in a place you don't really need a car (like NYC), you will be glad after 5-8 years in the program that the first $200 yields to, say, $10k or so when you finish and that number will get higher over the next 40 years. Far, far too many first year students don't think about this until the spring when they realize that they need to find summer jobs to pay their rent instead of doing language or another training program or studying for their exams or researching for MA thesis. @wluhist16 I chose financial stability over intellectual. My adviser and I were the only ones doing our field but being a minority forced me to challenge myself intellectually in order to connect with other areas of history. In fact, it has made me a solid grant-writer and a teacher who can offer a variety of courses based her own area of specialty. I made sure that I attended the yearly conference in my field and networked with other scholars and grad students who I could communicate with to flesh out my research ideas and prepare for my candidacy exams. If I had to make this choice all over again, I would even if I was frustrated and/or intellectually lonely many times. More info is still needed for us to really help you figure out your situation.

I worked as an administrative assistant (part time) in an organization related to my interests for money. The skills and projects that I did were helpful for job interviews after my MA (when I didn't get into any PhD programs) as I did not take any time off between BA and MA to keep building my resume.

FWIW, if you are anxious about the job market, it is worth having a conversation with the current graduate students and departments. How were people getting TT jobs? What did their CVs look like? Most graduate students start off wanting to be a professor but that number declines toward the end as graduate students begin to learn the ropes of academia and university-level teaching and/or have unexpected changes in their personal lives that make going into academia untenable. Out of 19 people in my cohort, I can say that less than half of us are still in academia. Everyone else either jumped ship during the PhD or decided to leave after getting the PhD (one became a professional indexer, one went into working for a non-profit public history education organization, etc.). Those of us who were lucky enough to stay in academia have vastly different CVs. There is no surefire way to "game" the system. You put your best foot forward and hope for the best while keeping your eyes wide open. So many things, such as diversity considerations and internal departmental politics, are beyond your control, just like PhD admissions right now. That' s all I can offer in the way of "solution" to concerns about the realities of the job market.

they're in engineering and tech sectors... we're in a neoliberal economy where love/passion for something gets exploited with low pay. meanwhile, tech is the future!

Since @pssteinpulled me in a bit, I'll offer another perspective. I am in my first year as a Visiting Assistant Professor teaching 6 courses/year total. I applied to 19 academic opportunities before landing this job (and had 2 subsequent interviews to see if they were better fit/make a better offer, neither panned out). I never planned to become a professor but I discovered ways that made being a professor seem like a good path to take in addition to others I thought about. My original goal was to work in a museum's academic research center but a lot happened in that place during those 7-8 years and it got to the point where I really don't want to work there right now. Also, I finished and defended my dissertation in middle of a pandemic so the economy was/is in total shambles. So I took the first job offer, which was this one. Do I have regret of doing my PhD? No. I was very lucky in many, many ways -- having excellent faculty support, out-of-the-world advisers, excellent record of funding, and fulfillment of one of my life dreams (traveling around the world, literally!). Am I upset about the financial opportunity costs that @pssteinmentioned? A bit. While my salary as a VAP is a serious boost from my grad salary and quite livable here, I wish I had a bit more money to be able to travel for a vacation and not have more savings than in the past. To offer an insider's take. I did try to discourage a very bright student of my own, who decided to apply to a PhD program after he took my class and go straight after graduation (in a different discipline, however). The real reason, that I just did not have the heart to tell him, is that the realities of the academic job market are that underrepresented groups are hot, hot, hot for hiring. (This student did not fit in any of the groups). In my opinion, it is absolutely fair that underrepresented applicants should get looked at more seriously because undergraduates want professors who "look like them" and these groups have been ignored and underappreciated for far too long. I am a member of two categories and I completely understand and it's why I am here and fighting the job market. While my student decided to forge ahead, I adjusted my approach to focus on teaching him how to "be an informed consumer" as I have done on these boards since 2009 and he has appreciated my mentoring. He has gotten into 2 PhD programs so far and I'm happy for him. Am I being discriminating? Are we being discriminating? Yes and no. Our generations (millennial and Gen Z) are victims of an entrenched old boys' network that needs to be dismantled in order to make room for those who do not conform to upper class, white cishet male ideal; those who would not otherwise have a chance to enter in academia, say, 15-20 years ago. As a PhD applicant, I saw sexism and ableism firsthand and I am telling you, these behaviors -- committed by older cishet while men -- were so gross and offensive, and I want to see less of such people in the future. I was intentional in finding professors who would accept my background and be advocates (I did a lot of informational interviews. The only men who made the cut were Gen X!). Bottom line, in my POV, if you are upper class white cishet male applicant, you need to think very hard how you will contribute to making academia a better place and support students from a wide range of backgrounds. Use your privilege, not abuse.

Have you considered doing fully-funded MA programs? You would not be the first international student to do it, even on their own country's history. Getting MA here in the US will help you in many ways - your English, familiarity with US academic and university cultures (we are really, really different here!), and having connections with professors who will know others who can work with you at the PhD level. The ranking of MA institution does not matter AS much as that of the PhD. The best MA programs for Russian/Soviet history will likely have Title VIII funding to establish Center for Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian Studies like Ohio State and Indiana University. You'll have a chance to live in the US for 2 years too.

Agreed here. Make sure that your PhD adviser would be the FIRST to know.... not through rumors. To deceive your department for that long might be hard to do because you will need to build collegial relationships (and you will through graduate seminars) in order to survive (and thrive) in a grueling MA/PhD program. If you alienate yourself deliberately, believe me, no one will then care and ignore you. But then again, it's a long time to be lonely. I've seen it happened -- those folks had to build a life, like, literally, outside of the university in order to make it to "mastering out." There are still plenty of MA programs with funding if that's what you're looking for -- a way to fund your MA degree. (I still have a little chip in my shoulder after witnessing students who received the department's money in competitions master out when others really needed that money in order to finish (and they did but not without cost... they could have really used that money.).)

Even if you get a response something like "Thanks for letting me know. I look forward to reading your application" or "Thanks for your note, it was delightful to speak with you as well." or any version of that.... keep your expectations low. You don't know what the application pool looks like and a lot of times it's beyond, beyond your control.

"Throughout history.... " or anything like that will elicit groans. Make a bold, declarative opening sentence.

I'd list all the history courses for History PhD and science courses that would have some relevancy to your research interests.

Keep in mind, a positive sign from your POI (Person of Interest) should still be taken with a grain of salt. You never know what the ultimate pool will look like. Notwithstanding, this is a good start to begin networking for your PhD career and beyond.

search.... function?

That is incredibly broad topic, which makes it sound like you can apply to most programs. What brings you to the PhD specifically? What books spark your curiosity? Are you interested in transnational or comparative methods?

Have a look at Ohio State. There is strong WGS and Russian/Soviet history faculty. Apparently, OSU has an amazing archive of microfilms from the USSR. One of their PhD candidates is finishing up a fantastic dissertation on LGBTQ in 1980s USSR - won plenty of research fellowships for it!

@Tiglais still the best person on this forum.

I'm not sure. I disagree with @dr. telkanuruin some respects. It depends on your research and teaching goals and how much of the required coursework can be used towards fulfilling the req. hours to complete before candidacy exams/prospectus defense. I was going to do a certificate in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies but realized that I would need to take 2 more courses outside of history and do those after 2 years of coursework in the dept (there were fair amount of offerings). By that point, I was just too burned out to keep going and my committee was pushing me to move along with my exam reading lists (b/c I had spent the previous 2 summers abroad for language study or dissertation research instead of... well, reading like most people). I ended up switching one of my minor fields from US history to WGS. (otherwise, I would have had my major field in Jewish history, two minor fields in US and European history, and a certificate in WGSS). It was the best decision I've made. My minor field in WGS paid off -- I ended up designing a fabulous course that has been a talking point for my academic job interviews. I have no reason to demonstrate that I can teach US history when it's clear that search committees appreciate the ability to teach thematic and non-Western history courses. This is a very good question to ask the DGS in each program -- how often do students pursue certificates? How many non-department courses can be counted for the PhD? The goal is not to take forever to get to the exams and prospectus defense.

Congrats on a funded MA offer! What kind of jobs would you like to pursue? Do you really need a MA in history for that?

Are you interested in a specific demographic group in the United States? It sounds to me that you may be crossing into Spanish-speaking and Black communities with your interest in medicine, law, and healthcare. As @pssteinindicated, you will want to do some secondary source readings to see what's already out there in your areas of interest. For example, I particularly enjoyed works by Laura Briggs, who focuses on transnational connections between the United States and Latin America with regards to reproductive health and rights, children, and power.

@AP @OHSP @AfricanusCrowtherand @dr. telkanurucan give diverse perspectives on this topic. 1) Keep in mind that public R1s, no matter their rank, are at the mercy of the upper-level university administration. Departments' cohort sizes largely depend on funding availability and undergraduate enrollments (more undergrads = need more TAs). It also depends on the historical record of yields. The negotiations between department chairs, graduate school, and the upper administration are beyond, way beyond the scope, knowledge, and power of most faculty members. 2) There is no such thing as "magic" number to achieve excellence. What matters is the overall commitment of the faculty to ensuring high quality training. In my PhD department, the modern European, Ottoman, and East Asian fields were much more successful in helping PhD students to land fellowships and academic position than US, Ancient, and Latin American, simply because of shared communication and values of the faculty within each field. There are most certainly faculty members who should not be advisers but somehow they still have the political leverage to recruit graduate students, who then ultimate seek refuge in other professors for mentorship. This last point has always disgusted me and my heart breaks every time I hear of schisms between advisers and graduate students. 3) Relatedly to #2, it is hard to change the faculty's mind regarding the realities of the academic job market (as well as most graduate students'). Should it have to take a pandemic to get professors to wake up? Unfortunately, it appears to be so. Some programs like Columbia and Michigan have been more proactive in broadening students' horizons. It also depends on the graduate students themselves and their culture. My PhD department, because of its ties to the military and government, already had fairly open attitude towards non-academic positions when I arrived in 2012. However, I found that the graduate student culture to be steeped in passion for teaching. Therefore, it was pretty lonely to be one of very few who loved researching and writing grant/fellowship applications. Nothing stopped me from what I want(ed) to do, which was/is to apply for postdocs and professorships with teaching loads of less than 6 preps/year. Also, regional PhD programs tend to serve much more to the region's needs for university-level teaching (i.e. SUNY Albany, Kent State, UT-Knoxville). As with history itself, there is no categorization to be made here about PhD programs. You apply where you find the best fit (adviser, culture, availability of resources in your area of interest) and solid funding package.

Honestly, to each their own. I have two friends who are POCs and have taken paths outside of areas that they have deeply personal connections to. One was quite deliberate about it and he loves the clear boundary between their personal/familial identity and their work. The other one simply did a minor field in "their" history as they were looking at actors of this group in a different part of the world. This student actually spent years (combined) living, studying, and researching in that country and had a blast. They were just intellectually curious. The only advice that I can give you is to inspire the undergraduates and would-be PhD applicants to find a personal connection in your region of the world. Helping students find themselves in that history is the beautiful challenge of teaching, making the course content inclusive as possible. You are going to be the expert of your region and you will invariably find links to bring to the classroom through a lecture, a reading, or even a final paper/project assignment. For example, I teach courses in Modern European history, especially the Holocaust, and I work to bring in voices and experiences of Blacks and other minority groups and highlight the diverse forms of racisms to get my POC and Muslim students "latched." They absolutely loved the opportunity to study these groups in depth and think more critically about races and racisms. Discussions of migration and transnational connections work pretty well.

I second @OHSP's advice to do a funded MA in history. The PhD is very intellectually demanding and does require some moving around (you do need to attend the institution for residency purposes; coursework; and teaching assignment and travel to archives/libraries). The funded MA will allow more freedom to choose your courses and figure out your interests. The PhD basically demands that -- by around 3rd year -- you have a dissertation project that won't change significantly and has a clear plan for completion within 3-5 years. Another difference between the two programs, the PhD programs (unfortunately) largely focuses on training students to become academics whereas MA programs may offer flexibility and opportunities to explore different careers relating to history including internships. It's one thing you'll want to look for in a MA program. MA programs usually require exams OR a thesis to complete the degree. So if you find yourself realizing that research isn't your thing, you can just take the exams and leave. Another thing to look for. Finally, you mention that you aren't high on teaching. I am sorry to say this but undergraduate students really care about their TAs' performance, especially at big universities. They can immediately tell if the TA/professor is neutral about teaching and they will respond exactly just that, not give a care about the class or switch to another class (that can still fit their schedule). It's not a good look for the department when its trying to raise enrollment and the number of majors/minors. So if you do find yourself as a TA, be open to all the possibilities and challenges.

Congrats on this unofficial offer. I'd se what the funding package looks like. I would ALSO communicate that you have a full funding offer to attend Oxford for a year and see how they react. $17K is definitely UNLIVABLE in the SF Bay Area. $28K is pushing it, but I'd consult the funding spreadsheet to see if that's typical.

Significant revisions to your writing sample should include your awareness of the historiography. Your SOP will be very important -- as it has been repeated many times on this fora, become familiar with the historiography of the area(s) you're interested in exploring for your PhD and pose interesting questions and ideas.