TMP

Definitely not. I was accepted to American U one cycle without funding. The following cycle I had 2 funding offers from top 25.....

http://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=Hawaii+history Looks like decisions can come within next 2 weeks. Hang on! Did you receive confirmation that your materials had been received? If not, then you can politely ask if the program has received the materials and then say that you look forward to hearing the decision.

If these fellowships are organized by Columbia, could you explain your personal situation and see what they have to say about funding? Could you defer your entry and apply for those fellowships next year?

I will agree that spending time in Germany will give you a good perspective on German history, culture, and language. I'll admit that it is hard to study 20th century German history without having a sense of what it's about. The impact of Nazism and "divided" Germanies can still be felt everywhere, especially if you can travel between former East and West (i.e. Dresden and Köln) in addition to Berlin. I have traveled all over Germany over the course of my PhD and it's now more regional focused but the story of the town's past remain ever present. I also got clarity while doing my German homework in a Turkish cafe in Berlin. I found myself deeply interested in questions of nationality, belonging, and immigration as my basic research questions. For the course of the MA, I'd spend that kind of money on being in Germany for at least 5-6 months (ideally between November and April when it's low season and train tickets and German language courses are cheaper, and the fun experience of winds from Russian Arctic). I also suggest reading David Blackbourn's outstanding speech, "Honey, I Shrunk German History" in German Studies Review. and reviewing German Studies Association's conference program in the last few years to get a sense where the research is giong.

Yes.

Having said all of that and looking back in your previous posts. You mentioned that Minnesota is an "awesome fit" and you only worry about job prospects. Forget the program's name-- how does your subfield and your adviser's students do on the job market and fellowships? If they do quite well, then it's not as big of a concern as you think. You also said that you don't care much for where you want to teach although you prefer to teach in Florida. As I mentioned, half of the time, you will be more likely to land a position within the region (Midwest for Minnesota) and the other half can be anywhere. Believe me, teaching institutions would rather hire a Minnesota PhD over a Yale PhD unless the Yale PhD manages to convince that search committee that they are no way interested in research anymore and would rather commit time to teaching and would not move onto a different institution down the road. By going to Minnesota, you will have to work just a little harder to establish yourself such as networking more, applying for more fellowships, etc. than the well-funded, top programs where students have it pretty easy in terms of access to resources and people. Having done this for myself, it has become gratifying. Have you visited Minnesota yet? How did you like it? @ashiepoo72 did the camps visit several years ago and really enjoyed the program. I think she had some good insights that she brought to the board but I can't remember what they were.

If your interest is 20th century German history, then why do a MA in US history? Unless your interest is connecting US history and German history (there are many, many works on transnational and comparative aspects), I'd go with routes that would strengthen your position as Germanist including reading secondary sources to get hold of the historiography and improving your German.

Since your alma mater has a MA and PhD program, why don't you ask your History professors for their thoughts on your level of preparation for history PhD admissions? You didn't mention languages, so I am guessing you are interested in US history?

Would you apply to those PhD programs after you finish the MA? If so, then I would take up those PhD offers NOW. What is the purpose of getting a MA when clearly you're good enough to get into a PhD? I seriously doubt that a MA program would be willing to match as much as a PhD program; my guess is that the advice of the MA program would be to just take the PhD offers. After all, why did you apply to PhD programs in the first place?

This was a hard question to answer when I first saw the OP. I will add something from the POV of an ABD who is currently abroad on the other side of the world for research/writing. One thing I never thought much about when applying to graduate schools was that I would be writing for a lot of different audiences and purposes, not just for a seminar for the professor's eyes or a dissertation for the committee. I came to learn the importance of writing a strong funding proposal and have to ask for money in order to carry out my vision for my project. I used to be wary of "development" offices in universities and non-profits, etc. but now I realize what kind of work those people have to do to raise funds. Unlike those professionals, I have only myself to prove that my project is worthy of funding. It's hard work but can be so gratifying when it works out in your favor. Now I realize that I have the skills and would not mind at all work in the development office if academia doesn't work for me. After all, it is fun to ask for money but not easy to persuade agencies to support your project that's based in humanities and seemingly unconnected to present issues. I never thought I would get a real kick out of doing this work-- not only requesting money but also asking how I can be part of the larger society with the knowledge I'm producing. I think because I somehow show how much I enjoy writing these funding proposals, agencies recognize it. They probably realize that I'm piecing together funds to be able to travel around the world and somehow want to help..... Being a world traveler is my childhood dream coming true The only thing I really hated about my grad school experience was preparing for my exams because it took me way too long to find a note-taking system that would help me digest context and arguments. I did enjoy my conversations with my committee members but I hated prepping for those meetings and the exam itself because I was on my own and struggling. There was just no one in my program in my stage doing similar fields to study/talk with.

I got your PM but I'll put my questions out here so others can help. 1) Why made you decide to apply to that "good school" in the first place? 2) Have you asked for feedback in the prior cycle? If not, you should ask for feedback ASAP from the programs that rejected you. 3) My guess is that your languages must be up to par. Do you have sufficient language training for the area of research you want to do including at least French or German for reading? 4) What do you want to do with the PhD after you finish? Besides academia. 5) Would you be open to doing it in Europe or the UK instead of the US?

Without knowing your background (PM me if you want), it's hard to say. Absolutely, if you wish to apply ot JHU again, go ahead. Also, don't be afraid to write to your POIs for suggestions to improve your materials for the next cycle.

Is this a UK or Canadian school? If it's a US program, it should be part of the Council of Graduate Studies (CGS) where universities have made an agreement that no (funded) offer can be withdrawn before April 15th. After April 15th, anything goes. If it is an issue of getting off a waitlist at another university, that happens all the time. Once you decline a funded offer, you can't get it back and will have to reapply and be treated just like any other applicant. If it's an issue of wanting to go to a program abroad, that will get tricky.

How "young" are we talking about? How active is this professor in research? If s/he is about to get tenure and the book project looks simply excellent and there is another well-known professor (or two!) who can write letters for you, you may be okay to feel free to choose between the two. If this young professor isn't close to tenure, I'd take L.

I'll also add; save the Manchu program for when you are actually in the PhD program. You can then apply for grants and FLAS in your university to help cover the costs of attending a Manchu program. No need to go into unnecessary debt. I would heed @pudewen and @lordtiandao's advice. Also I know you can apply for a full-ride Mandarin immersion program at Middlebury too if you need more Chinese. I'll also agree on the basis of secondary source literature. I'm discovering it for myself now as I'm reading up secondary literature for my dissertation which engages with China (although Chinese history isn't my main field). It would definitely have been a bit useful to know some Chinese to assess the scholarship over in China on my own rather than rely on book reviews and newly published books in English.

Then you will need to focus on getting classical Chinese under your belt if you want to do Qing history.

I'd wait and see. If you do get in, then you can ask for deferral. If you don't get in, then there's no point in waste time and energy. Spend time with your family. That's more important than worrying about grad admissions decisions.

What do the professors in your program say and what were their reasonings?

Subtract roughly 10-15% for taxes (New York State is the highest taxed state in the country), which gives you around $25K. Then divide that by 12 months (save your "summer" stipend for research purposes or rainy-day savings) and that's around $2079/month. If you go with Columbia housing with around $1000, then you have $1000 to spend on food, transportation, etc. Just know that if you choose not to live in Columbia's housing, you will want to get a monthly pass for the subway ($117/month) but don't lose it (there is no way to replace it if lost or stolen). When I lived in NYC, I had trouble keeping my grocery bills under $200/month. Since you are an international student, it may be tough to finance your travels home alone unless you budget very carefully. Err on the conservative side in your first year until you figure out how you can make your budget compatible with NYC You'll thank yourself later.

I haven't seen or heard anything about Graduate Admissions this year although I did get an e-mail about student hosting for Visitation Day. The numbers aren't finalized yet. If you haven't been notified at this point, it's likely that you have not been admitted, if we aren't going to go with new TAs (even if we do, the list wil be very small). Don't worry, the Graduate School is pretty slow on this-- I didn't even get my first rejection from OSU until mid-March years ago!

"Intellectual stretch" is always good! I had two exam committee members who were in British and French empires (respectively), only because I liked them and found them to be good personality fit for such an anxiety-ridden process, even if it meant going with their interests in colonial empires. As it turned out, they helped so much to think about how empires worked even though my location of study is actually in the periphery of these empires. I am still grateful for their teaching and confident to explore more of the topic of imperialism and decolonization. It's OKAY to go into a different direction. As my adviser says, "If I don't see intellectual growth, then I'll be disappointed." Professors expect you to experiment with different ideas and directions to continue challenging your intellectual base and it's not unusual for PhD candidates' dissertations to undergo big changes once they are in the field. It sounds like Rutgers truly isn't a bad place to be. Go to the campus visit and let us know

Actually... Michigan's package is more generous that Princeton's, IMHO. You can't say no to a 6 year funding with summers!

Mind you, even if you paid your way through the program, there is no guarantee that the professors will take you seriously as a student (except for your adviser, perhaps). Do you really want that?

If your interests now has changed dramatically, I'd think about turning down Rutgers. Are there courses that are bieng offered that you are interested in taking? Usually book lists change little from one year or another (swap a few out, swap a few in). I'd think hard because you may not be welcomed to re-apply there next year if you decide over the summer that maybe you should have taken the offer. If it's a MA/PhD, you can take the offer, work on your MA and refining your intersts and then re-apply to PhD programs on the basis of seeking a better fit. I have heard of students turning down WGS programs to go to Rutgers--- it's quite excellent. @gsc is currently there for women's history and may be up for PMing to see if you're overthinking or getting cold feet or your interests truly don't line up with Rugers after all.

. It's truly no big deal. Just call up the Grad Program coordinator to withdraw your application, and if you developed some sort of relationship with a POI, let him/her know that you are sorry for having to withdraw but you have offers on hand that you are excited about and you'd like to make room for other applicants. Trust me, they'll be happy to have one less application to deal with although if they were going to accept you, they'll be a bit disappointed. I've done it and it worked out for the best at the end.