TMP

And know that the world will not end if things don't work out the way you'd like them to. There's always next year!

The question is, do you want to produce a 250-350 page dissertation? That is what makes the PhD different from the MA. If you cannot see yourself spending 3-5 years research and writing about one topic, then you'll want to find MA programs with funding. Also, is getting a PhD necessary to be a university archivist?

Not necessarily. As long as your questions are similar to theirs they can work with you.

In addition to all the good advice above, know that this is your first semester! Professors in general are very understanding of new students' struggles to find their footing. They will cut you a lot of slack. Do not, do not try to achieve perfection. Try and relax if the other students "seem" to be more well-prepared, especially if they are further alone. Try to listen more than talking. Let your positive attitude drive you. Allow yourself to make mistakes and learn from them. Professors are most interested in seeing improvement over time. If this is your first time TAing, do not try to do too much. Know that there will be plenty of opportunities to get good at it but it's not the most important thing on your list (but grading and turning back assignments ASAP is). This semester will be all about getting your feet wet, nothing more, nothing less. First year isn't *that* much harder than any other years but it feels the hardest only because everything is new, from your books to the administration to the department culture to figuring out the health insurance. By your second year, you will have a different set of challenges but you will have the routine stuff down pat.

If I remember where you are going, I would not worry at all. Really. Start grad school with a positive attitude and fight the good fight with a positive attitude. Anxiety is normal but you will be so amazed how quickly negativity and "getting in your own head" can overtake your entire life. Because... academia. Know that you have much better world outside of the university and you should make an effort to meet graduate students in other universities in the area There must be Facebook groups or something. I agree with some of the comments above. You may be able to relate to students much farther along as they may have gotten married and have babies in the process. Also, don't be so quick to judge undergraduate degree years as there are indeed plenty of people who completed such degrees later in their lives. My PhD program has several of those folks. They find their own niche. If I am correctly aware, your PhD program is also very small so no doubt that your cohort will have to stay in touch with one another to battle similar fights and celebrate common victories. And yeah, I'd rather be mistaken for a staff member/professor than an undergraduate. I honestly have to put on *real* and nice clothes while the undergrads wear their sporty attire and hoodies to avoid being asked inappropriate questions.

@infovore That's not true that you must have some coursework prior to entering a MA program. You will simply have a steep learning curve upon entering the MA Demonstrate in your application your understanding of history/historiography based on your independent readings and thesis. Don't reject yourself before they reject you. They may well see potential in you and take a chance! Your thesis will help you. You can give PhD programs a shot but don't reject MA programs that can give you some real grounding.

I'll be blunt with numbers: 5-10% no matter where.

If you respect this professor, take her advice to heart. I have been told similar things about my Hebrew. i was super frustrated because I didn't need Hebrew for my dissertation. Some of the professors, however, felt it was necessary for our field. They had suggested doing a MA program to keep improving my languages, whether in the US or Israel. I thought for a bit and decided to get a MA in the US. Strangely, for complicated reasons, I ended up with Yiddish. I did keep in touch with such professors. Some were please d that I took Yiddish anyway; others grunted. The most disgruntled ones rejected me while others accepted/wait-listed me. Ultimately, I learned that improving my languages at all and picking up more coursework made me better prepared for the PhD. After i got into PhD programs, I learned that the Hebrew-focused professors were of "old-school" types who had studied Hebrew as boys and took their own education and gender for granted. #genderignorance Despite all this drama, they have come to respect me and my work as I progressed in my PhD program. While Hebrew and Yiddish aren't in huge demand as Arabic, keep in mind that our generation has taken serious interest in Arabic since 9/11. Arabic classes have always been full, or close to it. You will be competing against people who have been studying Arabic forever. I'll throw in another option: Go for Middlebury! Their Kathryn Davis fellowships cover everything. You just need to pay for your transportation to the Mills camps in San Francisco Bay Area and you're set to learn Arabic 24/7 for 8 weeks. I did it for Hebrew twice and it was always fantastic, if not very personally challenging. You'll also be around graduate students who are trying to improve their Arabic. It's a wonderful community.

Agreed. Had this happen to me. But since funding is actually involved in this one, you may want to find out if the system is automatic (reject from PhD applications but good enough for the MA and therefore an acceptance to the MA) or you need to request that your application to be moved for MA consideration if you do not get into the PhD.

When I first started applying to PhD programs in 2008 and 2010, the competition was unbelievable intense. Programs were seeing record number of applications but trying to hold their cohort sizes steady. They were also trying to cut back the number of acceptances in the light of financial and budgetary crises. But as soon as the economy recovered around 2012, the applications dropped, leaving the programs a chance to breathe a little easier in saying, "Okay, we don't have to feel so guilty about cutting down the number of PhD students in order to right the system." Meanwhile, professors are telling potential applicants and the boom of blogs (including The Professor Is In and Rebecca Shuman) have raised awareness of the dire chances of landing an academic job. It strikes me that a lot of students coming from undergrad these days have their eyes on practicality as a result of the 2008 market crash and heavy student loans. But competition for slots in PhD programs is still quite intense. Jobs will be another beast to battle.

Heard from a friend that decisions got delayed and will be notified before September 30. So frustrating for all the applicants!

If only they ask.

Don't count on it at all. Universities are increasingly replacing those tenured positions with adjuncts to capitalize, I mean, exploit the labor force. Little pay, no benefits. Departments have to work hard to lobby for tenure-track positions and proposals are not always accepted (I've see a fair share of rejected hiring proposals).

Sure. Only because I'm a pack rat But yes, I have referenced to them when I was studying for my exams and teaching undergrads. It's hilarious to look back on your professors' comments while you're learning how to grade!

Yes! It is possible but be flexible as your workload will vary by semesters. First two years are definitely rough because you are taking a full load of classes and teaching (and even if you are on fellowship, that's another class). But stay flexible and make a little time. Some semesters you might be able to devote more time to your activity and other semesters, not so much. Each semester has its own personality.

no. Move on and focus on the writing sample and statement of purpose. Those are more important than the GRE.

@VAZ I think you're overthinking here a little. Use your legal names on all forms (your transcripts need to match your file after all). Professors and staff aren't clueless; it takes them a moment to realize that you have a nickname/preferred name based on your communication with them, application form, and your letters of recommendations. Most application forms have a "preferred name" section. If in doubt, your date of birth and last name will confirm your identity. My colleague has a full name that she uses for applications even though everyone calls her by her nickname. She "corrects" people when she introduces herself or signs her e-mails.

One of my very good friends had a fair bit of anxiety of being the "cohort"/"department baby". She came into the PhD program barely 21 but she was exceptionally mature, hard-working, and engaging. However, this presence did slight some of our peers who started between 23-26 and did not share these qualities. I empathized. She left the program after 2 1/2 years and a MA. She took a deeper look within herself and realized that she was unhappy. She had trouble forming strong support network (see above) and being treated seriously as a peer despite working for the university-wide graduate student organization. She also got tired of "bringing work home" and not having a clear 9-5 schedule. At the end, she realized that she wanted to get more out of her system and enjoy more of her twenties and did not have the grit to stay in academia/history PhD program. She also had goals bigger than the PhD itself. Know that hard work and grit look similar on the surface but are two different things. Age should not matter but be prepared to be judged and find supportive network immediately.

I wouldn't worry so much about that. You will be reading a lot during your coursework years, which you'll look up where scholars have found their sources to make their arguments. You will (hopefully) receive funds to do pre-dissertation research to check on the viability of your project. Focus on ideas for dissertation topics. As people defend their dissertation topics, they go into research and refine their topics. It's a never-ending cycle of expanding and trimming your project.

I definitely did this. But only after I contacted the POI and got a response. Usually, I'll respond after a few exchanges that I'm also interested in X and Y and ask the POI if they might be interested in my work/I should contact them, or the POI will make suggestion that I contact X and Y. It really depends on the departmental culture. For example, the professors at Brown CC-ed each other in their communications with me (crazzzyyyyy). In other cases, I'll report back to the POI that I had a great conversation with X. But I hesitated to write other professors without having a "referral" from the POI or my own professors. I might have had a school where the POI didn't care about other faculty members and that gave me a pause. I think my logic at the time was, if not going to be my primary adviser, then I want be sure that this person is willing to be part of my network anyway. It is true that contacting multiple professors in one department helps the POI's case for your admission but the POI makes the first decision whether or not to accept you, followed by the graduate studies admissions committee.

Yes and no. Depends on the POI's humility level and the student's willingness to defer to the POI's opinions until dissertation stage. Until you take your candidacy exams, you listen to the opinions of your professors. Vast majority of scholars will not see PhD students as intellectual equals until students achieve PhD candidacy or the degree itself. If you have evidence and use it in your writing sample, the POI can then decide if s/he wants to work with you. It is perfectly okay to disagree with an adviser but you don't want to get to the point where you simply cannot work together because the disagreement is so fundamental. Also, keep in mind, your POI may not care so much about the questions you want to bring in because the book is done and s/he has moved on.

Nope. Spell out those lingos when you're communicating with people off GradCafe and other internet forums.

@VAZ I'm not following you at all here. If you want to be specific with your research interests and thoughts on different programs, just PM me. But if you have 6-8 schools you can see yourself at, you're in good shape. Just contact the POIs and see how they respond. Even so, PhD admissions are very competitive no matter the rank of the history program. Always be prepared to not get in the first time around.

1) Search the Internet for improving your writing quality/better academic writing. If you're editing an undergraduate paper, it is likely to be full of passive voice and long sentences. Break down sentences, cut quotes to no more than 2-3 linkes, and try to make every sentence an active one. 2) No works-cited page needed. It's what footnotes are for. 3) Unless specified, choose a section that exemplifies your writing and research skills (heavy on primary sources and analysis). A 50-page paper should have several sections to it already. Choose 1-2 sections that end up being between 15-25 pages total and leave at that. Each section should have an argument. Try to leave about 200-250 word abstract at the beginning that outlines your overall argument. I never condensed my 80 page MA thesis; it was too much and one section was clearly stronger than the other 2. Most professors have other things they're doing.... especially teaching when they're reading grad school applications in January, at the beginning of the spring semester.

Always frustrating to hear of Americans getting arrested in Iran and North Korea. My Turkish colleague who was in my PhD program was very fortunate to be a Turkish citizen to be able to do her research in Iran. She was also working with private collections, not state materials, I think. What that student did was a very risky move as an American citizen (and his race likely drew some attention). The adviser is partially blamed for this approval of his dissertation research in Iran and I'm sure s/he is kicking him/herself right about now. As for comparing to Eastern Europe, this is a bit different. For one, the archives were closed then Right now, the Russian historians are keeping a close eye on Russia in hopes of not messing with their ability to keep researching there (and working a bit faster while there if not already).