TMP

I did. It helped to talk to my advisor and she listened to the way I talked about each program/visit and pointed out that I sounded more excited about working with this POI despite some reservations and that was it. If you think you'll do well in both programs all things equal, choose the one you're more excited about being part of... the people, the resources, the location. Remember, you're "married" to your adviser for 6-8 years.

Grad school is what you make of it. Graduate students are your peers, first and foremost. You do have the option of joining the grad culture within your department and/or the university. If your family is more important, then that's okay. You will see your grad peers around the department and an occasional organized meet-up at a bar. You choose how personal you want to get with them. If anyone gives you a hard time about wanting to be your wife, ignore them. Seriously. You'll be taking grad school seriously as it is.

Again, back to my earlier post about jobs. "Most" is incorrect. "Some" is a better word choice. Same goes with "little debt." That's relative as @Sigaba pointed out. Some of us are horrified by the thought of having more debt that we can handle while doing PhD. Some of us say "meh, it's $3K." Others say, "I just need $30K to complete my research abroad and then I'll come back to teach to make ends meet while writing." I'm in the first category. You might be in the second or third. But your life, your choice. Just make sure your 50 year old self won't regret this when you realize then what you would have done with $50K that you spent to pay off your loans when you could have used that towards something you'd like to do then. Like... retirement savings.

@Reaglejuice89 I'd like to suggest something. You had applied to Duke. While I don't know if you've been offered decision or not... Nonetheless, Duke offers the best financial package anywhere in this country for History, next to Michigan. 5 years of solid stipend, tuition remission, access to pool of money for summer funding. Many, many programs do not have such a package. Would you take up this opportunity over another program that only offers livable stipend and tuition remission for 5 years but summer funding is offered on a competitive basis (not guaranteed). That's all other things being equal and you can be happy at both places. Which would you choose? Another thing to really think about but you can choose to learn this the hard way when you are in the PhD program in the fall. Do not one-up another graduate student, especially if you don't know the particular details of his/her budget. Ever. You can make assumptions but keep them to yourself. If you think your peer is doing "just fine," and you want to go out for a fancy birthday dinner, don't assume that you peer can afford it. Your peer may actually be paying off loans or has a different financial goal (i.e. going on a nice spring break trip). Each person-- grad student or not-- has financial goals and we must respect one another's choices whether getting a Starbucks latte daily or paying auto insurance just to have a car. Yet there are definitely certain limitations when it comes to making decisions about which funding package to get when all things are equal, which @telkanuru is trying to get at. What I mentioned above are day-to-day items but @telkanuru is focused on enormous financial commitment that affects your future standing with the financial industry. Banks, private lenders, and credit card companies generally want to lend money but leave to you to deal with how you're going to repay. They can place high interest rate to get you to repay quickly (or, if you can't, they profit) or knock down your credit score (which is important for getting big-ticket items like a house or immediate approval for rent). People who are aware of these repercussions may choose a path that may make them miserable because they just don't want to take the risk. If you want to be willing to deal with these costly repercussions in order to be happy, be my guest. FWIW.

@betwixt&between Go ahead and ask how the procedure works. Keep your communication simple-- they know you're interested already. Ask if there's a clear set ranked waitlist and if so, whre you stand on it.

Fairly. This is especially common at public institutions. Check out the Funding Spreadsheet thread to see variations in funding offers..

Also consider how long you wish to stay in graduate school for.... remember, the MA (usually 2 years) is followed by the PhD (5-8 years, depending), for a total of 7-10 years. I took the MA route because I needed more language training and course prep in my chosen field that my undergrad didn't offer much of. It was the best decision at the end (although I did have some regrets when I was paying off loans).

at MA Level, money. Do you really want to take out student debt? You don't really want to be paying off loans or accruing interest while in a PhD program. You'll get the fit at the PhD level where you need a really good group of scholars in your subfrield to guide your dissertation research.

@DoraWinifred Go to the campuses, get a feel and come back to this. Campus visits usually make/break decisions. Is there any visit Option C? Have you been in touch with professors and grad students there? Remember, COL is the key, not the amount of the stipend. Which stipend will actually provide a decent quality of life in a given area? $20K in Palo Alto is pretty different from $20K in Durham.

@Globex Grad students will be happy to have you in the program but their job is to give you a honest assessment of the program. The faculty members are doing the sales-pitch. Most grad students will be brutally honest. The DGS will put you in touch with people who are excited about the program or in your field who are open and responsive (and patient with questions!). It is actually best this way because these grad students are generally happy but they have-- like anyone else-- encountered bumps on the road. Wouldn't you want to be in touch with someone with a positive attitude rather than a cranky student? I have been in touch with both sides of the fence and it can be worrisome when you meet an unhappy grad student as a prospective. But you have to realize that their unhappiness is often their own making. Don't worry too much about grad students-- you're looking for overall consensus. So e-mail several, not just one or two. You can also ask your POI for all of their students' names, not just one.

Some H-Net listservs have a monthly round up of new books (H-German does this). You can also subscribe to the e-mail lists of major university presses favored in your field. Honestly, book reviews are the best. There's no way you can read everything out there and book reviews fast-track you. Also, Go to conferences/read conference programs to get the most up-to-date on current trends in scholarship.

@anxietygirl Also, consider the "crowdness" of US history. How large is the American history field in your department? The professors *may* also be thinking about the very difficult job market for US historians. I agree with @Sigaba and @Deadwing on "first impressions." I have done the same ("I've been interested in X") but have to follow up with a specific intellectual question. For example, I TA-ed for a Russian historian last semester and Russian history is my pet interest. At the beginning, I said, "If I had stuck with my Russian language training, I would be a Russian historian." That only made him nod and smile. The next time I brought up the topic, I said, "If I'm not doing my field right now, I would be doing Russian women's history. I wrote a paper on [a feminist] in undergrad and loved reading about her." He said, "Oh?" [invitation to say more] and then I explained the big topic I'd really like to investigate. Then we started talking and he said, if you had needed gender history books for Russian history, you should have come to me!" Now we can talk about all things Russia. Also, since you are a first year, please do talk to your older graduate colleagues. They have a much clearer idea of the faculty politics than you do. They have departmental collective memory of various committees and who played well with who and who would fight with who. See if you can find out if your adviser has sat on dissertation/exam committees with any of the Americanists and how that went. I would also hope that none of the Americanists you seek for an adviser is an assistant professor. If someone is, you'd need to find a tenured faculty to be your co-adviser.

@MikeTheFronterizo Option #2. I agree with all the above feedback. So what if you're a bit further away from that geographic region. If Option #2 is at least close to a major airport, it's just a plane hop away. My work is in Europe and I'm middle of the country so.. I just get on the plane and head over as needed. This is why @Sigaba's question about archives is important-- unless you're planning to do a lot of oral history interviews-- you need to be able to access the materials that will make up your dissertation. People often ask me if I need to go to Asia to get the materials, I say no because all the materials that I need are actually not in Asia. Your interests will change, especially if you are coming straight from undergraduate. Even with a MA coming into the program, I never thought I'd end up having a field in gender or be really interested in the early modern period, but there you go. Another thing to consider-- do you need more language training? If so, what can each school offer? Look at the classes and resources. For example, not all schools would offer advanced Polish but students can enroll online through a consortium to take it at another university. Still, go with #2.

@AnUglyBoringNerd I disagree. Be resilient. Re-apply to Harvard if that's where you really want to go. Admissions committees change from one year to another (same for fellowships).

Exactly. It also may be the program's culture. This is why it's helpful when departments list their graduate students and offer some details (i.e. photo, years graduated from prior institutions) so one can gauge the kind of graduate program the department wants to build. Some programs are all for diversity while others stick with early 20 year olds who come up higher socioeconomic backgrounds. My program is fairly diverse in age and socioeconomic and educational backgrounds. @nevermind and @SarahBethSortino You two, stop arguing. Remember, you two are strangers on an Internet forum. The more you argue, the more personal details will come on this forum and I can guarantee you that your (future) calm selves won't want to go down this road. You need to give each other (and others) the benefit of doubt, especially for first-time applicants. @SarahBethSortino, I don't know what your field is but @Calgacus raised excellent points of things to consider as you move past the application process into the world of academia. While many archives have gone digital and can be accessed from home, there is no replacement for actually being in the archives to examine the objects. Many fellowships will not provide for dependents unless it's Fulbright-Hayes or something of that sort. Many opportunities you will encounter tend to favor the single, childless graduate student because there's simply not enough money to go around to support a family. This is where your support network comes into play and clearly you're doing that. But they also need to know what's ahead so that different issues can be agreed ahead of time (i.e. does the father want the child every time you are away for more than a week at a time during summer? What will your stipend cover? Can the boyfriend provide the family income without your stipend when you need to use your research money to fund your out-of-town trip?). I can tell you, you do have a bit of a steep hill to climb but as long as your SOP and writing sample show that you are current on research and methodological trends, you are competitive as anyone who recently graduated from college in their early 20s. There are plenty of professors who love having older graduate students because they bring in wonderful perspectives to classes. For where you are at, you can make the PhD work for you and the kind of life circumstances you're in. It will simply require extra patience and willingness to pitch in when needed from your support network.

@voprosi Indeed, placement/job rate matters. There has been debates over what matters more - program name or adviser's name. IMHO, program's name matters when it's already heavy with resources and well-known faculty members (like Pittsburgh for Latin American history or Berkeley's Modern European history). Otherwise, if you have a new-ish faculty member just hired to build up a program in a well-known program, it's risk when you have an option to work with a superstar with a track record at a middling program. Under that situation, you will be under a microscope to be sure that you will succeed. However, I would not put too much stock on the placement given the changes in the PhD market. I have noticed more and more students-- incoming and outgoing-- are looking at the non-academic jobs as serious options, not "plan b." Most people, likely younger people, are realizing that not everyone can get a tenure-track faculty job. Luck gets people only so far. Most faculty members are simply not equipped to guide graduate students to positions outside of academia unless they did so themselves so it's not easy for them to offer advice and guidance other than to say "network." You have to consider that not everyone made the choice to go into academia; there are grad students who have come to realize over the course of the program that academia isn't for them and so they leave after graduation. Incoming students have already chosen non-academic jobs and decided to pursue the PhD because they have an interest in another career such as think-tanks and museums. Regardless, everyone is in the program for the opportunity to earn the PhD and spend 5-8 years doing something they're interested in. Your challenge as a PhD student is to be supportive of your peers' choices along their journeys even if yourself feel alone in a particular situation. What matters is that the advisers are happy with what their past students are doing now. Pay careful attention to the way your POI responds when you ask, "Could you tell me what your past graduate students have been doing after they finished?" A supportive POI will tell all whereas some will be selective and choose those who did pursue academic jobs. Obviously, you want the former and not the latter. As the years go by and our generation wise up, my sense that the placement rate for academic jobs will no longer matter as much as the overall placement which includes nonacademic jobs. In that case, my PhD program has roughly 90% placement rate overall and is comparable to other PhD programs including Chicago and Harvard for academic jobs (50%). Over the last 4 years I've been in my PhD program, it seemed like everyone was able to land something after they finished. Some did return as adjuncts for a semester or two but most found full-time salaried jobs as faculty members or in another position in and out of academia. At the end of the day, you will go with your gut feeling after you've evaluated. If all fails, talk to your best friend or adviser (if s/he is the type to look out for your best interests) and see if they see the difference in the way you talk about each program, people, and POIs. That's how my MA adviser cornered me to my current program

I got the rejection letter that stated the number of application. There are about 80 fellowships... so do the math. It's like getting into Harvard.

@SarahBethSortino and others in similar position, I spent 3 years in a row applying to PhD programs ( @Sigaba knows my story) back in 2009-2012. I always planned to be in a PhD program by the next fall so it was very difficult to have to string together my "gap years." I had a lot of trouble selling myself while interviewing for jobs because I kept thinking "I won't be here for more than a year..." (don't do that, convince yourself that you will stay for a while! ) It is absolutely normal to freak out and get depressed-- whatever feelings you have are totally valid. By the time I finished my second cycle, I suffered from depression for a good while but I eventually got myself busy looking for jobs and volunteering at the local therapeutic horseback riding center (great for my horse lover's soul). I did things that would make me feel good about myself. You need to get a jump start on that as part of "self-care." Right now. It's a very important life skill to have. What kept me going? Support network and one of my POIs (who is now my amazing adviser). My support network got realistic but firmly believed that I belonged in academia. That's another important life skill to have-- developing supportive personal and professional networks. Rejections will always hurt. It will take a long time to develop a thick skin but it is necessary to do so as my MA adviser told me, "rejections are part of our life as academics." Even full professors get rejections! It takes a lot of luck and grit if you want to stay on this academic path. A year ago, I thought and planned to be away for dissertation research this year and when none of the fellowships came through, I was pretty upset. But I realized that I was more freaked out about finishing with what funding I had left than feeling as if I --the scholar-- wasn't good enough. I doubled down to gather enough funding to be away this semester and I'm really glad for this opportunity even though there's still a piece of me that is a bit sad that I didn't get the whole year away. Rejections will always hurt but you will keep walking. Many of us will end up wondering, "How different would my life be if I got this prestigious fellowship?" (or, "what if I had chosen that other school?"). It's normal. Things happen for a rason as the adage goes. You will also find out that for every rejection, there is a blessing. There will be a lot of mixed blessings along the way. It's not over until it is over but it's never too early start on self-care and finding opportunities to fill your time as you await for that magical day to (finally) come. As you have observed, all it takes is just ONE funding acceptance. If you are absolutely sure you don't want to go, simply write an e-mail saying thank you to the particular committee member (and copy the DGS) and you would like to withdraw your application as you have heard from schools that you feel are better fit for you. End of story. You're going to feel bad but it's all part of the process.

It's really up to you and what you want to get out of it. Remember, people will always be googling your name so you need to get in control of your online narrative. Also, there are a number of fellowships/grants that don't publish their winners so having a CV online helps people find those people and their projects to get a sense of the competition.

DPDF alum.... and I got rejected on this first round. With 947 applications, I'm betting it's a little easier to land a tenure track job interview!

@angesradieux Easier said than done-- don't go crazy over reading their works, especially if you never mentioned their names on your applications. They do expect that you're familiar with their general research areas (which you can look up on their bio pages) but would rather discuss YOUR work and hopes for the program than what they've done. You are their future. They'll make their research questions known when you get to talking. They're more curious about your interests and the kinds of questions you'd like to explore. A lot of these introductions have to do with the faculty figuring out what graduate seminars to teach and works to assign snd potential exam/dissertation committee commitments. (A lot of times the faculty in my program won't even put together readings -- or even add/drop courses-- until they know who exactly is coming.) So, put away those articles and books and enjoy the attention!

It is possible to negotiate, especially with multiple offers in hand. Offers tend to be negotiated on the basis of more academic year funding, another fellowship, and/or summer funding. It just depends what would make the offer more appealing than others.

I'd wait. See what others have to say and if you receive better funding at other places and you still want to go to Iowa, you can let the DGS know. S/he may come up with a better offer or leave whatever s/he has on the table. You've done what you can-- you told your sotry and emphasized your interest in the program. Unlike the PhD, you don't have a deadline of April 15th to follow. Unless a program imposes a deadline, you have plenty of time to figure out what you wish to do. In the meantime as you wait for various decisions to be made, start looking around Iowa City and figure out the cost of living and what kind of money you'd need to make ends meet while in graduate school. Also, check in the state residency; does Iowa offer in-state tuition after a certain period of time if your intent is to study and not work in the state of Iowa?

I wonder if this was a "copy and paste." Stanford doesn't admit many students to begin with. It's not known for having a large cohort (15+ students). Any program that takes less than 20 with over 200 applications is very competitive. Remember there are more than just European and American history fields-- just look at the list of "major" fields and how many faculty members are grouped in each. Now that's intense competition for the faculty members to claim graduate students. My own PhD program supposedly has cut from 15-17 students to 6 students... and we have 19 PhD fields. As for planning visits, be open to asking about staying with a graduate student in the program. I did and have hosted graduate students and we all appreciated the opportunity to spend time with the hosts. Hosts will often try very hard to make you comfortable and feel welcoming in their community because they do *hope* that you will join them. You'll also get a small sense of how livable their stipends are. You will definitely save a lot of money this way on hotels. If that free option isn't possible, then look into AirBnB. @Sigaba is right that your adviser and potential faculty members are very important. They are the ones you have to put up with, especially the adviser, for 6-8 years of your life. I am so glad that I met my potential advisers and took our meetings seriously. They were both fantastic people but talking with them on different topics allowed me to envision the kinds of conversations we might have. A good adviser will guide you through the PhD, a great adviser will become your mentor and think beyond the framework of the department's PhD requirements such as making sure there are classes for you to take, fighting for your continued funding, listen to your ideas and offer immediate feedback, never stops critiquing your writing, and, most important of all, do not leave you high and dry at any stage of the process including the academic job market (if that's what you want). Graduate students tend to be hit or miss; they change from one year to another as students come in and out. Everyone enters with different levels of motivations and goals for the PhD as well all walks of life. Graduate students can be challenging to deal with but they are not super important for survival as your exam and dissertation committees. In short: Look at the faculty and resources before looking at the graduate student body.

Were any of you part of the DPDF program?