TMP

I don't count how much time I work. Work, for me, also means thinking about history even if I'm not reading or writing. Even conversations with peers and the faculty counts work. It's one aspect that graduate students overlook and can sap you of energy to sit down and focus on reading after a long day of conversations (including talks and classes). If I need to step away from this kind of "work" I'll distract myself with a movie or a social event. Since I don't have coursework this semester (and there really haven't been any talks for me), I've been able to read far more than ever. All of my energy is devoted to the books, thinking about the comps and dissertation, and occasional conversations with peers/faculty about our field. I sleep 8-9 a night like a baby. As a professor and I recently half-joked, "Your mother comes home at 5 PM. Does her brain shut down? Yes. Does yours when you come home? No. You're still thinking about the day." It's true. People talk but don't always do the walk. It is about working smarter but also what's right for you. I used to fret a lot that I couldn't read "smart" like some of the grad students do because I had so much content that I needed to cover (I was basically starting a new field) but was gently calmed down when I was told to actually focus on me and do what's best for me. If I need to read the book from cover to cover, so be it. My committee knows this and support me even though they know that I'd like to get the comps done and over with. When I learned that 60 hours is really the maximum that a professor can actually work, I decided that it would be my limit if I needed to work that much in a week (which I haven't). Because that's just more realistic and expected of academics.

That's my point above I struggled a lot to stay energized and focus while depression/anxiety/PTSD took over my body and mind- the symptoms took almost all of my first two years (yes, I even stopped posting on GradCafe for some time because I lost so much interest). I crashed at the end of my first year and it took another year of recovery/therapy for me to get back on track. So... much exhaustion. I literally could not read. I hope that things really work out for you, zigzag. The health care can be frustrating and stressful when you're away from your regular doctors. While I was still on my mom's insurance, I realized that the locale that I am in would just not work in terms of getting regular care and I would have to cave in for student health insurance just to have access a therapist and a psychiatrist on campus. The two have been so wonderful that it's been worth paying for student health insurance. Hopefully you've let your adviser or, at least a trusted faculty member, know in case you get in really big trouble with your meds and you're going to be out of whack.

Find out how much contact the adviser has with other grad students. A place to catch the adviser in person- right after a department faculty meeting if s/he is presently teaching or doing service on campus. Do you have a dissertation committee yet? If not, start forming one so you have other faculty members to rely on for support. MIA advisers, in these cases, require that you build a network of faculty support, which is a good skill to have for the future anyway.

If your'e in your first year or two, these feelings are absolutely normal! It'll take a while to figure yourself out- just be patient. Workable strategies will come in time. Your professors have likely figured out their own strategies- which is why they don't look as bad as we do. Be sure to stay aware of your mental health and general attitude to graduate school. It's helpful to talk to other grad students but if you find that you just don't click, no matter how much you try, it may be that your issues are deeper and that's where counseling will help (they should have grad group therapy). Remember, give yourself a break. Grad school is your time where you can have endless moments of doing trial and error, making mistales, and falling flat on your face.

You do need to be working on your Arabic before you apply. I wouldn't be surprised if it is one of the reasons why you may not get in during this cycle. Middle East history tend to have a number of language requirements- at least one European language (German, French) and another Middle East language. Modern Middle East history positions tend to want folks who have passed their comprehensive exams in MME as their major field as you will be expected to teach classes in MME and carry out future research projects in that area. If you're looking to examine US Foreign Policy in Middle East strictly from US perspective, you would be considered as an American historian and not competitive for MME positions. Examine your intellectual questions. Think about what kind of classes would you like to teach for the rest of your academic career. Take a look at some of the recent job postings for Middle Eastern history and see if you can see yourself applying for them (read what the search committee wants). The faculty position tend to define the individual's teaching and research plans as well as his/her reputation in the field.

I have quite a few mentors. They play different roles in my life and career. My adviser is my "larger-than-life" mentor. Like proflorax said about her adviser, mine is someone who I truly aspire to be. She's an incredible, tireless teacher who will bend over backwards for her students who do things for her. She's very active in our shared communities. She's a wonderful person all around- just basically my professional and personal role model. She and I met while I was applying to grad schools and we've always stayed in touch because she liked my work and felt a connection as an alumnae of my previous institution. It was a match made in heaven. I have three mentors who serve more as guides and sounding boards for my research. They steer me in the direction where they feel and think my work will shine. They listen and offer insights when we discuss my research. One of them is my former adviser at the MA level, another through grad school application process, and third as her RA when I was an intern in an academic research center. All of them are women. It's hardly a surprise as a woman myself, I'd naturally seek out female mentors who have broken the glass ceiling in our male-dominated field and have the ability to empower others to follow them. Mentoring, remember, can't be forced. It grows organically and needs to be a two-way street.

I don't think so. C2 is hard to come by as most people would just move on by that point. Also, DAAD's stipend gets spent on your housing and course fee (seriously) so there's no money left for food, transportation, etc. I was able to get a free airfare out of my graduate seminar. Everything worked out for me. If you want funding from DAAD, you may just have to wait until you're able to be ABD at the time you're given the award. It's okay not to have a firm dissertation topic when you apply for pre-diss funding . It's the point of these grants- to help you get to the archives, find your topic, and check for the topic's viability. They will assume that you're working on literature review, which should be made evident in your proposal.

In my first summer, I did the DAAD language study program (2 months) and a 2 week archival seminar in Germany. The remaining time was spent catching up on work and seeing friends.... and recovering from the stress of my first year. Second summer was spent doing pre-dissertation research, seeing friends, and traveling a bit all in Europe. Apply for anything. Get yourself out of your town. Check with your adviser as well to see if s/he has specific ideas (mine definitely did- reading for exams but she wrote letters anyway because the opportunities were too good not to try for).

Don't worry about it. Just discuss your intellectual trajectory in your SOP. What kinds of questions interest you that brought you to European/American Jewish history? PM me if you'd like about JS depts

Professors would not want you to leave their courses still "clueless" because you will be expected to know the materials for your comprehensive exams. Go to their office hours and see how they respond to your questions. It's likely that they already picked up on that you're not grasping the materials and are just waiting for you to come in (they don't really chase down grad students like they do for undergrads as we are supposed to take the initiative for our own successes.).

To add, consider group therapy. You'll be able to work on your interpersonal skills that way. You'll get feedback from your facilitators and peers. You may or may not have "ruin" things with that professor. I'd just back off and find someone else. Professors are very protective of their time and look out for their own best interests, especially if they're gunning for tenure or promotion soon and need to get their packages together. You also come off as someone who is very nervous because you type a lot more than you need to. It's common among graduate students but you'd be surprised that getting to the point can be just as effective (or more so).... especially with e-mails. The only people I'd dare to write a (longer) e-mail are my mentors. Everyone else? Short and sweet, and to the point. If I need to say more, then I just meet in person with my notes in my hand.

One of our former posters from several years back did three years to do his MA. Part of that was that his committee encouraged him to really research and write his thesis, which topped at about 230 pages. He also had a new baby during his writing time. Things come up. And he got into Yale but turned it down for a school that fit his overall life plans better. I finished my MA program a bit early because of finances and did the research/writing in under a year (including summer research). It was enough for my adviser to recommend me for PhD program- because I was that driven to finish (though my thesis was roughly 70 pages, a bit over the program's limit). The fact that you did your research and writing of your MA thesis itself is a feat. I'd probably have to doubt what the heck I was doing if I had to do the work that you did for only a MA. Pages don't matter in MA theses- just the quality of research and its potential for further intellectual development. It's like that story of a philosophy professor who gave a final exam with the prompt, "Why?" and both students, a football player who responded "Why not?" and another student who went into deep analysis and filled the blue book, got an A. Professors are adept at writing and reading between the lines. Let them take care of that business. You worry about you applying as a future colleague/grad student of the programs you're applying to. Look forward, not back.

Simply make the intellectual connection from your MA work to what you want to explore in your PhD work. Why go from 19th to 20th century- what's the connection? And why do you want to explore more of the 20th century part?

In that situation, I would walk out until I got any money.

@ashiepoo There are several reasons for the drop in applications over the last few years. First, the economy has improved so people are finding jobs and thereby not going to graduate school to "kill time." Second, BIG DATA. There have been efforts to create crowd-sourcing hard data on job placements and loans that PhD students graduate with that aspiring applicants can examine to determine if it's worth getting the PhD with loans averaging $20K-$30K (this is only from the PhD program, not including from previous degrees) and less than 40% chance of getting a tenure-track job. The PhD, unfortunately, tends to favor those of upper-middle class background and single with no children. Though applications are dropping, it doesn't mean the programs aren't slashing. They are slashing the number of acceptances as it is really necessary to balance out the supply/demand history job market and the 2008 crash was exactly what the department needed to make that happen.

All the answers should be in your department's graduate student handbook. Also, it's up to your committee you put together to decide when you're ready to take your exams. Just breathe... and settle in your first year!

I would also consider the department/university culture. These days given the enormous shift in the way the universities work (more like corporations), the faculty don't look good if they have to report that a student failed his/her exams and needed to be dismissed. That's my university's culture, at least. Your committee already knows your fate before you walk in the room. You will pass unless you screwed it up so badly that the examiners have to second-guess themselves. Your preparation will show through conversations with your PI and committee members from now to the oral exam. That said, being at the lab working away when you wish you could be home studying will have some advantages.

take the job market out of the equation. Seriously. There is much more than being a professor that you can do with your PhD. You need to figure out why you're going for the PhD and why it's worth spending 5-7 years of your life completing the requirements. Your research (and teaching to some extent) is limited by your language abilities. Non-American history fields will be looking for your language skills in your applications. Find books and articles that interest you and read them. Put down questions. You should be able to see a pattern of themes and geographical areas that get you intellectually excited.

I should point out that this may be field specific. I'd find out in a way that prompts the adviser to tell you what s/he thinks is appropriate for your present stage in your graduate career.

Try having a professor who does that I just learned to tune it out and appreciate that it's just her way of feeling like she's understanding/feeling involved.

I might be late on this...but some $.02. Definitely departmental thing. My departmental handbook explicitly states that advisers should be checking their advisees' grades on a regular basis. The request does seem odd to me. My instinct would to go my adviser or the DGS (the DGS is bound by CGS to maintain confidentiality) for consultation. I would also ask the professor for clarification of "check for methodology."

If you look hard enough, you might be able to find a small one cup maker. (my grandmother found hers for $3 at a hardware store out of blue..... in an expensive city.) I used to keep a bag of my own coffee (Zabar's) at the office and made only enough just for me for a travel mug (2 cups) and some for others. I used to have a desk buddy who was also a coffee snob and I'd make a bit more if she and I were both in the office during her office hours. She was ever grateful. I've never done the French press thing. Don't forget that Starbucks gives free refills if you're a gold member once you buy the first (small) cup of the day.

What julliet said. Counseling will help you work and think things through that professors might not think of (despite being in cognitive science! ). Also, if part of obtaining your master's is taking the qualifying exams, you would just do not look good at all if you try to transfer to another program with that master's in hand (including passing the exams). After several years of grad school and lots of discussions with other grad students in my program, in other departments at my university, and at other universities, it is amazingly difficult to find a great adviser match. Nobody can talk about his/her adviser the way I can. I used to be a bit embarrassed by it but now realized that most people just aren't as fortunate as I am. Try to hold on what you have.

Cheapest and most efficient way to demonstrate your proficiency is to use sources in the language as part of your writing sample. The readers just want to know how good you're with conducting research in foreign languages. That is all. No need to go overanalyzing such a simple task