TMP

Three things to help you stay calm: 1) Check your ego out. 2) It's not about you. 3) Recruit at least one really, really good friend whom you can vent to. And don't vent to anyone else- that'll only make the anxiety worse.

Shep, that's because a lot of the positions are really teaching-focused. You just have to get through the dissertation, which takes up a chunk of the PhD and you have to at least like it enough so you can finish. Research/teaching positions at major research universities are far and few. So many end up having to do more teaching for a career.

I'll say that unless you go to a program with a strong public history track, you'll have a very difficult time fitting in. The academic culture is so strong and pervasive that you can either A) immerse yourself in it or be isolated. My adviser has two students ahead of me. One is in the A category. And the other is in the B category (knew she didn't want to go into academia) and she is completely out of everything. Unless she's TA-ing and has to show her face, people forget about her. (Fortunately, she doesn't really care and has a life outside of the university so she's okay being the B category.) I'm not kidding, unless you're willing to present in conferences, participate in workshops, discuss archival visits, writing grants, and such, you aren't going to enjoy your PhD as much as if you would be interested in those things. Also, without serious passion for research, you will take much longer to finish that dissertation than you think. I'm sorry to sound negative but it's the truth. I do have some potential ideas for careers outside of academia should the academic job market not work out for me so I can see how it would be quite difficult to fit in if you're not going to be an academic.

Remember it wasn't all about you! You can be impressive all you can be but the final decisions happen behind the closed doors where departmental politics are at play. It also depends on the demands of each program. Programs try to build cohorts to accomplish a few goals such as replenishing fields (if there had been a number of Latin Americanists who graduated in the last 2 years, you bet they're looking for new Latin Americanists), build up underrepresented fields if there's enough faculty support, diversity, etc. So many factors out of your control. It's only early October, you have time. Get in conversations and see what's up. You might want to reach out to schools who have rejected you and ask for feedback (at least it's likely that they've forgotten your application but can provide instructions on moving forward). You might want to get more feedback on your SOP. SOPs are extremely important and can keep an application from reaching the final round (i.e. the closed doors). And cut down your list of schools to less than 8 programs because it's much more important to spend time working your materials to appear custom-fit for the programs you're applying to.

It will only get worse once you're in!

FWIW, staying on for your MA would be worthwhile. You'll have your professors helping you make the transition to graduate level work. You might be able to transfer credits into a direct PhD program. Also, since this MA is only one more year, it's probably cheaper this route than to not do it and apply to PhD and MA programs and find out that you may need the MA after all and would have to spend extra $$$ for that second year. Also, more and more PhD programs are looking to take on MA students rather than BA for financial and bureaucratic reasons. Out of my current cohort, about less than 7 people came only with a BA out of 19 people. And the MA students, including myself, couldn't be more happier that we did our MAs first!

No bib. That's what footnotes are for. They're only going to read the text and footnotes. And you can always preview the document once you've uploaded it.

The one thing I am wondering, OP, are you planning to do quantitative and qualitative analyses in your work?

She's ahead of you in life experience. Even I would be intimidated if I came straight out of undergrad! I did go straight to a graduate program after my undergrad and thought exactly like you. After getting my MA, taking some time off, and going back for my PhD, I can appreciate what this cohort member of yours is doing. I'm actually doing most of what she's doing. Truth is, time off from academia and working and having that prior graduate experience make one truly appreciate being in a PhD program, especially if it's very competitive to get in. Chances are that she probably missed being in the life of the mind so reading materials in the field "for fun" seems natural to her. Even I'm doing it... I don't mind really. I'm just so hungry after abstaining for so long. The other thing is that the "working world" does offer some valuable lessons like networking and time management that aren't taught in a PhD program. I am actually changing a lot of ways that i am doing now as a PhD student from my MA experiene. Now I actually try to work during the day with some dabbling in the evenings every day instead of putting everything off until after 2 PM and sleeping in. And networking gets you ahead in life. Because you can't always depend on your boss (adviser) to make connections for you. My PhD adviser knows that I'm a networking machine and is quite insistent that if I want something from somebody, then I have to ask myself. She won't make connections for me unless I absolutely do not know the person. You might want to reach out to her and ask some questions. Don't be intimidated- she might actually offer some mentoring to help you along the way.

Double. Be concise! 2 pages single spaced is... a lot of fluff. Really.

Not worth your time until you've made contact with the POI. You can certainly bring up other faculty members around the university once in conversation, so that the POI knows that s/he has support outside of the department, not just within. You want to be in touch with people who are closest to the admissions committee.

To have a healthy attitude towards "PhD or bust," you need a solid Plan B. That's your adviser's point. The ideas you've suggested aren't long-term positions unless you can see yourself staying in South Korea for several years, not just one year. It is really no fun being in limbo and waiting for a PhD offer each year. I did that for two years and i can tell you, that feeling was really miserable (though I had a blast doing whatever I was doing). I didn't sleep well. I fretted all the time. I turned to marathon training to keep my sanity. Let me tell you this- the night I received my first fully funded PhD offer was the first night in several years that I truly slept peacefully like a baby. My PhD adviser recently said to me, "If I didn't get into a graduate program, then no big deal. But I did have multiple offers and also got this fancy graduate fellowship. I told myself that if I didn't get the Fulbright, I'd walk away. But I did. And I told myself if I didn't get a tenure track job, then I'd just walk away. But I did." I responded, "Why would you walk away if you didn't accomplish this or that?" Her answer? "Because I had a job in X that I loved and I knew that I could always go back." Failing in academia would be a tragedy for her (as with anyone else) but her world wouldn't fall apart. I did the same. The sky didn't fall after my second try. Beginning to find some satisfaction in my volunteer work and imagine turning it into a career, I decided that if I didn't get any funded PhD offers in my third round, then I would walk away from what I've accomplished. I would simply start my training in this new career path. That's your director's point. Make sure you have something that you can actually fall on when things don't work out. Professors do actually like to know that.

It wouldn't be a problem to cold-contact. Just be smart about it- be courteous and respectful in your e-mail. Show that you have done your homework on them. I'd say anything less than 3 weeks before the deadline is getting a little too late. So you have plenty of time!

What Sparky said. And, you are NOT alone in feeling like you're behind and what nots. Others are likely to feel the same way- grab a few people or someone you feel close to from your cohort for a cup of coffee and just chat. You'd be quite surprised. Though I came in with a MA and 2 years of "life" experience, talking with BAs helped to put things in perspective. I was doing JUST fine. Also, remember you actually are at advantage over "straight-out-of-undergrad" students: you know how to manage your time effectively. Remember, your adviser saw something in you, ways that you probably will never figure out (or it'll come later), that made him/her feel like you will succeed. Also as an "older" student, your adviser is likely to have much higher respect for you than normally so you should really feel free to speak with him/her about your concerns.

I talked with my POI who I turned down for my current program about 6 weeks after I made my decision. Trust me, I was second-guessing. I said to him, "I just wanted to say in person how I'm sorry to have to do this, it was hard saying no to you." He looked at me in the eye and said, "Don't even give it a second... no third thought to this, I will be very upset with you!" While it's not quite related to your situation but his point was, I had two great offers and I couldn't really go wrong with either, and I now had to live with my decision and what my program has to offer. I can say that the more I'm settled in my new program and with my adviser, I can hardly imagine making these second-guesses (erm, third). Just dive in and you'll stop thinking twice.

Wow... TEN? That's halving the size of the normal cohort size (which was around 18-20). But this is likely their yield that the're aiming for. And it is true, they skipped the admissions for Fall 2012 cohort. It wasn't pretty from what i've heard.

About an hour or so put online application in terms of filling out information. Just make sure that you have your CV, transcripts, and GRE scores right there with you.

Get the degree. You'll have better job prospects than someone with a high school diploma. A BA with a 2.0 GPA is better than a high school diploma.

My adviser is out-of-the-world amazing. Those of you who know me from last cycle... I'm getting the other POI for my external member (if he says okay when he visits for a talk)!!!! And she encouraged me to spend a semester/year at his university! Fingers crossed that things will really work out. And I LOVE my committee here. It's such an unique fit.

Stop being a worrywort. It will do you absolutely no good in graduate school. It's okay to worry a little but don't let it take over your life. As my adviser says, "no worries" to a lot of things and if I don't hear her say "no worries" then I DO worry! So I know what's worth worrying and what's not worth worrying.

Yes, you should be concerned about that. You might want to find out how the department is responding to the intense pressure by the administration (university and federal) and AHA to graduate PhDs and get them jobs. Ask about their placement record. Also, most graduate students take longer to finish for a variety of reasons. The fact that BU is right in Boston makes it easy for ABDs to get jobs to support themselves (and slowly neglecting their dissertations). You might want to ask about the department's successes in obtaining external funding.

I agree. I know you are anxious to get started and find just the right programs for you but you do need to concentrate on finishing your degree if you aim to apply for fall 2014. I would not worry so much about your writing sample. Don't over-think this process- by contacting grad students before talking to their advisers is one step too much. It will oy make it even more emotionally draining than necessary. I'm saying this from my own experience, though I never talked to grad students unless recommended by the POI. Also grad students often don't know what their advisers are up to when it comes to recruiting new students- it's a personal matter. Grad students will only get involved if asked to. Also it may make some uncomfortable at that very thought of having a new "sibling" so to speak unless they are on their way out or absolutely assured of their relationship that their advisers wont devalue them in favor of a new toy. Beware.

Writing those application is a part time job itself. Don't about clocking it. You thinking about it while running errands, working out, etc counts towards it because you're thinking of it anyway. Give yourself time to reflect and write freely. Once you think you've got a lot of ideas down, you can be narrowing that list and write that thing.