TMP

They're done. It's just the Grad School being a little slow on these things. As I've stated, OSU has closed its books for the year. If you just want your peace, go ahead and contact the department. Enough e-mails and phone calls will get the department in touch with the Grad School to hurry up!

If the list is ranked, there is not much you can do. If it's not ranked, get back to the program and tell them you're still really interested in attending if taken off the list. If your professors know somebody there, they may be able to call (but no guarantees).

Whatever your sanity allows you. My limit was 8. I was brain-dead writing that last SOP.

You're kidding about your GPA, right? If you're going to care about the difference between a 3.7 and a 3.9, then I wonder how long it will be before you start driving yourself nuts in a program. Nobody expects perfectionism, but everyone is a perfectionist. You just need to learn to manage that and right now you can be saying that there is no real difference between a 3.7 and a 3.9, but it is a big difference between a 2.7 and a 3.7, right? If you're very serious about American history, don't do the UK. Do the UK, if only you're planning to include some British into your work. Otherwise, you'll be stranded when all of your sources are 6,000 miles away. Although doing a one-year MA in the UK is okay because you're getting it in less time than doing a US one. However, you most likely won't even be ready to apply for the PhD when you start that program because you don't have much to show. So if you're looking to do one-year MA program in the UK, plan on waiting another year to apply (and figure out something to do in the meantime!) Try to get a mix of public and private schools for the PhD. Many, many programs are having problems with finances and the public ones are most vulnerable because anything can happen with the states' budgets. Anyway, I second StrangeLight's thoughts. Just adding my own here.

late September-October when admissions season is just beginning.

Why do you want to get a MA in history? Really, why history? Nothing wrong with liking to write a lot. You are expected to write a lot in graduate school, wherever you go. But if you are much more passionate about sports than historical figures/events, I second borderlands' suggestion. Are you already on the university newspaper? If so, did you enjoy your experience? If so, consider this route then. You don't state what your field of interests are- geographical or thematic. Sports history... from what I've read... can only be done if you're tenured because it's not taken too seriously by most academics. It's part of pop culture, which most programs aren't still crazy about. And yes, you can study pop culture but you have to present yourself very, very effectively and explain why your ideas and questions about pop culture be taken seriously. One of my friends had to go through a lot of hurdles but she seems to be pulling it off pretty well... she just over-analyzed everything and presented in a very interesting way. I do think you need to think about this more thoroughly and actually think in your next history seminar, "Can I do this? Can I take 3 of these and read a book each week for each seminar? Can I talk about this stuff for 3 hours?"

Awkward to ask someone whom you haven't talked to in 3 years? Not. I met with an old professor of mine last fall after not really seeing him or being in touch for 2 1/2 years to get some advice. He ended up being fare more helpful than I could ever expect. Don't underestimate professors. You never know who can surprise you. And yes, anyone who writes a letter fro you should have a PhD and can judge whether or not you can finish the diss. They know it's hell and if they don't think you can do the diss, they won't recommend you highly. or at all.

Top programs may or may not be able to weather without a quality professor in the field. I purposely avoided one of the top 10 programs for my list because that professor in my field is on his way out and I was told by other professors in the department that it may take a few years to fill in his shoes... because of budget cuts and other fields that they need to fill in as well. What if come comps time, they still haven't heard anyone to examine me in that field?? I know of another solid program that's missing a historian in that particular field. They were *supposed* to start doing searches in 2009 but apparently something happened. They're still without that historian and professors who have related interests are doing their best to make up for that "gaping hole." It's unknown to me when the department will be able to hire for this position, if not later than sooner... again due to budgets. Could I have survived in those programs? It's a mixed bag. On one hand, I've survived for a while without a historian in my specific field to put me under his/her wing in terms of guiding me and introducing me to historiography. So what's another degree without such person? Also, by working with professors outside of my direct interests, I can learn much more and put on a more interesting spin on my work. On the other hand, I would really have liked to have stimulating conversations about things that *I* like to talk about and the person can actually talk to me instead of just nodding along. It really depends on how flexible and independent you are. Are you curious enough to explore other possible areas that other professors are truly experts on that you can bring to your dissertation/research? If you are, then the program's prestige should matter more. If not, then go with the adviser, regardless. Also, question whether or not you will still be able to get examined in that special field beyond general geographical and thematic if the department is missing that specialized professor.

The question is: Even if you can, can YOU do the legwork for the language requirement?

OSU have just closed their books. They're done with admissions decisions and will be sending out declination letters. So, no go for me.

No. But you should think hard about your writing sample. Your MA thesis is definitely better to use than any seminar paper. If you feel that you can produce a stronger sample with a MA thesis and you don't think you can get a chapter of the thesis done by November to be used as a writing sample, either consider a very strong research seminar paper or take a year off to spend more time working on that thesis.

You should plan to finish the MA before you do the PhD. Heck, I know someone who got FOUR funding offers even though she finished her coursework 2 years earlier but was still working on her thesis. Worry? Not.

holding pattern? What is that? Thanks for making the call!

I would guess not quite. I think a lot of it has to do with the budget. Remember humanities aren't universities' top priority. But i do hope that you're thinking ahead of your preferences should you need to make a last-minute decision.

No, you can't defer at many places unless you've won Fulbright or something. Transnational's right, you don't know what the future applicant pool looks like. You don't know about the faculty's future plans- someone might get a great offer elsewhere. Even the department's focus can change. Your loans will be deferred while you're in a PhD program. I plan to continue paying off as much as of my MA loans as possible while in a PhD program, paying either in full if I can afford it or income-adjustment. I want to do largely because by the time I get out, I will have at least 2/3s-3/4s paid off and only God knows what's waiting for me at the end. Look in your budget again for both schools, is it possible? You need to decide for yourself which is more important: Taking that job offer in order to pay off your loans faster, or going for your PhD. Is the PhD something you really want that you're willing to pay off your loans at a potentially slower rate?

No. Not yet. Give them another week.

Potentially same here.

I don't believe in this AT ALL. It has never worked out for me based on my own experience. That's just the imagination and paranoia running wild. Heck, I'm like.. 90% sure that my adviser's too wrapped up in her own affairs to be checking in with her frineds at schools I've applied to. Also, it's the damned internal politics that would make this conspiracy a total myth. Professors can't promise their friends that they'll admit a certain student because they can't control their own departmental politics, as StrangeLight pointed out.

I can't believe you got an assistantship from AU! They are so hard to come by! I got nothing! But, yes, you can't really beat DC in terms of job opportunities and networking, especially in this economy.

Guilty as charged. Still with my former research internship supervisor, who inspired me to go for my PhD. And it's been nearly 5 years since I first met him. I'll agree with you, OP, I had a crush on one of my POI from afar judging from his works and pictures. Then I met him in person (completely random) during application process and thought he was pretty nice, handsome, and cool. But...then there's that British accent!

I've done it and it's never a problem. They're always happy to hear that an applicant is very serious about the degree and is willing to work on improving applications. It's never been an issue for me.

Each department varies because not everyone has the same budget or number of graduate students. The best you can do is tell other schools about other offers and see who can raise their offers and cut back on the TA-ships for the first year. If you are really stuck, then just choose which best fits you. It's challenging to teach in your first year but it's doable. In fact, you may not even have to do it! There was a poster on here who went to a program that required teaching in her first semester but just the day before school started, she found out that she didn't even need to because they had found money. But that's a chance that you can't count on.