TMP

I have some friends in Northwood. They liked it fine. But my roommate switched out to live with me because she found Northwood to be more expensive compared to Willowtree. Willowtree actually lets up to 4 people live in an apartment (making 2 people per bedroom). I lived in Willowtree in my first year. I really liked it a lot. The management is terrific. The rooms are nice and BIG for the price. The shopping center is about 10 minutes walk away and NoCa is also about 10 minutes. The walk to Kerrytown is about 30-45 minutes. You'd have easy access to buses all the time but beware the run times on weekends and at night. I would've stayed there if it wasn't for the location (My stuff's on Central Campus). People are ALWAYS looking for roommates so when you do a search on CraigsList or UM Off-Campus Housing site, look for Willowtree.

Thanks for the info... that's what I'm trying to reassure myself with for the last history PhD program that I'm waiting for (the other two are interdisciplinary). It's just hard to believe that it's MARCH. And I'm looking at my calendar and thinking, "Damn, Passover and Easter fall on the first weekend of April and programs would be stupid to do a visit weekend the weekend AFTER because that's just right before the April 15th deadline..." And yes, I have to agree with the reading courses...

I looked over your introductory post. I think you're sort of where I am, really. (Only I wish I was actually FLUENT in one of my area studies languages!) Before you make the decision on Harvard, think hard exactly what you want to get out of the MA. Most people really use the MA to bring up their UG GPA, language skills, or research experience. I entered in my MA program largely to experience graduate school and get my languages in order. But an "area studies" program can sort of warp your mind sometimes because you are not in history! Do you really want to repeat your area studies program, only at graduate level? I disliked my area studies minor as an undergraduate because I had to take literature courses (I was very weak at writing literary critiques) and I was lucky that I managed to avoid religion courses. I knew I needed to take a lit course in my MA program and I was real *excited.* I wanted to die after 3 weeks in my lit course because it was with an English professor and I was the only non-English department member (PhD or MFA) in my class. Also, you'll be taking interdisciplinary courses within the department that will be easy OR hard, depending on the professor. My dream semester was when I could take 2 history courses and a language course. The other semesters weren't too much fun overall. One of my friends in the program also agreed and couldn't wait to start her history PhD program so she could take straight history classes. Now she's happy as a clam. Evaluate your strengths and weaknesses in your current area studies program. If you're well-balanced, then the MA (with more money from Harvard of course) can be up to you to decide. If you find that you're very strong in history courses than literature or political science, I'd take the PhD offer because you'll do better GPA-wise if you wish to re-apply. Good luck!

OOps! Sorry I misread your first post! Either way, JustChill, unless you truly come from no-name school, think about my advice.

Can I offer a perspective here? I am at Michigan for my interdisciplinary MA. Guess what? I got rejected for the History PhD program. REJECTED. This is just a proof that there's no guarantee of obtaining a MA from a top-10 school will guarantee admissions into another top 10 school (even though Michigan is the only top 10 on my list). I do think it's more of rolling the dice on my application not that I had a serious fault on my application. I agree with some of the above posters. Take a good hard look at yourself. Is it because you're coming from Penn that you feel that you cannot accept anything less than a top 10 or Ivy League? Is that the kind of person you want to be? You don't have to lower your standards but be MORE realistic as StrangeLight pointed out- anything in top 20 is really just fine. Also given the economic conditions, do you really want to re-apply in two years and take the chance of rolling the dice?

Yeah I would definitely say politics. See if your husband can ask one of the administrative assistants for a private chat. They know all the ins and outs of the department and would be able to reveal some things to your husband regarding his application. They may also be able to tell you that whatever's going on between the two or three professors was just a recent thing and MAY be able to pass by the next cycle for him to get in, or it's a permanent scar.

1) I learn in a personal finance class that your rent should consume no more than 30% of your income. Your taxes will be 30% of your income (just guessing), and the rest is whatever you want. What's more important to you? 2) I'm still scared of CA budgets. Before you go to UCLA, read everything you can on CA higher ed and ask a LOT of questions to the department. If they seem insecure in their answers, you have your answer. 3) As it's been discussed on this forum, it seems like these days with the overflow of top-ranked PhD holders accepting schools outside of top 20 into top 50, your Notre Dame PhD shouldn't hurt as long you're connected with well-respected professors in your field. I've been talking to one professor at Yale and he suggested someone at Emory (#28) and American University (well, granted it's like #92 or something) but it shows how important connections are. Even Yale PhD holders have trouble finding jobs, even with amazing connections. What's also important is how productive can you be with your work. It sounds like you're not going to hurt your productivity at ND with a well-established Medieval history program and an upcoming Latin American program. That's so cool that you're looking at colonial Andes!!!

$16,000 is more than enough to live on in Ann Arbor. It gives you a relatively comfortable lifestyle that permits you to save up a bit for a vacation here and there, some nights out throughout the semester, enjoy UM games, etc. My friends have never complained about the money, just how much work they have to do! And just KNOW that the higher rent is geared more towards the coddled undergrads. Best place for grad students tend to be west of State Street and north of East Huron, towards the west and northwest areas. The West Side (west of Main Street which is downtown) tend to be a mix of family-owned homes and rental houses, something to keep in mind when you're there for more than 5 years. I do suggest looking along Plymouth Rd as well- I loved living along the north of North Campus so that I could catch UM shuttles in addition to the public transportation buses. I would really suggest living along frequently used bus lines as a good number of buses tend to run every 30 minutes, which you don't want to do when it's freezing and dark outside! Also, it matters to be as close as you can to downtown/central campus area if you don't have a car given that buses run only ONCE an hour on weekends and less frequently at night during the week.

OP, congrats on Miami! My younger brother is there now. And yes, seriously, there isn't THAT much to spend on in Oxford if you haven't been there. The nearest cities are 35-45 minutes away. This is a small town in middle of a cornfield so $15,000 really is fine to live on for two years. You'll learn to adjust once you get there and find that there isn't much to drop your money on (except for online shopping...). Good luck!

Nytusse, I've already PMed you regarding this but I will post for all to see related to what's been suggested regarding meeting other professors. I came to my MA program expecting to work with Profs A and B. I planned for Prof A to be my (thesis) advisor and it was certainly the expectation of everyone in the department that we'd work together. Prof B was on sabbatical in the first year I was there and I was disappointed as I hoped to take a seminar with him as he worked in my secondary field of interest. I was sort of like, okay... especially as I found out how BUSY Prof A was with her position as the department chair. I maintained my contact with Prof A, just keeping my distance given the demands of her job. I really felt a bit lost. Then Prof C and D came along. Prof C had been hired and was just starting as I entered in the program. I took her seminar in the second semester and I've been building a relationship with her ever since. She worked in my primary area of interest (as well as Prof A) so it was NICE to be mentored by someone who actually had the time to talk with me. She also had worked in public history, which IS what I really want to do with my PhD, so she gave me some career advice as well. Prof D happened to be an English professor and we connected over the fact that he had spent a year off in the city that I was using as a case study for my MA thesis. (Not to mention that learning this fact plus his perspective in an introduction his hook inspired me to come up with this thesis topic) He took REAL interest in my thesis project and offered to be a second reader when I returned in the fall. He has been my steady support who could provide mentorship and an critical eye in helping me to make my thesis a publishable article. He was seriously the last person I expected to get involved with my historical based MA thesis. An English professor! Prof A is, I think, damn lucky to have Profs C and D to be her lackeys while she gets to hold the jeweled crown. She knows it but has no idea how much my opinion and respect for her as an advisor, not an academic, has changed in a way I don't even want to go to my university for the PhD and have her be my PhD advisor. So I'm just exploiting her big-name reputation for reference letters for jobs, fellowships, and PhD programs. Case in point: Even in casual conversations, you just never know who's going to take an interest in your work. It's easy for professors to be excited about a project that they feel personally connected to, even if they're not the experts in the field. Those are the ones who are going to haul your ass to finish. And this English professor is doing just that all because he loved the city and wanted to know more about its history besides just believing that I can succeed as a young scholar.

I mustered up courage to call Indiana yesterday. I meant to use my mother's cellphone so I can be a random caller but she had already left and taken her phone with her. So I called... not necessarily identifying myself. BUT anyway, they're still working with the Graduate School, presumbly for funding, and won't know for a few weeks more. Also, I confirmed this with a friend at Harvard who's had friends apply to Indiana and she told me that they are usually late... but not as bad as NYU! *phew* Now I can relax some more... even though I might've killed my chances at Indiana

Tourist, you already heard from Indiana? I'm still... uh, waiting on them and am very baffled how they are so late with anything this year. Have they made decisions already? I almost feel like cracking and just call up the grad admissions people tomorrow... And NYU? That's gonna take forever.

VampireLincoln, what did Indiana say? I've only see "waitlist" in the results page but not rejections or acceptances. Have they notified yet?

Well, it means that i can have an opportunity to check out the new trend in Jewish communities- co-ops that provide a Jewish environment... I'm thinking San Francisco, anbd um, see what else this country has to offer...

Oh no, I wouldn't send in exactly same application next year. I'm still revising my MA thesis so it'll be more polished and publishable by the next cycle. SOP... well, we'll wait and see on that.

Caligula, congrats on Columbia! I'm crossing my fingers that you can survive in NYC with whatever they plan to give you for stipend Well, that sucks with the boyfriend... hope that this acceptance has cheered you up even though it can't exactly replace a human being hopkinsgirl, you're going to be in the MA program for two years. It's not a long time. Time really flies. As StrangeLight said, grad school is another level and you will be so busy/exhausted. One of my friends went LDR for two years when he did his MS. He stayed with his girlfriend in the summer for a couple weeks and visited her occasionally throughout the year. Now they're married. LDR will test the strength of your relationship but don't be afraid. If you love each other, you will find a way to make a LDR work out. Also with the economy it is, it might be difficult on your BF's psyche when he looks for a job and realizes that it might be only for two years (or less if it's taking him longer). So glad that I'm still single (much to my mother and grandmother's dismay or delight, depending on their mood) so I can wherever I go and then find my SO there.

I share some of Nytusse's concerns. I doubled my list this time from last time. Next time, if it has to happen, I'll double again. One of the things I'm surprised at about myself is how easy it is to lose focus of what I want. I'm surrounded by academics all the time. It's easy for me to think about being a professor when there is a real reason why I want a history PhD- to be a historian at a public institution. I get mixed feelings about whether I should apply to name-brand schools to get the job, or just pick schools that have scholars that I want regardless of their rankings. Next time, because I'll be sick and tired, I will do whatever I can. By then I will be away from my university where I can focus much more on my applications and myself as a person. I'm actually inspired by Seahistory's post. If this person can submit the exact same application and get in the next cycle, then so can I. I do worry about my field of choice. Yes, I am an Americanist but I use U.S. as a model for comparative studies. Two of the non-US areas I am interested are Argentina and Germany. Should I switch out of US? I don't know yet. I haven't worked on my Spanish in several years. It's always difficult to predict "hot" fields AND things can change quite a bit over the next 10 years. Also, we can't predict what departments will need. I do know that this year Michigan will favor early Americanists over 20th century because a number of early Americanists left last year. As people have constantly pointed out to me, what I will end up writing my dissertation can be completely different from my SOP. I can see myself doing that with right language skills. To me, at the moment, the issue is being able to write the SOP that will get me in despite heavy coursework related to US history. For example, I could write about becoming a Latin Americanist, but like I said, I don't know enough about the field. But as Latin Americanist professors have said, just do some reading and I'll come up with something. Well, that could be a project undertaking when not in graduate school. As for my MA's worth, it's been hard to swallow to think that way. The last year and half have been extremely productive and eye-opening experiences for me. I learned a lot about myself. But it's interdisciplinary, not history, so I can do a bit more with it than a straight-up history MA. Still, it is a terrible time to be leaving graduate school into the workforce and that's what I'm down about.

They actually wrote "competent"?!

Ah yes. Fabulous that Passover has to be very early this year, not after April 15th. I can see my grandmother doing that for one of the schools I applied because she knows one of the big donors at that place. But so far, from our conversations, she's anxiously waiting to hear from ME instead of jumping the guns. Gute Bubbe, gute Bubbe.

Brandeis University.

Rachel, of course the DGS will tell you to apply for PhD if it's your eventual goal. You'll get funding that way!!

Tootsie Roll

*munches on carrots out of sheer nervousness* I think I have to buy popcorn for something else to actually munch on. I wish I had my Gone With the Wind DVD here with me to pass the time... No, this month can't be over yet. Wait, I need March to come. No. I actually need a decision- acceptance or wait-list by March 7th SO I can SHARE some news with my family before I head back to school! Anyone going home for their spring break and wishing they had some kind of news to share with the 'rents?

operator manual

Ugh, no. I'm praying for a phone call or e-mail from my thesis adviser (Okay, I admit it. I'm a MA student at Michigan). Gotta munch on carrots instead of peanut butter- chocolate ocmbo stuff... I'm a nervous wreck! I'm SO close to the history department... it's like a castle. I see the building as a fortress. Can't wait to get out of Ann Arbor for the break this weekend so I can feel some distance here!