TMP

As you could see, it's a crapshoot admissions process. But some of us are getting it to our heads that it's all about the FIT. FIT. FIT. I'm honestly applying only to ONE top 10 program because the other one I was planning on had my would-be advisor not taking students for next year. Everyone else is between 10-30 because they're better fit for my needs. You have to be specific enough in your research interests to find departments that will mesh with you. Professors have been emphasizing that they look at SOP, writing sample, and LORs above everything else. GREs are more for getting extra funding from the Graduate School to get you to come. I've seen it happen to people I know. I know one friend who applied to these schools and I was considering some of them as well. Once I researched those schools and spoke with the professors, I realized why she didn't get in- her research interests didn't match with the department's strengths. But those she did get in- it worked for the departments. I have another person who's all about gender and she applied to wrong places IMHO. One 5th year PhD student I know got in everywhere, literally, because she was specific in her focus that she targeted schools that meshed with it. It's like a jigsaw puzzle. And people do get in the second round because they realized that they applied to wrong departments that didn't fit with their interests and much more likely to re-write their SOP to clarify why this or that school fits with their needs, while everything else pretty much stays the same. Also, there are more and more excellent historians down the ranking list that outside of top 10 down to say, 30-40, it doesn't matter. Departments are reputable and have better job placements than before and they do graduate people. It's a bit of a trickle down effect, if you will. So just apply widely and find departments that have strengths that are in your area. But don't go crazy and apply to more than 10 schools.

There you go. That's all you need to focus on in your admissions package.

Be concise as you possibly can. It's all I hear from my professors here at Michigan when we do our weekly responses, papers, etc. I mean, my seminars don't even require anything more than 20 pages... some will take 12-15 for a final paper... and yes, a research paper. I do think that it's how they weed the best students/writers from average. You don't even get to talk for more than 10 minutes in a conference as opposed to being a guest lecturer for about 45 minutes. You CAN do it. It shows that you've thought about it over and over and over again and you are able to knock on specific points of research, weeding out stuff professors already know about. In other words, imagine that you're on an elevator with them and are riding about 20 floors, what would you tell them in less than 90 seconds? I mean, you're not going to start off giving a few sentences that's already in a high school history book and waste your time there. Say one sentence, and then jump right into your research inquiries. If you're looking at your 2-3 page statement and are looking for what to add, I'll guarantee that by the time you do figure it out, it's all fluff.

Your MA will give you a bit of boost in your application, so I wouldn't worry. Perhaps you can speak with those profs in top programs, pitch your idea and see what they say. It's true that they're pretty picky about what countries you want to study in. I'm being encouraged as well to look at Latin Americanists since my interests can cover Latin America and I have Spanish. I just think, "Countries? I don't even know... I'll work with you whatever so as long I can do my project!" Although, Ideally, I'd like to do Argentina and/or Chile if I ever make it there. Either way, they can provide very good recommendations for you. They'll be eager to help you fit the right fit, especially for an understudied field like Latin America. Where IS StrangeLight? She applied for Latin America last year... find her posts, she's got some pretty good insights on what she's learned in her process.

Could be well that they don't have anything to say. No news is good news as they say. If they didn't think your French was up to par, they'd say something. Professors are generally helpful like that. The sense that I'm getting is that you just NEED to be able to pass the reading exam unless the professor has ridiculously high expectations due to his bloated ego. Relax, let it go if these profs aren't saying anything. Besides, one year in France will pretty much make one fluent in French if you're devoted enough to the language (say as opposed to longer periods of time for more difficult languages).

Agreed. They had very little interest in discussing my GRE scores (as horrendous the verbal score was) once they heard about my projects and interests. They said to talk up my projects and ideas in the SOP and my writing sample and never mind the GRE and GPA (okay, the GPA has to be decent at least!).

I talked with a professor at a top 10 about this. I have a large topic in mind but I want to work across fields- I don't want my committee to be made up of all US historians. I want to dabble a bit on Latin America, Europe, Israel, and China, depending where my final dissertation topic ends up. He said that the most IMPORTANT thing you can do is find an advisor who is interested in your ideas and topic and ask how should you go about applying since you generally have to check off a geographical area box (Europe, US, etc). It'll be a smart idea to talk with someone in the department to see how the department works together and feels about global history before you write the application. Some history departments haven't gotten their shit together on this trend and probably won't know how to deal with you when disseration time comes. Just know... do not mention International History unless you're looking to do diplomatic history like US-Russia relations during Cold War, at least that's why I learned from this prof and an old prof of mine who's an expert on this. Oh, that said, as the former told me to see how the potential department defines "international history" and "global history".

I second Zingerman's. Amazing but a tad expensive but I do think they'll (like Whole Foods) cut the size down if you'd like.

That's the big difference between history and political science. Yes, history can fall under Social Sciences but it doesn't use data as extensively as other fields under social sciences. So do you like math awfully a lot? Put it this way, there's a security dilemma. What method would you use to figure out the results? Find similar events that has happened before and figure out the odds, or use studies of culture, society, and government action? If the former, go for poly sci. If the latter, go for history. Also, when thinking about becoming a TA and professor, think about what kind of courses you'd like to teach. Chinese historians are expected to teach survey courses on the history of China, and perhaps Japan, and run seminars on East Asia. International history is still slow to arrive in history departments. In political science, you'll still teach a course on various governments of Asian countries and do others on security studies as well as introduction to IR. It seems to me that in your list of your interests, you may be better off in political science, if you're not really up to teaching ancient China.

No. Just as long it's productive with language study, reading articles in the field, etc... take the job! You'll still be involved with the history community. Use nights or weekends to do "productive" things for the adcoms.

2011? Focus on your senior year (or last year or whatever it is), just get good recommendations from your professors, and polish your honors thesis to make it nice and shiny for a writing sample. Have conversations with your professors. Take up a language in an area of your choice and know enough to pass the reading exam. Then enjoy the rest of the time until application time in fall 2010.

One program comes to mind, only because I have a friend who's doing her PhD on history of medical/health policies. Check out SUNY Albany. Definitely apply for MPH- my friend has to do it while doing her PhD because her advisor told her so.....

It's okay to have broad interests. Nobody's expecting you to come with a dissertation topic. If anything they discourage it! Yet ,they do want you to have some solid research questions that you would like to explore when you are in the PhD program. These questions will have some relation to geographical boundaries, time periods, or themes. Just as long the admissions can fit you in some kind of category, they're happy. So that said, step back from your statement and look at the big picture. What compelling questions do you have? What more research does the field need? Do you have any new theories or ideas that can contribute to the field's direction? They want thought provoking stuff, like what Benjamin Franklin would think up As for interests, I've heard a wide variety of answers on how people came to choose their interests and topics. Many, really, came to graduate school unclear of what they wanted to do- all they knew that they wanted to study 19th century American history or the civil rights movement in Europe or something. I think they were able to get into graduate school that way because of their numbers, LORs, and excellent writing samples. One of my professors got to where she is now because of a footnote in a class reading! Some people get their inspirations from class papers.. Think back to your past classes, do you have any lingering questions or interest in topics that you explored? It could be a good jumping off point for your SOP. Some of us are a dime in a dozen and have known what we wanted to study since before college. I have loved the Holocaust since I read this children's novel for class in 5th grade. My interest has sustained ever since and it's still quite strong. I will admit that once I started doing upper division work in undergrad and my MA program, my thinking of the Holocaust has expanded beyond Europe and WWII into new areas of inquiry and interest. It's about making connections between ideas. As one of my professor said to me along the lines of not always having a straight path but a path of many twists and turns but it's still a path. There are no dead ends. Since I've been with this for a long time, I can trace my path from that novel to today and different sources that shaped it. It's quite incredible. Rest assured, you will be fine. You need to spend some time reading academic journals in areas that you are interested in and thinking about how you can bring together your broad interests and make them work. Global and transnational history are slowly being accepted and popular and perhaps even in demand as we are living in globalization.

For entering in the program, then yes, you must demonstrate proficiency in that language equivalent of two years' worth of training through LOR or transcripts. Just enough to be able to pass their reading exams but they'll probably expect you to continue your training a bit further once you're in to prepare for dissertation research. This is especially important for Classics and fields with multiple language requirement. Because no professor wants to supervise a graduate student starting from scratch who is going to take a lot longer to finish the PhD. Unless you're brilliant.

Don't do it unless you're open to non-academic jobs like in government and museums. If you can open your mind and be willing to accept research assignments not really related to your interests, then you'll be opening yourself up to more opportunities.

It doesn't say that you can't apply straight out of undergrad. If your transcript/work shows that you've had interest in science/tech for a while, earlier than your senior year, you'll be fine. They're not looking for anyone who woke up in their last year of school saying "Oh! I want to do my dissertation on science/technology!" They're just looking for evidence of commitment to this field. If that's what you mean by "mature".... it did say that SOME people were admitted with MAs.

Dude, if you're going to do EE and your work is up in North Campus, move there. Seriously. You'll thank yourself, especially when buses run every 20 minutes at night and on weekends when you spend time in labs. Who wants to wait outside for that long in 10 degree windchill weather? A) Parking is next to impossible in CC area unless you can get a permit. I'm not sure how the garages work but I doubt that you can leave your car there 24/7. PLUS if you wanted to live in CC/downtown area, then why have a car at all? You'll have lots of buses running through the area and markets are within a reasonable walking distance. Rent is cheaper up there for more space. People live in Broadview or Willowtree and they're pretty nice and reasonable to live in. Because of that, I was able to live reasonably well with a roommate. Find out where most of the people in the department live so you can try to move close to them for socialization. My guess is North Campus, not Central Campus.

Ditto. You should look into religion as well. I had a MA student very interested in Late Antiquity stuff and she only applied to programs related to religion and got in quite a few...She wasn't really focused on the religion but the culture and you know very well that some information about ancient period are found in religious texts.

First, the PhD programs will want to know what's your geographical focus/major field, then move onto sub-fields. There, they'll decide what sub-fields they want to have for that year. You'll be competing with lots of other U.S. history people so you'll definitely need some people in the department doing U.S. West to help support your application. I'm specializing in an ethnic group in the United States as well but I am finding it's more important to find a department fit, not just a particular faculty member. You want to make sure you have your resources and you're not solely relying on one person to help you out. I mean, what if that only historian specializing in American Indian leaves and doesn't take you? You still need support from other faculty members to help you finish your dissertation.

I lived right across the street and have heard a few things. Apparently, it's just tolerable to live there even though the space is small. There are buses for sure. But you definitely don't want to be playing in downtown Ann Arbor on weekend nights from November to March because it's really, really cold to be standing outside waiting for a bus that comes around 20 minutes. Haha you'll also hear locals call Whole Foods "Whole Paycheck" :-D I must've turned into a local because I do add 's at the end of the store's name... and sometimes I get funny looks from others who haven't caught on this.

and number three, the faculty.

I am currently a MA student at Michigan so feel free to ask any questions. I agree with indecisive (who, by the way, should change his/her username by now.. ) that really, funding and department fit should be the deciding factors. AA likes to think of itself as the Manhattan of the West (as U-M does of Harvard of the West) . I'm not saying that it's NYC here but in terms of quality of cultural arts, entertainment, music scene, and restaurants as well as... rent prices. Pretty close anyway. Unlike Columbia, you can actually live close to all what AA has to offer (If you're going to live near Columbia or in Brooklyn, it's a trip down to Manhattan!). Also the other advantage is if you are a big sports fan. Obviously at student prices as opposed to all the pro sports that are in NY metro area. But downside is that the airport isn't that accessible when it's not break time so you'd have to make careful arrangements. And the 20-30 mph gusts. Try to e-mail with the grad students and faculty. The atmosphere is really supportive and there's a lot of engagement between the faculty and the students.

Google any mattress store- they're reliable. A cool place to buy furniture is TreasureMart on Detroit street (just near Zingerman's deli)- it's fairly priced. People also sell stuff off Craig's List all the time. The stuff I've gotten from Craigs have showed up at my door in good shape. Supermarkets... you get either Kroger (they do serious bulk sales) and Busch's (a bit pricier but fresher produce). We do have Whole Foods (national chain, excellent but the running joke in Ann Arbor is that it's really called "Whole Paycheck" ) and Plum Market- both relatively a bit upscale and nicer. Meijier's is another place but I haven't been there....

Wow. Unbelievable. Take it up with your lawyer for violation of the Fourth Amendment

I think the MA is a good way to go, especially for Ancient History. I mean, your husband wants the opportunity to work in NC so let him and you can get your MA at NCSU or UNCCH to polish up your research and language skills. Generally ancient history programs look for at least 3 years of Greek or Latin, along with reading knowledge of French or German. And if you're that interested in Palestine, Biblical Hebrew will be helpful as well. I know it's not the answer you expect but... that's the reality as I have several friends who are doing Classical period stuff and they're essentially studying the languages over the actual primary sources (they do THAt in their free time). Also if you're serious about the PhD and your husband is supportive of your dreams, you should look beyond NC.