Neist

Geez, I haven't posted in here for a while. I've read the following since commenting previously: Silent Spring The Master Switch White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation Janet Browne's Darwin's Origin of Species: A Biography The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA The Men Who Stare at Goats The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars Whew! Had to consult the reading log to remember them all. I'm starting a bunch of titles now. I'm in reading groups for Paying the Price, Invention of Nature, The Circle, Hillbilly Elegy, and Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Ignoring course reading, I'm next diving into Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature, and Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck. I've only been in graduate school for one semester, but I've quickly learned that graduate school very much elucidates one strength and weaknesses. My super power is the speed of which I can read. My weaknesses are my lack of speed with writing; I'm a tremendously slow writer.

Not sure if this directly affects anyone here, but it's pretty fantastic news to whom it does. https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/01/20/oral-history-no-longer-subject-irb-approval Thought I'd pass it along, if anyone hasn't heard!

Randomly and anecdotally, there probably isn't enough drastic weather patterns to kick the allergens out of the air. Oklahoma is similar. Our rain is either monsoon or nothing, and it's always windy, so there's always something irritating in the air. I get allergies in the dead of winter here in Oklahoma.

Sounds like you need to contract a good old case of hookworm !

Congrats to whoever received an interview for HASTS@MIT. It's a pretty difficult program to get into. I wish the best of luck to you, whoever you are.

That's interesting and good to hear. I had some colorful experiences when I visited, but it was also in November, and a blizzard was on its way in. Glad to see that my experiences were atypical.

It depends on the department and POI. No one knows. Some POIs don't like to be contacted at all, and some departments explicitly state that you should not contact POI. Other POIs might enjoy it, as I guess the one who you talked to for 40 minutes did (if they didn't, I imagine they would have given an excuse to hang up). I didn't contact any POI for my applications unless I had something meaningful to ask, and I still got into half of the programs I applied to. *shrugs*

I'm unsure if you're meaning medical support or support via accommodations, but nearly every single university in the US is subject to the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act). You can find a little bit more information about the ADA and universities here: https://adata.org/faq/what-are-public-or-private-college-universitys-responsibilities-students-disabilities. Usually, these accommodations are facilitated by some sort of disability resource center at the university. If you want to discretely determine if the universities that you're applying to have one of these centers, you might poke around their websites. They are usually quite private with their inquiries. That said, if you're meaning medical support, most universities offer (and typically pay, for graduate students) some variety of medical insurance. For example, the university I attend has a clinic that's completely free to me. If you're concerned more about medical support, you might ask what sort of medical facilities the university you're interested in offers. It's a pretty common concern in the US given how expensive insurance can be here. I hope that helps!

Looking at the picture, it's not so bad, I guess. It is definitely a little bland. I used to have an officemate, but they moved to a windowed office.

It isn't a terribly lengthy drive from Detroit, and there are some nicer parts of Detroit, despite its reputation. Honestly, the bigger concern I had with Bowling Green is that seemed to be more affected by those crazy Great Lakes weather patterns, or at least more affected than one might experience further south in Ohio.

Hm. There isn't a huge amount of overlap in our interests, but here's a list of my a few of my favorites that seem more relevant to your interests. Freakonomics Planet Money More Perfect Revisionist History Pod Save America (haven't listened yet, but looks to be good) This American Life Hope that helps!

I applied last year. I visited too. Really nice program! It was among my top picks. I wish you the best of luck!

I contacted very few POIs, and I only contacted programs when I needed to know something. Generally, this was to ask for a copy of the graduate student handbook (amazing what you can learn from those...). I think you'll be fine! I'm currently reading White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg, and it's pretty good, but it's very much big history. I only have a middling tolerance for big history, but I've enjoyed several of the chapters thus far. It was the same in the program I'm currently attending. It was my alma mater. The acceptance rate is somewhat high, but the matriculation rate is quite low because funding is rather competitive. Only one or two students get funding any given year, and I think that's pretty common in a lot of programs. Honestly, any person who gets accepted into any program should probably be thankful because getting funding can be difficult. Either programs fund everyone and are highly selective, or they accept everyone and selectively fund. I'm really interested in the history of reading, and your research sounds fascinating! I'm interested in similar issues, only from a science perspective.

The book is very big history, so how much one enjoys the book will probably depend one's tolerance to big history (big history tends to seem unfocused). However, the book is well-written, or at least I think so. One of my many pecularities is that I'm certain that I've listened to more podcasts than close to, well, anyone. I listened to around 8 hours a day for over 10 years. What sort of topics do you enjoy? I could give you some of my favorites, but they might not become your favorites.

I'm in a campus reading group for Hillbilly Elegy this semester. We haven't met yet, but I'm looking forward to it! The U. of Oklahoma has a lovely reading group program that provides the books for sponsored reading groups. It's quite nice.

I read a lot, and I can't update this thread with all my recent reads (I read a lot), but I'm currently reading White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America. It's good!

I need to take a picture of my office next time I'm up on campus. I'm not taking traditionally structured courses this semester, so I'm rarely on campus. Everyone can then marvel at the MAGNIFICENCE of humanities graduate student office space. Hint: it's depressing. But it is a space with a reasonable amount of currently nigh empty bookshelves, and I recently nabbed a free mini fridge, so it's comfy!

Well, think about it. At a December 1 deadline, the semester is still wrapping up, and once the semester finishes, I consider it unlikely that they'd start the grueling admissions process before the winter break. So, according to my logic (which is admittedly very relative), no one will even look at your application until January. I guess that the reason that so many of the sciences hear back this early is that the interview process is somewhat involved. Interviews have to be scheduled. Flights have to be arranged and paid for. Meetings have to be codified. It's all very time-consuming. In history, I imagine that the process is far more straightforward. I imagine a small-ish group of people sitting around a table looking through files, and after a week or two of several hour-long meetings, they come up with an accepted student list. I'm pretty sure that some history programs interview, but none of mine did. Although, none of the programs that I applied to are what I'd consider large. My interests are somewhat esoteric, and my program options were limited.

Yeah, I don't think I hear anything back until at least late January last year. And I'm pretty sure that I didn't hear from my last program until March. I feel your pain, everyone. Waiting is horrible!

I think being a TA is one least hazardous areas for me. If anything, everyone except undergraduates have potential for drama. That said, nothing really bothers me. I have really thick skin and am incredibly independent. I have no issue living in my own world doing research for a few years.

Never. I'm with you, but I also think that I don't think my advisor would ever expect a gift. Congrats!

Just to add to this, some of the really well-funded programs don't require TAs to teach every semester or year. My program isn't like that, but. I've really enjoyed my first semester. Made good grades. Liked my classes, more or less. The upcoming semester will be a lighter load (only two courses), but I'm planning on doing independent research. I didn't really have time to do any research in the fall; classes kept me incredibly busy!

You know, I haven't had the urge to go shopping in quite a while. I think I'm simply becoming more pragmatic, so most things don't appeal unless I have a direct need for them. Minimalism, go!

Well, I don't. If I never talked to those people again, it'd be too soon!

I thought I'd just poke my head in here and say that I'm another HoS person that floats around. I think @nevermind and myself are the only recently active students. Unfortunately, I did not apply to UPenn last year, so I don't really know how their procedures play out. But I wanted to wish you good luck, all the same. So, good luck.