johndiligent

Kind of tangential... I work in archaeology, and I've seen that there is a bias against those who do their Archaeology MA's in the U.K. rather than in North America. U.K. archaeology MA's concentrate on theory over practice, whereas Canadian/American MA's emphasise fieldwork. Those hiring field or lab assistants are suspicious that U.K. students don't have the practical experience they need (which they sometimes don't). The programmes also vary in length: U.K. MA's are 1-year, while North American MA's are 2-year programmes. Granted, there are exceptions to the rule. I have a friend who got his PhD in Archaeology from Oxford and had no trouble getting a TT position in Canada. But, of course, that's Oxford.

Hmmm... That's a good idea and I hadn't thought of giving myself something to look forward to if I don't get in! Thanks for posting this!

I've been able to reach him. When I e-mail, he simply does not respond. When I call, he tells me that he's pretty sure he's already sent the letters but will double-check to make sure. And tells me not to worry. (But 5 of my 6 letters are now late.)

For your own sanity, I'd assume it's a general mailing, at least until you get something more formal. You don't want to get your hopes up for nothing.

Three of my six schools said that if you completed a thesis, one of your letters of recommendation should be from the thesis advisor. Worse still, last year the department blew its budget and couldn't afford to pay TA's, but I TA'd for him anyway and he told me on several occassions that even though he was remiss he couldn't pay me for the excellent work I was doing, the reward would come with an excellent letter of recommendation. Sigh.

What if the schools specify that one letter has to be from your thesis advisor and THAT's the guy who has now missed five deadlines?

I wasn't sure which board this should be on, so I hope this works. Is anyone out there considering applying to be a don/residence advisor/proctor/institution-specific term at whatever university they choose to attend? I did it for two years at my undergrad institution and I was hoping to pursue a don position wherever I end up since: a) I've really enjoyed advising students in that capacity, and it puts a dent in, if not covers, basic living expenses. But I was sort of idly clicking around on the websites tonight, and a lot of the deadlines for don applications come sooner than I would expect to get an acceptance (if at all). Is anyone else pursuing this sort of opportunity? Have you been applying in advance, on the off-chance that you're accepted, or do you plan to beg the residence powers that be once you've been accepted? (Which may work out fine. In my experience, there are usually not too many people who want to commit to being on-call for X number of students 24 hours a day, even if it does result in rent-free living).

In that case, I think you should apply to PhD programmes instead of MA's. You have decent preparation relative to other PhD applicants. Though the best thing to do is inquire directly with programmes of interest, since they'll be able to give you a much better idea of where you'd be positioned relative to other applicants.

I'm a social historian, interested in Christian group identity and social behaviour in the 1st century CE. At Toronto, I'm applying to the MA in Religion and at McGill, the MA in Religious Studies.

Check out the Waiting board. Someone has already posted this question and there have been 5+ pages of responses.

Is it only for the wealthy? I'm proof that it isn't. I grew up in housing projects at the best of times - a family of six that made $18,000 a year GROSS. We've struggled with being able to pay for food and shelter our whole lives and even lived in our car for a while. But I did my BA in Classics. Can't get too much more "impractical" than that. Granted, I had to do the whole thing on student loan and now owe $68,000. I wouldn't change it, though, and I don't think that the way the system is moving toward tangible skills is working. I really think that a Bachelor of Arts degree provides the student with critical thinking ability, which is absolutely necessary to a well-functioning democracy. The problem isn't that the humanities are impractical, it's that college isn't free for everyone who elects to do it. Once it is, and I hope that it will be eventually, the benefits of studying humanities won't be eclipsed by the lack of tangible, employable skills.

How are your grades in your MA programme?

Because regardless of whether Gypsum had the magic trowel or not, there are probably not going to be tenure-track bricklaying positions when he's on the job market. Best case scenario, he'll be able to adjunct brick-lay, or brick-lay at a community college.

Oxygen is necessary. A laptop's just a good idea.

Haha, that's horrifying. Maybe The Grad Cafe is secretly operated by graduate schools as a means of acquiring further information about candidates and observing them when they don't know that they're being observed.... ZOMG! CONSPIRACY!

Along that line, (though I used it for Italian proficiency) another thing is to look up a topic you know quite well on the Insert Language Here version of Wikipedia.

ABBA. (By way of Waterloo.)

That's a perfect précis.

That's a handy suggestion. Thanks!

Ehhhhhhhh... I could see it being *a* factor, maybe, but if the economic climate is the main factor I would definitely be irritated with that person. Let me tell it in a parable? Two brothers, Gypsum and Jemsen, are walking down the street. Gypsum cherishes a dream of being a bricklayer. Jemsen cherishes a dream of being a folk singer. As they walk, they are suddenly approached by Mr. Genaro Stout, bricklayer to the gods. He has a magic, golden mason's trowel that can do any bricklaying job in the world. Genaro will give the trowel to the first man to ask for it. Gypsum steps forward confidently, ecstatic that his lifelong dream is finally becoming a reality. But, at the same time, Jemsen also steps forward. Genaro's at a loss, since he didn't think both men would want the mason's trowel. So he decides to have a contest: he makes both men do a stupid standardized test that has nothing whatever to do with bricklaying. Jemsen's scores were fine, but Gypsum's were below the cut-off. Genaro Stout awards the mason's trowel to Jemsen. When the brothers get home, Jemsen hangs the trowel on the wall. He never intends to lay a single brick with it. Really, he just wanted something flashy to show his friends. Gypsum, several months later, does get a trowel, but it's not magic, not golden, didn't come with funding and is unlikely to get him a bricklaying position down the road. If I were Gypsum (and many of us are), I'd be pretty damned pissed at Jemsen, wouldn't you?

Schools in my discipline would certainly not accept a LOR from a summer-job employer, high school teacher or a tutor. I agree with the spirit of your advice (find someone else) but not the specifics (for 99% of applicants, it really should be someone in the academy). I'm in a sort of tricky situation because the unsubmitted LOR is the most pivotal for my application. He not only directed my thesis, but also directed my teaching internship with the department and is the only recommender I've asked to address a personal issue for me. Without his letter, my application is very screwed.

I doubt anyone will admit to that.

It's certainly happened. There are people who get warmly accepted by the department only to be rejected by the graduate school.

Would it be possible to include the Notes column in the feed? I'm subscribing to it but there are so many Other results and without the notes section it's impossible to determine what Other refers to without clicking through to the results page everytime.

Ideally, I'd like to teach at a medium-sized Canadian comprehensive university, with a small to medium Religious Studies department (maybe 5 or 6 people in the department), larger courses with students from across a wide-range of disciplines on general interest topics in the history of western religions. In the summer, I'd like to colloborate with Classics and/or Archaeology to do a field school on an early Christian site that we return to year after year, doing a little more work each time. That's the ideal, of course, and I'm in Humanities, so odds of anything even resembling that ever happening are bad. My back up plans are plenty.