Sigaba

Exceptions to this rule of thumb will include books that are described as "works that one ignores at one's peril." Or "essential reading." Or works that generate significant scholarly debate. Sometimes "the standard work on..." Pay attention to how your professors roll through reading lists/bibliographies. Make eye contact. Pay attention to the body language. More often than not, non verbal cues are being given as to the level of effort one should give to reading it. (The most helpful verbal cue is any mention of a book being used as a "reference." That descriptor means that one is only expected to read every word of it if it's directly in one's historiographical wheel house. And even then, lots of skimming will be in order._ Notice how they can summarize 800+ page books in two sentences, if not one. Did they read every word and every footnote? Even if they did or didn't, the challenge you face is learning how to get what you need from a work with the least amount of effort and then move on to the next work. (Four additional tactics. First, find articles by a historian that were published before a major work. Often--but not always--articles serve as blueprints for ongoing projects. Second, read book reviews written by the historian whose work you're reading. This can sometimes help you kill two birds with one stone. Third, start making a habit of reading all relevant short book reviews in the top journals in your field. Fourth, if you come across a book that really moves you, give yourself permission to read it at a more leisurely pace -- even if doing so sets you back a bit with your other reading and/or leads to some longer nights.) A caveat. The tactics presented in this thread (and others in this forum) entail risk. Eventually, you will get something wrong and/or someone will want to pull your card and play stump the band. Under such circumstances, know what to say and how to say it. Phrases like I think I missed that point or I will have to circle back to that argument will work well enough. Under no circumstances should you fib. If you get feed back like "sometimes [insert name] seems under prepared" then it is probably time to switch up your reading tactics and to work much harder.

The objective of this thread is to serve as a catch all for aspiring historians seeking graduate degrees. IME/IMO, these annual threads work better when interested parties pose their questions in a single catch all thread rather than starting individual threads across multiple fora for each question, concern, complaint, and gripe. YMMV. For this year's thread, I am going to recommend two changes of pace. First, when you write your introductory post, focus on your areas of interest/fields of study, and language skills rather than your numbers.If you've written a senior thesis and/or honors thesis, share your findings either generally or specifically. Articulate what you want to do as a professional academic historian beyond where you want to work. That is, spend time writing about what kind of historian you want to be. (A way to accomplish this task is to write about the work or historians who have greatly influenced you.) If you've already identified historiographical trajectories you want to alter slightly, redirect, or shatter, let us know. The second recommendation is for those members of the BB who attend top schools and typically lurk throughout the season until after receiving notification of getting into all of one's programs of choice. Please consider the value of sharing the information you're receiving in person during office hours from professors and graduate students at your current institution. Do not violate any confidences. However, if you get a nugget on how to tackle a SOP or writing sample, you can do others a solid by passing that information along. (And you can be highly confident that sharing such tips isn't going to diminish your chances of going seven for seven.)

You win every day you show up, do your job, and work on your craft. While it may be (probably is) too late for this term, going forward you may benefit from putting together a syllabus that includes rules of conduct that borrow attributed passages from your school's code of student conduct. Ideally, you'd get the professor to sign off on it.

It is my guess that your professor understands that there are boiling pots on the stove and she has other fish to fry. I think that she's tasking you to keep things from boiling over and not in ways that you'd prefer. Were I in your situation, I'd attempt to execute her instructions while documenting the steps your taking, and with frequent check ins to make sure you're on the same page. A thing to remember is that it is the professor's class and sometimes a professor makes decisions/judgement calls that are hard to implement and even harder to understand. The fact that what's going on bothers you means that you're not crazy. The best that you can do is to execute the guidance you've received and to put your personal feelings in a place where you ride the horse and the horse doesn't ride you. The following may be tough to read. Make no mistake, I didn't enjoy writing it. Please keep in mind that as an aspiring professional academic, it's not your job to fix a student's views on race relations and urban policy and immigration. It is your job to help your students develop their critical thinking skills and communication skills to present the best forms of their arguments, as anachronistic or as controversial as one may find them to be. Let your professionalism combined with your dignity and your compassion as a POC be the beacon that leads your students and your peers to paths of thought that allow the reconsideration of personal viewpoints.

Unfortunately, @JuniusBattius, the answer is probably "no." You may be better served by coming to an understanding that this individual is not going to provide the support you need the way you need it, to say nothing of the support you deserve as a young scholar. Can you explore opportunities to shuffle your dissertation committee so that this person remains on it but in a less prominent role (not chair or first reader)? Before making the switch, you will want to make sure that your ducks are all in a row. A part of this process should include having multiple copies--both physical and digital--of the person's unprofessional texts and emails to you as well as all communication that made you feel very uncomfortable personally. This latter category should include the requests for personal favors and errands but maybe not the feedback on your writing or your approach to your craft or the boasting about the LOR leading to your fellowship. The two are part of a larger screwed up whole but the sledding will be harder if you attempt to make that case.

For better and for worse, your experience is similar to many posters here. @Quickmick offers fantastic guidance on how you might conceptualize the broader context. You may find solace and more useful guidance by taking a very deep dive into the biology forum https://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/29-biology/ What ever you do, do your best not to freak out. Part of the waiting game in Ivory Tower is messed up -- many professors suffered when they were graduate students and some find dishing out pain cathartic. Or something.

Yes. Reading theory is typically challenging, often painful. If one of them is by John Storey you're in good hands. I would recommend that you start thinking about Foucault critically as soon as possible. Try to avoid the easier path of criticizing him on your terms or for what he doesn't do--a trap that is easy to fall into when dealing with theory. Instead, look for a critical perspective that is informed by your experiences, specifically as a WOC. (There's a tension between the previous two sentences. I'm recommending that you find ways to square the circle. His writing fails/succeeds to account for issues centering around race and gender versus How do his writings address matters of race and gender? ) Also, you may benefit from finding scholarly / professional articles related directly to your field that grapple with Foucault. If you can find such articles, you may find elegant and succinct summaries of his key points and their relevance to your principal areas of interest.

IME, it varies from application season to application season and discipline by discipline. FWIW, it's my observation that when applicants build more on existing threads in the most appropriate fora, as opposed to starting new threads for similar topics across multiple fora, things run much "hotter." Something that bears keeping in mind, following the change in management last July, the Grad Cafe lost some prolific / experienced moderators who really brought it. In a post that has since been deleted, they laid out the reasons for their departure. To be absolutely clear, the current group of moderators is just as capable, but its members post a bit less frequently.

This POV is a persistent misconception about California. It depends upon where you are in the state -- the closer to a coastal city, the more tolerant people tend to be overall. Yet even then one can encounter mindsets that are not as enlightened as one might expect. It also depends where you are in some metropolitan areas. Generally speaking, Irvine is more conservative than the City of Los Angeles but is turning bluer. It's unlikely that one is going to see overt signs of intolerance but here's some food for thought. https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/California-LGBT-Divide-Jan-2016.pdf

Yes. You will need to register the vehicle and display the issued California plates. The links below provides some of the answers to your questions. https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/pubs/brochures/howto/htvr33 http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=VEH&division=3.&title=&part=&chapter=2.&article=1. Please note that if you're parking on a UC campus, you can be issued a citation if your vehicle is not registered in California -- so stashing on campus as a means to economize may not be a sustainable option.

Could you provide the names of the schools already on your list so you don't get a lot of additional recommendations for UCLA, UC Irvine, CSU Fresno, and USC? Also, have you contacted this organization for guidance https://societyforarmenianstudies.com/ ?

In addition to @Boolakanaka's sound guidance, please consider the following. A geographic transition can be a cultural one as well. Map out (mentally or on a piece of paper) the members of the cohort who get along. You may see patterns centering around common locations. These commonalities can layer on top of (along side) the Ivy experience. On top of those differences, you may be an outgoing person in the midst of introverts, in which case, through no fault of your own, you're rubbing people the wrong way just by being yourself. If you think this is happening, try to figure out ways you can "dial down" your traits while also remaining authentic to who you are. The key here is that you're not changing who you are, you're just adjusting how you do things. Something else to consider. What ever your field, there's likely an established academic or even a superstar (current, in decline, or even deceased) who has gone through what you're experiencing. See if you can find that person's memoir/autobiography/letters. You may find some very useful tidbits of information on navigating similar experiences. An aside. Your statement "I have no doubts about my qualifications or ability to succeed in grad school" may prove problematic down the line. Please understand that graduate school is hard. It is possible that you'll encounter a moment when your abilities are questioned. What then? I think that what I'm trying to suggest is that you start thinking about how you might deal with SHTF moments and such doubts emerge.

The challenge of using the former professor's letter center around the kinds of questions a reader might reasonably ask . What are the circumstances of her leaving the Ivory Tower? Did she move on after not getting tenure? Was she "too political" (note the quotes, please) for the academic sector? What is the nature of your relationship with her presently relative to an org chart and socially? Who works for whom? Does the social component of the relationship allow for a "disinterested" assessment? How relevant are her experiences to the assessment of your potential to thrive at the graduate level? How rigorous was this introductory course? Such courses can be incredibly intense or rather...introductory. Does she adequately understand the rigors of a graduate history program to offer a fair assessment of your potential in one? Does your relationship with her, coupled with your work at a non profit indicate that you'll be more invested in your cause than your classes? Ideally, she'll be well aware of these kinds of questions and will be able to address them succinctly in the letter. In regards to "balancing out" this LOR with your other two, it's hard to make an assessment without knowing more about your relationship with the two professors. A more sustainable path towards balance may center around the portions of your application you can control--your statement of purpose and your writing sample. Does the former compellingly and convincingly tell the story of your intellectual and personal journey? How might your experiences at a not for profit benefit not only you but also the department you hope to join and the profession generally? Does the latter show the extent to which you, as an academic, have been influenced by women's studies and that you also remain a historian?

@HeatMiser Welcome to the grad cafe. You may get a wider range of points of view were you to post this question in the history forum. https://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/38-history/ (There, you may be asked about your intended fields, the topic/class you'll be working on as a GA, and, maybe, if you're on a thesis/report/no thesis option in your M.A. program.)

@eliaa, welcome to the Grad Cafe. Your question may generate more activity were it posted in the history forum https://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/38-history/

And also, if you find that the program at B.U. does not suit your interests/aspirations, you can always "transfer" after earning a M.A. As @Psyhopeful points out, you'll have to follow the curriculum of your new program but you won't have the debt if you go to Columbia. I would strongly advise you not to go into any doctoral program with prior thoughts of transferring to a better school.

It's impossible to say what skills and experiences will make job applicants more competitive years from now, not the least because the growing capabilities of AI- and ASI- driven technology may revolutionize how data are processed and analyzed. However, what you can do is to do research on the backgrounds of individuals who have positions similar to what you see yourself doing in the future and also keep looking at job descriptions for positions currently available. If you find that quantitative methods-type skills are commonly held and sought, you may want to to focus your efforts there. But again, you could find yourself learning skills that have a limited shelf life. Another alternative that you might consider is developing other skillsets that might make you a more competitive applicant. What ever path you decide to travel, IMO, you'd do well to avoid the "path not taken" looks over your shoulder. They can be debilitating. (Or so I've heard.)

I very strongly urge you to transition away from a metrics-based approach to thinking about the craft of professional academic history and that you not think in terms of "padding" this or that. Academics can tell when an aspiring graduate student is a true believer in the craft or someone who is playing to the numbers. This isn't to say that metrics are worthless. What I'm trying to convey is that in your OP you offer zero information about your interests or your skills. You also present a view of personal professional relationships that is, at worst, cynical ("I am trying to pad my application a little bit....") In the strongest possible terms, I suggest that you rethink the relationship you have with the professor who offered you guidance on your paper. It's my hunch that you're on a different page, if not in a different chapter. That is, while he's talking about advancing the historiography of a field in a way that's beneficial to you as an aspiring professional, you're hearing "Here's a way to punch my ticket to a top twenty program."

I recommend that you stay with the activities you described above with one modification: study your advisor's work, don't just read it. A challenge you may encounter is making the transition from hoop jumping at work to hoop jumping in the Ivory Tower as a graduate student. You will likely find yourself in situations that are counter intuitive, counterproductive, nonsensical, frustrating, if not also idiotic and insulting. You might benefit by preparing a basic set of tools for dealing with such events--ideally, the basic tools will not include practices that undermine your performance (e.g. excessive drinking). You may find useful information in threads in this forum and your specific discipline devoted to the background and experiences of non traditional students.

Please keep a very close eye on the flow of paperwork you need to have on file until you receive written confirmation that your offer of admission and scholarship are secure. As @telkanuru points out, it is the summer --a good time for administrators and worker bees to lose a bit of focus. (But I'm not bitter.) With all the bad turns in this ordeal, Murphy's Law could easily rear its head one last time. ...And as much as it may turn your stomach to do so, send your examiner a note that expresses an appropriate amount of thanks. Double check your note for unintentional irony. (I would recommend not reading the latest round of comments until you've had the time to rest, recover, and reflect.)

@erebuni2 welcome to the Grad Cafe. You may have better luck finding answers that will help you get to where you want to go if you search in the History forum. https://forum.thegradcafe.com/search/?q=writing sample&type=forums_topic&nodes=38

I recommend that you spend some time researching the guidance/instructions offered by health professional programs. For example, https://www.marquette.edu/pre-health-advising/institutional-action.php advises applicants as follows: The best strategy for students is to be completely honest about conduct issues, academic or otherwise. Any misrepresentation will hurt you far more than the underlying offense. It is clear from the wording in the common application services' instruction guides that the intent is that you report ANY action, regardless of whether or not the record has been expunged. It is a matter of personal responsibility and integrity how you choose to answer this question. Other institutions offer similar guidance. MOO, you have it in you to overcome the two mistakes you describe in your OP. By disclosing both events, you will have the opportunity to put those mistakes behind you and to go on with your life and your career.

To dovetail with @ohsp's guidance. If those who had written your LoRs had provided support during your "weird year," and you've grown during the year, I would sound them out to see if they want to rewrite the LoRs. This is to say that relationships can remain the same as informed opinions of your ability to succeed as a graduate student may improve.

@bhabhafk, I think that you are offering strongly worded guidance without providing an adequate amount of background that allows readers to understand the basis for that guidance.

As an alternative, an apartment hunter could make two lists. The first list would be of features a unit must have. The second list would be of amenities listed most preferable to least. This second list could also have price ranges one is willing to pay for each amenity. This alternative approach would allow an apartment hunter to make an informed, calculated decision to stretch the budget for certain features like laundry facilities on one's floor or in one's unit, central HVAC, complimentary basic cable, a staffed front desk, and so on.