Sigaba

FWIW, my thought is that for each student, there's a sweet spot between taking effective notes for class (if not for each class) and preparing for qualifying exams. And by preparing, I mean writing coherently while thinking deeply. (And if one is going to write one's exams by hand rather than using a computer, writing quickly and legibly.) If you're already good to very good at taking notes, I recommend doing all you can to avoid reaching the conclusion that taking notes is of limited to no value in graduate school. With no disrespect to @telkanuru, You may find yourself working for a professor as a teaching assistant in class where most of the grading is based upon tests that draw almost exclusively from the lectures. You may find yourself taking graduate classes in the history department or in your outside field that do have written, in class exams. You may find yourself in an archive where you cannot bring anything but paper and pencil. You may find yourself attending lectures or job talks where a lot of information is being shared but you don't realize until much later how useful the information is. You may find yourself working in the private sector and the ability to take notes like a historian adds value to project work. If you find yourself in any of these situations and a very perishable skill has deteriorated due to lack of use or indifference, you can have FML moments that are avoidable. (Or so I've heard.) Also, if you ever study under professors who are phenomenal lecturers and you get to see their notes, it may very well be that they're using notes they took when they were graduate students themselves. Penultimately, I've come to the conclusion that some very accomplished senior historians have, through the course of their careers, published articles that are informed by their graduate course work. How would such work be possible without good notes? Finally, I think that every aspiring academic historian should assume that one is going to do work vital to her field and, some day, will bequeath one's papers, notes, and letters to a research library. So taking good notes is an opportunity to serve the profession. #$0.02.

AMPAD computation notebook really grips the pen. (But beware if you use a pencil with a soft lead...) If you're going to take serious notes, try to get everything. There's a chance that you're hearing lectures that were written ages ago and you won't realize it until down the line and you do very deep background research on the professor offering the class.

IMO, coursework should be subordinate to preparing for qualifying exams, not the other way around.

I would ask @telkanuru, an admin, who generally posts in the history fora https://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/38-history/ .

Yes. Focus for now on your qualifying exams. To paraphrase a bloodthirsty quote from an American admiral during the Second World War, if it helps you with quals it's important; if it doesn't help you with your quals, it's not important.

I would recommend option 1 with an augmented use of primary source material in Italian and a demonstration of familiarity with secondary works in Italian. I would also recommend that you figure out how your interest in European military history is going to fit into the departments you'd like to join as a graduate student. If your approach is more "war and society" than the traditional strategy/operations/tactics, this exercise may be slightly easier. IRT the languages, it may serve your interests to understand the requirements/offerings of each program for which you seek admittance and who might administer the language examination. You want to know if the test of your proficiency in German is going to be a discussion in German of translations of Clausewitz into Italian. FWIW, were I in your shoes, I'd make sure that I had access to/an understanding of... A copy of The Command of the Air <<link>> in English and Italian, as well as https://www.jstor.org/stable/44846853 ; The Cambridge History of the Second World War; Relevant titles in the Cambridge military histories series (maybe this work); Relevant works by John Gooch; Relevant works by MacGregor Knox; Michael Geyer's essay in Makers of Modern Strategy; Relevant works written or edited by Williamson Murray; A working familiarity of the tension between the RMA debate and the historiography of the military revolution; Works that will help you stave off the attractions of presentism. A working familiarity of the "total war" debate (maybe use the Publications of the German Historical Institute series); A strong understanding of the similarities and differences between Italian fascism and Nazism; and A strong understanding of the historiography of the relevance of military history. If you're very familiar OR unfamiliar with the references above and/or they're not relevant to your interests, you can cover the ground in your footnotes. I am merely suggesting that you demonstrate that you're up to speed, if not yet actually high speed. #HTH

MOO, the first step is defining terms and objectives. What is meant by public facing and what are the objectives of public facing academic work? The second step may be exploring how this issue and adjacent ones have been debated by SMEs in one's field over the last century or so. Maybe a third step is to imagine best and worst case outcomes. American naval historians rarely get hired for academic jobs anymore. American presidents ask "where are the [aircraft] carriers?" Does this outcome reflect public facing scholarship at its best, its worst, or something in between?

I would find out if there are tensions between the career paths of a graduate of either program and the practice of art history in the Ivory Tower. Will a degree from profit seeking institutions close doors in the academic world?

If one is going to take time off, maybe figure out ways to square the circle--a mix of days of doing what ever one wants with zero studying and days of spending less than x hours of studying and thinking. Even casual conversations provide opportunities for critical thinking -- can you find ways to answer the question "How's school?" that would neither bore the asker nor disappoint a professor? If one has concerns about how the Powers That Be will regard one's plans for the summer, I would ask professors questions along the lines of "Here's my plan to work my butt off during the summer...do you have any suggestions on how I might improve it?" If Professor Xavier says "Make sure you take some time off for yourself" then consider taking time off for yourself. If Professor Logan shreds your plan (see what I did there?) and/or goes on and on about how hard he worked, then amend your plans accordingly. FWIW, I would advise against the frame of mind that you're not getting paid during the summer. If the terms of your stipend/fellowship include summer library use, tuition remission, and other benefits/amenities of your school, you are being compensated. And even if you're not, you are likely being held to a constellation of expectations centered around your professional development. Yes, many of these expectations are based upon gendered, cultural, and social assumptions that are unsustainable. However, until one's in a position to change the rules of the road, one should do one's best to drive by those rules. MOO, we're all competing against two people. The first competitor is the person we see in the mirror. What are we willing to do to maximize our potential? The second competitor is the person who gets the fellowships, grants, and jobs we want. What is that person doing right now? How does she balance the trade offs between her personal life and her intellectual growth? How does your best version of you stack up to her?

The answers to your penultimate question will be on a case by case basis; some files provide page numbers that correspond to the printed version of a work, others just give a location. Amazon has a cloud reader for Kindle at https://read.amazon.com/ . The ability to access it will depend upon each institution's IT policies. IME, some primary source materials will provide guidance on how to cite an ebook. The Chicago Manual of Style also provides guidance.

I would find a way to ask the questions informally. I would keep the questions phrased in terms of being a more competitive applicant. I would not expect specific answers to questions sent via email. Risk management is increasingly important. If Student A were told that his/her application materials for X, Y, and Z weren't up to standard, and later found out that other applicants had lower Xs, Ys, and Zs, there could be...controversy.

This statement is controversial given the empathy that has been offered to the OP in this thread and many others and the many threads in which graduate students write of receiving empathy and support from their colleagues at their schools. (And many such posts include graduate students sharing experiences in which the correct display of empathy was a kick in the pants.) There seems to be some confusion as to what constitutes a "nonjudgemental" response. Any comment that offers an evaluation is based upon the judgment of the person making the comment. If a person shares experiences looking for praise or affirmation or support or actionable feedback, is that person looking for a non-judgemental response? Or is that person seeking a favorable judgemental response?

FWIW, there's a running debate between myself and a coworker. I insist that while I am vindictive, I am never ever petty. The coworker disagrees. The coworker is wrong, as usual. So were I in your situation, I would look at the comments I don't like, and ask "Do these read like well-worn/often used jabs?" And "Are there patterns to this reviewer's writing style?" Then, I would use Google and Jstor to run searches on the text and see what came up. As an alternative or concurrently, you could figure out who the SMEs in your field are and get some of their works and see if you can match the patterns. Once you've identified the reviewer, incorporate into your article quotes by that person's arch rival/antagonist, and some coded comments of your own. (See, I'm not petty.) Or you can do what you're doing now--internalizing the outstanding guidance you've received in this thread (especially from @PaulaHsiuling) and go on with life. (Which is hard, because sometimes you just want to reach out and let a professor know that he/she is acting like a dill hole. But I'm not bitter.) An additional comment. If your article is in the areas of emphasis you mentioned previously, the kind of push back you're getting may be par for both courses. One field is notorious for especially heated debates that often devolve into personal attacks. The other field generally has exceptionally high standards.

The path on which you lash out at those who have helped you in good faith. The one in which you accuse your thesis evaluator of acting in bad faith because she's jealous of you. The one on which you trot out charges of "paternalism," play the "misunderstood" victim, say that no one knows you (despite having over fifteen hundred posts on this BB). The one on which you claim that you are focusing on your thesis yet posting about topics not related to your thesis. That path.

@Adelaide9216 I think that this a good time for you to focus on your mission to revise your thesis so that it will satisfy the reviewer's requirements for a passing mark. I would recommend avoiding the path you've been drifting towards the last week or so.

Locking one's credit scores can help deter identity theft if the practice compliments other tactics to protect one's "digital footprint." https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faqs#what Some statistics offered FWIW. https://www.ftc.gov/policy/reports/policy-reports/commission-staff-reports/consumer-sentinel-network-data-book-2017/frauds-losses-age-percentage

In the strongest of possible terms, I respectfully recommend that if you're going to rent that you first obtain a copy of your credit report and then use tools that allow you to lock your credit scores and unlock them on a case by case basis. I recommend that one ask for copies of rental agreements/contracts first, taking the time to read the documents closely, and then develop a list of questions. Agreements typically have specific language that defines the agreement as the printed word, and not what is said by either party. Additionally, agreements will have a clause on severability. If you are renting space in a condo, you will need to see a copy of the HOA agreement. I also recommend that one go a municipal website and look for webpages dealing with renters' rights. In regards to the duration of a lease, I recommend that you ask for language that sets the agreement as month to month after the initial term. Insofar as what to look for in the apartment, signs of mold/mildew vermin/insects arguably should top your list. Open up all the taps and flush the toilet and listen. You want to see smoke detectors and fire sprinklers. You want to understand how often the garbage is picked up. You may want to check the strength of your cellular service in every room of an apartment as well as on the nearby streets. If an apartment building has podium parking (parking at ground level with the apartment on top), please understand that the lowest level of apartments is going to be significantly cooler sometimes. If you're in an area with colder winters, you may feel like you're walking on ice. IRT on line reviews, I recommend taking reviews with a grain of salt. Residents don't always have realistic expectations of the level of service for which they're paying. If online resources allow, look at the crime statistics for your neighborhood. Understand your comfort level with the street conditions under different scenarios. Everything is an adventure in the summer before graduate school. When you're knee deep in your studies, your perception of what is quaint and tolerance level may both differ.

I understand. Parking is an emotional subject. The leasing manager provided bad customer service, for which there may be reasons but never excuses. Is there an opportunity to provide feedback to his supervisor?

FWIW, the product you're encountering is unbundled parking. The product acknowledges that not all residents will have vehicles and therefore benefit from not having to pay for parking. Unbundled parking also helps the process of getting a building developed, funded, approved, and built. Parking spaces can be tremendously expensive to build. The cost of parking gets passed along to you as a resident, employee, patron, and shopper. More and more, a parking permit is a hunting license with no guarantee that you'll find a space. IRT parking at Cornell, the web page https://fcs.cornell.edu/parking-and-transportation suggests that motorists should manage their expectations or consider seriously alternative modes of transportation.

If she's published articles and reviews, you may be able to find the answer you need. When you take a second look at the theses she's supervised, see if the introduction and theory framework chapters establish themes that run through the rest of the work. Another thing to keep in mind is that the shorter chapters may be tightly written. IIRC, you'd not done a literature review until recently. IME, initial efforts at such pieces are not as efficiently written as those by one with more experience. To emphasize a previous recommendation -- look at every task in this process as an opportunity to develop your skills rather than an item to check off a list.

For this specific exercise, I very highly recommend that you reverse engineer masters theses she's supervised, then secondary works that she assigns or cites and feature theoretically informed-analysis. If you can't find enough examples, broaden your search incrementally. Because time is of the essence, you should focus on finding an apples to apples match rather than apple to fruit or vegetable. Set a time budget, take notes, make copies as needed. If you cannot find an answer (or even if you do), I would recommend that you check in with this person to see if you're on the right path. You will also want to demonstrate that you've thought very deeply about her question.

Welcome to the Grad Cafe. The tie and blazer may be excessive based upon the climate alone. Add to that the potential for getting a little nervous (it happens), and you could in for a long, sweaty day. (And also, ironically, some teeth chattering moments if the HVAC is cranked up inside of halls/libraries.) I would recommend that you look into a moisture-wicking base layer along with the chinos and shirt. If you decide to wear a blazer, figure out how you may want to carry it around if you need to take it off. Figure out how much antiperspirant and cologne you'll need to wear. You don't want to overdo it and you don't want to underdo it. Beyond that, consider the virtues of a small note book and a pen. And cash. Take a small amount of cash (like $60 with $20 in change). When it's time to ask questions, I very strongly recommend that you focus on the more immediate task of finishing your undergraduate work, getting an internship, and getting ready to apply to masters programs. Over the horizon questions about over the doctorate program and job placement are important, but you can make a good impression by demonstrating a focus on the here and the now. Please remember to turn off your phone when you're on campus. (By off, I mean off. So you won't be tempted to check it when you're supposed to be receiving non-verbal cues.)

I recommend that you look into doing your outside field in LIS before making a formal switch. I suggest that you look into the backgrounds of incumbents at jobs you would want. Also, I would take a very long hard look at how vulnerable LIS may be to disruptive technologies/firms. (Are you going to be competing for jobs against ASIs designed by Alphabet?)

If you're so inclined, I recommend that you take a look at her master's thesis/report, her doctoral dissertation, and also recent theses that she supervised (with most of your effort spent on this last task). You may be able to get additional insight IRT her expectations. Ideally, the patterns are clear and consistent.

IMO, if you're saying no because of assumptions of gendered behavior, you could say "no," and going forward take a look at your assumptions of gendered behavior. FWIW, in my experience, the most positive experiences I've had with roommates were of the opposite gender (in a binary sense) in no small part because we were different genders. (A "safer" reply would be to say that you're going to decline the opportunity because the person asking is someone you don't know well enough AND is a classmate. Then add that you're more comfortable living with members of your said gender. This way, you're providing three reasons, two of which have nothing to do with gender.) MOO, "No" without any explanation at all is a perfectly acceptable reply. Men need to learn that women owe them zero explanations when it comes to most questions.