Sigaba

Drifting out of my lane to share an experience that may be helpful. After my junior year, I participated in a program that was run by graduate students for aspiring graduate students. In addition to getting experience working as a research assistant in my field, I was exposed to a lot of "chalk talk." One of the primary takeaways from a friendly but heated debate over when to apply to graduate school was that the sensibility quoted below could work against graduate students. This is to say that the dynamics of the workplace can teach a type of self-reliance and self-confidence that are detrimental in the Ivory Tower. The graduate students who shared this information indicated that they had some re-adjustment issues to the hoop jumping of academia. Later, a classmate who had a law degree was repeatedly frustrated that he could not satisfy outside requirements with the course work he did to earn his sheepskin. I got to see the other side of the coin when another classmate with extensive work experience could not understand the difference between activity and achievement. He insisted on getting his doctorate in the shortest time possible. His confidence in his experience, his trust in himself did get him done, but he also got PNGed by the department. That is, no one would stand up for him when he was looking for a job or a publisher. Ultimately, one has to decide for oneself if the detriment is the product of the "politics and bullshit" of academics. (IMO, there's more to it than that. YMMV.) The second takeaway was that a one year interlude can easily become a decade, a long term romantic relationship, and parenthood and the necessary trade-offs, compromises, and changed opportunities that follow. The third takeaway was that making the adjustment back to student life could be a much more difficult challenge than one initially thought. It's one thing to eat PB&Js because one is on the go, and another because that's all one can afford until next month. (An alternative is to have a "five year plan" that sees one extending one's time as an undergraduate, writing a second/honor's thesis, loading up on relevant upper division classes, maybe working on a language requirement, managing one's GPA, and working a job that will extend through the summer until a week or two before one leaves for graduate school. Or so I've heard.)

At my job, a structural engineering consultancy, we made a transition to Microsoft Surfaces. We got to the Surface Pro 4 and started to transition back to Dell laptops. Among the issues experienced, the attachable keyboard couldn't quite support all the angles needed when working on airplanes, a now widely known issue with the graphics card crapping out on the Surface Pro 4, and a lack of horsepower, even on higher end units with plenty of RAM. (The graphics card and lack of horsepower almost gave me an aneurysm on a couple of occasions--ironically while working on projects for universities.) When looking for open box deals, do not neglect the outlets for Lenovo and for Dell. The shopping experience at the former has significantly improved over the last couple of years even though the listing of items that are out of stock continues to be an issue. Dell's outlet works better if you already have a working knowledge of that company's many lines and models. In both cases, I think that you want to be ready to pull the trigger when you see a great deal because you're not the only one watching.

https://gspp.berkeley.edu/career-services/alumni-graduation-facts/gspp-employment-statistics https://mccourt.georgetown.edu/career/outcomes

I am sorry that you're in pain right now. I hope that you're able to navigate the tangled path that awaits. I agree. @Adelaide9216, I very strongly recommend that you do your best to put aside your understandable sense of disappointment and your other feelings when you read through the comments. The exercise should be more than just doing what you need to do to satisfy a stern critic. I urge you to assume good faith on that individual's part. I recommend that you step away from thoughts about going to the dean if she doesn't do what you want her to do. Yes, it may come to that, but if you approach the revisions with that option in mind, your emotions may get in the way for an opportunity for intellectual and personal growth. I suggest that you look at this unfortunate outcome as a temporary set back and an opportunity for professional and intellectual growth in addition to how you feel about it personally. I recommend that you develop a plan of action with a time table. What follows are very broad brush /YMMV recommendations. I suggest that the first item on the list should be to put your thesis and the comments aside for at least one entire week so you can spend time working with your feelings. Then, reread a clean copy of your thesis in one long sitting. A day or two later, study the critical comments assuming good faith on the reviewers part. There will be points that resonate, others that you can take or leave, and some that are likely nitpicking. From this study, develop talking points for a discussion between yourself and the reviewer. This conversation could be attended by your advisor or not, as you see fit. (I would recommend doing it alone.) I would recommend that the conversation involve more listening on your part than talking. (The desire to debate will be almost overwhelming, but please try to put that aside.) After this conversation, take a break of a day or two. Then, revisit the list of recommended changes and, point by point, develop a matrix of what has to be changed, what might be changed, and (if necessary) where you're going to hold your ground. From there, develop a time table that sees you working on the revisions and checking in with your advisor and the reviewer. The objective of these check-ins is to make sure that everyone is on the same page IRT what you're going to do and (if necessary) what you're not going to do. Concurrently, do what you can to assemble a couple of red teams who will take one and only one look at all or parts of the revised thesis with a critical eye and very sharp blue pencils (if possible.) Throughout, you will need to find a healthy balance of paying attention to how you feel while not letting those feelings overwhelm the process. To paraphrase, the woman rides the horse, not the other way around.

Were I in your position, I would reread the rules and the guidelines/policies on student conduct. If you're in the SUNY system, the rules may be clear enough. "Generally, individuals who have maintained their domicile in New York for a period of fewer than twelve months prior to the end of registration are presumed to be out-of-state residents and are not eligible for the resident tuition rate." If those documents did not provide a clear answer, I would ask my department and the bursars office separately. Ideally, all three sources will provide the same answer. If the same answer is "you'll lose residency," then I would think I'd gotten sound guidance. If your department says "this is fine" and the bursar's office says differently, I would go with the guidance of the latter. Here's the thing. Even if your department is okay with you bending the rules (which might be a huge red flag for other issues), the fact that you attend a public university may mean that the school will get the last laugh by holding your diploma until you pay the difference between resident and nonresident fees AND by flagging your file for future background checks AND, if you don't pay in a timely manner, referring your bill to a collection agency. (Were @TakeruK still active on this BB, he might point out student privacy laws to which I'd reply that by approving background checks for a job, such right could be waived.)

The last thing you need right now is for those whose help and support you need and who have power over your future to have questions about your character. It's not just about getting the doctorate, it's also about having people who know you and your work saying "This is a person you should hire..." Without the latter, the former will be little more than a piece of paper.

A way to address the question of the importance of program rank at a preferred job is to look at the academic backgrounds of people with similar jobs.

FWIW... https://www.meetsummer.org/share/Summer-Student-Debt-Crisis-Buried-in-Debt-Report-Nov-2018.pdf?_t=1541171524

FWIW, as it was explained to me by a professor: in some circles, calling professors "doctor" can be taken as an insult because the usage implies that some professors are not qualified for their jobs. Sometimes the logic of the explanation works better for me than at other times (like right now). Still, the takeaway was clear -- one is safer using "professor" than "doctor".

It will depend upon the culture of the department and the preferences of those making admissions decisions. For better and worse, many academics simply do not like teaching and some cast a suspicious eye upon those who do (or appear to). I recommend that you start looking at the departmental websites of doctoral programs. Take a look at the CVs of professors of interest. To what extent do their careers emphasize teaching? Are they earning awards? Is their service to the profession centered around teaching and mentoring? Or are they publish or perish 24/7? FWIW, there are many threads that discuss the ups and downs of teaching while doing course work. The discussions include the benefits of teaching and the potential impact of losing time to focus on one's primary responsibilities.

I think that you should ask for a refund after you've spent time managing the way you feel about the outcome. I am saying that your core argument should be that you did not receive complete information about the circumstances of the solicitation for more applications. The thought/feeling behind your argument should NOT be that you were cheated or misled. This is to say that you bite your tongue in order to get your refund and then you go on with your life. Down the line, if and when you discuss the process described in your OP, you use the coded language of the Ivory Tower: irregularities, miscommunication, and so on.

FWIW, I think you made the correct decision.

Congratulations on a very successful application season. A slightly different question than @psstein's query about an absentee advisor. Do you know if you work better in a hands off or hands on environment? (Because distance does not automatically entail detachment.) If you attend Penn, you will have two years to get as much guidance as you can from this professor while also developing relationships with other professors (and would they all have to be at Penn?) who can provide the support you need in case he decides "Hey, I'm retired" after he relocates. (It happens, despite the best intentions.)

IME, this approach has earned the respect and eventually friendship of professors. It has also helped me to avoid some departmental drama.

If the UG materials are good and relevant to one's field of study, a review could be profitable. IMO, what other students do or don't do is less important than what works for an individual student.

Please make sure you check and recheck the requirements for all institutions/schools/departments that have the ability to accept or reject the course work you perform to fulfill any and all prerequisites. A department/program may allow a professor to say "you're good to go" while a school has a different set of standards and the parent college/university has yet another. Information available online is not always up to date and that administrative staff and faculty members may not know policies chapter and verse.

If you've not done so already, do what you can to schedule "exit interviews" with those at your current institution who have helped you get to this point. Pick their brains for suggestions on how you can improve as a historian at Villanova. Please consider the advantages of not, repeat, not asking what you could do to become a stronger applicant.

MOO, this thread is not a good idea. For current graduate students, the thread is an opportunity for CLMs. (It is exceedingly unlikely that one can post detailed information about a program or a department without also putting a thumbtack on a map that says "I am here." It would not take much effort for a vindictive member of the faculty or staff to change that thumbtack to a bullseye.) For aspiring graduate students, the thread is an opportunity to mistake rumor for hard, verified information. The thread is also an opportunity to build a bad habit--saying/writing anonymously things that one would not say in person. IMO, better opportunities for sharing information on this BB are available in long-running threads centering around lessons learned, supplies, and logistics. This BB has a significant number of posts in which experienced graduate students share tips on how to get up to date information on a department that is more reliable and with less risk. YMMV.

Identify graduate students and professors at your university's school of education. Visit them during office hours (or schedule appointments), and ask them what they did to get where they are now. Is there a difference between a master's degree in education from Harvard and the University of Arkansas when it comes to compensation? Both institutions offer data that allow one to assess the validity of that comment.

Bosses who begin sentences with disclaimers like, "Not to be a control freak..."

Shipping and packing materials of interest may be found here. https://www.uline.com/ FYI. The thread linked below includes additional links to threads dealing with moving.

Forwarned is forearmed and one can warn others without exposing oneself or others to unnecessary risk.

As the saying goes, "That was your first mistake." ? It's more likely that for reasons that are largely beyond your control and are unrelated to what you've posted here, other students "rank" ahead of you for funding. The easier said than done challenge for you is to be patient and to disperse the nervous energy in ways that are not bad for you or anyone else.

This is the kind of question that is best answered by consulting with the professor with whom you will be working and the DGS and the professor who will chair your committee. If you elect to have such conversations, I strongly recommend against using words like "easily," especially if you intend to pursue a doctorate down the line.

To me, the key question is this. Is being in an environment that puts you in the best situation to get you what you need (a positive relationship with an advisor) less or more important than being in an environment that gets you what you want? (To be clear, I'm defining OP's need within a specific context, I'm not making any generalizations about others' needs or wants.) MOO, you haven't presented enough information to indicate that you've done your due diligence on your most important criterion: the need for an advisor with whom you can establish meaningful rapport. I recommend that, in addition to the guidance you've received so far, you reach out to former graduate students of professors you would work with at School A. Pie in the sky, you'd find a mix of former students that have secured the kinds of jobs you want and some who have not. I emphasize former graduate students because, as you may have learned from your unfortunate experience, it can be exceptionally difficult to say to others that a bad situation is actually horrible when one is in the middle of it.