Sigaba

At some schools (for example, Cal) graduate students do much--if not most--of the teaching and admissions committees are generally aware of this fact and don't hold it against applicants. Also, if X is committed to teaching and knows you and your work, she might actually write you a better LOR than the professor.

Why not ask X?

Yes! Your mentor has told you that he's gong to go to bat for you in the LOR. Now it is time for you to go to bat for yourself and give your best effort to putting together the strongest applications you can under the circumstances. Let go of your fear, do your best, and then go from there.

Don't feed the troll.

FWIW, I don't find levoyous's controversial IRT humility. I read them as attempts to share information. By my reading, the reference to "Ivy League history departments" was intended to demonstrate that the information is coming from departments that take the process as seriously as any other. Moreover, I read the comment about being an "accomplished graduate student" as a qualifier indicating that applicants coming from a graduate program may be held to a different standard than ones applying right out of college. My $0.02./YMMV.

IMO, leyvous's comments make sense if one takes into account how busy professors can be with their own work ("publish or perish"). It would be very ... pragmatic ... to reason that one could gauge an aspiring graduate student's potential from the LORs and the SOP and ... inconvenient ... to plunge into a lengthy writing assignment that might require a level of intellectual engagement that, from a professor's stand point, might be better devoted to more immediate tasks. (IME, a professor who was one of The Powers That Be in my department did not read my primary writing sample--I sent in two--until my second year in the program.)

Are there reasons you're not applying to American studies programs?

JK-- Find a way to write the above passage more efficiently. For example, one sentence that summarizes the challenges you've overcome, and another sentence (or three) on how the experiences inform your conduct as a person and as an aspiring academic. Please give thought to minimizing the discussion of what you've accomplished physically so that you can spend more time talking about your intellectual development. If you are going to keep the portion about participating in the Olympics, I think you should be clearer IRT your dancing. That is, were you an Olympian--as in on your national team--or did you participate in the opening/closing ceremonies? Also, give some thought to discussing how your perception of "things" (sorry, I need more coffee) as a Canadian national will contribute to the diversity of campus life at Stanford.

Hey, D-- What criteria are driving your selection matrix? (If you have a spreadsheet going, a screen shot would be awesome.) When you say "transnational perspective," what do you mean? (Are there existing scholarly works that you envision as blue prints for a dissertation?) Have you identified a (very) big picture historiographical issue that you see your dissertation, if not your career interests, addressing? Why not initiate a conversation with Professor Crew? (He's on leave this semester but what about the next one?) #helpushelpyou

I'm bumping this thread so the current application class can add themselves to this resource.

MOO, you're not being unreasonable. You're simply at a point where you have to think about what constitutes "a large personal expenditure" versus an investment in your professional development. IMO, your advisor has done you a favor, albeit a potentially expensive one. Explore the options suggested in this thread, then pay what you need to pay, and shift your focus on making the most out of a fantastic opportunity to learn more about your craft, to develop skills, to meet new people.

My point of view, "reasonable" or not , is that being a squeaky wheel about a "split" schedule is a potential misuse of a graduate student's modest fund of political capital. MOO, that's a resource best used when it is time to act as an advocate for the students a T.A. is tasked to support. Moreover, I believe that there's a difference between what one prefers as an individual and what one needs as a graduate student. IME, professors can tell when graduate students privilege the former, and I've seen graduate students get burned because they preferred not to embrace the suck. YMMV.

Given the time of year and the amount of anxiety many members of this BB are displaying, I'm bumping this thread so that some may find a diversion from their cares.

Are you discussing your plans with David Crew?

P12-- Regardless of where you end up or who pays, it sounds like you need to brush up on your algebra and you need to learn statistics. If you want to do something with your nervous energy, you can grab some books and start hitting them.

Okay, what about taking your statistics class at a JC in Ohio between now and the time you get to Pitt?

P12-- Now is the time to start asking yourself how badly do you want to earn a MSW. Before you get too far along the path of what you cannot do, I recommend that you spend more time on the path of what you can do. For example, take sko127's guidance and contact Pitt to see if you can test out of the requirement. If not, find out if you can satisfy the stat requirement at a JC/CC in your area or via distance learning, determine the costs of either option, and then redo your budget to see how you can make ends meet.

FYI, without math there would be no statistics. Without statistics there would not have been the multiple breakthroughs in historiography during the 1960s that invigorate the House of Klio to this day.

P12-- I think you should keep in mind that you have already gotten into grad school and saying you haven't is a bit disrespectful to the faculty members at Pitt who stood up for you during the admissions process.

Were I in your position, I would not mention the chronic illness, not only for the reason you mentioned, but also for the additional concern that one or more of the Powers That Be could have a negative reaction to the disclosure and hold your disclosure against you. The nicest professors in the world can also be hard asses from time to time. I would not mention the friend at all. Not only do you risk coming across as a name dropper, you also don't know how the Powers That Be really feel about her. (If she's really the cat's pajamas and your close friend, she will find a way to throw in a good word on your behalf anyways. ) My $0.02.

With respect, where does it say in the OP that kateausten must be on campus the whole time between the morning and evening classes?

Congratulations on getting your applications in. Please do keep in mind that you will be going through the process of applying for something again -- a fellowship, an internship, a renewal of a fellowship/internship, advancement from one phase to another, a job. Moreover, you will have opportunities to support undergraduates, fellow graduates, and, if you're asked, professors to make it through similar processes. Consequently, I urge you and others going through this application season to do a no-holds-barred "lessons learned" exercise in which you give yourself a candid appraisal of what you did right, what you did that was, ah, less than right, and what you'd do differently. Keep in mind that as a graduate student, you are going to be teaching yourself most of the time. Now is a good opportunity to develop further the habit of not letting any opportunity to learn go by the wayside. Also, you might consider the advantages of getting your clothes and kit together for your interview and, if possible, start putting aside some cash to cover incidentials that will arise when you're going to and from an interview.

This is a good opportunity to point out that it is not too soon to avoid over generalizing ("Nobody will ever critisize...") and to make a habit of standing on your own two feet when staking out a POV ("bothersome to me and many others.") You may be surprised at how perceptive professors and graduate students can be, and even more surprised at how much gossping goes on within a department.

IMO, this frame of mind is something you should keep under your hat when you get to graduate school. While there are laws and policies forbidding discrimination, you may encounter professors who have set visions of the "proper" focus of graduate students and are willing to use their power to hold graduates to it.

IMO (and it is worth exactly what you're paying for it), you should not wait any longer to concat potential POIs. I do think that you might be well served to call first, have a very short chat on the phone (or even better, talk to the POI in person), and then send the e-mail. The purpose of the call is to let the POI put a voice to the email message and, more importantly, to let the POI set the time table ("I'll look at it in January...") Here's the thing, you may have waited a bit too long to initiate this type of communication and it is possible that the email is not going to get the close attention it may merit now or a couple of weeks from now. By getting the email to the POI sooner rather than later, you afford yourself the most time for her to look at it. (Or not.) In any case, I think you should manage your expectations. Two questions (one is rhetorical). Why are you dragging your heels? (<--- Rhetorical: I know it can be very difficult to do such things. ) Can you start building up the skills NOW so that you can get an ever earlier jump on such communications? If you commit to a more proactive approach, you may find that that it becomes second nature.