Sigaba

For me, the most challenging component was the GRE: carving out time to study and not to freak out about taking it.

IRT the topic of grades. MOO, if you are entering your final year of college, there is not much to be gained by worrying about your previous grades or a change of major or your academic pedigree or how a graduate program might interpret any of these factors. These types of matters are beyond your control. Concentrate on those factors that you can control in the "here and now." Your writing sample, your SoP, your rapport with those writing your LoRs, your preparation for the GRE, your final year of coursework, and the process by which you select the programs to which you'll apply. For many of you, this process will be among the most stressful experiences you have yet had. But do what you can to keep a sense of perspective. Do not panic. Do not freak out. Do keep your head up. Stay focused. Believe in yourself. Look at the process as a learning experience. Manage your expectations when you interact with professors and departmental staff. Treat the process not as one of the final steps of your experiences as an undergraduate, but as one of the initial steps of becoming a professional academic historian. HTH.

@TakeruK-- Re the city where you're going to be this fall. Due to the mild winter and spring, conditions are very dry. In my experience--and I lived in that city for 5+ years--this combination leads to insects (specifically American cockroaches) doing a lot of exploring. As an example, I was out there last week. While waiting for a bus as night fell, I saw a critter boldly walking down the street--not the sidewalk, the street. It stopped long enough to pick up a used cigarette. I am not kidding. It left it behind out of a loss of interest. My point--I respectfully recommend that you do what you can so those pods are not sitting outside any longer than necessary. While this breed is not especially prolific as other types of roaches, if they get into your place, they will reprogram your DVR, drink the last can of soda, and startle the holy bejeezers out of you even as you send them to the great beyond. This comment aside, by my reading of your posts, you're going to like your new town. Especially if you like coffee. HTH.

I'd check to see if class B is going to be offered again later. If so, I'd stay in class A and then class B. Option two would be to take class B and class A as a directed study course. Here's why. A cool professor isn't going to tell you that he's pissed off at you--he's just going to play it cool. Until later when the two of you have a strong bond and he says "I thought you were an asshole." Not that this has ever happened to anyone I know. And it definitely never happened to me.

A request-- Going forward, could members please be more specific when defining time periods such as early modern, modern, early national. While these designations have specific meanings in a given field of study, those meanings will be lost to those of us who do not study those fields. It is my hope that this thread and others in the history forum can be used to enable us to understand the boundaries within our community without having to do too much climbing. (There will be plenty of time for drawing lines as you approach qualifying exams.)

@thedig-- IME, professors teach in a variety of ways. It is possible that the professor will offer neither clarification nor explanation as an additional demonstration of being in the OP's corner. Graduate school requires an increasingly thick skin. There's no better time to start developing it than during the application process.

RW06-- In addition to focusing how you might shore up what you may consider competitive disadvantages, don't sell yourself short on things that work to your advantage. While you may not have completed the major in journalism, you did study it. Figure out ways that your work in that field will help you as a graduate student in history. Professors have to read a lot. If you demonstrate that you're a proficient writer and link your skill level to your study of journalism, you might give members of an admission committee something to think about. Alternatively, if (and only if) you have a continuing interest in journalism, you could weave that interest into your SoP. As a graduate student, you most likely will have to do work in an outside field. If (and only if) you're seriously contemplating doing that field in journalism, you can point that out.

Talk about a stroke of good fortune.

Have you looked into off-campus apartments that typically lease/rent to students? Managers of such properties may have experience working with potential renters in your situation. BTW, welcome back.

Here's the thing. Some secrets are kept because they're shameful. Others are kept because they're private. While you apparently don't have filter between your personal life and your identity as an academic and while you may scoff at the notion that you should, your "open" approach to your past has the potential of unintended consequences. It is a buyer's market right now. Given the choice between a candidate who has "absolutely nothing to hide" and one who demonstrates a degree of discretion who is going to be a better fit in an environment in which an appreciation for privacy is vital to the building of relationships centered around mentoring? Add to this mix the growing concern about the impact of HIPPA-related concerns (and costs) and the focus on risk management in an environment increasingly driven by a corporate-mindset. Yes, one could say "Well, I wouldn't want to go to a program that doesn't want me for who I am--unfiltered" but one never quite knows when one is applying to a program that has had experiences with "unfiltered" graduate students (and junior faculty), and has made a blanket decision to go with "filtered." History departments don't advertise these kinds of misadventures to applicants. They just distribute shovels to the faculty--and some graduate students--and say "dig a hole and bury this." Also, you are profoundly over estimating your anonymity on the internet. If historians know how to do anything, they know how to do research. But then, as you say, you have "absolutely nothing to hide." Yet, that statement raises questions. Why have you started a thread on the best way to spin your health issues? By seeking ways to discuss your health issues, you're attempting to shape the narrative of your academic career in your favor. If you have nothing to hide then why are you looking for ways to not let your grades speak for themselves? (It is this glaring disconnect that I was attempting to bring to your attention by suggesting that you scrub your OP.)

During the (impoverished) debates prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, someone told me that because I study history, my questions/concerns were less--somehow--relevant.

Yes. You will have to prove yourself many times in graduate school. Some of the tests will appear reasonable, others less so. Do not take tests in the first category personally. (I think this test falls into this category.) For the unreasonable tests, knock people on their asses, and ask politley "Will there be anything else?" In short order, these tests will cease.

MOO, the issue is not the age difference, but the context -- a first-year doctoral student in your field. Will you be able to stake out enough space/time for yourself if a relationship develops? Will you be able to step back from the personal to focus on the academic side of your interaction with him or he with you? (For example, one of you pulls punches out of concern for the romantic aspect of the relationship.) And then there's the issue of your personal privacy. The amount of, ah, comparing of notes, that can go on in a department is something you will have to experience to believe. And I'm not talking about the graduate students. Even if things unfold brilliantly--and I hope that they do, you deserve to be happy--people are going to know your business. Finally, the pressures of graduate study can be a third person in the room. Everyone freaks out. At least once. Will you be able to handle your freak out while he's going through one of his own? Will you be able to handle freaking out and him taking a step back so he can stay focused? Yes, the other side of the coin is that you and he can be each others rocks. But what are the odds? And if things go swimmingly, what then? Do you have the discipline to pick the suck of grad school over joy consistently enough that you can stay focused on your studies? Regardless of your decision, please do come back to this thread from time to time to let everyone know your choices and the consequences thereof.

^ Both tasks require many of the same skills--time management, impulse control, memory recall, critical thinking. Wait. Just one written exam and only 200 books?

^ FWIW, my own experiences bear out NEN's point. My fields and interests are well off the paths most often traveled these days and my openness about my interests has not, IMO, worked against me. However, and at the risk of beating the horsey, it is a really mean season "out there." So while I agree that there's utility to being direct, I also think that one can be subtlety direct. YMMV.

NEN-- Check your PMs, please.

@jogatoronto-- IRT the broader issue of taking time off from graduate student in order to work, as an undergraduate, I participated in a research program in which aspiring graduate students were mentored by graduate students, many of whom had not taken a direct route from college to graduate school. For our benefit, they debated the pros and the cons. Among the cons was the tendency for life to get in the way. That is, you say you're going to work just for one year. Then one year becomes two. Then you meet someone then it is four years later and you're raising a family. A second issue was the different mindsets one needs for the private sector compared to the Ivory Tower. One graduate student in particular made it clear that he had a hard time downshifting from having a boss in the private sector who was results oriented and going back into an environment that tends to be process oriented. Another issue can be discerned from many threads on this BB: people taking a break and losing touch with professors who can write meaningful LoRs. If you take off a year and manage that relationship well, this should not be a problem. But if one year becomes two.... IRT the Columbia option, bear in mind that even with a MA, a PhD program will basically say "So what?" and insist that you jump through some (if not all) of the hoops again. This happened to me--even though the department that awarded me a MA was more prestigious. In my case, I did not mind--the more training the better/your house your rules were my thoughts. However, if you're at a stage in your life where additional hoop jumping--no matter how beneficial--doesn't float your boat, Columbia could be a step in the wrong direction for you. HTH.

You say this like this is a bad thing. GS-- Have you looked at North Carolina at Chapel Hill? The history and anthropology programs allow some degree of collaboration and also Tar Heels can work with professors at Duke. In regards to the second point, have you looked into the opportunities that schools on your list allow graduate students to work with faculty members from other schools? Might it be possible to apply to a school that is very strong in your historical interests (but may not be as strong when it comes to anthropology) and is within a short drive of a school that is strong in anthropology. Also, regarding Professors Bynum and Brown--have you contacted them to ask for guidance and/or done research to find their historiographical progeny (e.g. graduate students who had Bynum and Brown as dissertation supervisors). Also, please check your private messages.

Keep in mind that one has to take standardized tests as a graduate student--for example, qualifying exams. Start doing what you can now to address your mindset when it comes to test taking. Love them or hate them, they are in your future even after you take the GRE.

I'd have preferred the inclusion of essays on military and naval history. But I'm not bitter.

I recommend that you reach out to Safferz. She had a very successful application cycle last season and may be able to offer some solid guidance.

A work that may more accessible is Higham's History: Professional Scholarship in America (1989). In either case, I also recommend that you find a book that explores the "state of the art" in your broadly defined fields of interest. Ideally, this work will have bibliographic essays that will help you wet your feet and whet your appetite for the study of academic history. From there, start developing a provisional list of topics that interest you and historians that inspire you. Start doing research and reading on their careers and their work. Meanwhile, continue to work on your ability to write and to think like a historian. Maybe write five hundred word essays on Novick (or Higham or who ever) as well the "state of the art" books you find. Maybe write longer pieces from books you pick to read from the bibliographic essays (3-5 pages if you're going to write on one book, a bit longer if you're going to write on two). Consult the reviews in academic journals for format and content. Concurrently, start working on your mindset. Going to graduate school is about embracing the suck. During your experience in the private sector, you've probably had your share of soul killing days. In graduate school, these days will be different because you'll have fewer opportunities and resources to depressurize. For example, in the private sector, there are certain words and phrases that you can use to tell a boss to f himself. He is unlikely to care that much as long as the work gets done his way. In the Ivory Tower, you use the corresponding words and phrases at your own peril and also graduate school is more process oriented. As a part of working on your mindset, you might want to look at your personal relationships (social, familial, and romantic). Studying history is going to change you. If you do the work the right way, you are going to look at the world and yourself differently. This new mindset might impact your relationships for better and for worse. Somewhere along the line, you may want to doing some research and writing on a topic of interest. If you want good preparation for the graduate student experience, design a project that would take at least two months and then give yourself a fortnight to do it. The two week interval you pick to do this project should overlap with other commitments--especially ones that are equally important or more rewarding. Finally, start working on your intellectual and psychological endurance. The pressures of the Ivory Tower are very different than those of the private sector. In the private sector, eventually, even the most complex projects and difficult clients end up being shrinking reflections on the rear view mirror. In the Ivory Tower, you'll be driving towards these objects as they race towards you head on. Welcome to the gradcafe.

@oryatin-- Find works that will help you understand the historiography of your topic. Examples of these works include extended review essays in historical journals that center around your fields of interest, recently completed dissertations, and recently published monographs. (Conceptually, the task is to define the forest so you can focus more effectively on the tree. You need to know if you're writing about an oak in a forest of oaks--in which case you need to argue why your oak is different enough to justify additional study--or if you're writing about an elm.) "Reverse engineer" these works to find the path that leads from the "outdated" histories to the cutting edge you want to sharpen further. (That is, read every footnote and every entry in the bibliographies.) Along the way, you start to recognize the key issues and academics related to your topic, works that can serve as "models" for what you want to do, and references to the theories you want to use in your own studies. In regards to the last, once you've identified the theories you want to explore, go and study them in their original form. That is, do not settle for "D for historians." Instead, go and read D itself and "D for those who study D." This extra effort will help you to understand the potential benefits and limits of an inter-disciplinary approach to history and potentially help you to avoid making a huge mistake. (For example, those who study D may have moved on to T.)

Why is the guidance that an aspiring graduate student endeavor to get all As in her final year in college and to ace the GREs this controversial without any evidence of the OP taking the guidance offered in post numbers 20 and 21? (Are we certain that this history professor doesn't say "unacceptable" as a method of raising the bar for those students with the most potential? Do we know that this professor doesn't have data indicating that applicants from that department with a GPA and GREs below a certain point have a low success rate when it comes to gaining admission to graduate programs in history?) How badly do you want to go to graduate school in history? Are you saying that the core guidance is unsound: getting all A get all As and acing the GRE won't make you a stronger applicant? Are you going to have a crisis of confidence every time a professor says "no"? Are you going to make it a habit of second guessing history professors when you get feedback you don't like or are you going to find ways to rise to the challenge? IME, studying history gets harder, not easier, the more one does it You will always encounter those who will say "no," or "unacceptable" or "unconvincing" or "irrelevant" or "this doesn't work." IME, this type of feedback--even when offered by a professor while he's standing on your head--is at least as useful as comments that say "Interesting" "good job" and "well said." Here's my specific guidance for you.Reread post numbers 20 and 21. Use those posts to develop questions to ask this professor what he meant. Next year, stay focused on school, kick ass and take names in your courses and on the GRE. Develop relationships with other professors. These relationships will help you grow as a historian, provide additional options for LoRs, and, potentially, provide opportunities to gain added insight to the professor who says "unacceptable." Avoid developing the habit of second guessing yourself if you get guidance you don't like. There's a difference between coaching and personal criticism. [*]Avoid developing the habit of airing controversial comments in the open. [*]Consider carefully the source when you solicit advice. [*]Sometimes, those who respect and admire you the most are going to be the ones who tell you that you need to try harder and do better. The following questions are directed at the non-historians in this thread. While the questions are critical, they should not be taken as personal criticism--they are offered from a position of respect. [*]Are you really helping when you offer guidance in a field of study that is very distant from yours? [*]Does the fact that you've gained admission to graduate programs--an accomplishment that should be celebrated--automatically mean you know what it takes to get into graduate programs? (That is, have you been debriefed and told "this is why you got in" or are you making assumptions?) [*]Is it realistic to assume that every professor is going to respond to requests for guidance in the manner one would like? [*]Is rejecting a professor's feedback simply because one doesn't like the comments or the tone a sustainable practice?

@ the original poster By providing so much precise information about yourself in the OP, you are, in fact, addressing your health issues in a way that limits your flexibility. Even if you find an ideal answer to your questions, you are opening yourself to risk in this thread. While you can easily be traced to this thread and the information in it can be used against you, it would be very difficult to prove that the information in it was used illegally. Therefore, I recommend that those who have responded in ways that repeats the identifying information edit/delete their posts and/or the OP finds a way to get this thread deleted and to restart it so that a higher level of PERSEC can be exercised. Just my $0.02.