Sigaba

ZeeMore21--
You have misread my post. It will remain as written.

I did not question his field of study. I questioned the purpose of his decision to identify himself first in terms of his gender and his race.

His introduction as written implies that he thinks his skin color and plumbing are more important to his candidacy than what he's done as a history major, and what he wants to do as a graduate student.
The purpose of my question is to provide SBP an opportunity to consider the efficacy of this approach.

As for your closing remark "just for your sake," you might have gotten more traction had you written "for my own sake" or omitted it altogether.

Questions
Is the gossip among the MA students different than the gossiping you do in the OP?
What "phase" of development are you in (other than being "above" your peers)?
Have you shown character by addressing these behaviors with your fellow students?
Have you demonstrating leadership by conducting yourself in a manner worthy of emulation?
Or do you just gripe about your peers behind their backs?

RecommendationsLook in the mirror to see if you're part of the problem you're experiencing.

You are feeling isolated for a reason.
You are getting hammered in this thread for a reason.
And I don't think that reason is because you're being misunderstood.
[*]Keep in mind that your professors may have the same doubts about you that you have about those whom you feel "above."
[*]If you don't want to participate in the activities of your peers, then opt out but keep your options open. (It sounds like they're blowing off steam.)
[*]Seize every opportunity to build the skill set you'll need as an academic.
[*]Do not post anything on line about your peers that you'd not say to their faces.

Questions
Is the gossip among the MA students different than the gossiping you do in the OP?
What "phase" of development are you in (other than being "above" your peers)?
Have you shown character by addressing these behaviors with your fellow students?
Have you demonstrating leadership by conducting yourself in a manner worthy of emulation?
Or do you just gripe about your peers behind their backs?

RecommendationsLook in the mirror to see if you're part of the problem you're experiencing.

You are feeling isolated for a reason.
You are getting hammered in this thread for a reason.
And I don't think that reason is because you're being misunderstood.
[*]Keep in mind that your professors may have the same doubts about you that you have about those whom you feel "above."
[*]If you don't want to participate in the activities of your peers, then opt out but keep your options open. (It sounds like they're blowing off steam.)
[*]Seize every opportunity to build the skill set you'll need as an academic.
[*]Do not post anything on line about your peers that you'd not say to their faces.

ZeeMore21--
You have misread my post. It will remain as written.

I did not question his field of study. I questioned the purpose of his decision to identify himself first in terms of his gender and his race.

His introduction as written implies that he thinks his skin color and plumbing are more important to his candidacy than what he's done as a history major, and what he wants to do as a graduate student.
The purpose of my question is to provide SBP an opportunity to consider the efficacy of this approach.

As for your closing remark "just for your sake," you might have gotten more traction had you written "for my own sake" or omitted it altogether.

ZeeMore21--
You have misread my post. It will remain as written.

I did not question his field of study. I questioned the purpose of his decision to identify himself first in terms of his gender and his race.

His introduction as written implies that he thinks his skin color and plumbing are more important to his candidacy than what he's done as a history major, and what he wants to do as a graduate student.
The purpose of my question is to provide SBP an opportunity to consider the efficacy of this approach.

As for your closing remark "just for your sake," you might have gotten more traction had you written "for my own sake" or omitted it altogether.

ZeeMore21--
You have misread my post. It will remain as written.

I did not question his field of study. I questioned the purpose of his decision to identify himself first in terms of his gender and his race.

His introduction as written implies that he thinks his skin color and plumbing are more important to his candidacy than what he's done as a history major, and what he wants to do as a graduate student.
The purpose of my question is to provide SBP an opportunity to consider the efficacy of this approach.

As for your closing remark "just for your sake," you might have gotten more traction had you written "for my own sake" or omitted it altogether.

ZeeMore21--
You have misread my post. It will remain as written.

I did not question his field of study. I questioned the purpose of his decision to identify himself first in terms of his gender and his race.

His introduction as written implies that he thinks his skin color and plumbing are more important to his candidacy than what he's done as a history major, and what he wants to do as a graduate student.
The purpose of my question is to provide SBP an opportunity to consider the efficacy of this approach.

As for your closing remark "just for your sake," you might have gotten more traction had you written "for my own sake" or omitted it altogether.

Why do your gender and your ethnicity figure so prominently in your description of yourself and your goals?

Questions
Is the gossip among the MA students different than the gossiping you do in the OP?
What "phase" of development are you in (other than being "above" your peers)?
Have you shown character by addressing these behaviors with your fellow students?
Have you demonstrating leadership by conducting yourself in a manner worthy of emulation?
Or do you just gripe about your peers behind their backs?

RecommendationsLook in the mirror to see if you're part of the problem you're experiencing.

You are feeling isolated for a reason.
You are getting hammered in this thread for a reason.
And I don't think that reason is because you're being misunderstood.
[*]Keep in mind that your professors may have the same doubts about you that you have about those whom you feel "above."
[*]If you don't want to participate in the activities of your peers, then opt out but keep your options open. (It sounds like they're blowing off steam.)
[*]Seize every opportunity to build the skill set you'll need as an academic.
[*]Do not post anything on line about your peers that you'd not say to their faces.

Questions
Is the gossip among the MA students different than the gossiping you do in the OP?
What "phase" of development are you in (other than being "above" your peers)?
Have you shown character by addressing these behaviors with your fellow students?
Have you demonstrating leadership by conducting yourself in a manner worthy of emulation?
Or do you just gripe about your peers behind their backs?

RecommendationsLook in the mirror to see if you're part of the problem you're experiencing.

You are feeling isolated for a reason.
You are getting hammered in this thread for a reason.
And I don't think that reason is because you're being misunderstood.
[*]Keep in mind that your professors may have the same doubts about you that you have about those whom you feel "above."
[*]If you don't want to participate in the activities of your peers, then opt out but keep your options open. (It sounds like they're blowing off steam.)
[*]Seize every opportunity to build the skill set you'll need as an academic.
[*]Do not post anything on line about your peers that you'd not say to their faces.

Why do your gender and your ethnicity figure so prominently in your description of yourself and your goals?

Why do your gender and your ethnicity figure so prominently in your description of yourself and your goals?

OK, I understand. We were allowed to pick our own topic in our historiography course. You need to just start reading about whatever topic sounds interesting and look at the arguments,and point of view, and see if you can find a hole to fill. Just keep reading until something grabs you. Unfortunately, this can sometimes be a long process. See if you can get your professor to give you any more direction, it is so hard to find a good thesis topic!

In my MA program we had to take historiography in our first semester. My advisor was teaching the class and I had no idea what I wanted to explore for my paper. It was also recommended that if we planned to write a thesis that we write our historiography on the topic we were going to use for our thesis. My mentor told me to look at the French and Indian War and a hole was clearly visible through my work. That became my thesis. You really can't find a hole to fill without doing a historiography. My MA thesis will *hopefully* continue on to my PhD dissertation. Have you taken your historiography course yet?

Why do your gender and your ethnicity figure so prominently in your description of yourself and your goals?

Why do your gender and your ethnicity figure so prominently in your description of yourself and your goals?

MattMedia, you just made yourself sound like you resent academia (aka the Ivory Tower) for getting paid to do nothing but research/write in exchange for teaching or receiving grants. Given your rebuttal, why did you ask how much you would get per journal article in the first place or frame your post question that way? It is a privilege itself to be published in an academic journal, whether it's a research article or a book review.

That said, you don't have to like or agree with what I have to say. I respect that.

I'm glad we have this thread for the next group of applicants! Throughout the messy, stressful, hopeful, soul-consuming process of applying to graduate programs, I came across many helpful links and recently emailed them to a friend who will be applying soon. There are a lot of great threads on these forums too, so to make it easier for next season's applicants, I think it would be a good idea to link people to those as well.


The American Historical Society's newsletter, Perspectives, has an excellent general guide on applying to grad school: http://www.historian...809/9809PRO.CFM

Great tips on the basics of being a competitive applicant:http://www.historian...raduate-school/

How to decide what programs to apply to, what to ask people from the schools you're contacting (or on the visit weekends once you're accepted): http://www.historian...d/Questions.cfm

What not to do: http://girlscholar.b...r-graduate.html

General advice from a guy who's in a philosophy program (it's a different field so all the advice doesn't apply, but this was still helpful): http://www.mathewlu....rad_school.html

Tips on how to approach professors of interest at a program you're considering applying to to see if they're accepting students as an advisor, and to introduce yourself and your research interests (which, as everyone has stated in this thread, might not be effective, but it can be worth it depending on the POI): http://science-profe...ting-to-me.html

Advice on how to ask for LORs, and what kind of a "packet" you should prepare for each recommender when asking him/her to write you a letter: http://www.socialpsy...org/rectips.htm

Excellent threads on what you need for your Statement of Purpose (and much of this was echoed by my undergrad thesis director who is also on my university's graduate admissions committee):


This is a typical anti-getting-your-phd-in-history article: http://suburbdad.blo...g-cycle-of.html and this is a good response: http://crookedtimber...to-grad-school/

You're going to read so many articles and have a lot of people tell you that this grad school/career in academia thing is a bad idea. That you wont be able to do it, that you're not going to find a job, that if you put forth this effort in some other field you'd actually find success in life, etc. It scared me, it still scares me, and often left me feeling hopeless. However, we just have to hope that we'll be those exceptions. And know that you should never get in debt to get a Ph.D. It's just not worth it because it's doubtful that you'd be making enough soon after graduation to pay off that debt. So try your hardest to get a funded offer and go for it; this way, even if you end up only teaching at a community college (which may not be a bad thing) or never getting a tenured professorship, at least you're not in debt and you got to study what you love!

And once you're in, here's some advice to help you out: http://chronicle.com...-students/26326 (this is something that should be helpful for all of us who will be starting in the upcoming year).

There's this incredibly addictive web comic (now a variety of books!) called phdcomics (i.e. Piled Higher and Deeper). I read basically all of them in a month-long period, and this prepared me for what grad school will be like almost as much as all these articles. The main characters are STEM field grad students, so some of it isn't accurate for us. There are, however, two characters in the social sciences and the humanities. Here are some particularly good and/or relevant ones:
http://www.phdcomics...php?comicid=294
http://www.phdcomics...hp?comicid=1015 (lol, this is what the application cycle can be like...make sure you minimize these days of bad productivity by starting early!)

Finally, here's an awesome pamphlet someone on gradcafe made - it's a guide for families and friends of people who are applying to grad school. Hilarious and true.
Side one: http://i52.tinypic.com/28qtekp.jpg
Side two:http://i55.tinypic.com/so75m1.jpg


Best of luck to all.

Some books need to be read carefully, some don't.

The more you read, the more you'll find that it's the argument/interpretation that you need to glean. You know the basic contours of the history of the period/event/figure/issue so you don't need to read the particular version of it except for how it offers an interpretation of it. This is a gradual process. Reading gets quicker -- it's impossible to read every book well for prelims in the time you have, so you make decisions about which to read well and which not to. If you're lucky, you're professors will help steer this. Then when you're working on your dissertation, you'll go back to slower, more careful reading because at that point, it's specific info you need to help make your argument. In the end, the goal of the reading determines the pace of the reading.