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Sigaba

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  1. Upvote
    Sigaba reacted to TMP in How would people classify departments by "type" / approach to grad education?   
    @AP @OHSP @AfricanusCrowtherand @dr. telkanurucan give diverse perspectives on this topic. 
    1) Keep in mind that public R1s, no matter their rank, are at the mercy of the upper-level university administration. Departments' cohort sizes largely depend on funding availability and undergraduate enrollments (more undergrads = need more TAs). It also depends on the historical record of yields. The negotiations between department chairs, graduate school, and the upper administration are beyond, way beyond the scope, knowledge, and power of most faculty members. 
     
    2) There is no such thing as "magic" number to achieve excellence.  What matters is the overall commitment of the faculty to ensuring high quality training. In my PhD department, the modern European, Ottoman, and East Asian fields were much more successful in helping PhD students to land fellowships and academic position than US, Ancient, and Latin American, simply because of shared communication and values of the faculty within each field.  There are most certainly faculty members who should not be advisers but somehow they still have the political leverage to recruit graduate students, who then ultimate seek refuge in other professors for mentorship. This last point has always disgusted me and my heart breaks every time I hear of schisms between advisers and graduate students.
    3) Relatedly to #2, it is hard to change the faculty's mind regarding the realities of the academic job market (as well as most graduate students'). Should it have to take a pandemic to get professors to wake up? Unfortunately, it appears to be so. Some programs like Columbia and Michigan have been more proactive in broadening students' horizons. It also depends on the graduate students themselves and their culture.  My PhD department, because of its ties to the military and government, already had fairly open attitude towards non-academic positions when I arrived in 2012. However, I found that the graduate student culture to be steeped in passion for teaching. Therefore, it was pretty lonely to be one of very few who loved researching and writing grant/fellowship applications. Nothing stopped me from what I want(ed) to do, which was/is to apply for postdocs and professorships with teaching loads of less than 6 preps/year. Also, regional PhD programs tend to serve much more to the region's needs for university-level teaching (i.e. SUNY Albany, Kent State, UT-Knoxville).
    As with history itself, there is no categorization to be made here about PhD programs. You apply where you find the best fit (adviser, culture, availability of resources in your area of interest) and solid funding package.
  2. Upvote
    Sigaba got a reaction from WhaleshipEssex in 2022 Application Thread   
    Unless you're using an alt account, it seems that you've been here a short while. I think that if you were to take a deep dive into @AP's post, you'd quickly find that this individual is the exact opposite of the person you're describing.
    To me, the issue you are having has something to do with you. I think that you're sending a clear message that if you don't get what you want when you want it and how you want it, you're going to go into attack mode. 
    FWIW, here's something I learned. History professors (like @AP) give very subtle guidance. Why? I don't know. Maybe they don't want to blowback that can follow if the recipient doesn't like the message. I do know that sometime students mistake coaching for criticism. I also know that it sometimes takes a while (or in my case, years) to figure out the wisdom, care, and respect that goes into such guidance.
  3. Like
    Sigaba got a reaction from TMP in 2022 Application Thread   
    Unless you're using an alt account, it seems that you've been here a short while. I think that if you were to take a deep dive into @AP's post, you'd quickly find that this individual is the exact opposite of the person you're describing.
    To me, the issue you are having has something to do with you. I think that you're sending a clear message that if you don't get what you want when you want it and how you want it, you're going to go into attack mode. 
    FWIW, here's something I learned. History professors (like @AP) give very subtle guidance. Why? I don't know. Maybe they don't want to blowback that can follow if the recipient doesn't like the message. I do know that sometime students mistake coaching for criticism. I also know that it sometimes takes a while (or in my case, years) to figure out the wisdom, care, and respect that goes into such guidance.
  4. Upvote
    Sigaba got a reaction from NotAlice in 2022 Application Thread   
    Unless you're using an alt account, it seems that you've been here a short while. I think that if you were to take a deep dive into @AP's post, you'd quickly find that this individual is the exact opposite of the person you're describing.
    To me, the issue you are having has something to do with you. I think that you're sending a clear message that if you don't get what you want when you want it and how you want it, you're going to go into attack mode. 
    FWIW, here's something I learned. History professors (like @AP) give very subtle guidance. Why? I don't know. Maybe they don't want to blowback that can follow if the recipient doesn't like the message. I do know that sometime students mistake coaching for criticism. I also know that it sometimes takes a while (or in my case, years) to figure out the wisdom, care, and respect that goes into such guidance.
  5. Upvote
    Sigaba reacted to AP in 2022 Application Thread   
    I'm not sure at what point the discussion broke out. But no, under no circumstances will I ever stop honoring prospective students with the truth about the reality of our profession.
    Let me clear on something. No one, absolutely no one is saying do not get a PhD in History (well, actually that other thread discusses that). Here, I believe the discussion is please know what you are getting yourself into. 
    I understand that many people want to get a PhD to do research and teach, not to go into tech or law or alt-ac. That's OK. Nobody is saying that your goals are misplaced or unrealistic. In fact, they are realistic because yes, you need a PhD to do research and teach at the college level. 
    In this thread people like to theorize on things they have absolutely no clue ("this email probably means you are in!" "It means you are still on the run!" "They decide based on fit") to which I do not respond because yeah, that's partly of the purpose of this thread, theorizing together and not harming anyone. More than once I have been tempted to interject but did not because, honestly, those wonderments mean nothing and help ease anxiety about admissions. So I stay in my lane.
    But I will never stop warning anyone who wants to pursue a PhD in History of the situation in the profession and the job market. It is my professional responsibility as a participant of this forum. I agree with @psstein @TMP @dr. telkanuru that you should think it through. If you have received this advice before, great. If you are tired of hearing it, well, it tells you how serious the situation is. If you haven't heard this advice before and are upset, I am really sorry, but this advice is not out of lack of support or gatekeeping; quite the opposite. Unfortunately, this is not a "make me happy" forum. Don't want the advice? Don't take it. You can decide to dismiss or ignore me, which is fine of course (this is why I didn't quote any of the comments that protested that the thread weren't cuddling enough). 
    But let me tell you that if you land good advisors (as many of you are on track to do, congratulations admits!), just bear in mind you will receive advice that you will not like, as sometimes happens with good advice. The fact that you don't like it does not mean (as someone implied) that your decision is wrong. It means, as someone else said, that you are being honest with yourself about the risks and the benefits, and that you are ready for this. 
    Good luck!
  6. Upvote
    Sigaba got a reaction from psstein in 2022 Application Thread   
    When you start taking graduate level classes in a history department, you will have professors who can summarize 800-page books in one sentence. Some will add a sentence like "this book could have been an article."
    Is staying under a word limit about counting beans? Or is it about being concise in a discipline in which decision-makers increasingly value brevity? "Sometimes less is more," is how an Americanist who has an award named after him put it to me.
  7. Downvote
    Sigaba got a reaction from michiganundergrad in Lessons Learned: Application Season Debriefings   
    I would recommend that one not under any circumstances "use" advisors, professors. Accept their support, follow their guidance, make use of their experience and expertise, but don't "use" them. They will see through it right away and adjust accordingly.
    Do you understand why he may have suggested that you manage your expectations?
  8. Downvote
    Sigaba got a reaction from michiganundergrad in 2022 Application Thread   
    When you start taking graduate level classes in a history department, you will have professors who can summarize 800-page books in one sentence. Some will add a sentence like "this book could have been an article."
    Is staying under a word limit about counting beans? Or is it about being concise in a discipline in which decision-makers increasingly value brevity? "Sometimes less is more," is how an Americanist who has an award named after him put it to me.
  9. Upvote
    Sigaba got a reaction from larama in 2021-2022 Application Thread   
    Then split it into a separate thread so the conversation you're trying to control can continue. Then you could answer the question posed to you by @LatinAmericanFootball
  10. Upvote
    Sigaba got a reaction from larama in 2021-2022 Application Thread   
    "Some" and "some" are, IMO, dismissive broad brush comments in a discussion like this one. How many is some? Some in what kinds of programs? Yes, I'm aware that there's a lot going on in this topic, which is why I prompted you to not be as glib as you were--and as you continue to be. 
    I'll rephrase @LatinAmericanFootball's question, which you have chosen to ignore. Do you have the same level of evidence to support this claim as you insist that those who disagree with you provide?
    IMO, you're taking an odd tone on this topic, especially given the push back you continue to receive.  It remains interesting that you just don't lay out via references the basis for your understanding of this issue because, apparently, you're busy, but insist that others prove their position to you.
    Also, do you bother to read profiles before you post? You question others' reading comprehension but you seem to be challenged by "ABD." But since you went there. Yes, I have been to graduate school. What I found is that "genuinely curious" people do their own research when they encounter positions that differ from their own.
  11. Upvote
    Sigaba reacted to killerbunny in Choosing between two writing samples   
    It's a real pain to condense a thesis but I'd try to make the writing sample as stand-alone as possible, so that straight away, a reader can follow along and not get stuck due to a lack of context. This topic pops up every application season, so searching and finding the general consensus on the best way of using a long-form piece as a writing sample would be a good idea. 
  12. Upvote
    Sigaba got a reaction from psstein in 2022 Application Thread   
    Finding affordable housing may be a challenge. I'm in a FB group in which a rising senior was liquidating assets and seeking guidance on how to live out of a vehicle for an academic year. 

    You might benefit from trying to develop options now if you think you're going to end up there, even if you have deep pockets.
  13. Upvote
    Sigaba got a reaction from Pierre de Olivi in 2022 Application Thread   
    @wynntir, congratulations on submitting your applications and doing the best you can under the circumstances.
    PLEASE do more than wait. Do all you can to lean forward. Getting a running start on next fall will enable you to compete better against your peers, to exceed the expectations of your professors, and, most importantly, to maximize your potential as an academic.
    After getting an appropriate amount of time to rest and depressurize, please consider the advantages of the following.
    You can organize your application materials for future use -- you will be reapplying for continued financial assistance as well as new sources of funding. You can start getting ready for qualifying exams by finding the "must read" books in your fields, by picking three important academic journals and going through ten years' worth of issues (page by page and reading selectively), by seeing if there are opportunities to continue your interest in education as your outside field, by working on your writing skills, and by thinking like a historian. There's a lot of "received wisdom" that members of the GradCafe have earned through hard won experience and a significant amount of pain. Please consider the benefits of studying (not reading, but studying) the posts of the BTDTs, especially, @TMP, @dr. telkanuru, @AP, @fuzzylogician, @Eigen, @TakeruK, and @juilletmercredi. (I especially recommend the latter's highly valued post as well as her contributions in the If I knew then what I know now (Officially Grads version thread and @TMP's posts. (TMP is among most intellectually and emotionally courageous members of the GradCafe.)
    Here's why I'm urging you to lean forward. When you get to your next destination, you will likely find that professors, for worse and for better, are generally reluctant to spell out expectations to new students. They are even less likely to put students in the best possible positions to succeed. Instead, much of the instruction you will receive will be cryptic comments in your essays and belated suggests in end of term reviews that will not resonate until years later.
     
  14. Upvote
    Sigaba reacted to LatinAmericanFootball in 2021-2022 Application Thread   
    Do you have any evidence to back that up, e.g. people in adcoms saying they don't trust the GRE At Home? I took it at home and know people who took it at home last year, and I can assure you that even if I wanted to cheat (which I obviously did not) it would have been very hard to do so, as ETS protocols are very rigid. In fact, GRE online boards are filled with people that got their tests cancelled because they did something slightly suspicious which the proctors understood as possible cheating even if it wasn't.
  15. Upvote
    Sigaba got a reaction from TMP in Is the option to "Master out" of a PhD available everywhere?   
    If you go this route, consider carefully your MA options.
    A thesis option or a report option will produce a writing sample that may serve you in the job market. A MA earned by passing qualifying exams may not provide a similar benefit even though that path arguably has greater challenges. Either/or, make sure that your path secures eligibility to join your school's alumni association, and join that association as soon as possible.
    Also, don't show your hand until you are absolutely sure you want to stop. 
  16. Upvote
    Sigaba reacted to larama in 2021-2022 Application Thread   
    Departments that made the GRE optional cited concerns that the costs of the exam ($205) and of test preparation disproportionately affect underserved students. Critics also question what the test scores actually prove. 
    “Studies suggest that GRE scores are not great indicators of graduate-school success and underserve students who cannot afford test prep or to take the exam multiple times,” said Professor Zemer Gitai, former director of graduate studies in the molecular biology department. 
    Professor Johannes Haubold, director of graduate studies in the classics department, cited concern “that standardized tests are culturally biased in favor of certain groups, and that they end up testing primarily how good one is at taking tests.”
    This is from a Princeton website. You can go on and on. 
    To add to this, take for instance the writing section of the exam. It does not even take in consideration that someone who writes a 300 word essay might write better and have greater ability to write concisely than someone with a 500 word essay - which is proved to result in better scores.  
  17. Upvote
    Sigaba got a reaction from DataCurious7 in Academic dishonesty question - advice needed   
    Hi, @DataCurious7. I think that the challenge you have to overcome on a personal level is how you reconcile the letter of a query about academic dishonesty with the spirit of the question. This challenge is compounded by the possibility that your sensibilities will shift over time.
    If you answer a question exactly as asked, you will remain vulnerable to the consequences when/if decision makers find out that you weren't as clear as you could have been. If you answer based upon the spirit of the question, you risk disclosing information that could have remained private and unnecessarily jeopardize your opportunity for admission. At the same time, such a disclosure could send a positive message about your commitment to academic integrity. My recommendation is that you read the fine print of the codes of conduct for your current school and your preferred programs. Is there as much room between an "academic violation" and being "placed on probation" as the text suggests? What are you willing to risk by parsing the words that closely? Can you get kicked out from a new program if what you did at a previous stop comes to light?
    I also recommend that you read the extra fine print that comes with any "I accept" check box for terms and conditions of submitting an application. Are you consenting to an ongoing background check.
    Something to bear in mind is that in your specific case, the D grade may actually be a tell. If you typically have very high grades, and you have a D that is the only low mark that term....
     
  18. Upvote
    Sigaba reacted to AP in 2022 Application Thread   
    Also, re: word limits in SOPs
    While @QWERTYMNB97 and @CoffeeCatsCorgis are probably right in that you will not be denied admission based on 30 words, I second @Sigaba's point.
    As a professor, I can assure you we don't count words but we do see when you could have said something in so many less words. Egs I gave my students: 
    What is important about all this... means "This crucial to X" In his book Bla bleh: the American Dream and the question of whatever comes next can simply be "Jane Smith (2001) explained that..."  "I am passionate about history" should never be a part of your SOP "The questions I have are: ...? ...? ...?" should be "Research with Professor X has sprung my interests around X, Y, Z, specifically how X and Y intersected in the context of... No passive voice or verbs to be/become/appear/seem. Trust me! These verbs say absolutely nothing. avoid too many lists, including coordinating conjunctions (and/or). "I am interested in X,Y,Z, in the context of W,V, and U, as it pertained to Black and Brown women and children in urban and suburban settings of the mid-to-late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries." See the mouthful?  So, yeah, you won't be thrown out for 30 words, but you should be able to downsize 30 words. 
  19. Like
    Sigaba got a reaction from jpbends in 2022 Application Thread   
    @wynntir, congratulations on submitting your applications and doing the best you can under the circumstances.
    PLEASE do more than wait. Do all you can to lean forward. Getting a running start on next fall will enable you to compete better against your peers, to exceed the expectations of your professors, and, most importantly, to maximize your potential as an academic.
    After getting an appropriate amount of time to rest and depressurize, please consider the advantages of the following.
    You can organize your application materials for future use -- you will be reapplying for continued financial assistance as well as new sources of funding. You can start getting ready for qualifying exams by finding the "must read" books in your fields, by picking three important academic journals and going through ten years' worth of issues (page by page and reading selectively), by seeing if there are opportunities to continue your interest in education as your outside field, by working on your writing skills, and by thinking like a historian. There's a lot of "received wisdom" that members of the GradCafe have earned through hard won experience and a significant amount of pain. Please consider the benefits of studying (not reading, but studying) the posts of the BTDTs, especially, @TMP, @dr. telkanuru, @AP, @fuzzylogician, @Eigen, @TakeruK, and @juilletmercredi. (I especially recommend the latter's highly valued post as well as her contributions in the If I knew then what I know now (Officially Grads version thread and @TMP's posts. (TMP is among most intellectually and emotionally courageous members of the GradCafe.)
    Here's why I'm urging you to lean forward. When you get to your next destination, you will likely find that professors, for worse and for better, are generally reluctant to spell out expectations to new students. They are even less likely to put students in the best possible positions to succeed. Instead, much of the instruction you will receive will be cryptic comments in your essays and belated suggests in end of term reviews that will not resonate until years later.
     
  20. Upvote
    Sigaba got a reaction from AfricanusCrowther in Is the option to "Master out" of a PhD available everywhere?   
    If you go this route, consider carefully your MA options.
    A thesis option or a report option will produce a writing sample that may serve you in the job market. A MA earned by passing qualifying exams may not provide a similar benefit even though that path arguably has greater challenges. Either/or, make sure that your path secures eligibility to join your school's alumni association, and join that association as soon as possible.
    Also, don't show your hand until you are absolutely sure you want to stop. 
  21. Upvote
    Sigaba got a reaction from TMP in 2022 Application Thread   
    @wynntir, congratulations on submitting your applications and doing the best you can under the circumstances.
    PLEASE do more than wait. Do all you can to lean forward. Getting a running start on next fall will enable you to compete better against your peers, to exceed the expectations of your professors, and, most importantly, to maximize your potential as an academic.
    After getting an appropriate amount of time to rest and depressurize, please consider the advantages of the following.
    You can organize your application materials for future use -- you will be reapplying for continued financial assistance as well as new sources of funding. You can start getting ready for qualifying exams by finding the "must read" books in your fields, by picking three important academic journals and going through ten years' worth of issues (page by page and reading selectively), by seeing if there are opportunities to continue your interest in education as your outside field, by working on your writing skills, and by thinking like a historian. There's a lot of "received wisdom" that members of the GradCafe have earned through hard won experience and a significant amount of pain. Please consider the benefits of studying (not reading, but studying) the posts of the BTDTs, especially, @TMP, @dr. telkanuru, @AP, @fuzzylogician, @Eigen, @TakeruK, and @juilletmercredi. (I especially recommend the latter's highly valued post as well as her contributions in the If I knew then what I know now (Officially Grads version thread and @TMP's posts. (TMP is among most intellectually and emotionally courageous members of the GradCafe.)
    Here's why I'm urging you to lean forward. When you get to your next destination, you will likely find that professors, for worse and for better, are generally reluctant to spell out expectations to new students. They are even less likely to put students in the best possible positions to succeed. Instead, much of the instruction you will receive will be cryptic comments in your essays and belated suggests in end of term reviews that will not resonate until years later.
     
  22. Like
    Sigaba got a reaction from automatic_peas in 2022 Application Thread   
    @wynntir, congratulations on submitting your applications and doing the best you can under the circumstances.
    PLEASE do more than wait. Do all you can to lean forward. Getting a running start on next fall will enable you to compete better against your peers, to exceed the expectations of your professors, and, most importantly, to maximize your potential as an academic.
    After getting an appropriate amount of time to rest and depressurize, please consider the advantages of the following.
    You can organize your application materials for future use -- you will be reapplying for continued financial assistance as well as new sources of funding. You can start getting ready for qualifying exams by finding the "must read" books in your fields, by picking three important academic journals and going through ten years' worth of issues (page by page and reading selectively), by seeing if there are opportunities to continue your interest in education as your outside field, by working on your writing skills, and by thinking like a historian. There's a lot of "received wisdom" that members of the GradCafe have earned through hard won experience and a significant amount of pain. Please consider the benefits of studying (not reading, but studying) the posts of the BTDTs, especially, @TMP, @dr. telkanuru, @AP, @fuzzylogician, @Eigen, @TakeruK, and @juilletmercredi. (I especially recommend the latter's highly valued post as well as her contributions in the If I knew then what I know now (Officially Grads version thread and @TMP's posts. (TMP is among most intellectually and emotionally courageous members of the GradCafe.)
    Here's why I'm urging you to lean forward. When you get to your next destination, you will likely find that professors, for worse and for better, are generally reluctant to spell out expectations to new students. They are even less likely to put students in the best possible positions to succeed. Instead, much of the instruction you will receive will be cryptic comments in your essays and belated suggests in end of term reviews that will not resonate until years later.
     
  23. Upvote
    Sigaba reacted to thejellybean in Venting Thread- Vent about anything.   
    I've been in grad school for a while now and I still feel like I'm not getting anywhere with my degree/professional development and am maybe even getting dumber as time goes on? Largely because I have been stuck on one project for so long that was meant to only take a short while at the very beginning of my PhD but has taken MUCH longer to complete, and it's really crushing my spirit. And because it has crushed my spirit so, I just have such a hard time finding motivation to complete my experiments. Of course this plus the pandemic just completely burned me out for a while and I only recently have felt like I've started to recover. But I'm still not fully there, and definitely not recovered enough to feel excited again about this project I once was so so SO excited about doing. So I'm just trudging through these experiments, getting a fraction of the data I needed to achieve the impact I wanted to with the paper, all to get this presentation/publication out of the way so I can start fresh with a new study that will hopefully revive my love of science and research.
  24. Upvote
    Sigaba got a reaction from psstein in 2022 Application Thread   
    Where were you when I needed you?
    (IMO, exceptions to this rule would include biographies written by social historians, especially those specializing in modern German history, who qualify as "deans" in their respective fields but only if you can square the circle of broad historiographical debates that have been unfolding for decades.)
  25. Upvote
    Sigaba got a reaction from dr. t in 2022 Application Thread   
    ...you encounter an interface that asks for exact start and end dates for schools you've attended and jobs you've held.
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