Brisingamen

I initially announced it to close friends and family and to the mentors I've had. Nobody else, really. I haven't made a Facebook post or anything, but then again, I don't put much about my life on social media. I don't think most people *get it* at all, but they're all being polite. Now, I realize I need to announce it to so many more people -- because I'm moving halfway across the world! And this is weird, because when it comes to extended circles, politeness definitely takes a back seat. I have been told I could do the same course here in India is 2 years (not really), been asked when I'm going to 'settle down' and have had people tell me I should research something entirely different. Heigh ho, that's how it goes.

South Asia/British Empire, labour migration and foodways. Also, see PM!

Hi. I applied to graduate programs this admission season with pretty much exactly the same sort of background you have -- undergraduate degree in literature, masters' degree in literature (with a cultural studies minor), some experience on archival and oral history projects. I was initially dissuaded from trying history programmes and several people suggested interdisciplinary programmes would make more sense, given my background. When I actually wrote in to potential advisors, I got a much more positive response. I'm not sure which history programmes you have been considering, but I was encouraged by three top-twenty programmes in the US to apply (and got into one of them)... it's probably worthwhile taking a shot at some of those history programmes, judging from my experience.

I would ask my letter of recommendation writer to include that information. It's tangential to your SoP.

Completely. I got into my top choice and then agonized over whether I'd be able to hold up (plus there's that thing of my moving 8,258 miles from home). Then my advisor and I talked on the phone and she's suggested I get started with some work already.... aarrrrgh! More terrified than excited right now.

I am struggling with similar questions. I found it really, really helps to talk to students who might also be international and preferably from a similar background/country. You may not have the same likes/dislikes, but they can give you a picture that's (relatively) closer to the impressions you would form by visiting a place yourself. For the rest, relying on Skype and email interaction alarms me too. So am looking forward to seeing what people have to say in response to your query. My decisions have been based on what people are researching, what kind of funding is available, which professors I might want to work with, the kind of interaction encouraged amongst students, general warmth and interest in my application, and attitudes towards/training for the job market. I also had to consider location to be near or with a significant other. I have brought my choices down to two; one program I've been accepted at and one that I'm waitlisted at. They both have blind spots. The one with the better location and a more realistic attitude to the job market (not entirely teaching focused) has less funding for international students. The one with superior funding and which jumped right on my application and accepted me into the program is the one which focuses only on teaching and which has the less convenient location. So it's a tough toss up.

Congratulations to the UMichigan admissions and waitlistees! I am guessing this is the one school that I get an outright rejection from, but no complaints at all. It's been an amazingly successful application season.

Yay! So pleased to hear this. Fingers well crossed for you.

Thanks! I think it does matter; i.e., there are separate quotas for MA and PhD. Good luck to him.

U of T emailed me; I am on the waitlist. That international applicant quota is what did me in. Now to hope the already accepted international students at Toronto decide to go somewhere bigger and better with more money!

And I see a couple of Michigan acceptances on the boards.

Thanks for the update!

Fiz, I wish I could buy your a beer or coffee or make you some tea (pick your poison). I have cold feet just the way you do. In my case, it's compounded by the fact that I have to move to a totally different continent, to a way of life I don't know, and that even though my spouse is moving, he's not moving *with* me -- he'll most likely be living somewhere else. I am very excited at the possibility of what grad school has to offer, intellectually -- but I'm not so happy about the personal changes and about the fact that I will have to put off having kids for at least a couple of years now. I don't know, my instinct is to cut and run back to the comforts of the way things are, but there's a bit of me that says "You can't have everything, but you need to take opportunities when you get them." That's all I can share.

I suspect Michigan is in a huff because I restrained myself and didn't log in five times a day to check.

TMP -- great point, thanks. Yes, I do feel that if a POI doesn't quite see the job market problem, s/he might be a bit out of touch with some kinds of reality...

UMichigan hasn't said anything yet, right? I actually decided to log into their application status interface thingy today and find the site keeps crashing on me.

... you misunderstand something in an emailed offer and think you don't have a final offer -- but you do, and you've actually conveyed to someone at the grad school that you haven't received that final offer. Duh, duh, duh. The only good thing is, they can't take it back on grounds of idiocy once they've made the offer, right?

Thanks very much for the suggestions. I have spoken to graduate students about the first question... I'm just wondering whether there might be information they might not be privy to. For instance, a cohort may have funding guaranteed... but what if a cohort that comes a few years later gets affected by funding cuts... can't really say, I guess. I didn't know the AHA had discussed the second question -- that's great info to have. I feel less anxious about bringing that up, knowing that! I like that suggestion of saying, "I'd like to keep my options open in case the academic job market doesn't work out."

I hope I'm wrong too! The "one or two" thing is what the graduate office told me a few months ago. Who knows, maybe they are actually flexible about this! Good luck.

I have offers in hand and am wondering how to ask certain questions without giving POIs and probable future colleagues a poor impression (worse because I have to ask everything on Skype and email, as I can't make it to recruitment weekends). Since some of these are questions some of you may have to ask (or have previously asked), I thought I'd post here and ask for insight -- and do add any you have in mind. Post-PhD careers of former students: I am wondering how to ask about former students who moved out of academia and didn't pursue the tenure track, what they did, what opportunities the department/advisor could help them with in terms of gaining experience in other areas (things like non-profit work, public history work, editorial work, etc.). Considering the job market, I feel this is a fair enough question, because I'm definitely not going into this assuming there's a tenure track job waiting at the end of it -- but how do you ask a institution focused on training people for that tenure track about this? Actual availability of funding: It's a little difficult finding out what is the likelihood of getting funds for research (particularly archival research in other countries)... sometimes it seems there are funds, but how easy is it to get hold of those funds, that is the question...

Congratulations! Fingers crossed for the funding/TAing offer to look just as you'd like it to.

Will I get into my top choice (which is the only one that will let my spouse and I live together during coursework) with decent funding? - As I see it, yes. I should perhaps find out what its definition of "decent funding" is.

Commiserations to all the Princeton applicants. I'm another one that thinks contacting POIs was useful. I've made contact with a couple of people who have asked me to keep in touch, which is really nice. One gave off a whiff of something I didn't like... and showed me a particular program would be a poor fit, culture-wise. Others gave useful suggestions that allowed me to refine my SOP.

Can't edit my post above, so just to add: I just realized one of the acceptances posted for Toronto is international (and the poster says it is his/her top choice). And I was told they have usually just one (and maaaaaaaaaaybe two) funded places for international applicants (of which I am one). Heigh-ho. Is this what I think it is? Answer: just have to wait and see. I knew it was a long shot... ah, well, cannot complain, I have another possibility in hand.

Yes, a couple seem to be on the boards! Congratulations to those who got the acceptances! Good luck to the rest of us waiting. istoryk, I'm sending you a private message.