ashiepoo72

I'm glad to see the rumors about historians and math are true

1/4 of the 20 are in one particular state...just sayin

I finished Adrienne Edgar's Tribal Nation: The Making of Soviet Turkmenistan last week, and I loved it. The way she structures her introduction is a grad student's dream. Oh the beauty of layers upon layers of historiographical positioning and clear argument. I'm about to start Not June Cleaver: Women and Gender in Postwar America, 1945-1960, edited by Joanne Meyerowitz. It's on my MA exam reading list, but I have to say I'm surprised at how many of the books I genuinely like and am excited to discuss.

Thanks for sharing that, BiochemMom. I hope other people who have had similar experiences can draw strength from your story. I wish more people realized that tattoos aren't an act of rebellion most of the time. All of mine have personal meaning, my favorite being a line from a poem I read at my aunt's funeral--she died at 50, and I went into a tailspin after. It took me 4 years before I decided what tattoo to get in her memory. I didn't get it to be unique and make a statement. If anyone sees my tats and thinks that, I want to laugh because that's pretty self-centered of them. I'm not living my life as a performance for others. Everyone is welcome to their opinion and comments, but what I do is not for them. I think you're right, our kids totally won't have the same issues. Even my old school, immigrant, hyper-religious grandparents have started coming around on stuff I NEVER thought they would, including tattoos.

Yeah but you're at a fancy pants program

Congrats guys! Can't wait to hear all about your programs.

I'm pretty peeved that I have to buy a whole new gown for my MA graduation (it's slightly different than the BA gown, plus it comes with the fancy hood thing), so instead of paying around $60 like the BA grads, I pay $100! I will never wear either the BA or MA stuff again because PhD regalia is completely different. Although it is made of sturdier material since it's used all the time if you stay in academia, so there is that. I loathe the shiny black polyester awaiting me in May But all in all I'm pretty stoked to graduate. I love my department and can't wait to celebrate with everyone

Unless you get a prison or Mara Salvatrucha-style face tat, you'll be able to cover most of your ink. The stuff that shows you could use makeup that covers tats, I think Kat Von D has a brand that works. Don't stress

It varies wildly. Your best bet is to look on department websites, and if no information is there, call the director of grad studies or grad secretary. If I had to generalize, MA programs tend to accept in higher percentages than PhD programs. That statement doesn't really help you at all. My MA accepts about 30% of applicants, but this changes year to year depending on how many people apply (last year so few applied the acceptance rate went way up).

For what it's worth, I went to a low ranked, maybe even unranked MA program and got into a few top-30 PhD programs. It's what you do while in the MA that really helps your application. I took every opportunity to do research, bolstered my CV with teaching experience and built strong relationships with my professors. I took a year off between my BA and MA and think it was the best thing ever. I worked multiple jobs and spent time thinking about my future. I also got some teaching experience and brushed up on my languages (I grew up speaking portuguese but get rusty if I don't speak it often). I highly recommend a 2-year MA. I started my 2-year program part time so ended up taking 3, but I don't regret it because I did so much research and writing, was exposed to tons of historiography and lots of opportunities for fellowships, lectures and teaching that I'm sure helped my application this season. A 1-year MA is not going to be enough time in my opinion. It took me a year to get through the historiography and core colloquia before I even could start on my big research projects. The one thing I do recommend for you is a funded MA. Don't do an unfunded MA. I did, and while I love my program, professors, cohort and know they are the reason I got into so many places this cycle, I'm in more debt than I should be. It's worth it to me because I know I want the PhD and that's not on a whim, but I wouldn't recommend anyone take that path. Do you have languages? That's something you should also think about before you head to PhD applications. An MA is a good place to start gaining proficiency for sure.

It's the decisions thread! Stop being a hater, we are gonna be classmates soon

I just completed all of the documentation for UC Davis, so it's officially official. I have an email address and everything

Portuguese is pretty easy in my opinion. Could be because I grew up speaking it, but I think the grammatical rules are pretty intuitive.

I just want to throw out that most of my professors are married to non-academics. All their partners are ambitious and intellectually engaged in their own ways, and I think that's more important than having a PhD. One is married to another academic in a completely different field, and they somehow manage to bridge the divide and occasionally coteach (my prof's husband is in a science field and she's a historian). I get why you're concerned about dating a non-academic. My concern is dating someone who doesn't understand my busy schedule, my mental exhaustion at the end of the day, my work load, how obsessed I am with my field and studies--even more troubling is dating someone who doesn't feel strongly and passionately about what they're doing, whatever that may be, or someone who doesn't "think deeply." However, I think it's important to keep an open mind. While I find myself drawn to people who are going through similar things academically, I don't think it's fair to assume others are incapable of understanding your situation and contributing to a relationship.

I'm with Chiqui, tattoos aren't stigmatized as much now as even five years ago, especially in academia. My tattoos aren't that visible, although when I wear open-toed shoes my foot one is and I've gotten a few comments, but usually tattoos inspire curiosity more so than repugnance. I know there are practical reasons to consider before getting a tat, but at the end of the day it's your body and your life. When I got an office job (which I happily and eagerly quit when I decided to pursue the PhD), I removed my tongue ring and still regret it. I hated working at a place that cared about that kind of stuff.

Indiana is good in Russian history. You may wanna check them out. Isn't Penn, also? I know my program's Russianist almost went there for grad school because there were strong scholars in the field.

I'm going to be real with you and say you should aim for the top 20, maybe even the top 10. A lot of the top tier programs place their grads at small liberal arts colleges, more so than programs lower ranked. I honestly wouldn't look at anything below 50. If you want to teach because you love it and don't care where you end up, then it doesn't matter as much--that's why I applied to a range of programs from 15-105, I simply want to teach at the college level. The less cynical side of me says to explore the placement records and placement locations of the programs you're currently looking at. If you can see yourself at any of the programs at which those departments are placing their students, then that's a good bet for you. You're going to have to do a lot of research--luckily historians are great at that!

I have to say, I'm ecstatic I won't have to move all my stuff across the country. Just imagining how I'd ship all my books gives me hives.

By teach, do you envision yourself at an R1? A small regional college? Community college? Ivy League? Do you want to focus on teaching over research, research over teaching, or 50-50? These are the kinds of questions you need to consider before applying.

I feel like this confirms medievalist nerdiness I'm one of those Americanists who thinks languages are great. I'm learning a 3rd on the side (well 4th if you count English)

Hey! I take offense! I know 2 languages haha

That's terrifying.

I know for sure my anxiety is through the roof because I made a ton of lasagna (like, I could host a department dinner) and baked a bunch of bread yesterday. It's that moment you realize just because you got into a PhD program it doesn't mean your MA exam has been cancelled and, oh crap, you're wayyy behind in coursework. How are the rest of you holding up?

Lol you guys are hilarious Fianna--If you want to set up a web forum, that'd be awesome! I'm one of those weirdos who doesn't have a facebook, sadly.

I agree, and I didn't decline just because they weren't unionized. I think a lot of the issues they have would be solved if grad students had a union, though. Less fuckery goes on when the administration is held accountable by a union.