ashiepoo72

Hello all, just dropping in to send you good vibes as deadlines approach! If anyone has questions about UC Davis, feel free to PM me

For those in history who may find this useful, my experiences have been: Summers after academic years 1 and 2 (pre-ABD): light research depending on internal and external travel grants; I went on at least 1 research trip both these summers. Mostly spent the time slogging through secondary literature and hanging out with family. Researched/planned funding applications. Summers after years 3 and 4 (ABD): heavy research, 1-2 long research trips or 4-5 short research trips. Many colleagues only did 1 long research trip both years, my project just happens to require a bunch of small archives. I did not have a fellowship last academic year, but I imagine if I did I wouldn't need to go on as many research trips as I am now (in summer 4). Experiences vary greatly based on myriad things. Also spent time researching/planning funding applications and organizing the material found during the trips (as an aside, I recommend doing this between research trips so you don't have documents from multiple archives waiting to be organized--it's such a pain!)

I bought my last few laptops on eBay, refurbished or new, because I'm cheap. The first time I went for a 17" screen but at the time knew nothing about specs and the laptop was crap. My latest one is 15" which is much easier to lug around (the 17" killed me on research trips). I recommend paying attention to specs above all else. Once you figure out what specs you need, then you can figure out what form you want the laptop to take. Imo these are the minimum specs for historians who don't also moonlight as gamers: intel core i5+, 8GB RAM (my last laptop had 5GB and it was terrible, new one has 8 and works really well. if you can swing 16GB, that's even better, but it's expensive), SSD, 1080p. My laptop also has a good graphics chip, but this isn't as important unless you use it for gaming. I think it's the NVIDIA GTX 1050. Other really important things: battery life, battery life, battery life! Make sure it can stay charged for 8 hours + at minimum. How many ports do you need, if any? Screen size? Some people work well on smaller screens, others like larger ones where they can easily see two documents/websites side by side. Also, do you need a DVD/CD player? More and more people view these as vestigial but I use mine fairly often for documentaries that aren't available online. Finally, an underrated feature is a keyboard that lights up. It's silly, but having one was a revelation for me haha Good luck on your new acquisition! PS: I've had Dells all my life, but latest laptop is Acer and I absolutely love it. Don't be afraid to venture away from your typical brand, but if you do, make sure to look at reviews and ask around for info.

I'm old school and still take notes by hand. Basically I buy legal pads and black pilot g2 .5 pens in bulk on amazon (I'm particular about writing implements) and clearly label date/class/lecture topic/professor so I know from where the ideas came. Usually I'll write down any book titles/historiographical arguments discussed and stuff that sounds interesting or challenges my perspective on the topic. If I think of questions during discussion, I'll write those down so I don't forget them for when I have a chance to speak. I don't think I've ever taken more than a page of notes in lecture, though.

I would recommend reaching out to the GPC/grad student reps in departments that interest you. Programs may claim to offer "full funding," but how that shakes out varies across the board. Do students get fellowship years, or are they entirely funded via TAships? Being funded by TAships is better than programs that have no funding at all, but it will slow you down and hurt your dissertation if you have to TA all the time. How well do students do on university-wide fellowship competitions and in securing external funding? This stuff isn't guaranteed to every student, obviously, but the departments that emphasize assisting students in securing funding are better than the ones who don't take it seriously. Also, once you have offers in hand, you should negotiate for better funding.

I bought an ipad on ebay that I've dedicated to archival research. The good thing about it is it's not cluttered with other photos/apps, and it has dated folders with my research that go directly on the cloud and eventually on my computer when I'm not too lazy to import the images. I use my phone a lot so it never has enough space, but if you're good about clearing yours out it should work fine. The main things you should consider is how much space a device has and if the photo quality is sufficient. Random story, I was in a pinch before a trip in November and had to borrow my brother's cheap generic tablet. The picture quality wasn't as crisp as my ipad, but it was surprisingly good.

The brush off re: what happens after the PhD would really concern me. Elite programs place the most people without a doubt, but because the job market is so bad many of them end up in departments in which you may not want to work (really heavy course load, little to no research support etc). And yes, even elite PhDs don't get jobs in academia. I can't say if this would be enough to decline the offer in your case, obviously, but it would probably be enough for me.

Everyone weighs these decisions differently. For me deciding between several programs relatively close in rank, it came down to funding and fit with my adviser. I think the rank disparity between your two programs would've been enough for me to rule out school B. Unfortunately, there is a small contingent of programs that disproportionately place PhDs in TT jobs, and programs ranked in the 70s are not among them. Granted, certain lower ranked departments may have a particular subfield that's exceptionally strong with a good placement record and discipline-wide prestige (MSU's African history comes to mind), but that's few and far between. You need to think about what you want to do after you get the degree--if you don't want to stay in academia, then going with school B is fine (as long as they're fully funding you). If you want to stay in academia, rank should be more of a factor, even if it isn't the primary one in your calculation. If I was you, I would contact your POIs at both programs and ask about their past students' placement. If School A's placement record is unclear, you can also contact the DGS for more info about it. This is a perfectly reasonable question to ask programs...they know your future is on the line.

I want to second @TMP‘s suggestions. My committee fits my project well, but even they suggested I find interlocutors outside our university because our discipline is all about that networking. You email professors of interest and ask them about their work, meet people at conferences, go to book talks etc. It’s all about building genuine rapport. Everyone should be doing this, especially if there’s a gap in their committee they’d like to fill. I have an outside member on mine, so I’d be happy to chat more about that whole process if you end up going that route.

Wow, I'm sorry you're in this anxious position, and I hope you're able to find a satisfactory way out of it. I don't have any insight into switching PhD programs within the same discipline post-comps and know very few people who successfully did this post-admission (although I hear it happens on occasion). However, I did want to mention another option: outside readers. Is there any way you could get in contact with people who are experts in your area of interest and have them as outside readers on your committee? This might make up for your adviser's shifting interests and the program's emphasis not matching yours if switching programs proves untenable.

Wew lad, if you approach fellowships like the reviewers don't know what they're doing--despite being tasked specifically by the fellowship administrators to select winners who fit the fellowship mission--and that you've been "wronged" and others have gotten what they "don't deserve" because you were rejected, you're in for a rude awakening in graduate school. Rejections are the norm, not the outlier. Even as a 4th year PhD who's managed to achieve incredible success in securing external funding, I've been rejected tons of times--and no, I never thought colleagues who won over me were inferior and I had been robbed. Learn from rejection, or keep being rejected. You don't deserve a single thing. You are not owed. Your project, even if it is spectacular, is one of many. And tbqh, your arrogance makes me think you wouldn't be able to see flaws in it anyway. Eat an entire humble pie, reassess your work, and move forward. You're in your first year and have time to apply for the predoctoral again next year. Maybe include a few other fellowships while you're at it, since these prestigious ones are INCREDIBLY competitive and putting all your eggs in one incredibly competitive basket isn't a good method for securing funding. And stop blaming others for your rejections. Sometimes there are fatal flaws in an application, more often no one is at fault and it's simply a case of way too many good applicants and too few available fellowships. You may want to brush that off as cliche--maybe face the truth in it so you can have more success going forward.

Definitely contact your the GPC at Davis and explain your situation. She’ll do her best to help you figure everything out.

Hi all UC Davis admits, never fear—everyone gets 5 years of funding. This is through a variety of means (readerships, TAships, fellowships, continuing student small fellowships etc). Feel free to PM me if you want more info. If you’re serious about Davis, I’d be happy to discuss (one-on-one) how to get the funding you need to attend. Dont hesitate to contact the GPC for info—she’s amazing and helpful and lovely.

A million times this. This year I (voluntarily) have the most intense teaching load of my career, and it's utterly draining mentally, physically, time-wise. Lots of really great schools are squeezed for money and fund mostly via TAships, I totally get this, but if you have a choice between comparable programs--one that offers some fellowship years versus one that's entirely funded on teaching--accept the one with the fellowships. I cannot stress it enough how important money is to completing a rigorous dissertation in a reasonable amount of time. Cannot stress it enough. Here's the most valuable tip I will ever give new grad students: get your money. Start with negotiating with the departments you choose if you can, then get in the habit of spending at least 10-20 minutes a day working on funding sources, whether internal or external (researching potential grants/fellowships, updating a funding spreadsheet, drafting grant proposals etc etc). Some days, take a good hour to really dig into it. Funding, or a lack thereof, can make or break you. Will make or break you--either from being spread too thin and producing a mediocre dissertation, or through physical/mental deterioration from juggling teaching, conferences, publishing, research and dissertating, not to mention your personal life.

Going in with an MA makes finishing in less than 5 years possible, but it is very, very rare in my experience. Being able to transfer MA credits is great, does this mean you would be able to take comps in the first year? Or are there other requirements beyond the MA that the PhD requires at School C? You should expect 2-4 years beyond comps to finish the dissertation depending on where your archives are. I'm on schedule to finish a transnational dissertation 3 years after comps, but that's after a lot of struggle to line up all my ducks in a row. Things happen that we can't control and many people get derailed for a year or more. With that in mind, I would accept whichever school gave me the most years of guaranteed funding. Lots of schools give "assurances." Mine guarantees 5 years, but "assures" students they can get years 6 and 7 funded. Because it's a smaller department, it is almost always the case that those years are easily funded, but even so I would take assurances with a grain of salt. Funding is absolutely critical and only guaranteed funding is guaranteed.

Davis has, indeed, sent out offers and the prospective student visit has been scheduled. You should contact the GPC if you haven't heard whether you're on the wait list as well as to express your interest in the program if you have (and if you are still interested). Cohorts are generally quite small, so not sure how likely an acceptance from the wait list is, but it's always possible!

Freund was my POI back in the day isn’t he fantastic? You should contact the GPC and let them know UMD is one of your top choices (or top choice if it’s true), and you look forward to hearing from them so you can make an informed choice among the offers you’ve already received. Let them know you have offers—this will apply incentive for them to work it out if they really want you.

I have no way of knowing if this applies to you, but if I was planning to reapply I would also take a close look at my research interests and the schools to which I've applied. You want to be sure the fit is right, because even exceptional applicants will be rejected if it's not. I'd spend the next year deeply researching programs, and their faculty, areas of expertise, resources etc. I'd also reevaluate my SOP, especially my proposed research, and ensure I've thought enough about the topic, methodology and historiography in which I want to intervene. IMO, you should make a spreadsheet and begin a column with each university's POIs, read their works, check out their current research interests etc, and if you find they aren't as good of a fit as initially believed, remove them from the list. Then move on to the department as a whole--are there professors outside your area doing interesting things methodologically or comparatively that you could note in an SOP as potential committee members? Then move to the university, does it have any notable resources (archives nearby, collections in the university library, etc). I personally deleted any program from the list if it didn't have at least 2 POIs with whom I could see myself working, but you need to figure out where the line is--I think as you're preparing an SOP, you should have a nascent dissertation committee in the POIs you highlight. And the key to fit is how you fit with the department: what does your project bring to the department? Where does your project fit with their areas of expertise? How does your project complement the interests of your POIs? So essentially, all that research is to figure out if a department can nurture your research, and the SOP describes how and where your project fits with that department, if that makes sense. Best of luck! I'm looking forward to seeing at which PhD program you end up next season

I asked my adviser for names and also met some people who had her on one of their committees but not as major adviser by happenstance. You may be able to figure out who your POIs students are from the department website, too. Another way is contacting the grad coordinator and asking if you can set up any meetings or be put in touch with specific people. My department has current grads take prospective grads out for breakfast to discuss the program one-on-one, so I'm sure other places do something similar.

My adviser was out of town during my campus visit so I'm empathetic to your situation. Set up phone calls/skype convos with them and go in with a list of questions. During the visit, focus on speaking to potential comps/dissertation committee members, the GPC, grad program staff (SUPER important) and as many of your POI's grad students as possible. To be quite honest, it was my adviser's grad students who clinched it for me because they gave insight into her advising style (also super important--what kind of adviser do you want? Someone hands off? Someone who lets you determine how much advising you need? Someone who is all up in your project? Weekly, monthly, quarterly meetings?). They can also give info on where your POI's past grads landed jobs. You can totally make an informed decision without meeting your POI in person--other than how you vibe with them. A phone conversation or two will help you determine if the vibe is off.

You may want to check out job ads if you're having trouble deciding. For example, I was leaning toward a World History minor when a committee member suggested I look at ads, and I discovered 9/10 US History jobs want "US and the World" so it solidified my decision. I think a combo of interest and strategy is a respectable way to decide these things.

I would guess because the Slack is more active.

This is exactly what happened to me. I waited on a response until around mid-March before emailing the GPC--normally I'd advise to hang tight, but I had a few acceptances and knew I couldn't decide without hearing from OSU. I was told they pseudo-wait list people they want to admit but who did not receive University funding while they figure out how many TAs they can afford. So anyone who doesn't hear back for awhile, don't stress just yet!

American History R_Escobar (20th century, American Indian), crazedandinfused (antebellum, intellectual), hopin'-n-prayin' (southern, religious), stevemcn (transnational), Simple Twist of Fate (early American), zb642 (20th century, labor/working-class culture), BCEmory08 (19th-20th century Catholicism, labor), irvinchiva10 (20th century, immigration/immigration reform) natsteel (early American political culture and intellectual history) unforth (19th century US political and military history, US Civil War) hbeels (colonial, early national, 19th century, transappalachain west, historical memory of these eras/areas) thedig13 (20th century U.S.; built environment, modern consumer culture, race, and immigration) Weepsie (North American Mapping, Exploration and Trade, Anti-Communism/Socialism in Interwar period, bit of a mixed bag) lafayette (19th c. [with a dash of 20th], urban, intellectual) vtstevie (Revolutionary/Early Republic New England, infrastructure/economic) macmc (Feminist, gender, and LGBT history) HistThrift (early America, indigenous history) junotwest (19/20th century African-American, Cultural/Intellectual, Gender & Sexuality) calhoun&caffeine (19th cen. Southern [political]) tampopo ramen (19th-20th century capitalism/business) BookishVixen (late 18th-early 20th ce maritime communities, cultural, gender & sexuality) hardtack&coffee (19th Century American Social & Military History, American Civil War) spellbanisher (economic and cultural history of the gilded age, progressive era, and the 1920s) ThisGreatFolly (intellectual, religious, political violence, rhetoric) lily9 (Indigenous history, social history, public history) ashiepoo72 (Cold War foreign policy and intelligence agencies, decolonization, transnational history) European History Kelkel (Modern Germany, political), goldielocks (Britain), SapperDaddy (Eastern and Central Europe), kotov (Modern Romania, Holocaust, labor), RevolutionBlues (Modern Western Europe/France labor and leftist politics), theregalrenegade (18th/19th cent British Empire/environment), jrah822 (19th century Britain; emphasis on colonial relationship to India), grlu0701 (Intellectual & cultural history,fin de siecle Germany and Italy), naturalog (modern European [mostly German] intellectual and cultural/sexuality and gender/political radicalism), runaway (Eastern/Central, memorialization & visual culture), Sequi001 (Modern France, gender and sexuality, colonialism/imperialism) Abetheh (19th/early 20th century Germany and France, religious politics vs secularization) NeutralKate (Modern Russia, modern European economic history) Crackerjacktiming (Modern Germany, gender and sexuality) GloFish (USSR, Stalinism, Soviet-American Relations) jamc8383 (19th/20th century France, interwar culture, relationship between body, mind & place) Heimat Historian (19th/20th century Germany, migration, settler colonialism) AshleyJuneBug (Early Modern France and Britain, gender and sexuality) maelia8 (19th/early 20th century Germany, imperialism and colonialism, travel, exploration) BookishVixen (Victorian and Edwardian English imperialism/gender & sexiality) episkey (19th/20th century France, gender and sexuality, Holocaust) AngesRadieux (18th/early 19th century France, cultural history, music) ManifestMidwest (modern France, colonialism & imperialism, Pacific worlds) DGrayson (early modern Western Europe [focusing mostly on England right now], economic and religious history) Ziggysunshine (19th/20th century Belgium, architecture and urban planning, intellectual history) African History Oseirus (precolonial/early colonial West Africa), Singwaya18 (20th century East Africa), Safferz (20th century Horn/Northeast Africa), The People's Scholar (Spanish colonialim in Africa- i.e. middle/West Africa) Jogatoronto (Psychiatry in early colonial West Africa) ronwill06 (Social and political radical movements) Heimat Historian (German settlements in Southern Africa) thekatieladybird (Post-independence conflict and social histories in Central Africa) Latin American History CageFree RIP (20th century, Southern Cone) BH-history, The People's Scholar (18th-19th century Colombia) StrangeLight (20th century Central America) Heimat Historian (German settlements in Southern cone and Mexico) Mujereslibres (German informal colonization of Peru, Brazil, and Chile) AP East Asian History alleykat (Modern China) getitlow (Modern China: Republican, Women, Gender and Sexuality) kyjin (Pre-Modern Japan) aec09g (Modern Japan) pudewen (Late Imperial China) kdavid (Modern China; focus on the Republican period) Minion.banana (late imperial China, Islam, intellectual networks) qkhitai (Medieval China and Central Asia, literature and ethnicity) lordtiandao (Imperial China: political and fiscal) Near/Middle Eastern History uhohlemonster, (modern Israel, Iran, Palestine) oswic (modern Egypt, gender) Conmel (modern pan-Islamic thought/networks) Baloch (Oman) Atlantic World sandyvanb crazedandinfused Global/World History cooperstreet (Cold War) melissarose8585 Heimat Historian (German settlements throughout world) ashiepoo72 (Cold War foreign policy and intelligence agencies, decolonization, transnational history) Jewish History uhohlemonster, (modern Israel) hopin'-n-'prayin, kotov (Holocaust), naturalog (sometimes modern European/Holocaust), runaway (memorialization & visual culture), ticklemepink (20th c. Germany/U.S) awells27 (Late Antiquity: Roman Empire/Palestine/Byzantine) Science/Technology/Environment shaxmaty1848 (Cold War) StrangeLight (environmental history, ecological distribution conflicts) sukipower (20th c. forensic science & anthropology, 19th c. science and medicine) Neist (19th/20th c. biological sciences) seh0517 (scientific illustration, ancient egyptian science & medicine, astronomy, mortuary science) lily9 (Indigenous science and how it fit into architecture and urban planning (especially astronomy) Social annieca (Cold War and Post-Cold War East and Central Europe) BookishVixen (Spheres of influence, Progressive Era reforms affecting immigration) Classical and Medieval Hogs of War (Monastic Studies and Conflicts in Authority) telkanuru (high Medieval intellectual and social history, Cistercian studies) AbbeyRoad (Monastic History, Gender, Cistercians) Kirialax ("Dark Age" Byzantium; the Komnenoi) Cultural StrangeLight (gender, race, ethnicity, and religion) hbeels (race/ethnicity, religious, masculinity/feminimity, print/literature) crazedandinfused (race, nationalism, performance, rhetoric) alleykat (religion, race/ethnicity, cultural relativism) Heimat Historian (German culture in transnational context) nhhistorynut (20th century US, African American, race/racism, Black nationalism) Canadian History truthfinder (New France, religious) lily9 (Indigenous history) South Asia pakhistorian (Pakistan/Bangladesh,cultural, social, political, women, public history, digital history) Southeast Asia kxlx (early modern, colonialism, port cities, Islam)

Minnesota is a great program, but like everywhere it has strengths in specific areas. Several people already mentioned its stronger subfields, but you should look into your POIs' placement and publication records. From what I remember from my application season (4 years ago), there are some stellar Americanists there doing great work on race and gender.