ashiepoo72

Why not take the initiative and ask for a Skype or phone chat? I'm sure they'd understand and want to provide you with whatever answers you need. One of my advisers wasn't at the campus visit so we set up a phone call later, and another school doesn't have funds for visits so I spoke with my adviser over the phone as well. I think it's pretty common.

I think Chiqui's point about getting some teaching experience to see if one even WANTS to be a professor is also great. If you can't stand students, and even the tippy top tier grads end up at institutions heavily based on teaching, then what? One of my profs said to have as many arrows in my quiver as possible. That means strategically choosing minor fields, external funding opportunities, and teaching gigs. We are all responsible for building our own resumes. I for dang sure can't predict the future, but I can control the experiences I get now by taking the bull by the horns. I hope all of you do the same--Id love to see everyone here succeed

Yeah! And the people in what would be our cohort weren't half bad either

I wasn't disagreeing that rank is important, in fact extremely important on the job market. I was disagreeing with the comment that the people with TA experience are the weakest people in the program and that teaching experience isn't valuable when on the job market. Just wanted to clarify--anyone who doesn't think rank is important obviously hasn't looked into any stats for TT positions. However, if the top 5 candidates for a job are all from top tier programs, I find it hard to believe having teaching experience or being a naturally gifted teacher can't help distinguish a candidate as a cut above the rest. Personally, I feel like I'm a "naturally talented" teacher based on my past experiences (not trying to brag, just saying I've always been drawn to and had positive feedback from working with students), but if my PhD program didn't offer opportunities for more teaching experience, I would seek it out elsewhere because that's part of how I see myself building my resume and bettering my chances of employment. School prestige/rank is one part of that, my own scholarship another, but teaching is a valuable component as well.

Teaching experience is totally valuable at many--dare I say most?--institutions. Even R1s have to teach undergrads. I know at my program (big state school), my professors worry about hiring applicants from programs known for not requiring TA or teaching experience because our university is teaching focused. That's why the mock class part of job interviews is hugely important here, at least as much as the research presentation. That's not to say we haven't hired top-tier grads--we have--but all of them either found teaching positions during their PhD or were rockstars in the mock class, just naturally gifted teachers.

Agreed. Although the extremely collegial grad students I met told me to follow the funding above all else, as have several of my profs. Only one prof said rank above funding. The people in your cohort are the ones you really want to get along with, IMO. You'll be closest to them for the first years of coursework, after that everyone disburses to work on research and writing dissertations. I did make sure to ask if there is interaction between cohorts and with the wider graduate community at every place I've visited, which I think is good to know (and take advantage of). Wait for your other visits. I didn't expect to like Davis as much as I did (being from the Bay Area, Sac and the general environs get a bad rep), especially after my amazing trip to MSU that nearly had me sold. Now I'm leaning toward Davis more and more. Give yourself a chance to love some other programs too

Congrats on reaching the end, Gambaosaka! I, too, have reached the end. I can't see that a wait list at OSU (which is the best case scenario at this point) will alter anything in terms of my decision. I'm waiting on funding info from UMaryland, visiting Minn in 2 weeks, then it's decision time!

I second Fianna's suggestions. If you need to discuss any spotty grades or rough patches on your transcript, do it in a positive light. I took two quarters off of undergrad to have my kid so I felt that I had to explain the gap. I took one line in my SOP to say that despite having to take time off, I completed my BA on time. I'm pretty sure the adcomms could read "single mom" between the lines without me having to use that as an excuse. I don't view it as a negative anyway, because having my daughter made me strong. Don't come off sounding like you blame anyone or anything for your peccadilloes--show how you grew from them, that you take every hardship as a learning or strengthening experience. If you're far removed from undergrad, I wouldn't even address bad grades. I didn't bring up the biological anthro class I failed in my first quarter--the class that got me on academic probation!--because no one cares. If I failed the capstone history course, that'd be a different story.

I'm always surprised by how much my professors know about different subfields. Like they're very aware of what departments (even outside the top 10 or 20 or whatever) are strong in certain areas. Maybe they're just well connected and make the effort to know this stuff, but I wouldn't assume profs don't realize that lower-ranked programs can be stellar in certain subfields. Also, profs often have friends and connections outside of their own research area. And in my current department, when a job opens up, at the very least the search committee members look into where the heavy-hitter departments are in that field if they aren't already familiar with it.

So Davis is wonderful. I keep hoping someone will be super mean to me and make my decision easier haha

Haha I don't blame you. Free food is the grad student priority.

Congrats on your decision Annalista! It must be a relief to be done and know exactly where you're going I hope you keep us posted on how awesome Chicago is!

We are basically doing the same thing this season--I'm a single mom of one girl, living in the Bay Area and thinking seriously about the Midwest. I don't have any great insight, but if you want someone to commiserate or discuss with, I'm all ears

Well since you want to make assumptions, I should say that some of these authors were ones I read in high school, and I actually have shared my reading list with different family and friends interested in learning more about certain subjects. For the most part, everyone is surprised by how readable academic historians can be. We don't need to spoon feed people stuff because they supposedly can't handle historical and critical thinking. That's doing everyone a disservice. I never argued that Zinn and Diamond aren't readable. I'm arguing from my own experience and I "can say for sure" that there certainly are scholarly works that are readable.

I think there are plenty of books that are "historical" and "scholarly" that are easy to read and interesting. I named Cronon. I'd also say Walter Johnson, Michael McGerr, Eric Foner, Sean Wilentz, Gordon Wood, Christine Stansell, Bruce Levine, Louis Perez, Patricia Limerick, John Bodnar, Kenneth Jackson, David Kennedy, Martin Sherwin, Harvard Sitkoff are all eminently readable while still providing historical analysis and insight, and these are just names off the top of my head. Like I said, I think pop history can be useful, but there are plenty of books that present a "historical thought process" that isn't "arduous," and in fact are quite accessible. The true task of a IMO successful pop historian is to make both the history and the critical historical process accessible.

I agree with everything you said re: Diamond, but I still don't think popular history is necessarily a problem. I view someone like Bill O'Reilly as dangerous, because he deliberately feeds people misinformation in his "histories," but some pop historians are actually decent at getting people interested in history. I'm sure I've said this here somewhere, but reading popular history steered me into academic history. Tons of people simply aren't interested enough for this to happen, which I could go on and on about (starting with the crappy history taught in secondary school), but for those who have that inclination pop history can push them in the "right" direction. On second thought, I really wouldn't put Zinn in the same camp as Diamond. Zinn actually was a trained academic historian, and while his work should certainly be scrutinized (as all scholarly work should be), he hasn't been outright discredited by the wider historical community. The most problematic thing about Guns, Germs and Steel is Diamond's disregard for the historiography--which he can do, because he's a scientist and not a historian. But this means he's not really answering to anyone in the historical community.

Sorry to hear that Oliveur

I recommend Nature's Metropolis by William Cronon (and totally would recommend Taylor!) to strangers on the street. Just sayin'

I will definitely let you know, if I'm not too busy crying after I get my answer! I kid--I won't even pretend I deserve another acceptance. I'm so excited about the programs I've heard from already. I just feel like I can't commit to any decision without knowing what IU has to say!

I don't know about the others, but Minnesota's general funding offer given to all incoming students is a guaranteed 5 year package, and the numbers are more than enough for that area of the country. They also upfront give a pool of money for travel and other expenses to each student.

You've been accepted and fully funded by my top choice program and are considering turning it down for MAPSS. I dunno if I should laugh or cry...haha (I chose laugh for self-preservation) I don't think anyone can predict how much your chances will improve with an MA. Despite people saying MAPSS has an uber-amazing placement rate, I'd be skeptical based on the fact that many people with MAs and perfect scores, awesome theses and loads of experience don't get accepted anywhere.

Not to derail the conversation here, but is anyone else visiting Davis this weekend? And, if so, who will join me in partaking in beer?

Well, I officially emailed my remaining programs. Once I hear from them, I'll be able to make some more decisions. This is fun...

I have to respectfully disagree. The only reason I got an MA--and the debt that came with it--was because I couldn't get into a well-ranked PhD without it. I would never, ever, ever recommend an MA--even if tuition is covered, because you will go into debt for the rest of your costs--to someone who was accepted at a place like Brown, which is ranked 18! Unless you have a ton of money saved to pay your way through an MA, I wouldn't do it. I would not wish the level of unsubsidized debt that I have on anyone, even my own worst enemy. Grad students only get unsubsidized loans, which means interest starts racking up immediately, and then is added to the principal loan when you graduate, so you'll start getting interest fees that include your past interest and principal. In math terms, this equals shitshow. You have your own decision to make, but I honestly would not recommend an MA to someone who got into a top 20 program. You're in the sweet spot rank-wise, and Brown is a well known, excellent program that applicants with MAs would love to get accepted by.

I'd consider an MA only if I couldn't get into a well ranked and fully funded PhD program, but we all have our own criteria. Don't get me wrong--there have been moments where I wondered if I did this again next year, if I could aim even higher and try to break the top 10. But honestly, that's not as important to me. I'm ecstatic about the programs that've accepted me, and they are all better fits for me than any of the top 10 programs. I know I emphasize prestige less than many people--this isn't to say I'm not aware that it matters, and that rank won't factor into my final decision. Ultimately, however, Brown is a well regarded program by any estimation. It would be a different story if you got into a lower-ranked program with poor job prospects at the end of it.