ashiepoo72

Short answer: I think it can depend on the field, but I also think everyone approaches this process with different factors in mind and that can also limit or expand their list. I, for one. want an academic job in the future, but I also want to get a PhD for the sake of completing a dissertation. If I don't end up in a tenure-track position, I will be sad but not devastated, and I certainly won't regret spending the time doing the PhD. I'm a modern Americanist, so I think I have it a bit easier than some other fields. However, I attribute my long list of programs to a TON of research and an open mind. I can see myself at every single one of the 13 schools I'm applying to. I spent a year contacting scholars and grad students and narrowing/reworking my list of schools (that had about 50 programs on it initially. Any that didn't have more than 1 person in my field accepting students got taken off). The result is that I have spoken with/confirmed that at least 2 scholars at each program are accepting students and expressed interest in my research. These are people who cover at least a major part of my field/research, and I paid careful attention to the department as a whole to see if it could support my more expansive interests (my research is transnational in nature). Not only that, I spent the year researching the universities holistically, as well as the surrounding area. I have a gnarly spreadsheet that lists whether the schools have resources for students with children, if there are secondary schools nearby (for my kid), public transportation, what other resources exist in the area (like other archives, etc. not technically associated with the university), housing costs, blah blah blah. This could be a product of me being neurotic, of course, but I'm glad I took this approach. I could have added probably 3-5 more schools based on research fit and faculty accepting students had I not gotten weird vibes (yes, not the quantitative approach, but I think it's important to listen to your gut sometimes). All of this resulted in a list of schools that I can honestly say I would be happy going to. While I totally understand that some people are flummoxed by the number of schools some people apply to, I think that view is limited. After all the work I did to make my list of schools, I feel a little personal about it. We should all feel personal about our individual journeys to the "submit" button on applications.

PD33 - totally understand the feeling. With my daughter running around it's hard to read anything for fun! I spend the ten minutes between laying down at night and passing out reading fluff books on my phone haha other than that, I get all my pleasure reading from things like the New Yorker. This is generally done when I'm taking the train to school. Just added another book to my wishlist, which may get bumped up because it sounds sooo good: The Smell of Battle, the Taste of Siege: A Sensory History of the Civil War by Mark M. Smith.

I don't have a profile on academia.edu but I've looked at a few profiles of students when I was researching programs to see what kind of research and teaching they were doing. I did notice that my LinkedIn has been getting some more activity! I barely use any social media, so I don't think much would come up under my name.

Can you bake me a cake too? I need all the sugary goodness I can get to keep me happy and sane! Hint hint chocolate and banana flavor hint hint

@maelia8 - I love love love Sleepwalkers. Such a great book, so well written and compelling. Now I have to check out his other books! Nothing wrong with some pop history

I would love to know what books you guys are reading, wishing you were reading or planning to read. Something fun to keep my mind of applications! Also, my Amazon wishlist, at about 200 books, is simply not long enough I just finished reading Carroll Smith-Rosenberg's Disorderly Conduct: Visions of Gender in Victorian America, which has aged extremely well IMO. I'm about to crack open Stephen Kotkin's new book Stalin: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928 and to say I'm anything less than giddy would be an understatement. And I'm planning to read The Deaths of Others: The Fate of Civilians in America's Wars by John Tirman next.

Why not take some time off, get a teaching credential and then reevaluate? It seems like you're having doubts about job prospects after completing the PhD and we just don't know what the job situation will be in secondary or postsecondary education in the next 5-7 years it takes you to finish a doctorate. Even if you get a job as a high school teacher, the pay isn't great and getting a PhD isn't the most intuitive path toward getting that kind of job, as you will take nearly a decade away from working toward tenure and making money to complete a degree that may or may not help you in your career. If you're having doubts, I really think it'd be in your best interest to not apply to PhD programs just yet and do some soul searching. Getting a credential can only help you. Community colleges certainly hire MAs. My MA program is one of the biggest feeder programs into the CCs in its area, some of our lecturers actually work as half CC instructors half university and often help grad students network with CCs. The big thing you need to do is network, boost your CV, get some teaching/tutoring experience, etc and you will more than likely have to patch together a full-time schedule of classes at multiple CCs, at least for the first few years. Expect to travel a lot and accept just about any position teaching any class that gets thrown your way, including ones outside your field. A lecturer was talking to me about having to teach U.S. history at a CC even though he's a Europeanist, but he said it's gratifying to be teaching and learning a subject at the same time. I'm sure this isn't the case for everyone, but it's something to think about.

If they asked you specifically to get in contact after the application was submitted, I would do it. I wouldn't do it to try and mesmerize anyone, although that story made me lol...sounds like a dream come true. I've opted to not contact any POIs at this point because I'm concerned it'll look like I'm trying to influence the admissions process and I'm sure they're ridiculously busy with their classes and, in the coming months, going through applications. As for the LOR, I've read on the board that most programs are understanding when rec writers submit after the deadline because they know that it's out of the students' hands (this would make me freak the f*ck out, though haha my last rec writer submitted this morning and I felt like the world lifted off my shoulders). Have you sent them any sort of reminder, or kept in close contact with them? If you haven't, I'd shoot them a quick email letting them know you've officially submitted all applications, attach a list of programs and deadlines with the final draft of your SOP, and thank them for all their help.

Maybe I'm old school, but I was under the impression it is way, way better to ask for a letter of recommendation in person. In fact, every single thing I've read on asking for a rec pretty much insists on this except in the instances of a professor having retired or living too far away. One of my friends looked at me in abject horror when I stated, off-hand, that I was thinking of emailing a prof for a rec at my undergrad institution (which is about 45 mins away from me) and basically told me to suck it up and make the drive. I'm sure none of my rec writers would have chastised me had I emailed them instead of scheduling a meeting, but I know they would not have viewed that as particular adult-like, especially because I still go to the program and should--in theory--find a way to make time to meet with them. Also, the idea that going to her office is rude is totally off base. Professors have office hours and schedule time with students because they want to help. It is a HUGE part of their job, and I have not had a single professor yet who gets pissed that a student wants to meet with them to discuss their classes, grad school and rec letters. If you're chilling outside her classroom to brown-nose, that's a totally different story, but it's obvious you're not. The very least you could do is email the professor and ask her if she can schedule some time to meet outside of office hours. Like fuzzylogician said, you could also hang outside one of her classes to talk to her or, at the very least, schedule time to chat. I have occasionally audited an undergrad class or two so I could speak to my professors after class, which they seem to appreciate because it shows that I'm cognizant and respectful of their busy schedules, as well as interested in their work.

I think it depends on the school, but working at a secondary school is totally an option. A PhD isn't entirely uncommon for a principal or other administrator, and I had several teachers in high school that had PhDs. They were mainly in the hard sciences, although one had a doctorate in psychology but taught English. I would imagine charter and private schools would welcome PhDs more than public schools, but this is probably too simple of a distinction. I went to a public high school, but it is in a wealthy (think 1-percenters) neighborhood, so maybe that's a factor. Getting a job in secondary school probably won't be any easier with a PhD, though. Job prospects are pretty terrible across the education spectrum. I may or may not know a community college professor who writes historical fiction under a pseudonym to pay the bills...

In Chicago style, you could structure a footnote something like this: John Doe, The Book (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990), 10, quoted in Blah Blah Blah, ed. Jane Doe (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2000), 55. Of course, it's always best to go to the original source, like everyone else has already said. If for whatever reason it's not feasible, however, you should cite in a way that shows you're pulling a quotation from a quotation within a book. Here's a decent website that explains it: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/03

If they require unofficial you can probably use your digital unofficial transcript on the school website. You go to your student center then academics and should be able to pull it up (if your program uses the same system as mine). Otherwise you should suck it up and buy the transcript, maybe have them deliver it rush mail or whatever. This isn't the time to try and circumvent application requirements. Save yourself the stress and do it all the right way. Good luck!

I'm really not that familiar with law reviews, but my lawyer friend-turned historian says it's a similar process. You should probably look up history articles and books and see how the introduction is constructed--that's generally where the author talks about historiography and their argument/position in relation to it. They won't always bludgeon you over the head with it (i.e. "this is the historiography: blah blah blah. This is my position: blah blah blah) so you will have to scrutinize it carefully--as you should when it comes to introductions anyway. Looking at actual historical works will benefit you more than trying to find an exact replica for what historians do in what lawyers do.

Also, look at the bibliographies/footnotes of the secondary works you used in your paper. Do the same names pop up in multiple books? These may be foundational works you should know about. Take note of when authors mention other historians in their book and how they agree/disagree/dialogue with them. This is the author showing you their location in the historiographical web.

It's important for students of history to show their awareness of how historical arguments have changed over time, as well as place themselves within that web of historical ideas. The point of outlining the historiography is to give space to the historians who paved the way for your argument and research and to orient yourself within the web. Historiography is essentially the history of the writing of history. It's not that you need to radically break away from the seminal work/s on your topic--at this stage in your career, you probably won't be able to--but you need to be aware of the "big names and works" in your field (as well as some of the less known, but no-less influential works) and where you are situated among the ideas coming from them. If I was you, I'd look for books coming out of conferences in your field, because these usually outline new historiographical trends. I recently purchased a book on new directions in media history, for example.

Listen to TMP, your paper sounds just fine. Historians generally talk about the historiography (it varies, but can be a historiographical review at the beginning, or discussing historical works throughout, or both) but most of the paper should be based on primary sources. That's all I meant by "what adcomms want to see."

You may want to find some articles on JSTOR to see how historians write and structure arguments. Is your paper based on primary source research? Does it talk about pertinent historical works? That's really what adcomms want to see.

Don't fret, LeventeL. I doubt it'll affect your application negatively. That's more important than the $27

I didn't either since the department says it does not want them. I did self report the scores because I didn't get a message that said not to. I paid $27 for each of my 12 other schools, I took the Northwestern freebie as a gift haha

I'd go for the higher verbal if you aren't applying to math-intensive programs. Your quant scores really aren't that different, whereas your verbal jumped a good amount. May I ask what your field is? That would help in determining which score is most important.

You can PM me

When are your applications due? Even if the paper is outdated, can't you polish it and incorporate some of your new research? In what ways is it outdated, as in does it feel outdated to you simply because you've done more research and have found other interesting things to write about, or because your original research does not seem sound/relevant/strong anymore? Do you think it's a well-written and researched paper? My gut tells me the paper you wrote a year ago is your best bet--it's complete, it's related to your thesis and research goals, and I think that a week (if your apps are due Dec 1st) should be enough time to polish it up and bolster it with some of your new research material. Either way, if Media/Communications programs are like history ones, you should choose whatever paper shows extensive primary source research and analytical writing. Good luck

I just looked at the department website, and you're absolutely right. If they said for you to submit it then I'm sure the upload went through fine. If you're worried, you can always shoot them a quick message. I bet the department is just busy and hasn't gotten to it, but I totally get that you don't want to assume that!

I just checked and mine says the same thing, although I applied only 5 days ago so I'm not too concerned. It also says they haven't received my transcripts, which were scanned to the app and hard copies mailed about 2 weeks ago. I'm guessing it just takes a bit of time for those things to be verified. If you're concerned, it wouldn't hurt to call or email and ask. I uploaded my writing sample to the supplemental application, too, but mine was only 25 pages with bibliography. I have no clue if your 300 page thesis would affect the upload. They asked for the entire thing? That just blows my mind...no way the adcomm at Madison has enough time to read that much when they get upwards of 300 applications. Edit: Just FYI, this is what it says on the admissions status page for UW - "Due to varying program deadlines, processing of your materials/checklist items will also vary. Please allow 14 days for your program to check off receipt of materials. We update the status check at 7:00 a.m. each work day." So I'm guessing that means 14 work days, which means they're barely late in your case. Don't panic yet

I agree with TakeruK on this completely. I still struggle when I look at these categorizations. As a Portuguese person, I don't identify as white. We identify more culturally than ethnically. So being grouped with other white/European groups doesn't jibe for us, at least in terms of how we primarily identify ourselves (there's a recognition that we share European ancestry, but culture trumps that connection). Identity is quite complicated, as we all know. This also changes over time--as a child, my identity wasn't ambiguous. As I've learned more and more about my culture, I realize how grey it is. We need to allow that others have similar moments of uncertainty and exploration when it comes to their identity. I just don't want people to claim an identity just because they think diversity will make them more appealing to adcomms. The OP should be aware that others WILL categorize Portuguese as white, though. But no one on here should think that census categories aren't without problems. Go with your gut, OP