serenade

I would be wary of this and submit an abstract of no longer than a page.

Even if your adviser doesn't determine your funding, it can be useful to list who you want to work with so adcomms can determine if a particular adviser already has too many students, will be going on sabbatical soon, etc.

I think rising_star's suggestion is good. If, however, you decided to go the route you indicated in your original post, I don't think telling them would be a bad idea at all. They will understand your hesitancy to take courses unless you can take them for free.

Visit if you think it will help YOU make a decision on whether to apply there or not, but don't visit just because you think it will help THEM make a decision whether to admit you or not.

I don't think you have anything to worry about! Those scores are outstanding and the breadth and depth of phil courses you took will definitely make for a strong application. Cheers!

I know! I was so sad when the season ended! I'm going to rent them on iTunes and re-watch them because I don't think I picked up everything the first time.

Ah, I see. In that case, I second this advice to go ahead and pursue it since it's a fully funded offer. Though I didn't have to work on my RA projects as my own main project, I will say that I ended up enjoying working on some RA projects far more than I originally thought I would. So it might end up being a good opportunity even if it doesn't spark your interest right now.

I agree. I think that partly explains the diversity of opinions in this thread.

"Do you need high GRE scores to balance average grades? My scores are V:165, AW:4.5, Q:145. I would be considered an older student." I think those scores would considerably strengthen your app, particularly the 165 V. Congrats on those scores!

I feel ya. I don't know anyone who enjoys studying for it. Language proficiency can certainly never hurt your application and in some fields of history, is necessary for an applicant to have a strong chance of a favorable review. There are multiple facets of an app that can to some degree compensate for less than stellar scores. However, adcomms are frequently overwhelmed with numerous strong apps, and cutting down the pile via GRE scores is one way they often handle this. So, GRE scores are a threshold one has to cross to often get a second look. The main expectation is excellent performance on the Verbal and AW sections (though your writing sample will be the primary means of assessing your writing skills --not your GRE essay). In terms of Quant, most history programs aren't expecting excellent or even good scores--more like decent (37th-40th percentile and up). I agree that studying for it often feels like a waste of time when you have so many other History-related aspects of your app that you could be working on instead. But adcomms are looking for the total package, and GRE scores, particularly Verbal, are a threshold to cross in order to demonstrate the strength of the rest of what I'm sure is a great application. Cheers and good luck!

Good question, but I think, as you probably expected, the answer is it depends. For someone like Twentysix who obviously had a strong application to get into UCLA (congrats, by the way, Twentysix!), GRE scores probably were less of a deciding factor than in the case of someone like me who was coming from an unheard-of MA institution, and thus needed to perhaps "prove themselves" by means of GRE scores (also, I was competing at a far lower tier of schools than Twentysix). So basically, if you're dealing with very highly ranked universities and are a "shoo-in", GRE scores probably factor less than if you're dealing with schools on a lower tier for which your application doesn't necessarily stand out (as was my case). GRE scores can push a mediocre application into getting a second look, whereas an already strong application might not need to rely on that when you're at the level of top schools, such as for Twentysix. For people like me who weren't natural "shoo-ins" I still say aim for 90th percentile in V + AW and 37th-40th percentile in Q. For those with stronger overall applications, the need for high GRE scores may be a bit less necessary.

Ah, I see. That's too bad. Sorry to hear that. Perhaps this is a difference in fields from what I'm accustomed to (the humanities). It sounds as though your RA project for this professor would also serve as your own personal project for your degree? If that's the case, then you might want to think twice as to whether this is something that you could envision yourself working on as your own main project for the next several years without burning out. If it's not something you're passionate about, it might be hard to sustain yourself (psychologically/emotionally) through a program with this topic (though financially, it might be the most sustainable). So, if I understand your situation correctly, your financial options have already made the decision for you - committing to working for the professor with guaranteed funding but with research interests you're only lukewarm about. However, I suppose the question now is whether that is better than no funding at all? (In my opinion, it would be worth it for financial reasons, so I'd take the professor up on his offer before another student does and you're left with no funding at all). Best wishes for what sounds like a stressful situation.

If you're wanting to get into top 10-20 schools, it needs to be around 155 or higher. However, if you're content with getting into top 20-40 schools, you can get away with the 149-152 range, though I wouldn't venture any lower than 149. Make sure that your verbal and writing are in the 90th percentile, as that's what's History programs are mainly concerned about. As long as you have 90th percentile V + AW, a 149-152 Q score won't kill you. I got into relatively decent schools (CUNY, Maryland at College Park, Notre Dame, and a few others) with V: 163, AW: 5.0, and Q: 149. As I mentioned above, several people I met at my interview had almost these exact scores. However, of course, none of these schools are super elite, so if that's what you're after, then you need a pretty high Q score. But if you're aiming at schools within this tier, you should be okay with a Q score no lower than 149-151. In terms of study aids, the Princeton Review book was helpful as were Magoosh practice tests and ETS power prep practice tests. Not to sound like an ETS spokesperson, but it really is true that the actual math on the GRE is easy (addition, subtraction, fractions, percentages etc). It's the way ETS words the questions that make them tricky. A review book is helpful in deciphering ETS code in that respect. Once you can crack the code, the actual math is nothing too difficult. Easier said than done, I know, because I am not a math person in any sense and even after doing quite a bit of studying, I only came out with a 149! Believe me - math sucks - but it's worth putting in that extra effort to get a decent score to get into a good program. So, in summary, I'd say to definitely retake it to get your V + AW scores up to 90th percentile and raise your Q score at least 4-5 points. Good luck!!!

Definitely retake it! I say that only because your scores were nearly identical to mine the first time I took it in undergrad to get into my MA program (mine were 157 Verbal, 145 Quant, 5.0 writing). When considering PhD apps, I retook it two years later during my MA after about 9 months of studying (Princeton Review book and online Magoosh practice tests) and came out with 163 Verbal, 149 Math (I'm just not a math person!) and 4.0 AW (but got to report all scores, so schools saw my 5.0 from my first test). All that to say, your scores (in my opinion) show that you're not *quite* where most PhD programs want. BUT, I think that you definitely have potential to bring them up if you retook it, particularly now being in an MA program and having greater critical thinking skills, ability to read a passage and determine the overall argument etc than you probably did the first time you took it. At least that was true in my case. Unless you are planning on the Ivies, for most PhD programs, aim for above 90th percentile in Verbal, 5.0 in writing, and at least upper 140s in Quant. I was terrified that my quant score would harm my application, but I got into a top #36 school (according to US News & World Report' s History grad school rankings, for what it's worth). When I went for my interview at said school, several of us at the interview had nearly identical scores: 163 verbal (92nd percentile), 5.0 AW (90th percentile), and 149-150 Quant (Can't remember exact percentiles but they weren't anything to brag about). So don't worry if you can't do math--just study enough to get a decent score but they're mainly looking at Verbal and AW. Also, as you know, studying for it is a PAIN, but even a modest amount of quant studying can really improve your score. And for Verbal, memorize as many vocab words as you can. That really helped me. Also, for the critical reading, I was always surprised when I got the wrong answer on practice tests because I always *thought* I picked the correct answer. But getting a review book that explains ETS' reasoning behind a particular answer choice was really valuable because the whole point of the test is to think like ETS. So then the question becomes not, "which answer makes most sense?" but rather, "What would ETS think about this?" Anyway, sorry this is so lengthy, but just wanted to encourage you that if you study for at least a few months, you could definitely improve your score! And just think, unless you're wanting to do quantitative research or interdisplinary stuff with social sciences, this may be the last time you ever have to do math! That in itself was one of the greatest moments of my life. Going to hit 'add reply' before I continue to ramble...but good luck!!! You can do it!!

Although I know it depends on a variety of factors, just curious how long (page length) the average PhD dissertation is, generally speaking?

Thanks. A few more questions since I'm a novice at this whole concept: Over the course of your PhD, how often do you travel to archives (once a year/every summer etc)? How long do you stay each time, generally speaking? Finally, do you apply to the same grants each year or different ones? (assuming one is not among the lucky who get Fulbright/Mellon grants).

Thanks for the info, everyone. Do most of the funding grants require rec letters? If you're applying for grants in the first semester of your program, how do you get letters from professors that haven't even known you for a whole semester yet?

How early in your program did you begin researching in archives? Summer after first year, etc? I'm starting a PhD program in the fall and will have to do archival research in Europe at some point. Interested to know at what point in a PhD program is typical to begin this.

Mathsnotmath, just out of curiosity, what ended up happening? I have a friend in my program going through a very similar situation with her advisor. Wishing all the best for you!

My advisor let me register for more than my grad program's standard 3-courses-a-semester so that I could take language courses on top of a full load. Definitely not uncommon.

Take it! My RA supervisors never had any say in what courses I took. Also, it's certainly not uncommon for people to switch, so unless your program indicates that this arrangement is set in stone, you shouldn't have any problem switching (aside from what TakeruK explained about competitiveness etc). Cheers!

I don't really have any solutions, but just wanted to say that I can commiserate. I have 4 articles that I've gotten revise and resubmit requests, and after I submitted them, a few have entered the dreaded "article purgatory" as well. It sucks because at least they could acknowledge that they got your email and will get back to you soon rather than just totally ignoring it.

Wow! You really hit a bad string of luck! Sorry to hear that. Yes, I leased on a 1 bedroom at the Overlook. I had to submit a security deposit of $1245. ($945 plus $300 deposit fee). I'm unfamiliar with the term "resumption." What exactly does that mean? I don't start paying rent until August when my lease begins. I will also have to pay $1890 when I get there in August (first and last month's rent). Here's to hoping that something opens up for you soon! You never know when craigslist might have something along the lines of what you're looking for. Don't lose hope!

Xor, so sorry to hear that you're waitlisted at multiple places! That must be so frustrating! Have you looked at craigslist?

Flatter them by expressing your interest in their recent book/article. Briefly describe what kind of research you would be interested in pursuing, and how your interests overlap with their work, i.e., why they would be a good fit. And then ask if they are taking on students for the semester you would be beginning. If you don't hear back in a week, email them again. If you don't hear back the second time, drop it. Good luck!