smellie
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Posts posted by smellie
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So I've contacted a couple of professors for Ph.D programs, but without any luck - that is, no response at all.
Should I bother resending them?
Or would it be better to wait until the professors are back in school in September?
I know some of my profs never answer emails from students during summer.
p.s. I'm in humanities, and I did get into my current MA program without every talking/making contacts with my advisor.
So I'm little confused about how important it really is to make that contacts..
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Well, obviously it will hurt your chances of establishing contact with that specific professor. But lots of people get into programs without getting to know their potential supervisor all that well. If your supervisor has to be away for one year of your PhD, the first year is probably best, since you have the least direct contact.
Thanks! it makes me feel a bit better. Just to be more clear, the professor is away this year, so she will be back for my first year in Ph.D. I was wondering, to rephrase my question, if her being away during the application & selection process would be a minus for me..
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Q1.
The professor I am interested in working with is listed as "on-leave" for 2009-10.
Would that hurt my chance of establishing contacts/being accepted?
Q2.
Has anybody reapplied or applied while being enrolled in a grad school and got better results?
I am entering second year of an MA program right now, and am applying for Ph.D programs. This means I would have a new set of LORers, a different Writing Sample, and a transcript at a grad-level. Will all this make any difference?
I must be insane to voluntarily put myself through this process again...
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I applied to 10 schools, humanities program.
6: reach schools
2: in range schools
2: safety schools
I ended up getting into 1 range school and 1 safety school, with full funding from the range school and partial from the safety. I know I applied to waay too many reach schools, but heck, why not.
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Hi everyone,
I decided on the University of London over NYU (my 4-year Canadian funding will actually last for the duration of the program + London has better advisors for my specific interests). I just couldn't rationalize having to re-do my Master's and being in school for another 7 years with everything being so uncertain--I had no idea if the supervisor of my choice would end up working with me, or if they would ever provide adequate funding. I know that this forum is mostly American, but are there any other Canadians going to England? Good luck to everyone
I have few friends who were accepted to schools in UK but they decided to stay.. but two of my professors are from UCL, one of them being Canadian. She said she really loved it. I think Canadian schools have a lot more openings for ppl with UK ph.Ds (3 professors in my department earned their Ph.Ds in UK). Good luck with your future edndeavors in London
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I finally got funding for UNC. This is such a load off. Now, the fun part of trying to pack up and move. Congrats to everyone!
WOOHOO! That's awesome!
So I guess I will see you in August, then?
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Thank you very much for your answer. I am definitely looking into applying for a Master's instead. The writing sample should not be a problem either (I hope
).However, the questions is: Would it make any sense for me (considering my CV) to apply to PhD programs? I have read that they are extremely competitive and reading some CVs of prospective applicants who frequently have tons of research/work experience (at least that is my impression) I doubt that I would stand a chance. Anybody knows more?
After reading a whole bunch of posts, it should also be clear that grad admission is like lottery. Some will get in with not-so-great CV while some with great background gets rejected. Try 1-2 Ph.D programs that you'd be willing to go if accepted. No harm in trying, really.
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I wonder if anybody would be willing to create some sort of network for gradacfe alumnae - exchanging ideas, reading papers, or just saying hello when going to the same conference.
suddenly the world of academia seems so big and scary..
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lxs:
Congrats! So nice to see you getting the funding you so deserved. I hope you enjoy NY to the fullest
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I'm not a poli-sci major, but as an international who applied/admitted to US schools, I can tell you that being internationl should be the least of your worry. They admit enough international students each year, and the funding is usually merit-based, though many external fellowships are limited to citizens.
With GRE, just study, study, study. Even native speakers have difficulties getting good scores in GRE. You may have to put in some extra efforts into it, but it's certainly doable. You may, if circumstance still permits, try writing undergrad thesis or a good research paper. You will need this for your writing sample. A good wiriting smaple and SOP matters far more than GPA+GRE.
That said, there are also many Master's programs in poli-sci that come with funding. You might want to apply both master's and ph.d programs, and see where it takes you. If you end up landing on an master's program, it will be a good steppingstong for your future endeavor in ph.d application.
I am currently considering studying in the US for a PhD but I have absolutely no idea what my chances are as most discussions about this topic are obviously focussed on American applicants. My (approximate) profileCurrently studying undergrad political science at a top 10 British University.
Expected Result: "First" (difficult to translate this into a GPA but it might be 3.8-4.0)
No research experience (reading through this forum I have noticed that it seems to be much more common in the US to be involved in research as an undergrad)
No internship/work experience related to political science (just some stuff outside my field)
Not a British national and not a native speaker of English (Went to the UK after finishing high school in Germany, tried to be adventurous). I won't have any problems passing the TOEFL/IELTS but my results in the verbal section of the GRE would probably be weaker than those of native speakers, the quantitative section should be less of a problem.
Spent a semester abroad at a Southeast-Asian university to broaden my horizon.
Extracurricular activities related to Political Science. (President of the University's Model United Nations Society etc.)
After this rather limited description, can anybody tell me where I stand or what I could expect? I have absolutely no idea and would be happy about any suggestions or pieces of information you might come up with. Don't fear being vague, everything helps.
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charis:
CONGRATULATIONS!! that is freaking amazing. awww ...
yeah, I'd definitely pay them a visit. yeepee!
Also, can someone PLEASE tell me what kind of funding (if any) I would be competing for in the second year? As a foreigner, am I allowed to work? I know it's late, and I should have done this research already, but I am going out of my mind.If you're not an American citizen, there's virtually no way of working off-campus legally. You'd have to apply for work-study, which I think you need a departmetn approval.. not sure about it.
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It's a two year program. 30 K a year. 6500 a year in scholarship money and 3000 in federal work study a year. I contacted the grad coordinator who is meeting me next week to discuss possibilities.
Good job Smellie.
I've seen people who successfully negotiated from no-funding to full tuition. There is hope! Good luck!
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charis:
I've decided to take this summer easy. I used to work internship/job every summer, and going straight back to school after 3 months of work was physically, mentally exhausting after doing that for 3years.
I plan on expanding one of my papers over the summer+fall and going to try publishing it in a grad-run journal. It may not get accepted, but I want the experience, if anything. Other than that, getting driver's license (no.. I grew up in cities where public transportation was excellent), travel, read, helping mom's business..
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My funding package includes TAship+health insurance+15K stipend+tuition remission.
I'm also going into MA program in humanities (art history).
That said, it seems like it'll be a lot of loans for the MA. Have you contacted the department and negotiated your funding? Ask if they have TA positions available, or if there's possibilities for more funding. Let them know you'd really like to attend and that financial aspect worries you.
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Congratulations! It seems a little early for the last class. I know for sure that the spring semester goes on until the first two weeks for my undergrad school.
I just got off the phone with the Umich. I was so nervous and I don't think I made a really good impression. She said they don't have an opening yet but they expect to figure out who's going to enroll within the next few days. She told me the admission is field-specific and whether I get accepted or not depends on the field of the person declining offer. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
My school ends earlier than most US schools
I thought you were in school, too, for some reason. Are you working currently?
UMich: I just found and read a wonderful article written by the prof I wanted to work with at UMich. It made me very sad that I didn't get in
I'll keep my fingers for you- good luck!
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I just had my last, the LAST class of my undergrad career. woohoo!
This thread has been my life support the past few months, and I'm glad that everyone seems to be landing on good schools
Go us!
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Hi! I am an int student as well. My program will start the 5th September, so I think I will be allowed to arrive to the U.S. one month before only. The problem is that my (future) University organizes Summer language courses for Grad student....and they start in June. So, I think that because of my Visa, I wont be able to attend it. Anyone in a similar situation??? :cry:
I heard if you let the school know that you have to attend the program, they'll expediate the process. I don't know where you're from/are now, but start getting all the documents together, ask the school to send you the appropriate I-20 etc. so that as soon as the school send you all necessary stuff, you could go ahead and submit your application. In my country, it only takes 2-3 days to get the visa once you submit/interview.
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I suppose I could be biased. You see, everyone in Minnesota knows someone who went to York or Western, but few could even tell you which province houses McGill. I'm not saying that McGill is a bad school (oh, the self-important snobs there would have a heart attack if I dared!), or that York or Western are in any way better schools. I'm just talking about familiarity.
All I know is that, in my experience, the name recognition of McGill is very low outside of the academy. It is not a brand name, by any means. In fact there's about 1.5 Canadian schools that are brand names in America (UofT, with UBC being the 0.5).
If you want to teach in Canada, McGill is an excellent choice.
the self-important snob dares you!
I do agree with Mnnesotan to certain extent. It's been traditionally an academia-oriented school, though the difficulties it has had with funding makes that reputation a bit shaky. If McGill had the financial resources that UofT has, it could've made a much better institution than it already is. It certainly took a hit when 45% of Quebecois decided to vote YES for separation.
I'm not sure if I agree about the name value of York or Western in the states - I grew up near Western so my view of the school may be little tainted. They ARE good schools in certain areas, including business and management, which happens to be the bringer of reputation.
So I think there're several factors to consider
a) the regional factor - It seems there's a lot greater chance that a person from eastcoast will recognize the name than someone from, say, California. From the demographic of Americans I've encountered, many of them are from NY, NJ, Vermont, and other eastern part of the US.
your discipline. McGill may be known to ppl working in certain field than others. c) French! I think that the fact that it's in Quebec, a francophone part of Canada, makes it somewhat more distant to some people. Though it is an English institution, I've seen people shy away from McGill specifically because they didn't want to deal with French issue outside the school.
That being said, there's an incredibly large number of American citizens on McGill campus for its size. They seem to love it, especially if they were looking for a good quality education with good name for half the pricetag of private US school.
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If you plan on coming back to N.America and get a job, I'd think it makes sense to do your degree here. That way you're in the loop, getting to know people and be aware of the potential job market.
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I'm coming, too! (for MA)
I come from a very non-athletic school and my knowledge of college sports league is below zero. So looks like I'd have a lot more than academics to catch up on!
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UNC, humanities MA: TAship tuition waiver, 15K per year, health insurance
I thought it was pretty good for an MA funding in humanities..
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Why dont you ask them about your I-20? Moreover, you should ask them how they will send your I -20. If they are not going to send it over express mail through FedEx or DHL (which is very unlikely but not impossible), ask them to send it over express mail and you will pay the cost.
They were vague about exactly when they're sending them out, so I was wondering how other schools are doing. Thought I hadn't thought about the mail thing - thanks for the suggestion. This is my first time applying in the States, so everything's a bit hectic
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Other than one piece of paper that told I got in, I haven't hear anything back from Grad Office.
Since I accepted the offer, the department has sent me e-mails about funding package (TA for sure, then tuition remission was "recommended" to the Office),
and is sending a confirmation letter about funding and advisor etc. But NOTHING from Grad office, no e-mail or no letters confirming anything.
And it seems like they're not willing to send anything by priority mail, because it took 2 weeks for my admission letter to come in the first place.
I'm very anxious to get start with my visa application, because from years of experience of living as a foreigner in North America/Europe,
I learned that you can never have enough time with visa.
The school even required me to send in financial documents when applying to "expediate" the process, but where are my letters??
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Question to all:
What constitutes a "full funding" in art history?
And can someone share their experiences of securing fellowships while in MA?
I was admitted on TAship (tuition remission+stipend), but I'm wondering if I could get my hands on some fellowships.
It seemed like many of the external fellowships are for Ph.D candidates..
Contacting Professors
in Applications
Posted
I contacted her about 2-3 weeks ago: just a brief email stating my area of interest, a couple of books/articles I read by her that I thought was indicative of the "good fit," and my intention to apply. The only question I had at the time was whether she'll be accepting new students. I tried to listen to the advice ppl have been giving here.
I guess I should try again?
One more question,
what do you put in the email for your subject line?
I'm so terribly at this...