breakfast

I second the recommendation for a laser printer. Stay away from ink jets if you're going to be printing a lot.

You're initially going to pay more for the laser printer, but over the long-term there is no comparison. I've had the same toner cartridge for an entire year and have printed thousands of pages. I can buy another toner replacement for no more than $30 if I go off-brand. Compare that to an ink jet, where you'll be buying new ink every other month at $20 each little cartridge of ink (more if you need color).

Wow. What a thread.

I'll begin by saying congratulations to your top-20 admit. You were clearly fishing for compliments, so I won't let your efforts go unrecognized. You are much better than all of us who accepted offers at schools ranked "way down there" in the 60's and 70's according to USNWR, and you were too good a candidate for these programs. One wonders why you even bothered to apply. I mean, surely you could have gotten accepted to any top-10 program of your choice.

Or rather, seeing as how completely transparent your writing is, perhaps the admissions committee at these "low ranked" schools saw right through your statement of purpose. Pretentious? Check. Pompous? Check. Thinks she is too good for our program? Check. It's clear from your post that you didn't want to go to any of these. They were merely a back-up in case of a rejection from one of the "better" ivy programs.

Enjoy your top-20 program. You'll probably fit right in. Don't worry about the rest of us plebs in our terribly low ranked programs.



I just wanted to agree with this. Fantastic post with a lot of great information.

Wow. What a thread.

I'll begin by saying congratulations to your top-20 admit. You were clearly fishing for compliments, so I won't let your efforts go unrecognized. You are much better than all of us who accepted offers at schools ranked "way down there" in the 60's and 70's according to USNWR, and you were too good a candidate for these programs. One wonders why you even bothered to apply. I mean, surely you could have gotten accepted to any top-10 program of your choice.

Or rather, seeing as how completely transparent your writing is, perhaps the admissions committee at these "low ranked" schools saw right through your statement of purpose. Pretentious? Check. Pompous? Check. Thinks she is too good for our program? Check. It's clear from your post that you didn't want to go to any of these. They were merely a back-up in case of a rejection from one of the "better" ivy programs.

Enjoy your top-20 program. You'll probably fit right in. Don't worry about the rest of us plebs in our terribly low ranked programs.



I just wanted to agree with this. Fantastic post with a lot of great information.

It's unprofessional to discuss the pros and cons of working with various professors on a public forum. Even if you substitute your potential advisers' real names for "Professor A" or "Professor B," it's not hard to tell who you're talking about. Mentioning someone's health problems ("so-and-so had a heart attack") is beyond the pale. There's a private messaging feature. Use it.

I wouldn't underestimate the value of your last summer before graduate school. You will never again have that much free time to do anything that isn't related to your field or research. Unless your adviser specifically gives you things to do over the summer, I would just relax and go hiking or camping or whatever leisure activity you enjoy, since you will have so many constraints on your time once you enter your program.You say you don't have a summer vacation planned? Plan one.

I wouldn't underestimate the value of your last summer before graduate school. You will never again have that much free time to do anything that isn't related to your field or research. Unless your adviser specifically gives you things to do over the summer, I would just relax and go hiking or camping or whatever leisure activity you enjoy, since you will have so many constraints on your time once you enter your program.You say you don't have a summer vacation planned? Plan one.

NNNOOOOOOOOOOO. *darth vader style*

teaching is definitely important for your CV. even at R1 universities. my R1 university turned down a great candidate with ground-breaking scholarship because his teaching experience was so thin, we worried he wouldn't even be able to advise or lead a grad seminar. it was still a close vote, but grad students' concerns over his teaching inexperience ultimately cost him the job. another candidate for a different job search was really put over the top when (in addition to a great job talk) we found out that he had won teaching awards and had advised undergraduate honours' theses. he went to harvard, so it's not like he was teaching because his school couldn't afford to support him with fellowships.

THAT SAID, teaching for 3 of your 5 years in grad school is excessive. 1 or 2 years of teaching are more manageable in terms of getting you through your coursework and research in a timely fashion and in terms of building some real teaching experience. when you're in your 6th or 7th year (because NO ONE finishes an MA/PhD in 5 years), then you can teach again.

I'm going to jump in really quick and advise that nobody should think of law school as a safety option. New grads from law school are facing a worse job market than a lot of humanities fields right now. I don't know why the idea of law school as a path to guaranteed success has persisted, but unless you go to one of the best law schools in the country, you are going to graduate with a mountain of debt and a useless degree.

I'm going to jump in really quick and advise that nobody should think of law school as a safety option. New grads from law school are facing a worse job market than a lot of humanities fields right now. I don't know why the idea of law school as a path to guaranteed success has persisted, but unless you go to one of the best law schools in the country, you are going to graduate with a mountain of debt and a useless degree.

I'm going to jump in really quick and advise that nobody should think of law school as a safety option. New grads from law school are facing a worse job market than a lot of humanities fields right now. I don't know why the idea of law school as a path to guaranteed success has persisted, but unless you go to one of the best law schools in the country, you are going to graduate with a mountain of debt and a useless degree.

No, in this case, it's a big meanie who wants to give $140 million in kickbacks to his supporters and then balance the budget by stripping people of their labor rights.

Are you suggesting that all public servants feel no accountability to the public, always? That they wouldn't want to keep budgets and low taxpayer burden in mind? I find this a dubious assertion, especially as there have always been (where I've lived, anyway) fiscal conservatives who seek out positions in government for the sole purpose of preventing it from spending too much money. These are in addition to the folks who work for government because the genuinely want to serve the public. They exist!

Spoken like someone who's never had a public sector job.

I've worked in public health and two state academic medical centers as a nurse. Unions are absolutely critical both for attracting and retaining good staff in the public sector. The pay is lower. The benefits are better. If there's no upside, why would people in demand choose the public sector?

Keep in mind that there is a huge difference between collective bargaining for public sector jobs and private sector jobs. In the public sector, there is little fiscal accountability, so generally collective bargaining is much more powerful than in the private sector. Without pressure from stockholders the government has little reason to resist it. Collective bargaining in the public sector is a significant cause of government waste. Keep that in mind.

As an alumni of UNC's history department I feel I should point out that it's often not the most coherent or organized place. There are a lot of professors there that aren't as clued into department policy as they should. I would caution those of you who are waiting on that department not to assume organization or system in the way it handles informing people.

A lot of credit unions actually have those kinds of deals with other credit unions, to extend their "reach". Even though my credit union only has physical branches in part of my state, if I go online I can give a zip code and find out where there are a ton of free ATMs anywhere in the country.

A large ATM network is not a reason to choose a large bank over a credit union. If you really need cash that often (why not just use your bank card?), almost every business offers cash back on purchases. I can go to the grocery store, buy a pack of gum, and get cash from them.Or, just go use one of the many free ATMs that your credit union probably has deals with somewhere.

Cash cow. Unless you are independently wealthy, it probably isn't worth taking out those kinds of loans to pay tuition AND housing for an MA program.

Cash cow. Unless you are independently wealthy, it probably isn't worth taking out those kinds of loans to pay tuition AND housing for an MA program.

I planned on spending exactly six days waxing rhapsodic about the grand, profound decision I was making and that everyone was hanging on. I figured that would maximize the romance and drama. I was crushed on day four to have my process interrupted with the surprising reminder that it wasn't all about me.

I really don't know where you're getting all this from but grad school as soap opera is actually kind of a fun literary style!

First of all, you realize this thread is from last year's admission cycle, correct? Thankfully I am already in graduate school so advice on this matter no longer applies. I see that you are applying this cycle and I remember how stressful the process was. That said I don't think there's any need to imply that I am/was selfish and immature in my actions, or that I didn't put enough thought into it. You're making a bunch of assumptions that reflect more on you than they do on me IMHO.

And FWIW I didn't spend "months making a decision" - I got an offer from this program in late March so I had less than a month to think it over, along with 4 other offers. I only put them in the "no" column maybe a few days before I got that email. And I still think they were jerks for changing the deadline at the last minute because it was more convenient for them.

I'm just making some observations on what I have noticed about this process, having gone through it before. I'm also in graduate school. And yes, I am making observations (sorry, I wouldn't call them assumptions) that reflect on me - I try to be more practical about graduate school and what it is. It's all very romantic and dramatic to have this grand, profound decision to make that everyone is hanging on but I don't think it's very practical or realistic.

I'm sorry you thought they were jerks but A) creating their cohort isn't, surprisingly, about you (this is a general note) and how many days were you going to congratulate yourself on having five offers before you turned it down?

Another critical factor that seems to be missing in this debate is Princeton's lack of teaching requirements. This really should not be viewed as an asset. Want a job? Then you absolutely need to have teaching experience. When visiting be sure to find out how many graduate students teach and what opportunities are available for honing pedagogical skills.

This is pretty awful advice. Location shouldn't be your first consideration, but it certainly shouldn't be your last, either.

I don't know anybody who spends every minute of their time on their work. That's an easy way to guarantee your own misery for x amount of years. You need a life outside of your work, or you will quickly burn out. Your studies or research are going to make you miserable at times, and you don't want to find yourself living somewhere that doesn't allow you to have a release or life outside of school.

You're right - if you choose a career in academia you will almost never be able to choose where you live. Might as well enjoy that for the last time when you are in grad school. As for your third comment, I don't think anyone would turn down a top program to attend a sub-50 ranked program because of location. When you have identified your top two or three choices, you should give some consideration as to the place you will be living for the next 8-9 years.

This is pretty awful advice. Location shouldn't be your first consideration, but it certainly shouldn't be your last, either.

I don't know anybody who spends every minute of their time on their work. That's an easy way to guarantee your own misery for x amount of years. You need a life outside of your work, or you will quickly burn out. Your studies or research are going to make you miserable at times, and you don't want to find yourself living somewhere that doesn't allow you to have a release or life outside of school.

You're right - if you choose a career in academia you will almost never be able to choose where you live. Might as well enjoy that for the last time when you are in grad school. As for your third comment, I don't think anyone would turn down a top program to attend a sub-50 ranked program because of location. When you have identified your top two or three choices, you should give some consideration as to the place you will be living for the next 8-9 years.

This is really key -- dental issues are often what nail budgets.

On the Princeton/Michigan debate: I'm not in LA history, so I can't offer specific comments in that regard. However, I would urge anyone to visit a place before cutting it from the list. Latitude and longitude are only 1 part of what makes a place. Weather is surmountable, cohort/department/institutional life is less so. I've been to both Princeton and Ann Arbor; frankly, I don't see them as all that different. Sure, Princeton is closer to NY, but it's also a suburban college town with lots of snobbery -- and that comes from a family friend who is a faculty member elsewhere but had a Princeton Advanced Studies fellowship. He and his wife said they'd never live there again. What I'm saying is that there are locale differences but I'm not sure which ones you're really getting at or how meaningful they are. Are you concerned about cold weather or local restaurants? I wouldn't say locale isn't a factor in decisions, but atmosphere, program environment, and mentoring seem more critical to me.

And I'd visit both programs to see how you react to the universities, faculty, and grad students. Multiple Ivies have consistently tried to lure Rebecca Scott away from Michigan (Harvard last year) and she has stayed every single time. There must be something about the LA program and department that keeps her there. You applied, they accepted you: at least give it as serious consideration as you are to Princeton. People here are offering you info that you seem to resist. If your mind is made up, fine, but there's no need to seek out info about Princeton if you've already decided to go there.

If this sounds snarky, well there are plenty of people who would like to have your options; the least you can do is take them seriously OR say no to one immediately to potentially open up a waitlist spot.