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I'm still waiting to hear back from the Columbia/LSE joint Master's program, so I'm unlikely to make my final decision until it's down to the wire. But I'm sort of leaning towards OSU at any rate due to the amazing hospitality and my POI. Congratulations, girlscoutcookies, for landing Rutgers! Very impressive!

Hey telkanuru, I'm one of the guys of your cohort year that you met at OSU (a Russianist, William O'Brien, if you recall). I just wanted to say congratulations on making your choice and it was wonderful to meet you. Brown will be privileged to have such a scholar.

I received my acceptance to OSU's History PhD program in mid-February, so practically an eternity ago! It seems it varies very much by department.

I was told that they would not be able to make a decision until after their Campus Days (April 8th to the 10th). I assume they're expecting people to accept/reject their offers shortly thereafter. I'll update you all when I hear back from them! In the meantime, Columbia offered to forward my application from their PhD to a joint MA/MSc program with the London School of Economics. It looks like it's going to be very expensive if I get in, but the program looks really nice for my interests. Does anybody have any information about this program? The director promised to get back to me on my decision sometime between April 3rd and 7th.

Thank you, soppie! What is interesting is that yesterday I was contacted by the University of Columbia and they asked if I would like to be considered for their shared MA/MSc program with the London School of Economics. I emailed them back, so now I suppose I have yet one more decision to be anxious to hear back about. An update otherwise, I talked with the MAPSS faculty at University of Chicago and they agreed to raise my financial award to 1/3 tuition with the possibility of that being raised again to 1/2 if I appeal their committee. What do you guys think about that? Does it make Chicago more viable or attractive?

Thank you all so much for your advice. At Hobson-Jobson, My plan was most certainly to focus on my language acquisition for the gap year after MAPSS. I heard from quite a few sources that the program is too rigorous to take on anything else at the same time. If I may ask, how much off tuition did Chicago offer you when you went? And what were your living arrangements? $700 a month in rent seems very affordable, especially for a big city like Chicago. The ultimate cause of my considering MAPSS when to some OSU would be the obvious choice is that I am afraid of job prospects after I graduate. Truly everybody in the field (and in all academia) stress just how difficult it is to get a job. So I wish to do what you say — to line myself optimally — but I am just unsure which path will do that for me. I have also emailed Chicago about possibly increasing my tuition award; I will update you all once I hear. At Karoku_valentine, That is my thinking. I have been told by a few of my professors that getting a job from a pretty good school like OSU should not be a problem; however, I have heard from many others that you really need to be in a top-10 in order to feel comfortable about it (insofar as anybody can ever feel comfortable in this field). Concerning getting a Masters in Russia, it is kind of off the table. I have missed the application cycle and a professor of mine advised against getting a higher education degree in Russia. I feel inclined to follow his advice as he received his equivalent to a PhD in Russia, himself. At brown_eyed_girl, I have done what you said in the past — check the CV of a few prominent professors — and they definitely all came from some name schools. I think a lot of my questions will be answered when I go to the visitation days (March 27th for Ohio and April 8th for Chicago). The placement records of individual professors’ students would be nice to know as well. At terralily, As mean as it sounds, I am actually kind of happy somebody else is in the same position haha. I should be clear that I have no expectation that MAPSS credits would count towards my PhD. I really do not mind taking extra time to do things (especially since I am going to graduate a year early from my BA) but it is really more the money and the fear of not getting back into a funded PhD program that keeps me from hopping aboard MAPSS. I do not really reasonably expect to see myself teaching at one of these top schools in the future; but, my ultimate goal is to get a job at a place like OSU where the departmental funding is adequate and the student potential is nice. Once again, thank you all. I welcome any more opinions!

A few months back I talked to Professor Lynne Viola at the University of Toronto and she told me the following about US applicants: "our provincial gov’t has put limits in graduate funding of non-Canadian PhD applicants, so it is a bit harder for non-Canadians to get in here, but not impossible!" This obviously only applies to a certain set of people; however, it wouldn't surprise me if similar policies existed elsewhere in Canada. Edit: This post, of course, is assuming that you're a US applicant to a Canadian program and were surprised at perhaps low funding packages offered.

Thank you very much for your insight. At rising_star, According to the US News and World Report at least (which I know is generally very bad to go by and thus the amount of salt I'm taking its recommendations with could fill a small swimming pool) ranks OSU in the mid-20s for history departments, while UChicago ranks among some of the giants like Harvard and Columbia. I will most certainly ask Professor Hoffmann at OSU about his recent job placements when I travel for the visitation day later this month, but what you brought up is certainly my fear. I've been told that Russian history as a practice in the US has been in a decline since the fall of the Soviet Union; however, I think that I might be lucky enough to get my education at an opportune time (with the 100th anniversary of the Russian revolution coming around and the current political situation with Russia). Regardless of that, I thought that UChicago might be more poised to help me get into a better PhD program and thus increase my chances of being one of those lucky 6-8 people who can get a job. In reference to my willingness to teach English in Russia for a year, it is not completely off the table, but it would be a pretty hard thing to pitch to my partner. If I decide to go to OSU in the Fall, I would without a doubt take an intensive language course in the summer. My train of thought leads me to believe that if I'm going to not attend OSU in the Fall, however, then I ought to attend Chicago. It would give me the opportunity to study Russian and possibly address the top-10 department problem in the future. I'm also unsure of OSU's policy on deferment. If I could ask again, what do you think the chances of MAPSS' being willing to negotiate financial aid if I were to initiate that talk? Is it entirely unprofessional to do so? At DTY, That is kind of where I am leaning. A few professors have told me that a PhD at OSU would be enough to secure a job, but I am looking at the climate of job availability and it seems pretty sparse. I would definitely apply to any and all awards I could win to support both language study and dissertation writing time. Thank you both again.

Hello fellow applicants, I am currently an undergraduate student at the University of Central Florida and expect to be awarded my BA in May. My area of research is the Soviet Union in the 1920s. I applied to quite the slew of PhD programs and was rejected from most of them; however, I did receive three offers which I would like you to help weigh for me: 1) Ohio State University, PhD Full tuition waiver and subsidized (80%) health insurance. $15,880 stipend for five years as part of a graduate teaching assistantship. 2) University of Chicago, MAPSS No aid. Was admitted in lieu of a PhD acceptance. 3) American University, MA No aid. Was admitted in lieu of a PhD acceptance. At this point, I have all but declined the possibility of American University for reasons I think are obvious. So my struggle is between Ohio State and University of Chicago. They both seem to me to have their advantages and disadvantages, which I'll try to list here so you all may know my situation: Advantages for Ohio State Guaranteed funding for five years (I don't mind at all the GTA; in fact, I would really love and welcome the experience) Avoiding another round of PhD applications Much more stable for myself and my committed partner (in fact, Ohio boasts a MA program in her discipline as well; but, we are not sure of its credentials at this time) My POI, Professor David Hoffmann, seems like a pretty nice fit for my interests. In the OSU handbook, apparently an adviser from the department must affirm that he's willing to take a BA student as his mentee as a prerequisite for that BA student to even be admitted. Disadvantages for Ohio State Prospects of future employment are not as bright as they maybe could be. My end goal would to be to work at a university with its own PhD program so I may eventually mentor my own students once I secure a tenure track position and I am worried that OSU will peg me in a middle-tier school. The funding package at a different university may be more generous (I am especially worried about having to serve as a GTA during my dissertation writing years) Entering a PhD program immediately may be difficult because of my current language skills. I, of course, will do everything I can to get them to a working level but Russian is not easy. Advantages for University of Chicago Possibility of getting a funded PhD offer from a highly prestigious university in my field Additional time to hone my Russian language skills which are not at the point I am comfortable with (the equivalent to three years of formal study) My Chicago POI, Eleonor Gilburd, also seems very nice and helpful when we briefly talked a few months prior to application season MAPSS boasts an extremely impressive record for funded PhD offers at top universities. Disadvantages for University of Chicago The program is not specifically an MA for history. It is a general program for social sciences. I do not know to what extent this matters; I am in the process of asking a few faculty members for their opinions. The program is only one year long. That in itself is a disadvantage; however, it also would then require me to have a gap year to wait before applying to PhD programs again. I figure during this year, I would focus on language acquisition and maybe apply to programs like Fulbright and the like. It would delay my entry into a PhD program a full two years. I do not mind waiting this time (I am set to graduate with my BA one year early; I am 21 years old) but I am reluctant to take extra time. Would be a significant hardship for my committed partner. She is very supportive but I am unsure how much strain I ought to put on her if I can avoid it. It is extremely expensive to live. MAPSS' website estimated approximately $75,000 for my time there (including cost of living). I can afford to take on this debt with private funds but I am worried that... ...there is no guarantee of getting into a more prestigious PhD program. Or even Ohio State again, for that matter. It would be a monstrous gamble. What do you all think about this? Do you have any inside knowledge into either OSU's PhD program or UChicago's MAPSS program that could be helpful? Do you think it would be a good idea to email the MAPSS coordinator and see if I can ask for more aid by playing OSU off him? I am extremely grateful to have both these offers on the table. At this time, I am leaning towards OSU's program for the stability and for the fact that funded PhD offers of any sort seem to be fairly rare these days. Thank you very much for your time and consideration.