AP

My suggestion would be the same: think of questions and practice the answers. I used a lot of possible questions from this forum to practice (though none of them were there! hahaha). Remember a grad school interview might last 20-30 minutes so you don't want to spend 5 minutes per question. Give concise, clear answers. Also remember to have questions ready for them. These questions are not you asking really, but you showing you can ask interesting things about the program.

Absolutely!

I don't think it's up to you to decide how someone's writing should or shouldn't be at "this stage of her career." This is not to say you shouldn't do anything. As a colleague, you should approach the other student and politely have a conversation with her (while probably suggesting possible resources, like a writing center on campus). Writing is a an uneven skill that not everyone masters at the same pace or in the same way. I've been in your colleague's shoes, writing not so well. I benefited from a fellow grad student pointing out "silly" but overtly huge mistakes. Today we send each other drafts all the time because we trust we are honest, thorough, and kind.

They know what they are talking about. It probably has something to do with the specifics of India-US visa agreements.

Yes, include everything.

Unethical? No. You saw someone in need and offered help. I can say this having gone through grad school: not all labor is paid with money. Maybe in a couple of years this professor highlights your camaraderie in a LOR. Or maybe they offer you a RAship because you have empathy. Or maybe they drop your name to someone who is looking for your type of profile. If you are certain that you helped voluntarily without any fear of reprimand for not helping, you were a kind person. We need more kindness in this world.

To sum up what others have said, no, you don't need a doctoral degree to get published. However (and this is a big however), it depends on your field and your target audience. I doubt you'd be able to publish an academic with an academic press without a PhD (but your field may vary). If you want a book that might work in an UG class (not a textbook), I also doubt that might be possible because faculty tend to assign books written by fellow scholars (i.e. with a PhD) (if your topic is scholarly). So, yes, you can publish but be very clear about your goals. Also, avoid at all costs predator publishing houses. All the best of luck!

I reiterate the example I gave earlier: Columbia's English Department did not place any of their graduating cohort in 2019 a TT job. (see the Chronicle's article. This is a follow up of the original which is behind a paywall). The TT job market is bad regardless of the program you attend and no one can predict what it is going to be like in six years. Thinking that attending a Top 20 program (based on an arbitrary ranking system) will land you a job is naive and misinformed.

For us international students, GRE can be even more stressful. However, GRE scores tend to be indicative for Graduate School threshold, not overall admission. I took the GRE twice because my Writing score was low (4.5 I believe). Check with admission pages from school what is their minimum, that should tell you whether to sit for the exam again or not. As far as GPA conversion, I think there is a website that was helpful when I applied. However, in most cases, AdComms are sensitive to international students transcripts: i.e. even though they may be unfamiliar with your grading system, they can tell what's good and what's bad if you provide enough information. I erred on the side of providing everything in the "original" while clarifying the grading scale or signaling an equivalent in GPA next to it). You SoP will be the most important part of the application.

Yep, those were my first responses to the thread, ranking does not mean placement.

Wait, we were also incredibly lucky. Let's say it.

I agree. Some faculty might be on leave or simply busy. You can reach out to them, politely. I'd also suggest contacting the DGS and/or graduate students. The DGS will give you an idea of the program and graduate students will tell you how the program "really" is. Additionally, @LucasL from foreigner to foreigner, I would run your e-mails by someone before sending them. I doubt this is the case, but you want to make sure you are writing them according to the way it's done here. I learned the hard way there is a format of formality that professors expect. Good luck!

No, they are entirely different exams. TOEFL “measures” level of English and GRE “measures” how you reason in English. I took the GRE twice but prepping for GRE helped with TOEFL. Remember the scores are just to pass the graduate school threshold of minimum requirements.

Yes, yes, I was assuming we were talking about TT positions. If in doubt, go to the Academic Jobs Wiki.

Like money ?

I would still argue that ranking is not the same as placement, and that coming from higher ranked program doesn't mean a higher chance in getting a TT job. (All of my cohort (6 people from different subfields) got TT jobs and we are a program in the 40s). Furthermore, regarding English, there was a recent article in the Chronicle about how Columbia could not place any of their graduating PhDs in TT jobs (I have 3 friends in English that landed TT jobs). Although prestige can mean something, it is not an automatic ticket to anything. Unfortunately, there is no formula.... but I do think that looking at rankings alone it's just a very narrow point of view.

Both last year and this year, those were the institutions with the most job openings in my field. So, IDK.

"Lower" ranked programs does not necessarily mean less jobs. I attended several career panels in grad school. Many panelists, especially professors teaching in regional and community colleges, often said that they did not usually seek to hire research-focused candidates even though they might come from a good program. They argued that many times those are people that are looking for the next job and in teaching communities like the ones they were serving, they thought it was best to select candidates that would be there longer. That said, you should pay attention to elements that will help you get a job to compare programs other than ranking: Research: How does the program/school support graduate research? Do they have teaching/RA responsibilities that prevent them from going to archives/writing/going to conferences? Are there funding opportunities for paying for memberships, travel, etc? How does the program/school support "hidden" research needs? Can graduate students ask librarians to purchase books/access databases? Do GS have access to nearby libraries? Do GS get access to software? Teaching: How does the program/school teaches to teach? What sort of mentorship exists? What opportunities are there for GS to expand their knowledge on pedagogy, teaching, and learning? What support is there for incorporating innovative techniques in the classroom (eg: consults, specialized classrooms, competitive funds, etc)? Do students get to design and teach their own course? Professional Development: How does the program/school see non-academic careers? Do they provide training/financial support for developing additional skills? Do they offer internships/community-based projects for those wanting to pursue public-facing scholarship? Do they provide support for a personal website? How do their programmatic activities look like? Does the program provide professionalization seminars? Do they have a network of alumni you can reach out to? Well-being: Do GS get health insurance? How much? How much are the fees? Do they get mental health coverage? Do GS have a dedicated space for them to work? Does the library or the department provide cubicles/offices? How expensive is housing and transportation around campus, and how is this related to the stipend (if any)? This very narrow list might help you get started. I'd suppose others would like to expand these questions, I'm just thinking from the top of my head. I think you should pay more attention to this rather than simple, arbitrary rankings.

The first thing to do when you don't know how you are doing, is go to your advisor. Also consider talking to the DGS, it's their job to meet with grad students when they have a concern that needs to be kept private. From the information you are giving here, it seems a regular graduate school program. The courses and seminars are the place to make comments, take risks, and be exposed. It is not unusual for professors to model better commenting, though some might not be very tactful. Writing is hard. Be prepared to have your writing eviscerated from now on. For me it also pretty hard, I remember feeling so vulnerable! But my advisor reassured me it was not "me" as a person who was being corrected but my way of (very clumsily) convey ideas. The third case, it seems is not about you at all, since no one has a syllabus. Although your feelings are not unusual, they shouldn't be happening (I think). Do talk to your advisor or a mentor to voice them and see how the department can help.

Why do you need that second Bachelor's if you already have a Master's and a PhD?

Actually, this works in your favor. In your SOP, as you discuss your research interests, you also describe your trajectory. Simply stating that along your path you learned to be flexible with your reality and prioritize your personal health. This will assure AdComms that you are now more confident about your program choices and are unlikely to withdraw.

Ditto. I disagree. You don't need a professor that mirrors your interests. You need a professor that can advise you. You need a department that can support you. So find 1. and then check if anybody else in that department or affiliate departments work on critical theory (or vice-versa). The originality of your research is that it is your research. (though if you find a professor that ticks your boxes, cool!)

Usually, professors teach within their discipline, unless 1) there is crosslisting or 2) Your research takes you elsewhere. Eg: Several historians in my department (history) teach courses in International relations. History and Art History are very distinct disciplines. Our methods, objects, and scholarship are different, which translates into different training and different expectations for the profession. This does not mean that you shouldn't try to collaborate with others and develop inter-disciplinary projects. Further, depending where you are trained as an art historian, you'll receive training more geared towards archaeology, heritage conservation, art history "per se", etc. Now, your double major will not play a role in your job applications. The training for teaching comes at an advanced degree, where you take seminars that discuss methods, historiographies, and interventions. As part of a PhD you will likely sit for comprehensive exams. They look differently across departments, but in general you prepare several fields. I can totally see you preparing a field in art history of... [fill in the blanks] if you are in a history PhD or viceversa. This will provide you with substance to show in your cover letters that you are prepared to teach X, Y and Z. Regarding places to work, Community Colleges (CC) and SLACs have very different profiles. The former emphasizes teaching and the later, research is a substantial part of your tenure portfolio. So, as you move along, think both of your teaching and research agendas, how you can develop them, how they inform each other, and how that serves your own interests. Good luck!

Maybe you want to post this question in the Mathematics thread.

1) Do not by any means ask him to write a letter. He has no reason to explain anything to no one and you requesting that after rejecting his (very bad) terms will not help you. 2) do not waste your time with this experience. I am not sure why you think you need to talk to about this. You had a bad experience about funding that has nothing to do with your research or your potential. If you want to account for the time you “lost”, you can say something like “in the past application cycle I received offers from several programs. After much consideration, I committed to a programs whose funding did not follow through. This taught me that our academic endeavors sometimes depend on external factors. As far as I am concerned, I do follow through”. That’s it, own your decision and not shed any spotlight on anyone other than yourself. The SoP is about YOU.