AP

GPA: if you want to include one, include the most recent. Professional membership: It doesn't hurt, should go at the end. Since you don't have many publications, include the reviews there. Unless you have 10 peer-reviewed articles/chapters and 10 reviews. Otherwise you are just adding sections for no reason. Include non-academic publications under "Non-Academic Publications" section. Think carefully if this is relevant. Example: do they reflect your public scholarship? Teaching experience: Yes, be clear about what is what. Eg: 2016 Fall semester tutoring biology 101. Study abroad: it will probably show up in your transcript. Why do you need it here? Theses: Under education. It should read like this: Education 2017 Master of Arts in Philosophy (GPA). thesis: "blah blah blah" 2015 Bachelor of Arts in Biology (Hons). thesis: "bleh bleh bleh" Remember the CV is an argumentative text. Think why you want to add stuff. Do not add things for the sake of adding because it makes the AC wonder why those things are there. Example: if you did a study abroad in France and you want to study French philosophy, then you can include it under education (not as separate, just as a note clarifying one semester abroad in France). You will also mention this in your SoP, arguing for your readiness to begin a PhD. This is important: Make your CV a document that supports and complements your SoP.

Upfront your experience. "Time off" is never irrelevant. Spin it, it gave you experience of something, it helped you learn at least one skill, even if it was time-management.

It looks that your best options is to stop guessing and ask the university if they can give you a payment plan; and your advisor, if they let have a job on campus (be sure to know which job and how much you'd be making so that it makes sense to you. The important things is to graduate).

I was an international student from the southern hemisphere, so I quit my job mid-July and had about a month to sell my stuff, travel a little bit, and say goodbye to family and friends. If you can afford it, I'd certainly recommend taking a hiatus from work.

I agree with @lemma, either reject or defer the American admission. Knowingly applying for a program when you have already accepted an offer from a US institution can burn many bridges. In addition, it does not reflect well on your professional behavior, even to the Australian program. Remember that a lot of people are invested in your American offer (including LoRs writers). Have you considered doing a postdoc in the Australian institution? You can use your PhD years to build connections and work collaboratively so that when you graduate you have a network there to further your professional interests.

I got a plan strong on data because of all the WhatsApp texting/calling/video calling. Some companies give you an international text plan, but I have never used that because no one in my home country uses text anymore. When I got back from the field, I got a SIM card at the airport and months later I migrated to another company because that one was not giving me good coverage. Before then, I had bought a (blocked) phone in target with a $35 plan (now I pay $40).

External drive for all those interviews?

It's fun to see how packages have evolved (or not!) in the past 5 years!

In addition: You will (or should) interact with people outside your cohort. For example, you will share seminars with first years from other departments or with second years in your own department. My closest friends from grad school were (besides one from my cohort), one in Anthro, two in English, and then two in the cohorts below me. This, of course, depends on your department culture. In my school, I did not cross paths with any but one sociologist, but with an array of people in the romance languages departments. Good luck!

Late: after orientation.

Definitely start by contacting professors by e-mail. Introduce yourself Give reason for writing Lay out your research interests say that you would like to discuss your application to X University with them I am not an expert in contacting professors. I think I made many mistakes. Yet, professors tend to be sympathetic with our international awkwardness...

There is an organization called Expats in... [fill with country] present in several countries of Latin America. I joined a sports club, went to a lot of talks, and joined a church.

What does the syllabus say about the final project? Bring the syllabus when you talk to your advisor/DGS.

This will sound horrible, so apologies: For entering a PhD program you need more than just proximity and a family. Those are excellent reasons for you to personally prefer UCLA. But those will not get you in, they will not even get you on the 'maybe' pile. Here's what you can do to make your case: 1) Show your non-traditional experience. I am biased here because I love people that come to a PhD in History through other programs or atypical paths. In your SOP, show how this life experience informs your research questions. 2) Foreground your background to show your preparedness to talk about the topics you are interested in from an interdisciplinary perspective. 3) Do not apologize for your "disadvantages": use them as advantages. For example, as you write, do not say that your other degrees have nothing to with history, but that you bring to the department a fresh perspective for the study of X topic in Y place. 4) Since you are close, can participate in events open to the public to mingle with faculty and students? You've got this!

I was going to say this.

I'm not sure I understand your question then. I'll apply for OPT and then work visa. But I wouldn't do unpaid work just to have a visa.

PR said it was unpaid. But yes, the wording was very confusing.

I am not saying that labor in US is not exploitative, least of all academia. I was talking about the *ridiculously* exploitative job ads (I added the adverb on purpose, to make the distinction between labor conditions in general and just the ridiculous ones, like SIU's) that take advantage of any PhD (local or international) only because the job market is hard. We all have our non-negotiable points. For me, unpaid labor is one of them.

In case you haven't heard, SIU is testing a hiring model where recent PhDs would do some faculty work with no pay. Here's the original post on facebook by Karen Kelsky. Here's part of the Twitter feed where some positions argued that they would get paid in experience/exposure. This is a feed after someone called to ask about the position. Here and here are two important the HigherEd articles discussing the issue further. As many of you enter graduate school or have recently entered graduate school, these matters become more pressing. Participating in these conversations may help us polish our position towards these topics (such as labor conditions, compensation, adjuncts, and the like). As an international student, I am resolved not accept ridiculously exploitative labor conditions for clinging to a visa. What are your thoughts?

a) If you can market yourself, you need the specific MAs. I know people with the regular MA working in those jobs. The one teaching is doing the MAT now, the five people I know working in libraries are doing the MLIS, and the four I know in archives are ok with that "pure" history MA. b)I reiterate, then, my big question in my post: Why do you want an MA for?

It takes a lot of money and time to admit you and support you in a PhD program. Knowingly accepting an offer that you will walk out from is not very professional. I agree with @BuckinghamRabbit that you need to think of why you need the MA and not the PhD. I don't think an MA is purposeless. On the contrary, many professions require "only" an MA in history, such as teaching, museum and archives, library service, etc. There is a lot you can do with the MA, do you know what you want to do? When you know what you want to do (if you don't already), think of what you need to get of another program. I bet you will need letters of recommendation, correct? Do you picture yourself asking people to recommend you if you wasted their time and money? You need to be strategic money wise, because you don't want any more debt, but also professionally. That said, I know a lot of people that left the PhD program with an MA. I doubt they came knowing they were going to leave, but they are so much happier that I'm glad they did. Some left in good terms and some in not so good. All of them have jobs. To sum up, think of what job you want/need the MA for and then take it from there.

I have several responses. First, I have a question (you do not need to answer it, it is just a question to help you think what's best for you): When you decided to apply for grad school and you decided that this Far Away School is the perfect fit for your professional goals, how did you inform your SO? What initial conversation did you have then? Did you play with the possibility of them moving across the country? I met my SO in my first year when they were a postdoc in my school. After that, it followed four years of long-distance relationship until he landed a TT job las fall and I moved in to write my dissertation. A couple of things: We talk (like, on Skype/Facetime) everyday. Even to say hi, it is a promise that we have kept. It was very hard when I was in the field, but we managed. We tried to see each other once a month. During my second year I was more constrained by course work but when I was doing exams it was worse because they wanted to see me and I didn't. I wanted to study. So, bear in mind that different stages in your graduate career carry different challenges and liberties. for example, when I was in South America doing field work, seeing each other was much difficult. But I took a one-month vacation in the middle to come and visit. Only for a year I was in California and he was in Georgia, so we made it work by trying to coincide in the same city for conferences and workshops. We have an airline credit card to save as many miles we get and travel together. hope it helps!

Taxes are very different for everyone, and it depends A LOT on how universities categorize you. In my school, we are 'employees' so we pay taxes on stipend. The only people I know that don't do their taxes are those claimed by their parents/spouses. Not my case.

None us in grad school like standardized tests. Further, as an international student I felt they were absolutely unfair because I had never taken anything like that before. For me it was not only studying words, it was studying an exam format and a reading style and a writing style. And on top of that I had to do it twice. I invested about a thousand dollars only on this test that is not even important for the application. Unfortunately, you have to pick your battles and I preferred to get into a good program and 'fight' the system from the inside stay out of it. I echo @TheHessianHistorian in their question of what you want the PhD for. Most reputable programs that offer fellowships or assistantships require it. In addition, I know for a fact that GRE scores are one of the least important elements in your application. It is so minuscule that arguing against a program only because it requires the GRE is simply not worth it. GREs are usually graduate school imposed upon departments. If you really want a PhD because you need it for your career goals, then just do it. Languages, on the other hand, are PhD requirements. This means that they are one of those boxes you tick to get a PhD together with (and this varies a little between programs) TAing, coursework, exams, dissertation, etc. I know people that study African history that came into (a top 20) the program with ZERO knowledge of French, Zulu, or Swahili, and they learned them during coursework and over the summers to fulfill the requirements. Now, if you altogether don't want to learn a language because you just don't, that's fine, but depending on your field and professional goals this might be detrimental. Now, bear in mind that a standardize test and a language are not the only things you will be required to do. Some you will enjoy and others...