AP

There are two issues at stake here: 1) Imposter syndrome. I feel you. I got imposter syndrome in my 4th year. I felt inadequate, stupid, slow, and I was wondering all the time why the heck my advisor kept supporting me. I just couldn't buy that I was actually good. Fortunately, I got the help I needed. Continue with therapy, it will help you develop techniques to put those feelings aside. Don't make decisions based on feelings because feelings are temporary (although, granted, they may last a long time, in which case we would want to avoid that situation altogether). 2) Career goals I think you should ask yourself what you want out of grad school. Why are you here? What are your career goals? Where do you see yourself in five, ten, twenty years? What do you like doing? This is the question that matters the most, because depending on what your goals are you will make a smarter decision. If you want to do research because you like it, then stay, but develop a set of tools to deal with the spiky stuff. In my case, I have some "doors" I never open (or try not to open) like comparing myself to others in my field, wondering about the job market (just worrying about it), fearing shame of not finishing, etc. It is not beneficial to me to put myself in imaginary situations that distract me from work and paralyze me from doing anything about it. Work with your counselor.

This is the only time I know people transferring.

Of course you can have hobby topics, and I don't think no one really cares if you do. Now, if you do, be sure to treat it seriously, because your colleagues will and your name, wether you want it or not, will be attach to it (and by extension your department's). I'm not saying don't do it (I know people who do it).

If you are thinking of presenting this paper at the same time as applying for schools, I don't think it hurts. While I was applying I published a short article on Ancient Egypt (my field is Modern Latin America). I think I don't include this publication any more in my CV though. Yet, in two years I doubt it will be useful for you to present on this especially because it will be your first year. Remember that our field is all about self-marketing and networking. You want people to know you for your field, not your non-field.

Just to be clear, the point of the interview is not to test what you claim to know and that can be otherwise learnt in grad school. The point is to see if you are a good fit, if you are going to be a good investment of their time and money, and if you know (more or less) these two things. Broadly: How mature you are as a scholar. How does your background shape your career goals? Why do you want to become a historian (DO NOT SAY YOU ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT HISTORY)? How can you speak to other fields? (in my interview they asked me about my interests in the context of colonial Latin America [I study modern]) This also means listening to the questions and answering accordingly. Do not ramble. How promising you are as a scholar. Do you have interesting questions? (easy test: what questions do you have for them?) Do you acknowledge the field/trends/latest discussions (not as a test of how much you've read, but as a modest awareness of the work being done)? Do you know what you want to learn? How your experience will enrich the department. This can refer to research or work experience. How you want to shape your scholar persona. Do you have an interest in digital humanities/Atlantic world/paleography etc? Think of how your larger interest may shape the person you want to be in a couple of year. Of course, you may not know this, but it is worth doing a little bit of more research of the place you have an interview in and think of how you can benefit from other offerings. In my case, I made the argument that given my interests, school X would also fit because it had a great GIS lab. Probably @TMP @telkanuru @Sigaba can complete/paraphrase this as I'm worn out today. Though I hope it helps.

Find out about this. As an instructor, I only get notified when a student requests the accommodation in my class. I don't even know what the issue is, I just received the request for accommodation.

Yes! A friend of my bf is a temporary instructor in Kazakhstan (his research country) (he is still ABD).

I know! I don't implement his suggestions verbatim, but I came up with a system that works for me. He has pretty good tips!

Check with the university. We cannot know.

If your goal is a PhD in history, once you get into a master's I would advice you to take classes cross listed with a history department and/or write your research papers using historical methods. I know people in MESAS, African Studies, CLAS, and the like who study questions about the past but doesn't mean they do historical research. They have their own methods and their own focus, which is very interesting and all, but which is not the same as doing history. If your long term goal is a PhD in history, in your PhD application down the road you will need to explain how this master's informs your historical scholarship. If you are thinking of attending a conference, I would strongly urge you to plan to attend a national/regional conference in your field, especially if your advisor goes and they can introduce you to people. This will be a great networking opportunity in light of PhD applications later on. Grades are important in the sense that I doubt AdComms in the top 10 programs you are thinking of would admit anyone with a low GPA. But grades by no means factor anything. As said elsewhere, your SoP, WS and LoRs comprise the most important documents in your package. Having a master's tells AdComms that you have conducted independent research, that you have some knowledge of the historiography, and that you master some languages. But many people also check these boxes in other ways, even coming straight from undergrad. One thing that I keep telling incoming cohorts in my school and people here (and you can of course take it or leave it) is that for going to grad school you need to stop thinking like an undergrad. This is not an accumulation of requirements (I mean, it is, but it is so much more to it) and that's why applying for grad school demands these forums: because it is very complex and it is not contingent only on your record. A master's will give you time to decide what type of scholar you want to be. Remember that in the long run, your audience will be bigger than the people that do French colonialism: you will speak to scholars of colonialism, scholars of Northern Africa, scholars of the Arab world, etc etc. So use your master's to stretch your network. (I hope this makes sense!)

Many friends of mine are applying for jobs abroad, especially Australia, Norway, England, and the Netherlands. So I am talking of people that want some job, they are not even weighing in the lack of moving funds or other perks that they might get in the US. Yet, this is highly field-dependent. As a latinamericanist, I am leaning more towards Spain and Portugal, and Latin America (Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Chile). In both cases, Europe and Latin America, it's not only a question of language but of higher education structure, access to research funds in the long term, and demand. For example, an East-Asianist will most probably find a market in Australia and New Zealand (I think, please people correct if I'm wrong) than Chile. I have more chances of landing a job in the Iberian world than in China. I do think it is worth looking at the international market, to keep it as an option, and to prepare for it if needed.

Questions you should be asking to help you understand difference between MA and PhD SoP: Why do you want a PhD/MA? What are you career goals? What are the teaching goals of the programs you are interested in? (go to their websites and read what they offer for MA students and then ask yourself how that fits with your career goals) How prepared are you? The MA and PhD prime difference is the research intensity, though coursework can be very similar. How prepared are you to conduct independent research? I don't know what discipline you are referring to, but if you were in history I'd ask: Do you know your sources/archives? Do you know the major trends/Are you capable of learning them? etc. For differences between the US and Europe, I strongly suggest you go to the programs websites. The MA and PhD varies there too, and it also varies from country to country. You need to do your research on that so that you tailor your SoP accordingly.

Ok, so depending on how your Master's is presented, the AdComm will assume it required some research. For example, if you wrote under "Education": MA in X (2016). Thesis: blah blah blah, then it is safe to assume you conducted research for that thesis. I would include the paid government job under "work experience" or "relevant work experience". How recent is this? because if it lost in annals of history, then no. Internships can go under the fancy label of "research experience": 2015 "blah blah project", director, institution (summer) 2014. "bleh bleh bleh project", director, institution (summer) [if you clarify "summer" it is assumed it is an internship, but it wouldn't hurt to include that either] Finally, what do you mean "research experience during coursework"? This doesn't sound too strange for the American context. In my (also foreign) college, research papers were rare so I also felt I needed to show that for some courses we conducted research. I think I worded in the SoP. As you make the argument that you are prepared to come to the US, you can mention that in courses X, Y, and Z, contrary to commonly prescribed in your country, you were required to undertake independent research that resulted in final papers (or something like that).

Oh, ok. Yes, these look fairly along the lines of what a SoP for a history PhD would look like. Maybe others have different wording but basically you are thinking about why you want to become a historian, what influences your work, what questions you have. In some cases, this may look as a research project, but not always. If not addressed in the SoP, these type of questions may appear in your interview, so it's great that you shared them! Good luck!

What type of questions? If I remember, none of my SoPs were a research proposal per se. But I might be getting ahead of myself here.

In addition to what @timetobegin has said (all very accurate): Your name and contact information should be clear at the top of the first page. Include your last name and contact info as header/footer in subsequent pages (if you have three or more). Clearly show headings Order you experience, etc in reverse chronological order (from the present backwards) Be consistent. Do not include unnecessary detail (I did)

*Some* programs have a couple of days/hours of grace period. I don't know if Princeton is the case.

I don't, but I know people that do. It is incredibly hard for them to keep up because grad school means being part of an intellectual community and they are not. Those that are now in their writing stage, being away from campus is not a big deal. Have you thought about moving closer to campus?

I'm usually the devil's advocate when it comes to these type of posts. Your chances depend on your SOP, LORs, and WS, so it is hard for anyone here to give you a good answer. I think that you want to be reassured that you are strong candidate, and I'm sure you are sure you think that because otherwise I doubt you would have applied for Harvard and Chicago. Still, our scanty experience cannot speak to your chances. I do hope you get in!

This can happen even with basic characters in the western alphabet used in Spanish or Portuguese so I feel you. As a general rule, always upload PDFs or similar documents to play it safe.

I think this is very specific within departments, programs, and fields. I am in a small department, and my field has one student per year so it is very easy for us to create those mentorship bonds. American historians are many more (maybe four or five per year) so their dynamic is completely different. On the one hand, not all senior students "feel" they need to talk to first years. On the other, because they are more on campus while the rest of us go out to the field, they inadvertently become de facto mentors because they are around. When I was in my first year, my senior grad students approached me, helped me find books, drove me places, invited me to gatherings, etc. I doubt I would have done it myself. As a senior student now, I approached first years in the same way. I think it is a good way of creating a friendly collegial working environment, especially since we already have too much going on as students. But many people in my department disagree with me and think the opposite: we are writing the dissertation, they should approach us. I simply think that if you want something, then do it. I want people to feel welcome, so I go and welcome them.

Agreed with @avflinsch, the difference of two pages is not significant. Yet, noting at the beginning of the essay something like [abridged version]. I submitted an abridged version of my thesis (also from a foreign program), from 150 to 25. In your case, I wouldn't worry.

I recommend Raul Pacheco's blog on this: http://www.raulpacheco.org/resources/reading-strategies/ He provides a myriad of reading strategies.

One of my parents was very sick and so Grad School was the least of my concerns.

Agreed