AP

I'm a bit confused between your advisor and "them". Is "them" the rest of your committee? And by "committee" you mean what exactly? I ask this because my exams committees of first and second years changed in my third year, and my prospectus committee was very different from my dissertation one. At least in my department, committees do change, and I know people that changed primary advisors. You should ask people in your program so as to see how to tackle the situation. My intuition tells me you should talk these things over with the DGS. He/she is in charge of making sure no one gets offended if you change advisor (or anything else). Also, remember we are adults. If people get offended, you cannot do anything about that. I'm also confused by your second to last paragraph. As I understand, you want to change topics. Have you been writing grant applications? The evolution of your interests should be reflected there and your "committee" should be reading those. In this paragraph, however, you seem to resent other things besides their indifference. I'd go smoothly here. I don't know how your e-mails look like, but maybe you could revise these (and use all those responsibilities to your advantage)? EG: Dear Professor X, bla bla bla. I am writing to request a meeting with you to discuss my work as I move forward in the program. As I have been exposed to colleagues, methodologies, and other faculty, I have though more about issues such as bla bla bla. This means expanding my previous interests into bla bla bla. I'd love to hear what you have to say and bla bla bla. Or something like that (use "positive" verbs). But, again, I am not entirely sure I completely understand the problem. On a side note, sabbaticals are regular among faculty. You probably realized that many professors are on sabbatical at any given time. Some, for resting because they had a lot of responsibilities lately; some others, for finishing up books/projects. That said, I am sure there has been a misunderstanding with your advisor as he/she thought the year would go one way and apparently it didn't. Did you talk things over before the sabbatical started? Eg, with my advisor we agreed I'd send everything to another professor first. (I wouldn't look too much into the auto reply e-mail). Hope it helps a little bit!

If you went "way, way over the limit", then it is not well written. It's probably not about cutting down but about saying things more concisely and straightforwardly. Avoid "tricks". Professors know all the tricks and it's simply lazy to use font 10 in order to have more space.

Ok, I'm going for the whole truth here. But before that, some context: Our comps/quals are three fields of roughly 120 books each. In general, we have a base for fields I and II, but we often tend to create a new list for field III, which is more thematic. The best advice I've got: When prepping for Comps, I lurked some forums. Someone said that we have to imagine Comps as a huge conference and that you should be able to drop in ANY session and ask a question, make an observation, have a short conversation with someone. So, it shows that you are on topic and that you can engage. What I did: I scanned as many books as I could and made these files word-searchable. I read reviews more than books. We all love reading but 350 books is impossible to cover. I probably read most introductions and some sections of conclusions. My notes included a brief summary of the argument, sources, notes on introduction, possible questions that this book would be useful for (eg: "good for gender and labor"), content table and brief anything on chapters, and historical background. Did I do this with 350 books? No. You won't. Nobody does. But you get through it. I used OneNote because you have everything in one place instead of many word documents. I used historiographical essays to remember the big picture. Sometimes we are very invested in one book that we forget why this book is important. Towards the end, I tried to make connections between authors. Habits: It's painful. You won't see much of other humans and you'll feel your life is not your own. But it's only three months of your life (studying and sitting for them). I had post its all over my office to remind me of beautiful things in life. Motivational quotes also worked. It sounds super cheesy, but it just worked. Get to know what's good for you. I tried to keep up with exercise and I was set not to gain weight during exams. And I didn't (I gained a month after them!). So keep your well-being at top priority. Rely on people. Advisors, friends within the department, friends outside grad life, family. RELY ON THEM. Enjoy it as much as you can. Remember you'll feel super smart after them! (I sort of lost that feeling by the following semester... hahaha) Hope it helps! AP

Yes, not only activities but other communities around campus. For example, I have done several workshops at the Digital Scholarship Center and hence I am very familiar with fifth- and sixth-year fellowships. I am also in the Teaching Development listserve. It was through this e-mail list that I found out about a mini grant for teaching, I applied, got it, and used it to bring an off-campus faculty and offer some food for my students. So, scout around!!!! I wish I had taken more advantage of all this in my first year!

May I give an advice to incoming students? I'd bet all your schools have a lot of resources to make your graduate education richer, better, and tailored according to your interests. Many times, these resources are sort of "hidden" because it is really hard to spread the word about anything since everyone is advertising their own thing. Use this time to check on this: workshops, free tutorials, library services, health and wellness options, etc. From my experience, many things are listed online, but I had to ask for final details to other grad students, especially regarding intramural sports. Remember that grad school is what you make of it, it is not just a program that you follow (granted, in some cases it is! ). But you have the power to make it your own experience. This is the time to scout websites and check what's going on! All the best!!! AP

I'm going on my research year!

Also, if you are asking as a student, are you asking about on-campus or off-campus jobs?

mmmm I haven't heard of something like that for graduate seminars, but I'm in the humanities. We are small classes (10 people super tops) so I wonder if this has something to do. You may want to ask grad students in the school and program you'll attend.

OK, this topic has been going on for a while now. I remember I used it before starting grad school! After three years, I thought I might give my two cents. Note taking: I have always been a pen-and-paper person. Yet, I decided to go laptop for grad school. Two main reasons: You can search you notes faster. For writing papers and/or sitting for your Comps, it is always better to make your notes word-searchable. Easy to edit. If the discussion involved a reference to a book that I didn't know, it is easy to add hyperlinks/side notes to that book. Also, I would go home and add historical background (if needed), or other information I saw pertinent. A good resource was adding keywords and their definitions. For notetaking, I use OneNote. Free and websync so you don't lose your stuff. Laptop: I brought to grad school a 2010 Dell mini 10''. Light, easy to use but very old and very slow. It took it half an hour to start running (even if it wasn't shut down). For my third semester I invested in a MacBook Pro and it was the best decision I have made. First, because I have VERY GOOD campus support for Mac. Second, it is as light as my previous computer but the screen is bigger so I can actually work here (13''). Third, because Mac is SO much better for viruses. I travel a lot for research so it is nice not to worry about one thing. Pay attention to your campus offers as regards software. Most of the software I can download through my school is both for Windows and Mac, which is great. Software: Bibliography– I use Zotero but because I only made a choice when I started three years ago. It was either Zotero or Endnote. Choose one and stick to it. I would suggest doing some digging -again- about support on campus. For example, when I work on campus computers, I make sure I choose one where Zotero is installed for using with a word processor. Endnote is everywhere, Zotero not so much. Like OneNote, it syncs online which is great. Writing– I recently started using Scrievener. It is a great resource for extensive writing. It has many features that you sort of discover as you use it: brianstorming, corkwall, keywords, etc. The only problem that I have with it is that there is not a good extension for bibliographic managers. But I will definitely write my dissertation here. SO MUCH BETTER than word. You can try it out for free for 30 days (30 days that you actually use it which can extend over a longer period). Scanning– If you need to scan books/documents, I suggest CamScanner. It scans and turns your scans into PDFs documents, and then you can send them to your e-mail. I also use traditional scanners if I am on campus, and traditional cameras if I am in the archive. But this is an awesome resource because, let's face it, your phone has a good camera. Organizing files– For knowing what documents I have from which archive, which one has been OCRed, etc, I use online AirTable. It's a database software but SO MUCH easier to use than access. And it looks nice. And it's free. And online. Organizing research– A Gantt Chart. Always. How to make a good Gantt chart? Look up GanttTeam.com or something like that. I have planned my research plus the tasks for each time. Misc: I always have a copybook, pens, and color markers on my desk, including highlighters. I often make graphic notes for prepping for lectures and I need color for that. Also, writing by hand makes your mind process your thoughts differently than typing so I always resort to hand and paper when stuck. My "drafts" notebook is full of postits, bubbles, highlights that look like a mess, but made sense to me at some point! Finally, I have page markers all over the place: my desk at home, my bag, my office in school, my pencilcase... You cannot have enough of these! Furniture: My first year I lived in a furnished apartment and bought a bookcase like many suggested here. On my second year, I bought this bookcase-desk combo on craiglist. Actually, the "little" bookcase on one end of the desk was the one I had before and I put it next to the big one as a bed-side table (my room is pretty small). The desk + big bookcase + office chair were like $100. Oh yeah, invest on a good chair. The guy also gave me his desk lamp . So never underestimate Craiglist for a good buy! On this topic: many schools have an office that manage furniture and many sell their old furniture really cheap, look for those. Also, ask your department to contact you with people that are leaving/graduating to see what they do with their furniture (we "inherited" a lot form older students: bedframes, side tables, washer/dryer). Finally, I am happy to answer any questions! All the best to new students!!!!!! AP

Atlanta is becoming increasingly bike-friendly. There is a strong biking community that pushes local government for biking lanes, trails, and paths. MARTA is still not good, but it is useable and you can rely on it with Google Maps. If you are a student, I think that you can get a discount through your school if you commute with MARTA. The only problem with MARTA (in my opinion) is that it is slow. It can take you three times more time to get to one place compared to the car. That said, I wouldn't get a car until you need to, and you'll know that when you get there (that's what I did). In my first year, fellow graduate students drove me places. In general, people are happy to help, to carpool, to drive someone. And when I got the car, I paid it forward. I hope this helps...

Expensive, but possible. Emory has a great service of shuttles and park-and-rides, so look into that. Because Emory has the hospital there, there are a lot of parking decks, but they are pricey...

OK. I am going to use this thread. I have had the hardest year of my PhD: exams, prospectus, grants, teaching... I'm almost done, with no grants for next year. But requirements-wise, I am ABD. Yet, I have been having nightmares since I defended the project and I am not sleeping well. WTF body? I am done and you decide that we are bored? Whatever.

Thanks every one! I am not looking for health insurance. I mean, I am but I was not asking about that. I will get insurance on site which is cheaper and better than traveler's. @rising_star Even if you are in another country? Even if that were so, I won't be paying renter's insurance because I won't be renting anything in the US since I will be abroad for 12+ months. But I will look into this. @TakeruK This is international fieldwork. I have to check with insurance on site, but I am basically concern about laptop, camera, phone, etc. (not health) Thanks all!

Hello everyone! I have a sort of stupid question. I cannot find the answer anywhere, not even among my peers, so I feel even stupider (is that a word?). Ok, I am leaving for 14 months on fieldwork in June. Have any of you got insurance for that year? Basically, I want to protect my computer and external drive. The laptop is relatively good and could get stolen. The easy answer is "don't take it" but I need to work while there. Also, I don't have enough money to buy a crappy one. Thanks! AP

I got a final paper back from my two advisors. They were co-teaching. Of course you feel bummed. Now, let's get real: 1) Making an effort does not mean progress. Sorry. It should be like that but spending more time in front of the computer does not improve your research skills. And, like it or not, professors don't grade effort. They grade papers. It sounds harsh, but it is good to separate the two. 2) Your advisor knows you better than other professors. In my case, I am sure the paper would have passed in any other class, but they were pushing me because they want me to succeed. I mean, it felt so horrible at the time, and I was SO embarrassed. But in the end I produced I great paper, which informed my teaching a year later. So hang on. 3) If after so many semesters you feel you advisor misunderstands you, then have a talk with her and/or with the DGS. It is OK to talk things out. For example, one of my advisors is hard to talk to because he can be very condescending over one's concerns. Yet, when I go to him with a simple, straight-forward request and a good justification, he yields. He used to say "this paragraph is wrong". So I did follow up questions on what is wrong (the writing? the grammar? the argument?). Now he is more precise with his feedback. 4) Wanting straight As is OK. Here, we sort of have to. But at the same time grade is not important. Focus on what's important: being a good writer, a good researcher, a good speaker, whatever. 5) Suspecting that your advisor didn't read the whole paper is a harsh accusation and I would be very careful. A final suggestion, don't be afraid to talk to people in your program. They'll give you more hands-on advise because many have had your advisor or other faculty!

I have two advisors. One of them was on leave during my first year. He is my go-to person now. The other one was on leave this year, when I was doing exams and prospectus. He wasn't even in the US. Nonetheless, we skyped/emailed/met when he came. Bottom line, I doubt five years would have gone by without any advisor taking a leave...

Hey! I struggle with writing too! Here is what I do: 1. I use my school's writing center. They help a lot with good strategies for learning how to assess my own work. It is not a proof-reading service. It is a guided self-reading one. 2. As others say, I write and write and with several spare days to allow for revision. I have learned that if I plan to finish section by Monday, I will actually do it by Wednesday. So, I need to start earlier than I thought. This also implies lots and lots of planning. Oh yeah. Planning. 3. A friend in English recommended three books that have been AMAZING in helping me polish my work: The Craft of Research, Mastering the Craft of Writing, and Lessons in Style and Grace. 4. I write better with a good software. For my prospectus/dissertation, I am using Scrievener. It is so much better than trying to work directly on Word. I feel overwhelmed by the blank page of Word, but Scrievener is designed for writers so it has a lot of the writing process features that Word doesn't (brainstorming, annotations, references, key words, etc etc etc). Hope it helps! AP

OK, FYI I haven't read the responses because I don't want to be influenced by them (Sorry if I reiterate) Honestly, I don't think anyone knows what they are getting themselves into. We all want a sense of control, we talk with PIs, we talk to other grad students, we go to the recruitment weekends... but, let's face it, nobody can really tell you how things are going to be like because nobody is you. My piece of advice that I want to be clear about is: this is a job. This is not school, like undergrad. This is a job, poorly paid, high-demanding, but a job. Personally, I wouldn't have accepted ay offers (or even applied) in schools where "life" was impossible. I mean, it is not that I have a lot of time for hobbies, but I do play sports and go to church. There are moments in the program that require more of my time (like now), and moments were you can relax more. This is me. Many may not agree with me. For me, it was not a shock because before coming here I was teaching 300 high school students so my life was taken up anyway hahaha. No, seriously, I am an international student. I got accepted in a place I didn't expect and I said yes. When I moved here, it was the first time I visited the US. Ever. And everything turned out to be fine I don't know how. So: make it your own experience.

Absolutely! As an international student, my reality was completely different. Some people in the community of fellow countrymen have accused me of living in a bubble (they were two people who didn't work and were on facebook all the time so I was puzzled). Anyway, one thing I like to do is trying hard to get non-academic friendships. My city is vibrant and so it is very easy to meet new people, especially through meet ups. This semester I wanted to learn something new so I am taking up a new hobby off campus as well. Finally, having a church group also helps me be "down to earth". On the other hand, at some point, we have to navigate the other realities. For example, I had to go three times to the DMV to get my driver's license. I had to go several times to do chores with my consulate. And so on and so forth. I tried dating someone who was not a student but it didn't work out (not because they were not in academia, simply because it didn't work out). Cheers! AP

Ok, I am not in any sort near to that field BUT.... 1) Have you checked new generations? You mention "big names" but I am sure they had students that are now professors. Have you e-mailed them (the first and second generations, I mean)? I wanted to work with a professor that was retiring and he gave me a list of ten people to contact. One of them is now my advisor. 2) History, as other disciplines, is moving towards an interdisciplinary approach. As a result, as you said, religious studies falls also within other disciplines. Have you consider other departments or you definitely want a PhD in History? I have a friend at the Graduate Division of Religion at Emory. It depends of the graduate school but it has access to scholars of religion because it overlaps with Candler School of Theology. Since you are in Atlanta, you might swing by Emory and peep around. I don't know how much this helps, but maybe it at least helps you refine your search. AP

I like how you identified your interest as "empire", which is atemporal and ageographical. This is a great start. As historians, we are trained to ask those broad questions that you asked and then try to answer them somewhere (justifying, of course, why that place and that time are an excellent case study for doing so). In short, we generalize and particularize at the same time. This dynamic should be explicit in your statement of purpose. I think you have time to explore and pinpoint the specialization, but also bear in mind that it could also change (unlikely, but still). Oh, and I second previous suggestions

I work at the library in my school. When I have to send e-mails to patrons, we cannot say "to whom it may concern" because we know who it concerns (the "it" being a fine, an overdue item, etc). So, we type "Hello FirstName LastName,". It is not my favourite salutation, but it saves us from not knowing how to greet. I hope this helps!

Rejected

What!!!!???? UCLA!!!!!! UCLA!!!! I echo everything posted. EVERYTHING.

I disagree. In many programs you are required to master the language because you do research there. EDIT after I read @love2read second post: I agree that taking pass/fail will be OK. @love2readIt seems you won't need French on a daily basis so you'll be fine! AP