AP

Basically, you need people that know you. I came from abroad as well* and I had a letter from my employer. I don’t why industry ppl couldn’t work if they have worked with you. Is the BSc from the same institution or could you reach to them? I’m assuming you are not mentioning the master’s in your CV? * I know you don’t mean it that way, but when you say stuff like “I’m from a third world country so this was bound to happen” you perpetuate stereotypes that other of us are working hard to undo. My accent accompanies me to every class and every meeting, promoting people to ask where I’m from. I understand you want to contextualize, but I can assure you shit like this happens in the global north as well.

No, it will look incredibly suspicious if absolutely none of your letters come from anyone in a teaching capacity somewhere. One of these “friends” can write the third letter and outline their experience working with you aFuer you left the abusive situation. Did you graduate?

I don’t think it would be rude, but it would completely inappropriate and most likely they wouldn’t share that information with you. I don’t think people would necessarily tell apply “anyway”. When I was looking for programs, several professors told me they were not accepting students or recommended not applying BC of how low my stipend would be as an international student. The best way to get a sense of deferrals is to see how many students there are in this year. If cohorts are typically 10 and now there are 5 students, you can assume some have deferred. You could also contact the graduate school and ask them how they envision balancing admissions for 2021 and deferrals from 2020. When you have a broad idea, you can then follow up with the program, if necessary. Remember that no one will have these policies in place right now. This semester is uncertain for everyone.

I had campus jobs because money. If you receive a stipend from your program as a full time students, you want to be careful if you take a job. One thing is babysitting, another thing is working part time at a coffee shop. That said, I know people in my program who got really cool "side gigs" and ended up leaving the program. For one, they couldn't keep up with dissertation writing. Two, they really liked these side gigs. In all cases, these became what they actually wanted to do and the program often called them back to talk about non-academic jobs.

My best (academic) editos are historians ?

I don't know how active it is, but check the H-Net Commons for Film Studies.

I got the iPad pro 12.9 when I graduated and it was a life-changer. I use it to read in the actual page size (and annotate, etc), for grading, for note-taking, for prepping classes, and to present. I am not familiar with the difference with the other version from the top of my head, but make sure you have enough memory. That said, I did extensive international research and I carried my laptop around without any issues. If you don't need to type much, then go for it.

What's your field?

As faculty, let me tell you this: assume your classes will transition online at some point in the semester. I would start ILLing and scanning books, or checking out books if you can. As far as dress code, I used to take grad school as a job. You sometimes interact with UG and they see you as part of the department. Grad students in my current program TA or work in other capacities with UG so they tend to dress relatively professional (they tend to avoid see-through shirts, men don't wear shorts, etc). In my grad program, I dressed with jeans, shirts, shoes, etc because I had a public-facing job. Some friends of mine dressed in jeans, snickers, and a T-shirt. Usually, younger students dressed up to appear older so that they wouldn't be infantilized by the staff or UG. Re: imposter syndrome, yes. It's there and it is common. Remember you are there like everybody else and you bring a specific set of skills and questions that only you can address. Do not allow IS to drive your performance. i.e. don't read for the sake of reading. Read with intention, with questions, jot down your thoughts and try ruminate on them as you read other stuff. Talk about them in your seminars. Rather than trying to read monographs, I'd suggest finding some annotated bibliographies or group reviews. For reasons that are unimportant, I am somewhat familiar with your field. I would suggest reading on critical heritage studies and critical methods. Given the world we are in, I think these will prove instrumental for your crafting a thesis project.

Do you want to defer?

Can you give an example? I'm not sure I understand you question.

Ahhhh dying to go! (Everyone I met from Curaçao is just amazing).

Just a reminder to everyone who is applying this year. You had a difficult first half of 2020. We, faculty, did too. Grad students did too (many lost summer stipends, many doing international research saw their projects disappear). Staff did too. Admin, believe or not, did too. Our situations are all different, some with kids, some with visas, some with racial justice concerns, some with loneliness, some with illness. This year, you are anxious about applying, but also anxious about applying in the middle of a pandemic. You have many questions for which there are no answers. We have many questions for which there are no answers. I have no idea how I will teach in the Fall. I have no idea how I can re-structure my book project so that I push going to the archive. All this is to say that in the same way the pandemic is making you anxious about the unknown, it is making us worried. This might translate into people taking longer to respond to your emails as some folks are WFH with kids or caring for others, or they are simply just taking some time off. People might not have an answer for all of you questions or that answer being contingent on many variables. People might understand your concerns but might regrettably not be able to do anything about it (I really wish I could unilaterally abolish GREs). In other words, be patient. While the summer is usually a good time to write to faculty because we don't have any meetings or deadlines (we are just out in the field going to archives), this summer is way different. ( @coffeehum this is not to you specifically, but you made me think about how I would react if a student sent me an email this week to discuss admissions. So, thank you for the inspiration!)

My understanding from what I have read beyond this announcement is that even if you have a visa stamp and are already in the US, if your institution goes online, you must leave. Of course, it is a two-fold attack. On the one hand, it attacks Asian students who compose the majority of international students. On the other, it seeks to force schools to open, which has been the message from the WH in the past two days.

For the short answer, see @Sigaba's suggestion. I'll address two things that are more long term. [These are things I usually comment on: basically an invitation to leave the undergraduate mentality and transition to that of the graduate student] 1) One of the things few people tell you about graduate programs in the humanities is the autonomy you are given and are expected to use. This means that it is your responsibility to communicate with the right people in a professional and timely manner. As I always say: your graduate career begins with your application (not when you are admitted). Show that you are a professional scholar and ask for the information that you want. You will probably get better answers that will ease your anxiety (even if the answer is "we don't know") than asking in this forum to speculate. (I completely agree with your take on the home GRE. I think GRE are prohibitive altogether, even without the pandemic. Man, I think all standardized tests should be banned!). 2) I understand what you mean by not wanting to be a "problem." Believe me, I have a great relationship with my advisor and still walk on eggshells and write emails like a million times. However, I'd invite you to take a different approach with an example. I'm faculty, and if an applicant sent me an email in the middle of the summer asking about GRE requirements and lashing out their situation and their opinions, you are right. It wouldn't cause a good impression on me. However, if you first email was: "Dear Dr. XXX, I hope this email finds you well [lame, but you have to]. I'm writing because I'm interested in applying to the History Program at Y University. My research interests are [two sentences]. I have experience in../conducted research on.../I would further examine... . I wonder if you have any insights on the application requirements and the process, especially regarding the impact of Covid". That alone will get you a response without venting on someone's inbox. At the same time, check with program administrators and/or DGS because they will have the most updated administrative answers. Remember that GREs are usually (but not always) school-wide requirements so professors often do not have the bits and pieces of these. In short, if you do not want to be a problem, then don't be a problem, which is not the same as don't do anything or don't stand up for yourself. You SHOULD ask questions.

FYI https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/sevp-modifies-temporary-exemptions-nonimmigrant-students-taking-online-courses-during There are many things that remain unclear (like, what is "fully" online). But I thought you international folks want to read this and contact your ISOs cc'ing your programs.

Absolutely agree. Departments are not obliged to learn the legal framework of your status. Always, ALWAYS verify their information with HR, Lega, ISO. In my institution, ISO was not very good (they catered for the rich international undergrads rather than the poor international grad students). As a result, my program and my school were better allies in helping me figuring things out. What I did was CC'ing them in every conversation about my status, taxes, etc. Even leading to my graduation there were some hiccups that they helped me resolved with their advocacy and because I had kept them in the loop for seven years.

1) Unfortunately, there is no formula for a good intro paragraph. I am not good with first paragraphs, so when I applied I used this annotated sample from Berkeley. Notice that the first paragraph does not linger on the author "passion" for history. If you are applying for grad school, we can agree you are passionate about it . 2) I think you should mention your job as formative to your research experience and research questions. Remember the SOP is an argumentative essay, so use your job as evidence to support your argument (that you have interesting questions and you have the potential of becoming a great scholar). 3) Anyone who is saying they know, they are lying. Nobody knows. We barely knows what's happening in the Fall (and we are preparing multiple scenarios).

If you found syllabi in these faculty's websites, programs, etc. (even Academia.edu), you can borrow what you want. Syllabi don't typically cite or read "inspired by" sections because part of your authority as an expert in whatever you will be teaching is that you know where to find that information. I think all of us, when we share our syllabi, we assume people are going to pick our brains one way or the other. At my institution, our best assignments usually came out of teaching-brainstorming sessions. What I would suggest is do take note on a separate document of what you are doing, whose work you are "citing", and how you are constructing your course. If your field will take you to anything remotely related to teaching and instruction, it's always handy to go back to these notes in preparation for the job market. It's always a good skill to explain how you build the rationale of a course/class/program/workshop, etc.

Maybe provide a little bit of context? Are you talking about discipline-specific tests? About international students' tests?

I know. I mentioned it because the same was in my home country. Being faculty now, I would still found it really odd if you didn't have ONE letter from your institution. Of course, you will not have the same relationship or familiarity to them as you probably got in your exchange program, and that's fine.

Well, as usually happens @Sigaba, you are far more eloquent and effective in wording what I meant

I have a couple of comments, 1) I think you still need to ask a professor at your home institution. They are the ones that know you as a student for the longer time. You can help them to this. I am not familiar with the Swedish system, but I can assure the US American system was very foreign to all my letter writers. However, I found some resources online for them to use and guide them into how to address LORs. It is very important that you use people that know you well. (In my case, I had a professor from my institution, my thesis advisor from another institution, and my boss at my then current job). If I received your application from X University with not LOR from that University, I'd be puzzled. 2) I'm reading your second point as if you are trying to excuse yourself for having done Scandinavian history. Remember that at a graduate level you don't need to please anybody's interests or fit into them (I know this is different in many parts of Europe where you apply for a spot in a project). When you craft your application, think about the larger questions. religion and migration are two very important human experiences, frequently intertwined. What interests you about this? What are you curious about? How does your experience in archives brought you to this moment? How has your experience in the US equipped you for answering this questions in a US American institution? You don't have to show you are flexible with your interests. You have to show that you have really cool, interesting questions worth pursuing. MA and PhD applications are different because there are different things a stake. For PhDs, you usually compete for a determined number of spots while MAs are more "open" (if you don't apply for funding). (I know this as a member of a department and through grad school friends, I haven't applied for a MA myself so do follow other people's sage advice on this forum). Finally, I'd also strongly advise you to reach out to students you have met during your year abroad. Ask them to read your SOP. That was a game changer for me!

So? The more you practice talking/writing about your research, the most polished it will be in your application materials. @Sigaba invitation to think about that was useful advice. Also, I think this distinction is very important: This is good advice (starting with what you have and then look for the vignette that helps you the most): However, I would discourage people to use anecdotes. I am not saying that you won't be accepted because of opening with a life event (many here have), but I'd encourage you to open with a research vignette rather than a personal one. Like @AfricanusCrowther said, the SOP is about research.

Exactly. And when someone at a conference asks you why you didn't talk about them, this skill comes in handy: "I think that is an important question/point that I will note to incorporate in my article/book" and then you don't.