vtstevie

work study, research assistantships and teaching assistantships combined with a job at my college town's only liquor store (full time in summer, part time during the school year) it was always kind of funny teaching a class then seeing my students buying handles of vodka 2 hours later

22 when i started MA, will be 25 if i get in and start a phd in the fall of 2012

i'm wrapping up my MA as we speak at a small, terminal MA program at a major state university and have had a few different experiences... Lots of independent studies; generally these consisted of myself and two or three other grad students reading a book per week, meeting together with the prof administering the course and presenting what we read and writing two small (~10 page) analytical or historiographic papers per semester. I also did two independent studies one on one with a prof, one of which culminated in a large (25 page) research paper with an eye toward publishing, the other was more along the lines of what I outlined before. A handful of graduate student only courses; these consisted of a seminar that met every week in my school's special collections department where we'd mostly discuss research methodology for the first half of the semester and, after choosing a research topic, we'd meet only periodically to discuss our experiences and present our findings. These ended with a major research paper (25 pages or so). A bunch of undergrad, upper level seminars; usually a dozen to 20 students (only a few grad students per seminar, but we're a small program) who would meet weekly and discuss a book or group of articles. Grad students would be expected to participate extensively in discussion and write a longer analytical or historiographic paper than the undergrads, and typically we'd present one monograph as well. This is just my experience the last two years, but I hope it helps!

rankings are fun and all, but really should matter next to nil if you ask me. faculty, funding, location and opinions of people in the know are far more important than what some defunct newsmag has to say.

i'll be applying to U Maine in the fall and think i have a reasonable chance of getting in, so this is all good information how common/feasible is it to commute from Bangor to Orono? Sounds like a definite option, yes? What sort of drive are we talking to Boston - 2 hours?

Having been to Camden for concerts a handful of times, all I can tell you is that the town is notorious for high crime. The waterfront is nice though and it's directly across from Philly, so you may want to consider living in Philly and commuting...

What's the funding situation like at UConn? I was poking around their department website last night and didn't find anything. Also, KScrooge, what is your specialization? You've applied to many of the same schools I'm planning on applying to next year.

I'm an Americanist in the MA program at the University of Vermont and can tell you from experience that many of my colleagues study Modern Germany and the holocaust. I can't speak to it myself, but apparently our program is fairly highly regarded and has plenty of resources and funding for those who study this area.

I'll poke my head in here just to say that as someone who grew up and lived for 18 years in Rochester (never as a student), it would be very, very difficult to live and enjoy oneself in this city without a car. Rochester has its cultural delights, but they are extremely spread out - this is a city that has suffered big time from major sprawl. Also, the weather is more bleak than straight up bad. Yes, it gets cold and yes, it is snowy, but more than that it's just gray very, very often. If you suffer from any kind of weather related depression, take this into account. Rochester is an excellent city in many ways - tons of gorgeous parks, a vibrant (if somewhat hidden) arts scene, great (if simple) food and an hour and a half away from one of the nation's best kept secrets, the Finger Lakes region. However, bear in mind the two points I made above when considering quality of life here. And I'll also mention that RIT is far more out of the way from pretty much anything than U of R, so I'd underline the car point if you're planning on attending the former.

I've lived in Burlington, VT for about 6 years now and have never owned a car in my life. I use the Vermont Carshare network whenever I need to leave town for archival visits and the like, otherwise the city is extremely walkable. However, if you plan on living in South Burlington/Winooski/Colchester for the exponentially cheaper rent, a car would be desirable.

Great, thanks for the input guys. I will absolutely spend my summer off trying to get my thesis published somewhere as it sounds like it can only help (though not hurt) my chances. Weird as it seems, reading this forum and having a roommate applying to law schools is making me VERY excited for applying next fall...!

I'm finishing up my (terminal) MA right now in early Republic American history and am taking a year off before applying for PHD programs come next fall. I'm in the process of writing my MA thesis and am thinking hard about programs, trying to get a grip on what is realistic for me. Assuming my thesis goes well (so far so good!), one major pitfall I feel I may have is a lack of experience. By this I mean, I've published one article in my university's student-run history review and have given one paper at a history conference while in grad school - that's it. I had one paper and one presentation rejected last week and I'm wondering how important it is to big name programs (or even more specialized programs like Delaware or Temple) that an applicant has an expansive CV when applying.

My question is, when is too early to contact professors? I'm in the final semester of my MA (passed comps, writing thesis) and am not applying to a PHD for next year, but am applying this coming fall. I've been thinking very hard about PHD programs lately and am itching to send out some e-mails to professors, but don't want to be premature. Would I be?

I'm an Americanist focusing on post-Revolutionary and early Republic US. My MA thesis is about turnpike construction in Vermont and how the debates surrounding them reflect changing attitudes about virtue and private enterprise as the post-Revolutionary generation came of age.