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Posts posted by anese
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Why are you "waiting" to hear from two schools when you've already accepted an offer from another? That seems highly unethical. I thought the standard paradigm was to accept an offer then withdraw your applications from any other schools to which you applied and were either waiting for a decision or were already on a waitlist.
It is =/
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Await your story sounds crazy and very distressful. I hope things work out for you. Remember with the financial crisis they could be making all kinds of tough decisions this year about cutting budgets.
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I got slammed when I wrote this in response to another post asking the same question. But I asked all of my recommenders to provide me with a copy of the letter they wrote on my behalf and told them if they didn't feel comfortable doing so I'd find someone else. All of them agreed with no hesitation.
I spent too much time and effort applying to grad school for it to be screwed up by a vengeful former professor or adviser. I've heard of recommenders who will tell a student to their face how much they like them and respect them and how happy they would be to provide a recommendation letter for them and then turn around and write a letter savaging the student. As a matter of fact I know someone on an admissions committee who specifically mentioned a recommender who called a student "lazy" and said their work was of "poor quality." I don't know why someone would do that but it happens, a lot more than people think it does.
I have a right to know what people are saying about me. Businesses cannot give anonymous recommendations and risk being sued if they provide negative ones. I don't know why academia should be any different.
I agree with this post. If you can afford to take the risk and ask for the copy then do it. Prospective students may not like to hear it, but graduate school is becoming more and more like a business. Sometimes professors are dishonest and will give you a bad recommendation. You have to protect yourself, and if you can do it tactfully and successfully then do so.
The keyword being *if* not everyone has the luxury to do so.
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Based on your interests I would say SIPA, but if you are really concerned about money you cannot go wrong with CMU. The cost of living will be so much lower. Less debt, and Carnegie Mellon has a strong presence in Washington D.C. Our alumni community is huge and you will find work, one of our graduates was recently on the Board of Directors for a Legislative Dept at WB. You can't go wrong either way. I'm biased though--so of course I would tell you CMU.
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i guess it'll depend on which part of the country you are in, but $50,000 is pretty normal for even BS graduates. WIth MS, especially from Columbia or UPenn (big names even though not highly ranked in engineering) your starting salary will most likely be higher than 50k.
Those schools also might provide additional perks, such as eligibility to take business classes there.
I should talk to my friend about this. He has a BS in MechE from CMU, and his first offers were definitely not for $50 grand a year, more like 30,000.
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This happens to be false. Lecturer appointments are still available to people with lots of industry experience and an MS in this particular field.
Now getting them is another story. Usually you have to know someone or be on the staff (non-teaching) for a few years and get really lucky. But you don't absolutely *need* a PhD unless you want a professor title. (In which case you have to have one because if you don't they go down in their rankings. Although departments have been known to hire people and then they don't actually get their PhD until a few years after because they were so lax in filling out paperwork... *cough*)
I am actually of the opinion that a master's degree in CS in particular happens to be fairly useless, but it sounds like the OP has a pretty good theory on what he wants to use it and is one of the few students who has a clue on what he can actually expect it to get him.
I realized after I commented on this that my knowledge is really in the humanities. I know that in the humanities at least, you should shoot for a doctorate, because while teaching jobs in universities are available for masters degrees, you will hardly ever get tenure without a doctorate and publications. I actually agree with you about the masters degree in CS, I know people who are making plenty of money with just the BS. Most who went back again were going for an MBA so that they could branch out a bit more in their work.
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My goal: I want to get a Master's in CS. Part of it for enhancing my career, and the other part for when the day comes that I'm too old to be a programmer, I can teach CS in a university.
I just wanted to quickly point out that you NEED a PhD to do this. You might be able to find work at a cc, but even those are turning towards doctorate hires now. Certainly, a masters degree would really prepare you for any job where rigorous research-type work is expected of you. If you are willing to pay for the degree it will open up doors.
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I'd say it makes you more competitive in the current economic crisis. Every single one of our doctoral perspectives for next year has atleast one MA, one has 2. Last year, none had MA degrees.
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Congrats!
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Hi, I took classes at NYU's last semester. Strong program but extremely small. They have 3 doctoral students this year. I think Washington University has a very strong program, but NYU has Sally Merry and a plethora of very strong faculty members in the Law school/Anthropology and Sociology to work with their students.
Hmm...I don't know much about it I guess.
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Honestly, I don't think you were quite prepared for what the demands of graduate school or the demands of a professor would be. If you have obligations on the East coast, i wonder why you applied to U-Chicago at all. This is a top history department, and the school has a reputation for being cutthroat. In my current program we have a stellar doctoral student who left U-Chi with the masters because it was so intense. Also had a former professor who left and went to Harvard because it was so intense.
If you aren't prepared for this kind of environment and are considering law school just to stay close to your family, I would reconsider what you really want for yourself and your career.
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Oh geez the traditional programs garbage.
Don't let other students who probably aren't even in fields like American Studies or Africana Studies/African American Studies scare you off. When they go into their history programs or english programs, they'll find out that they are encouraged to take classes in those departments.
They will also find out that there are respected academic journals, and some of the biggest minds in English and History are in those fields. I will tell you want a prominent professor in English/AS told me just a few weeks ago.
If you are willing to publish the papers and create a name for yourself in AS, be your focus on literature or history, you will find a faculty position in those areas.
You would be surprised how many of the major academic departments are drawing from AS but ESPECIALLY African American Studies. It's still true that in this case, the more prestigious the department, the better off you will be--but I really wish people would stop scaring applicants away from these disciplines.
NYU alone produced two academic stars from their cohort this past year who went on into major history departments.
So no, they didn't go on into the AS field to work right off, but they certainly went off to work.
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There are a handful of AAS Master's programs in the U.S. The list includes Columbia, UCLA, U-Mass Amherst, Ohio State, Morgan State, Florida International University, Clark Atlanta, and Cornell.
Oh yes, my mistake, NYU is AFRICANA studies. But still a very good program.
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Isn't Texas the best Latin American program?
I think you are right, U-Texas Austin.
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NYU has one of the oldest that funds its students, and offers a joint degree in economics.
Ohio State has an excellent program as well.
I don't know much more than that.
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misterpat said:..And the possibility of doing another discipline has been in my mind mostly because I worry whether I'm going to get into a program with a decent placement record. I want to end up with a job at a research university, and not end up living in rural Montana working at a small liberal arts college.
This could happen whether or not you land at a good school that has a good placement record. History is an overstocked field. Even the Harvard PhD might find themselves sticking it out in the midwest in a place they never wanted to be for a few years. Few programs graduate guarantees, I can think of a few and they accept about 9% of their applicants.
If you are seriously considering any other field out of this fear, I would suggest investigating it further. This degree is the hardest thing I've ever had to do...and I'm actually not planning on sticking with it, I'm leaving for a law degree with the masters.
Now, would I trade it? Certainly not, I've learned to think in ways I never could be for, and I'm challenged each and every day. I'm constantly confronted with the genius of my fellow students and of my professors. I work with people who studied under the masters of modern thought and are luminaries in their fields.
It's daunting, and it's something that I personally think is only for those who desire it above all. (Expect to read a book + per week, per 3 hour or so class, and if you're like me you take 3 classes a week and have to produce publishable work for 3 courses not to mention the papers in-between) And I haven't even started to TA yet, which will eat up even more time.
Certainly consider all of your career options.
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Thanks for the reply -- I needed the reassurance.
As for my research interests, I am interested in the historical, cultural, and ideological formation of 20th century social movements in Latin America. In terms of methodology, I am most interested in historical materialist and structuralist approaches. The senior thesis to which I referred in my previous post attempted to debunk Roger Burbach's thesis that the EZLN is a "postmodern" political movement which has broken with the dominant revolutionary paradigms of the 20th century.
I've given a fair bit of thought to professors with whom I would like to study. At NYU, I am particularly interested in Gregg Grandin, with whom I have met, as well as Sinclair Thomson. As far as Singh and Saldana are concerned, neither are in Latin American history, although I'm pretty sure I read Singh once on identity politics and US labor and it was pretty good stuff.
Are you in Latin American history? Or US? Also, any suggestions for the SoP? I think mine is fine, but I'm afraid I don't go into enough detail in some areas -- overall it has more breadth than depth.
Thanks again for the advice!
I work with Saldana and Singh. Saldana is in the AS dept but is a latin american scholar, I'd take a look at her work too...if nothing else she could be another person you branch out too once accepted (if you choose to go there) Identifying some more specific details would be worth your while, I'm not in your field, but I can tell you that many of the students here might make much deeper connections than the ideological, cultural, and historical formations of 20th century social movements. This still feels a bit vague to me, but I'm also about 3 months into my program already and a more specific feel for an area may seem more natural to me. As it stands, your thesis is very broad but sounds like a nice foundation for your first year.
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You don't need a PhD to be a better teacher. PhDs are to train future researchers in the field. If you want to do more than just study and teach, but turn out research that will get you a position at a university--even CCs are now turning towards professors who can publish--then I would say get a PhD.
I would just be really wary of going into a PhD because you want to teach. It is an admirable vocation, but that is not what a doctoral degree is really about. Since you don't mind teaching at the high school level with that degree, then that might not be any problem. However, as the above poster said, a full-time doctoral degree will take up a lot of your time. I mean, a lot. It isn't just about doing the reading and going to class, you have to do a lot more than that at all kinds of odd hours.
Keep that in mind and good luck on whatever you decide to do.
eta- A full-time job would be far easier than what I'm doing now IMO. I'm not trying to be too much of a downer here, I just really want to get across the time constraints you'll find yourself in during your doctoral work.
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eh, as long as it is higher than 3.0 and you are genuinely enthusiastic about the subject area, read it voraciously and know exactly what it is you want to study and with whom--it's not that important.
Fit is the most important thing...oh and stellar recommendations. The professors are trying to decide if they want to work with you for 5-7 years, the GPA is just one small indicator of success if you think of it in this way.
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Your GPA is not a problem.
One thing I thought as I was reading your post, however, is where is your research? What exactly is your research interest? (specific topic) Do you know what scholars you would like to work with at the schools?
FYI-Based on your interests, I would recommend thinking of Saldana and Singh at NYU.
Really though, the most important determining factor in your admissions will be your research interests. Every single PhD student I have met thus far has a specific research interest that speaks to a specific faculty member in the program and starts day 1 working with that person and cultivating a pedigree as a future professor. Identifying your interest and capitalizing on it should be your top concern. (By research interest I mean: eg., the struggles of indigenous women in Hawaii during the post-colonial period and the legal aid movement)
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No, that situation would not count.
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Care to say that to my face?
Its so obvious now, really =/ I think you are losing your touch. For a while I thought you might be a genuinely misguided applicant, now I'm just certain you intentionally make these asinine posts to hurt other applicant's chances.
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could you go into a little more detail on exactly what happened? did you accidentally break the lock on the door? why did campus security escort you off? how did the professors react to this whole ordeal? did you get in to that school?
I think its pretty obvious at this point that this poster lies and makes things up. I don't know whether it is to intentionally sabotage fellow candidates or to just be annoying, but I'm sticking to this assertion.
Policy/planning: UIC, NYU, CMU ?
in Decisions, Decisions
Posted
NY to Pittsburgh is about a 9 hour drive fyi, don't count on too many visits unless you can afford to take the plane. I say this as someone who attended CMU and now lives in NYC.
My opinion is unless you really want to be a lawyer, go where the money is. Congratulations your funded offers; it is difficult to squeeze money out of NYU.