ChibaCityBlues

Contacting a PA is essential mostly because it'll help you determine where not to apply. Professors are constantly taking leaves, getting ready to retire, switching institutions, overloaded with their current crew of grad students, etc. So at the very least you'll know not to apply to University X because Professor Y can't be your adviser for whatever reason. This is a censored version of what I sent to everyone: My name is [ChibaCityBlues]. I am an MA student at [some university] in the History Department under the advisement of [some professor]. I am in the process of preparing applications to PhD programs and am thus sending this email to introduce myself and as a means of gauging how well the History Department at [prospective university] might serve as an institutional home as I continue my graduate studies. I am contacting you because [Professor's Awesome Book] served as an inspirational introduction to the study of [sub-field], which I have pursued as a graduate student. I recently completed a work of original research in which I [analyzed something the professor should be familiar]. The paper reflects my general interest in [professor's sub-field] and more specifically [in my specific interests defined in two or three words]. As a future dissertation topic and in the most general of terms, I will [a more elaborate sentence about what I plan on researching and writing about]. In the parlance of [Famous Historian 1] and [Famous Historian 2], [my research question worded using key terms associated with Famous Historian 1 and Famous Historian 2 that reveals that my interests are formulated in conversation with contemporary academic conversations and interests]? For the sake of brevity I'll leave it at that. If there are any considerations you think I should be aware as I consider applying to the History Department at [prospective university], or if you have any questions for me, please feel free to contact me at your convenience. Thanks very much for your time. ChibaCityBlues This was probably more formal than I had to be, but I left the PA in control of the conversation. Some replies were obviously meant to be the end of the conversation, others invited a more prolonged exchange of emails. What I absolutely wanted to avoid was pushing the conversation beyond the point the PA wanted to participate. I didn't mind being forgotten, but I absolutely didn't want to be remembered as that annoying person who kept writing them.

You'll want to spend some time in your SOP discussing your complicated academic history. By some time, however, I'm talking about a few sentences. Certainly don't dwell on it or make it the focus of your SOP, as that should be reserved for your research interests and how you hope to contribute to your sub-field. Fortunately, getting into grad school is a group effort. More so than your CV, those writing letters of recommendation for you are in a great position to speak for you about the reasons why it took you so long to get your BA and why those reasons don't figure in terms of how you'll be a great graduate student. When asking them to write letters for you, you should feel comfortable telling them that this is a concern of yours and that hopefully their letters will speak for you in that regard. Generally speaking, though not from personal experience, I've found academia to be pretty responsive to and accommodating of mental health issues as long you are "a great student who studies and researches this and that and also happens to have a mental illness" rather than being "that student with a mental health issue that's trying to study and research this and that." But yeah, send your CV anyway.

UConn's real strength is in early American history. They only really have two to four 20th century US people at Storrs, depending on how you count the sub-fields. Regardless, as you consider applying to PhD programs, you shouldn't be asking what program you should attend, but rather who you want to work with. If you don't already have a list of 20th century US historians that you want to work with, then I'd suggest you aren't approaching the application process properly. A successful application isn't merely going to demonstrate that you're interested in a particular sub-field of history, but rather is going to demonstrate how your research is going to contribute to your sub-field. To that effect, your application needs to tickle the feathers of specific historians who will presumably act as your adviser. Don't apply to go to University X. Apply to work with Professor Y.

Since you'll never have time to read anything other than school-related materials ever again, and since no one ever suffered for not knowing everything about their field before beginning grad school, I'd recommend enjoying these last few months of reading-freedom in other ways.

Any early Americanists out there want to chime in on how lingually diverse early America was?

Sorry to say, but not has Fox-Genovese been dead for several years now, but when she was alive she had the reputation of being a really nasty person and awful adviser.

So, where did everyone end up? I'll be going to the University of Michigan. For those on wait lists, I recently declined offers at Pittsburgh and UT Austin.

Don't worry about the reputation of the schools at this point. Instead, worry about the fact that you're going to need three letters of recommendation from whichever institution you'll be going to. One will have to come from your adviser, so he or she should be connected in their field somewhat. Shared research interests aren't so important at this point, as you'll have minimal opportunities to do any real research while getting your MA. What matters is that you'll be able to spend time with your advier in seminar and as a TA. That way they'll be able to write the strongest letter for you. You should be thinking about the other two letter writers that way too. So, if you don't see yourself getting three great letters from any of these institutions, don't bother going.

Do the MA, kick ass, apply again and get into a top 20 program.

Don't worry so much about program rankings. Instead, think about who it will be more beneficial for you to be an advisee of once you get on the job market. If ND has the better fit and your potential adviser looks like he or she will be the next hot thing in your field, take the extra money and run!

Was it that the author of the letter is disliked by most everyone? Or that they wrote an unfavorable letter? I don't understand a person who would willingly write someone a letter and then not have it be a good one. I understand profs declining to write letters because they don't feel they could write a beneficial one, but there's a special place in hell for those who agree and then don't write something nice.

Ask Harvard for a full tuition remittance. Tell them it's unreasonable for you to go 50, 60, 70 grand into debt for this degree and that you have other funded PhD offers. Worst case, nothing changes.

If you can keep your level of debt (including that accrued during undergrad) to below $20K or so after two years at Harvard, then I'd say go for it.

Well, you mentioned a meet-and-greet weekend, which the adviser wont be attending. A good time to talk to other grad students about your PA to get a better sense of what you're getting into. In my experience, I haven't found grad students to be dishonest with their assessments of their programs.

I don't think it's a big deal at all. Professors go on leave all the time for multiple reasons and it is not uncommon for people to take up a temporary adviser during those instances. Additionally, your first year is dedicated to course work so actually it's a good thing that the adviser is taking leave now (presumably a sabbatical) so that they'll be around when you actually do need them. And don't stress TAing. It's like shoveling a driveway.

No need to get touchy. We all know that for professional reasons it is hugely beneficial to get a degree from an Ivy. We also all know that much of the prestige assigned to Ivies is the product of some bizarre momentum carried forward from a bygone era when venerable professors of history claimed to spew historical truths. For those of us who have done an MA or who are currently doing doctoral work, how many times have you been disappointed at the prospect of reading another uninteresting, unsophisticated monograph from some Harvard or Yale professor? How many times have you gone to a conference and heard the Ivy graduate student deliver a paper that sounded like it was 20 years dated? The profession is what it is, which unfortunately means some people are positioned in such a way that they can feel good about themselves for little reason.

Especially when the naysayers are 21 year old kids who have no clue what the f*ck they're talking about.

I was looking at the USNWR rankings of grad programs and there is nothing defective about any of the universities in the top fifty. If you are being offered a funded PhD at any of these institutions, take it, kick ass, and then make a name for yourself despite not having graduated from Brown or whatever.

Sorry for the off-topic, but I wonder if BumblebeePlan hasn't heard back from NYU yet?

Apply to MA programs in BIG states universities that need the grad student man power to TA classes even if the TAs aren't PhD students. You'll study under and work for active historians in their fields who undoubtedly know the people you'll want to work with as a PhD student. Honestly, though, I applied in 2007 and started my MA in the Fall of 2008. Things have gotten a lot worse since then. My program no longer funds MA students because of budget considerations.

The point wasn't to discourage, but to answer the question posed which was essentially now that this application cycle didn't work out as desired, what to do next? If it didn't work out this cycle, the answer isn't to try to do the same thing again in a year and hope it'll work out that time. The admissions scene is only going to get more competitive. The job scene is only going to get more competitive. In preparing for the next round, in this environment, don't be comfortable applying as a top 10% candidate, or a top 5% candidate, or whatever the appropriate number is. Do the hard work of becoming a top 2% candidate, be that hungry, or otherwise save yourself the time, effort, and emotional burden of this whole process and become the next David McCullough or go work for politico.com.

Unfortunately, there are very few ways to make this academia thing work, and unfortunately whether or not you're on a trajectory towards success in academia begins to be determined even before this grad app process begins. When I was an undergrad I did not do those things required to get into good grad programs. I applied anyway and didn't get in anywhere. After a few years of working I then made the choice to be that 2% that make it. I spent a year studying for the GREs, I went back to school in order to get fresh and better academic recommendations, I worked on my writing sample for six months, and I did not apply to PhD programs next time around. I applied to MA programs which promised to be good stepping stones to better PhD programs. I think the MA step was critical because there is no way someone straight out of undergrad has any idea what the state of their field is, what the important questions are, where the gaps are that you can fill in with your research, etc. Yes, it delayed the process by two years, but it made all the difference because my current application doesn't reflect what I'm interested in studying as a student, but rather what I'm going to contribute to the field as a professional. Though I didn't get into Yale, I have been accepted to the top program in my field and one of the top grad programs in the country. I've interviewed at another top program and got accepted into all my safety schools. All fully funded. All of this is to say that academia is highly competitive and unless you know that you are doing what it takes to be in the top 2% rather than just hoping, then you are going to have a happier, more fulfilling, more fiscally secure life if you move on elsewhere. Read the forums in the chronicle for higher education is you want proof.

I got the call after 8:00PM EST. I'm a Latin Americanist.

According to the ad com chair they invited many more people than will be admitted.

Sorry to say that the decisions have already been made and those offered admissions already informed.