MMii
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Posts posted by MMii
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3 hours ago, laleph said:
To people flying in from far away:
How have you decided which visiting days to attend? I'm still waiting on four schools; have been accepted at one of my top choices and waitlisted at the other. Am trying to figure out if I should attend the visiting days of the latter schools (in other words, buy tickets now), or wait to hear back from the last four before booking tickets. And it would be rather presumptuous to email asking when visiting days are before being admitted or waitlisted… Any advice is much appreciated!
It's really tricky, the only way I'm making it work is because I have friends on the East Coast I can stay with in between campus visits and I'm busy writing my MA thesis so have flexi time but it will be quite disruptive in any case. I feel it's really important for my decision-making though so the benefits outweigh the costs.
Incidentally, I actually did contact one of the schools to find out about visiting days. I had to apply for a visa which takes at least two weeks so I wanted to work their campus visit in (I only asked for the dates, not the status of my application). For those of us travelling internationally and who need visas it's not really possible to leave the travel bookings to the last minute so I didn't feel presumptuous doing it.
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14 minutes ago, realmarcelproust said:
Does anyone know (or, rather, has anyone heard) anything about Yale and Cornell? I'm 95% sure Penn is the one for me anyway, but it would be nice to hear something either way.
@realmarcelproust I received an offer from Yale last week.
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21 minutes ago, Gwarth said:
Hi guys - has anyone heard from Yale, Princeton or UMichigan yet? Those are the only schools I'm waiting on at the moment and I'm definitely growing a bit anxious (I just want the waiting to be over! haha)...
@Gwarth I've heard back from Yale but not U-Mich. It looks like some people have received acceptances to U-Mich though.
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2 minutes ago, OHSP said:
Australia - if I were paying for my own flights it would be a nightmare. Can you get ESTA from SA or do you need a B1/2?
Yeah, I hear you - I'll be reimbursed for most of my travel expenses but it's the initial outlay which is tricky. I need a B1, which hopefully will be fine but takes a bit of time to organize, do the interview, process etc.
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6 minutes ago, OHSP said:
Oh maannnn. Where are you coming from?
South Africa
There actually is a direct flight which is only 16 hours but, alas, not on a student's budget. Where are you coming from?
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8 hours ago, OHSP said:
I am in the same position, with +48 hour round trips ahead of me. Duke is paying for me to visit but I don't see how I'll be able to afford visits to other schools as well, so I'll likely be making the decision without having ever visited most places. [I'm aware that this is a super privileged spot to be in right now - good luck to everyone still waiting].
At this stage I'm facing a 60 hour round trip (cheapest flight and only one I can possibly manage right now), but I think it's totally worth it to get a sense of where I'll be living for the next 5+ years
Here's hoping the visa works out. Congrats on your acceptances!
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12 hours ago, Calgacus said:
@SarahMoon This is a good answer. Also be sure to ask about semester fees (which are usually technology fees, gym fees, bus fee, etc. etc.). Some schools include this in their funding packages with their tuition waiver, stipend, and health insurance, but be advised that several don't. Be sure to ask ahead of time when making your decision so you don't get surprised with it later. Student fees are often $500-$1000. Let us know if you have any more specific questions. The best way to find out whether your stipend is livable in a specific area is to ask the current grad students at your visit day (or ask on here). But be specific when you ask them. People choose to prioritize different things with their stipends. Some are willing to have much less spending money in order to get a nicer apartment (or to live alone), while others will room with 4 people in order to have much more spending cash, so try to get a sense of each person's spending lifestyle when you ask them.
Thanks so much @Calgacus - great suggestions.
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On 2017/01/30 at 9:21 PM, npliegoc said:
Latin American history. I focus on post-1945 Mexico. What about you?
African history is mine! Focus on twentieth century South Africa intellectual history.
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@viridian , thank you so much! That is really so helpful in confirming/clarifying what I had read and thought I understood. I'll definitely double check with the department about tuition though.
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Hi everyone,
I have a question about funding for those who have more experience with the US system. I'm an international student, who cannot afford to take on any debt for PhD studies and as I have received my first offer I thought it would be prudent to get my head around what constitutes a 'good' funding package? If I have been offered 19 quarters of support including funding for five years and four summers, does this mean that my tuition will be waived or covered for the duration or is it more complex than this? I'll obviously contact the department to find out more, but wondered if anyone here has insight about this. The funding packages in the US seem much more complicated than the ones offered in my home country (which are often just lump sum annual amounts, and tuition is comparably negligible).
TIA
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55 minutes ago, npliegoc said:
Hey SarahMoon, just want to say congrats! I received an acceptance from Northwestern as well!
Excellent! Congrats to you too
What's your subfield?
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2 hours ago, thekatieladybird said:
Congrats!
Thank you! Very happy/relieved to have received an acceptance!
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Northwestern decisions are out (some of them, at least). I just received an acceptance via the Graduate School.
- emhafe and thekatieladybird
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16 hours ago, JKL said:
Stop worrying, guys. Just assume the committees laughed at your application then threw it in the trash. Assume that afterwards they went out for coffee to discuss how pathetic you truly are for thinking you stood a chance. After coffee, they returned to the office. They dug your application out of the trash for another laugh; your statement of "purpose" had them rolling. They took selfies of themselves with your application, posted the photos on Twitter, and watched as even the school chancellor retweeted them. Your POI crumbled up the application once again and shot it like a basketball into the trashcan but missed and didn't even pick it up. Making their rounds the next morning, the janitors picked it up and read it. They laughed harder than the admissions committee. "What a waste of time, money, and energy this person would be for the History Department," said one of the janitors. The other janitor agreed, noting that the time, money, and energy would be better spent on purchasing new toilet paper. Your POI returned home later that night. Family members asked about the applications and whether or not any of them stood out. "Nope. Not a single one," said your POI from the comfort of a home that tenure affords and that you'll never experience. "Not a single one."
Thank you.
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On 14/12/2016 at 9:49 PM, nevermind said:
So for this term, I've made notes of what I read including:
Title
Author
Main point/Intervention
Context/Reacting against/Opposing Views
Overall Summary
Footnote Citation / Bib. Citation
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This is basically to catalog all my work/readings for a quick reference during qualifying exams. Does anybody use software to keep this stuff organized? I've tried Mendeley but I'm not a huge fan so far. Thoughts?
I use zotero for bibliography, evernote for longer note-taking and scrivener for writing and research notes related to specific chapters. Have you tried scrivener? It offers a digital index card system as one of its features which sounds like it would suit what you're trying to do and which one can attach to longer thoughts/essays about the book. (As if you're attaching an index card with skeletal data to a hard copy of a paper). One of the great features is being able to view these cards in corkboard view which is basically an overview where you can move around and sort the cards into themes etc. It is also extremely useful for thesis-writing (actually its main function is for writing typescripts).
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1 hour ago, thekatieladybird said:
Hi! I'm new here. Somewhat working with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, but my main focus is on memory, identity formation, and post-conflict resolution in Eastern Congo, which solidly places me in the realm of modern/ 20th century African history. I was wondering if you, or anyone else here, has heard back yet? I've only been unofficially accepted to OSU and interviewed by Emory. I'm not quite sure what the timeline is, but any info would be good! So happy to see there are other African historians out there!
That sounds interesting - seems like our interests overlap somewhat! I'll PM you, would be great to keep in touch in the future.
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I'm happy to read over it. No expert at all, but I sent mine to a number of people and got some useful general feedback that I could perhaps draw on
5 hours ago, Aal said:Please help me. I don't have family or friends who can review it and it has been 2 years since I graduated so I don't feel like sending it to my professors.
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On 2016/12/16 at 3:52 AM, KLZ said:
I'm considering developing a major field in African history; I will certainly have a minor field. I work on U.S.-South African relations, social and political history, and transnational movements. It's good to see others out there working on South African history!
Oh interesting - what's your time period and which movements? It is indeed, I know many on the home front working on the region but am curious about the extent of the interest abroad!
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18 hours ago, AP said:
Good luck! Not an Africanist here but I have lots of friends that are.
Thanks!! Trying to take a 'let the chips fall where they may' approach
but it's not really working
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Is there anybody out there?
What are you guys planning to work on, what are you reading etc. etc.?
I'm currently working on social welfare in South Africa but am planning to branch out for my PhD research and work on race, identity and discourses on the state in twentieth century southern Africa. Would love to hear what other new research is on the cards
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Hi Soheila,
I'm also an international applicant. I took the GRE in October after prepping for a few months. I used the official ETS study guides for Verbal and Quant practice and bought the Kaplan Quant study guide. I only read after buying the guides that the Kaplan is not recommended as the practice tests are easier than the actual test, but I actually found it very useful. I hadn't done maths since high school (~10 years) and found it to be a great refresher. As I'm in the humanities, for quant I just wanted to score that fell in what I felt (after some research) was an acceptable range (154-158) and the material was sufficient to get me there. For verbal, I practised using powerprep, the ETS practice books and Magoosh's free resources and it ended up being fine. Where I fell down was in Analytical Writing, which in truth, I didn't spend any time prepping for. In hindsight, this was probably a mistake but I couldn't spend any more money on the GRE so I decided not to retake it.
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So interesting to see what everyone's reading
Currently reading Rape: A South African Nightmare by Pumla Dineo Gqola, Derrida's Memoirs of the Blind, and re-reading Registration and Recognition: Documenting the Person in World History by Keith Breckenridge & Simon Sretzer
Novel list for December: Achebe's Arrow of God and A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (which mysteriously appeared in my bookshelf)
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Fall 2017 applicants
in History
Posted
I received my rejection from U-Mich today!