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Karou

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Everything posted by Karou

  1. Hi there! I don't know all that much about your areas of interest but neo-liberalism and social movements came up in pretty much every single class I took in the past year and, out of all the articles we read, a lot were written by scholars that had a PhD in the History of Consciousness, from UC Santa Cruz. I feel like that would be right up your alley, but if the interdisciplinary nature of this program isn't your thing, the History program, also at UCSC, has great faculty whose interests seem to match yours. Hope this helps.
  2. Oh you're already attending McGill! Well I feel a little silly for suggesting it now, sorry about that. And that's right, I had totally forgotten about that rule. I never took advantage of it but I had a good friend who wrote all her papers in French. Well I think it could be good to try your hand at writing a paper in English during your Master's then. If you want to pursue a PhD elsewhere in Canada or in the US, you'll most likely need writing samples in English anyway. And if you have 4+ years of experience of being taught your courses in English (as I'm assuming is the case for all McGill programs), I think your English is probably a lot better than you think it is. At least for me, learning the overall "vocabulary", so to speak, to express myself well in an academic setting was as much of a learning curve as learning to write a decent paper was. I'm sure you'll be fine. Like others have said, we're often a lot harder on ourselves than is warranted. I would say I probably spend longer on a paper than a native speaker, on average, because I re-read everything obsessively, and I look up everything that sounds like it could potentially be grammatically incorrect. But that may just be my perfectionist tendencies! Maybe discuss your concerns with a sympathetic professor? They may have suggestions for you. If you have smaller written assignments, maybe start there and work your way up to a research paper. In any case, it seems you've already taken steps by registering for English courses, and I'm sure you'll make progress in no time. Best of luck to you!
  3. I'm going to go ahead and assume you're in Québec? I'd recommend starting by dipping your toes in the world of anglophone academia, you could do a Masters degree in Montréal at McGill or at Concordia, or even a Graduate Diploma program, they last only a year but are packed with courses so they're good training. This way you won't experience a culture shock and you'll be able to develop your academic english before you venture into the rest of Canada or the US. And the suggestion to have a native speaker look over your work is also a great one! I've definitely relied on kind hearted friends to read over my work. Prepositions are the bane of my existence. English is also my second language and it definitely took some getting used to to write in academic English, even though I'd been fluent in spoken English for years when I started my program. But I learned fairly quickly, and it's definitely doable. I studied in Montreal for about 3 years, feel free to pm me if you like!
  4. Hi everyone! I'm nowhere near as experienced in navigating the world of academia as other posters on this thread, but I thought I'd give my two cents on the issue of changing disciplines, and doing an MA prior to a PhD as I applied to several MA programs last winter. First I'd like to strongly second @lkjpoi 's point in that you should treat MA applications just like PhD applications. That's what I did and it worked out well for me. I'd been researching the PhD application process for almost 2 years at this point and I thought I may as well put into practice everything I'd learned along the way (mostly on these forums, which are an incredible resource!). Anyway, I applied to six programs and got into all of them. That said, all programs I applied to were in the UK and I gather it is less competitive over there (I'd guess that this is due to the almost non-existent funding for Masters programs in the UK, but don't quote me on that). But still, I suppose I must have done something right! Amongst other things, I identified potential POIs in my statement and crafted a solid research proposal. Not PhD-application level, probably, but still solid and well-researched. Now my academic background is very unusual, and although I did have a tiny bit of experience in history, I don't really count it as such. Long story short, I did a BA in English Studies (with roughly one History course per semester over the course of 3 years) through distance learning, and certainly learnt nothing in terms of specific research methods and such. After that, I physically attended university and dabbled in graduate studies of various disciplines for about 2 years (which I very much view as making up for my lack, so to speak, of a true university experience in my undergrad years). It taught me a lot about research in general, but still nothing specific to History. That said, I always managed to pick "historical" topics for my research papers, and I played that up in my applications. You could probably do the same with your thesis, @infovore. And like you, I did a lot of research on my own in preparation for my applications to find my own little niche within the discipline. All of that to say, I doubt the schools I applied to were impressed by my very slim experience in History, they probably paid more attention to the other elements of my application! Certainly switching disciplines is going to be a challenge, but if you're willing to work of it, I'm sure it will be fine. Or at least that's what I tell myself since I'm headed to Oxford to do an MPhil in History in about a month! I know I'll have a lot of catching up to do, but hey, I wouldn't have gotten in if they didn't think I could do it. Best of luck to all of you as you start preparing your applications, and maybe we'll be colleagues one day as I intend to pursue a PhD in the US after my MPhil. And, like I said, I'm not particularly knowledgeable about this process, but if anyone has more questions about switching fields and taking the MA route, feel free to pm me!
  5. Thank you, that's very kind of you! I very well may take you up on your offer once this semester from hell is over and I have time to sit down and actually consider my options. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that I'll be happiest in Edinburgh and that this is where I'll end up, so I will most likely come to you with questions sometime soon! I mean, practically speaking Oxford would probably open more doors but my intuition is saying "go to Edinburgh" VERY loudly. Sorry, musing out loud here. Thank you, and congrats again on Brandeis!
  6. So lovely to see so much joy here today!! Haven't been posting much either but I've been following this thread and I'm just so very happy for all of you who are going to all of these amazing places! Meanwhile, I have been fortunate enough to be admitted to the MPhil in British and European History at Oxford (I was completely floored tbh), and am awaiting funding decisions anxiously. In the event that I don't get any funding, I doubt that I will be able to attend, and will most likely head to the University of Edinburgh instead. Although I'll have to give it some serious thought before I make a final decision! Either way, I'll be very happy to attend either one of those institutions.
  7. That sounds really great! Best of luck!
  8. I don't think I can add much more to everybody's wonderful responses! Incidentally, I found this thread very helpful as I also scored an interview (over Skype, but still) next Wednesday and I'm a little anxious, but, as always, this board has alleviated my anxiety a little bit. But I want to second @NoirFemme's "be yourself" advice. Of course, you'll want to look especially nice and professional but I know that, in my case, wearing clothes I would never ordinarily wear makes me feel incredibly uncomfortable and thus makes me act accordingly. Wearing something that makes you feel like yourself (albeit maybe a dressier version of yourself, depending on your every day style) and comfortable in your own skin would be your best bet, I think. I mostly just came to wish you luck, I'm sure it's going to go great! And yes, do keep us posted after the interview.
  9. Breaking news: I'm still really bitter about the Canadian winter.
  10. This dog is actually every single one of us. I love it.
  11. So much good news today, congrats you guys!! I also got some good news today, I got into the MPhil in Medieval History at Trinity College Dublin! Very happy about this, although they've given me until the end of the month to give them an answer and I'm a little anxious about this because I won't have heard back from all of my schools by then. I've asked for an extension and hopefully that works out. Still, I am extremely grateful and stunned that I already hold three offers, I never thought I would actually have the luxury to get to choose between schools! Also, @nhhistorynut, can we talk about how much I love your profile picture??!
  12. @Sigaba, ah that makes more sense, apologies for misreading your previous message! You're absolutely right that it would be better to send my thanks after having made a decision. However, they contacted me unexpectedly fast (10 days after I sent in my application -which by the way is going to spoil me for life) and I know for a fact that some other schools will not notify me of a decision before mid to late March, and it just seemed like a long time to leave an email unanswered. But point taken, thank you!
  13. Karou

    Language training

    @YeshuaNgome, thank you for sharing your experience! I always love hearing what other people are working on, and what languages they know. Italian classes are going very well so far, so I think that my plan may indeed work out. And one university that recently admitted me said they were fairly impressed that I had enrolled in Italian classes in preparation for future research, so I suppose it was indeed a good idea to get started early! I hope everything continues to work out for you (good job on juggling three languages by the way, that's pretty impressive!).
  14. @Koznyshev and @OHSP, thank you for the congrats, and for the advice. I ended up replying something along those lines. I was just overthinking it, like you said I'm sure they're expecting that students have applied to more than one school and may hold more than one offer. @Sigaba, I don't know, maybe it's naive of me, or a major faux-pas or something, but I'd feel weird ignoring somebody who was kind enough to take the time to personally email me and who has clearly read through my application carefully. Good luck to all of you waiting to hear from Brown!
  15. Congrats on interviews and acceptances guys!! It's been a big day for me, I got accepted into two programs today! I got a lovely, personalized email from a professor at the University of York (UK, not Ontario!) that I should receive an unconditional offer from the university in the next few days for the MA in Early Modern History. And I just checked my student portal for the University of Glasgow and I got in there too, for the MLitt in History! Haven't received any details so far but I guess I'll receive some sort of email soon. Still waiting to hear from 4 other schools, but those are two outstanding options right here. Very exciting! Also, this is probably a silly question, but I'm struggling a little bit with how to answer the email from York. It didn't come from a potential advisor (I was not expected to contact POI's at this point, although I have listed several members of faculty whose work interest me in my SoP) but I still want to thank them for their very thoughtful email. I want to indicate that I'm excited for this opportunity, but I don't want to pledge myself to the university either, so to speak. Thoughts?
  16. Hi guys! As of last week, I've officially applied to all of my programs. I'm only applying to masters programs this cycle, which I suppose is less stressful than applying to doctoral programs, but I am nonetheless awaiting decisions anxiously! I've been following this thread for a bit, and thought it was time to join in. Congratulations to those of you who have received acceptances, it's truly great to see! And best of luck to all of you still waiting to hear.
  17. Karou

    Language training

    @Sigaba, thank you! That's a very interesting point and something I probably would not have thought of doing myself. I will definitely look into that in the next year or so when I start working on PhD applications! Also, update: I had my first Italian class yesterday and so far so good. Excited to see what kind of progress I'll have made by the time the course ends in April!
  18. Thank you @GreenEyedTrombonist! This is pretty much what I was thinking, it's nice to have it echoed by somebody else. I touch on my lifestyle briefly in my SoP (it's relevant to my undergrad experience), but I'm not necessarily comfortable listing the details of it in my CV. My research interests lie in the Italian Renaissance, and that's a very good point, but no I haven't really visited Italy besides a day or two in Florence unfortunately! I'm planning to remedy that next year. Thank you also, @fuzzylogician, that is very sound advice and I know you're right. I guess I just found the comment not quite insulting, but I definitely heard it as one of those hard truths that can be a little jarring to hear and my ego responded by being pouty about it. I can definitely see her point though, I did my undergrad online while working and it was HARD. I have quite a few graduate credits under my belt (for which I actually physically attended university), and I did not work on the side, which was definitely less hard, so I know she's right! She did suggest, like you, that I pick and choose a couple of jobs to list, but I think I may leave that out altogether. Honestly, my "professional" CV is a bit of a hot mess and I feel like it may make me look like I lack direction and my academic background in untraditional enough as it is, I think it may be better to leave that out. My academic CV is a bit sparse at this point, but I'm hoping that, as you said, it should be enough for Masters applications. I am definitely going to work on gaining more experience in the next couple of years! Thank you both, this has been very helpful.
  19. Hi guys, So i recently went to the Career Centre at my current institution to get some help on how to construct an academic CV. The woman that helped me was lovely and helpful for the most part, but she said that I should talk about some of my work experience on there, even though it is completely irrelevant to academia. I've had many different "small jobs" in my life from waitressing to sales etc. I suppose I should trust her judgement but I'm EXTREMELY doubtful about this advice and I honestly do not want to put any of that in there. She said that it isn't necessarily impressive that I have a good GPA if all I did was go to school (which I thought was a little insulting tbh) and that showing that I worked on the side while studying would prove that I can handle myself or that I'm a hard worker or something to that effect. I have listed the research experience I have and I think that's more than enough. She also said to list volunteer work (of which there is only one instance in my case -shameful I know, I've lived in terribly small/isolated places quite a bit-, I volunteered at a cat shelter for a couple months, which, as a side note, was amazing). Not sure whether I should mention that ether. I've also travelled extensively (which I only discussed with her because I held those aforementioned small jobs in an array of different places), and she said I should put that under an 'Interests' section. As in, list the places I've lived in or visited for a relatively long period of time. Again, i'm not completely convinced that that's a good idea. I would appreciate any advice you may have on this! Keep in mind that I'm applying for MA programs, not PhD, and only 2 schools out of the 7 I'm applying to actually require me to send in my CV. So it's not a huge deal, but I still need my CV to be in good shape for those 2 schools. Thanks so much!
  20. Haha, it was pretty much the highlight of my day too! I was waiting at the traffic light and this lady was talking to her dog, calling it by its name, and I had to say something because 1. dog and 2. Mustache is a great name (although I think General Custer may have it beat! Outstanding). Petted him for an entire three seconds and yup, pretty much made my day.
  21. I'm sorry you guys, all of that sounds really upsetting. It always astounds me how completely out of line some students can be. I see it happen at my own school (nowhere near as bad as what you guys are describing, maybe the real ugly stuff goes down in private?) and I'm just sitting here like "Oh god, I'm going to have to deal with that one day!". I still want to teach more than anything, but jeez, some people really do make me question my life choices sometimes! But then again, I'm sure I'd have to deal with awful people at one point or another in any career. For a slightly more lighthearted bout of venting: winter in the city is awful because the sidewalks are basically icy death traps and I almost fell on my face about 4 times when going to the store earlier today, thanks Canada! Although I did meet a real cute dog named Mustache on the way so I feel like it was a pretty successful outing.
  22. @Spiro Spero, yes I know, Trinity's library makes me want to cry! In a good way. I've never set foot in Ireland! I seem to have met a LOT of people though who are completely infatuated with Ireland and it seems to be a great place. Wherever I end up next year I will make a point of visiting. My friend also said that Dublin is quite inexpensive, which is saying something considering that she's from Montreal which is arguably one of the cheapest cities in North America. And I'm actually looking forward to the weather in a way, I'm extremely over those nasty Canadian winters haha, but I know what you mean! I haven't been to a great many places in the UK either, I'm one of those people who always went far far away when it comes to travelling, I haven't really seen that much of Europe. I should remedy that. That's cool! I completely understand, you do have to pick and choose at some point, how many programs are you applying to in total? I'm applying to 7, although there's only 6 that require "real" applications. I'm applying to Uppsala in Sweden and all they want from me are my ID and my transcripts, so that one was pretty easy! Other than that I'm applying to Edinburgh, York, Oxford, Glasgow, King's College London and, as I said, Trinity. Applying to a range of Medieval and Early Modern programs depending on the school/department as I'm interested in the Renaissance, a period which no one seems to agree upon as far as time frame. Are you all done with your applications already? With the exception of Oxford, I found that everyone was super chill about deadlines over in the UK/Ireland. I guess maybe it's different for Internationals though! I'm gonna stop now because I feel like I'm hogging the Classics thread talking about a bunch of off-topic things, apologies guys!
  23. I'm not sure I can be of much help but I just wanted to say hi and congrats on your acceptance! I'm in the process of finishing up my application for an MPhil in Medieval History at Trinity myself. I initially took a look at the school because I'm an EU citizen applying mostly to schools in the UK and thought it might be safe to apply outside of the UK, because who knows what's gonna happen with Brexit at this point. Of course I wouldn't have applied just for that reason, but I happened to fall in love with the program also! I don't know much about the school itself to be completely honest but I have a friend who is doing her MPhil in Irish Literature there and she loves it! She says it's a great learning environment with great faculty that is very helpful and encouraging. She also says that Dublin is a great city to live in. That's about all I got! Where else in the UK are you applying? Sorry for being nosy but not many people on these forums are applying to Masters in the UK, it's nice to see somebody else doing that.
  24. A couple years ago my phone fell into a toilet because of tiny lady pockets. At least it was a learning experience, I always double check now!
  25. Karou

    Language training

    knp you're not late at all, and thank you so much for your comments on my English, it's very kind of you to say. I've been working on my English for over ten years at this point, so I feel like it's not really quite that impressive! Although I would say I attained fluency quite a while ago, it's just that I view language learning as a work that is forever in progress. I actually have a vocabulary notebook in which I jot down definitions for new words I may come across throughout my readings because I'm a big nerd (a practice I took up when I was studying for the GRE and it turned out to be really helpful so I kept at it!). But it turns out that down and down the research rabbit hole I went and it has become increasingly clear that Italian should be my priority at the moment (indeed, from sources cited in books/articles I've read as well as from my growing interest in Italy as a geographical area to focus on ). Hopefully professors will shed some light on how proficient in German I need to be at this point in my academic career once I start my program next year (fingers crossed that I get in somewhere). I'm actually going to go check out a place tomorrow where they offer lessons, it's a branch of the Italian consulate so it should be perfectly respectable and the price is right! And yes, that is exactly what my friend said, that German would help with Latin learning as far as case systems and gender systems. I will definitely be taking Latin as an elective during my Masters, and from discussions I've been having with various people in addition to the lovely people in this thread, I'm hoping that the Italian/Latin/German learning curve will turn out to be a sort of natural progression. I've also spoken with my mother since and it turns out she is even more amazing than I thought, and in addition to the many Italian ladies that populate my life, my mom also has a very close friend in Germany that would be more than happy to help out in any way she can. I'm very fortunate to have all of these opportunities and it would be a shame to not take advantage of them. Going away to learn new languages is what aspiring historians do in the summer right?
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