angesradieux

Thanks for the advice.
My issue is that it wasn't his project that he just recruited me for. He'd been complaining that there was a book that he thought was the best scholarship on Dracula that he would have loved to use for the course, but it was written in French and hadn't been translated into English. I did a translation of a different source that he wanted to use for the class but wasn't yet available in English, and I was sitting in his office discussing that translation with him. And then as we were talking it kind of segued into "Hey. This book's in French. It'd be great to have it in English to use for the class. You know what? Let's do it!" So I started translating and sending chapters to him as I finished for him to look over and edit. But prior to that conversation, he never had any intention of undertaking the project. And the entire first draft of the manuscript was mine. In the past, he'd acknowledged that, as far as when I expressed concern over the timeline he laid out, he said that he would very much like for us to see this through together, but he recognized that the original translation was mine, and if I wanted to, I was certainly free to pursue it independently. I guess the fact that there was no project until I spoke to him and that the entire first draft was my work makes me feel like I should have been consulted.
I don't know. He did list me first underneath "translators", so maybe I should take that and be happy. But, I have an e-mail from him, sent almost exactly a year ago, explaining that royalties were going to be split three ways--between me, him, and the original author of the text we're publishing a translation of. So, at that point neither of these other people were part of the equation. A year ago, I was finishing going through his edits of my original translation, and we'd almost finished putting together a second draft. All of the translating was done. However, these people, who materialized are listed as translators also. I honestly don't understand how that's possible since they must have been brought in after I had done the original translation, my professor had gone through and sent my his edits, and I had subsequently looked through his edits, implemented changes, and sent the new version back to him.
Anyway, the way the title page is laid out is my professor's name is above everyone's. He's below the original author, listed as "edited and with an introduction by Prof X." And it's true he's the one who did the work on the introduction. And then below that, it's "Translators from French etc.: Me, him, Person 1, and Person 2." And again, maybe I should just take the fact that I'm first and be happy with it, but it just frustrates me because by the time these other people were brought in, I had translated the whole book myself, my professor sent me edits on the translation, and I had gone back through it, making changes and reformatting, so if anything they were involved in further refining the existing version, not actually translating themselves because that had already been done by me.
 
Maybe you're right that I shouldn't make a big deal of it. It's a book translation, nothing original except a brief introduction by the professor, so it's not like it's groundbreaking work. It's also a book detailing the life of Vlad Dracula which, given that my primary field of interest is early modern France, isn't terribly relevant except as a side project. I'm just frustrated because it truly was a difficult project that I really invested a huge amount of time and energy into, and now I guess I'm a little bitter that people who apparently decided to jump in really late in the game are being credited as having done translation work themselves when, in truth, it was done and in the final stages of revision when they were brought in.. I also had myself convinced that he was nice, honest, and helpful, and I'm kind of feeling like I misjudged him, and I'm a little angry with myself over that. I don't know if that makes sense or not. But I guess I'm also struggling with feeling like I should have known better. In terms of recommendations and writing samples, though, I've already applied, so it shouldn't change anything in that respect unless I don't get in anywhere and have to reapply next year, which I'm hoping won't happen but is, of course, always a possibility.

Hey! Current Vanderbilt student here. Just popping in to say they're tentatively talking about making offers in the next week or two. So if you applied to Vanderbilt, the waiting game should be ending fairly soon. Good luck!

Rawr. I'll start off by saying I know this guy pretty well at this point. This is the third time I've been his TA, and last time I was kind of there for multiple classes. As in, I only officially did the grading for one, but when he was going to be away for a week, he asked me to cover and give a presentation on properly formatting papers to another class, I accompanied his two classes that I wasn't officially TAing on a field trip, and I was heavily involved in keeping tabs on his research assistant. Generally, we've worked well together, with bouts of some irritating behavior. In all this time, his forum discussion assignments have been out of 10. And he's never said anything about skewing the grading system in any way. So for as long as I've worked with him, it's been 9-10=A, 8.5=B+, 8=B, and so on. Just as you would expect. Multiply the grade by 10 and you get the score out of 100%. Note that this particular class is a 5 week winter semester class, so grading has to be done quickly.
With this in mind, I've already graded the first forum discussion for this class with this system in mind. I gave 10's to students whose work was truly exceptional. 9-9.5 to students whose work was very good, but not quite on par with the best. 8.5 to students on the high end of B work, 8 to those on the low end, and so on. I entered those grades days ago. Students have seen them.
Well, today, I get an e-mail. Even though the class is basically done and the first round of grades have already been posted for students to view, he's changed his grading scale. 9-10 is still an A. But now 8-8.5 is a B+. Still, fine. I'm not going to quibble over half a letter grade. But where it gets really frustrating is now 6-7.5 is a B. 5 is a C+, 4 is a C, 2-3 is a D, and 0-1 is an F. This is drastically different than what I'd had in mind while grading the first assignments. There was a student I have a 6 to, which is probably the lowest grade I've ever given to a complete assignment. Usually, if all parts of the assignment have been submitted, I give at least a 7.5, or what in my mind has been a C. But this was truly one of the worst assignments I've ever seen, so I gave what I thought as a 60%, which would have been an F.
But now that's apparently a B.
But what frustrates me even more than the apparent adjustment of grades I already entered is now grades may be markedly lower than they were on the first assignment. Say for example the student who earned a 6 made significant improvements on the second forum discussion, but the work only merits a C. Am I supposed to give a lower grade even if the work is actually better, because the grading scale has changed somewhere in between the assignments being graded? What about the students I have 8's to because they were on the lower end of the B range? Do I give them a lower number grade even if they've maintained the same level of quality from one assignment to another? How do I justify that?
I'm just so frustrated. If I'd known that this time around he was going to change the grading scale, I would have graded the last assignments much differently. But not only did he wait until I'd finished grading, but he left it until after all the grades were posted to notify me. So now I can't change it, because if a student notices that what was an 8 has now dropped to a 6.5 or 7 or, worse, what was a 6 is now a 1 or 2, they'll be out for blood before I even have time to explain. I feel like no matter what I do, if I suddenly follow this scale I'll have a mutiny on my hands with my inbox exploding with angry emails. But, if I ignore it and follow the original scale out of a healthy sense of self-preservation, I'll get an e-mail from the professor wanting to know why I'm suddenly giving everyone what works out to be higher grades than I have in the past.
I planned to get a good chunk of grading done today, but now I'm frustrated and confused and, frankly, feeling a little stuck.
Has anyone else here experienced a professor drastically changing the grade scale after the class was underway and assignments had already been graded?

Does anyone have any suggestions of specific apartment complexes they've lived in or know of that are walking distance to Vanderbilt and safe enough to walk alone to at night? Conversely, are there any areas close to campus you'd recommend a female walking alone at night to avoid?
I've found a couple apartments near Centennial Park but I've heard mixed reviews of the park's safety at night. Are the other sides of campus (South/East) considered safer?
Any feedback is helpful since I know nothing about Nashville. Thanks!

Mini little vent. I went to see Beauty and the Beast today. For the most part, it was really good. But then there's a mention of the plague, and I was like huh? There was nothing else medieval about the scenery. From the music, fashion, scenery, etc. it looked like there was a lot of baroque influence and I'd say it was 18th century France. So the plague just seemed totally out of left field, and I spent a fair amount of time after sitting there confused, thinking "Wait. What time period iis this?" And I'm just going on a little rant here because that anachronism really irritated me and no one else I know really cares about stuff like that. Silly little vent, but there it is.

It might be worthwhile to look specifically for funded masters. For example, Miami University in Ohio funds their history masters students. That way you avoid taking on the debt you'd be stuck with going to a bigger name school and in the case of Miami University, they don't have a history PhD, so you don't have to worry about competing with PhD students for professors' time and attention. Some schools look at their masters program as a cash cow, intended to bring in money to help them fund their PhD program. While this doesn't necessarily mean instruction suffers at the MA level, I'd be wary of putting myself in that situation and if possible, I'd try to avoid it. I'd recommend doing some research and seeing if you can find at least a couple schools that only have a masters so you're more likely to get funding and won't have as much competition for your university's resources.
As far as preparing the application, I would focus on your writing sample. There will be a ton of applicants with high GPAs and GRE scores. While they may help admissions committees narrow down the pile initially, it's highly unlikely they'll be a deciding factor. Your writing sample, on the other hand, could be a big deciding factor. The way a professor at one school I visited explained it was that your professors want to teach you to be a historian. They don't want to spend a significant amount of time teaching you the basics of how to write. Therefore, if your writing sample shows that you're already a solid writer, it helps them make a case to offer you admission. If your writing is problematic, it's a red flag and makes them question whether you're a good candidate for their program. Basically, a good writing sample shows them that there's something already there that they can work with.

Is there a train station near by? You may want to look into what train tickets cost and what the schedule is. You'll have less flexibility, but at least that way you could read and get work done on the trip to minimize the time lost in the commute. It may not be feasible depending on the expense, but it's just another thing to consider.

It depends on personal preference. An hour may be totally doable for you. However, one thing to consider is the weather where you're moving. Do they get a lot of snow? If they do, how comfortable are you driving in bad weather? Not all schools are particularly friendly to their commuters, and they may figure that most people live close enough to campus to get there despite the weather. There were also times where I drove to campus, and it took me a solid hour or more to get there in bad weather, only to find that at some point after I'd left, so within an hour and a half of class starting, they'd made the decision to cancel classes due to snow and they were closing all buildings except dorms, so instead of waiting out the storm there, I had to get right back in my car and drive back. Also, when your commute is that far, sometimes weather will be different on campus than it is where you live. Once, the roads by me were icy and I wasn't comfortable driving, but the school was open. So I e-mailed a professor letting him know that I wouldn't be able to get to class because of the weather, and I got a response that it wasn't that bad by the school. Which, great for them, but the roads being fine there didn't mean they were fine by me. You'll find the level of understanding varies from one professor to another. Some may be great about working with you if you can't get to class, others not so much. The other thing to consider is your car. With an hour commute, you'll be putting a lot of miles on your car very quickly and it starts to be a lot of wear and tear on it. Will you be okay covering any issues that may crop up--worn break pads, dead battery, etc.--more frequently with your commute than they would if you lived elsewhere? If the reason you're moving far from campus is to find more affordable rent, you should think about what it will cost to maintain your car. You may find a good chunk of what you save on rent going towards repairs.
I commuted during undergrad, and I'll also say I didn't really have a chance to get involved on campus and it also meant I didn't find many friends. It may be a bit different in grad school, and the fact that I had a job close to home may have exacerbated it, but I got into the habit of showing up when classes started and then leaving when my classes were done. I didn't really hang out on campus or get to know people because I was always either trying to beat the rush hour traffic or get back in time for work. The coursework may be doable, but you might find it difficult to have a social life. Again, this is from undergrad, but I didn't start hanging around on campus to spend time with people until my last year, and even then there was always this internal battle of feeling like I needed to leave even when I was having a good time, because it was getting late and I still had a far-ish drive home.
Not saying it isn't doable, but those are some factors you may want to consider.

It's important to remember that there's an element of luck involved in the application process. Not getting in doesn't mean you weren't a strong candidate. Part of it boils down to being in the right place at the right time. Maybe there was a budget cut this year that forced the university to take a smaller group and turn down applicants they would have really liked to accept. Maybe a professor thought you were great, but has as many students as he can handle at the moment and has to wait until some finish before taking on someone else. Or, maybe the people you wanted to work with didn't get graduate students at all this cycle because of university politics or someone higher up in the pecking order wanting to take an extra student. I truly believe that part of my success this cycle was luck, and if I submitted the same exact application last year, I might have had very different results. A lot of the process is highly subjective, and there are several factors entirely out of our control that influence the outcome. Hang in there. Use this time to strengthen your application, and perhaps next year will be the year all the stars align and you get into your dream program.
For what it's worth, I had one professor tell me I would never amount to anything in her field, and I was utterly devastated. I transferred schools and I ended up finding people who've encouraged me, taught me, and I've done several things that first professor expressly told me I would never be able to. Granted, I ended up applying for a PhD in a different field, but the point is just because one person doesn't necessarily see your value doesn't mean the potential isn't there. You just need to find someone who's better able to see it. And frankly, I'm better off after having been rejected by that first professor. I've had tons of opportunities that never would have come up if I stayed where i was. Sometimes, things like this are a blessing in disguise.

In terms of tailoring the SoP, I did pretty much what you described. I wrote up my statement, and then ended with a paragraph about why each school would be a good fit. I may tweaked a few things for the various applications, but I didn't make any huge changes to the main body of my SoP for each application unless one application had a very different word count/length requirement. However, I think this also varies depending on how many schools you end up applying to.
Personally, I only applied to four, and all four had similar strengths, so an SoP that was applicable to one was able to work well for the others provided I included a paragraph at the end discussing specific people I'd like to work with and resources that would be beneficial for each school. If you're casting a wider net (As a side note, I would recommend it applying more broadly. I planned on applying to more schools, but my dad got sick right around when applications were due, and in the midst of everything I ended up losing track of some deadlines and not spending as much time as I probably should have on applications, so I ended up narrowing my list more out of necessity than anything else. All that to say that while applying to a small number of similar programs worked out for me, it wasn't entirely intentional, and it's not something I'd advise someone else to do.), you may find that the strengths of the programs on your list are more varied, in which case it may be beneficial to tweak your SoP a bit more. You still probably won't have to do a complete overhaul or anything, but just adding a sentence here or there to highlight aspects of your work you think might make a better case for why the strengths of a specific program work so well for your research interests can't hurt. Anyway, I would advise looking at the list of schools you're interested in, thinking about the ways in which their different, and deciding how much you need to tailor your SoP based on how wide a net your casting and how significantly one program differs from the next.
As far as the MA, I would only do it if it's funded. Personally, I don't think the return on investment is necessarily worth taking on debt. I think how much having an MA helps your application really varies. If you have a chance to talk to people at any of the programs you're interested in, it might be worthwhile to ask how they look upon students with a BA vs. students with an MA and if there's a preference for one over the other.

It's hard, but try to be proud of yourself that you got in somewhere. PhD applications can be a bit of a crap shoot, and I really believe that just being in the right place at the right time is a big part of it. While credentials are part of it, how many students accepted offers the previous year, other budget issues, faculty leaving, etc. all play a role in the process. I wouldn't take rejections to mean that you don't belong where you are.
Plus, nothing's ever really set in stone. Maybe you'll get there, and after getting to know the program a bit better discover it's better than you initially thought. If that's the case, great. But if not, they can't force you to stay. I know in my field it isn't unheard of for students to take their masters and leave, either because they discovered academia isn't for them or because they ended up reapplying and transferring to finish their PhD somewhere else. Just try to remember that you aren't trapped. Try to make the best of things, but if you really feel you can't be happy where you are, maybe you can apply to transfer into a program that suits you better.
Hope this helps a little bit. I'm not terribly good at pep talks.

I've officially declined offers from UNC and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Hopefully that helps someone out there who's been waiting. I'm off to Vanderbilt in the fall.

Just wanted to pop in and thank everyone for the advice. I've finally pulled the trigger and accepted the offer from Vanderbilt. Now I'm kind of in a daze of "did I really just do that?" Here's hoping the relief of having made a decision will set in soon!

Just wanted to pop in and thank everyone for the advice. I've finally pulled the trigger and accepted the offer from Vanderbilt. Now I'm kind of in a daze of "did I really just do that?" Here's hoping the relief of having made a decision will set in soon!

Just wanted to pop in and thank everyone for the advice. I've finally pulled the trigger and accepted the offer from Vanderbilt. Now I'm kind of in a daze of "did I really just do that?" Here's hoping the relief of having made a decision will set in soon!

Just wanted to pop in and thank everyone for the advice. I've finally pulled the trigger and accepted the offer from Vanderbilt. Now I'm kind of in a daze of "did I really just do that?" Here's hoping the relief of having made a decision will set in soon!

I've officially declined offers from UNC and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Hopefully that helps someone out there who's been waiting. I'm off to Vanderbilt in the fall.

Just wanted to pop in and thank everyone for the advice. I've finally pulled the trigger and accepted the offer from Vanderbilt. Now I'm kind of in a daze of "did I really just do that?" Here's hoping the relief of having made a decision will set in soon!

I've officially declined offers from UNC and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Hopefully that helps someone out there who's been waiting. I'm off to Vanderbilt in the fall.

While I think this is generally good advice, I think it's possible you misread what was said - angesradieux was concerned about obtaining funding, not applying for it, as far as I could see. A pretty valid concern!

As far as the GRE goes, I don't think you're alone in putting off studying. I bought the books and stuff, but had a really hard time making myself actually use them, and for a while I was concerned that I wouldn't actually apply to graduate school, because I just wouldn't ever get the GRE done. Finally, I just picked an arbitrary date--July 14th, because Bastille Day is easy for me to remember--and registered to take the exam. Having that tangible deadline helped give me the push I needed to actually study. I also highly recommend the Princeton Review book of practice exams. In addition to the book, it gives you access to online practice tests where someone will actually read and score your writing section. I know a lot of people find the ETS PowerPrep exams on the computer helpful, too, but I can't personally vouch for those since I was never able to get the software to run. But long story short, I'd definitely advise biting the bullet and registering. First, it gives you a real, tangible deadline. Second, at that point you've spent the money on the exam, and I can tell you it's painful enough dropping $200 on the GRE once that I was pretty motivated by not wanting to have to do it again.
However, I also recommend taking the GRE early. Like I said, I took mine in July. That way in the event that I hadn't prepared as well as I thought and didn't do well, I would have plenty of time to go back through the prep materials, figure out what weaknesses I needed to fix, and take it again. I think knowing that I had time to do it again if I absolutely had to also helped relieve some of the anxiety.
Personally, I found the application process incredibly daunting and kind of terrifying. Knowing full well that I'm the kind of person who tends to avoid things that scare me and that I'm very good at justifying it, there were times when I felt like I was telling people my plan was to apply to grad school, but I would never actually get it done. I was pretty sure I'd get cold feet and come up with dozens of reasons that I couldn't possibly get the applications done. It's really easy to do, and I ended up applying to fewer schools than I'd originally intended, partially because I did drag my feet a bit. But, I did manage to get applications in. If I managed it, I'm sure you can, too.
First, I'd recommend taking it one step at a time. Take the GRE first. There's a sense of satisfaction in clearing that first hurdle, and once you take the test you'll also have invested some money into the process. I found that helpful--the idea that if I didn't apply all the hours and hundreds of dollars I'd spent on the exam and prep materials would go to waste gave me a bit of a push. Second, reach out to your professors. If you do that early, you can work to reestablish relationships that might have become a bit distant. See if they're open to giving your writing sample a read through. That way, you get feedback, which is great, and they're reacquainted with your work and will be able to write a better letter of recommendation for you. Maybe also try to meet with them to talk about specific programs you want to attend/professors you want to work with. If they're willing to be involved and help you out, their advice will be invaluable. Further, this gives you more accountability. Once you start having these conversations with professors, you have a group of people you respect expecting you to apply. From there, I found it kind of just started snowballing, and by the end of the season, I'd actually applied. I think you'll be surprised how much motivation you can draw from having taken the first step of investing time and money into the process by taking the GRE and then from the accountability that comes from talking to professors and subsequently having people who expect you to apply.
Several years ago, I heard someone say "How do you eat a whole elephant? One bite at a time." The process as a whole seems massive and daunting, but if you can try not to focus so much on the finish line and everything you need to do to get there just yet. Try taking it piece by piece, and I think you'll be surprised at how the momentum starts to build.

I visited everywhere and I'm still not entirely sure. There's one school I'm leaning towards--I think over all, the way the program's structured would work better for me. However, there are a couple factors weighing heavily in favor of another program that make me hesitant to pull the trigger and make the official decision. Plus, another program is ranking a bit higher than the others, which I guess makes it difficult to turn down the offer despite having some reservations. I'm meeting with a mentor from undergrad today to discuss the options and see what advice she has to offer. I guess from a purely logical standpoint, I feel like the school I'm leaning towards makes the most sense. But then whenever I think about committing to go there, all of the "what if's" start attacking and I begin to wonder if I'm absolutely sure I want to turn down the other two offers. Hopefully talking to someone who really knows the field and has no vested interest in selling one school to me over another will help me figure things out.

As far as the GRE goes, I don't think you're alone in putting off studying. I bought the books and stuff, but had a really hard time making myself actually use them, and for a while I was concerned that I wouldn't actually apply to graduate school, because I just wouldn't ever get the GRE done. Finally, I just picked an arbitrary date--July 14th, because Bastille Day is easy for me to remember--and registered to take the exam. Having that tangible deadline helped give me the push I needed to actually study. I also highly recommend the Princeton Review book of practice exams. In addition to the book, it gives you access to online practice tests where someone will actually read and score your writing section. I know a lot of people find the ETS PowerPrep exams on the computer helpful, too, but I can't personally vouch for those since I was never able to get the software to run. But long story short, I'd definitely advise biting the bullet and registering. First, it gives you a real, tangible deadline. Second, at that point you've spent the money on the exam, and I can tell you it's painful enough dropping $200 on the GRE once that I was pretty motivated by not wanting to have to do it again.
However, I also recommend taking the GRE early. Like I said, I took mine in July. That way in the event that I hadn't prepared as well as I thought and didn't do well, I would have plenty of time to go back through the prep materials, figure out what weaknesses I needed to fix, and take it again. I think knowing that I had time to do it again if I absolutely had to also helped relieve some of the anxiety.
Personally, I found the application process incredibly daunting and kind of terrifying. Knowing full well that I'm the kind of person who tends to avoid things that scare me and that I'm very good at justifying it, there were times when I felt like I was telling people my plan was to apply to grad school, but I would never actually get it done. I was pretty sure I'd get cold feet and come up with dozens of reasons that I couldn't possibly get the applications done. It's really easy to do, and I ended up applying to fewer schools than I'd originally intended, partially because I did drag my feet a bit. But, I did manage to get applications in. If I managed it, I'm sure you can, too.
First, I'd recommend taking it one step at a time. Take the GRE first. There's a sense of satisfaction in clearing that first hurdle, and once you take the test you'll also have invested some money into the process. I found that helpful--the idea that if I didn't apply all the hours and hundreds of dollars I'd spent on the exam and prep materials would go to waste gave me a bit of a push. Second, reach out to your professors. If you do that early, you can work to reestablish relationships that might have become a bit distant. See if they're open to giving your writing sample a read through. That way, you get feedback, which is great, and they're reacquainted with your work and will be able to write a better letter of recommendation for you. Maybe also try to meet with them to talk about specific programs you want to attend/professors you want to work with. If they're willing to be involved and help you out, their advice will be invaluable. Further, this gives you more accountability. Once you start having these conversations with professors, you have a group of people you respect expecting you to apply. From there, I found it kind of just started snowballing, and by the end of the season, I'd actually applied. I think you'll be surprised how much motivation you can draw from having taken the first step of investing time and money into the process by taking the GRE and then from the accountability that comes from talking to professors and subsequently having people who expect you to apply.
Several years ago, I heard someone say "How do you eat a whole elephant? One bite at a time." The process as a whole seems massive and daunting, but if you can try not to focus so much on the finish line and everything you need to do to get there just yet. Try taking it piece by piece, and I think you'll be surprised at how the momentum starts to build.

Mini little vent. I went to see Beauty and the Beast today. For the most part, it was really good. But then there's a mention of the plague, and I was like huh? There was nothing else medieval about the scenery. From the music, fashion, scenery, etc. it looked like there was a lot of baroque influence and I'd say it was 18th century France. So the plague just seemed totally out of left field, and I spent a fair amount of time after sitting there confused, thinking "Wait. What time period iis this?" And I'm just going on a little rant here because that anachronism really irritated me and no one else I know really cares about stuff like that. Silly little vent, but there it is.

Mini little vent. I went to see Beauty and the Beast today. For the most part, it was really good. But then there's a mention of the plague, and I was like huh? There was nothing else medieval about the scenery. From the music, fashion, scenery, etc. it looked like there was a lot of baroque influence and I'd say it was 18th century France. So the plague just seemed totally out of left field, and I spent a fair amount of time after sitting there confused, thinking "Wait. What time period iis this?" And I'm just going on a little rant here because that anachronism really irritated me and no one else I know really cares about stuff like that. Silly little vent, but there it is.