Pacifist101

This was a hard question to answer when I first saw the OP.
I will add something from the POV of an ABD who is currently abroad on the other side of the world for research/writing.  One thing I never thought much about when applying to graduate schools was that I would be writing for a lot of different audiences and purposes, not just for a seminar for the professor's eyes or a dissertation for the committee.  I came to learn the importance of writing a strong funding proposal and have to ask for money in order to carry out my vision for my project.  I used to be wary of "development" offices in universities and non-profits, etc. but now I realize what kind of work those people have to do to raise funds.  Unlike those professionals, I have only myself to prove that my project is worthy of funding. It's hard work but can be so gratifying when it works out in your favor.  Now I realize that I have the skills and would not mind at all work in the development office if academia doesn't work for me.
After all,  it is fun to ask for money but not easy to persuade agencies to support your project that's based in humanities and seemingly unconnected to present issues.  I never thought I would get a real kick out of doing this work-- not only requesting money but also asking how I can be part of the larger society with the knowledge I'm producing. I think because I somehow show how much I enjoy writing these funding proposals, agencies recognize it.  They probably realize that I'm piecing together funds to be able to travel around the world and somehow want to help.....  Being a world traveler is my childhood dream coming true
The only thing I really hated about my grad school experience was preparing for my exams because it took me way too long to find a note-taking system that would help me digest context and arguments.  I did enjoy my conversations with my committee members but I hated prepping for those meetings and the exam itself because I was on my own and struggling.  There was just no one in my program in my stage doing similar fields to study/talk with.

Hi! It's totally normal to be nervous, but I hope some of that is nervous excitement
I love my program. Every day I am reminded that I made the right choice, even on the days where I'm stressed out. Most of grad school is both fun and filled with anxiety. Every time I'm in panic mode, I remind myself that I get paid (and have benefits!) to read and write about things I love reading and writing about.
I also love to teach, so when TAing overwhelms me, I remember students who wrote excellent papers or said cool things in section or started out struggling but made the effort to get support and left my class in a better place. Not everything is positive, I realized early on that not every student cares about their grade beyond passing by the skin of their teeth, and learning to accept that has been great for my anxiety. I do wish I had to teach less so I could finish more work, but I knew what I was getting into so now it's about making time for everything and not spending 3 hours grading each paper or exam. Basically, learning that teaching and grading shouldn't take 8 hours of your day is very important. After my first term as a TA, I became really good at prepping as much as needed but no more, grading quickly and protecting my time outside of the classroom rather than letting the classroom take it over.
Balance is so hard for grad students, I think, so as you're entering your program try to be vigilant about it. I'm no expert...I fluctuate between working on having a healthy balance between personal and professional, pleasure and scholarly reading, sleep and work etc. vs. holing up in my apartment, working so much my fingers cramp, sleeping so little I'm miserable and not leaving my house until there's so little food I can't avoid it. Don't do that, it's hell on your body, mind and emotions. I've started setting goals each quarter, broken up into "progress to degree," "research," and "personal" sections, then laying out week by week what I want to accomplish. I don't beat myself up if I don't accomplish everything every week. Reshuffling things is inevitable, and it's no use to hate yourself for some perceived failure that only you notice.
This brings me to my next point. Your professors won't be over your shoulder, yelling at you when you don't finish a section of your comps reading when you thought you would. They want to see the final product. So I make sure to have the reading done that I need for a specific meeting, and if I fall behind I adjust until I get back on track. Professors aren't going to fail you if you don't complete a draft on the day you intended, so if things come up and you need an extra day, don't freak out. Just make sure you have the final product done when it's due. It's funny, but grad school has really taught me the importance of letting go. I live by the mantra of "it'll get done because it has to," and try to be kind to myself when my internal timeline has to be scrapped and rethought. If I was giving any advice to new grad students, it would be to really think about when it's okay to let go and when you need to stay firm. This applies to everything: teaching, research and service. Also, cultivate a support system. It can be family and friends, but I think finding members of your cohort who you can commiserate and exchange drafts with is important, especially in the first 2-3 years.

Yes, definitely, so much reading. It's helpful to talk to other people in your program about their reading strategies until you find something that works well for you which is important because another adjustment from undergrad is that coursework is only part of what you're supposed to be focusing on. Attending lectures, participating in colloquia or workshops, getting to know faculty/potential committee members, and working on whatever first year research project you do are also very important. Graduate work in general seems a lot more flexible and individual, so its hard for departments to write one size fits all requirements, which means most "requirements" are only a vague framework. I think there's sometimes a temptation to go heads down into coursework because we understand how to do it and because the evaluation is clear but it's important to align how much effort your putting into things with whats going to most benefit your research interests and your professional development. This can be hard to figure out first year for sure, which is also why regularly talking to your adviser, older students, or other mentor-like people is key. Don't be afraid to ask for things. (While its certainly possible to be over-precocious and one should figure out the etiquette/norms of their department, I think most first years err on the side of not demanding enough especially if  you're from an under-represented group or a non-traditional background.) 
While it can feel overwhelming at first, the flexibility is also something I really like. I don't get to always do exactly what I want, but I get to twist a lot of things back around to my own interests. I've also had some great intellectual experiences, many of which happened outside the classroom. You're surrounded by a really great group of people with lots of really interesting thoughts, which is a such a wonderful experience even when you're not talking about history specifically. So I guess the last thing is that making time to just hang out with people is equally important and you should try to avoid building a wall of reading around yourself.

One of the biggest issues/things I needed to learn was how to read. During your undergraduate work, you learn a lot of useful skills that prepare you, in a very broad sense, for graduate school or the workforce. Learning to read is probably the hardest skill I had to learn while in graduate school. You will be given an enormous amount of material to read per week and expected to be actively contributing to the seminar. My reading load per week was roughly a book a week per seminar. On top of the reading, I highly suggest learning another language, polishing a current one, or actively engaging with a current language. Grasping a second or third language will not only help you with your research and reading skills but also you will be able to communicate with an even wider range of material and people.
Besides the academic angle, graduate school tends to be a student's first experience away from home or in an unfamiliar environment/city. It is likely that you will get stressed out over the laundry, cooking meals, or forgetting to buy something at the supermarket. Luckily, these battles will occur once then you know how to handle them and what solutions work. Personally, I found this part of graduate school to be more stressful and nerve-wracking than the actual coursework. Buckle down and get through it, but also don't be afraid to say you are lost.
Although graduate school is a pain, I loved it. I was able to polish my German and start Russian and French; mostly because I was around those native speakers on a daily basis. My writing has improved an unbelievable amount; after reading a handful of my undergraduate works, it is clear to me why I was rejected for a PhD two years ago. Most importantly, you are going to meet amazing people and make new friends that transcend the university setting. In short, graduate school is hell but it is what you make of it, so make the best of it.

Hi everyone,
I am switching to history from a STEM field, and all the decisions I need to make within the next few weeks make me a little anxious. I would love to hear about personal experiences of those who are doing a master's or a PhD in history. I have some experience in the field and a good idea of what grad school is like, but I would really appreciate it if some of you shared insights on what it's like to be a grad student in history.
Are you happy with the decision to attend your program? Any regrets? What is the most fun and the most difficult thing you've had to do? Is there anything you didn't know that you wish you did when you decided to go to grad school? Did you expect to spend more/less time writing/teaching? Or anything else you would like to share with a prospective history grad student.
Obviously, the experiences will be different depending on the person, the program and many other factors, but that's the catch. So even if it's just one thing or a few sentences, anything you have to say is appreciated.

Hi everyone,
I am switching to history from a STEM field, and all the decisions I need to make within the next few weeks make me a little anxious. I would love to hear about personal experiences of those who are doing a master's or a PhD in history. I have some experience in the field and a good idea of what grad school is like, but I would really appreciate it if some of you shared insights on what it's like to be a grad student in history.
Are you happy with the decision to attend your program? Any regrets? What is the most fun and the most difficult thing you've had to do? Is there anything you didn't know that you wish you did when you decided to go to grad school? Did you expect to spend more/less time writing/teaching? Or anything else you would like to share with a prospective history grad student.
Obviously, the experiences will be different depending on the person, the program and many other factors, but that's the catch. So even if it's just one thing or a few sentences, anything you have to say is appreciated.

For a good start, I would read this article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_tax_in_the_United_States. The short answer is that you should expect to pay about 10% to 12% of your stipend on federal taxes. It could be less though if your stipend is low.
Note that for the 2018 tax year and onwards, there will be different tax brackets. So make sure you are reading the tables for the correct year!
Here is more detailed info. I'm making lots of assumptions for a "typical" F-1 or J-1 student here. Your country may have tax treaties with the USA that allows for more deductions. In addition, this is just based on my own experience, please consult a tax expert for official advice
As an international student, you will likely be a non-resident alien for tax purposes (if this is not the case, then the text below will be different, but since you say you know nothing about the tax situation so I am assuming this will be your first time in the USA).
Therefore, we don't qualify for very many deductions at all. Actually thanks to Trump's "Tax Cut and Jobs Act", the personal allowance (called the personal deduction) that used to be about $4000 is eliminated. Trump instead doubled the standard deduction, which non-resident aliens do not qualify for. So, with the exception of books and necessary supplies**, most non-resident alien students will not qualify for any deductions at all. 
(**Note: Books and necessary supplies refer only to materials you are required to purchase in order to complete your educational program. So, required textbooks, with receipts qualify. And if your program requires you to, e.g. buy a lab coat in order to attend the lab classes, you can deduct that too. But you can't deduct "optional" expenses not explicitly required by the course, even if you need them. That is, things like binders, papers, pencils are not deductible, unless your course requires you to buy a very specific type of that item.)
So, the 2018 tax brackets are...
10% from 0 - 9,525
12% from 9,526 - 38,700, and
22 % from 38,701 - 82,500.
There are higher brackets but not typical for grad students! Also, I include the 3rd one there just in case but most people will be in the first two. So, if your funding package is $30,000 plus tuition waiver, your tax owing will be something like:
10% on the first 9,525, so you owe $952.50 (9,525 * 10%) for that first bracket. Then 12% on the remainder (30,000-9,525 = 20,475), which is 2,457 (20,475 * 12%), for a total tax owing of $3409.50. This is an effective tax rate of 11.3%. But this is just federal taxes. Depending on where you live, you may pay state or city taxes as well. So it might be a few more percentage points.
Another thing to note is that your stipends may have a large fraction withheld for taxes because you are a non-resident alien. When I was in the USA, about 15% of my stipend was withheld even though my tax owing is always less. So you will have to wait until you file your yearly tax return to get that money back.

Looking at current students' CVs helps better understand common trends and gives you a perspective based on real experiences. It's also interesting and motivational to see what people in whose spot you hope to be have accomplished.

Looking at current students' CVs helps better understand common trends and gives you a perspective based on real experiences. It's also interesting and motivational to see what people in whose spot you hope to be have accomplished.

I definitely believe that funding is one of the most important factors in choosing a Master's program. This may be too anecdotal, but when I tried learning more about graduate schools, I reached out to current grad students. I wanted to conduct these "informational interviews" and get a feel for what they used in their application that would help me. I found that most of the PhD students at top schools had Master's degrees from solid programs, but not necessarily the Yales and Stanfords of their disciplines. They seemed to think that the Master's degree showed a commitment to the field, a willingness to go into the discipline full time, and overall believed that the Master's, from whichever school, had significantly helped them. The prestige/name of that Master's school never really seemed to count against them--at least based on what I noticed from my 4-5 chats.

Same. Early modern European history for me. Also waiting on a few more schools. Best of luck to you!

Just got an acceptance letter from Texas Tech for master's. They're offering me a TA and a recruitment fellowship. Pretty good for my first decision this cycle.

Just got an acceptance letter from Texas Tech for master's. They're offering me a TA and a recruitment fellowship. Pretty good for my first decision this cycle.

Got an email from a POI saying he's glad to see that I have applied to their program and that the decisions will be made within the next few weeks.
Hoping to know my options for the next year in a couple of weeks. I'd be fine with both staying where I am now for another year and with starting an MA program, so I'm excited to find out what it will be.

All quiet on the western front.
In the east, however, there is movement with Georgetown. 

Just got a really nice email from a POI at Texas Tech University's Master's program, saying that final decisions haven't been made on acceptances but POI is writing a letter of support to urge that I be nominated for a university fellowship in addition to a TA-ship. First time I've heard funding news this promising from any of the schools. Very exciting!

Not that it will mean much from a Random Internet Stranger, but I'm sorry you didn't get in. I've been dropping by this thread every so often and I was really rooting for you. My gut was telling me that you were going to be accepted, and I'm sorry you weren't. I'm sure you're feeling a lot of disappointment.
To me, this is the single best reason not to pursue a PhD in the humanities. There are many wonderful things about a life in the academy, but one baseline is you don't get to choose where you live. It sounds like you have an unusually deep connection to Minneapolis, and that's fantastic. Hold on to it. But let it inform your career choices now, rather than start you down a road that is without question going to take you away from a place that you love.
I think you've said someplace else that you'd be willing to leave Minneapolis to start an academic career. But it's worth thinking about now exactly what that academic career looks like: You'd be graduating with a degree in a highly-specialized field from a good but hardly elite program. The chances of landing a tenure-track appointment are pretty low. And many of the tenure-track jobs that do exist are at smaller, regional schools, many in the south. It's not like you'd be leaving the Minneapolis you love for Ithaca; odds are, you'd be leaving for a small, two-stoplight town a hundred miles from an airport. You wouldn't be teaching your specialty to highly-motivated, younger versions of yourself; you'd be teaching a 4-4 load of World History to a bunch of indifferent undergrads. Your boyfriend also has a PhD; there may not be much in the way of work for him in that town. And some of these towns have a massive gap between the college and the rest of the residents; many of my friends are now getting concerned about the quality of the public schools in the places they've wound up. That's the best-case scenario. The other scenarios are a lot worse.
Don't get me wrong: Teaching history is a wonderful job, and I feel very grateful to have it. (I'm at an R1 in a major city, by the way--I moved out of the two-stoplight town, lovely as it was, to take this position.) I had all the things that I dreamed of as an undergraduate--tenure, a book, doctoral students of my own--all on the friendly side of my 40th birthday. Overall it's been very fulfilling, and I've had opportunities that would have made my twenty-year-old brain explode right out of the back of my head. But like a lot of people, I got the advice "Only pursue a PhD in history if you cannot imagine doing anything else." And I took it. And it's worked out fine. But with a few extra years I realize that my inability to imagine any other life for myself was, more than anything, just a failure of imagination. I like being a historian a lot, but there are a dozen other things I can easily envision myself doing now with a similar kind of satisfaction.
I'm sure the rejection stings, but I hope the sting fades quickly. from my perspective, the law school plan has a lot to recommend it. You've got some time now while you put together new applications. Can you do some brainstorming about what else you might pursue? It's not as if law school and a history PhD are the only two options. Are there any jobs with MLB or with the Twins organization that you can pursue now, without a JD? People who are smart and can write are rare, and valuable; there may be ways to get a foot in the door without the commitment of additional schooling and additional debt. Just something to think about. Good luck. Here's to bouncing back quickly--to you, and to anyone else who is facing the difficulty of suddenly altered plans.

I maintained good relationships with various POIs during the course of the cycle.  What I have learned over the years from hearing various stories from admitted students is that everyone is different in how they want to showcase their program.  Some POIs communicate much better in person than over e-mail and will wait until you get to camps and then blow you away (Their students will definitely confirm this!).  Others are excellent at e-mails and keeping in touch.  Remember, academics are awkward people like yourself! For me, I weighed the following (in no particular order):
1) How excited are they about your project and ideas?
2) What kind of financial support have their students received? (Track record) What's their approach to applying for grants?  (You need a go-getter)
3) How do they imagine your trajectory in the PhD program, especially in the first 3  years (up to your candidacy exams)?
4) What do their students have to say about their advisers-- the good and the bad? (Remember to ask for both as some people will find "bad qualities" to be an advantageous to them, i.e. "too involved" may preferred by some than others who desire tremendous independence)
5) If you are in a small field, how does your adviser plan to support you?  Will s/he do independent studies?
6) What part of their job do they like the best and the least?
7) What is their advising philosophy and what kind of advising did they have in their PhD programs?
I thought this much because my two options kept canceling each other in various categories that it came down to choosing between POIs at the end.  I got along with both but answering these thoughts tipped the scale.
Also, it is important to know that there is usually other faculty members who can compensate for the adviser's weak areas.  For example, if the adviser is often MIA but really gets students jobs and money, then there is usually another faculty member or two who will jump in and be available for day-to-day issues.  The key is to talk to the current students about the faculty dynamics and where the POI fits within those dynamics.  The Grad Coordinator is also an excellent source of information (s/he is basically a double spy!)

Obviously a livable stipend for 5 years + health insurance, but that should be your baseline. 
YMMV for the following points, but I've spent a lot of time crunching numbers and (as a grad student) sitting in town hall meetings and here would be my $0.02. 
TAship vs fellowship breakdown is the first thing to consider. When you have your 5 years of funding, how many of those are TAships? TAships eat up your time, even if you love it. Fellowship years give you more flexibility — work on developing other skills, time to go to faraway archives. If your departmental funding is mostly through TAships, what fellowships are available through the graduate school? Yes, there are always external fellowships to take time off and go to archives — but those are competitive, and at any rate, you want to assess what resources this program and this school has.
Second thing is to consider is funding beyond the 5th year. What do 6th and 7th years do for funding? Are there additional TAships for those students? Assistantships in the school writing center, or in another department? Does the department offer completion fellowships that students can apply for? What about the graduate school, and if so, is the history department competitive in those competitions? You're looking for some sign that those students are being given some support, not that they're adjuncting at 3 different universities to make ends meet. 
After this point, there's a number of other things to look for — what all fit into the nebulous category of "financial resources." By and large, they won't be enumerated in your offer letter, but they make a material difference on your life in the program regardless.
Summer funding. It's unlikely that you'd have a school that always gives you money every summer. So 1) you want to see if the stipend is generous enough to allow you to save money for the months in the summer in which you are not getting paid, and 2) if you get some amount of money, $1000 to $3000, that you can do with as you will, either for maintenance costs (if #1 is a no-go) or (even better) to do some preliminary research. That is important because getting to do preliminary research trips your 1st and 2nd summers will jumpstart your research. So if your offer letter comes with, say, a special $2500 stipend for your first summer — very nice.  If there isn't designated summer money (and even if there is), are there travel grants for graduate students? I'm talking small grants, like $500 or $750, but those add up. A $750 grant is 3/4 of the way to an international plane ticket.  Conference travel is a similar game. While it's unlikely that a school will bankroll all your conference expenses all the time, is there a travel fund that students can apply for money from? Many schools have these across the graduate school (so look out for those) but if there's a department travel fund, so much the better.  Also, your graduate student union. Is there one? Hopefully there is. What concessions has it gotten for grad students recently?  A lot of grad school finance is fluid. Money that's available for students one year can disappear the next as funding sources dry up, grant periods end, or a particular pool of money gets distributed in a different way. And alternatively, new funding sources can become available! So looking for specific things (does the program have X, Y, Z) is helpful only to a point. You could talk to a fifth year who says yes, she applied for a departmental travel grant to do summer research, a third year who says she applied for summer money from the graduate school, and a first year who says, I got $1000 from the department free of charge. You could talk to one sixth year who got a TA-ship in the English department, another who won a grad school completion fellowship, and another who got a semester of dept fellowship and a semester TA-ship. It's six of one and half dozen of the other. The commonality here is that most people were able to piece something together and do what they needed to do, which is what you're looking for. 
Finally, you want to know what resources are available through the department, and which are available through the graduate school (School of Graduate Studies) or other multi-departmental bodies (School of Arts and Sciences, International Programs, etc). It's important that both have opportunities available. A school that cares about its graduate students has resources devoted to them at the level of the graduate school; it's not a bunch of balkanized departments fighting over scraps. These are usually listed online, so you can do your research. This is a list of internal grad school fellowships at my undergrad – https://www.grad.uiowa.edu/internal-fellowships — you can see at the bottom of the page that some fellowships are listed as "discontinued," because the money that supported them either ran out or wasn't renewed. But you can also see how some fellowships are listed as "new." This stuff changes ALL the time.

Below I've posted a list of history programs that seem to offer some possibility of funding to MA students.  I found this info by browsing history department web sites (usually it was in the "Financial Aid" section or the graduate handbook).  "Full funding" means assistantships and tuition waivers.  Sometimes it was unclear whether assistantships included tuition waivers, and in those cases I noted the assistantships only.
 
Please consider this to be a list of leads requiring further research.  I don't know these programs personally, so the info might be out-of-date or inaccurate.  The DGS in each department will have the best information.  Also, I'm sure I missed a bunch of programs, so keep looking on your own!  
 
I really hope this helps somebody!
 
Auburn University: MA students eligible for full funding Case Western Reserve University: some MA fellowships through the Julia Edwards Fund, program seems to try to provide tuition waivers as well Florida International University: MA students eligible for assistantships; limited number of tuition waivers also available Georgia State University: MA students eligible for assistantships Indiana University - Bloomington: they "provide multiyear financial support for the vast majority of students admitted at the MA and PhD levels." Iowa State University: MA students eligible for assistantships Kent State University: MA students eligible for full funding Miami University (Ohio): full funding for MA students. No PhD program. Northeastern University: some partial tuition waivers available Northern Illinois University: MA students eligible for funding Ohio University: full funding for MA students Oklahoma State University: MA students eligible for full funding Portland State University: full funding awarded to a number of MA students. No PhD program.  Southern Illinois University - Carbondale: "Approximately 60% of our MA and PhD students receive some form of funding." St. Louis University: assistantships available to MA students Texas Tech University: MA students eligible for full funding University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa: full funding available to MA students, limited number University of Cincinnati: tuition waivers (80% - 100%) offered to most MA students, assistantships awarded competitively University of Delaware: MA students eligible for full funding University of Hawaii - Manoa: MA students eligible for full funding University of Houston: MA students eligible for assistantships - also a public history fellowship University of Maine - Orono: MA students eligible for full funding University of Massachusetts - Amherst: full funding for select MA students, merit-based University of Mississippi: full funding awarded to a few, based on merit, as well as some scholarships for unrepresented minorities University of New Hampshire: MA students eligible for funding University of Oregon: full funding available to MAs, awarded on competitive basis University of Rochester: half-tuition scholarships available to MA students University of South Carolina: full funding available to "many" MA students University of Utah: MA students focusing on the American West eligible for the May Fellowship. Possibly other full funding available to MA's (?). Washington State University: MA students eligible for assistantships, awarded competitively Western Michigan University: MA students eligible for assistantships

I can't seem to find it, but a few years ago somebody got rejected from an ivy and under the comments said (paraphrasing), "And we can assure you, that not only are the people we did accept more intelligent, but also better looking" 

Colorado State: "Apparently you don't even have to apply in order to be rejected from certain schools. What a cluster F it must be over there that they're emailing people who have simply requested information that they're 'rejected'."

"Fine! I'll go make my own geophysics department! With blackjack! And hookers!"

"I tried to enter my stats, but my number keys were flooded by a torrent of tears"
 
on a rejection, "today's my birthday"

Someone must have received multiple rejections at once because one said "I'm an idiot" and the next "I'm still an idiot!"