ThisGreatFolly

Feel free to DM me about Emory – I may be able to give some insight.

This is a great question to ask current graduate students either over a visit or email. They can (usually) give you a good idea of neighborhoods/complexes you can afford on your stipend and if anyone in the department is subletting/looking for a roommate/knows of openings at their place.

Everyone has you covered on what to wear, so here are some tips on what to ask. Time with current grad students is huge – conversations with grad students helped me immensely in making my decision. It's a great opportunity to hear how a department really works. I'd ask about the quality of the course offerings, the department culture, how well the stipend stretches in the area, what non-stipend supports look like including travel funds, professional development funds, etc. I believe you are also an Americanist, correct? If you are talking to other Americanists ask how well the university supports American based archives trips. I've found that sometimes people can write off American trips as being cheap (and they are compared to international research!), but I still have to hole up somewhere for weeks/months at a time and that costs money. Feel free to DM me if you want to talk more!

Yes, this also applies to PhD students in the Religion department. All Laney Grad School programs will see their stipends set to the 31k base (http://www.graduateschool.emory.edu/degree-programs/index.html).

Fellows at Cal's IES are secondary positions that require permanent status at the scholar's home institution. However, this doesn't necessarily mean that Senior Fellows are teaching/advising at their home institutions. I would reach out to Sheffer via email to see if she's currently taking on students at Stanford.

If working with high students is something you are considering, also make sure you have a plan for acquiring the necessary experience to make yourself qualified/competitive for those jobs. It's a bit easier if you can get licensed, but I know of people in my program and others that wanted to go into high school teaching and realized at the end of their studies that they didn't have the necessary experience working with high school aged students. While programs are making strides in terms of professionalization, a history PhD program primarily prepares and trains you for traditional university teaching work. There are ways to supplement and push back on this, but you have to really plan that out from the beginning of your program.

I would be careful of how you present this kind of work. Having "hobby topics" is fine, but describing those as silly, unrefined, or not serious could rub people the wrong way. Important work has been done in US History and American Studies departments re: baseball, urbanity, race, and class. The scholars who do that work take it seriously and for good reason.

It varies. I think last year I got the acceptance from my first school in January and had my last acceptance in the beginning of March.

I would also add that you should try to get as realistic as possible of a look at what stipends might be. I doubt that most non-coastal institutions would have a stipend anywhere close to $30k and more likely will be in the low $20k range. Obviously funding varies between institutions, but when I was looking nothing outside of major metro areas (Boston, LA, NYC) or Ivies came close to $30k without additional fellowships.

In addition to what has been said regarding before, another reason a school may limit the amount of hours you can work on campus has to do with benefit eligibility and union status. At my institution all grad students in our program are considered employees of the university and paid through university payroll, regardless of whether we TA/RA. We are capped at 15 hours maximum of work in other university positions both because the department wants us to focus on our primary job of being a grad student, and, I suspect, because anything more than that would trigger the university to consider us as a full-time employee.

In addition to experience, AmeriCorps has some pretty decent benefits between the education award, education award matches at certain universities, and application fee waivers at grad schools (I applied to a dozen programs and only paid for 3 applications). It's a trade-off though - your living stipend is very, very low and it can be grueling. I've done VISTA twice, including this year during my gap year while I applied to programs. I'm glad I did it and am proud of my service, but I'm not sure how much it helped my applications, other than making them cheaper. However, national service can be helpful when being considered for certain fellowships/scholarships. Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions about the program.

Me too - I'm trying to spend as much time in the Rocky Mountains as I can before heading to new scenery. Other than that, I'm filling some gaps in my reading, messing around with GIS, and generally tidying up my personal digital archives before I leave.

Emory!

American History R_Escobar (20th century, American Indian), crazedandinfused (antebellum, intellectual), hopin'-n-prayin' (southern, religious), stevemcn (transnational), Simple Twist of Fate (early American), zb642 (20th century, labor/working-class culture), BCEmory08 (19th-20th century Catholicism, labor), irvinchiva10 (20th century, immigration/immigration reform) natsteel (early American political culture and intellectual history) unforth (19th century US political and military history, US Civil War) hbeels (colonial, early national, 19th century, transappalachain west, historical memory of these eras/areas) thedig13 (20th century U.S.; built environment, modern consumer culture, race, and immigration) Weepsie (North American Mapping, Exploration and Trade, Anti-Communism/Socialism in Interwar period, bit of a mixed bag) lafayette (19th c. [with a dash of 20th], urban, intellectual) vtstevie (Revolutionary/Early Republic New England, infrastructure/economic) macmc (Feminist, gender, and LGBT history) HistThrift (early America, indigenous history) junotwest (19/20th century African-American, Cultural/Intellectual, Gender & Sexuality) calhoun&caffeine (19th cen. Southern [political]) tampopo ramen (19th-20th century capitalism/business) BookishVixen (late 18th-early 20th ce maritime communities, cultural, gender & sexuality) hardtack&coffee (19th Century American Social & Military History, American Civil War) spellbanisher (economic and cultural history of the gilded age, progressive era, and the 1920s) ThisGreatFolly (intellectual, religious, political violence, rhetoric) European History Kelkel (Modern Germany, political), goldielocks (Britain), SapperDaddy (Eastern and Central Europe), kotov (Modern Romania, Holocaust, labor), RevolutionBlues (Modern Western Europe/France labor and leftist politics), theregalrenegade (18th/19th cent British Empire/environment), jrah822 (19th century Britain; emphasis on colonial relationship to India), grlu0701 (Intellectual & cultural history,fin de siecle Germany and Italy), naturalog (modern European [mostly German] intellectual and cultural/sexuality and gender/political radicalism), runaway (Eastern/Central, memorialization & visual culture), Sequi001 (Modern France, gender and sexuality, colonialism/imperialism) Abetheh (19th/early 20th century Germany and France, religious politics vs secularization) NeutralKate (Modern Russia, modern European economic history) Crackerjacktiming (Modern Germany, gender and sexuality) GloFish (USSR, Stalinism, Soviet-American Relations) jamc8383 (19th/20th century France, interwar culture, relationship between body, mind & place) Heimat Historian (19th/20th century Germany, migration, settler colonialism) AshleyJuneBug (Early Modern France and Britain, gender and sexuality) maelia8 (19th/early 20th century Germany, imperialism and colonialism, travel, exploration) BookishVixen (Victorian and Edwardian English imperialism/gender & sexiality) episkey (19th/20th century France, gender and sexuality, Holocaust) AngesRadieux (18th/early 19th century France, cultural history, music) ManifestMidwest (modern France, colonialism & imperialism, Pacific worlds) African History Oseirus (precolonial/early colonial West Africa), Singwaya18 (20th century East Africa), Safferz (20th century Horn/Northeast Africa), The People's Scholar (Spanish colonialim in Africa- i.e. middle/West Africa) Jogatoronto (Psychiatry in early colonial West Africa) ronwill06 (Social and political radical movements) Heimat Historian (German settlements in Southern Africa) thekatieladybird (Post-independence conflict and social histories in Central Africa) Latin American History BH-history, The People's Scholar (18th-19th century Colombia) StrangeLight (20th century Central America) Heimat Historian (German settlements in Southern cone and Mexico) Mujereslibres (German informal colonization of Peru, Brazil, and Chile) AP East Asian History alleykat (Modern China) getitlow (Modern China: Republican, Women, Gender and Sexuality) kyjin (Pre-Modern Japan) aec09g (Modern Japan) pudewen (Late Imperial China) kdavid (Modern China; focus on the Republican period) Minion.banana (late imperial China, Islam, intellectual networks) Near/Middle Eastern History uhohlemonster, (modern Israel, Iran, Palestine) oswic (modern Egypt, gender) Conmel (modern pan-Islamic thought/networks) Baloch (Oman) Atlantic World sandyvanb crazedandinfused Global/World History cooperstreet (Cold War) melissarose8585 Heimat Historian (German settlements throughout world) Jewish History uhohlemonster, (modern Israel) hopin'-n-'prayin, kotov (Holocaust), naturalog (sometimes modern European/Holocaust), runaway (memorialization & visual culture), ticklemepink (20th c. Germany/U.S) awells27 (Late Antiquity: Roman Empire/Palestine/Byzantine) Science/Technology/Environment shaxmaty1848 (Cold War) StrangeLight (environmental history, ecological distribution conflicts) sukipower (20th c. forensic science & anthropology, 19th c. science and medicine) Neist (19th/20th c. biological sciences) seh0517 (scientific illustration, ancient egyptian science & medicine, astronomy, mortuary science) Social annieca (Cold War and Post-Cold War East and Central Europe) BookishVixen (Spheres of influence, Progressive Era reforms affecting immigration) Classical and Medieval Hogs of War (Monastic Studies and Conflicts in Authority) telkanuru (high Medieval intellectual and social history, Cistercian studies) AbbeyRoad (Monastic History, Gender, Cistercians) Kirialax ("Dark Age" Byzantium; the Komnenoi) Cultural StrangeLight (gender, race, ethnicity, and religion) hbeels (race/ethnicity, religious, masculinity/feminimity, print/literature) crazedandinfused (race, nationalism, performance, rhetoric) alleykat (religion, race/ethnicity, cultural relativism) Heimat Historian (German culture in transnational context) nhhistorynut (20th century US, African American, race/racism, Black nationalism) Canadian History truthfinder (New France, religious) South Asia pakhistorian (Pakistan/Bangladesh,cultural, social, political, women, public history, digital history)

EXCELLENT! Super happy and excited for you!

On the topic of when to start looking for an apartment, I think it really depends on where you are moving. A medium to big city probably means leases coming available no more than 2 months out of when you want to move it. But a college town and/or properties overwhelmingly housing college students likely are renting now for the fall. When I was at UCLA, you would be hard pressed to find anything in Westwood much later than April/early May, although you would be fine finding something outside the neighborhood much closer to the fall. When I visited UVA two weeks ago they were having their off-campus housing fair and people were already snapping up apartments for the fall. I'd reach out to grad students to see what the rental timeline looks like where you are going.

That their GPA listed is from their Master's program and not undergrad.

Just declined offers at U-Michigan, Brandeis, UVa, and Boston University. Hope that helps some of you!

From reading your past posts, I believe that one of your waitlist options is a program I will be declining on Monday. Hopefully that may open things up a little bit earlier in the timetable for you. Feel free to PM me if you have questions.

I haven't yet, but will reach out tonight. I'll let you know if they give me any sense of what's going on with decisions.

I was waitlisted for BC on 01/31, but have heard nothing since then.

Do you mind if I PM you about the UVA visit? I was unable to attend the official visit because of work, but was able to tack on a few days to my Emory trip to do an "unofficial" visit.

I'm waiting for something official from two programs (UofChicago and Rutgers), but figure both are implied rejections. I have acceptances from a handful of other programs that are better fits, so I decided against emailing to inquire. But I think it's late enough in the season that I would be comfortable emailing either the DGS or POIs about results. I'm definitely itching to make a decision though - hoping visits to UVa and Emory next week clear things up for me.

I'm in the exact same boat - down to the same number of History programs to choose from. Since I only interviewed with one of the programs beforehand, I've been using my calls to ask some general questions like: 1) Where do you see me and my research fitting in with the rest of the program? It's been a nice opportunity to talk about my research interests in a slightly more expanded format than the SOP. Some discussions have centered around potential dissertation ideas. Some have talked more in depth about projects potential advisors are working on. It's just a nice way to get a feel for the department. 2) What can you tell me about completion rates, time to degree, and placement? Lots of this information is available, but I've found it nice to talk to people in the department about it. 3) Since my work touches heavily on other disciplines and departments, I've been asking about how those interdepartmental relationships are and if there are POIs in those departments that they think fit well with my work. I have my own POIs in mind, but it's nice to hear what the department thinks. 4) The availability of research and travel funding, along with teaching and research assistantships. 5) Anything new happening with the department - new professors, new initiatives, etc. 6) Any logistical questions I have about the department, i.e. clearing up foreign language requirements for Americanists, etc. 7) Just their general impressions of the town, campus, program.

Word of warning: the CNCS, the agency that runs AmeriCorps programs, is one of the agencies targeted to be cut in the first look at the new administration's budget. There's no clear indication yet if such a cut will be approved by Congress, but I would be VERY careful about making plans to do AmeriCorps before the matter is decided.