Lily9

I am thinking of applying to a Fulbright for a Masters in Scotland, but am also realizing that I am way behind most people in the application process. My grand plan for using a gap year to work on grad applications really got delayed by working two peoples' job at one job + being in a wedding. Honestly, I'm not even sure if it's worth it or if I should just wait until next year? My biggest worry is making connections with university advisers. July doesn't seem too late for a regular grad school application, in terms of contacting potential advisers, but it does seem sort of late for the Fulbright...

I took the GRE* last week and I have to say, I expected a higher verbal score (still waiting on the writing one). I got 158 V and was planning on breaking 160. I have a 3.89 GPA though, and my institutional GPA is a 4.00, since the lower grades are from my former community college (mostly science and some language ones) plus a B in a study abroad history course. I'm pretty confident in strong LOR, have two paid internships, a completed honors thesis, and am president of my Phi Alpha Theta chapter. That being said, a lot of the upper-level schools mention that the standard verbal score is in the 90th percentile or higher and mine was decidedly not. This is mostly me just venting, but any similar experiences that ended well? I've been told the GRE isn't the be all and end all and I know it isn't, but the "standard 165+ GRE verbal score" makes me nervous. *I could retake it, but I'm not thrilled at spending the money for it again.

I always outline. Sometimes it's super messy, filled with a mix seemingly random names, JSTOR article links, quotes, and bullet points, but I have to outline in some respect. It's easier for me to connect dots and keep track of evidence.

One of my friends just started her MA in PublicHumanities at Brown, which looks like a great program. It's a bit self designed, so you can focus it a bit more on history. https://www.brown.edu/academics/public-humanities/masters-public-humanities The only thing is that I don't think the funding is great, though funding does exist.

My honors thesis (50 pages max so it doesn't have quite enough room for enough of a study on each mound) talks about a couple different mound sites, but Cahokia and the surrounding area takes up the majority of room because there is simply so much more info on it, like you said.

@VAZ and @AP that is good to hear! I've heard it "rely on written documents rather than artifacts/archaeological records" from some historians and it's actually something I kinda disagree with, so I'm glad to hear your opinions. I love this! This is what I'm hoping to do more of in grad school.

Yeah, I agree "Pre Columbian" isn't really the best way to put it. Thanks for pointing that out. I've gotten used to it because it's used in a fair amount in books I've read, but it doesn't make sense considering Columbus didn't even come to North America (and honestly using him as a way to divide eras is problematic considering who he was). The better way would probably simply be older Native American history (ie the times of chiefdoms, mounds, etc). Since historians have to rely on written documents rather than artifacts/archaeological records, I've definitely used contact records (ie of De Soto when describing mound chiefdoms) in my thesis. Thanks! I've actually seen that list before and found a couple (one is retired but still) so I'll look it over more. And of course, my honors thesis adviser doesn't advertise himself as someone who studies pre-contact/farther back Native American history, but he knew a lot about it, so I think you're right that many of these scholars study both contact and pre-contact even if that isn't explicit in their bio (or they at least know enough to guide a student in the right direction.)

I'm younger (entering last year as a undergrad) but I've taken split division classes with grad students, many of who are older adults. I've always liked them a lot and know I'd be happy to get coffee and chat with them! (okay admittedly I might be cautious of meeting up with a older grad man, but that's about it) I imagine a lot of younger grad students would feel similarly. There's obviously a lot of difference in living/life situations, but we're all historians and can find common ground with that and generally you find you share other similar interests too (food interests, pets, books, TV, etc). And I'm in the positions where I can't go to bars (I'm 20) nor am I much interested in bars, so I generally find coffee, lunch, etc, is a good way to socialize plus it's easier to fit into a packed schedule.

Does anyone have recommendations when it comes to Pre-Colombian Native American history? The majority of that field has archaeologists working in it (understandably) though I have found a few historians that approach it from a historians angle. My undergrad thesis had to do with Cahokia, though the historian part came in more because I analyzed 17th-20th century documents/perceptions of it + other mounds and how that demonstrated racial ideas at the time... Thanks!

I'm in a similar situation. My research topic is very specific and there aren't many out there that fit it perfectly, so I'm trying to find people who seem like they'd be helpful and interested in it.

I keep all my papers on a USB plus google drive. Most of my professors do digital comments but if they don't then I keep a hard copy and scan any comments I need to save.

Thanks all! This has given me some good food for thought

Does anyone else have Indigenous History/Native American History as a field? I'll be doing that plus Public History/ a bit of Architectural History so I'd love to chat with anyone that is going into that/is in a program where they study that.

Hi! So I'm debating whether to apply for grad school now or take a gap year and apply next summer. There's a lot of factors (choosing a topic, simply wanting a break to recharge since I've been doing college since I was 16, etc) going into this decision other than the question I'm asking. I'll be deciding when I get home from studying abroad in a couple weeks. I'm graduating a year earlier (not because I'm particularly brilliant or anything, just because WA state pays for high schoolers to take community college classes). Does anyone else have experience being one of the younger members of a cohort? Thanks!

I know I'm going to have a low Quant score because it's essentially unavoidable, so I'm just going to put my energy into getting stellar verbal and writing scores. I have a severe math disability and I know by now that my understanding of math simply won't change. I'm not really concerned when it comes to the departments itself, but the funding packages awarded by the overall school does concern me. I'm hoping if I send in my documentation then that will help a bit. Anyone have experience when it comes to that?