NotAlice

Medievalist here, applying to MA programs for next fall. My senior thesis involved 12th century English charters and I'm at the intermediate level in both Latin and French. Currently procrastinating on French homework.

I am one of those students that will be finishing my undergraduate as an older adult. I work not to make age an issue. My peers are my fellow students, we are moving through an experience together. While literally I am old enough to be the mother of some of them, I don't want the role of mother hen, I'm not their advisor. There are many ways to find connections with others besides age, we discuss movies, music, class assignments, future goals, etc. I don't expect graduate school to be any different in that regard. Making time to get to know fellow students is important to me. I'm not usually the one staying out until the bar closes, but I like it when I know a group of peers well enough that someone will notice when one of us is having a bad day or be excited when something good happens.

I also keep everything.

Thank you @rising_star and @TakeruK, I will do as you advise.

I am also interested in this question as I'm currently researching professors. I've been trying to find books or articles and read some of their work, and how it was reviewed by their peers. Aside from the academics, I really want to a good working relationship with someone. My current faculty advisor rapport has me spoiled as we really get along well. This is sort of a tangential question, which I hope you don't mind me adding in. While I know rate my professor is fraught with issues and requires really reading between the lines, does an overall poor rating affect or factor into anyone's decisions? Does it give you pause or what other factors should one consider, aside from the fact more people leave feedback about a bad experience, when reading a slew of bad reviews in someone who otherwise looks like a good fit? I've also been advised to try to meet as many of these professors as possible. I'll be attending a few conferences this fall which will give me an opportunity to do so, the others I will probably email to start.

I've used my first/last name most of the time. In some professional settings, I will use my middle initial. There is a historian in my field, although with a slightly different specialty, with the same last name and the male version of my name and the same middle initial. For instance, if I'm Alice E., he's Alistair E. So one thing I will not do is publish just with my initials as I've seen him do for a few articles. My name is fairly distinctive as it's not super common, but not enough to be memorable on its own.

Thanks everyone, this gives me a better idea of the options available. The housing I've looked at has varied from ~$500 to ~$1000/month, mostly not extremely high COL areas.

This is more of a general question, as I realize each university will have specific guidelines. I'm applying to master's programs this fall, still narrowing down the schools. For a few of the possibilities, I'd prefer to live on campus. I'm an older single student who would prefer to live alone. I also like the convenience of having all utilities included without worrying about separate deposits. The schools I'm considering have limited graduate housing and deposits and applications seem to be due in the fall semester for the next year. So how does one sign up for graduate housing if they 1. don't know if they're accepted yet and 2. no idea of funding? Do you risk a deposit after you get your acceptance if you haven't heard about funding yet? Will some schools hold graduate housing until April funding notification dates? Obviously people will be cycling out as they graduate. As I narrow my list, I'll contact those specific schools, but I'd like to get a sense of how this has worked for others. Thanks.

Thanks. I'll take a look at those. I have been reading through several of the other posts on funding as well.

Are there top tier programs offering funding to MA students? I'm undecided on the PhD and will most likely have to take time off in between if I opt to go that direction.

Hi, I'm a long time lurker and will be applying to MA programs this fall. I'm one of those older students who didn't start a BA until um, shall we just say a certain age of "maturity." I'm headed into my final year of undergraduate work and recently gave my first conference presentation. I'm interested in Anglo-Norman studies and am currently narrowing down where I plan to apply - not top tier. I'm taking the GRE in September.