Riotbeard

Is this a change of field or focus? Like where wanting to nineteenth century U.S., and now you want to do medieval europe? Like how dramatic is this change?

I would say your run of the mill history M.A. program is what you are looking for. You don't need the cost or the prestigious advisers of Columbia or UPenn for what you are looking for. I would look at public schools that only have M.A. programs, because in a school with a Ph. D. program, you are going to have to compete for attention with your adviser's Ph. D. students. That's my opinion. You don't need a dissertation adviser, you need good classes and the cost of a private school is unnecessary. Just look into state schools where you live and get in state tuition. If you are in NY, there are a lot of great schools in the SUNY network, also CUNY has a good history department. That's my 2 cents.

You don't need to supply all that info. Admittences are complicated. What do you want to study is the most important question (for us to help you), and then you need to apply to a range of schools. There are so many respected scholars spread accross the country at all types of schools, so you don't need to have david armitage as your advisor to get in...

I like how you put desire to "get laid" as if this a goal specific to you or your some sort of weirdo, haha. I think most people (outside of those with religious issues) at least take this approach in general in life and will be fine with it, as long a you are not a sexist pig towards women. Just remember that this is a professional environment like a job, and you do not have the same rights to free speech as elsewhere. As someone who throughout most of graduate school has been a chain smoking, heavy drinker (although of late, I have confined both of these to the bar or other social situations), you will find your clique, who like to go to a happy hour after an afternoon class and there will be those who don't. As someone, who is also known for a loose and offensive way of speaking, these are things you just have to be cautious about early on until you figure out who is cool and who is a bit more uptight. I politically disagree with politically correctness and euphemism, as just a pathway for biggots to avoid being called out, so I have gotten in plenty of trouble for what I say in life, but I can keep it out of my professional life. I have been known to occasionally swear in class, even when teaching, and as long as you aren't you know just peppering every sentence with profanity (and maybe voice a quick, "sorry"), most people are adults and will let it slide. Smoking really is no big deal and shouldn't be anybody else's business, and if they have problem with it, it is theirs, not yours. Fighting (outside of a boxing ring) is just plain stupid on all accounts, but if you must, obviously keep it out of your professional life. The older you get, the less fighting will tolerated by any intelligent adult who you would want to associate with even if they like to cuss, drink, and smoke, so you should work on cutting this out of your life in general. Wow, this ended up being really long. I am not inclinded to long posts, but I relate with many of your vices...

I did not do this when I defended my MA thesis, and I have never heard of it being done. If you are leaving with a terminal MA, it might be nice to give your advisor a small gift or something on graduation but not for your defense IMO.

I am not going to write a short dissertation on what you should do, but if it were me, I would go for the MA at Columbia, if money is truly not an issue. Go live it up in New York. For me, my time spent at a normal job after college, only proved to me how unfit i was for the real world and the dull life of office work. I think this was a good experience, as it helped me empathize with people who have real jobs, and give myself a sense of distance from graduate students who talk about how difficult their life is (making the library seem like a coal mine or even a cubicle). You will meet people like this, but they are everywhere (some of them are on this board). So unless you feel like you need a dose of reality, I would say keep riding the train called academia. p.s. This isn't meant to say I don't work hard, etcetera, but a lot of grad students do not truly appreciate how weird and awesome the academic lifestyle is.

I live my life by the parks and rec. creep rule. half your age and add 7 for the minimum age you can date, so 3 years younger is just fine. So for me being 25 I can date girls 20+. I would date an older girl and have, and in particular three years is hardly a meaningful difference.

This might be a stupid question, as this is not my field... but just in case you are missing the obvious, have you read orientalism by Edward Said? I would suggest reading that.

I live in the Lower Garden, and I love it. I like it a lot more than any of the other uptown neighborhoods(but I am a loyalist). As for the Marigny, it's really not thaaat dangerous, at least about the same as the Lower garden district, and the crime rates pail in comparison to say central city, holly grove, irish channel, lower 9th, and parts of midcity. You just have to be smart in any neighborhood. Marigny is cool, although I agree about the crowds and lots of tourists. If I were going to live downtown, I would go with biwater just one neighborhood further past the marigny (so from canal it goes French quarter then Marigny then the Biwater), which is even closer to UNO (I think, I have only been there a hand full of times). Its very artsy also (and I would not say every neighborhood is artsy...), and a good quieter and more local than the marigny as far as bars go. I would not rent an apartment in any of these neighborhoods though without looking at them in person, because they are at least a little more spotty than uptown( but in my opinion way cooler...). I would also look at apartments in the lower garden district ( I have a friend in my building who commutes to UNO), it is only a 10-15 minutes bike ride to the quarter if thats your thing. You will find that NO neighborhood in New Orleans is immune from crime (including violent crime), but in general marigny, the bi-water, and the lower garden are pretty safe and really cool. I know a good number of grad students who have lived in all these neighborhoods, and as long as you are city-smart, you will be fine.

Agree with everybody else. 3.5 is not ideal but by no means horrible. With another year you can bring that up too, but even if you don't it won't be the end of the world if you have a good applictation otherwise. (especially not for just an MA program).

If you can get glowing letters of rec from wisconsin that should go a long way further than great scores, since it is such a strong department with great scholars.

I would say the average backpack is not at all waterproof, BUT if you carry grocery or trash bags with you and wrap your books, etc. in them it will be basically waterproof. Otherwise expect to have wet books/computer. I don't use bike fenders, because if its raining it won't make that big of diffence either way, and I try to keep my bike lightweight overall for bettter performance but that's me.

Whether you can take classes outside your discipline will really be up to the program/ your adviser. I have not, but a lot of people in my program do (particularly anthropology and sociology, you will find that there is a lot of cross pollination between these disciplines and history than say poli sci). To the original poster: As far as how many classes you will be expected to take outside of your regional/temporal field, it will really depend on the size of your department. For my atlantic world minor field, I have taken some less typical classes (for a 19th cent. U.S. historian) including the cuban revolution and Latin American Urban history, but it depends on what you want. I like being able to pull from a lot of different places, and thinking about my work in a more international context, so I went for a program that emphasized atlantic world, Latin America, and slavery than places with a larger U.S. cohort but less diversity. Nearly everybody takes a lot of courses outside of their location and period. These are things to think about when picking your program, because it might not be what you are "expected" to do, so much as your options in your program. I would also try and keep and open mind, because I get a lot of different ideas from latin americanists, who approach similar themes but in different ways.

It does not matter in the slightest. If I were you, I would list the program you are entering, but there is certainly no propriety dillema.

Not to keep with dead theme but... A Traffic of Dead Bodies by Michael Sappol is pretty amazing. I also really enjoyed Anne Fabian's new book The Skull Collectors.

I buy about 90% of all the books. I do a lot of price comparing when I order my books from used websites, so I am usually on spending 300-400$ a semester

I agree with you in premise Sigaba (there are a lot of problems with how academic history presents itself and it's audience), but I am not sure a writing sample is the place to deal with it, and if you are going to spend your time reading, read the professional historiography of black power. To the TheDig13: Check out Adolph Reed's book Stirrings in the Jug: Black Politics in the Post-Segregation Era. One of the best books about black politics from the 70s on. He is a great scholar, and one of the smartest commentators on politics today. He is also a very nice person, and has great stories of 60s and 70s youth radicalism, if you ever get a chance to meet him.

I like Tavis Smiley and Cornell West, but use public intellectuals sparingly. Cornel West has not written a real academic text since the 1980s. Keep it within the professional historiography as much as possible.

No need for it to be groundbreaking. Just make sure it is well-written, has good use of primary sources, and you situate your argument in the historiography. These are the things you need to demonstrate. Also it sounds very interesting. Good luck on it.

Nobody cares. I have grad school friends who are 40, and they get along quite well with the grad student in their mid to late twenties (we don't have any 22 year olds that I am aware of...). I feel like these age barriers really disappear once you all have the common experience of grad school, having had real jobs before grad school, etc.

You should also read the political scientist, Adolph Reed. His works Stirrings in the Jug and Class Notes are essential for thinking about labor politics. He provides a very good challenge to the identity oriented left of contemporary society and academia. Plus he is a really nice person and too brilliant.

Lisbeth Cohen, Making a New Deal. Great book about the CIO in Chicago. Defying Dixie by Glenda Gilmore definitely has some interesting stuff about Southern labor activism, but is probably not necessary unless you are interested in the South. John D'Emilio's essay "capitalism and gay identity" is really interesting. Should be pretty findable. Eugene V. Debs: Citizen and Socialist (Working Class in American History) by Nick Salvatore has been on my personal reading list for a while, but I haven't gotten to it. It also might be worth watching the movie made by hollywood blacklist filmmakers "The Salt of the Earth." Last time I checked it is on Netflix instant. If you can be more specific about other types of "radicalism" you are interested in, it could be easier to suggest some books.

Sounds like she is just reaching out to start a conversation with a new advisee. Just answer with what you are interested in, etc. No big deal.

I would also suggest a waterproof backpack. All Chrome bags are waterproof (they are also leek proof, so you can use them as a cooler), and range from 100-200$ (http://www.chromebagsstore.com/bags/packs.html). I don't have rain pants (too much?), but I do carry a rain jacket (very light weight and compact) in my bag with me every day. Also look into when campus shuttles run for lazy days. I am not sure what kind of climate you are moving too, but if it gets seriously hot like New Orleans, you should always carry water.

It really depends on the adviser. My adviser and I don't by any means work on identical topics, and he has some students that do really different work than him. I would guess anybody who does post WWII African American history would be willing to work with you, if they find your work interesting. Also, with the "Long Civil Rights Movement" paradigm you might find some people who are willing to advise you but might be temporally a little further back. It really just depends...