historygeek

I'll be using some time in my Masters program on language training, which I felt was a huge missing piece from my PhD applications this time around. I'm interested in medieval to early modern Europe (especially Italy, England, and Russia), but I'm also interested (to a lesser extent) in modern European history. I'm already fluent in Italian thanks to an Italian studies major. I'm thinking French and Latin for sure, but I'm not sure if I should take Russian (possibly to get some idea of Old Church Slavonic), German, or something else.

Hi, everyone! During the first week of April, I'll be visiting the program that I'll be attending in the fall for their Admitted Students Day. It's for a Masters program in history, and I'll be meeting some of the faculty. I had planned on wearing nicer jeans, a cuter top, a cardigan, and flats. Is this appropriate to wear, or should I wear more business casual clothes? FWIW, the visit is from 10 am - 1 pm.

My senioritis is THROUGH THE ROOF. I have so much to do that I'm just... checked out. I'm also trying to apartment hunt and that's just awful.

Apartment hunting is horrible and should be criminalized.

Congrats! How exciting!

Got my acceptance from NYU's Masters program. They definitely got me with the congratulations!

I'm going to the Admitted Students Day in April. I could PM you some notes if you can't make it! I'm in history, though.

My assumed rejection from Toronto was wrong! Just got the acceptance email. No funding, though.

From what I've seen, spring admission doesn't really exist in history PhD programs.

There wasn't a form to decline my offer, and this wasn't a letter to my POI!

Could I have some feedback on this response re: the HiLi program? I want to avoid burning bridges with the school in general. I am writing in response to your offer of admission to the Masters in History and Literature at Columbia University. While I was delighted at the offer, I regret to inform you that I will not be accepting your offer of admission. Thank you so much for your time and consideration.

In no particular order... 1) Tenured history professor 2) Medieval curator at the British Museum 3) Owner of a used bookstore 4) Study abroad program director

Thanks, everyone! I decided to go with my fully-funded program for a few reasons: a) it's fully funded, b) it has enough time for me to explore my interests, c) more opportunity for language training, d) I wouldn't be thrown right into PhD applications again... I think I was caught up on the fact that it was an Ivy and in Paris/close to archives.

If it's one day each, I wouldn't worry about it at all.

Are they Admitted Students Days, as you say in the title, or weekends? If they're days, I wouldn't worry too much.

I would definitely do both! It seems like you can travel to both of these places without being too exhausted.

How far away are the schools, from you and from each other?

Got accepted to Columbia's HiLi program when I was checking my email during a thesis-writing break!

How exciting! Congrats!

Something that I learned myself very recently: do research and don't get caught up on prestige for MA programs. A week after receiving (and accepting) an offer for a full-tuition scholarship for a Masters program (which is very rare), I was accepted into the HiLi program at Columbia with a fellowship. Given that the program was a Columbia program and located in Paris (closer to archives), I began to question if accepting my fully-funded offer was actually the right move. Spoiler alert: it was. The program at Columbia is a year, which would toss me right into the application cycle again with very little time. I also know that my interests are changing, so a two-year program would be better. Another big thing was the money. Even though I got a fellowship, it was only 20%. I would have to pay 80% tuition, living expenses in Paris, relocation costs, and a $1,000 enrollment fee. Even though Columbia is an Ivy, it ultimately wouldn't be worth it to go.

Hey everyone! I hadn't seen a topic for this, so here we are. Anyone else enrolling at 'Nova this fall? I'll be enrolling in the History MA program, and am also looking for a roommate/housing currently.

This was one of my biggest concerns, as well as not having adequate time to fix the mistakes of my first application cycle. I feel like it wouldn't be enough time to get good relationships with professors, language training, writing a really strong thesis, etc.

I also just realized that doing a one year Masters would pretty much be throwing me back into the PhD application cycle right away, which isn't something that I want to do right now, especially given that my interests are changing. I'm going to go to 'Nova, though the bragging rights for my non-academic family members and friends is really nice!

Thanks for the input everyone! I think I was simply just worried that turning down an Ivy that's geographically close to archives, but I feel like turning down a fully funded offer would be even crazier.

Thanks for pointing out the typo. The scholarship I got for Columbia is only 20%, so I would have to cover 80% of tuition and living expenses in Paris. I received a full tuition scholarship from another school, which also has a very highly regarded program.