35mm_
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Posts posted by 35mm_
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Thank you everyone! That was very helpful!
2 hours ago, psstein said:What is your research area? Cambridge is far better than Princeton/UPenn in some areas, but pales in comparison to others.
That was my impression as well. Histories of science and the empire, which is what I study, seem great at Cambridge.
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P.S reposting this here from a history thread
Hey everyone I wanted to start a thread about choosing between UK and US PhD programs. As many of us might be stuck between these very fortunate but equally distressing choices, I felt some advice from folks here might prove helpful.
Some of such questions that have crossed my mind so far:
What are some of the major differences that one should consider while making a decision?
Does a three year PhD from UK disadvantage you in the US?
I have been told that US programs typically prepare you more for teaching while in the UK one has to actively seek these opportunities?
Are certain fields more popular in one place over the other?
Does one make you better prepared for the job market than the other?
Thanks!
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Hey everyone I wanted to start a thread about choosing between UK and US PhD programs. As many of us might be stuck between these very fortunate but equally distressing choices, I felt some advice from folks here might prove helpful.
Some of such questions that have crossed my mind so far:
What are some of the major differences that one should consider while making a decision?
Does a three year PhD from UK disadvantage you in the US?
Does one make you better prepared for the job market than the other?
How much weightage should one give to accessibility of archives?
I have been told that US programs typically prepare you more for teaching while in the UK one has to actively seek these opportunities?
Are certain fields more popular in one place over the other? (For example science and war seems to be huge in the US while themes about empire and science seem to be more widely discussed in the UK)
Thanks!
P.S I am a history of sci&tech applicant currently deciding between UPenn/Princeton and Cambridge (HPS) / Oxford (History of Science).
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25 minutes ago, OHSP said:
It's difficult to give any super useful/accurate tax advice because it's dependent on the country that you come from, the US state you live in, etc etc, but I can tell you my situation in NY, which is that my taxes are deducted from my stipend every pay round and I can claim back some expenses but ultimately not a lot, so my stipend (in terms of what I actually take home) is less than the stipend most of my colleagues receive but still completely liveable. I can't remember details, exactly, but when I was choosing between UPenn and NYU last year I know that the tax situation was somewhat better at UPenn. As an international student you should be able to live very comfortably on the UPenn stipend especially given prices in West Philly, or wherever you choose to live in Philly, are very reasonable (in my opinion). Re UPenn v Cambridge, it depends on your field but Penn's the better choice for the US job market--I'd also say that just being connected to the network of schools on the east coast is really valuable. I'm happy to talk more about international student stuff etc via PM
Thanks, I will PM you soon!
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Since there's some talk of the taxes. Can someone tell me a bit more about taxes on international stipends? I have been told that you can most of it back via tax returns depending on the country of origin?
I am considering an offer from UPenn. My other top choice is Cambridge. And while many other things will go into making the decision I am really wondering how precarious it is for international students in the US atm.
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On 21/02/2018 at 7:24 AM, glycoprotein1 said:
Thanks!!! I’m hoping to work with Salim Al-Gailani.
Nice! The medicine side of the department has been considerably strengthened in recent years.
About the interview, don't be too stressed. It's generally a very informal chat about your research interests. Good luck!
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Admitted to Penn HSS! Super excited to attend but also waiting on news from another university to make the final decision.
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7 hours ago, glycoprotein1 said:
Hello hello! This will probably be old news to some of you as I’ve already posted a similar intro in the big thread. My interests include the history of medicine, specifically the intersection of poverty, nutrition, disease, and public health. My work thus far is centered around the 20th century U.S. south, but I’m not by any means married to the location. I only applied to Cambridge’s History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine mphil and I just heard back with an interview invite. That’s about it for me! Glad you started this thread @histsci!
Congratulations on the interview invite! HPS is a great department to be at. Who's your POI?
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11 hours ago, 18C said:
I applied to one History of Science program and the rest History. I was accepted to Harvard's HOS. I am a little hesitant about leaving the field of "History." I am unfamiliar with how History of science programs work. Harvard has its own department. I've spoken with my POI and it all sounds amazing, perfect, dreamy, and like I will get solid training. I'm just hesitant and it's all a bit overwhelming. Especially with the cost of living in Cambridge. I was also accepted to UChicago, UTAustin, Brown, and Duke. I study medicine and healing practices in Mexico, 18th and 19th centuries. I feel torn, but leaning towards Harvard. I hope I will feel more certain after visiting the places.
Those are all great schools, congratulations! I agree with @pssteinit really depends on the training and theory you want to be reading.
I made the switch from History to History of Science for my field after I took several seminars in the HoS department in my field and found it more suitable for my needs. My supervisor on the other hand trained in HoS field but ended up wanting to teach in the history department in general cause he felt his work fit well within those approaches. Plus there were also several people in my cohort who were doing history of science research within the history department and were comfortable with that. I am not sure how the choice of department might affect job market prospects. Although i would say it's also important that you find out what kind of relationship the HoS has with the history faculty more broadly. I am not sure about Harvard so much but Uchicago's history of science program for example works very closely with the general history department. It's also important that you go through the kind of course work requirements that will be needed of you. I know someone who now regrets choosing the HoS program instead of the general history one as they wanted to train in a specific geographic area but the initial years needed them to take courses only within the HoS and now they feel quite stuck.
Hope this helps!
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Waitlisted for Harvard HoS. Starting to feel like I am missing the shot everywhere by a very slim margin.
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1 hour ago, grotesque-donkey said:
My impression is that the History Department at Harvard has made their decisions for the first round of admits. It's probably up to the faculty to contact those already admitted.
Any clue about Harvard HoS decisions?
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48 minutes ago, youngsheldon said:
Hi guys, I am new to this discussion.
Just wanted to share this excruciating wait for an admit. I keep getting nightmares about receiving rejections.
Also, I am a resident of South Asia, so I keep calculating the time difference and try to make myself feel better.
One doubt, can we rely on the dates decisions were sent out last year and expect them to be rolled out around the same time this year?
Thanks!
Good luck to everyone!
I can relate to the checking time difference bit so much! It almost feels like living in two worlds. Nights are especially horrid because I know the decisions are rolling out while I snooze.
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38 minutes ago, sammichaelgeorge said:
Hello all,
I have been given an offer to study an MPhil in American history. I have a quick question regarding my research proposal- must it be what I ultimately pursue at Cambridge? Since my submission, my interests within the field have changed a bit, and I would like to pursue a new potential dissertation topic (within American History, of course).
Congrats on the Mphil offer!
And not at all. They understand that interests change and evolve with time. Just make sure when you get there you tell your supervisor(s) that you're going to rework your topic. Would help if you can get a fresh proposal drafted by october.
Many people in my cohort changed their dissertation topics, including myself, so I don't think it should be an issue.
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38 minutes ago, psstein said:
Yes, someone was called a few weeks ago.
Thanks, I am hoping to speak with someone from previous years.
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Has anyone interviewed with penn HSS?
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5 hours ago, TMP said:
The realities of state schools. I was under some pressure by my two POIs at their respective state universities to test my commitment to their programs. I certainly said that I was very interested but remained non-committal. The POIs in private schools, in my experience, didn't seem to care.
I know that OSU did not have a "waitlist" last year per se as we wanted to try a year without admitting TAs as we did not have such tremendous need for TAs and wanted to be more competitive overall. The Director of Grad Admissions worked very, very hard on those fellowship nominations for students who he was convinced would come to OSU in order to continue getting more fellowships from the Graduate School. Programs in state schools are in competition with other departments for limited number university-wide fellowships. If the Graduate School doesn't see improvement in the yield or consistent decline, it will threat the program to cut the number of fellowships it can apply to. By consistently showing high yield each year, the program can be assured (at least) that it has plenty of resources to offer attractive funding packages to compete with peer programs. Ultimately, my program had a quite strong yield of fellowship students, higher than in the past.
Sort of like your parents cutting your allowance if you aren't keeping up with your chores and when you do keep up with your chores, your original allowance comes back and if you take up more chores, then you might get a raise in allowance.
It is a very tricky situation for applicants but fortunately this history board has funding spreadsheet on hand for applicants to see beforehand what kind of funding they're likely to get.
Ah. Was either of the schools wildly unhappy when you made your decision?
And thanks for pointing the funding board, I will have a look
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57 minutes ago, gsc said:
The short answer is that it means they like you, a lot.
If they were lukewarm about your application, they wouldn't bother with calling you. They really would not. I had a really similar experience to yours — a potential advisor saw my application, turned around and wrote to one of my recommenders (who he knew) and asked if I was a "serious" applicant. Would I actually go if accepted? Etc. It didn't help, in my case, that I hadn't written beforehand, so essentially I came from nowhere with no lead-up, fueling the question of my being "serious." But this is precisely my point. The POI liked my application enough that he was curious about it and about me. So that's the first and very concrete thing. They're trying to feel you out.
The longer and more speculative answer is that they are worried you will go somewhere else. Let me be clear that this is truly speculation, based off this experience & others. But one thing that is clear to me is that schools want the best students as much as students want the best schools, and they have a good idea of what schools they can compete with and what ones they can't. So I suspect it is that they want to admit you, only they think you are a strong enough applicant that you will probably have other offers, and they don't want to give up a slot on someone who only thinks of UCLA as their "backup" choice. What makes me think this is that they don't have a waitlist, which means that the pressure is on to admit quality students who will actually come to the program. I'm not remotely familiar with UCLA's program, but I wouldn't be surprised if they continually lost out applicants to the same couple schools and are hoping you're not going to be in that number.
FWIW I think your response was fine. The "needing to commit" part is a little strong language, but it's coming from your potential advisor and not the admissions director which lessens it a bit. I remember responding much like you did, trying to give myself room in case I wanted to go somewhere else (but knowing I probably wouldn't because this was my top choice), feeling really nervous in case I was too equivocal and I was accepted — I think so long as you didn't blow them off completely, or made it sound like you had your heart set somewhere else, you're fine.
Thanks, that helps a lot. And oh wow, I had no idea there's so much speculation behind offers. Although, I was beginning to wonder if they are also in touch with another PoI at this other uni, cause they mentioned the other school (that I have applied to) very casually, to compare the funding packages.
Do state schools send early decisions than the ivies? Cause wouldn't the logical thing for them (if people don't go through with the offers) would be to send decisions slightly later so that students know where they stand? I have applied to different fields at different unis, HoS and area studies, and while my app might float for the area studies, it might not for the HoS departments. Again, this is pure speculation too, and I would only know for sure by march I guess.
UK vs US PhDs
in History
Posted
Decided on Penn!
I spoke to my prospective supervisor at length and figured Penn would be best as a lot of the faculty in my field is there plus the coursework and language requirements would greatly help in writing the dissertation.
Thanks to everyone who helped!