Procopius
-
Posts
23 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by Procopius
-
-
In terms of a MA, school name won’t be as important as having a good advisor and just enough resources to complete your project. Obviously, it would be a boon to get into the big name places like Yale or Harvard, but try looking into places that give you the best financial opportunities to succeed, whether that means low tuition, tuition waver, or scholarships.
-
Yes, definitely learn French and Latin. I will also say though that you should take other language courses you’re generally interested into because sometimes those languages can come in handy for the future. For example, learning Arabic may sound out of left field, but if you’re interested in it and eventually learn some Arabic, you may even be able to utilize it somehow in your research, or at the very least, have an extra skill that could make you more marketable.
-
23 hours ago, telkanuru said:
I don't think it's a good idea for either hypothetical person to do a PhD.
Damn it telkanuru I can’t disagree nor agree with you at the same time.
-
I absolutely agree with this. If I, as a (relatively?) young grad student in my mid-20s is doing a PhD purely for passion, then someone who is as equally passionate as I am who is in his or her “later years” (whatever that is) should also be given that opportunity. While grad school is like a job, it doesn’t mean it can’t be a fun endeavor. I wouldn’t take that away from someone who truly wants to do it either as a hobby or just post-retirement education.
-
4 hours ago, youngblood79 said:
Hi everyone! I was curious if anyone could share their thoughts about the University of Minnesota. I was admitted into their History program. I'll figure out more about the program in the next couple of weeks, but I wanted to hear what other people about the program? Is it a solid school to get into? Will I struggle for employment afterwards? etc.
What era and place do you study? I second the earlier posts who said that pre-modern is really good there, particularly early modern.
-
9 hours ago, MARTINt said:
Where would you say UVA is? Pre-modern subfield.
It has solid placements. Overall, pre-modern is really good at UVA.
-
I tell you this. If you get interviewed, that means you’re probably very high on the list or at the very least, you’re in the running for candidature for your field. That means your app impressed someone (most likely your poi). However, the place I got into and accepted didn’t interview me.
-
I feel like, logically, adcoms only read the first few pages of the sample because they don’t have time to read it all. That’s what one of my professors told me and he recommended that the first few pages need to wow the judges so to speak. However, I’ve also had professors tell me after that they read my entire writing sample. Perhaps as they finalize the candidates, the samples start to be read more closely.
-
Here’s the thing, I never cold emailed any graduate students either. I only cold emailed prospective advisors. Looking back now I probably still wouldn’t do it, but it was a personal preference. Honestly graduate students are more than happy to respond to your emails. I certainly would gladly answer any questions sent my way. Just know that every student has a different view on things depending on their respective fields and class level.
-
1 hour ago, urbanhistorynerd said:
More broadly, just how much does one professor have over who gets in?
Has anyone had a similar experience? I'm of course not letting my hopes up, but this definitely makes me feel like that despair and impostor syndrome of the last two years is in my head.
So I had two similar experiences at two different schools. At one school, my advisor was good friends with my poi there. He wanted to read my masters thesis before I applied and expressed great interest in my project. I felt confident and applied there, but I never got in. The poi who I had exchanged a lot of pleasant emails with didn’t even send me an explanation email. I will say however that before I applied he had mentioned that his school lacked a second professor with my particular interests who could help guide my project (he’s a French historian and I needed a Chinese historian who wasn’t there), but he encouraged me to apply anyway. So I think I didn’t get in probably because of fit.
At the other school, one of my mentors was really good friends with my poi there. In fact, at the first mention of my mentor my poi was instantly interested in me. Our interests were also extremely similar, so he thought I was a perfect fit for the school. Two months after I applied there, I got an interview request with him. We interviewed over Skype, and he was throughly impressed with our interview. At that point, I felt that this school was pretty much gonna be my top choice. Fast forward another month, and the school informed that I was waitlisted. I was pretty hurt and still am since it wasn’t that long ago. The poi personally emailed me and told me that I was their top candidate for my field and I still got beaten out. He said there was a possibility I could still get in and i tried to maintain my optimism. Ultimately I never made it out of the waitlist and they didn’t take one person in my sub field. I was really disappointed because the stars seemed to align for me so well and I still didn’t get in. I inquired to my poi why I wasnt admitted and he said it was just competition. I felt like politics or the numbers game may have factored in too, but I truly have no idea.
@urbanhistorynerd my point is that even if a poi has great interest in you, you still need to deal with forces you can’t foresee. However, it’s still a terrific first step and it’s better to have someone fight for your application than to not have one. Do the very best you can on your applications and impress both that poi of yours and the committee. You have a tremendous shot here.
- urbanhistorynerd, historygeek, TMP and 1 other
-
4
-
16 hours ago, urbanhistorynerd said:
The amount of careers and positions available in higher ed administration, nonprofit, cultural institutions, government, etc, are all fitting and held by history Ph.D.
I find this to be the best positive aspect of a PhD in history, that you can still do a handful of other stuff even after attaining a phD. The doom and gloom talks only exist to keep students’ expectations in check. Personally, i think if you can get into a solid program (preferably among the usual suspects), and have no debt, the PhD is not so terrible of an idea. But you need a crazy amount of passion for it.
6 hours ago, AnUglyBoringNerd said:Does this rationale make sense?
I like that you have a backup plan. I’m still formulating mine.
-
I feel like although this doom and gloom talk is really disheartening and negative, it serves the purpose of warning people that there’s nothing rosy about becoming a history professor. A PhD requires the dedication of a monastic monk or a starving artist. As my professor says, you should only do a PhD in history if you can’t imagine yourself doing anything else. Start contemplating other career options before you embark on a PhD. Hopefully you’ll find something that matches your passion for history.
-
I’m in the exact opposite situation you’re in. Great funding, but no placements for my field and young advisor. Would money and time away from ta-ing actually overcome a program’s lack of placements?
-
https://www.historians.org/wherehistorianswork
This was on the gradschool reddit page. I’m not sure if this was already posted before, but I don’t recall this ever being put up. This details the career outcomes for history phds produced from 2004 to 2013. It’s interesting stuff because you can also search the outcomes by individual departments. I only have two comments about the data. One, it largely confirms the consensus that if you want to have a greater shot at a tenure track job, you should attend a top ranked school. The usual suspects (such as Harvard, Yale, or Princeton) have the highest percentage rates at 60%-70% of placing people in 4 year tenure track programs. This doesn’t mean your chance of getting a tt track job is the same percentage if you attend one of these school but just that your chances are higher as compared to another school.
My second point is that you should peruse the data cautiously because it doesn’t the reflect the current job market (since it got worse) and that just because a school’s placement percentage for a four-year tt job is low doesn’t mean it’s a bad school. For example, smaller schools like Brandeis have lower placement percentages because their population is lower.
I would love to hear your guys’ thoughts on this data if you have any!
-
3 hours ago, TMP said:
Remember, COL in California is ridiculously high. Private schools can also afford to offer highly competitive stipends. Public schools do not as some of its budget is constrained by the state legislatures (*cough*NC*cough*).
Ah i see now. After digging through the unc graduate funding website, they explicitly say that their city’s lower cost of living is a significant advantage for graduate students. They even compare their funding with other schools. I realize now that most grad programs will provide you with just enough or more than enough money to survive. Of course, some packages will be better than others, which seems inevitable in some cases. Like notre dame can afford to give their students six years of funding or Stanford will pay for four summers at $7000 a piece. I think, ultimately, it pays to go to a top school at a high COL location. But ymmv.
-
8 hours ago, Tigla said:
It is time to throw my hat back into the ring. Last year, I was accepted into two UK universities (one of which I deferred for a year) and was waitlisted on my three US applications. Hopefully, this round will be the one!
In a broad sense, I focus on global development programs during the Cold War. A lot of work has been done on American and Soviet programs, the role of international organizations, and the effects of 'development' on the 'Third World.' Following the literature from the Global Cold War, my plan is to attempt to look at how European countries, specifically the Germanys, justified their programs and the decision-making process once the decision was made to aid a country. Through my work, I hope to be able to combine the growing political and international histories of the Global Cold War with the economic and intellectual histories of development aid programs. Then, apply these frameworks back into Europe to figure out why European countries actively engaged in these programs.
- UNC-Chapel Hill: Klaus Larres and Karen Hagemann (Need to go through the faculty again)
- Princeton: Harold James, Christina Davis, Helen Miller, Andrew Moravcsik
- Northwestern: Daniel Immerwahr, Lauren Stokes, Kyle Burke
- Brandeis: David Engermann and Shameel Ahmad
- Columbia: Matthew Connelly, Anders Stephanson, Adam Tooze, and Paul Thomas Chamberlin
- NYU: Stephen Gross and Mary Nolan (still a maybe)
- TAM: Hoi-eun Kim, Jason Parker, and Adam Seipp
- Stony Brook: Young-Sun Hong, Larry Fordham, Michael Barnhart (another maybe)
- Harvard: Erez Manela, Charles S Maier, Arne Westad
- Indiana: Nick Cullather and Stephen Macekura
I'm still expanding my list and trying to cast my net fairly wide before starting to cut universities. The rest of my application will be mostly edited from last year's one. My writing sample, however, will be a chapter from my MA thesis which used exclusively German sources. As for my recommendations, they will change because 2 of my writers are leaving academia for the private sector.
You should also consider ut Austin. They placed somebody into duke a couple years ago doing almost the same thing as you but from the Eastern European perspective.
-
Also one thing I learned during the application process, which I didn’t know before, was that doing a postdoc at a prestigious or high ranked university can help mitigate the “less prestigious/weaker” undergrad/ma aspect. That’s something you can consider if you want to stay at your current school.
-
I’m in a relatively similar situation, but I expect I will stay in my program. I got into a great school, but it’s not well known for my speciality (early modern) with no placements at all. My would be advisor there suggested if I didn’t feel the program was right for me, I could leave in a year with their ma, even though I already have a terminal ma in history. It seems redundant for me to get two masters in history and although there’s no placement, the school’s in a great area and the advisor is an up and coming professor.
In terms of languages, i guess it wouldn’t be a terrible idea if your advisors sign off on you leaving, but you’d have to consider if after you leave whether your chances of getting in a higher level program will be better. The competition will still be strong and you will still compete with other people who will have strong languages as well.
-
Some packages seem disturbingly low (unc), others seem disturbingly high (notre dame, Stanford).
-
-
Hi everyone. Is anybody going to decline an offer to Emory? It's my top choice, but I'm currently waitlisted there. Really hoping for some movement in the coming week and a half.
2020 application thread
in History
Posted
I was in the same exact situation as you were in in 2018. Emory was also one of my dream programs and I got waitlisted there. Other posters already answered your question, but to add on, I think I waited until the last couple of days before the deadline before moving on and what I had heard was that if only a few more people had declined their offers, I probably would have made it in. I think I was basically at the top of the waitlist, but things didn’t work out