Zaheersboi

That's just it. I feel pulled in many different directions. What I need is help in evaluating my options. I guess a good place to start would be, "What is the likelihood that I could get into a top PhD program, given what I've explained?" In response to your question, my specific interests sit at the intersection of early modern colonial expansion in the Americas and queer theory. Personally, my goal is to be able to afford to survive at a subsistence level. If I were to get a PhD, I'd probably want to specialize in the aforementioned areas. If I were to get an LIS, I'd want my coursework to bridge the divide between archival studies and community librarianship: how does one best go about bringing historical and political awareness to the masses in the service of an emancipatory intersectional agenda? One of my faculty advisors suggested getting a masters before applying to PhD programs to offset the collapse of my undergraduate thesis. That way, I could show the admissions folx that I am actually capable of producing a polished research product. I think her suggestion has merit, but I'm worried that I'm doing myself a disservice by not aiming as high as I can, now.

Hello all, I've gotten myself into a bit of a bind, and I could use some advice. My name is Patrick. I'm a 23-year-old, underemployed, miserable gas station attendant. I graduated with distinction in history and archaeology from the University of Virginia in 2017. I barely remember how I got to this point, but I know I'm unhappy with how things have turned out. Following several months of post-graduation unemployment, during which time I had lived as a homeless freegan in Maine, I took a job as a history teacher at a shamelessly fraudulent for-profit private school chain called Fusion Academy in Washington, DC. I survived for a few months, but couldn't stand its toxic work environment and resigned in disgust. I then fled my parents' house in Fairfax, VA, for the cornfields of Urbana-Champaign, IL, armed with nothing but a couple thousand dollars in savings and the vague, tentative plan of establishing Illinois residency for in-state tuition purposes before matriculating into their Library and Information Science masters program. In the meantime, needing to pay rent and unable to find meaningful employment with my BA, I have found myself cleaning up vomit at a Circle K a block from my apartment. Here's the thing. I'm having trouble figuring out what exactly my options are for grad school, now that I'm here. For the longest time, I had wanted to pursue a PhD in history, but fulfilling that dream seemed like an increasingly remote possibility when one considers the collapse of my undergraduate honors thesis for mental health reasons, my distaste for teaching, and the larger employment crisis in academia. Failing that, a Masters in LIS seemed like a logical alternative, given my well-documented bibliophilia(/-mania?). That's why I'm in Illinois now, after all. As I learn more, though, I'm pretty sure I could get into the LIS masters at UIUC, the top-ranked in its field in North America, without breaking much of a sweat. They don't even require the GRE. Part of me wonders if getting the LIS rather than a PhD amounts to selling myself short. Part of me wonders if it makes more sense to sell out and get an MBA like all the bootlicking quasi-fascist turdnuggets I went to undergrad with. I earned an undergraduate GPA of 3.78 overall. I don't know my major GPA, but I suppose I could calculate it if pressed. I scored 169 V, 155 Q, and 5.5 AW on the GRE. I'm pretty sure I have (had?) killer recommendation letters, as I held prestigious research assistant positions during undergrad and won a competitive undergraduate research grant to support that thesis I didn't end up finishing for mental health reasons. But my work history since graduation is spotty. Like I said, several months of unemployment, during which time I lived as a homeless freegan in Maine, followed by my stint at Fusion, followed by several more months of unemployment, followed by Circle K. There's a ton of additional complicating factors. I'm happy to answer any questions readers might have. At the moment, I just need guidance from someone who understands the graduate admissions process.