cliopatra

I'm sorry you are feeling that way. I don't understand what you're going through but after reading your post, I think you might not have received the 'education' you were expecting but you learned a lot about yourself and what you expect out of a graduate program. Also, it takes some balls to do what you did - to think about your own personal happiness and well-being above issues of self-image, expectations of profs/family/friends and of course, opportunities for advancement. I think in this case you have you ask yourself what you truly want? If you don't know why not work for awhile and figure that out? School will always be there when you're ready. I had a friend leave our program and she kept feeling like "a failure" and "a loser." Later on after getting over the initial guilt and sadness of having to leave the program she said she was happy she made that decision because it was eating away at her every day while she contitnued lying to everyone in the department and herself by going through the motions of the program when her heart wasn't really in it. If you go back what would you do differently? What do you expect out of your degree in terms of opportunities? Are they realistic? If you decide to go back would you return to this program or another? Did you take a leave of absence or did you leave permanently? Would you have to divulge this information to another program if you chose to apply? Wish you the best.

I think I will be catering each letter to the departments I am applying to. Some are stronger in cultural theory whereas others are not into interdisciplinary approaches (actually I probably shouldn't be applying to those departments anyways). It's just there are some profs. in some departments that are interested in the kind of work I do but the downside is there's not really a strong group of individuals who are within that respective department. So I think I need to be careful. Also yeah, I'm editing 57 pages down to 30. Sigh. Keep up the good fight! Problem is I don't want to cut anything out!

I was contacted by a company that was referred to me by a prof. from my department. I was offered a position and was extremely grateful that this person referred me for the job. The best thing you can do is tell your profs. that you are looking for work and to keep you posted on any opportunities they come across. Sometimes companies get in touch with specific departments when they have a position and need a person with education/experience in that field. This happened a lot within our department for government positions (Humanities oddly enough). I heard about a job opening in my hometown, that wasn't even posted yet through one of my UG professors! I applied (didn't get it) but it was still awesome to know that jobs were opening up before they actually were posted. Reach out to your contacts who you met during your studies (potential employers, colleagues, friends and family) and tell them you are job searching. Check company websites or send a cover letter and catered resume to a company you wish to work for, try and send it directly to the person who would be hiring you (even if there are no job postings). Basically keep on top of everything and, as you probably already know, don't be lazy with your cover letters! Don't send a generic one to every company but write one specific for the position/company. Also, not sure how you are with your cohort (ours is kinda friendly with each other) so we usually keep in touch and send job postings to each other if we're not interested in them or can't apply. We also let each other know where we are working and how things are going (in case they interview with said company). We look out for one another but I think this is extremely rare because most groups would be competitive with one another. Good Luck!

Great idea. thanks for clicking! http://db.tt/6j6HnF3

LOL! as a history TA, the part about all the essays saying the same thing "things changed and stayed the same" is SO true. Definitely had a good laugh with this. thanks.

No PhD Comics totally counts.

Anyone use Academia.edu to network? I have a profile but I find it creepy that it notifies me whenever someone googles my name (my name is rare there are only two of us in North America to the best of my knowledge). If so, do you upload papers and articles you have written? How do you feel about sharing your work online?

I think you hit on something very important. My classmates would spend SO MUCH time worrying about upcoming seminars, what they had said in class, papers that were due. If they had directed that energy towards productivity I'm sure they would have had a lot more free time. I think it is all about efficiency, and if you're high strung all the time freaking out about everything and anything, of course you will never have any free time for yourself.

watching stars

tribe wars

Congrats on being finished with the GRE. In Canada we don't have the GRE so I don't know what writing it is like but I assume it involves a lot of preparation and stress. Getting that finished must be a huge relief! I started with my applications today! Best of luck with yours. Also have to start preparing for external funding applications. ugh. those are a bitch to prepare.

I also try to photograph everything (with permission). Saves time, money, and my hands from getting cramps. Dropbox is amazing. http://www.dropbox.com/ I organize all my archival research into folders with the original classification system of the respective archive. So I know what I have and what I might need to go back for in the future. Of course, if their system makes no sense and defies all logic (or if there is no system) I will create my own. I can then access my research from any computer! You can also access your dropbox folder through an app. for any smartphone or tablet. Really helpful when you don't have your laptop with you and are doing work/research at the library. I also organize all my articles, pdf files, essays, and any other pertinent documents into Dropbox. Zotero is great http://www.zotero.org/ But I found that after implementing Dropbox I don't really use this. Hope this helps.

This is a really good approach and I think if you want to say sane, it's necessary! Someone gave me some really good advice after complaining of being stressed and overwhelmed: "Grad school is not what defines you as a person and it's easy to lose yourself in trying to keep up with everything." Grad school is like a love/hate relationship with someone, you have to set boundaries otherwise it will consume you. You're still the same person when you enter grad school and when you leave it (having matured a little hopefully. I know that was the case for me). You'll always feel guilty and it's all about acknowledging and managing your guilt. When I say guilt I mean "I could have read a little more" or "I could have spent more time on x,y,z." "I should have mentioned that in discussion" ...etc.

Hi Bean! I am in the same boat. Have you started on applications yet? What are your research interests?

Right, probably better to hold off on sending work. Short e-mail it is. I will get started on this and please let me know what sort of responses you get.

Were any of you who have already co-published approached by the professor? A few months ago my supervisor mentioned in passing that "maybe we can collaborate on a paper" and I didn't really take the discussion further because we were meeting with another prof and it would have been off-topic. I'm now finished my thesis and would really, REALLY like to move forward with his suggestion but I'm not sure how to approach him about it! All I can think of asking goes something along the lines of: "Umm remember when you said something about co-publishing? Well are you still interested in that?" I just want to convey to him that I am very interested and want to move forward.

Ask a lot of questions as you begin your studies. I always start with the literature. I read articles and books about topics that I found interesting and tore them up. It's always good to think about the bigger picture while trying to come up with a topic. So while reading in my field I usually ask: What is their approach? Is it feasible? Did he/she provide substantial evidence? What questions didn't they ask? Can a comparative study be done? What does this mean within our field? Sometimes the authors will come right out and say that some areas need scholarly attention. In know in the Humanities this usually appears either in the preface or introduction to a book. One point to remember is that it's okay if you're lost! It means you're on your way to somewhere... Just don't let yourself be stuck! After enough reading and asking questions a research topic should emerge.

I think early sept. is a good idea. they should be around and won't be 'too' busy at the beginning of term. I'm debating writing a brief formal letter catered to each prof. should I include a copy of my work or should I wait and see what the response is like? thanks and good luck to you as well crater!

I could ask someone from my undergrad but I would prefer to have someone who can assess my work at a graduate level.

Thanks! I am indeed. I wasn't sure if summer was too early? I was told to contact around 6 months before adcom. starts reviewing your file, so that your name is semi-familiar. The schools I am applying to have deadlines set in between dec-jan. you're right that would be too late. I should get started now?

Why don't you contact the DG to ask if previous students who have been accepted into the program used letters that weren't necessarily from professors?

Thank you both. I'm not really sure if "courting" the professor is something I would like to do. Also, this person is on sabbatical and is not on campus (I think out of the country) so it's not really possible to see them in person.

Any advice on this would be much appreciated. I am wrapping up my M.A. and plan on applying for my PhD. Problem is my M.A. program is very small (a cohort of under 10), and class offerings are usually by the same 3-4 professors. Fast forward to application season and some schools are asking me for 3 letters. I can produce 2 no problem: one my supervisor and the other a professor who I took a directed readings with and did very well. I know both will write great letters. Who do I ask for the third? I haven't taken any coursework from other profs in my department besides a required methodology course that is run by the same prof. every year for the past four thousand years. This prof is very, ahem, "particular" and doesn't quite understand my research interests. I don't have a grasp of where I stand with he/she. Basically I am uncomfortable asking this person. Can I ask the third reader of my thesis who is outside of my department, and who I don't know very well, although their research interests intersect very closely with mine. If they enjoy my project (which I should know within the next few days), would it be appropriate to ask this person to by my 3rd writer? Thanks.

Anybody getting ready to contact potential supervisors yet? I was thinking of beginning in nov.-dec. but with the end of term, would that be a bad time for the professors?