ladydobz

I started with wesbites like Duolingo to learn Spanish, Arabic, and Latin and then asked for profs for which textbooks and readers to try. Hope that helps

Once I got to intermediate proficiency, reading newspapers in my research languages first thing in the morning was very helpful.

The only university I've seen offering it is Liberty University, although there has been a lot of conversation within the AHA and OAH about it with very little resolution. As psstein said, I wouldn't recommend doing one online (based on what I've heard from those on the AHA and OAH forums) currently. 

I honestly don’t know the statistics behind waitlist acceptances, but I would email the head of admissions at both schools and tell them that if you’re accepted off the waitlist then you’re prepared to commit immediately. You can also put in the email that the program is your top choice — I don’t think it’s right to lie but you could put this in the email to the school you would want to go to most. Note that this strategy means you’d have to accept the first offer you get, but the chance of being offered a spot from both schools is low anyway. Any school would rather admit someone they know for sure will come than start admitting people off the waitlist randomly and having to deal with people declining until someone finally accepts. 
 
It may not be clear who the head of admissions is — in this situation I would email a POI or the head of the department directly and ask if the information could be passed along. 

The university that waitlisted you will not be notified if you accept an offer from another university. Is this a large program at the universities you've applied to? If these are small programs (think < 20 people), it isn't very polite to accept an offer and then bounce without warning. What may be possible is for you to request an extension past the deadline to accept. This may give you time to hear back from the school that waitlisted you. I would also email the university that's waitlisted you to say that you'll be accepting the offer if you're admitted, and ask if they plan at this time to accept people from the waitlist (they may not know for sure at this point but they could have an idea). The university will understand that you have other offers and that you have to accept an offer by a certain deadline. If/when you accept the other university's offer, let them know that you've been waitlisted at another school and may be accepting an offer from them if given the opportunity. 

Just not necessarily in the positive sense 

Is it possible? Yes, it is. If you want to use the PhD for anything beyond a vanity project, it's not advisable.

Most of the non tenure-track jobs out there will be part-time adjunct positions. These usually come with no benefits and are paid quite poorly, even if you manage to cobble together enough contracts to reach a full course load. I agree that full-time lecturer positions with benefits aren’t so bad, but those are not especially numerous in US academia. 

Question: Why assume that non-tenure jobs in academia are bad jobs, or not even a job?

Temporary faculty positions at community colleges and universities offer higher salaries than the U.S. average. The majority of jobs in the industry are not tenured as well. Being unemployed, getting fired, and changing jobs are common for anyone. Plus, we are already being paid for doing something we love.
I don't understand why it is assumed that getting a job in the industry will necessarily better than a non-tenured job in academia. For me, as an immigrant who is not a native English speaker and without a strong network, I can't imagine a better job than teaching the history and culture of my own country. Even a temporary contract at a community college would be an excellent job in the eyes of many people with similar backgrounds to mine. It's also a good job for the average American, I believe.

I'll give my usual advice:
1) Don't go anywhere without full funding and an adequate (read: livable) stipend. Taking on debt for a degree with an uncertain at best outcome is not a good idea.
2) The best way to identify programs is to do the following: look at the books that interested you in gender history. Research the author and find where s/he received his PhD and when. Look at the citations and research the authors of frequently cited works. Once you have this information, try to find placement histories of these scholars' PhD students.
 

I was just accepted from the waitlist for UMich history/women's studies joint PhD (my number one choice for two cycles). Any Michigan insiders around want to connect? I accepted already but would nonetheless love any doses of sane advice and information anyone can throw my way! I'm equal parts thrilled and terrified--hope that's normal ?

Yeah, I'm with @psstein - I don't see enough information to make a good judgement. How much is the difference, and is the financial difference $30k vs $35k or $15k vs $20k - the same difference matters more in different circumstances. How does cost of Living in the respective cities factor in?
(NB: as of this year, most Ivy+ schools are offering $40-45k as a stipend. Unionization works ✊)

I volunteered while at my undergrad program for online research with a History museum. I've reached out to a couple again to see if they're interested in a free researcher, but had to back out due to some health issues currently. I'm studying French to work on the language requirements as well. If you find you have the time, maybe reaching out to local historical societies or museums to volunteer research, or working on getting published? Of the professors I've spoken with, those are two of the points that they like the most. I wish you luck with your applications! 

Hi, all,
I grew up in Bowling Green, OH and have lived here or within the area for most of my life. Bowling Green is one of THE safest cities you could ever hope for. Though we certainly have the occasional car break-in, alcohol-related incident, and (sadly) sexual assault (mostly on campus, it seems), the murder rate is so low it doesn't even register. Maybe one every 20 years. The neighborhoods surrounding campus can get a little "wild" on weekends, of course, as they are largely student-populated. But the suburban neighborhoods on the west side of town are the kind where you can walk your dog at 3:00 AM and nobody will bother you. 
If you want a party lifestyle, BG might be a tad boring, though the bars downtown do get quite lively. 
However, if you're a grad student or young professor looking for a safe place to raise a family, this is the town in which to do it.
I'll admit that in my 20s I got very bored and moved to a very big city for the excitement. BG is a great place for raising kids and for growing older due to its safety.
The cost of living isn't bad, either. While a $14,000 doctoral stipend (2019) is not a lot, with roommates and conservative living, one can survive. There are also plenty of retail establishments and restaurants seeking part-time workers. As there is no public transportation system aside from a taxi service, if you wanted to Uber or Lyft, you could earn extra that way.
Yes, it's flatlands and cornfields. Yes, we are known for hosting the National Tractor Pull in August (on BGSU move-in weekend, for some ridiculous reason). Yes, the summers are humid and the winters can be horrendous (but not Minnesota horrendous)--it's the wind and the wind chills more than anything, and the lack of wind breaks. But it's a safe, small college town with a nice campus and good programs, and hey, it's only for 2-5 years, right?

Hey, guys @balou21 and @Su08! Congrats on acceptance to UC.
I'm currently an undergrad here at UC, and I grew up in Cincinnati. I can say that there are a lot of good apartments around the area, but some are definitely a further walk than others. I wouldn't recommend the Forum unless you have a car, or plan to heavily use the shuttle and Nightride systems. There are many great places on Jefferson and Bishop streets that are walking distance to either the main campus or the medical campus. Riddle Road or anything near Straight Street is also a good pick, as it's near the main campus. Clifton Ave can get a bit loud, as it is near the Greek houses. 
There are several UC housing facebook groups too, and I've already seen people post their openings there for next year. You may want to try to see if there is a grad school cohort that you can connect with though. Many grad students I know also like to have their own apartments and then socialize on their own time, so that may be a consideration. 
Good luck with everything! 
 

Here's some pretty common areas that UC students live: Clifton/Clifton Heights/University Heights (pretty student-centric, a good option if you want to walk to school or have a close commute), Hyde Park (pretty trendy area, lots of shopping, rent is bit more expensive but seems to be more catered to younger professionals), Oakley (pretty much the same vibe as Hyde Park), Corryville (lots of undergrads and medical students because it's super close to both UC and UC hospitals). I live in the University Heights area and I've felt pretty safe in the year that I've lived here. From my observations, University Heights tends to be mostly graduate students and pretty quiet whereas Clifton Heights seems to be mostly older undergrads, but they're pretty similar. If you want to live a little bit farther out, Covington and Newport in Northern KY and Norwood are also great places to live on a grad student budget. I know some graduate students that live in Blue Ash, Colerain Township, and West Chester (~30 minute commutes) and they love it, but have to budget that time into their daily schedules. 
I don't have any personal recommendations on climbing outdoors, but I know that the UC gym has an excellent climbing wall. There are lots of great parks in the Cincinnati area (https://www.greatparks.org/) that I know many use for running.
 

I really need to pitch my TV show Merovingians: LOL you thought GoT was Bloody and Confusing

I'll wade carefully here as an old-timer. 
When I started my PhD in 2012, I was already ambivalent about being a professor or entering academia. I wanted to get my PhD and work as a historian in a very large museum, which was viable then.
I didn't know what academia was really about. 
I had never run a classroom.  I was told that to be a TA meant running discussion sections and grading but I had no idea that there were positions that involved only grading.  Due to declining student enrollments, my department dropped discussion sections and added more grading positions. Opportunities for teaching sessions before candidacy were quite limited. I didn't get to do it until after I passed my candidacy (partially due to fellowships in my first 2 years). I fell in love with teaching and interacting with students but stopped short at "quality over quantity" approach, unlike so many graduate students who focused on "more classes I teach, the better my CV will look for teaching jobs!"
Throughout my time, I was truly bogged down by heavy coursework load (due to fellowship requirements), research (including writing funding applications and trip and budget planning), conference papers, a journal article, and mental health issues that nearly took over my life. I simply had no time to develop and hone skills that employers valued such as computer programming, organizing and executing events and conferences, etc., etc. However, I did immensely improve my written and oral communication with the incredible support of professors, mentors, and colleagues. I did get to travel the world (literally) which I would have not been able to do until... maybe retirement, much thanks to the fund-raising that I did.  I never imagined that I would have an overall satisfactory experience compared to many horror stories that I had heard.
The pandemic hit when I was interviewing for postdocs. When the campus shut down and hiring freeze went into effect everywhere, I realized that there would be no second wave of postdocs and visiting assistant professor positions that came between March-May. I took advantage of one semester of funding that remaining to postpone my dissertation defense.  I realized that a December graduation meant that I wouldn't be able to secure an academic job to start in January. I started getting used to the idea that I would have to apply for non-academic jobs in this situation and I gradually became OK with that because I've been there before. 
Now, i am applying for a combination of academic and non-academic jobs to see what will bite. When it comes to non-academic jobs, my topic or historical content knowledge does not matter and it is important to separate myself from those and focus on the skills that I have to bring to those jobs. The PhD is simply another degree on your resume, nothing more, but you will have a section under "Work/Grant-Writing/Teachingetc. Experience" which you can tout the skills you have used to complete the degree.
Do I regret going for my PhD? Nope. I was so hungry for an opportunity to dive deep and become an expert in specific historical fields. I went through a MA program (2008-2010) and studied a new language abroad for several months (2010-2011) just to be sure that the PhD was what I wanted, even though I decided in 2006. The key to survival, I think for me, was knowing that I had prior work experience and was developing valuable skills (especially fund-raising if you're great at it) which to highlight while applying for non-academic jobs. And perhaps the comfort of knowing that I may never need to work to become fluent in all of my reading languages again.
And I'm a risk-adverse person. Really know yourself before you apply. Are you the type of person who can complete a big job which you've devoted hours and hours and breathed your life and walk away within weeks?  Do you have the grit and resiliency to overcome obstacles that come your way? The PhD journey is much more suited to street-smart people than book-smart people. If you're the latter type, go for the MA which is less intense in the way of non-coursework stuff.

Even though I was told by a professor that I might have gotten a job had I been born a decade earlier--"maybe"--I would never advise someone not to pursue a personal or professional goal. (The day I passed quals, the committee member who represented my outside field said Think of yourself as a teacher. By which he meant that it was my responsibility to give people information that enabled them to achieve their goals--my opinion of those goals notwithstanding.)
I would (and have) recommended doing a herculean amount of due diligence--including reading the OP again and again. There may be "nothing new" to some readers who are aware of some of the patterns that have been developing since the early 1990s. To many others, the post adds crucial nuance.
 I also recommend setting up job alerts in Linkedin and elsewhere so one understands how graduate degrees may or may not translate into requirements for job qualifications and professional experience. Some consultancies and government agencies require the kind of research experience that cannot quite be satisfied by a master's degree.
FWIW/Neither here nor there, I do take slight exception to the lumping together of the academic job market for professional academic historians as the most important key performance indicator of the profession's vitality or sustainability. 

For a long time, this paralleled my thoughts on the matter. But, as an adviser pointed out, a guaranteed 5-7 years making $30k with excellent health insurance coverage isn't nothing in this prepostapocalyptic hellscape. So I'm not so sure anymore.

I haven't yet posted here this cycle. I have to make a decision on two offers and I wanted to have the input of this forum when all is said and done. Maybe someone has faced a similar dilemma between a program offering better financial support and a program offering a stronger intellectual fit. The programs are equal other than this dilemma. I'll be studying twentieth-century US environmental and social history come the fall.
Based on the advice I've gleaned here over the years, my instinct is to go with the program that provides a slight edge in support, via a recruitment fellowship with a release of teaching for three years. The catch is that I wouldn't be able to continue studying environmental history exclusively because the department lacks a specialist in this field.
The other program offers a 12-month TAship package, with built-in research time. I've also been attracted by the year-long editorial assistantship position at the flagship environmental history journal that is housed in the department. This department actually has one of the top collections of environmental historians anywhere. So, not getting to study with this group is a significant downside in going with the program offering the recruitment fellowship. Though I would have this fellowship, and it is no doubt a prestigious and competitive award, I would have to find an outside scholar if I wanted to continue to engage with environmental scholarship.
My experience with this forum has ingrained in my thinking the importance of financial support. Having three years free of a TAship, to set up and start a research plan, to write more for publication, to gain other professional experiences beyond teaching, seems to me to be the way to go. With the caveat that I wouldn't be exclusively an environmental historian upon completion of this program. Am I missing something that would change my instinct to go with the program offering the fellowship?

I worked as an administrative assistant (part time) in an organization related to my interests for money.  The skills and projects that I did were helpful for job interviews after my MA (when I didn't get into any PhD programs) as I did not take any time off between BA and MA to keep building my resume.

I'm having problems finding projects outside of classes to do. Within the scope of my program, I am studying languages and plan to do research when given the opportunity. However, my friends who are not doing history are all doing reading groups, side jobs etc that are somewhat connected to their interests. I have had a hard time finding similar projects that align with my goal of becoming a historian. Does anyone have any tips/inspiration? Or is it not that important when applying for PhDs? 

Too early. I'd write in September.

I'll break in the thread! Longtime (mostly) lurker here. I'm a senior history major applying this fall (decided to take a gap year). My interest is in social and economic history of 17th and 18th-century northern Europe, specifically northern Germany, including peasant societies, the history of capitalism and commerce, maritime history, and the North Sea and Atlantic worlds. Right now I'm planning to apply to PhD programs at Brandeis, Brown, UChicago, Northwestern, NYU, Columbia, and Fordham. I've also identified Portland State, UW - Milwaukee, and UMass - Amherst as MA programs if my PhD apps are unsuccessful. 
I have German (minoring in it) and basic French reading proficiency. My senior paper which I intend to use as a WS is on a modern American topic. In hindsight I should've probably chosen something to showcase language abilities, but I think as a history paper it's quite good (the professor advising it has recommended I submit it for a departmental prize). I contributed a translation from German to English for an undergraduate journal hosted at my university, maybe that will help alleviate any possible language concerns. 
When do people suggest applicants reach out to professors? I've heard late spring/early summer?