[Thinking of getting into chemistry, please advise]

Which things?

 

 

It's a very very new field. There are no good schools for it yet! 

 

The best thing you can do is get the best fundamental chemistry education degree you can (i.e. undergraduate schools with strong chemistry programs, in general). The process for finding those schools is the same as for any other major.

 

After that, you will hopefully figure out which chemistry sub-field you like most, and different graduate schools are more prestigious than others for certain sub-fields than others. For example, UNC's graduate school is famous for analytical chemistry and Scripps is famous for organic chemistry. But you're still a long road from having to worry about which graduate school you want to attend.

 

DTB

 

Thanks, man!

 

Re: Other things, the things I mentioned to Eatin' Biscuits in the earlier part of the post: Money, and the like.

[Thinking of getting into chemistry, please advise]

Thanks so much! 

 

How did you afford it, Biscuits, if you don't mind me asking? Did you just take out more loans? And did you have a full-time job while you were getting your 2nd PhD? 

 

@DroptheBase: Thanks. Do you happen to know how your classmates did these things as well? 

 

Now, assuming I wanted to do astrochemistry, how would I find out what are the best schools for that?

[Thinking of getting into chemistry, please advise]

Hey everybody. 

 

Nearly 3 years removed from college--graduating with a lib.arts degree. Since then, I've gotten tremendously into science. I read about it daily and even have various textbooks for scientific fields that I read. More specifically, I've been reading a lot about exoplanets. 

 

So, yeah, I really love space and space exploration but I don't have the mathemetical abilities for astrophysics, yet I would ideally want to pursue something involving space in some capacity. From reading all the science textbooks I have, seems like it'd be most realistic for me to do chemistry but I love space, that's the issue. 

 

Also, at 25 it'd be potential life-dooming if I messed it up. 

 

So what do you guys think I should do? Like I wouldn't know the first thing about going back to school as an adult. Obviously, I know I'd have to get a bachelor's degree first but I'm posting here because I'd be pursuing graduate study afterwards. 

 

Have any of you ever gone back to school after your initial run? Is it worth it? 

 

Thanks so much. Please don't be mean or judge me.

[A little help for a newbie please.]

But how do I find out who the superstars are? Just because I like a particular article or book does not mean that they are a famous/great historian, no?

[A little help for a newbie please.]

Except for the GRE score, I don't see what's wrong with what you have. Not all, but some, schools have an unofficial GRE cutoff of 1200. But it's October--you have plenty of time to take it again before most app deadlines, yes?

As far as subfield goes: it is *usually*--not always, but usually--possible to switch subfields once you get to a school, if there is no one there working on your new interest enough to advise a dissertation, you might be out of luck. (Someone else is going to post on this thread about how there are ways around that. This is true, but they are often complicated and it may not work out in the end).

Letters of recommendation...it doesn't matter all that much what department your profs come from (um, within certain limits). What's important is that you get profs who know you and who will write you stellar LORs. If the prof is a Big Important Name in her field, it will help at some schools.

To look for programs, a good way to start is to look at what recent books and journal articles have inspired you. What book do you wish you had written? Which articles? Who are the most important scholars in your sub-subfield? Find out where those profs teach! (Google is your friend). That's the program you want to be at, not a random Ivy just for the name on the diploma.

Also, consider applying to a few MA programs as well. PhD admission rates in the humanities suck in general. If this truly is what you want to do with your life (...with every second of your caffeinated, stressed-out, haven't-slept-more-than-4-hours-a-night-since-undergrad, life), hedge your bets.

Ahh but I am not so good at standardized tests. There is a very good chance I could do worse.

Well the problem is this: I do not mind having a specialization throughout grad school but I do not want to have to write about one thing forever for my whole career. If this is a foolish notion I suppose I can rid it from my mind but this is just the way I feel right now.

Understood.

Understood. I have a question concerning this but I will save it for the end.

What is good assurance that one will be accepted? Are there statistics anywhere on the average #s of grad students that are not rejected?

Let me add to what Sparky said. Gee, Sparky, we've become veterans... do you think we should get Purple Heart or something from AHA?

To OP,

First of all, change your attitude about the numbers. Once you're in the PhD program, nobody cares. Unless you're surrounded by people who only make a 4.0, your GPA is comparably very high and just right in the barrel. I'm jealous, honestly. Your GRE scores are decent and should at least keep you within reach for departmental funding.

Second, you do need to choose ONE geographical field. That means if you pick US history (the most competitive), you should really stick with it. You can switch thematic issues (political to cultural) or time periods (say to 18th century if there's someone doing colonial America), not geography. However, if you're concerned about switching over to Europe, definitely apply to American, they train everyone to deal with both fairly equally, and don't really care.

Third, unless you truly are an amazing writer, I would A) polish your most recent research paper (with primary sources!), not your still-working thesis or Put off a year and submit your highly polished, "I need sunglasses" shiny thesis if you feel very strongly about using your thesis. I say this because writing sample is, if not the most important, is one of the top 3 factors in determining admissions. They look for excellent writing, strong use and analysis of primary sources, and originality of the topic and approach. They are all signs of a potential scholar.

Fourth, as of your list of schools, I noticed that they all seem to center around mid-Atlantic. Why? Is that your personal preference? I'm also guessing it has to do with your current undergraduate's location. Departments tend to know each other regionally, not so much nationally because of regional conferences. You'll want to do more research to diversify your list a bit more and make sure you're not leaving out any other schools that are going to be great fit. Ivies might not be good fits so don't do it just for prestige. Look all over but use Sparky's suggestions to look up historians who have inspired you and where they got their PhD from, not just where they're currently teaching. In academia, it's about lineage.

Fifth, LORs. It's about connections and how well professors think of you as a potential scholar. A big name who's just a professor in the department is better than a little-known name who's the dean. Start making friends with professors now in courses you've done well in and who came from graduate programs that you're interested in applying to, especially for US history. Be warned though, they'll tell you that US historians, along with modern Europeanists, have the worst job market and that either you shouldn't go for PhD just to be in academia, or keep your eyes WIDE open and be open to all possibilities that one can do with a history PhD. (American University and GWU would be excellent for opportunities beyond academia because they have a lot of connection with the government in DC for fantastic research opportunities.)

I'm just a little worried about you rushing into all of this as it seems like from the way you wrote your post. As Sparky said, you're welcome to try for PhD this year but if you're determined to go to grad school next fall, apply for funded MA programs.

You are jealous? I am shocked because I honestly thought that a lot more people applying to grad school had a 4.0! I guess I was wrong. What was your GPA and what school did you get into, if you don't mind telling?

I would always stay american. See what I wrote above: " I do not mind having a specialization throughout grad school but I do not want to have to write about one thing forever for my whole career. If this is a foolish notion I suppose I can rid it from my mind but this is just the way I feel right now."

I have been polishing the research paper since August in anticipation for grad school and it is based on at least 50% primary sources. I am not going to say what proffs have said in the past but lets just say I am confident about it, but not arrogant.

Yes I live on the eastern seaboard. But is it not possible for a good historian to work at an average program? How do I really know what is good and what is bad beyond name recognition?

Yes proffs I have told have made attempts to dissuade me from the profession, just like Rabbis try to dissuade people from converting to Judaism to see if they are really committed. Funny you should say that because it was those Universities I least wanted to go to as I heard Washington D.C. is a crime ridden dump in all non-tourist areas.

I have been preparing things since August, I just found the site a couple of days ago though and wanted to see what you all thought. If I understood their website correctly, Penn State puts people who are pursuing a phd into a masters program first and all applicants that make it get at least four years of funding. I will consider other programs but I have heard that MA programs are a waste of time since many Phd programs dont take any transfer credit for them and basically dont acknowledge that you even did them.

Also, I wanted to say:

1. Where are there rankings for the sub-fields of history? The U.S. news and world report only lists 11 or so schools. U. Virginia is on the list. There are other schools on the list I don't have on my "to apply" list. Should I apply there despite a professor not explicitly telling me to apply there? This brings me to my 2nd question...

2. I read a post here that said it was impossible to get a job as a prof if you did not go to a school that was in the top 20. If I do not get into U. Virginia what should I do? It is the 20th overall for history, 8th in Modern U.S. history(according to US news).

Thanks a lot guys!

[A little help for a newbie please.]

OK my main area of interest is early-mid 20th century US history. The problem is that while I like this area a lot as of now, what if I realize another area is more interesting to me later? Regardless of this, what I want to know is the "best" programs for this field but also good and above average ones. I have made a preliminary list with a prof I know. Admittedly, he is rather old and even said he could be wrong as many of the people he knew are either dead or retired so...are these good?

Boston U.

Penn State

University of Virginia

UConn

WashU

American U.

Are these OK? What other schools can you recommended. Here are my "numbers", the are not very good: 3.85 GPA with a 3.9 GPA in just history classes. So far, I have an A in all of the honors college courses in my school. I know I can get at least one very strong and one strong letters of recommendation(One from the assistant dean of my school's honors college and one from the academic director of the said college). While the academic director has a Phd in history the assistant dean does not. So I will need a letter from my history department but I feel only one prof. there can write a letter for me and it may not even be that good. My GRE scores are abysmal too 570V 520Q 5.0AW. I really believe in my writing sample though. Also, I am fortunate that I have done and am doing a good amount of research in my general area. I have done a short research paper last semester about the U.S. politics of lend-lease and am doing a thesis over this semester and next about Cordell Hull, Joseph Grew and Japan(I do not want to go into details now).

Ok so what should I do? What are good programs and schools? Should I even waste my money on one Ivy? Thanks so much and don't be too harsh on me! I am so happy to have found a forum like this!