rsldonk

Don't worry about the accent, you'll be in New York. New York is the most diverse city on earth and has people from all over the world. But yes, watch TV, get out and meet people, have fun. Don't just barricade yourself into your room and read books. Congratulations.

and really damned expensive.

When I finished my MA, I gave each of my committee members a six pack of their favorite beer. They were more than cool with it and it didn't break the bank.

Alex would have worked out a whole lot better had San Fransisco provided some sort of blocking for him. Packers fans are like hemorrhoids, they are a pain in the ass and you never really quite get rid of them. What do you call a 300 lb. Packers fan? Anorexic.

Most of the club sports, yes, you do have to try out or at least pay enough money to be on the team (club wrestling was $200 per semester and the university didn't really do much besides give us a place to practice). Most of your intramural sports, you may pay a small fee, like $5 or $10 or a flat fee for the team, but they are generally pretty informal. For most team sports, at my school, we had to have the team put together, submit a roster and then pay a fee for the team. Not sure how other schools do it, and not sure if they will put teams together for you or not if you just signed up without one.

I just don't at all agree. Getting in the program and doing excellent work will open more doors for you than about anything. Two years towards a degree funded is better than nothing at all, if you are intent on going to grad school. Right now, given the economic climate, schools have no money, give it two years, that will probably change. Even if it doesn't you still have two years to figure out what to do. What's so wrong about working? I finished my MA running my own business, supporting 4 children (twins can really screw up your family planning). With careful planning and saving, you can avoid student loans, I have so far after completing through the MA. It can be done. Be happy and grateful for whatever you get. But see what other offers you can come up with. Sure it may not be Harvard, but people Arizona State (or fill in the blank other school) get hired too. Going to a top ten program does not guarantee you a job, about all that does guarantee is that you will have more doors open for interviews. The only one who can make this decision is you, so do what's right for you. Keep your options open and make sure whatever you do, you can live with.

2 years is better than 0. Weigh your options. If there is nothing else, take it. If you get a fully funded offer, go there. You have some time still to decide, see what else comes, go from there.

What I ended up doing was writing something quite different from what I presented as my thesis proposal as I ended up getting deeper in the archives and looking at my sources. I am sure you have a basic idea of what you want to do, this is a good place to start. I would look at what archival sources you have available (it does little good to come up with a project that's cool but due to lack of sources, impossible to complete) and sort of go from there. Your advisor can help you focus things and especially point you to good secondary literature that will give you more context and help you to come to terms with your sources.

Yeah, you'll want a drysuit for the type of diving we typically do, at least for a weekend trip.

What field are you looking at? Finding a program that will let you blossom is more important than finding a place with a name.

Are you cave certified?

I want to do a biography of John Moses Browning, the American gun inventor. I am not really good with titles, so I'll let my editor deal with that. Once I get tenure, I want to do a history about the Equal Rights Amendment and the religious backlash and campaign against it. Mostly I want to expose the Mormons' role in it. My basic thesis would be that their role in Proposition 8 in California came about because of how the ERA fight turned out and that they experienced almost no long-term consquences for what they did with the ERA, and believed that Prop 8 would be the same thing.

Delta Sigma Phi

First step is to write something you think is worthy to be published. Also, look for journals that your work would fit with. Submit it, see what happens, because a lot of what gets submitted is gets put back for revision, so that will help you. Don't get discouraged, the best work seems to come through the revision process.

I liked Playing the Game: The Streetsmart Guide to Graduate School by Fred Franks and Karl Stein. It's pretty irreverant and has some profanity, but it also has a lot of great advice, especially for choosing your committee (which they say, and I agree, is the most important decision you can make in grad school).

I spend most of my breaks from school scuba diving. It helps that my father does it too and you need a buddy, so he pays for most of our smaller weekend trips.

I defended mine last spring. It's a bit stressful, but the reality is, if your major professor is worth his salt, you won't get that far unless you are ready. I had a really cool committee, and I am pretty sure that at least one of them had not read my thesis all the way through (which is a plus). They will ask you about your work, where you got your idea for research from, what you found, etc. They will probably ask about both your primary and secondary sources, especially if your primary sources agree or disagree with existing scholarship and if so, how. One bit of advice, bring food, something simple, I did bagels and cream cheese, because if their mouth is full, they aren't asking questions. Mostly, after I was done, I realized I was way nervous for no real good reason. I was more than ready for it and they weren't going to let me get to the point of defending until my work was in a condition to be accepted. One other bit of advice, make sure you have all your required paperwork for graduation with you at your defense. This is going to be about the only time you will ever get all of your committee together at one time and this will prevent you from going on the great professor signature scavenger hunt so you can graduate.

Just curious, those going to conferences, which ones are you going to? I'm going to Western Social Science Association in Salt Lake City. Anyone else going to be there?

I'm finalizing a paper for a conference I was accepted at that will be held in April. I'm also submitting a longer version to a journal for publication.

i am still laughing.

One of my Americanist friends got a denial letter from Indiana yesterday. Not sure how serious he was about getting in there or not, so I can't give any more details than that.

You want a LAWYER teaching ethics? Now I know you're smoking crack.

This just reinforces how important it is to follow up with places you have applied to and make sure your packet is complete. Not all departments or professors will contact you to help you like this.

Why would someone who can make a decent living as a lawyer go to academia where they make $45,000/yr. when they can get a legal job for much more?

But why would you want to live there? No thanks, I like my wide open Western spaces. And mountains, got to have mountains.