rsldonk

What I am talking about is similar to the study of economics. Nobody could answer the Keynesians until economists trained in the Keynesian school could speak in the same language (where we get the monetarists). Postmodern ideas about sources are valid in many ways, but in many ways destroys any value there is in even looking at varied sources. The very relativity of postmodernism is why it rings so hollow. I think that the very relative nature of postmodernism is lost when one tries to find out what "really" happened. Ultimately, that's what even the postmodernists are doing. The very nature of postmodernism renders everything meaningless. To a certain extent, this can be true, but that's just a bit too fatalistic to me. By making everything a construction, then nothing has meaning, which is what postmodernism, in the extreme cases, has accomplished. I see reactions to this, because by nature, historians seek meaning in the events of the past. So yes, postmodern techniques, especially for evaluating sources, will continue to play a role, much of the surrounding hopelessness I think will disappear.

You scores look good, but it depends on how each school evaluates things since each one puts emphasis on different things. Some schools, your undergrad school will make a big difference, others, not so much. I went to the local university, not the greatest place for my undergrad because after I got out of the army, I wanted to come home and I had a wife and kid and was older than most other incoming freshmen. I was able to get into a good MA program (at a place that only offers a terminal MA) and am now hoping to get into a good doctorate program. The nice thing with my route is that with my G.I. Bill money and the fellowship I got with the MA program, I have no student debt. Your work should speak (my opinion here) louder than where you went to school. Just because someone went to Harvard does not guarantee they are a good historian. In fact, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, last year's AHA president who teaches at Harvard, got her BA at the University of Utah and her doctorate at New Hampshire. With the admissions process, there are way too many things that are beyond your control that will impact whether you are accepted or not more than where you got your undergrad degree. There is plenty of things to stress about with this process, but it doesn't help to stress about stuff you can't control.

Yes, don't be a pain in their ass, but it is very appropriate to make sure that your packet is complete. Usually this can be done with one plus a followup phone call or email. Don't pester them, sure, but it is your sole responsibility to ensure that your application is complete. Don't be a petulant little whiner, but do be an adult about it and confirm that everything is in order.

I'm in my 30s but I think that's pretty cool. Good luck getting through the process. You should be great.

Yes, I applied to Washington for Slavic Studies, History emphasis.

For that sort of price, you can get something at auction that's decent. Just make sure if you don't know anything about engines that you have someone who does look it over first.

Lease payments are about as much as what payments on a loan are. At least if you buy the car, you own it and don't have to give it back after a few years. If you aren't too worried about your image, look around at local wrecking yards for something you can get on salvage title or at local auto auctions. Make sure you at least have a passing familiarity with how an engine runs, or at least a skilled mechanic you can take things to to look over and tell you what condition the engine is in. Be careful with one of the salvage cars, sometimes they are basically junk, but you can own one outright for just a few hundred dollars cash.

As for the future of history, I see the death of postmodernism. I think those of us trained to speak in post modern terms will finally be able to address it and kill it.

Actually, no, they haven't. The doctrine has existed, but at distinct points (mostly leadership changes) the interpretation of the doctrine changed. Originally, what is called the Word of Wisdom was just a suggestion and the most important part of it was the emphasis on eating meat sparingly. Alcohol use was discouraged, at least for distilled spirits, but beer was accepted. Until a new leader came to power who was a firm supporter of Prohibition (and at the same time period). Even then, an outright ban on other things like coffee didn't come until about World War II. And Polygamy Porter is pretty good, if you like porters. If you're a fan of Guiness, you will probably like Polygamy Porter. I just love their ads, bet you can't have just one.

I like economic/social history. I did a lot of stuff at the Master's level with the beer brewing industry in Bohemia from about 1860 to present. Most of my coursework, due to where I did my MA, was in Western American history. I was looking at the archive I used for my thesis and just scrolling through their catalog and found that in my hometown of Ogden, Utah, there was a major regional brewery, which I found interesting considering that the majority Mormon population doesn't drink alcohol. So I think I'm going to do something about the relationship between Mormons and non Mormons in Utah as demonstrated by the existence of industries like breweries (since most of the employees were Mormon).

This is why the nation-state is a construction and a bad one at that. Read Hobsbawm, and Anderson's books.

Yes, this. This is the reality. If you don't like it, perhaps you aren't prepared for a career in this field. Professors don't get along, they fight, they disagree, they hold grudges. I much prefer someone who isn't going to blow smoke up my ass and tell me how it really is to someone who is looking to make me feel better.

In my program, I just had to prepare a thesis and defend it, if that's what you mean by exams. I was pretty nervous for my defense, but it wasn't so bad. One of my professors had only read maybe half of it (not a bad thing at all). Basically, if your major professor is any good, you don't get to that point unless they feel you are ready. Unless your thesis is not something you researched and wrote yourself, you should be at least as familiar with the subject as your professors. While I've heard horror stories, and I know there is the potential for these to go horribly wrong, if you've been preparing yourself through your program you should be just fine.

No, coke is still better than crank.

Plan B is to become a crack whore. Plan C is robbing banks. Plan D is law school, but I think I'd prefer suicide.

The first rule of grad school, nobody cares about you finishing like you do. Don't trust your professor to necessarily have your best interests in mind when it comes to you finishing your program. Also, make sure they don't lose your stuff, and that you follow up on anything important you ask anyone to do. Their priorities are not always the same as yours and a lot of the stuff they "suggest" you do are just suggestions and not required. Make sure though, if you are unclear if something is a suggestion or a requirement that you clarify. Also, your major professor and committee will make or break your program, choose carefully, it's probably the most important decision you make in grad school.

This is exactly the wrong advice. Departments lose things all the time and will often not even look at incomplete files. It is ultimately your responsibility to get everything in, before the deadline. It is your responsibility to make sure that your file is complete. Learn it now, NOBODY BUT YOU CARES!

The unfortunate truth is that sometimes this can make a huge difference and other times, none at all. Even if a professor wants to work with you, and you are the top applicant to a program, due to things beyond your or the professor's control (usually funding), you may get passed over for admission because it's not that professor's turn to have a new student or they are going on sabbatical next year so they aren't accepting new students, or any number of reasons. Yeah it sucks if this happens, but there are internal university and departmental politics working behind the scenes with all our applications that mean just as much, if not more, than our GRE scores and GPA.

That was the case in my Master's program, of the 15 who started, only 2 of us were older. Of the 15 who started, 3 of us finished the program in 2 years as intended, both of us older students and only one of the under 20s. We just got what was required done and didn't whine about it.

Call the DEPARTMENT, not the grad school. The department is who approves things, not the grad school. The way the process works, they set a line for GPA/GRE scores, anyone under that line gets an automatic rejection, from the grad school. If you get past the first line, then the department gets your stuff. Assuming you get that far, that's really the important part. Most of the graduate advisors are the ones who are the points of contact, or the departmental secretaries. Call or even email them, they are generally nice, they generally have a clue about your status, etc. The graduate schools generally do not. Also, look at it this way, the graduate school gets applications for every department on campus, thousands. The departments, get a couple hundred at the best schools and at lower tier schools a handful. The departments will know your name and actually care, the grad schools won't. When in doubt, make the call, or email. The first lesson of grad school is that there is really one 1 person who truly cares about you and your graduation, you. Everyone else is there to possibly help, but there is no guarantee that they will. Unfortunately, grad students are a dime a dozen, so why should anyone really be concerned about you? Ultimately, you are the one responsible and if your application is incomplete, you are the one who will not get accepted and you will be the only one to really care much about it. Make the call, it's not that hard.

if you're interested in environmental and the American West, look at the editorial fellowships with Utah State University and the Western Historical Quarterly. editorial fellowship