kotov

I have two offers that I'm debating; a (minimally) funded [Joint] Ph.D. and a funded MA. Teaching assistantship either way. MA town is nicer than Ph.D. town, Ph.D. funding is better for the first two years, but worse after that, and only guaranteed for two further years. Ph.D. lets me spend a year in Germany. MA would let me focus more on my geographical and temporal interests, but with less-specific faculty fit, though the faculty there have been very helpful. Sigh. Hard choice. :/

I'm almost positive it's going to be Central Michigan for me. Ohio is an enticing offer, but it's an MA and I'd be going through another cycle of this in two years, and I don't really feel like doing that. The money isn't great, but the faculty fit is strong for what I want to do, so it's probably my best offer.

So I'm basically deciding between a funded M.A. and a funded Ph.D. offer. I have great faculty fit at both schools, and both have multiple professors I could work with. However, there are a few differences and I'm not sure which one I should go with: School A (MA): -/+ Would be two years of a funded MA, then the stipend increases by $3500 for the next three years. It starts out $1500 below the stipend at B but ends up being $2000 more for the last three years -/+ School A is on the quarter system - I would have to write an MA thesis and my dissertation, which means developing two full ideas - The required GPA to keep my assistantship is .2 higher (hopefully this won't be an issue) + School A is closer to home and the weather is a bit warmer on average + School A's campus is supposedly more scenic = The cost of living is low and my apartment would be in the $500-600 range (for a 1 bed apt.) + I'd only have to learn one language and would be able to focus on my main target (Romanian) + There seems to be a better variety of courses offered - That's counterbalanced by a seeming lack of variety in seminar courses + A's overall prestige as a school and a department is probably higher - The faculty are younger and less well-known and connected in my field - I'm not sure how much money I could get for language study = Money is pretty well available for travel/conferences + A's Ph.D. placement may be a bit better School B (Ph.D.): -/+ My stipend would be the same for all four years I'm funded, starting out higher and ending up lower as I mentioned above + I would only be writing my dissertation (in addition to a large research paper each year for the first three) + I would have the chance to spend a year in Germany - I would have to learn two languages + Money would seemingly be available for summer language study, etc. + They have a faculty member who is from Romania + My advisor is well-established in my field + The seminar courses and such that I'd need seem to be offered more frequently and are taught by professors I'll be working closely with anyway - There is less variety in the content courses - B is much farther from home and the weather is colder See why this is difficult? Any advice?

Got into Auburn (my undergrad alma mater) today. I have no idea about funding yet and probably won't end up there, but War Damn Eagle anyway.

I would say no. That's a lot of debt to overcome in a tough job market, particularly in the humanities. I'd advise against it.

Yeah, I just got rejected by IU as well. Oh well. My decision is almost made for me.

Guess that means it's coming for me soon too.

Iowa. I started as actuarial and it was my dream school.

Dr. Carter is a nice guy. Hope you get in here. I probably won't end up here, but still. It's a great place. I doubt you'll hear from Auburn before late March, though. And hey, if you want football, nowhere better in the country to be at the moment! WDE.

Damn, I got a 700 and still wouldn't have gotten funding. That's pretty ridiculous. On a lighter note, I got into Central Michigan with 4 years' funding and a stipend.

Irrelevant question here, but who did you apply to work with at Auburn? I know mostly everyone here, so.

South Carolina told me the same thing. Kind of frustrating, since I would like to have a decision essentially made by then.

The new avatar I'm using is a banner from the 1968 Red Square protests over the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. It reads "Za vashu i nashu svobodu" ("for your freedom and ours"), which is a common phrase in the Slavic countries. I figured it was pretty appropriate, considering that I work with Eastern Europe (though with Romania mostly, which isn't Slavic) and given the recent eventsin the Middle East, etc.

Any particular advice on where I should live? I'd prefer a 1 bed apartment if possible...I don't mind if it looks like something from the old USSR as long as it's cheap. I'll be living off $13k

Thanks for the advice, guys. I'm really hoping I'll get to visit there before I start in the fall, so.

Nah, Michigan is outside both the traditional "tornado alley" and the secondary major tornado zone in the Ohio Valley known colloquially as "Hoosier Alley", named for the relative frequency of violent, long-tracked tornadoes in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, etc. given the relatively lower number of tornadoes they have to the traditional tornado alley. Michigan has only had two F5 tornadoes in its history, and none since 1956. http://www.tornadohi...m/custom/289287 <-- There's a map of every tornado that's occurred in Michigan since formal record-keeping started in 1950. Yeah, in another life, I might be applying to meteorology grad school instead of history grad school. This is relevant to me too, since I'll also likely be moving to Michigan in the fall.

Figured this might get y'all's minds off of grad school just for a moment. Let's flash back to our naivete as undergrads. How many times did you change your major before reaching the one you finished in? I changed twice. I started out as applied math (actuarial), decided I hated calculus, changed to English for about a month or two then signed up for a history class and remembered how much I loved history. I changed to history in the spring of my freshman year and the rest is...history?

Or in my case, address me as "Ms." and then reject me. My name isn't even ambiguous. wtf

Looks like I'm going to end up there next year. Is anyone else in the same boat?

"You will eat a cookie."

I got rejected today from a great program in my field, and my mom told me something like "oh well, I didn't want you to go that far away anyway". Gee mom, thanks for looking out for my interests here.