synthla

Closing on my new house, working full-time through August, moving to said house in the vicinity of school (i.e., dealing with movers and then driving 2000 miles), reading, foreign language study... and wondering when it's going to sink in that I'll be back in school full-time in 3 months! Very excited though!

Did someone say my name? Turns out I'm still alive out here... was just in Bloomington over the weekend finding a place to live... with success, I think. I too am surprised I didn't jump in on this one already - here are my takes on the questions: 1. Don't know much about Vanderbilt target GRE scores - I agree with the finding that most schools don't publicize them; typically the only luck I've had has been scouring school websites for institutional reports (try looking for the Office of Institutional Research or something similar) that sometimes contain average admit data. Not every school has them publicly available, however. But Misterpat is right - GRE is not nearly as important as LSAT... if it was, I'd have been admitted more places. Being above 650 would be fine. 2. I used an undergrad history writing sample of about 15 pages, which I significantly rewrote. I didn't do any additional research, but I'll be the first to admit that my skill with prose appears to have increased dramatically over the last nine years, so the rewrite was well worth it. The paper was originally an A paper, and tied directly into my proposed area of research. That being said, one professor did say that it didn't demonstrate enough original source research, so I sent that person a copy of a 40-page bench memo I did in law school, and that seemed to do the trick (I got in). Unfortunately I would be wary of using a 10 page case summary as a writing sample because (unless case summary means something totally different at W&L), you're not drawing from many sources and "summary"-izing rather than making creative use of original sources. 3. I was worried about this as well - luckily I did keep in touch with 2 professors from undergrad so they were happy to help out - they wrote my recommendations for law school as well, so perhaps you should reach out to those people... if they wrote you an LOR before, it seems more likely they'd remember you. Personally, I didn't just write asking for an LOR - I checked in on them on a personal level first, exchanged a few emails about how I was thinking about going back to school and getting their advice and opinions, then asked for an LOR after a few months. I didn't know what to do about the 3rd LOR, so I had a law firm partner with whom I used to work write an LOR - everyone says avoid non-academics like the plague, but law is mostly researching, analyzing and writing - skills directly applicable to academia. It doesn't seem to have hurt me in at least 3 of 6 cases.

I agree - my undergrad GPA was in the same range and my law school GPA was even lower (though law school grades are more rigourously curved to produce a B/B+ average compared to most traditional graduate programs); I didn't spend anytime trying to explain it though because I had no compelling justification - in undergrad I was just not on the ball the first two years in terms of prioritizing grades, and in law school I was just surrounded by a bunch of very intelligent people and probably deserved what I got.

This makes a rather large assumption that everyone wants a top-50 department job. Frankly, I'm more than happy to let those top-10 grads fight it out for those positions, as there are a couple thousand other institutions of higher learning in the country - and honestly, I couldn't give a damn about the prestige of where I work, as long as I get to read a lot of history and get paid. Seriously, why are so many people prestige-whores? (And I'm not implying that you are, reallywantcolumbia.) Also, 20 phds per year per program seems high to me, but I could be wrong.

This looks like the same list as before with a few schools moving up and down; I wonder if anyone moved dramatically. And I wonder how they even come up with these rankings. We can debate about rankings forever, but at least with law school, e.g., there is a significant amount of quantitative data released by the schools (GPA and LSAT of admits, etc.) and that data comes from a significantly larger pool of students. I'm not sure how you quantitativily rank most Ph.D programs.

I enjoyed the law school bit at the end. I'm surprised people are still taking the LSAT. I think there's a fair argument to be made that the last 10 years were a bubble for law firms as well, but the paradigm is shifting and so will the business model. Already many firms are cutting associate salaries for the first time... ever? Obviously that's beyond the scope of your joke... but glad I'm getting out.

I'll be there for history this fall - excited to be returning to the midwest after splitting the last decade between east and west coasts, especially for such a great program. And also excited that it's so inexpensive to live there, since I have to get used to a very modest income again...

Congratulations! I have no idea which is better for your field, and I know what it's like to have resolved yourself on one course of action only to have things shaken up at the last minute, but it's a good spot to be in.

Congrats on your decision. I'm just me and not you, but I can't help but think it was the right one. And the midwest truly can be a great place when you appreciate it on its terms and not try to make it something it's not.

I have never encountered a more rabid group of alumni than Michigan people, and it doesn't seem to matter whether they'd even heard of Ann Arbor before attending. Not sure what they do there in terms of indoctrination but it works.

Haha... I got my JD at your School 1 and am now going for my PhD in a small midwestern city not unlike Ann Arbor; I did not even apply to School 1 this time around, as after one graduate school experience there, I had no desire to even contemplate ending up there again. I suppose if I'd been more of a prick I would have fit in better and been happier there, and if I got a thrill off telling people I went to a Top 5 law school ("Ivy League Bitches!"), the brand name would be useful - but honestly, I don't even know where my physical diploma is now and I toss the alumni mail unopened. Living in NYC was great fun, but not worth it - at least I got to breathe the same air as those super stars though. :wink: edit: This post reflects the views of the poster only; i'm sure there are people who have had wonderful experiences at School 1.

sdklos: have you been assigned an advisor at each school already? how well do you mesh with them? that made a big difference for me - that is, (1) knowing who i would be working with, at least initially, and (2) that i got along well with them and could see a good relationship developing. in my case, the pieces just came together for the school i thought i wanted to be at from the beginning, but certainly the "feel" that i got when i visited could not have been the result of just my high hopes, so i think there's a lot to be said for that. if you're confident that you can produce great work at either place, i'd say go with the place at which you'll feel happiest and most a part of the intellectual community. i know graduate school will be hard work, but i'd still like to enjoy it as much as i can and people and vibe are a big part of that. also, top 20 seems like it won't close any doors for you, and after that it really is about you, individually - that is, what have you done while you were there.

I also hear Brooklyn is great, though I lived in Manhattan for 4 years and found myself in Brooklyn twice. If you're only going to live in NYC for a few years and you can swing graduate housing at Columbia (which is what I did), I'd take it - living in NYC for a limited period of time and not living in Manhattan is like... well living in Los Angeles for a few years and never leaving East LA. Sure, it's got it's great points and it's really up and coming in places, but it's not exactly the LA experience most people imagine. That said, I left NYC and will soon be leaving LA for... Bloomington. (The Ann Arbor of Indiana!)

Turning down UCLA and UCSB (early modern europe).

Rutgers is being ridiculous and I'm sure you have a strong desire just to tell them "forget about it" because of it, but it probably makes sense to wait it out and see what they say (as others have mentioned, at least you'll be getting your application fee's worth then). I withdrew an application a few years ago under similar circumstances and have always wondered what the end result would have been if I'd gotten in and whether it would have changed anything no matter how sure I was at the time. Also, if UCLA isn't offering any funding, you shouldn't feel bad about making them wait until April 15.

I can't speak to the history program directly, but I did graduate from another graduate program at Columbia a few years ago, so I'd be happy to take a stab at giving you my impressions of life there if you have any questions by PM.

This will probably not come as any surprise to those who have read many of my posts, but I've now officially accepted Indiana. It was really the winner in almost every category except location (but the super low cost of housing pretty much offsets that - home ownership (and $8,000 tax credit), here I come), and my campus visit was fantastic, so I'm lucky enough to have had it make sense on both empirical and instinctual levels!

Harvard sounds like the winner from my point of view; while you have an exact fit with the two professors at Cornell, part of the journey of grad school is continued learning and it sounds like the faculty and other grad students at Harvard will push you beyond where you are (or think you are) now. And if the Ithaca environment is not doable for you, that seals it. As Misterpat pointed out in another thread, almost no one goes into grad school assuming they won't finish, but yet many people fail to get the degree. I have to believe that satisfaction with one's environment is a large part of producing the internal state of mind that allows one to sustain the effort necessary to get the doctorate. If you're already unhappy about one or more big aspects (like location) from day one, I think that's not going to help you achieve that goal.

Actually 90 or above is pretty rare on Santa Monica Beach... now go 3 miles inland to the 405 and you may see a 10-15 degree temperature increase in the peak summer months, but I find the beach itself is pretty similar to Santa Barbara. I live a few blocks from it right now and was considering UCSB so had both forecasts plugged into my iPhone and compared on a daily basis for a few months.

Sonic - I checked the application website and got the official rejection today; I had the following box checked: "Application is inappropriate for this program." And I'm thinking, "really? An application for a History Ph.D. is inappropriate for the History Department?" I could understand a check in the box about there not being a suitable professor, or even inadequate preparation for advanced study in the field, because, admittedly, I did not major in history among other things, but I have to say I think I picked the appropriate program for my application. I'm sure there was no real thought put into selecting a reason for denial, but come on, they could do better than that.

Indeed! I've actually considered ditching all of my furniture and starting over in the new place, but even if money were no object (though it is), I remember all the time spent furniture shopping, etc., and have no desire to repeat the process. Good luck with the suitcases!

The mechanics of the process aren't difficult, but I don't enjoy asking for things, so the LOR aspect was probably the most challenging for me, strangely. I would say though that the actual decision-making at the end of the process is quite anti-climactic. I haven't done it yet (and I wish the best for anyone who is still waiting on that acceptance), but by the end, I've hashed and re-hashed every alternative and possibility so much that signing on the dotted line is going to be pretty much a non-event. I'm mentally and emotionally fatigued, and I don't feel like I got quite as invested in the process as the average applicant.

You had it good! Yeah, I'll probably have buyer's remorse when I pay the bill, but this is going to be a stressful move in more than one way, so I figure it's one of the few areas that spending some money will help that for us. And this should be the last move for 7-8 years! Good luck to everyone moving though... I'm dreading the "getting there" process so much, but keep telling myself, it will be over and I'll be in class in 5 months and it all seems better.

Yeah, after my last move however, I realized I hate moving so much that I swore I would never do part of it myself again, so this time I'm going full service - I don't even want to pack or unpack. I'm lazy. I'm also not big on driving a truck across the Rockies (or at all), and have two cars to deal with, so it's either drive my furniture or drive the cars, and I trust furniture movers more than I trust car movers. Which is not a lot in either case unfortunately.

I too would like to hear anyone's personal experience on this... I used Flat Rate (http://www.flatrate.com/) on a recent local move and was really impressed with the high quality of service and professionalism. Their website says they do long-distance as well, so I'll probably check with them. Their deal (as you might have guessed) is that they give you a flat rate quote and stick to it. I've found that the quote is a bit higher than the absolute lowest estimate you'll find, but they bind themselves to it and won't come back later and try to double the charge or add on fees. The movers themselves were not scary types, it was a crew of 3 for my 2-bedroom apartment, and an area supervisor stopped by in the middle of the move just to check and see that things were going okay. I hope they can do long distance for me...