synthla

I think the difficulty in combatting this mentality (and it goes to the issue of grade inflation as well) is that so many universities have bought into very simplistic methods of student evaluation of professors (and/or TAs), and if there is any sense by the professor that these evaluations might mean something in terms of compensation, promotion or being attractive on the job market, there's pressure to give that magic B even on marginal work because of the high correlation between the grade a student receives and how they evaluate the professor. It's ridiculous, but when you look at studies on grade inflation, it's there.

I'd have to second that; trust me, it's better to treat everything as though they matter. I work as a professional in an office with a multitude of support staff and it doesn't matter if you work directly with someone or not; treat them dismissively and word gets around. Then when the person you do rely on isn't there for you when you need it, it all makes sense.

I'm sure some others have seen this in yesterday's NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/18/education/18college.html An excerpt: Nearly two-thirds of the students surveyed said that if they explained to a professor that they were trying hard, that should be taken into account in their grade. Jason Greenwood, a senior kinesiology major at the University of Maryland echoed that view.

I was about to say the opposite; your focus on classics is impressive to me. My current focus on secondary-source reading is based on the fact that I'm nearly a decade out from studying history in undergrad and I'm regrounding myself in the historiography of my period so that I don't go into grad school without a firm understanding of the various perspectives, arguments, etc., that have been made. I'm looking forward to getting back to the classics, but I feel this need to be familiar with what has already been said. At the same time, I've talked to professors about this, and I don't think there is an expectation that new grad students have such a solid foundation - indeed, if I have one thing going for me, it's a decent memory, and I think one professor was sort of surprised about the number of titles, names and central theses I was rattling off over the course of our conversation, and told me that most students wouldn't be entering with such a broad perspective on the field.

If you're interested (and I apologize if I'm just repeating something that you already know), there is a newer translation, Autumn of the Middle Ages, that represents Huizinga's full work; Waning was actually an abridgement of the original. Have you read Inventing the Middle Ages by Norman Cantor? It is sort of a broad introduction to the historiography of the middle ages, but, supposedly, discusses Huizinga, R.W. Southern, and other 20th century historians in the context of how they created our modern notion of the middle ages. I haven't read it yet myself, but it's on the to-do list.

I've actually been planning to do some reading in the late antiquity period and I have an enduring interest in the formation of the French state and Frankish identity; I haven't yet read the Historia Francorum - is there a particular edition you used? Sounds great.

I'm considering buying a house if I end up in an area with decent prices (i.e., not coastal California); I will not buy a condo, however. Too much fixed costs outside of your control - condo fees being the obvious one. If you own a house, you can decide to wait until next year to install the new windows, if money is tight. But in a condo, you not only have to make that fixed payment every month, but you could be hit with an unexpected condo assessment if there is a big capital project (like reroofing the entire building) that suddenly needs to be done. I have friends who have bought a condo and been forced to pay literally thousands of dollars in assessments in the first year or two of owning and that is not a place you want to be when living on a fixed, low stipend. Even a house can have its unexpected costs, but again, unless a true emergency, you do have some measure of control.

I completely agree with you riss, no one should be looked down on or judged harshly because of any quality that is outside of their control; I only meant to point out that in this country it is generally okay to observe that someone is a fast runner, relative to another person, but people often take umbrage at the suggestion that anyone is smarter (ignoring for the sake of argument that there are many possible definitions) than another person. Now I don't need people telling me I'm smart, so it's not a personal thing, but just an observation of society's comfort with different measurements of ability. MDLee: Yep, my rejection from UCSD was the first decision I received. There's at least a couple more over on the History thread. I wasn't really a good fit with anyone there, and looking back, it was probably a mistake to apply because of that. Live and learn!

Interesting reading. Saw an applicant from my small undergrad school, so it was intriguing to see who was writing for the nameless applicant. But yes, I think I'd be unhappy if my information, anonymous or not, was on a public webpage. Other than this one of course.

Great job slawkenbergius; you are fairly much rolling through admissions so far. I'm glad I'm not directly competing with you in more schools. Although honestly, I wish I'd applied to more east coast schools now... I had no idea how badly the economic situation was going to impact the UCs. One would think that California would be reluctant to let the UC system follow so many other formerly great aspects of California down the tubes, but no such wisdom prevails here.

I think you can make a strong argument that a significant strain of anti-intellectualism has been running through American society far longer than that. I'm admittedly generalizing, but Americans can't stand the idea that one person might be "better" in some dimension than another, especially intellectually. Unless, of course, the "betterness" is related to some form of vapid celebrity or athletic prowess. But god forbid you say someone is smarter than another, unless they're your child or grandchild.

I've made a similar observation on these forums before, but for me anyway (with the caveat that this is only my perspective and not intended to be generally applicable advice), the job market is going to be tight regardless of where you go and ultimately you have to be obtaining the Ph.D., in large part, for its own sake and as an ends in itself. Thus, I would make the argument that fit is more important. Also, if you match faculty interest more and feel like you'll get more support as a result, then it seems possible that you'll be more likely to complete the program and actually get that degree. The ranking doesn't matter a whit if you don't finish in the first place because you're miserable or uncomfortable in the department, and 7+ years is a long time to be miserable and not get burnt out. Also, if you're happier, you're more likely to be productive and successful academically (publications, conferences, teaching, etc.) and those can be important items to distinguish your CV from that of the 100 other applicants for the TT position (even the ones from higher-ranked schools without those credentials). That being said, if the difference in rankings is dramatic, then at a certain point that may start to overtake fit as a variable of importance, but I would think the disparity would have to get pretty high before it reached that point for me. Just my $.02.

+1 I've yet to encounter anyone who has put their career first and foremost, sacrificing all (including personal relationships) for the sake of a degree or a job, and ultimately been a happy person. Not saying they don't exist, but I haven't met them. There's another thread that references a study demonstrating the high rate of depression among graduate students - taking such a course of action only makes it all the more likely you'll wind up in that category.

I've been accepted to the history program; already visited and had a great experience. Still waiting on funding decisions to be made toward the end of this month, which will probably dictate how strongly I consider them. Santa Barbara is way too expensive to even contemplate without some guarantee of money.

Probably not in reality - they were just dragging out my admissions decision and I'd already been accepted to a better program that I wanted to attend, so, in violation of pretty much all the advice on these forums, I withdrew my application. I wasn't rude or anything.

Chicago was the school from which I withdrew my application in a fit of pique several years ago. I could never have applied there again, even for a different program...

Congrats to the person who just posted the Chicago admit in American History!

I was told essentially just that by a professor at one of the programs to which I applied, so I think you're probably right.

Seems like it's been universally quiet with the holiday weekend and not just with respect to history admissions, but at the same time there do seem to be a lot of history programs that haven't yet issued any decisions. I can only imagine that some schools are delaying announcements to a later than usual date in an effort to be as fully informed as possible about the state of department budgets for next year. Many university administrations are piecing together that picture right now.

Actually, it's riss who is applying to Delaware this cycle; I've got nothing east of Indiana. But good info nonetheless!

Lots of good ideas for future reading outside the field in which I'll be reading for the rest of my life; thanks to everyone who has taken the time to respond so far. This is exactly what I was hoping for. I'd also be interested in hearing if there are any favorite articles or other texts in German or French out there. Always looking for new pieces with which to work on language skills.

Interesting - I tend to be a serial sort of reader... one book at a time, finishing each before starting another, except that occasionally I will put fiction and non-fiction on parallel tracks; mostly because I like to read before bed and I can get further with fiction before becoming too drowsy and falling asleep. Lately I've been sort of obsessive about reading tons of history - I mean that's not new in one sense because otherwise, why would I be pursuing a Ph.D in the area, but on on the other hand I'm coming back to academia after a significant break and feel like I need to lay a new, stronger foundation with which to reenter school so as to avoid feeling hopelessly behind those who might be coming straight from undergrad. At the same time, to the extent that anyone else out there is feeling the same way, I discussed this with a professor who sort of put my mind at ease Auzzfest: The Road has been on my list for a while - I haven't always enjoyed McCarthy's other works (Blood Meridian left my pretty cold, for example), but I've always had a soft spot for post-apocalyptic fiction. If you want a light (but lengthy) read, I finished Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson recently. I think it requires a love for a certain kind of humor, but you'll know within 50 pages whether you're going to love the book. It did drag toward the end (mental fatigue from keeping up with the wit, more than anything), but vastly entertaining. Seahistory: What do you think of Lasch's work? It's been on my list as well, for years, and its central themes still seem quite relevant to our society nearly 30 years later, but is its age showing at all?

I've noticed our history forums have been on the slow side recently... probably due to the long weekend and a dearth of new admissions info. I've been catching up on some reading, and as someone who enjoys reading outside their primary field of interest now and then, I thought it might be fun for people to share what they've recently been reading in their field. So what's the last history-related book you've read, no matter how common or obscure? Me? Read The French Reformation by Mark Greengrass yesterday. A short work (80 pp), published in the 1980s. I think it would be a good mini-survey for a reader who had no foundation in the area, but ironically, it went too deep for the lay reader and not deep enough for the serious historian of the era. Repeatedly stated general observations followed by a few examples that were supposed to illuminate the broader observation, but often failed to place the specific cases in a context sufficient for the reader to understand why these selected examples were more important indicators of the greater events than others would have been. I still pulled some useful nuggets of information, but wouldn't put it at the top of any reading lists.

Wow riss287, that's really hard to believe. (As in, hard to believe they would do that, not hard to believe you!) I can't imagine how they would think it was legitimate to have a system up and accepting applications (and application FEES) and not either transfer the info over to the new system if they made a switch, or at the very least warn people "hey there's no point in doing this until we move over to the new system." Doesn't seem like there is anything for you to be embarrassed about; although many people obsessively check the application websites, there should certainly not be any expectation that you do so after you've turned in everything. How did you find out about the problem?

Ummmm... no. (?)