datroy

Can you tell me more about Merion Village? Roughly speaking, what divides Merion Village from Hungarian Village. Just browsing around Craigslist I've seen what appear to be nice places in and around Morrill St, Beck St., etc in between High St and Parsons Ave. On Google maps it says Hungarian Village. The posters on Craigslist say Merion Village. Obviously they have every reason to say so if Hungarian Village is known to not be as nice an area, but checking out the area in google street view it looks pretty nice. Also, what should I know about Italian Village. I've heard that side of High Street is a little more questionable then the Victorian Village side. Driving around when I was out there generally confirmed that, but not being as nice as Victorian Village doesn't mean its not a good area. Any thoughts about that area would be much appreciated. Thanks

Thanks. By "wider streets," I meant anything wider than the roads in the southern part of Clintonville and around campus where cars are jammed in on both sides of the road and only one car can (barely) get by in either direction at a time. I used to live in a neighborhood like that, and I'm not interested in doing it again - reversing an entire block so the car headed straight at you can get by, etc. Another question. If I'm starting in September, will apartments be available in...September (or August)? It would seem to me that would make the most sense since that's when most people would be moving in. I'll be working until August and my current lease runs out in September and I'd rather not have to pay 2-3 months of double rent (my current place doesn't allow for a sublease). Thanks

What do people think/know about German Village? I visited a couple weeks ago and drove around the various neighborhoods. While I liked Victorian Village and Clintonville (particularly the areas with the wider, less crowded streets), I really liked what I saw from German Village. I know it's south of downtown. How big of a hassle is that? I'm not really going to be looking to hit the bars near campus every weekend or anything like that - just go to class, library, etc. I may end up investing in a garage pass if there are still any available when I get there in September, so while walking to campus would be nice, I would still have parking if I did so. Would be interested in hearing anyone's thoughts. Thanks

I've been working for almost 6 years since I got my masters and its been 8 years since I finished undergrad, so I was in a similar position. Furthermore, I didn't really feel comfortable with my MA professors doing my recommendation, as we never really built a great rapport (the institution/department is much more focused on their PhD students. So I had one of my professors from undergrad whi I was still in touch with wrote one. For my other two, I had co-workers write them. One was a former boss, a PhD, well respected in military affairs, a tenure track professor, and currently on leave and a high ranking official in the national security world. The third one was a current colleague who is similarly well regarded, and has written several books. I worked with both of these individuals on academic-focused work in the defense field (reports, studies, etc). I don't think this hurt me since i got into two programs (one a top 20) with full funding and just missed two others (top 15) by one spot. So you may not get into Harvard or Yale with the types of LORs we have to use, but you can do pretty well for yourself. If you can get good recommendations from professors at your MA institution who know you well, that's obviously ideal. If not, try your undergrad professors if you keep in touch with any of them so they remember who you are. If that doesn't work, try to find someone if at all possible who can at least speak to your ability to apply academic rigor to a problem or question, as well as your research, analytical, and/or writing capabilities.

Yes, my rejection came at 1:13 Thurs night/Fri morning as well. But some others had posted here that they got theirs at 1:15 Wed night/Thurs morning - 24 hours before mine almost to the minute. They must have some automatic program that sends them out in bunches. I was told that I was the "first one out" (to use NCAA tournament lingo) from the military history field - so I just missed it. They said they only took 2 non-active duty military applicants for military history (not sure how many active duty students they have). That wraps it up for me. Looks like I'll be going to Ohio State. Looking forward to it, visiting this coming weekend.

Ok, thanks - it says a decision is still pending for me.

Still nothing for me. Checked my junk folder too. Were your decisions on the website as well? B/c mine still says there's not decision for me yet.

I still haven't heard anything either.

The Graduate School just decided University fellowships on Tuesday. It may have been that the department needed to hear from the Graduate School about that before they could make final decisions so they would know how many people they would need to fund- as it sounds like they try to fund everyone they accept.

Some UK and Ireland schools have a March deadline (don't remember exactly when). If I didn't get into any of my schools, I was considering applying to Kings College London and Trinity College Dublin in March, but won't be doing that now.

I just called the department, and the lady I spoke to said they were going to start sending out decisions next week with an email and posting on my.unc.edu, but that the might be staggered over the next couple weeks. I'm not terribly optimistic on my chances though if a number of people have already been accepted via personal emails from professors. The only exception might be if all those people were being nominated for a Fellowship of some kind.

I'm still waiting to hear from one more school, but it is at least somewhat likely I'll be at Ohio State next year. Anyone else going?

That whole corridor from Manhattan down to Trenton and even over into Bucks County, PA is full of people who do that daily commute. - I've done it and my father has done it for 20 years. So it's certainly do-able, but a) it can get pricey and with a non-traditional schedule of a student, it may get pretty inconvenient. I'd live in New Brunswick at least for a year.

Iknownothing - if you have time before you have to get back to Penn State, wait until you've visited Michigan, met with faculty, talked to students, etc. But it does seem to me like you're leaning towards PSU.

Only you can make your own decision, but as long as they had notable scholars in my specific field of history, I'd take School A and not think twice about it or worry about the overall ranking of the school, or even the history department in general (unless by "lower ranked" we're talking like #100 vs. School B being #2, but if the other program in the joint degree program is top 5, we're probably not talking too great of a disparity here). It also seems just from reading your post that you're partial to School A. If that's the case, don't let a comment from your adviser (and I don't think he/she is serving you very well by making comments like that) be the only thing that drives you to School B.

And yet it is just about the most popular of all history consumed by the general public. So if military history did something at some point to decrease its relevance in the academy, then academia has just as much to answer for as the discipline itself. But, I don't really mind. I'm going to be 32, give or take when I finish my program, and not likely in the running for any serious tenure track positions. The whole reason I wanted to get my PhD in history (I got my MA in international relations but my BA in history) was based on almost 6 years working for and consulting for DoD on IW/COIN/CT. Sociocultural studies have been done to death - DoD has made a big deal about bringing in social scientists (sociologists, anthropologists, etc), but the one thing they still lack is any kind of in depth historical perspective on anything that happened prior to Vietnam (or the Malayan Emergency in some cases). Furthermore, social scientists love case studies, so they can can create data sets and let the numbers give them the answers - anything more in depth than a 10 page case study takes too much time. I'm not looking to find the secret to winning in Afghanistan by studying the Civil War or the American Revolution - historians make that mistake much too often of assuming that every historical event has some direct correlation or lesson for current events. But I do want to study the way opposition/resistance movements have historically responded in areas where they were the political minority, because these were strategic questions that have been dealt with, within their own context, as far in the Civil War, the Revolution, and log before that. More important, though, what I want the PhD for is to develop those skills in historical analysis to eventually bring a missing skill-set back to the academic components of the military and government. If history as a discipline doesn't think that's a skill or niche worth pursuing, and is content to abandon strategic thinking to political scientists and sociologists and their data sets, then that is their loss (nothing against people in those fields). This in no way means disrespect for other fields of history that are more prevalent in academia today - I am fascinated by many fields of historical study, from ancient and medieval history to labor history and urban history. There are certainly goofy and bizarre areas of military history, just as there are in other fields of history. Studying whether Pickett shaked when he should have baked at Gettysburg is of great interest to re-enactors and tacticians, but there are many other areas of traditional military history that we desperately need to foster in academia, and I don't think students who want to study military history should be forced to study some aspect of the field they have no interest in or that isn't going to help them simply because it fits within the new academic trends. Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox now, and I hope I didn't insult anyone's academic interests or anything like that. I'm just glad that there are some programs that continue to foster military history programs even as they have fallen by the wayside elsewhere.

I'll be focusing on guerrilla warfare in the 18th/19th centuries and the way in which the dynamics at the local level between guerrillas/resistance movement and locals, and the way counter-guerrillas respond, affect the ability of the latter to implement its military strategy. I'll most likely focus on the American Revolution in the South. Not terribly surprising that so far I've gotten into schools with military history programs and rejected from those without specific military history programs. Still waiting to hear from UNC, which does have a military history program. We'll see.

Decisions are up on the website (well, rejections are at least)

Congrats Vera. Was it a personal email from one of the faculty or a form email to check the website or.....? The website doesn't seem to be working for me right now. What is your field within military history? I'll be doing the same thing and am waiting to hear from UNC so I can choose between there or Ohio State (who I already heard from)

Waiting on UNC and UVA

I must have missed it - What's going on at Wisconsin?

Looks like rejections are going up on the website today. Just got an email directing me to mine.

Applied: Oxford - Rejected Wisconsin - Rejected OSU - Accepted UNC Duke UVA Texas A&M Harvard Yale Focus area is somewhere between Early American and military - namely how the micro-dynamics of guerrilla warfare (interactions between resistance elements and local populations) in the Carolinas and Georgia affected the ability of the British to implement their "Southern strategy" Already have an MA in international relations (GPA: 3.68, Honors Thesis) and about 6 years working/consulting for Defense Department and other areas of USG. GREs: V 690; Q 750; Analytical/Writing 5.5

Congratulations! How did you hear? Website?

I followed up last week with one of the Wisconsin professors I had emailed with in the Fall while doing applications, just to follow up, provide more detail on my interests that we had talked about in the Fall, etc. I got a response back today: I’m afraid that we were not able to offer you admission as part of next year’s cohort. Your file was very competitive, but you had the misfortune of applying in a year in which the US program of our department drastically curtailed its offers of admission as a consequence of an historically high rate of acceptance last year and a persistently dreadful job market. I doubt that it’s much consolation to you, but only a fraction of the truly deserving receive offers of admission. While I cannot offer any guarantees, I can tell you that your application will again be very competitive should you chose to resubmit it for the next class. Very Best Wishes, Disappointing since I thought my interests wise Wisconsin was one of the better matches of the schools I applied to...though I wasn't terribly keen on the idea of the winters there after getting my MA in Chicago. Good luck to everyone else waiting for word from Wisconsin!