SimilarlyDifferent

- Visit my family in Alabama - Take a trip up the West Coast - Read the stack of books that I haven't had time for yet - Catch up on my anime watching. - Elder Scrolls V, and The Witcher II (yeah, I'm a gamer) - Work as a volunteer at the Historical Sites in my town - Keep working on my French, to keep it fresh and hopefully expand on what I already know - Start back going to the gym

You do have a solid GPA, but that doesn't mean that you will or will not get in. Basically, most schools look at the whole package so you will need to prepare and do a decent job on the GRE and you will need to work hard in order to prepare a statement of purpose. I think that your best bet right now is to identify a couple of faculty members at your current school that you think you would like to have letters of recommendation from, and make appointments to talk to them about it. The reason that I say this is because, at the end of the day, your professors will know better than any of us what your abilities are and what you are capable of. You aren't shooting too high in terms of where you are applying, as long as you can make a case that you have a proper "fit" with the school. This is something that you will cover when you write your statement of purpose. Basically, to explain why going to that particular school is ideal for you, what scholars you want to work with, and what you feel you can gain from getting your education there. In addition to this, it would be wise to contact in advance a few of these people you have identified that you'd like to work with. As far as you asking if History is right for you, at the end of the day you are the only one that could answer that. But don't forget that there is nothing stopping you from applying to other programs that interest you, like creative writing programs. It doesn't have to be all or nothing, as long as it is something you feel that you would be comfortable taking coursework in for another 1-3 years and teaching after that. A Masters program is a good start, so congrats on your desire to pursue higher education.

I obviously can't speak for the discrimination that you are speaking of at the hands of a professor, but I would think that if it is too much of an issue that there should be someone you (or other students) could go to about it. Faculty are not omnipotent, after all. However, I have been in classrooms during undergrad when Professors have contradicted themselves and it is not as hard as you might think to call them out on it. My solution is to ask them about it, as if you think it was either an honest mistake, or there are circumstances that make the situation different. Example: Professor: The sky is always blue, it will always be blue. One week later... Professor: Ah yes, the sky... the sky is gray. Student: Uh, Professor... in my notes last week, I have that you said the sky is always blue. Today you are saying the sky is gray. Why is different today than it was a week ago? Yes, a silly example but, you get the point. In my experience one of two things will happen, either the prof will realize his mistake and clarify, or there really is a circumstance under which the sky can cease to be blue which he failed to mention before.

Homewood, Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills are all pretty nice areas. I've heard living on campus isn't great - but that was from an Undergrad, I don't really know if grad housing is different. It is an awesome school, but I hope you can get used to the weather.

I'll be 28 in two weeks. I'm not sure if that makes me "older" or not. I am married with family so I think I might fall into this category. I'm in for a Masters, assuming that goes well I'll be looking into PhDs next. It is rough to think that by the time I've finished with this process and am ready to start a career I'll be 33 or older.

Examine things about yourself. What do you do with your free time? What do you like to talk to people about? What sorts of books do you read? These things can help you out. For example, if you like reading the newspaper, watching the news, and talking politics you might want to look into journalism or poli sci. If you watch the history channel and read nonfiction, you might try history. If you like grammar and syntax then you might try linguistics or copy editing. Can't get enough of nature, like being outside? What about recreation management, or environmental science/policy? Jack of all trades, try Library Science. The list goes on and on! Just look at the things you like, and think about how you can translate it into a marketable skill. If you have trouble with that, come back with a list of things you enjoy and I'll bet the great folks around here can give you tons of perspectives!

This happened to me and I fully intend to go for the MA. I think that it will work to make you a stronger candidate should you choose to reapply to PhD programs later on. In the course of your MA you are going to increase your field of knowledge, learn to write better, and meet new faculty with which you can build relationships and network (and perhaps increase lab/research experience depending on your field).

This is what I was hoping for. I'm interested in cultural history and I tend to lean toward the study of religions and religious institutions. As far as the language requirement goes, I have foundations in French, but I'm not where I would need to be. I have been planning to continue with the language whether or not I change subject matters because I enjoy it. There will just be the added pressure of getting good enough at it to be able to use it for research (not to mention to pass an exam).

The short version of my question is the following: If you have been accepted to an MA program and you wrote in your statement of purpose the area you were interested in studying, are you bound completely to stay within that area? Is there freedom to take courses in other areas? Do many people do this? My reasons for asking is that my undergrad institution trains mostly future K-12 teachers. As such, in order to graduate with a degree in History, we could not focus in one geographic area, as a matter of fact, we were not allowed more than 12 credits in one geographic location (which I really didn't like). As such, I never really developed a specific field of knowledge. My undergrad thesis, and all of my current research for it, is in the area of early American religious history. When I applied to grad schools, I listed this as my primary research interest. I was accepted for an MA program with a generous scholarship. Upon looking through the course offerings from my school, I am not super excited about their American History courses. From reading the listings and looking at the courses they have offered over the past few semesters (the program is only a couple of years old) most of their American History focuses on political history rather than cultural or intellectual. Course titles are things like "Democracy in America" and "American Foreign Policy" no offense to anyone who enjoys these types of history, but they aren't really my cup o' tea. Upon reading the course listings and readings for other sub fields of history (European Intellectual, and thematic history such as "History of the Book") I think I'd find myself enjoying these more. Many of the listed readings are things that I have read before on my own for enjoyment which further leads me to believe that it is more of a right path for me. I understand that this sort of research on courses is something I should have done before writing my SOP, but I was feeling a little pressure from my LOR writers and thesis adviser to continue in the field I was working in. So my question, as stated above, is it possible for me to shift my focus? I know that when accepted to a PhD program you are accepted to work with a certain professor and that area changing is not really much of an option, is that different for MAs? Although I have been accepted to a program, I have not yet gotten any information about who my adviser will be and I don't know if this is something I should ask at admitted students day, or wait and talk to my future adviser about when I finally get one. At first I was a bit discouraged at getting into the MA rather than PhD, but now I think it might have been exactly what I needed in order to more fully explore what I truly want to study. Any thoughts on the subject are quite welcome.

The only problem that I can see with your situation is that there is little way for the adcoms to prove that he actually wrote the letter for you, and it isn't a forgery created after his death. Normally, they can and often will contact a LOR writer if they have questions or if they want to know more about you. The fact that they can do this if they so choose gives the letter a measure of validity that it otherwise lacks. That said - contact the department.

Yes, yes and yes! It would not hurt for you to look at the schools to which you applied and decide which ones you really want to reapply to. Then, look at a few schools you didn't apply to, and see if you think you would like/fit at those schools. If you would, it would not hurt at all for you to change up your list a little (especially if you had too few middle or safety schools). I think a good balance is 3 reach schools, 4 realistic schools, and 3 safety schools (others may have their own numbers, and this may vary by field). If some of the schools you applied to this round are truly dream schools, then I think examining your application and trying to present yourself as what they are looking for is a great idea. See where you are lacking, what you can change, and what you are willing to change in order to enhance your fit at the school. If you have been in contact with a POI at the school, try to stay in contact with that person, let them know (politely and without being annoying) your intention of reapplying and your continued interest in his or her work. Committees most likely will not be annoyed at you if you reapply. Most likely, it will be quite the contrary. You see, in recent years the numbers of applications that they get are astounding and they can't admit everyone, no matter how qualified. I'm sure that they would not mind a second chance at some of the promising students that they wanted to accept, but could not because of space/funding/etc. Also, some schools may be flattered that you apply again and reward your persistence. Obviously, we can't read the minds of the adcoms, but the worst thing they can do is reject you, and you have already survived that once so there is nothing to fear! In response to the last question, you can absolutely show reasonable growth in a year's time! Find out the weak points of you application (GPA, GRE, SOP, LOR?) and work to improve it. Aside from that, you can also look for an opportunity to intern, work in a lab, write a publishable paper, or whatever tactic is relevant to experience in your field. This shows the adcom that you are devoted and serious about your field, and that you can and do make contributions in your area of study. I hope this helps a little, and I hope you have better luck next season.

If you are taking some time off before applying, you should look into taking some additional undergrad courses during that time to bring up your GPA. You could also start looking at programs that you might want to apply to, contact the departments, and ask what you would need to do to make yourself a more attractive candidate to their program (you might want to wait until after April 15th to do this, though as they are likely very busy still with this year's applicants).

Our home was hit by massive flooding, and we had been evacuated since Friday 3/11. Our street was underwater and mail was being forwarded to a secondary post office because ours was closed due to the flood. I visited the forwarding office to pick up my mail Tues 3/15, and there was nothing, the woman was confused and said either it has been picked up or forwarded elsewhere. Yesterday, Wed 3/16 was the first day our house has been accessible. The flood waters finally receded and I came home to asses the damage. Oh a whim, and expecting nothing, I opened up our mailbox and there was a thick envelope from school #1. I figured that since it was thick it was good news, but since they never contacted me for interview it was bad news. I didn't open it. I went inside and started working on cleaning up the mess left behind by the flood, and after seeing that the damage wasn't so bad I figured I could open the envelope because even if it was a rejection I could still be happy because our house wasn't massively damaged during the flood. I opened it, and I read it a couple of times. I then called my husband and described the condition of the house to him, and only after that I told him about the acceptance. He was thrilled about both.

Accepted at my top choice but, to their MA program with a merit scholarship worth 85% of tuition costs. I have the option to apply to the PhD after a year in the program. It isn't exactly what I was hoping for, but I'll take it. Worst case scenario was admitted to PhD with no funding so I'm not really bummed. My backup plan was an MLIS but with the scholarship Drew is offering, the History MA will actually be cheaper, and there is still the hope for the PhD program in a year! I was also accepted to all of the MLIS programs that I have heard from so far. Rejected from Rutgers, but that was expected. I wasn't a good fit and I didn't put much work into the application. At the end of the day, I'm really pleased that I'm going into a history program rather than an MLIS. I think I'll enjoy it more in the long run.

Official rejections from Rutgers have begun, check the website.

William Paterson is highly competitive in Nursing, Business, Communications, and Speech Pathology. All of the students that I know in this program (BA/Masters track) are also a part of the Honors College and these students are required to maintain a pretty high GPA in order to stay in the program. Granted, as I mentioned, these students are in the BA track that leads to the masters, because the school has a dual program for undergrad students. I can't speak for people that they let into the program who did undergrad elsewhere, but you will be competing for spots with undergrad honors students that have 3.75 or higher GPAs, graduated with honors, and have completed an honor's thesis in their field. If you have any questions about the school in general, I might be able to answer them for you. I don't really know about Montclair's program, so I can't speak for it at all. I visited the school a few months ago and decided not to apply (a different program) but I wasn't impressed by the school overall.

Just the Way You Are - Bruno Mars.

Obviously, this is something that you have to answer for yourself. If you really want to do this job, then yes - it is worth it. If you aren't sure if you want it, and just thought it might be pleasant, or if you just want a degree, then no... it isn't. I'm not trying to discourage you, but I feel that you need a real picture of what you are getting into. The job market for Librarians is tough right now. It is hard to get an interview if you don't have experience so yes, coming out of grad school with buckets of debt sucks. If you are uncomfortable with the price tag then perhaps you should do a little research, take a year off to work and save up, and then apply to schools that are more in your affordable range. I saw your scores on the other thread and they are good enough to get you in to most programs. You might also try attending school part time, and working in a library on the side to gain employment experience and to earn money to put toward your degree. I guess I could be considered a miser, but I feel that there is no need to pay that much money, when in the end it is the exact same degree. No matter if it comes from McGill or if it comes from Nowhere State University, either way, you come out with a piece of paper that qualifies you to work in the profession with the knowledge to back it up. The only thing that matters is that the program is accredited.

Keep in mind too, that the price of living in each location is extremely different. New Jersey is an expensive state to live in. Make sure you take this into consideration when comparing the funding packages. The Rutgers package might look impressive, but you need to compare it in terms of cost of living for each location. Edit: I thought U of T was Texas, edited now that I see it isn't.

The SOP that I wrote for one of my schools wasn't very good. I didn't fit, and I knew I didn't fit. I wasn't even going to apply to the school, but I felt a little pressure from my adviser to apply to a couple of "more prestigious" programs. I did so, and I know I won't get in to that particular school. I was tempted to apply to only one PhD program, the one I know I want to go to. A lot of people may think that is too risky or that there is no chance for me, but the way I figure is if I don't get in (or if I don't get funding), I'll get a masters, then reapply. I'll also try to keep a more open line of communication with my POI at the school.

I do not deny the charge of geekiness; in fact, I embrace it.

hot sauce

BA in History with a minor in Anthropology and another minor in Social Science.

I know exactly how you feel. I applied to the MA program at my undergrad which luckily waived the app fee because I am a student there. About 3 weeks ago, I got an email from them saying they were missing my app. fee, my transcripts, and my GRE. I walk past the office two days a week, so I went in and asked about it, the lady there told me my app. was complete. Fast forward a week. I get another email that says they still don't have my GRE scores. So, when walking by I went in AGAIN and spoke to them about it. It was a different person this time, and this person told me that the application was complete. Yesterday I get a very friendly personalized email from Graduate Admissions reminding me that my application is still incomplete, and that in order to be considered I need to take care of this ASAP. I called Grad Admissions last night and they checked again and told me that they have everything that I need and just to ignore any future emails. I'm taking bets that my application never goes to the department for review.

Can't obsessively check my status because my #1 doesn't do online applications or status checks. I have to anticipate my decision the old fashioned way... stalking the mailbox.