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Gelpfrat the Bold

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Everything posted by Gelpfrat the Bold

  1. I've had crushes on lots of people I felt I shouldn't have thought about that way. By chance (perhaps owing to gender trends in my subfield) most of my influential teachers/professors have been men and I've developed sort of inappropriate feelings for a couple of them. But it's never manifested itself into a real crush where I hope something happens between us. In fact, in both cases I can think of, the thought of actually having sexual contact with these men repulses me. I think it's just something that happens when I spend time around men I respect - part of my head gets confused and starts thinking of them in ways I'd think about a potential partner. For whatever reason, I tend develop unexpected crushes on nerdy guys who are confident in their abilities but humble in public settings. I never admit these crushes I get to my friends because often they involve some of the least attractive men around, the sort of people whose sex lives others joke about. Also because I don't actually have the desire to act on them. Maybe it's a confused sort of desire for friendship. In any case, if you're worried about your feelings materializing into something, I'd suggest telling a friend or two about the situation so that if they see you entering dangerous waters in a social situation, they can pull you out of it and prevent you from doing or saying something you'd regret.
  2. Make a list of all the authors whose work you've read that has anything to do with your field of interest. Go through your old essays and hunt through the bibliographies for names you may have forgotten. Google the authors and find out if they're still teaching and where they work. You can also try looking into universities whose presses tend to publish a lot in your field. Otherwise, go to the websites of every university you can think of and painstakingly search through their faculty lists. Good way to waste time.
  3. Pardon my ignorance, but is Late Antiquity actually classified as its own subfield anywhere? Like, can you get a degree in Late Antique History the way you can in Ancient, Medieval or Modern?
  4. There seem to be a few different definitions of exactly what constitutes Late Antiquity. Where do you see the divide? When stuck between ancient and medieval history, I think someone interested in Late Antiquity would be better served in the medieval field, as there are lots of [early] medievalists with very early medieval training (particularly in the UK) but not so many ancient historians with early medieval training.
  5. I don't know how the two would compare in time or difficulty, but one reason to do a thesis would be that you'd have a bit more control over the outcome. Exams are scary because you don't know what you'll be asked, whereas when you write your own piece to hand in, you are in full control of how good or bad it is. I can't tell you much about how much time/work goes into a thesis because my program's requirements and dates are a bit wonky in comparison to other places, but I will say that I'd go the thesis route because it's a great opportunity to focus on something that really interests you, while getting invaluable research and writing experience. You're [presumably] paying good money to pursue your MA, so you may as well take up the unique opportunity of going the thesis route.
  6. I keep a traditional planner and scribble everything in there. At the beginning of each semester I write all my due dates (in order) on one sheet of paper and tack it up above my desk, so I have a good idea of what my semester will look like. It's surprisingly easy to forget about due dates, or for them to be buried in such weird places in the syllabus that it's a pain to have to look them up multiple times. Also, then you get to cross off each due date once you've handed things in, so when the end-of-semester crunch hits you you have a visible list of things to feel accomplished and confident about. Anyways, when it comes down to how I spend time within each individual day, I'm terrible about staying on track. I'm really bad at setting specific times for working and not working, and sticking to them. I'm "working" on a paper right now, but clearly I am not very focused at the present moment. I'm hoping taking time out of academia and working in a more normal setting will help me fix this tendency of mine!
  7. I drank instant coffee for a long time, so I'm probably not qualified to post here. But anyways, I switched to actual coffee somewhat recently, mostly just out of shame. I use a stovetop percolator because the store I went to had no french presses and I didn't want to spend lots of money on something fancy I'd never use. The percolator's a bit funky and of course the coffee comes out a bit strong, but I drink it with a little milk to it's not really an issue for me. And I like it because it's pretty simple to clean, doesn't take up space on my counter, and doesn't require filters. And I feel like I'm camping every day.
  8. Thanks for the response. My reason for going for it was that it's $50 and every other non-child bike available right now around here is at least $150. I figured if I go have a look at it and everything seems fine aside from the brakes, it might be cheaper to just pay someone to fix or replace them than it would be to buy another bike. I gather the person selling it just doesn't use it often enough to bother fixing it, but maybe I'm over-psychologizing the ad. I grew up in a bigger city than where I am now, where my parents found all our bikes by dumpsters in the alley. So I'm familiar with crappy bikes and detecting if something's wrong - just not with how to fix it myself!
  9. If you don't have space for a filing cabinet or can't find an affordable one, you can always just put your files in a crate or box. I got a rectangular box that's kind of like a basket, rattan with a metal frame. Anyways, I just keep that on my desk and the extra wide manila files fit perfectly inside of it. I don't know what the proper name for these baskets is, but you'll see them at a lot of home furnishing stores and they're usually between 10 and 20 bucks. A laser printer is a great idea, and I wish I'd bought one this year because the library printing facilities are very expensive. Instead I've just adjusted to reading articles on the computer and only printing things that I'll be handing in. But of course, having a printer would be great because printing an assignment off in a hurry right before it's due is very stressful when you are relying on public printers! That ergonomic chair is also a great idea! You should be a personal shopper, Hejduk. I bought cheapo fold-up chairs for my apartment and they're impossible to work in. I do all my work on the couch, often slouching, and it's terrible for staying on task. I'd probably get my work done much more efficiently if I had a proper chair. Something I'm looking for lately is a small library cart to keep in my living room, where I do my reading. I do most of my reading at home, so I always have lots of stacks of books all over the place, in separate piles for books I need to return, books I need to read for this project, books for that project, etc. And I tend to make these piles on the floor next to the abovementioned couch, so it looks as though a crazy person lives in my home. It would be great if I could get a small library cart and just get cardboard dividers to separate my books for various projects. Unfortunately, my online searching has only found me incredibly expensive carts - they're all over a thousand dollars, it seems. I know I can probably just make one out of wood, and probably will do so, but I prefer the metal ones for their library charm. I guess I will have to go in search for a closing library. But I'm getting off topic! Mugs. I tend to use lots of mugs when I'm cramming for some project. There will often be 4 or 5 empty mugs scattered among the book piles next to my couch. Having lots of mugs means not having to do dishes quite as many times throughout the day or evening. It's also good to have some of those travel mugs with lids, so you can take your tea or coffee with you when you're running late for class, instead of scalding your throat by trying to chug it on your way out the door (what I do). If you're a lady or just someone who prefers to carry a handbag, get a special, sturdy tote just for library books. Most days, my usual handbag works fine for the 1 or 2 books I'll be carrying around, but on those days when I go to stock up on books for a paper, or once I'm done with the paper, return them en masse, it's better to have a sturdy bag that you don't mind getting a bit worn. Repeated use of favorite bags for transporting library books will wear out your bags quickly, and since you're a grad student you probably won't be able to afford replacing them with anything nice
  10. I've been scouring Craigslist for a cheap road bike, partly to save money and also partly because I'm concerned that if I had a nicer bike, it would just get stolen! Anyways, I have no experience fixing bikes, so what are the most important things to look out for when buying a fixer-upper? What are the easiest or most difficult, cheapest or most expensive parts to fix and replace? I'm looking at one in particular whose breaks aren't functioning - how easy/expensive is it to fix that?
  11. Personally, I don't think explaining how you first came to love your field of interest really adds much to a SOP. Unless the story is unusually remarkable. I prefer just getting right into what your interests are and why you think you'd fit in at the university, because it shows a more professional instead of naive attitude. I don't mean to call you naive, I just think that wistful opening lines often come off sounding that way - and I know because I've written my fair share of them myself! I sort of wonder whether the first sentence or two is really as important as people chalk it up to be - maybe what professors really mean when they say you should have a strong first couple sentences is that you should not shoot yourself in the foot by opening with cliches. I'm not sure what to suggest for your opening sentence because I don't know what follows it, but I think something like "I have been interested in [x element of political science] since I audited an introductory-level political science course as a high school student." Don't use the word passion - it sounds forced and cheesy. You should illustrate your passion by how you explain your research interests, not by simply stating that you have passion. Also, I'd leave out the part about how you were in your junior year of high school because it's unnecessarily detailed and it kind of sounds like you're bragging. Make it more subtle. Have you tried reading through your SOP without these introductory sentences? You may be surprised to find that it makes perfect sense without them, and that they're just cluttering up the beginning of your SOP with unnecessary info. As Fuzzylogician said, it's obvious already from the fact that you're filling out this application that you have a passion for political science. Devoting a couple sentences to explaining that fact can just take up precious space in such a short document!
  12. Emailing to ask is probably a good idea. I've had some helpful email exchanges about language issues in the past, definitely got me much more informed than if I'd just gone off the information available on the department websites. As for MA programs, there are a couple that offer the possibility of funding. Off the top of my head the only one I can think of is Villanova, but there are definitely at least a couple others that would be worth looking into.
  13. I also just want to second what ticklemepink said. Being outside of academia for a year won't kill you. As an undergraduate, I never intended to take any time between college and graduate school, and I was determined to avoid having to do a terminal MA if I could. Whereas most of my friends applied to MA programs because they weren't sure about committing to the PhD route, I knew for sure that I wanted to pursue a doctorate and didn't want to "waste" time in an MA program. I ended up having to do a terminal MA because I didn't get in to the PhD programs I applied to. And I have to say, I think that my relative lack of language experience is probably what killed my PhD applications - although I'm in a subfield that has extremely high language requirements, so I do not mean to suggest that you would never be accepted. Anyways, I didn't go straight to the PhD, and now I'm taking time out of academia to find work, save up money, and rest my brain a little bit before I apply again. I've added another language to my repertoire over the course of my MA, and I hope to begin learning another in the free time I'll have when I'm working as a waitress or barista or whatever. Strangely enough, I'm pretty glad that I didn't get in to a PhD program straight out of college, because I think it would have been too stressful to work so hard for so long without any break, especially since I'd have been trying to improve my language skills at the same time. When you're desperately trying to get in to a program against all odds (I sure was), it's easy to forget that there is a valid reason for these requirements to be there in the first place. They want you to have language experience upon entering because otherwise you could be screwed trying to satisfy all your language requirements while keeping up on all your other work. Taking time to really get to know a language relevant to your field will not only help your applications, it will also add to a better understanding of your subject. It doesn't really matter if you're working with primarily English documents. What if your research leads you in a direction where you have to familiarize yourself with German models of thought? What if there's a group of historians in France working on related themes? I don't know anything about your field so I don't know which languages would be useful, but there has to be at least one that would allow you to widen the scope of your reading. Ask your professors about this, they should be able to help point you in the right direction. Anyways, my new mantra is "my education is not a race." I think that's an important thing to keep in mind. Especially with the current state of things. I'm not going to be able to find a job whenever I do finish a doctorate, so why should I be rushing to get into a doctoral program? We may as well take our time and make sure we do it right.
  14. Take the Latin. It's indispensable for any kind of medieval studies (well, European) and you can never have too much preparation in it. If you want to try both, audit the Old English and focus more on the Latin. As Lyones mentioned, having a firm footing in Latin will really help you learn other languages down the road. And it's great to work on your Latin independently, but having formal lessons will a) be an important part of your transcript for applications and allow you to pick up the basics more quickly so that you get a lot more out of the time you spend studying Latin on your own. Good luck! Also, for what it's worth, in my experience graduate programs generally seem to place much more importance on medievalist's Latin than any other language, whatever your particular sub-field might be. So having experience with Old English will help you, but it won't get you anywhere if you don't have Latin as well.
  15. I mentioned multiple people I'd be interested in working and taking classes with, and like someone else mentioned I did my best to talk about why the department appealed to me as a whole. I was wary of alienating faculty members by just talking about how great their one famous colleague is, so I tried to spread my enthusiasm around and find relevant things to say about more than just one person. But thanks for sharing, it's interesting to hear that not everyone thinks name-dropping is such a great idea. I'd be inclined to agree, since I think that if a statement of purpose is well-written enough, it should be clear whether or not there are any relevant faculty members for the student's interest, even if no specific names are used.
  16. Rereading your post and noticing just now that you are a rising sophomore and therefore only 1/4 through your undergraduate experience, I restate my point even more strongly! Enjoy the intellectual experience that is still far from over for you at the University of South Carolina. Devote yourself to your research project and don't even concern yourself at all with future applications. Your education is not a race! Enjoy it (:
  17. You will probably get in to their MA programs (or whatever the equivalent is called, MLitt?), due to the fact that non-EU citizens pay substantially higher tuition fees. I don't know about your particular subfield or about Oxbridge, but generally speaking it's more difficult to be admitted into British PhD programs without a MA than it is to do so in the US. The British PhD doesn't involve coursework like the American one does, so you hit the ground running as soon as you start, for which reason it's best to have some experience at the graduate level. Considering that American BAs involve much less specialization than British equivalents, I would be surprised if Oxford or Cambridge were to admit an American student straight into their PhD programs. Of course, that's not to say it's not possible for you, but I do think it would be best for you to regard MA work as a more realistic goal. But the other thing I wanted to mention is that it is way too early for you to be picking out specific departments and universities! It's great that you're looking into future possibilities, but sophomore year is really too early to be so dead set on one particular program at one particular university. You are only half-way through your degree, how can you be so sure your interests won't change at all? There are plenty of other universities with high-profile scholars in ASNaC studies, and as your interests continue to develop, you may well find that you would like to work with someone elsewhere, who works within a particularly interesting sub-field. I'd be concerned that you're doing yourself a disservice by deciding so early exactly what you want to do within your already-specific field, because you might be limiting yourself and preventing yourself from exploring wider and tangential interests that don't correlate exactly with what Cambridge and its particular faculty members are looking for. So my advice to you is to relax and focus on your present studies. Don't just assume that you're going to maintain that GPA (your courses will get harder as you advance!) and that you will have time to add extra things onto your CV. Just work at doing your best at what interests you, and if Cambridge turns out to actually be your ideal destination, then the interests you have pursued for your own gratification will get you there.
  18. I think that an important element is demonstrating commitment and flexibility at the same time, with regard to your interests. You want to show that you are fascinated by a particular topic of research, but you don't want to create the impression that you are only interested in one fixed topic and one approach. In my statements of purpose I tried demonstrating that by first outlining my general interests, then giving specific examples of how I might want to approach those interests as a PhD student. I think this helped me show that I have developed and well-considered research ideas, but am willing to experiment with them and approach them from perspectives I have not yet considered. As I see it, this approach made me sound driven and confident without sounding like a know-it-all, which I know a lot of people are concerned about when writing about themselves. I have also tried to improve my CV by submitting abstracts for talks and journals, but I have passed up some opportunities so that they wouldn't interfere with my current coursework. If you are still a student, I suggest putting the bulk of your energy into your existing coursework and required projects, rather than losing focus by trying to add flare to your application. You can always add extra things to your CV in the future, but you can't go back and re-take courses or improve your GPA. Besides, if you really apply yourself in your courses, hopefully you can produce a piece of writing that is good enough to submit for publication - and then you're killing those two birds with one stone.
  19. It depends on your field. In my field it seems to be the case that although departments will consider admitting PhD applicants straight from their BA, generally they prefer students with an MA. This seems to hold true for my personal experience and that of everyone I've spoken to. I was rejected to all 3 PhD programs I applied to as a final year undergraduate, and got accepted and waitlisted by the 2 PhD programs I applied to as a MA student. A small pool of data for sure, but it seems to reflect a wider trend. Anyways, I wondered the same thing when I was finishing up my BA, so applied to a few PhD programs and a few MA programs and, not being accepted into any PhD programs, went the MA route. Even though the PhD applications didn't get me anywhere, I'm glad I submitted them, not just because I could have gotten lucky and not had to pay for an MA, but also because I gained valuable experience with the PhD application process. It was a trial run for me, so to speak. Since I only applied to 3 such programs, applying wasn't a huge investment for me. It still cost me a few hundred dollars, but I think it was really valuable practice, and I definitely felt much more prepared as a result when I applied again the next year. Something to look out for is departments that forward rejected PhD applications for consideration in MA admissions. One of the departments that rejected my PhD application accepted me for a MA, so it was kind of like I applied to both programs even though I only filled out one application and paid one fee.
  20. Apologies in advance for long-windedness. Hello all, I was wondering if anyone might have any advice about looking for more "menial" jobs, for lack of a better term. I have a MA and have gotten great grades, won awards, and given talks in my obscure arts field, but I ended up turning down a PhD offer this year because my mind's pretty exhausted and I want to take a break for a couple years. I thought about applying for things like Teach for America and whatnot, but I really think it would be best for me to find a job that does not require any off-the-clock work. As a student, I've gotten pretty bad about never taking time off for myself, and always thinking I should be reading more whenever I get a moment free. I'm sure a lot of you can relate! Due to the fact that I fully intend to reapply to PhD programs after next year, I don't feel any pressure to seek a specifically career-oriented job at this point. In fact, that's the last thing I want. It's not that I am work-shy or can't handle working in a stressful environment, I just need a job that pays by the hour and is a little different from what I've been doing these past few years. I'll be living in a busy neighborhood in a large city. The problem is that I have little work experience. I worked as a cashier in high school, and then at a deli counter for some time in college, but that's pretty much it. I am a terribly selfish person, it seems, and don't have any volunteer experience past high school. I would love to tutor, either in writing, languages, or even in standardized test prep, but I have no teaching experience whatsoever. I'm guessing I can put ads up on craigslist and see if I find a few hours of tutoring work, but I'm not counting on being able to live off of that. I would really love to work even the lowest position at a museum, but all the museums in my area seem to rely entirely on unpaid interns and volunteers, and I need to eat! I imagine I should be looking into waitressing or working in retail. I have general customer service experience, as well as experience in food service, but I have never worked in a restaurant or in retail. Any advice for finding such work without the right experience? This brings me to my specific question, which is, should I include my academic qualifications in the resume I submit to such places? At the moment I just have an academic CV, with my degrees, thesis titles, languages, awards and publications listed. How much of this should I keep on my resume? Should I keep everything except for the thesis titles and publications? Should I acknowledge my MA? I am looking for ongoing full-time work, but I'm concerned that potential employers will consider me likely to flounce on them after a short while in search of better prospects. And yet, I don't want to sell myself short by censoring my assets. Specific answers or general advice would be much appreciated!
  21. Be professional, not cute, in your statement of purpose. And get in close contact with professors, or at least try to show them early on that you're interested. If they're excited about your application it can help you out, plus they might give you good advice for your application, funding to apply for, etc.
  22. I'm in a similar situation. I have two offers, but don't really want to take either because I feel like I need some time out before jumping into a PhD program, and also because these programs, while very good, aren't my ideal. I only applied to these two programs because they are in the city I currently live in, and I wanted to give myself the option of starting a PhD next year if that felt like the right thing to do come springtime. Well, it's springtime, and it still isn't really what I want, but I'm scared I might be throwing away a great opportunity. What if I don't get in next time I apply? What if the economic situation worsens further and applying for PhD programs only gets more competitive? I'm scared that 2 years down the line, I'll be facing across-the-board rejections and wondering why I passed up an offer from a perfectly good university. At the same time though, I feel that if I take this offer, I'll always wonder whether I could have gotten into a better program for me, and whether I passed up better future opportunities by taking the first decent thing to come my way. I'm pretty sure I'm going to decline both offers. Signing up to do a PhD is a really big deal, you're agreeing to do this for 6+ years. Being poor isn't that big of a concern for me, but still, it would be nice to save up a little bit of money before I start a PhD, if only so that I have a little bit less to stress about. Mostly, I just don't see why this year has to be the year. It's not a race! I've realized that most of the people in these programs are a few if not several years older than I am, and that it's rare there to find someone who didn't take time out of academia before starting their PhD. Also, I have one friend who was accepted last year, didn't attend, and was accepted again this year and plans to attend this time. Sure, that's just one individual person at a random program, but it's at least one example. Anyways, I think that the departments will be understanding. They're aware that students have all kinds of financial concerns as well as things going on in their personal lives. Maybe I'm kidding myself, but I would think that the department would appreciate me honestly saying "Thanks for the offer, but due to personal reasons I don't think that this would be the ideal time for me to start something as demanding as a PhD program." (Maybe I'd rephrase that, but you get the point). They don't want you coming into the program and then having a nervous breakdown; surely being able to step back and make that decision is the mark of a responsible person? Just a thought. I'm planning on writing personal emails to my recommenders as well as my potential supervisors just letting them know why I'm not taking the offer, just because I know all these people helped me out in the application process and I'm sure they appreciate being filled in on what's going on. It's a tough call. But I think it's important to be excited about starting a PhD program. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd think that you should have similar kinds of feelings starting in a new program as when you first start dating someone. If you're not super excited about it and you have doubts now, how do you think you'll feel about it a few years down the line when the novelty has worn off? I'm hoping that taking some time out will make me more excited about PhD prospects, and will let me take care of what's stressing me out before digging deeper in to my academic career.
  23. I felt the same way as a final-semester undergraduate, although I hadn't been accepted for a PhD (I was going into a MA though). I was feeling kind of burned out from work and from the horribly stressful first semester, and since I knew I'd be moving far away after graduation I wanted to spend more time hanging out with my friends and enjoying myself instead of just working all the time as I had for the last 3.5 years. So that's what I did. I didn't turn into a total slacker, but I definitely let my expectations of myself down a little bit as far as academics were concerned. I ended up getting better grades that semester than I ever had before, and actually improving my final GPA. I don't want to give bad advice and tell you not to bother showing up for class anymore (don't do that!), but really, if you've been accepted to a PhD program you're probably a really good student, and you can probably afford to do a little less work without putting yourself at risk of not graduating or not meeting PhD entry requirements. Since doing well as an undergrad has already gotten you what you needed from it (your PhD spot), it's okay not to stress about your GPA declining a tiny bit. But aside from that, you'd be surprised at how well academic auto-pilot can work for you by this stage. You're probably a lot better at producing good work without trying as hard as possible than you think you are. So anyways, stay on track, keep going to class and doing your assignments, but it's fine if you're not as obsessive over them as you used to be. You've got 6 years ahead of you to put your all into your academic work. Relax a little, enjoy your final semester, and don't make yourself burn out before you've even started your PhD! There's no need to feel guilty, it's normal!
  24. I was in an identical-sounding program, and had the exact same experience, as did everyone else I talked to about it. The first semester was extremely demanding, the second slightly less, and then there was just the finishing touch of the thesis over the summer. A third of the way through the second semester I'd decided to take time off before a PhD, and started getting really excited about the prospect of non-academic life in the years to come. I spent days and days "working" but never produced anything because I just didn't feel motivated. I wasn't depressed - I had been more depressed than ever before in my first semester, but by the second I was over it and feeling pretty good. I think it's just a feeling you get at the end of a long, long race, especially if you didn't take any time out between your BA and MA. Also, not having looming applications and feelings of "I NEED TO GET AN A+ ON THIS OR ELSE MY DREAMS WILL BE RUINED" really sap your motivation once you've become used to the constant feeling of scrutiny that goes with being a grad-school applicant. Slow down, take breaks, and complete your work. Appreciate your lack of stress. Acknowledge the accomplishment you've made by completing that stressful first semester, and you'll begin to recognize that this one isn't such a bad situation. Lastly, keep in mind that what's happening to you isn't unusual, and your professors are probably fully aware (and mostly forgiving/understanding) of the phenomenon.
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