HistoryGrizzly
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Posts posted by HistoryGrizzly
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Hey everyone,
I'm going to be entering UNL's MA program for history in the fall, and I'm apartment hunting. I can't decide if I want to live alone, or if I want to try to find a room mate (is anyone looking for a room mate?). I was looking at a place called The View that's near campus and specifically for student housing. Looks like it's basically a really, really fancy student housing complex, but it screams "party dorms" to me. Also, I've read some pretty nasty reviews of the place, so I'm a little hesitant. Does anyone have any experience with the place?
And in general, does anyone have any advice on where the best location to be in Lincoln is? Everyone keeps saying how cheap the housing is, and how low the cost of living is, but it seems that's all relative, so I have no idea what people mean by that. Any advice at all would be welcome. Are there any areas I should absolutely stay away from?
Thanks in advance.
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The OP (though awhile back) raises a question that I've been considering over the past few weeks. I applied to PhD programs and I'm in my senior year of undergrad at an institution almost no one has probably ever heard of. I don't think any of the history professors here are really nationally known, however, they focus a LOT on mechanics, primary source research, research paper writing, and the nuts and bolts of history. I ended up wait listed and a couple half way decent schools, got a consolation MA offer from a great school, and I'm heading, in all likelihood, to UNL next year on a fully funded offer. Now, UNL isn't really up there with the big boys either when it comes to history, but they have a couple of nationally renowned scholars whom I hope to impress enough to go to bat for me in LORs, and after that, I think it's all up to me and how I perform there. If I can get to the next level out of a no-name undergrad institution, I'm sure I can parlay UNL into a great PhD program. I think at the MA level, while namebrand might help, 75% of what's going to get you in is all up to you, and 20% will probably be from your recommenders. You can find strong faculty at a relatively low-ranked school and turn it into something better.
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I emailed a few days ago to get my rejection. I'm about to email IU again as well. It's just plain discourteous at this point to take so long.
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I called.
They said that I should hear back before April 15 at the latest, though, probably sooner, and perhaps even in the next two weeks. Good to know they're at least alive over there, but man, I never thought I was going to have to wait until April for the last result. They said I was among the "ranked candidates," whatever that means. What rank am I? Big difference between first and 20th when they only have so many spots open.
Assuming some day they'll send me an acceptance, how would I even have time to get down to the campus and visit? Precious little time between now and April 15, when other schools are demanding I make a decision.
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Well, at least this is answer week for me. Rutgers finally posted their results on the website. Just one more fish to fry, then I can start making plans.
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I'm calling up to IU tomorrow to see what's up. Other than the rush of rejections a week or two ago, I haven't heard a peep out of them.
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I didnt even get the waitlist email. I think it's finally time to make a phone call. Tomorrow. Even if they just tell me I'm on a wait list, at least I'll know.
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Yep, I'm graduating from Oakland this year. So far as I know, there aren't really a huge number of OU students on a yearly basis that even apply to grad school for history, and from what I've gleaned, none, in recent years, have gotten into Michigan. I certainly didn't. However, I know one person last year got into Chicago and Vandy. I've gotten into a couple nice schools. Several people from Oakland's English program have gotten into Penn and Indiana, among other decent schools. I've heard from some people that Oakland is actually a fantastic school for grad-prep, because of our focus on reading, historiography, and writing papers. And yet, not a whole lot of people at Oakland actually seriously apply to grad school with the intention of getting a PhD, but from what I gather, the few who do apply actually have a decent record of getting in somewhere, despite the fact that Oakland has such terrible name recognition that we have to constantly remind people we're in Michigan and not California.
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I prefer to do a discussion of the paper rather than a recitation or bullet points. IF you know your topic cold, you can do a more informal discussion.
My Phi Alpha Theta regional conference is at the end of the month in Michigan, actually, my school is hosting it, so I have to be a moderator as well. I really enjoyed my first conference last year. It's a great place to really get the experience of presenting without any of the pressure really. It's just PAT. I ended up winning best paper in my genre (which was sort of a made up genre, but I'll take it), and I submitted the paper to the national PAT paper contest and tied for second place.
Try playing around with a casual discussion where you outline your findings and sources broadly, but dont necessarily lead them by the hand. That lets you weave your historiographical points in a bit more smoothly, and allows for fun anecdotes about why you chose the topic, or things you found that didn't make it into the paper. Hopefully your Q&A session is more fun than mine was last year, where almost no one asked me anything of value or interest. Blah.
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How delightfully vague and unhelpful.
Edit to add: there's a listing from OSU on the results page today. Someone was waitlisted yesterday...or is that Jon Alfred assuming everyone in the holding pattern is on the de facto waiting list?
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I'd add, specifically for those just coming out of undergrad, versus those who just got an MA and are looking to get into a PhD program: look at mid-tier schools that offer an MA, rather than going for the whole shebang. I applied to 9 schools, all but one of them was a PhD program that did the whole combined MA/PhD thing. So far the best offer I've had has been from the one MA program I applied to. My advisor at my undergraduate institution is cautioning me that even if I do get into one of my two remaining schools, like Indiana, it might be a better idea to get the MA, then try the process again with my resume sufficiently boosted. He said that could be a great way of getting into one of those top tier programs the second time around. It's certainly something to think about, as you'd only be competing against other recently graduated undergrads rather than undergrads and people finishing up their Masters degrees.
If I could go back in time and give myself one piece of advice, it would be to have a much more even mix of the big programs, and a simple MA at a good university.
I'd also join others in cautioning against Law School. Last year's LSAT test-takers were the largest number ever, and last years' graduating law school class was the largest ever, at a time when companies and governments are severely cutting back on new hires for lawyers. It's the worst job market with the largest glut of lawyers in decades. Even a top-20 law school program isn't a guaranteed job, not unless you graduate top of your class, and you'll incur monumental debt doing it unless you get some sort of scholarship. Law school isn't the sure thing that it used to be. Furthermore, the average lawyer isn't paid nearly as much as most people think.
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How did you find out about Rutgers? Did you call? I still haven't heard a peep out of them, which I'm taking for a rejection.
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Did anyone get an acceptance from IU? Or was all that went out mass rejections?
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Soon then, maybe. Be nice if I could get all my answers by this weekend! That's probably wishful thinking though.
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Mine hasn't changed at all, still says the same "in-review" thing. Could mean good things for you.
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1 2 3 not it!
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Haven't gotten the Indiana hit yet, but it appears that responses are in the offing! One way or another I get an answer soon!
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Notifications are supposed to go out in USPS from IUB tomorrow. Good luck. I'm dying here.
Well that's nice, at least I'll have an answer one way or the other in the next few days, if true. Strikes me as kind of weird that they're sending out both rejections and acceptances en masse via USPS, seems so old school with so much communication being via email, but, even if it's a rejection (which I'm sort of expecting), I'll be glad that the waiting is that much closer to being over. Guess that means I could just email the DGS tomorrow and ask, if I don't want to wait the extra couple days.
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Okay, you go first. Don't you have an insider for Indiana anyway?
Yeah, and he didn't mind giving me a little head's up on what was going on when I emailed him a few weeks ago, but he also told me to just go ahead and email the DGS with any questions since they guy is apparently genuinely friendly and willing to answer any questions.
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I'm going to give it another week before I start daily emails to the DGS of the three programs I'm waiting on. March 15 should really be D-Day for grand majority of programs. They should be done by then. I bet a lot of them are done but just haven't released results yet for whatever reasons. I'm pretty much set on Nebraska as my home next year, but, any of the three schools that are left could lure me away if I am accepted, and being kept in limbo is putting a serious crimp on my ability to, you know, plan the next several years of my life in a relatively short period of time. I figure once March 15 rolls around, I'm perfectly justified in being a little pushy.
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Anyone call or email IU in the last few weeks to see what's happening? Haven't seen a peep on the results page, and nothing from the school itself. Starting to get on into March now, I thought we'd hear something back at this point.
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Man that is a ridiculous policy. Not just because the math and engineering students skew the numbers upwards, but because they matter considerably less for humanities students. I got a 600 quantitative, which is like 50%, and a 690 verbal, which is like 98%. Seems unfairly skewed to screw over humanities students. I think the average for engineering students on the verbal is somewhere between 450 and 500, possibly higher, but even that's above the 50% mark.
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I got the MAPSS offer as well, which is really starting to make me think I should have applied to fewer PhD programs and more MA programs, but alas. Apparently I'm not as cool as you guys though, I got offered ONE THIRD tuition, which is apparently exorbitant. I might check out the visiting day, only because Chicago is a better school than where I got my other offer, but, unless they really increased that financial aid offer, it's incredibly unlikely.
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For what it's worth, people, I still have FIVE more decisions to go! And yes, it's just the beginning of March and April 15th is 6 weeks away... which means I'm going to face with a flood. Or more silence because I may be on a waitlist somewhere.
Someone, please hand me a barf bag as I get ready to go another emotional roller-coaster ride.
With Michigan's rejection, I'm still waiting on four. I'm pretty sure Chicago and Rutgers are a no though. So it's really just Ohio and Indiana.
Lincoln, NE
in City Guide
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Yeah, I'm finding that even looking online, there are tons of choices. I hadn't considered just driving around. I'm visiting at the end of the month and need to cram lot of apartment shopping into a relatively short time span. I'm looking forward to a relatively low cost of living. Hopefully utility rates are just as low.
Does anyone have any advice on phone service in the area? I have ATT right now, but it's about time to get a new phone and re-up, so I'm wondering if ATT sucks there and if I should switch to Verizon. Are they both pretty good, both for voice and data plans?