thepoorstockinger

So I am a Canadian and I am at a school right now doing my undergrad where there isn't and hasn't been for a long time, a good modern US scholar (the one modern US historian does history of foreign policy exclusively to the point where no one has taught the US since 1865 survey in at least half a decade) and I plan on switching from mostly Canadian history to modern US history by the time I do my PhD. (I'm doing a two year MA planning on writing on a US topic) Basically I am wondering if anyone doing a PhD now is willing to share their comprehensive reading list with me so I can get a feel for what I should be reading between now and then to close the knowledge gap. I am looking for Modern US history but anyone doing a field in African American or US Urban history would get extra virtual high fives from me. Obviously I have no plan to read whole comp lists worth of books and articles but I'd love to get an idea for what people are reading right now to at least have an idea of what I need to bone up on. (If for whatever reason, like being outed to supervisors/fellow students who may reading or whatever, you don't feel like posting the list here but are willing to PM it to me I would also be super appreciative)

The number awarded from last year match up perfectly with the allotments from last year of at least three schools. The indication I have had from everyone I've talked to is that the CGS for MA students is basically decided by home institutions with SSHRC just making sure nothing strange happened (i.e. someone with a 3.2 getting forwarded as a result of no one else applying) and I've never actually heard of anyone getting rejected after forwarding. I am, perhaps incorrectly, assuming that the fact that SSHRC didn't see fit to provide a success rate on the second table indicates something. (of course I am probably cursing my chances here) Either way, I do agree with your first question: It is frustrating that you can't be 100% sure about SSHRC (or OGS) until well after you already have to accept or decline offers from schools. I had to separate spread sheets to figure out money - one with each school's offer including a SSHRC, one with each school's offer without a SSHRC. It's a silly system, you'd think they'd be able to change the time lines to make this work out better. edit: The powerpoint SSHRC circulated to departments says this:

There is no link to it on the website but I changed a word in the URL and found last year's MA results: http://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/site/winning-recherche_subventionnee/stats-statistiques/masters_2008.xls It seems to imply that every MA application that was forwarded by the home institution was given a SSHRC last year, but there is no clear indication one way or another. (and yes - the business related degree stuff was what I was referencing when I mentioned the budget)

I know that in previous years if you were forwarded from your home institution you were basically ensured of getting a SSHRC, but given the uncertainty around the new federal budget it's going to be really interesting (and potentially terrifying) to see how this shakes down.

I have read a few of these threads and as a result I'm curious: Is it standard for people in the States (I live in Canada) to not work during the summer? Is the sample on here just skewed? A lot of people here seem to do internships/language training rather than just trying to get work to make ends meet/pay tuition fees. Is it that private schools have such high fees that slogging it out at or near minimum wage for a summer won't put enough of a dent in your debt to matter or do people here have someone else paying for school?

There were some suggestions here: http://forum.thegradcafe.com/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=15071 The consensus seems to be the order of preference seems to be: Research Assistant for a faculty member Archivist Working in a museum There must be an ungodly number of colonial America museums scattered around the north east (I'd assume more than women's history) so I'd cast my net wide. Is money an issue? (i.e. do you have to work to eat this summer/pay tuition fees in the fall)

Another question you need to ask is "how will my decision effect my lifestyle in 10 years when I have my degree and I'm on the job market?" Going to a school where you're more likely to succeed, have a better research fit and has a better placement record means that you're more likely to have more choices when it comes to getting a job. So you have to weigh lifestyle for 4-8 years vs. lifestyle for your life after that. Obviously going to the better fit won't ensure you're a better scholar or have more connections, but it is a factor. What field are you in? What are you researching? You should ask about residency requirements. Particularly if you're in the humanities it's possible to do your course work and comps and get out of town in two years if you're motivated and then conduct your research/writing elsewhere. I know of a historian who entered a program on the opposite side of the country with an MA already completed, wrote is comps in ten months and then moved back across the country to write his PhD.

I was fortunate enough to be able to negotiate more money out of my top choice above their initial offer but even though the offer from school B was much larger it was also much further away (higher moving costs/having to buy new everything) and in a city with a notoriously high cost of living vs school A being in a place with a very low cost of living which was closer. So after I factored in moving costs/cost of living there was not much difference between the offers. I guess my one requirement was that wherever I went had to pay me enough money that I would be able to live in something resembling almost-comfort without having to go into too much debt. As long as program met the "can I live on this?" threshold I considered them equally. But I also didn't apply to any schools that didn't fund their MA students.

Isn't the PhD program in Historical Studies at the New School not a stand alone program? I think it has to be be done as part of a joint PhD program with sociology or political science which may complicate its place on the arbitrary and silly rankings.

I feel like many students in the humanities (myself included) use spreadsheets more when it comes to figuring out grad school funding then they do when it comes to actual school work.

I've heard people suggest that a letter of reference writer who is close to you explaining the situation can often be more helpful than you explaining it so that it doesn't sound like an excuse. Obviously the referee would need to be someone you trust and feel comfortable asking, but if that's an option then definitely take advantage of it.

I posted this in another thread but I thought I'd mention it here, too: It's possible to act as a "collective bargaining unit" with your partner at some programs. If the program wants both of you and you make it clear that you're a package deal they may be more willing to free up extra funding for you and your partner, or at least that is our ongoing experience.

I'll offer something I haven't seen come up: My partner and I applied to a number of the same schools and share a top choice program (history - she's a Latin Americanist, I want to do North American urban/working class) and the program is very, very interested in both of us for some reason. We've actually managed to leverage their interest in both of us into more funding since we sort of come as a package and had good offers elsewhere. If a program want both people in a relationship then you're twice as valuable to them and have twice as many faculty pushing for you when it comes time to divide up the money. One of my current (labour history) professors described us as a "collective bargaining unit." I guess my point is that depending on your situation being in a long term relationship can improve your grad school prospects.

I am in Canada and choosing between MA programs so things are obviously different up here but I am in the process of trying to negotiate more money on top of an external award (SSHRC) which I anticipate receiving (no confirmation yet, but it looks like there's a pretty good chance it comes through). My experience thus far is that individual graduate directors will often be flexible - they probably can't ensure that you can keep the whole stipend but at least in Canada people seem to be willing negotiate some smaller pots of money to top up major external awards if you ask (and you can leverage someone else's offer for more money). It's worth asking politely and to hint that more money increases the chance of them getting you into their program.

How does the offer change if you're awarded external funding? What sort of travel funds are available for research and conferences?

My partner and I decided to apply to some of the same schools and then sort it out later with the understanding that things won't work out. Fortunately one of the programs we applied to is really interested in both of us so we're now in the process of trying leverage some addition cash out of before we make a decision. We're both in the same field (sort or close enough) and she has insane grades so it made it easier. It looks like we'll end up in the same program, but it was not the deciding factor. I do think it's silly not to make it at least one factor among many in making the decision - it's kind of absurd to factor in where a specific professor is and then not factor in where the person you love is.

I found three typos in my SOP for my second school. And the writing sample for my first and second schools both had huge errors in the final paragraph that made the whole conclusion totally non-sensical and I got into all three programs I applied to - two of which are very, very competitive Canadian schools for their fields (top three programs for the sub-fields for sure). I also got very good funding packages from all of them. I figure that the writing sample thing was just plain luck that it didn't tank me, but most schools are reading dozens if not hundreds of SOPs and I can't imagine a misplaced coma (which is actually technically correct anyway) will even be noticed. Even if it did matter there's nothing you can do now. You will be fine.

I have officially been admitted into a department but the financial offer is coming the mail (was supposed to arrive today but didn't) which just seems dumb to me. Another school admitted me a few days later but offered me money in the initial e-mail and have since made two more offers. The program sending out the paper offer to me is very new and I feel like this is a huge mistake on their part - this really is a competitive process for both students and programs and if they want a shot at good candidates they can't be sitting on their hands while other programs are tossing money around.

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I was just admitted to SFU (yay!) so I now feel less silly asking questions. Is Hastings-Sunrise super suburban feeling or does it have more of an urban core feeling to it? After I deduct tuition fees from my TAship+SSHRC money (assuming SSHRC comes through) I will have about $22k to live on - is this a reasonable sum to live on in Vancouver? People always describe it as being incredibly expensive but I feel like that might be a bit exaggerated. Are there are any really good websites to look at apartments on (minus the obvious like Kijiji, Craigslist and the first page of google results) that I should be checking out?

I got accepted to the MA program at Simon Fraser University today. The offer is not very good though ($10,500 to live on in Vancouver). I'm the one man updater on Canadian history MA programs.

I got an e-mail saying that I am in at the MA program at Trent (Canada). The funding letter is in the mail but they pretty much make the same offer to everyone ($13k). It's the first school I've heard back from so this is a relief.

Is the combined GPA for all the courses you took above a 3.0? If so that this is pretty strange.

My reaction is actually that there's a good chance that the OP is being lied to by the alleged cheater. She could have a really dark sense of humour, be a real sociopath, or just be so socially awkward that she'd feel bad admitting that Superstar Faculty Member X had asked her if they could write a reference letter for her. Obviously forging a reference letter is both crooked and insane, but I don't really know if I'd trust this woman if she told me that she forged letters, and if it turns out that she had legit references written and the OP accused her of forging them the OP could be in trouble... What a mess of a situation for everyone involved.

You have only been in university for one semester? My advice is this: go hang out with your friends, take courses in a bunch of different types of history and other totally unrelated disciplines and enjoy getting an undergraduate, liberal education. I could be totally wrong, but I feel like deciding to concentrate on one thing too much after one semester of school is a big excessive. A lot (I mean like one in every four people in my first year program) were convinced that they wanted to go get the PhD after first year and as far as I know almost none of those people are planning on going any further into academia. Just keep your options open and don't limit yourself - certainly take advantage of the advice other people have offered, but don't go over board with it. You might not get the chance to take a wide breadth of courses again. I will say this though: read the historiography early on. I really only felt like I turned the corner as a history student when I started being able to understand that first chapter of books I was assigned. Go out and read the canonical, must read secondary literature in the fields you're interested in so that you understand the positions people are taking. My advice on taking a wide variety of courses (and reading widely) is likely doubly important if you're interested in intellectual history since history may not actually be the best place for you - theory and crit/comp lit programs, philosophy, and others may in fact be a better place to explore your interests. Other than that - the advice listed about is all great, particularly working on languages if you're doing European history.