RF237

I am currently doing a PhD in medieval history in the US and took a similar route to the one you're thinking about. My suggestions: Do not do a PhD in the UK if you want to teach in the US (unless, of course, you do a PhD at Oxford of Cambridge), and if you are going to do a master's there, do a taught MA at Oxford, Cambridge, York, Durham, Leeds, St. Andrews, or Edinburgh. Maybe London. Think carefully about an MA in medieval studies versus an MA in medieval history/art/English, etc.--think about what department you would want to end up in for your PhD and what department you would want to teach in. Although American universities are always talking about interdisciplinarity, it is still far easier to get a job with a degree from a specific department since you will likely be applying to a specific department. Keep up with the French and Latin, and try to start German if you can. Don't expect to be able to study languages while in the UK. And try to take the GRE, if possible, before you start a program in the UK, because it's more of a hassle to take it over there. I'd also advise, however, applying directly to US PhD programs as well as to some US MA programs (UConn has a very good MA in medieval studies, and even offers funding to some MA students). The odds are very slim to none that you'll get any financial aid doing an MA (or PhD, for that matter) in the UK, which means you have to prepared to go $30,000-35,000 into debt for one year.

I rest my hopes on the fact that, someday, all those professors hired in the 50s and 60s will retire or pass away, opening the way up for us! I understand that many people like to be active/employed as late in life as they can manage, but it has always seemed to me like the humanities are currently overloaded with older professors who likely would have retired long before had they been employed in any other field/industry. BIG downside of tenure. I had a professor or two who could barely make it to class . . . Of course, here's hoping they hold on for 5-7 more years while I get my PhD!

I'll be heading to OSU in the fall!

In case anyone still cares (which, from the tone of this board, they may not), I declined a place at Rutgers yesterday. Not sure if their waitlist is subject specific or not, if they're even taking anyone from it. Good luck if you're still hoping, though!

The Ohio State University, for medieval history. Go Buckeyes!

The graduate director fully realizes that you need to respond to other offers tomorrow, but she also realizes that it's your decision if you want to accept one you already have or gamble on getting in off her wait list. If you accept another offer and then hear from Georgetown after April 15 that you were accepted there, you will have to ask the program you accepted in writing to formally release you from your obligation. They can say no, although they will most likely say yes, but in doing this you will likely be burning some bridges and creating bad blood. You will also possibly be delaying someone from getting in off their waitlist or getting funding. There has to be a deadline to decide because otherwise there would be utter chaos--a program could admit you in January and ask for a decision immediately. Other programs could wait until July to decide. The April 15 deadline was agreed on to protect the rights of applicants and create a more uniform process, not to protect the universities. Programs realize that people they notify after April 15 may have already committed to another program, but still want to give you the option of going to their program if you get in from the waitlist.

E) If you're happier, you'll do better work, which will lead to a better resume. Also, the rumor in my field, at least, is that many state schools are well known for producing good scholars who are good teachers, so their graduates are more likely to get jobs, especially at smaller colleges where teaching is the focus, than Ivy grads. Unless your goal is to be a superstar at an Ivy yourself one day: then go Ivy.

You should be able to live decently in Boston on $27k a year. I'm not sure about the studio or your figures though. Especially since you're looking near BC, I'd make sure to see any place in person before committing because it's mostly an undergraduate area, so rent is expensive and the apartments are not nice. I'm not sure you'll be able to avoid commuting, maybe not to school but to other places (I'd check if there are any supermarkets close to BC), so you might also want to factor in money for a bus or subway pass. $300 a month for food etc. should be fine if you eat regular (not expensive, fancy, or organic) food. A BIG question to ask: will your rent include heat? Or any other utilities? 100 a month is reasonable for regular utilities, but if it doesn't include heat, you're looking at an additional $100-150 a month AT LEAST for heat, depending on the type, the size of your studio, (electric, gas, or oil) and how much you mind freezing. Keep in mind too that in Boston the heat usually goes on sometime in October and stays on until May (again, unless you don't mind being cold). $100 should be ok for cable/internet/phone, I believe, if you don't go for any big cable packages. That's a land line, though, so I don't know if you'll also want to factor a cell phone bill into your monthly budget. And, lat but not least, it's the law in Massachusetts that you HAVE to have health insurance, so if BC isn't paying for it, you'll have to factor that in too. Hope that helps. Oh yes, and you might want to repost this in the Boston/Cambridge thread under the Cities forum--you'll get much more advice there.

Did you apply to that school for an MA or a PhD? If you applied for a PhD and the school signed the compact mentioned by another poster, then you have the right to wait until April 15 to respond to both admissions and funding decisions, and the school cannot make you reply sooner or revoke your offer of admission or financial aid if you don't respond before then. If you applied for an MA, however, I don't believe that compact applies. I would contact both schools to see if you can get a response sooner/get an extension on the reply date.

The only grants or scholarships for US students to study abroad in the UK are generally extremely competitive--Rhodes, Fullbright, etc.--and you have to apply for them very early in the whole process. The UK government runs an Overseas Student Research scheme, which you have to apply for through the school you're applying to, usually at the same time that you apply for the program. I'm not sure what the deadlines are for that, but I believe, again, you've probably missed them for this fall. You can, however, take out US government loans for study at most UK universities. This includes both subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans and GradPLUS loans. You can get loans for tuition and estimated living expenses (set by the school) and the limits are the same as for grad study in the US.

Anyone else STILL waiting to hear from Cornell? I tried emailing the grad director, but got no response. I'm thinking of emailing the professor I'd been in contact with, but hate doing that for admissions decisions. Urgh.

I would think that 24 would be more of the average age around here, since on most the forums I've been on the posters have been working for a few years or getting a masters etc. and often mention the benefits of taking a few years off after undergrad. You can feel young again, professor: I'm 27.

That does seem to be the only way to get an answer--it's how I got mine.

London does sound like a good idea--if you're going to pay for a master's, you may as well get the experience of living in a different country at the same time. I did my master's in England, and even turned down funding in the US to do it. It was a great year--another benefit of UK masters is paying only one year of tuition instead of two!

Well, I finally got my rejection email from Columbia. It's actually a bit of relief to have one less question mark. Still two left though. Toronto told me I should be getting a letter in the mail soon, but does anyone have any updated information on Cornell? I emailed the department a few days ago, but haven't gotten a response. Rumor here had it that they have already contacted all of their accepted students, so I suppose they could just be slow with the rejection letters, although a lot of people posted rejection letters a week or so ago. Anyone else having a hard time deciding between their current offers? I've gotten into two good, somewhat similar programs, and am not sure what to do. I'm visiting both in the next few weeks, and hopefully that will help me decide!