StrangeLight

regarding MAs, people might want to look to canadian schools. for history, at least, canadian schools do MAs and PhDs separately. there are no MA/PhD programs and if you want to go to school here, you do your BA at one school, then apply for an MA, and then apply for a PhD (maybe at the same place as your MA, but often not). in general, this makes the minimum time required to complete grad studies around 7 years instead of 5, but it has one big advantage: canadian schools fund masters students. many schools offer students full funding with stipends comparable to those granted to PhD students in the states. tuition at the top schools in canada is rarely above $5000 for the year if you're canadian, and rarely above $15,000 for the year if you're international. in canadian dollars, too. how aboot that, eh? even if you aren't offered full funding, it's affordable in comparison, but most programs will give masters students full tuition remission and around $17,000/yr. many, many students with MAs from canadian schools can get PhDs from top 10 american schools. at my current school (the university of british columbia), one of the MA students is getting full funding at northwestern and another is off to yale next year. all of the professors in my department obtained their degrees from top 10 schools. most of them have degrees from princeton, harvard, yale, duke, utexas (that's off the top of my head). i don't think a single one got their PhD from a school that wasn't at the very least in the top 5 for their subfield of history (african american labour historian from duke, mexicanist from utexas). for people that don't mind the thought of moving once for an MA and again for a PhD, doing an MA in canada's a decent alternative. full funding, study with prestigious faculty members, and set yourself up well for a PhD. doesn't hurt to throw an application or two to programs north of the 49th.

i would recommend reapplying next year and hoping something sticks. doing an entire PhD without any funding will drain you of whatever savings you already have. you've got a solid job and i think you can afford to wait for (1) this economy to blow chunks less, and (2) for a grad school to fully fund you once they have the space and resources available.

the admit weekend is really just one day, march 27. i don't know if the school is finished admitting people or not. i was notified by email and a letter came in the mail about a week later, and this was back in february, so i'd suggest emailing the grad secretary to see if they're still making decisions or not. good luck!

well, the last of my rejections has rolled in. i think i'm going to accept pittsburgh's offer today or tomorrow. i don't know how many people applied to CMU or miami, but hopefully me turning them down will help out someone else.

you were invited to the weekend and rejected? what a bizarre school. really. bizarre. i was also rejected. not surprising.

god, i'm the damn cat lady. to fit under the seat in front, the cat needs to be able to stand upright and fit underneath, otherwise the airline will say that you have to check the pet into cargo (if there's a space available; sometimes they're booked, and lately many airlines have stopped taking pets in the cargo all together). i believe this means your cat needs to be under 9 or 10 inches tall. check with individual airlines, they'll have FAQ sections about traveling with pets. my cat's a tall bugger, around 13 inches last time he stood still long enough to let me measure him. if your cat is taller than that and you buy him a seat (individual airline policy varies on this too), i think he still needs to be put under the seat in front for take off and landing (where he'd be sitting/lying down), but otherwise he can sit on the seat (inside his carrier). also, airline security has the incredibly irritating policy of making you take your pet out of its carrier/kennel so the carrier can be x-rayed. if your pet is anything like mine, he hates going into his kennel, and once he's in, he hates coming out. i've heard about people whose cats have wriggled out of their arms while the carrier is going through the x-ray and bolted across the airport, past the security station. i know of one person that just ran through the metal detectors after her cat, and i don't think she got into any trouble for it, but i imagine there are some places where charging through security could be rather dangerous. put your cat on a leash for the flight. that way the critter won't bolt on you when you've got to take him out of his kennel as you go through security. (note: even if you put your pet in cargo, they still x-ray the kennel. which is odd, considering they don't x-ray checked baggage, but whatever. since when has the TSA's policy ever made sense?).

you should never sedate your cat for a flight, more often than not that's how they get injured. they're knocked out and then they get tossed around from turbulence and aren't awake/aware enough to brace themselves or retain their balance. most vets will recommend that you don't sedate cats for flights. yes, the cat will probably meow and cry or even hiss through most of the flight, and everyone around you will hate you, but better to have grumpy passengers than an injured kitty.

other people are moving their cats too? i've flown my cat on a plane before, but he's too big to go in the cabin under the seat in front of me so he was in the cargo. he was terrified and shaken up for a good day afterward. i can just picture him down there, it's cold and loud and he's getting tossed around in the turbulence. not fun. so on this move, i plan to actually buy him his own seat on the airplane, even though it will cost hundreds of dollars, just so he doesn't have to go back into the cargo. i hope he appreciates all the trouble i'm going to for his sake! as for everything else in my apartment, i'll just send it off with a moving truck. it's actually cheaper than me renting a u-haul or something myself once you factor in gas, hotels, and meals.

i'm having a hard time deciding too. and it's silly, because i'm letting the idea of living on the beach and taking frequent research trips without worrying about the cost sway me from a program that is in every way stronger and more suited to my interests. all 'cause i want a tan and the opportunity to use the ocean as my personal swimming pool. i suck. really. also, i'm sick of waiting for nyu. if the answer's no, then tell me now so i can get my visa paperwork in order and move on with my life. and if the answer is waitlisted, then disregard the two previous sentences.

i was etching out a nice little resume for myself in journalism when i decided to apply for a history PhD. i realized this is what i really want to do, so i'd still go into the field regardless of the state of the economy. i won't be crushed if i can't get a teaching job at a LAC or university upon graduation. people change careers 2 or 3 or 4 times nowadays, and for me, the PhD is the end itself, not just a means to another end (i.e. being a professor). just the other day i was talking to a friend about moving to a small fishing village somewhere south of the equator, eating what i catch that day, selling the rest at the local market, and growing all my fruit and veggies in my garden. if that's where my life takes me i'll be one of the luckiest people i know. i don't need an $80K salary from a research university to feel fulfilled, so the economy doesn't really scare me away from doing a PhD. it scares me for a host of other reasons, but my personal job security's not one of them.

thanks, i'll look into that. it's enough money to sway me, for sure. their original offer was a $20,000 TAship with no teaching in my first and last semester. the money would've been comparable to pitt's offer when adjusted for cost-of-living, but pitt has offered me two fellowships with no teaching required in my first year or my research year. before miami threw some extra money at me, pitt was clearly the stronger offer. but the $30,000/yr stipend would be a considerable upgrade in quality of life. plus, it's closer to the caribbean and there are tons of caribbean immigrants living there, so it would be great for my research. cheaper for travel and more resources readily available in the city itself. the faculty's pretty good too. pitt's probably the best fit, but miami's not far off. the ranking/prestige is fairly disparate, though, so i'll have to look into how much that could hurt me in the job market. i dunno.... i guess i have to decide if the extra money means that much to me. i'm still young and without dependents, but i'm broke as a joke so miami's offer is persuasive. i've contacted some profs in my field whose judgment i trust, i'll see what they have to say. i don't mean to brag, it's not like i got into 4 ivy league schools and i'm complaining that my 10th choice school rejected me. this is just a lot of money to me and i don't really know what to do now. ugh.

so, despite still waiting on nyu, i thought my decision about what school to attend was going to be obvious. pitt's history department as a whole isn't the strongest out there, but their latin american history program is pretty beefy and it's actually the perfect fit for my interests. so much so that it was #2 on my list of schools amongst all those fancy shmancy ivy leagues and top 10 schools that have rejected me. pitt offered me the most competitive funding package they have and i've been looking at apartments on craigslist, all excited to move. :roll: today, i get an email from the DGS at miami letting me know i won a university-wide fellowship. reduced teaching requirements, $30,000/yr. thirty. thousand. that is a ridiculous amount of money to me. i could live in a condo on the beach and get my scuba license and buy a surfboard (even though they only get waves in 'cane season). and no snow! i could even get an iphone. i could build my own darkroom, which i've wanted to do for 8 years. ugh, why?? why do they tempt me with their filthy floridian greenbacks? it's nice to be wanted by somebody, though.

yeah, i'll have to disagree. granted, you got into better schools than i did, so take this for what it's worth. i contacted 6 universities that i ended up not applying to because of the conversations i had with potential advisers. one said their school had no funding, one said he had no interest in the hispanic caribbean even though it was listed amongst his interests on his website profile [including a few articles he had published on the subject, albeit some years ago], three were retiring, and one didn't want to work on anything other than cuba. i saved myself a lot of time and money by contacting these people ahead of time.

ann farnsworth-alvear at upenn. she's the only modern latin americanist, though, and upenn doesn't really offer grad courses in latin america. seems that the only people who go there for their degree received their MA from another school and simply work on their PhD with her. she's fantastic, though. very friendly, helpful, had good insights regarding other schools' programs, and i'm a fan of her work. and mary roldan at cornell. cornell actually has a lot of its resources directed towards colombian studies, in various departments, not just history. they strongly encourage interdisciplinary approaches so you get quite a bit of mileage out of the school's expertise on colombia. that said, i've heard that mary roldan's leaving cornell for another institution in the fall, and i'm not sure where she'll be going. there was someone at indiana who i spoke to as well, but the name escapes me now. we didn't talk much because jeff gould is there for nicaraguan history, so he would've been my primary adviser. if i had had my application in order in time for the nov. 15 deadline for international students, which i did not.

i think meaningful contact with potential advisers is critical. they'll want to remember you when your application file comes across their desk. also, more than anything, i think fit is absolutely essential to whether or not you get admitted, especially when there are more applicants for fewer spaces than usual. for schools where i had a really strong fit and made a good connection with a potential adviser, i got in with full funding. for places where fit was a stretch, or the potential adviser ignored my emails or sent back the one liner, "i'd be happy to work with you should you be accepted," then i didn't get in. i don't know how it is for some other people here, but i want to work on a relatively small field (the caribbean coast of central america). save instances where a school has both a caribbeanist and a central americanist in their department, i've really only found two or three professors that could advise on precisely what i want to do. i cast a much wider net but in many cases i knew i was throwing my money down the drain before i even submitted my application. if the fit's not obvious, the admissions committee won't work to make the connection for you. even if you don't know what area or theme you want to study, you'll have to pitch them something concrete in your statement of purpose, if only so you can demonstrate that you can formulate a research project. it's hard to bump up a GPA over only 1 year. work on improving your GRE scores, maybe try to get a research paper published, and next time around do a lot of the application work early. contact potential advisers as early as september, stay in contact with them until the app is due, and try to only apply to schools where your interests fit. if you really want a top 10 or ivy league school, then lie about your interests to make the fit work. but don't try to (as i did) convince a colombian historian that they could advise you on the caribbean coast of nicaragua.

maybe mumblings wanted acceptances across the board? i had considered applying to UNC but the prospective adviser really didn't sound interested in what i wanted to study. "but apply anyway, i really look forward to reading your application!" yeah, no thanks. he's a great professor, a fantastic historian, a nice guy too. but i could tell that regardless of what my qualifications were, i'd get rejected. you told them they weren't your top choice, so they're going to offer a place to students who really want to go to their school. don't lose any sleep over it. UNC doesn't want you, but there are plenty of schools (including your top choice) that do.

if you're still waiting on princeton, that might actually be a good sign. they auto-emailed most of their rejections about a month ago.

it's not news. but think of the students who started their PhD program 5 years ago, when things were competitive but the economy was in one piece and more jobs were to be had. and now they've got nothing. like the person the NYT article bookends. it's depressing for him. your reaction amuses me, though.

well that's depressing.

i've found that most professors will tell you it's not a big deal to know exactly what you want to do for your research, that your ideas will change and that that's okay. but i've found that admissions committees want something concrete out of your statement of purpose, and if you don't know at the very least the country, time period, and thematic interests you want to study, they'll probably overlook your application. they're very much about fit with faculty when it comes to the admissions process. my suggestion would be to come up with two or three potential thesis/dissertation topics that may interest you. look for schools that have one faculty member who does almost exactly that (i.e. 20th century chilean labour history), but also have other faculty members in the field that study other topics that interest you. apply as though you know what you want to study, and once you get there you can always change topics and advisers. you're not obligated to study whatever topic(s) you include in your statement, but you should definitely have something concrete in there. one professor told me that if the "fit" with the faculty isn't obvious, the admissions committee won't work to make the connection for you.

got an email from michigan. the answer's no, but i'm not heartbroken about it. for anyone waiting for results from them, check your emails. good luck!!

nice! congratulations to you too! it said the MA program, but it also said that i was getting 5 years of funding and the doctoral dissertation fellowship, so i assumed that meant i was in for the PhD program. i think the way pitt works is they admit you to the MA program and as you're finishing your courses, they admit you to the PhD. now i'll have to double check... but i imagine it's the MA/PhD if they've laid out a 5 year funding package.

i got into pitt! the director of grad studies emailed me. a first year arts & sciences fellowship with no teaching requirements, a fourth year social science doctoral dissertation fellowship with no teaching requirements, and three years of a teaching fellowship (2nd, 3rd, and 5th years). i am really excited. pitt was one of my top choices and definitely the best "fit" out of any school that i applied to. i'mma go do a happy dance now.

that actually makes me feel better. i'd rather miss it by a mile than an inch.

just got my rejection letter from cornell. a nice letter. application was among the best they received, in another year i probably would've been admitted, they're sure i'll get into another top grad program somewhere. not surprising that i got the boot since my prospective adviser is moving to another school, but now i will begin that horrible dance of "what could have been." oh well.