jdario909

Any other takes on this? I looked at the NRC rankings, but I guess I really don't know what they mean. Can someone here provide a straight forward answer about rankings? Every school says their program is ranked high. I guess feel I was fooled into thinking OSU is good. I don't know where all these fears are coming from. Maybe they are my own personal demons. Where are ticklemepink's optimistic posts :'( ...

That's interesting. Wisconsin-Madison is rated in the rage 33 - 59 and UCLA 20 - 37. And Miami University (Oxford), which does not have a PhD program, is given the ranking 8 - 23? I find that hard to believe. But these are from 2006. In my subfield, though, my advisor is very well known and respected, so I guess that may count for more?

Thank you everyone for the replies. I guess, I have one final question, and that is how do you know what a tier 1, tier 2, etc. history program is? Where would a school like OSU fit? I look at the US News Rankings, but I don't know what they mean really. Thank you!

I see what you are saying, natsteel, and I appreciate the straight forward response. I guess I just want to know quite honestly if OSU is a respected history program. The scholar I will be working with certainly is, but I am not sure if that is enough. Also, do students ever drop out of their programs and apply to 'higher ranked' programs? I feel I sold myself short by not applying to Stanford, Princeton, and Chicago - all of which have great programs in my field but I was just too afraid that I would not get in.

Hi, So, I was fortunate enough to be admitted to OSU's History program. It is not a top 10 program, but it is ranked 24 or something like that. However, the user borderlands posted an interesting article by the AHA about why name matters when trying to find a job. I was thinking about it more and more, and I did some research, and I was so shocked to find all of these articles online about jobless PhDs in the humanities. Why is this? Is this the general job market? Or is it because of name? Here is one article I read from the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/07/arts/07grad.html Then I read an even more depressing articles in the Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/article/Graduate-School-in-the/44846 http://chronicle.com/article/Graduate-School-in-the/44846 I love studying History. I really do. I didn't go into a PhD to escape the job market. I really want to be in academia, but these articles, quite frankly, scared me, and I wish I had done more research. Quite honestly, I feel like just quitting grad school and going to a trade school. I often ask myself if I would be happier being a nurse, an electrician, an IT person, or even a high school teacher. I have no idea, at times, why I even went into academia. What do you all think? Does the job market for History PhDs (and the humanities in general) scare you? Do you ever ask yourself whether or not you have done the right thing? I guess the one thing that comforts me is the fact that my PhD is fully funded. Even then, though, I don't want to end up realizing that I will be wasting the next 6 -7 years of my life studying stuff that no one really cares about and that is not marketable ...