CageFree

Another thing is, dog rescue groups are always looking for good foster homes for senior dogs. People dump seniors at the shelter just cause they don't want to deal with them anymore, or before they "start getting sick." It's so sad. Seniors can still live a good number of years. Older dogs are quieter, less likely to get into trouble, and there's something very cool about giving an old dog a good home to "retire" in.

That's awesome! And don't sweat the GPA. Mine was worse. LOL.

I can't tell you what to do but I can tell you that I would pick B... that's just too much debt.

Your decision should depend on: a. how much will you make with your degree, realistically? Is it going to be enough to pay back a $150K loan AND live comfortably? think in realistic terms... i.e. the average for the person in your industry. b. will graduating from school B make a huge difference in being able to get the type of job (i.e. if you go to school B, are you likely to make significantly less than you would from school A? $150K worth?) I'm in a different field but I would NEVER pay that kind of money for grad school... even law school. I can't think of any profession in which I'd be likely to recoup the cost and live comfortably without winning the lotto.

Before making such a decision, think long and hard about the reasons why you are thinking of switching. Are you unsure you want to get more than a MS? Is Stanford a better pick for you? Is it just cold feet? If, after considering these things very carefully, you are sure that Stanford is a better place for you, then go ahead and set that into motion. Just make sure it's not just on a whim.

I really second that advice. I did my first 'drafts' in August, thought I had a good draft in September, and then started working on my writing sample, plus had to dive into the rest of my "life." I didn't really pick up the SOP again until late October, once I had a better idea of what I wanted to do, especially from having talked to professors via email or on the phone, and I rewrote it completely. I think I had about 4-5 completely different drafts (meaning, not revisions, but rewritten entirely... different approach, style, etc.) before I finally settled on one "version" that was submitted, with modifications and further edits, to each school. And I'll add that since the application season is about two months long, don't feel like you have to submit all of your apps at the same time. I am glad I staggered them... my last application round was the most successful in terms of admissions AND funding. My first two applications (Brown and Wisconsin) were embarrassing, comparatively speaking. Thing is, I don't think I could have done it differently. Once I submitted my last app, I told myself I would not look at it again because I knew I'd start picking it apart AGAIN and then I'd start freaking out over the mistakes that were still there. I will also second the idea that everyone has different timing... what you're doing while you're working on apps (work, classes) definitely influences the choices you have to make.

@unforth - At this time last year, I hadn't made up my mind completely that I was gonna do Ph.D. programs. I was still tossing around the idea of doing an MA only. I had lined up a couple of letters of rec. I hadn't even decided to change fields from Late Antiquity to Latin America... I was still trying to make Late Antiquity work for me even though I couldn't get inspired. Timeline wise... Nov 2010 - contacted recommenders re: MA June - made up my mind to do a PhD and to switch fields Summer Vacation + surgery recovery July - began studying for GRE, researched programs August - GRE studying, contacted a couple of profs, began writing SOP Back to work (teaching, coaching, and wedding planning) Sept - began revising sample, worked on SOP, took GRE, sent info to recommenders Oct - writing SOP, revising sample, contacting profs Nov - began applications, got GRE scores, first letters submitted, talked to profs on the phone Late Nov - submitted first two apps Dec - kept revising SOP and sample, submitted two more apps, Jan - kept revising SOP and sample, submitted last two apps I get tired just looking at that.

The financial aspect is something that shocks the heck out of people. I didn't know it either... it wasn't until my fiance mentioned it (when he played with the idea of getting a Physics Ph.D.) that I found out my fees would be paid... let alone that I'd get support. That was one reason why I put it off for so long... I just figured I had too many obligations to plunge myself into further student-loan debt and figure out how to survive.

The way I shortened mine was to only submit three chapters... the first three, which were the strongest. They are not going to be reading to find your entire argument... they are looking for evidence of good writing and analysis. I added a 1-page summary of the entire paper, and a table of contents to show where those chapters fit. I also made sure that my citations were more explicit since I was not attaching the whole bibliography.

I did... each school had different requirements so for some I had to trim the sample more than for others. I think I even submitted different sections to meet length requirements. I thought of doing a whole other paper but the task was too daunting, especially considering I had been out of academia for a long time and didn't know who to send samples to. I was lucky to have an honors thesis that I could go through, but the version I had was in a floppy disk (LOL), and the bibliography was missing... so I had to rebuild the bibliography from scratch, redo the citations, and THEN start rewriting, adding new citations (things I had missed)... it was a serious edit. I was very well trained as an undergrad, however, so it may have made things easier for me.

That was probably me (If not, I apologize, though I do fit that description). I came into this process with a lot of similarities... out of academia for 12 years, undergrad field unrelated to proposed field. My writing sample was a research paper... from 2000. I went through it over and over to prepare it as a writing sample... in the end, the samples I submitted were under 20 pages because I didn't submit the whole thing. What matters is that the paper be well-written and use the proper sources. My undergrad GPA wasn't stellar either. Anyway, feel free to PM me with questions/concerns/vents

Congrats!

American History R_Escobar (20th century, American Indian), crazedandinfused (antebellum, intellectual), hopin'-n-prayin' (southern, religious), stevemcn (transnational), Simple Twist of Fate (early American), zb642 (20th century, labor/working-class culture), BCEmory08 (19th-20th century Catholicism, labor), irvinchiva10 (20th century, immigration/immigration reform) European HistoryKelkel (Modern Germany, political), goldielocks (Britain), SapperDaddy (Eastern and Central Europe), kotov (Modern Romania, Holocaust, labor), RevolutionBlues (Modern Western Europe/France labor and leftist politics), theregalrenegade (18th/19th cent British Empire/environment), jrah822 (19th century Britain; emphasis on colonial relationship to India), grlu0701 (Intellectual & cultural history,fin de siecle Germany and Italy), naturalog (modern European [mostly German] intellectual and cultural/sexuality and gender/political radicalism), runaway (Eastern/Central, memorialization & visual culture), Sequi001 (Modern France, gender and sexuality, colonialism/imperialism) African HistoryOseirus (precolonial/early colonial West Africa), Singwaya18 (20th century East Africa), Safferz (20th century Horn/Northeast Africa), The People's Scholar (Spanish colonialim in Africa- i.e. middle/West Africa) Latin American HistoryCageFree (20th century, Southern Cone), BH-history, The People's Scholar (18th-19th century Colombia) East Asian Historyalleykat (Modern China), kyjin (Pre-Modern Japan) Near/Middle Eastern Historyuhohlemonster, (modern Israel, Iran, Palestine) oswic (modern Egypt, gender) Atlantic World sandyvanb Global/World History [*]cooperstreet (Cold War) Jewish History [*]uhohlemonster, (modern Israel) [*]hopin'-n-'prayin, [*]kotov (Holocaust), [*]naturalog (sometimes modern European/Holocaust), [*]runaway (memorialization & visual culture), [*]ticklemepink (20th c. Germany/U.S) Science/Technology [*]shaxmaty1848 (Cold War) Social [*]annieca (Cold War and Post-Cold War East and Central Europe) Classical and Medieval [*]Hogs of War (Monastic Studies and Conflicts in Authority)

German annieca, kotov, Kelkel, Ganymede18, grlu0701 Spanish annieca, crazedandinfused, Ganymede18, grlu0701 (kind of), CageFree French theregalrenegade, Ganymede18, CageFree (reading, can speak a bit) Hebrew uhohlemonster, crazedandinfused (ktzat) Italian Latin Kelkel, Ganymede18 Greek Ganymede18 (New Testament) Russian Polish runaway Romanian kotov Japanese kyjin Portuguese CageFree (reading) I took Latin and German in college but I can't say I'm fluent in either... I forgot most of my Latin, except that it has helped me understand French and Portuguese well enough to pass a translation test. I plan to take a "Portuguese for Spanish speakers" class to develop spoken fluency, and then I'll probably either take German again, or work on French.

I would probably tell each school that you need to be able to make a decision based on funding and ask them to allow you to accept/decline AFTER that date. Personally, I think that expecting someone to make a decision before giving funding information is unfair. What if you accept one and then they don't offer funding?

Congrats on being done SToF! It's a great feeling!

I am thinking it will be that as well

So awesome to see another Latin Americanist on the board!

I just got an e-mail saying I was awarded a $25K fellowship for my first year (at Davis)! On cloud nine!

Contacting them may have no bearing on acceptances, but it can help you get a better sense for the school and whether you'd want to go there. Because I contacted people I found out that there were a couple of professors not taking any students, and two schools that looked good on paper but are not a great fit for me. Plus, contacting them can be a good starting-off point for conversations about your potential topics... finding out what is doable and what's not, whether something has been done to death, and what type of scholarship a particular POI is involved in.

I applied to 6, though originally it was 7 (decided not to apply to San Diego at the last minute). I think at least 5, and I don't think I'd do more than 10, personally... I'd hate to ask for THAT many letters of rec.

Someone asked a while back to have us update this so I figured... might as well.

My BA is from UCLA and I loved it. The faculty is top-notch and, in my experience, very helpful (even as an undergrad), the library system at the UC is unmatched (keep in mind you'll have access to the ENTIRE catalog for the UC, including Cal's). It IS possible to live on a meager stipend if you know where to live and are willing to commute... as bad as public transportation is in LA, UCLA is easily reachable from many places. Downside? The department is HUGE, and depending on the field you may have to fight to get attention from your professors. You'll also have a heavy TA load because the lower division classes are gigantic... I'm talking 300 students gigantic. Oh, and our athletics programs have been run into the ground.

Thank you for starting this thread, Sigaba. I was thinking of doing it myself to get some advice.

Yep. That describes most of OC though, with the exception of Huntington Beach and Seal Beach.. and maybe Laguna Beach. Just one gigantic suburban nightmare. I live in North OC, unfortunately, so I go to Long Beach or the South Bay to get the hell away from this place pretty often.