CageFree

Americanists nowadays are everywhere... it's the most impacted field, from what I understand. With a PhD you won't have time to work as an attorney.. plus, if you're getting funding, you may not even be allowed to work beyond TA/RA work. And no, the fact that I've changed doesn't worry me in terms of letters because frankly, I haven't changed THAT much. The characteristics that made me a relatively successful undergrad helped me through my credential, and through the past 7 years of teaching. I have a letter from my current principal that helps with that. You need to make sure this is something yoU REALLY want to do. From what you've written, I can't tell if you have a real commitment to History or if you're just itching to get out of law and thinking... well, this would be a good alternative. *** Edited to add: Perhaps a good compromise for you would be to do a part-time M.A. in history while you work. I considered that for about a year... just decided that I want to dive in full-time into studying and not worry about working, even though my income will be reduced by about 40K or so. That might help you see if you really want a career in academia.

Hi! I'm just starting my applications right now so I just have a few things to point out. I know someone (a colleague of mine) who had a similar story, and decided to teach, pretty much for the same reasons. So know you're not on your own. The fact that you graduated near the top of your class will no doubt be very helpful - it wouldn't be detrimental to your application. As for your letters, I'd get a mix of both. If you were an outstanding student back as an undergrad, there should be at least one or two professors that remember you. Did you write a thesis? If so, your thesis advisors most definitely should. I have been out of school since 2000, and wrote back last year to ask for letters from two professors. Not only did they remember me, one of them wrote me a letter within 15 days (last year) and it was a page and a half long. The other one I've been in contact with and she hasn't written it yet but she's been giving me a lot of advice - she was my thesis chair, and has already said she will write me one as well. So... don't underestimate yourself nor your ability to get letters of rec. I'd say one or two from undergrad to attest to your work in History, and then one from law school, should do the trick.

I think that's true of every profession and career. This could have been me straight out of my B.A. - I was burned out, the last thing I wanted to do was pick up another book, and I didn't have the maturity to go onto graduate school. Sometimes (and I believe this is certainly the case in the OP's case), you need to do a little growing up, and become your own person, before you can continue past your B.A. - you're going to be devoting 3-6 years of your life to this new pursuit. If you are not sure who you are, or have the maturity to stand up to another adult and say, "I'm going to do what *I* want to do because *I* want to make *myself* happy, instead of making *you* happy," then grad school is always a bad idea. You have to be mature and grown up before you go. Otherwise, you'll be miserable, you will end up finding yourself doing something you are not cut out for (or you plain hate), and you'll have wasted everyone's time and sometimes, money.

I think #4 is going to be the hardest sell. Considering how limited funding is nowadays, they may wonder whether you are someone worth giving money to rather than someone else. I'm sure you are a great writer... just make a good case by displaying your enthusiasm for what you want to do.

Will do, thanks!

Latin Americanist, second half of the 20th century My interests currently have to do with the Dirty War in Argentina. One little project I am working on right now (to see if I can turn it into a writing sample) is the radicalization of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo and whether any of it had to do with their own children's alleged (and in some cases, real) radical, ultra-left wing agendas. My second field is modern U.S. History, specifically foreign policy toward Latin America. My resarch will likely combine both fields - I'm interested in U.S. foreign policy toward those military dictatorships, especially the ones in Argentina, as part of a policy of containment. I do want to look at it from the point of view of the dictatorships. Since I grew up in Argentina during the 1980s, a lot of those issues were part of the political atmosphere that I grew up with. I experienced a lot of rejection for being American-born (to Argentine parents); there was (and still is) a lot of anger directed at Americans, both due to allegations of CIA assistance to the dictatorships and to American pro-British involvement in the Malvinas war. I have a lot of background in modern U.S. history from teaching it at the secondary level, so I think that's definitely influenced my research interests.

I have one Dec. deadline so far.. most are in Jan, thankfully.

I don't know... I am in a different field now than I was back then. I did graduate in 2000.

So you have no plan to teach? Please teach for a few years. You'll be amazed at how much better informed you'll be when dealing with educational policy if you've walked a mile or two in our shoes.

Okay, thanks guys. I was thinking the same thing but I wasn't sure if it mattered when it comes to different fields altogether. You're right though, it's hard to tell from just a CV.

Okay, another thing is... I have a teaching credential and had to take some history courses to help me get ready for standardized tests (the CSET, kind of like the Praxis II). Would those count at all toward "upper division work in history?" These courses were taken 2 years after my graduation.

Sigaba- That's exactly where I am stuck. The readers will have no knowledge of the historiography of my old field, and I want to show that I have at least some knowledge of this new field. I have a month to put something together... no one says it has to be a brilliant thesis, just a solid paper that shows that I have background in the field, know how to do research, and can write. My thesis is not at all broad - it is VERY narrow, a case study on hagiography for a specific saint, though placed in the context of the relationship between religion and secular authority during the time period. It's about as far removed from my current interests as I can think of. One advantage I do have is that I have a history PhD who works in my department at school and teaches History of the Americas - he already told me he would be willing to read and help me out. Perhaps I could send two documents (smaller than the total sample). One that showcases my knowledge in my own field, and one that more accurately reflects what I'm interested now. It's a very tough decision. I don't know how else I can show that I do have background in my new field, even if I don't have the coursework for it.

I have the same question. I had a HORRIBLE year in Engineering. I had to start from scratch and it took an extra 3 and 2 quarters to finish. But it was my third year that was stellar - taking all upper division classes. This kind of wording gets very confusing to me.

For those of us who come from immigrant backgrounds, it is unavoidable that those backgrounds will influence our interests. Why is someone from China or of Chinese background often drawn to study Chinese history? Of course that's not a requirement... I've met African-American professors who taught Tudor England, and German professors who taught the Middle East. Part of the personal statements I've read asks how you became connected to the area you want to study. Should someone lie and say, "oh, I was just reading about China and randomly thought I would be interested," when they are Chinese? That's unrealistic.

I graduated from UCLA, which has a well-reputed Latin American History program. When I was there I was not at all doing Latin American history - didn't take a single class in that department. Is it a bad idea to apply there for the PhD? I was told that getting all of your degrees from the same school is a bad idea because it shows no breadth, but since I studied in a different field altogether.. would it matter?

Thank you so much! I have a question about Pitt - I checked out their website and it seems like the admissions to MA and PhD are separate, but both are funded. Did I read that correctly? If so, would I be applying to the M.A. program or the PhD program?

You should have at least two languages DOWN before applying for a PhD. Ideally, you have Latin, French, German and possibly Greek (depending on the program). If you haven't taken French or German, then pick one and do it for the next TWO years. Then, plan to do a summer intensive course in Greek. You'd only need to do one more language. For Latin, make sure the courses are translation courses. Best thing to do is to look around for programs that seem to match your interests, and then look at the language requirements for those programs. For example, I've found that in Latin America, they pretty much all want Spanish and Portuguese, but some want another language, like French or a native language. That varies by program.

Just wanted to make sure you didn't think that teachers get hired based on SAT tutoring And I do agree you're on the right track.

With the new GRE, they have a detailed timeline. For Aug/Sept, the test results will not be available until Nov. 15 or so.

robot_hamster - I like that idea. Giving feedback to students is so important!

Well, to clarify, I didn't get hired as a teacher based only on that... I also had student-taught under two master teachers by this point. But those types of experiences would have been okay for getting hired as a sub, for example.

There is some software out there that professional teachers (I don't mean any respect, I mean people who teach for a living) use. Nowadays many districts have electronic gradebook that you access online that are tied to attendance records, and that parents/students can access by getting personal accounts. However, there are programs (some free!) still for those who don't have access to such things. Just a couple of electronic gradebooks: http://www.engrade.com/ https://www.igradeplus.com/ Hope that helps

Hi I'm a high school teacher. When I applied for my first job, I had student-taught, but I also listed other experience. I used to do SAT tutoring, both in-classroom (at a couple of local high schools, I taught prep classes) and one-on-one. In high school, I had volunteered in our school's tutoring center, and in college I had worked with an outreach program to teach math to 4th and 5th graders to at-risk students. Based on past job applications (like, my first teaching job), I would say that any situation in which you've had to guide or teach students, whether it was one-on-one or in a classroom setting, regardless of whether it was volunteer or paid, qualifies as teaching experience. I would say to list it, and try to emphasize the teaching parts of it - any type of instructional guidance you've provided. Some people, for example, list teaching Sunday School - it counts. What they would like to see is that you have some experience in front of a group of students, and/or that you have taught things to others. Wording is EVERYTHING. If you assisted people in a lab, for example, word it as, "guided students in..." or "instructed..." instead of "assisted," for example. Use words that imply there was some type of teaching involved, as opposed to, for example, you were just there in the lab making sure they didn't destroy the computers Hope that helps!

I have been completely out of the loop for 11 years, and have since then taught other (unrelated) subjects. Let's just say that in rereading the thesis, some things I do remember but a lot is... practically new information. I don't feel very comfortable with the topic anymore. I did look through my old essays and found two, a book review and comparison to a textbook, and an analysis of a primary source, that look very strong. Together, the samples are about 13 pages. I got an A and an A+ on each.. 12 years ago. Those would be easier to fix I think because they are shorter, and I have feedback specifically from the professors on each one. Would that be a better thing to send, since I'm more confident in those two?

I am starting to study for the GRE, doing some research to help me write my SOP, since I changed fields, and deciding whether to polish my thesis and what parts to include for the writing smaple, or write something new. I've been doing research on schools/programs too