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maeisenb

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Everything posted by maeisenb

  1. I don't have much to add really, but as one of my last posts I'll say this: I would encourage you to PM people (I'm fine with it at least) in your particular field for their insights and thoughts following each individual application season. Having just spoken to professors and, in many cases visited places, they will often know some of the most up to date information at each particular place and have a feel of comparing the schools. As others have said, this comes down to a really personal view of places, especially given your own narrow research interests. You've stated in the fields thread that you want to work on monastic studies and conflicts in authority in the medieval period (early, high or late is unclear and would need to be specified obviously), so I would encourage you to get in touch with the medievalists who were on here (myself, Remenis, and a few others that I know of). The schools will undoubtedly change over the two years of your MA, but it's never to early to at least know the field to begin with. I'll use this as my quasi official sign off and goodbye as well. I'm sure I'll stick check these forums from time to time, but best of luck to everyone starting in the fall and good luck to those starting the application process.
  2. The neighborhoods on the orange line are generally far superior with more interesting things to do and places to go. The blue line has Alexandria and that's about it, since the airport and the pentagon are on it. So it's (to some extent) older neighborhoods (orange) versus new more strip mall type places (blue).
  3. Haha, fair enough. Somehow I've become the quasi go to person for DC living, but happy to help. I'm going to assume that you are thinking of going to GW, so I'll base what I say off that. If you're fine with the suburbs, then I'd say anywhere out in VA will work well. You'll probably want to Metro to school, since you won't have parking or it will be really expensive, so anywhere out on the Orange line will work. As I mentioned above, I wouldn't live more than a 10-15 (really 10 is the limit) minute walk from the Metro and the farther out you get the cheaper the place will be. Finding a single home for cheap would be really tough on your own, so roommates would be necessary there. If you want to live alone there are complexes by every Metro (2 story apartment type things), but you'd have to check out each one's dog policies. Prices will vary depending on how far out you are, how old they are, etc., but I'd guess (based on extrapolation from friends and from looking at them a few years back), that they'd be around 1300 or so for one a bedroom. Plus, northern VA has tons of supermarkets, Asian restaurants (seriously amazing), places to work, and are typically fairly safe. Hope that helps!
  4. As I've mentioned on this thread before, "safe" is a subjective question. It completely depends on what you are used to, where you are coming from, and where you're comfortable living. CUA is on the red line so is easy to get to from most places and it's also on the H bus line so you can easily live somewhere directly across down (Columbia Heights, Mt Pleasant, etc. if you want to live in NW). I wouldn't recommend living right near the school, since it is a bit farther away from most of the nightlife of the city. Also, are you looking to live by yourself, with a roommate (or a few), and how much do you ideally want to spend are all obviously large questions.
  5. I agree with what Sonnyday wrote in terms of living, especially if you are going to have a car and don't care about being on the Metro line. I'd personally live somewhere in northern DC on the green line. but that's cause I think DC has a lot more to offer than the suburbs in terms of night life, things to do, etc. Reverse commuting up to College Park if you want to drive isn't as bad either. But obviously these are two very different options. 30 minutes sounds about right, although you will have to potentially switch lines depending on where exactly you'll be going and what line you're on. The question with the shuttle is how often it runs, especially if you are taking classes outside normal commuter times (8-9am in the morning). I'd be hesitant to be anywhere more than a 10-15 minute walk to the Metro if you're going to rely on it everyday to get to and from school.
  6. Not sure where you've seen 3 bedrooms for less than 2k a month anywhere in the general vicinity of SAIS, as that would be pretty much impossible. If you're living with your SO, then sure that's quite doable as you could have a 1 bedroom English basement somewhere for 1400 or so (which is still on the low end). I think SenatorSmith was just trying to be as up front and honest as possible with rent costs, so that maybe OregonGal could factor in higher expenses is all.
  7. Gtown is basically off by itself and not tied into the Metro system except via a 15-20 minute walk to Rosslyn. That being said, if you are both ok living off a Metro line and being away from the center of DC (i.e. families and more residential) look in Glover Park, Cathedral Heights or anywhere up Wisconsin Avenue really since you'll both be a quick bus ride to your respective schools. Most people don't use an apartment hunter and there's no real need for it in DC, since that will just cost extra money. As for the places you like, you could be put on a wait list if there is a place that you visited and you really love. That being said, if you wait until May/June/July that's when people really move a lot so there should be a ton more openings across the board. Plus, you'll have trouble finding a place this far in advance anyway. Pentagon City will be a tad expensive for places, but you can look in Crystal City which is just a little father out and there are a bunch of complexes there, but not much else since it's a pretty boring suburban sprawl (though the apartments are fairly reasonable and have pools in the complex). If you have a week or so to come out and look at places, then you should be able to get a place on Capitol Hill - though budget is a separate issue.
  8. A valid point and I think there is less grade inflation in Europe than compared to the US and the GRE, unless it's a state school with scholarships tied to it, matters more as a cut off than a plus unless you got close to a perfect score in which case they might say "wow." What I was trying to really get across to Scaeva still remains valid though in that it's not who's the smartest or has done the most numbers of years of a particular language. Rather, it's about articulating your specific project and why doing that is a perfect fit for the school, while also showing through your writing sample and SOP that you understand what that works entails and that you've done it before. My main point was that loving your field and doing well in your school are necessary, but not sufficient for admission.
  9. If you're ok living with another roommate (or a few other ones), then this should be doable. Plus, if you're fine living a 10-15 minute walk from the metro, but much closer to school via bus then just look somewhere up near the red line in northwest. The farther away from the center of DC you get the cheaper it will be. That being said, if you live up there getting places to go out for drinks, eat, visit museums, etc. will be much farther away. So that's the tradeoff. Well it sounds like you want a car for your baby, which is understandable. That being said, I would advise against VA since Gallaudet is on the complete opposite end of DC, so even though sales taxes is lower you'll pay the same amount if you factor in time getting across the bridges and through DC (traffic is awful) and gas costs. You might be able to find something for around that price for a 1 bedroom or a studio near the school, but the neighborhood won't be that nice (I hesitate to say not as safe, but probably not, although that depends on your own level of what you feel is safe). My recommendation would be to look in Maryland to the east of the school and away from the metro line as that will drop down prices quite a bit and make your commute ok. I don't know the area at all, but try on Craigslist for Bladensburg or Landover. (These are literally guesses by the way, but I would still look around those areas of Maryland.)
  10. To quickly chime in for a second here and to agree with what others said, it's not just about how well you've done and how smart you are (though you sound quite accomplished). As Attia and OEA noted writing samples are hugely important, as is the SOP. But more than that, it's a numbers game where everyone applying has a great GPA and is really smart. So if the best student at the top 300 schools in the world apply for a specific classics program, then it's not about how smart or brilliant you are so much as how you position yourself for a given program to work with what their expertise is. If I've learned anything from this process, it's that it's 100% different from say law school where you have an LSAT score and a GPA and you can create a matrix of where you will be accepted and rejected. That is simply not the case with PhD admissions and part of it is a dark art, but it's also about knowing how to specifically tailor your application to each school. I would certainly suggest reaching out to places and see if professors you wanted to work with were ok giving you some help with how your application could be strengthened moving forward.
  11. UK funding tends to work differently and like it used to be here (think UW-M, where they admit a bunch of people but only fund some). If you're American, then you can't apply for AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) funding since it only applies to UK or European students. That's probably why they are being fairly vague about it and suggesting that you apply for outside funding, but feel free to PM me if you have more questions.
  12. No idea what that means, but Google it and I'm sure you'll find an answer. 6th Street SE is very safe and might even be in the Capitol Hill Police zone, which would make it even safer. That being said, there's no online resource for what's safe and what's not because safe is a relative term obviously. Anything in NW will be pretty safe as will places right near the Hill, but that doesn't mean that everyone will feel safe everywhere. As someone who grew up in a city (and as a guy), I'm comfortable in most places, but if you're from a rural or suburban location then your definition might be quite different. Generally though any place on the red line in NW, blue/orange from eastern market west, and on the yellow/green from Petworth and south are mostly fine - though obviously some buildings aren't as nice as others. I agreed above that this was doable for that price, but you need a car and you're in the suburbs rather than living in DC. Thus far less able to take advantage of DC life, which, in my mind, is one of the huge advantages of going to school in DC.
  13. I was in the exact same position and am finishing up my gap year now, which I would highly suggest. If you know exactly what you want to do in the fall of your program like rkg2012, then that's great and by all means create a strong relationship with faculty and apply that fall. That being said, I've found that since you finish in September with the MA, you can come home and immediately start on your applications and have a lot more time to devote to those for the entire fall. If your parents are fine with you living at home for a few months (or you can live somewhere else for cheap) while you do that, then get a retail or a temp job to pay the odd bills and survive while using the time to: contact professors, really write a terrific SOP, and edit your writing sample (which will probably be a condensed version of your MA thesis). You'll know your professors really well after a year, so you'll have 2-3 great letters and will probably know a lot more about what you want to work on after doing your MA thesis. Don't worry about what it will look like when you apply that you're taking a year off because programs will know that you finished in September - rather than May or June - so there is in reality only a 2-3 month gap. Then by the time you're done with applications in December or early January it's only 6-8 weeks until you hear back and you can temp or something in that time. If you get in places, then keep temping or working retail until you want to leave or, if you don't get in, then you can apply for full time jobs. I highly recommend taking the year off as long as you are ok temping or doing other odd jobs for a few months and you can also look at it as just a little time off before your program starts. Your letters of rec will probably be better and so will your writing sample. Plus, if you don't take the year off you'll be rushed to finish your MA thesis by August, since you'll have to move back to the US to start your PhD program before you're done with it.
  14. I just went through this last fall and it can be a pain, but definitely doable and most programs in the US have a few people that go through this every year so they know the deal (on what the grades mean, timing, etc.). You might have trouble getting a copy of your official transcript in time (our final grades were not released until December 10 or so), in which case you might have to put it together as a few different documents. So I had: a cover note explaining the situation, an official enrollment form with my ID number highlighted, a list of enrolled classes (again with my ID noted), a PDF we were sent that listed ID numbers and final marks (again highlighted to show who I was), and a screen shot of my final grades. I then uploaded all of that as my "transcript" and for any places with earlier deadlines made sure to send them that ASAP. So a pain, but can be done.
  15. I think there is a slight disconnect between the question posed and the answers provided in that the OP is asking for a set of rankings and the responses are discussing fit, although the responses are trending that way because there are no definitive sub field rankings that exist (I assume this is the case anyway) I think Kai2010 got it right asking for the sub field that you work on to get you some more specific answers. As I said previously when suggesting that you ask the question here, the only definitive rankings you will get are between schools that are obvious (i.e. Harvard and 2nd tier state school). If you choices are less obvious (e.g. Harvard vs. Yale), then it comes down to who the specific person in your sub field is, how the rest of the academic field regards him/her, and how he/she places people. Those (and some others I'm sure I've forgotten) will determine informal rankings. That being said, I'm not at all qualified to comment on specific schools and people in 20th century African American history, but what you should note is: what's your sub field (i.e. 1920s economic, 1960s cultural, etc.)? If you're not comfortable posting your specific schools - which is 100% understandable - then maybe at least your sub field and people can throw out ideas of places that are really good (and then you can message with them from there).
  16. While I think you pose an interesting question and Hanson's Fan (if this is the boy band, then I love the reference) has a good response. I just want to quickly point out that this example is largely irrelevant for most people. In this situation you have a Republican political appointee who rose through the ranks of politically appointed positions where all you need is a B.A. Once the Republicans lost control he went to Montenegro (2011 minus 2.5 gives you that he left at the end of the Bush Administration) and joined the non political arm of USAID (one assumes). Thus, at that point he now entered the civil service at a lower pay band (G-whatever rank), since the non-political jobs work on a merit based system that takes into account advanced degrees (as it should). This, rather than being an example of requiring an advanced degree, is more an example of poor planning. He should have done one of two things: 1. Realized that Republicans weren't going to be in power forever and, as such, gone to grad school at a much younger age if he wanted to enter the civil service. 2. Or realized that he is a political operative at this point and gone to work on the House or Senate Foreign Affairs Committees doing communications or other work, especially now that there are more Republican staffers post 2010 election. So the result is that either he was extremely naive (choice 1) or had few connections on the Hill or in downtown DC to get a job (choice 2, with a little naivete built in of course as well).
  17. To get more advice, I'd post this in the history section, since there are a bunch of historians who can probably give you better ideas there. The general views are: 1. Look at the professors you would work with to see what they work on, determine their fit, and especially how they place people. Make sure there are multiple people you want to work with too. 2. Overall rankings do matter, although probably between tiers more than anything. So Harvard is probably better to have a PhD from then say a second tier state school. That's just a start and it's not mathematical as you said, but I'd definitely post in the historian forum as there are other people who are working on African American history over there and might be willing to give you specifics on certain programs or message with you as well.
  18. That is really an amazing story and I am in awe of what you have been able to accomplish. As someone who was rejected my first cycle as well, I understand how much it sucks to work so hard and then hear nothing good back in response. That being said, you hit the nail on the head when you said "it's not enough to be smart." It doesn't have as much to do with the job market as it does with the fact that everyone applying is really smart, has a great GPA (3.7+), and probably good GRE scores as well (math scores probably matter less in history, although something in the 95th percentile is certainly a great score). If you assume that 1 person from the top 300 schools in the country applies to history programs with similar stats, then the real problem of numbers begins to emerge, so now you're competing against 300 people who are all smart. That's the main thing I realized the first time around. It's not enough to be the smartest. So what makes the difference? I would first off echo what some of the above posters have said about fit, since you have to choose your places carefully. Read your writing sample again and find the people whose work has most influenced you and then Google them to see where they work. Keep doing this until you have a rather large list of places and then begin to comb through what their most recent research was on to see if your interests match their new ideas moving forward. Contacting people is often a good idea, although as jdharrison pointed out, is not necessarily the most important thing. I would certainly suggest it next time you apply, but each place works differently and I've gotten rejected from places that I had great conversations with people and accepted at places where we only exchanged a few perfunctory emails. Two other things I would definitely continued to work on: 1. Writing Sample- Each place as different page limit and stick to within that, but take your best piece of writing that is in your area that you want to work on and cut it down if necessary. A few people on the history forum suggested summarizing chapters you didn't definitely need (which I did) and then cutting down what you do have until you reach the limit (15, 20, 25 pages, etc.). Even if you did amazingly well on your sample - which I'm sure you did - you can continue to improve it until it's even more polished. Also, make sure it demonstrates whatever languages you have or need for your historical field. Plus it should show a firm grasp of the recent historiography in the field, so that you can jump right into discussions with a potential supervisor and a cohort. 2. SOP- As everyone notes, this is clearly the most important part of the entire package you put together. One of the most helpful things I found was a Poli Sci thread in which people post their SOPs after they got in and were rejected. I used the one for last year which had about 10-15 people and I know there is one this year that is steadily being built up as we speak. Read through those all at once so you get a feel of what an admissions committee does. It was amazing how quickly I realized that people who wrote about future plans and discussed theoretical ideas were far more interesting than those who simply listed their accomplishments. At some point you should mention some faculty members and why your idea makes sense with their fit. The best analogy someone used somewhere on this forum was making the glove fit perfectly. I disagree with MediaMom that you should write 12 or 13 pages, although the general consensus (here and after talking to current grad students) is that you should get roughly within the limits. So if it says 1000 words than 1100 or something is fine, but don't go on for 2500. Anyway, those are just some general thoughts. As I see that you work in history, might I ask what field in particular? If you want, I'm happy to speak more through personal messages or read anything you send over for constructive criticism. After all this forum is all about helping others get in and I know I benefited greatly from what previous people have written, so I'm more than happy to help!
  19. The DC/College Park situation comes down to what matters most for you, since MD is so close to the city. In my mind the question is: do you want your own place for cheaper somewhere in the suburbs or do you want to share a place in DC itself so that you can go out more and meet more people? Now personally being in DC to be able to go out would matter more to me and the commute time from say Columbia Heights on the Metro is about the same (30-35 minutes). If you're at grad school that's so close to DC and want to meet non-grad students who are your age, then living in DC would seem to be a better idea. But then again, that's my personal view.
  20. Sorry to bring you bad news, but that price isn't going to be possible for a two bedroom. The cheapest 2 bedrooms with a parking spot anywhere that's in an established neighborhood would be at least 2000 or so. You might be able to find a place that's around a mile from the Metro in VA or MD for less, but then you'd have a long walk to the Metro or have to drive in (through bad traffic and need to park downtown, which is fairly hard to find or expensive). Or if you were ok with a long ride in every day you could live out near Falls Church or Vienna, but even those would be closer to 2000 than 1000 or sure. As a comparison, 4 years ago a two bedroom out there would still be 1,600 and I imagine the price has gone up since then. If you want a 1 bedroom plus a den (for working), then that might drop it down to around 1500 or so, so that's what I'd aim for somewhere fairly far out on the Orange Metro line. If you are ok with a 1 bedroom, then you can probably find one for around 1500 in an area in DC itself, although it might have to be an English basement for it to be that low.
  21. It depends on where the school that wait listed you is on your list. If it's your top choice, then I'm assuming you'd wait it out regardless. If you've already gotten in places you prefer more than the place you are wait listed, then you might as well withdraw. I've done the latter within a week of getting notified about a wait list, since I hope it means someone else who really wants to go and (if there is some type of ordered wait list) it means someone else can move up. That would seem to be both the fairest and most logical thing to do.
  22. Well I'm officially done as of this morning. Best of luck to everyone who still has places to hear from!
  23. maeisenb

    New York, NY

    Well then it comes down to how far you want to commute really, since obviously the farther out you go the more the price will drop. I would avoid Staten Island unless you want a ridiculous commute every day, since you'll be going from the southern edge of the city all the way to upper Manhattan. Westchester might not be a bad bet in terms of commuting, but it's also going to cost a lot more and I'm not sure you can find the price range you are looking for. If 1,500 really is the max you can go, then look at somewhere in Jersey not too far from the NJ Transit line or maybe somewhere past the 7 train in Queens which ties you to the LIRR (e.g. Flushing). To get to that price though in those places, you might need to be a 15-20 walk from the station (unless you want to pay to park there). You've done more searching than I have it sounds like, but NYC is the most expensive market in the country and a 3 bedroom for 1500 in a nice established neighborhood is still going to be hard to do unless you are fine with an hour plus commute every day in each direction.
  24. I was making the case for public schools, which are what people were mentioning as cutting back (IU, UW-M, OSU, UVA, MN, California schools, etc.). Those are the only places that people had mentioned hard numbers being down from what I remember. New England Nat had mentioned that Princeton had taken too many people last year, but didn't seem to be accepting fewer this year just hoping that the yield returned to normal. Feel free to correct me if there are private schools that have adjusted downward though.
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