maeisenb

Thanks! I definitely appreciate the heads up about USC, so I will take a look there for sure. From what I've heard UCLA's medieval department has had a few people leave recently, so I'll have to see who's going to stay and such. As for languages, I agree with everything Sparky said. It sounds like you are doing your best to learn what you need to know in formal classes, so getting something formal shouldn't be too hard. I did the same thing with German where I took it in college so have that on there, but also took night classes to review it recently, so just have to secure a transcript from the place. Only negative is that it will cost money for each copy. Sigh.

I know the UK system, but not science at all, so take this with a grain of salt. The main difference is going to be the focus that is expected of you during applications. As you know, in the UK you have to propose a specific narrow topic to get funded and then you work on that for 3 years, while in the US that's not as expected. I would guess your masters would come in handy for showing your extra credentials and research skills, so that won't hurt at all. Like most others on this forum, your grades are good, but you should highlight any particular research you have done. All that being said, the entire process is still a crap shoot for you like it is for most others. I'm sure some POIs will see coming from the UK as a positive, while others will see it as a negative depending on with whom you worked, classes you took, etc. It seems like you have all the necessary academic requirements, but a science person can speak to how that factors in more than I can. On a personal note, I find the UK system of financing frustrating, since only EU citizens are eligible for funding over there whereas pretty much anyone can study in the US. So in that sense you are better off for being from the UK...

I thought i kicked its ass as well and got a similar score. GRE is all about not bombing and you did fine with everything else. SOP and writing sample will show what you can write history wise, rather than following some stupid writing prompt that has nothing to do with anything.

I disagree. You can work for a number of organizations in various capacities before getting a Masters, just not maybe in as heavily a policy role right away. I have a number of friends who have worked at NGOs, etc. in various positions pre-MA (organizing on the ground, elections work, assistant roles, etc.), then went back and got their MA and then worked at other NGOs. While I wouldn't rule out going directly to an MA program, which can seem like the "easier" thing to do post-college, I support working for a few years to really understand what you want to do first. Post-college job hunting can seem very daunting, but if you network well, there are definitely possibilities, which will also make you more attractive to grad schools later.

While I am a historian, I do know something about the UK system so I'm going to pop in here with a few words. Oxford is a great place and they have some really great resources as you pointed out. That can also be the problem, since there are so many programs there with so many people that it can be hard to figure out what exactly you want to work on. You'll really need to research the program and the people you want to work with to go there. All that being said, they offer basically an unlimited number of amazing seminars, lectures, and really anything else you could ever want. I would certainly start exploring POIs over there to speak with, since they will guide you through the rather complicated process. As for Toronto being too Latin focused, if you want to do anything medieval that's a good thing. You'll have to know some decent amount of Latin (plus German and French too) if you want to work in the medieval field, so getting a real handle on it during an MA would give you a great leg up if you applied for PhDs. Even if you don't, it will still come in handy for any future job I hope that helps to start and best of luck!

9 weeks is enough. Just do a chapter of math a week (should take 6-7 weeks) in whatever book you prefer. Get a vocabulary book and memorize 10 words a day 6 days a week, then use the 7th day to review the previous week's. That should take you about 6-7 weeks and then keep reviewing after that. Take a few tests during those 6-7 weeks and then take 1-2 a week for the last 2-3 weeks. All of that being said, your scores seem probably good enough to get a decent financial aid package, since that's only a portion of what they take into account for funding. Best of luck though.

Just use it to get a feel some more of the program so some possible questions are: how big is the area you in particular want to focus on (number of grad students)? How are relationships with departments that are similar (interdisciplinary work that is)? Are there lots of seminars (both official and reading groups), if so what do they focus on? Maybe try to get a feel from him/her on funding or any things they particularly suggest you concentrate on for an application. But it's really what you want to know or don't know about the program more than anything. Though you should have a short quick summary of your interests and focus prepared as well. I would say the biggest benefit would be coming across as a real human being, rather than just statistics on a piece of paper. Most likely he/she will talk on about the program and you will really only interject here and there. But really just be yourself

Not much. Still going strong on the SOP and now going to make changes to my writing sample (as per some of the great suggestion on this board). New goal, as I let the SOP sit for a few days before I tear it apart again, is getting some of the nitty gritty of the apps online done that isn't fun (filling in all your information), but takes a lot longer to do than you think.

There are a number of people with similar questions as you on the classics pages regarding post-bacs, which are the best way to prepare yourself for a classics degree. You could also do an MA abroad in classics or ancient history as well.

Someone answered this briefly in another thread, but just wanted more historian centric views on this. While citation style usually doesn't matter as long as it's consistent and follows a recognized style (or follows a specific publication's style). For a writing sample I was assuming people recommend Chicago rather than Harvard, since the full citation will be in the footnote, you don't have the space to waste on a bibliography, and something like Smith 2006b could be anything (especially if someone outside your field reads it). Feel free to disagree though, but just wanted thoughts before I made those changes.

While I'm not applying for MPPs/MPAs, a number of friends are and have recently and the ones who have been successful constructed a narrative that makes sense for what they have done and what they want to do. So the OP's SOP would discuss what he/she has done with healthcare while tying this into a personal narrative with a good catch to start and end (personal anecdote of some kind). Then also make sure to tie it into something you want to do moving forward as well (e.g. I want to use what I've done plus this MPA to do X,Y,Z when I graduate). If you combine all three of those approaches, then you shouldn't do too much personal or resume but a bit of both. Hope that helps...

I'll say is this in a nice way: just calm down and breathe. One B won't sink an application.

While citations in a paper should obviously be consistent and conform to your chosen discipline's standards - whatever your subject might be - I was just curious about people's views on particular styles within a writing sample. Primarily, I'm asking because if you only have 25 pages you don't want to take up space with a 2-3 page works cited list/bibliography at the end. Thus, it would seem to be less helpful if you use something like Harvard citations than Chicago where the entire citation is listed out. After all, "Smith (2002b)" in a footnote could literally be anything. If that's the case, I was going to convert stuff to Chicago, but before I do any thoughts from people who have read writing samples?

I would think the key thing for you is the cost. While it certainly wouldn't hurt to meet people in person, if it's a expensive long trip for an hour or so conversation, that would seem to not be a costly trip to make.

The main question, aside from "being old" (which is subjective I would argue), is why do you so strongly want to go back now? As others have noted, the family business certainly gives you great experience, but sometimes getting more experience in what you want to work on in grad school can really offset a lower GPA. This can be especially true of a masters that is more professional (like an MPP/MPA is). Working for a few years can also help clarify what you want to work on in grad school too.

I don't think that would rule you out per se, especially if the rest of your app is strong. Can you take it again though?

I would caution people to be too harsh in many of these instances. Professors aren't in "typical" office jobs where, as many of you know I'm sure, you literally sit on Outlook or Gmail all day long emailing people as your job. They have quite a number of things they are juggling at one time, so some of them aren't as fast as you might be with responding. Just think, the entire process using hard copy applications used to be the norm until not that long ago (15 years?), so it's at least easier now where they just get an email from the school rather than having to send them a packet with stuff. Not to say that you shouldn't keep following up (and seeing them in person), but just some stuff to keep in mind.

Comforting to hear that everyone is going through the same fun with their book reviews and SOPs, since the entire process is just overwhelming. I've finished one draft of my SOP, but it was promptly torn apart. Good times.

Overall I go by the idea that "it can't hurt." Yes, they may get annoyed, but really a CV or Resume takes about 1-2 minutes to glance at, so it's not an extra 1000 word essay, which would certainly really piss off people. If you look at other postings elsewhere on this type of topic, most people say it's not a bad thing to do and I would agree with that. Plus, apps often have a "do you have anything else to add" field at the end, so you could just attach it there or make a note that you are sending it along. I would think that especially for what you want to do, which is more professional focused, a resume would be pretty key to show that you aren't doing this on the whim but have X number of years doing it.

Well it's for both of you to see if you get along, so it can't hurt and, if you really dislike someone for whatever reason personally even if you like their scholarship, then that would be a good sign that maybe you shouldn't apply. It could help your application depending on if you make it past the first round or two, the person remembers you, and argues for you to work there - but that's not necessarily true everywhere of course. If I was you though, I'd definitely do it for the first reason and wouldn't turn anyone down, assuming it isn't going to cost you a ton of money.

Wow, just ignore what I said cause that's the most amazingly detailed and organized technological description I've ever seen. Just an awesome set of instructions there.

Seems like you are taking a lot of steps to read everything, but if you work best on your Kindle than that might be the best way to do it. What about using EndNote? You would still have to enter the citations manually since you are taking them from photographs (unless someone knows another way to do that), but that would then be searchable once they are all entered. Then once the PDFs are done you can attach the PDF file to each citation and use the imbedded cite while you write feature to generate citations.

Yea, try one more time and then try a phone call a few days later.

Leave it alone until at least a week passes. 2 days is really nothing, even if he sleeps by his blackberry since he might know he needs a longer response. Plus, he might be on vacation, dealing with family stuff, etc. There must be times when you don't respond to something in 2 days...

They do say that, but you have to really know what you want to do to come straight out of undergrad, which is quite different than it used to be 20 years ago or so (from what I've heard from current professors). Because all of academia is far more structured and bureaucratic (for better and worse I should add) than it used to be you will come across someone, as Strangelight noted, who will have that specific focus whereas you do not. They will have known since their freshman and sophomore year - cf people on this blog who ask questions about preparation then - the general area they want to work on, have done junior seminar work, and be doing a senior thesis so they will know the field inside out and be prepared to pitch a specific idea in a SOP. Some people, and maybe this includes yourself, either weren't exposed to a specific enough project or simply took more time to get to an area they liked so they require more preparation and specification in an MA program. The problem for you might be that if 200 people apply to a program and they accept 20, then they have to figure out a way to narrow down the field and one of the surest ways of doing so is to eliminate those people who seem less prepared for graduate work and are unable to pitch them specific ideas. After all, everyone has a good GPA, decent enough GRE (assuming some lapse in the quant section which they generally don't care about), and fairly solid LORs. There has to be some way of differentiating people and, unfortunately, that's one of the key ways of doing it. If you can figure out a solid topic, at least on the specificity level Strangelight suggested, but, actually, even more so with figuring out the way your project would plug a gap in current historiography - e.g. role of African American women in the garment industry labor movement, which has largely been overlooked because, etc. (I made that up just fyi). To do that, you have to know the literature inside and out, which unless, as I said earlier, you took a class or wrote a paper on it, would be tough to know from just a survey type class. If you can do that, then send out some PhD applications, since, if you don't get in, you can always try again. Obviously this doesn't address issues of application costs and MA program costs...