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gimlet

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  1. I remember when my small liberal arts undergrad was hiring a few years ago. They brought three people to campus-- a Harvard grad who knew 12 languages, a very bright Berkeley grad and a guy from the University of Washington (which is not in the top ten for that area). They went with the UW guy because it was clear that he was the best fit for the school and the program- he was the only one of the three who was remotely down to earth. My advisor, who was chair at the time, remarked that social skills will often get you a lot further than a fancy degree. Just because you go to a top ten school-- or even a top twenty-- does not mean that you are automatically equipped to meet the needs of every school you interview at. I'm not saying it's not awesome or advantageous to go to a top ten school, or that good rankings don't make a school more alluring, but really, no school can make you into something you aren't. There are trade offs in getting teaching experience vs. getting funding to go to conferences etc. Rankings don't tell you the important stuff-- like whether a school will be a good fit or whether the program has severe administrative problems. Rankings don't tell you if all the grad students are unhappy or whether they have faculty and opportunities that will get you where you want to be.
  2. The 'fuck that noise' part was the best. I like how he totally contradicts her well grounded advice... so true to thegradcafe!
  3. Wait a minute-- you're choosing between a school you've gotten into and a school you haven't? Just wait a couple days to see how the waitlist works out, but really? I think you are way ahead of yourself with the lengthy pro/con lists. School 2 accepted you because they thought you'd be a good fit and they've actually been nice to you. School 1 didn't give you a full admission. That says a lot right there. I'm sorry to be so blunt but this is ridiculous. I hate to call this into question, but did you really want to go to grad school, or did you really just want to move to New York? Your experience at any school will be what you make of it, as will your career. There are plenty of people who find jobs coming out of less than prestigious programs because they are talented people, not because they went to Ivy League schools. Everyone has fantasy programs, but there comes a point when you have to get in touch with what's being offered to you. Columbia has offered you nothing at this point. Sidenote-- I worked with a "superstar" in my department and it was one of the worst experiences of my life. I came away with a thesis that I'm not crazy about and I won't be able to use my chair for a reference. I was treated with zero respect because he thinks he is god's gift to the discipline. He believed that since he deigned to work with me, I was allowed no margin of error and had to understand his uncommunicated expectations by osmosis (as if I could get a meeting with him, as he travels a lot). Being able to say "I worked with so-and-so" was not worth it and I can't imagine doing that for five years. There are assholes everywhere but I wouldn't let "superstars" factor too much into your decision because the fact of the matter is-- you never know what you're going to get with people. "Superstars" are just as prone to personality conflicts as anyone else-- and probably moreso, really.
  4. gimlet

    Salt Lake City, UT

    It depends on where you live. West Salt Lake (it is generally referred to as West Valley although there are other towns than West Valley City) has a lot more gang activity and has in the past few months seen several arsons. There are some really nice newer developments out there, and I know plenty of people that haven't had any problems. Utah in general is a lot safer than most other places. My car insurance went down by half moving from Western Washington. I think probably more disconcerting would be commute times using TRAX or bus. For example, Taylorsville is alright, but with TRAX it will take you about an hour to get to or from the U. It's only a 30 minute drive by car (with basically zero traffic-- I-215 is awesome that way). 2 hours a day is a pretty big time commitment for a grad student (I live near the U and my daily round trip commute is 15 minutes) and to do that commute during the frigid snowy winters is not fun. Most people I know who live in the West Valley drive during the winter. I think unless you are looking at buying a house, it makes a lot more sense to live close to the U. Cost / benefit, you know? Not really related to your question, to live in the West Valley-- and arguably Salt Lake in general-- you will really want to have a car. Things are very spread out unless you're on the University TRAX line or in one of the older neighborhoods on the East side. Sorry that was a little scattered.
  5. gimlet

    Salt Lake City, UT

    East Salt Lake (where the U is located) is generally pretty nice and safe. All of the city's museums and the Planetarium are easy to get to if you live on the East side. There is also good hiking along the Wasatch Front. The Avenues or along South Temple or Sunnyside or the 9th and 9th neighborhood would all be nice areas to look at. 9th and 9th boasts Liberty Park, has a great playground and water play area for kids. I don't know much about the schools, but all of those areas have bus routes or TRAX that will get you to the U. Parking is not too bad at the U either, but be advised that most congestion happens on Foothill Dr. and 400 South. I would avoid the larger complexes on Foothill Dr. I've been to a lot of parties on Elizabeth and Douglas streets (near campus) so you would probably not want to live in that area either. The area around Westminister College is also very student dense. Federal Heights (like cost prohibitive) is where all of the frats are and should be avoided. Fortunately most students at the U are commuters so they aren't as highly concentrated around the school as in other places. You could probably get more square footage bang for your buck in West Salt Lake but they struggle a lot more with crime and their schools are not as good. Stick close to the U or downtown and you'll be fine.
  6. Write a nasty letter to their development office. They don't deserve ANY sensitivity, political correctness or tact on that one. Unleash your most articulate fiery demons on their sorry asses. And really... tell us what school would act with so little class! I am so sorry that happened to you.
  7. gimlet

    Philadelphia, PA

    Thanks for all the answers to my questions Philly people! You guys are awesome. I am so stoked to be coming to town-- the diversity is a big selling point after two years in homogeneous east Salt Lake.
  8. Generally, yes. The number of programs offering funding packages with multi-year guarantees is dwindling. The program I'm in did away with them because of unsure finances (as a state school with a legislature that doesn't prioritize higher education) and to weed out the occasional asshole-- as well as to give people different opportunities in teaching and public history. If you work hard and make a good impression (get to know everyone on the graduate committee!) I doubt a program that had already funded you would cease to unless they were really, really broke. People inside a program are often given priority over people applying so being there gives you a huge advantage. I would take any kind of funding as a very, very good indicator of how the department feels about you and your ability to be successful in their program. As with pretty much any issue that's come up since admissions letters went out-- don't be afraid to call and talk to the Director of Graduate Studies.
  9. I totally get your perspective on funding and think it's very reasonable as well. Ultimately it comes down to the fact that it's a very personal choice, and the only thing that really matters is making a choice you can live with. I knew not going to Temple would bring me regret, and and that pretty much forced my decision. I have a friend who turned down an offer from Yale Law School because Ottoman turks light up his life. I have another friend who took funding over Temple's waitlist last year and has been very happy at her school. And really, there are many, many people in this world not in graduate school who are happy to not be impoverished. There are lots of paths to take. I liked this from the NYT this weekend: "It doesn
  10. gimlet

    Philadelphia, PA

    What is parking like for people that live in the city? I am going to Temple and am hoping to take my car and live in the city. What's street parking (or parking in general) like in town? Do apartments generally come with a guaranteed spot or does parking require an added fee? Are there certain neighborhoods with better parking / car safety? I've heard people mention "renting" parking spots here. I'm from the West where I've never had to worry about where I am going to park my car at night. The fact that so many people there don't have cars to begin with is really foreign to me but I'm worried it will be cost-prohibitive to take my car.
  11. Misterpat- I am on the funding waitlist but went ahead and accepted. I felt good about my chances for funding and was willing to take the risk for the first year (they tend to be able to fund 80-100% of students and second year funding is basically guaranteed). Temple's job placement for its PhDs is much better than the program I'm in for my MA (where I was offered funding) and long term, I would rather have a job and some student loans than no job at all. I have never been in the "no funding = no go" camp; I think people use funding to downplay a lot of other important factors such as location, research resources, people to work with, public history training, etc. that make a much bigger difference in quality of education than where ones works their first year. *gets off soapbox* Have you talked to Petra about the April 1st deadline? When I was undecided, she offered to put me on a "contingent upon funding" list that would give me until April 15th to decide. She is aware of the whole CGS thing and seemed really willing to accommodate that, as it wasn't something she had been aware of until this year. My impression is that they wanted funded people to respond by April 1 so they could make offers to those on the waitlist asap. Have you heard anything back from Missouri?
  12. Temple seemed to be pretty flexible as far as pulling out after you'd accepted-- if you're on the funding waitlist and have a better funding offer elsewhere-- but that's definitely a funding waitlist, not an admissions waitlist. Waitlists are tricky and a lot of the time policies regarding them tend to run counter to this: http://www.cgsnet.org/Default.aspx?tabid=201. I think that the CGS resolution is pretty clear in suggestingthat the admissions process should be done after April 15. Assume nothing and get the program's DGS to answer your questions so you can make an informed decision. I actually had a DGS suggest to me that I accept 2 schools to see how funding panned out. It seems tacky and unethical to me when there are plenty of people at a school who'd like funding, or a space at all, and people are just using the school for a plan B after April 15th. Every situation is different, but I didn't feel comfortable doing that.
  13. From talking with Temple's DGS last week, I did not get the impression that anything like this would be happening. I was told that the funding waitlist is relatively deep and that they will start working through that after the April 1 deadline-- and that in years past they have had around 80% funded / 20% not after going through this process. I could be wrong, but the tone of that conversation implied that their admissions are done. I have never been able to reach Temple's graduate secretary but had good luck leaving a message on the DGS's machine, she called me back that same day. I think that anyone who does not receive a response after April 15 would have cause to ask a department if their application was ever reviewed, the service that you are expecting from paying your application fee. However, even though they are in the wrong, I think it would be difficult to write a letter asking for your fee back without sounding tacky or bitter (you run that risk questioning whether they reviewed your app too, unfortunately). It's not like you're writing to the customer service desk at Macy's, you know? I heard Columbia had some technical problems getting their rejections out-- the supposed reason for the two flights of them-- but hadn't heard of anybody still waiting. Hang in there! I got my fee back from William and Mary's American Studies program, but they offered to give it back after reviewing the applications and deciding to admit no one this year. Very different circumstances.
  14. Have you looked at Northwestern? I met Peter Hayes a few years ago and was very impressed with him, and I know a few German historians from my undergrad wound up there. I would also second UNC-CH, Chris Browning is kind of a "doy" in that field even though he's probably pushing retirement. Take a good hard look at the books in your field that you like and find out where the authors are-- and if the authors are a bit young, find out where they went to school. Variety is key; the schools will decide if they are a good fit for you. Echoing Izimbra, don't discount MA programs. There are plenty of great people to work with at schools that don't offer PhDs and MA programs that might offer you funding when PhD programs won't. Success in an MA program can put you into a much better school than if you just had a BA. I am grateful for the training I got doing my MA and think I am so much better prepared for my PhD than I would have been otherwise. An MA gives you more time to define your interests, find opportunities to present at conferences and get published, and generally focus on bulking up that CV. I also appreciate that I am able to change schools during the process-- knowing a lot more about graduate school now and its politics, I can see that the school I did my MA at would not be a good fit for my PhD, even though it was fine for the MA. I have a friend in UC-Davis' program doing US and the world and he loves it.
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