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archer

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Everything posted by archer

  1. My supervisor declared that PhD stands for "Phony Degree." He later initiated a debate* over whether or not Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code was historically accurate. Then he did what all conspiracy theorists do - implied that I was brainwashed or stupid, while only he is smart enough to know The Truth that THEY don't want you to know! I can't waaait to quit this job. *I use the term debate here loosely. He's my supervisor, so I mostly just gritted my teeth and politely provided a few counter-arguments before excusing myself and returning to work.
  2. Thank you for posting, that thread provided amazing advice and some much needed perspective: "Like, really, there are some programs where having a basic set of social skills makes you into the grad school equivalent of high school quarterback." lol Thank you all!
  3. I'm reaching out to the socially savvy grad students among us for a little advice, and to the socially ridiculous among us for a little empathy. I am cripplingly shy. Not "I'm a little quiet when you first meet me" shy, but "my brain malfunctions when I'm meeting new people and I probably come off looking like a serial killer" shy. I end up saying ridiculous things and responding strangely, then I spend the next 24 hours replaying the scenario over and over in my head and praying for death. This effect is magnified when I behave ridiculously in front of Very Important People, e.g. professors. Where I'm going with this is that I will be visiting my future school and meeting/making my first impressions on my future adviser and professors in March, If I was going on the official Visitation Day, I could cope because there would be a group and a planned itinerary and blah blah blah. BUT! I'm unable to make it on the official day, so I've arranged to have an unofficial visitation day in which they've kindly offered to let me sit in on some graduate courses and so on. I'm already hyperventilating over the fact that this is going to be all me, and there will not be any other future grads to share the pressure with. If I have one-on-one time with future professors, what do I do? How do I behave? WHAT DO WE TALK ABOUT? Can they rescind an offer of admission if they decide I'm too weird? Sigh.
  4. Does anyone have feedback about on-campus graduate housing? A quick look at Google Maps shows that grad housing on Neil Avenue is fairly close to the History department at Dulles Hall, which is what I'm looking for. I really don't mind ugly, cramped apartments but I'd rather not deal with any silly curfews and restrictions that tends to come with campus housing. I've read through the leasing terms and conditions, and so far haven't been scared away. So does anyone have experiences/advice/warnings they could share? Thank you!
  5. Ah, that makes sense. Thank you for the help!
  6. Hello all! I have four GPAs - one from my community college, two from studying abroad (two semesters at the same institution and for some reason they were not combined), and one from my four-year college that does include the three aforementioned GPAs. To find my cumulative GPA, do I just average the four scores together? Thanks!
  7. archer

    Dilemma

    Thanks for the input everyone. I get a bit panicked about the whole money issue, but I've calmed down a bit. And I was offered a job this morning - part-time, but better than nothing! - so I'll be able to start contributing/saving somewhat.
  8. archer

    Dilemma

    Hello everyone, I'm feeling completely unsure of what to do right now. Brief summary: A string of disasters and underemployment has resulted in my mom losing pretty much all of her savings. She's been living paycheck to paycheck these last few years. My sister and brother-in-law have steady jobs, but they spend money like it's going out of style. They have no savings, and whenever they need money to repair the car or buy groceries they turn to my mom. On top of that, I recently graduated and have been unable to find work (I'm applying EVERYWHERE), so I'm just adding to her financial burden. Long story short, we are a huge financial strain on my mother. I am completely torn on what to do. Grad school is something I have been working towards for as long as I can remember, and researching/teaching history at a college level is pretty much the only thing I can imagine myself doing and being happy. BUT, of course, it's a huge financial risk. There's no guarantee of financial job security... I just have visions of another disaster and being unable to help my mother and family out. Or, worse, BEING the financial disaster and putting more strain on my mom. She should be saving for retirement, and instead she's taking care of us and barely scraping by herself. I know I could get my teaching certification and get a stable job teaching high school social sciences, but that choice also makes my heart sink. I know I'm probably not the only one in this situation. How are you all dealing with it/making these decisions?
  9. I was afraid of that. Thanks everyone!
  10. I was planning on using my senior thesis as a writing sample to give me an extra edge in the application process. It is a strong paper and the thesis is something I want to explore further in grad school. However, Harvard doesn't require writing samples for AM Middle Eastern studies applicants. Would it be bad form to include it in my application package anyways? Would it be obnoxious and just get tossed? :/
  11. Hello brave Fulbright applicants! I am planning on applying for a full grant/MA History program in Turkey, but I'm confused/unclear on an issue and hoped I could get some input. What if I want to enter a two-year MA program? I know I wouldn't be funded for both years, but the implication on the Fulbright website seems to be that they are only interested in students entering one year programs. Would a two-year program disqualify me/make me less competitive? Should I make it clear that I don't expect to be funded for the full program? Also, any other Turkey hopefuls?
  12. Hello, I am a sophomore majoring in history and anthropology. I hope to go to grad school for Byzantine archaeology, and a strong background in Classical languages (especially Greek) will be needed. However, my school only offers Latin I & II (which I will be taking next year) and no Greek at all. I've looked into Post-bac programs for Classical languages, but they all seem to be courses to strengthen and advance the skills of students who have already taken beginning/intermediate courses. Are there master's programs in Classics that will accept students with no language experience and teach them? It seems like my only options are to transfer to a school that has a Classics program or get another bachelor's in Classics after I graduate - and neither option seems particularly appealing to me. So, I'm looking for a Hail Mary pass - a master's program for Classics that will teach me Greek when I get there, and doesn't expect me to know it to get in. Any advice would be very greatly appreciated.
  13. Thanks for the advice! I did end up finding a prof who was interested in Byzantine archaeology hiding out at the UC Berkeley Classics department, so that's definitely the way I'm going to have to search. I'm actually doing a language program in Turkey this summer, so yay! Thanks again (I love this site so much - always someone wiling to answer my stupid questions!
  14. Thank you all, I'm feeling much better now! :mrgreen:
  15. I wasn't sure where to post this, so feel free to move this if it's the wrong forum. I'm already starting to freak out about graduate school and I'm only a sophomore! I currently attend a community college, and will either be transferring to a large state university or a small, middle-of-the road private school next fall. The more I read about the grad school process and academia, the more I think - no good grad school will want a CC student who went to a not-terribly-prestigious undergrad, and I'll end up at some crappy grad school and never have a good career and die a lonely wanna-be academic (holy run-on sentence Batman!). Anyways, my question is this: Is a community college really ugly on a transcript? I make good grades and was recently accepted into Critical Language scholarship program, but CCs have a bad reputation. Maybe it's irrational, but there's this little voice in the back of my head saying, "You saved money now, but you're screwed in the long-run!" Oh, and I'm pursuing anthropology or Classical archaeology depending on which school I decide on, if that makes a difference.
  16. One more thing - I am looking at Berkeley's Classical Archaeology page for prospective students - they require several courses taken in Greek and Latin to even admit into their program. I was under the impression that these courses could be taken while in grad school! Are all programs like this? My school doesn't even offer Greek or Latin! Am I completely screwed?
  17. I'm a sophomore in college who is looking for graduate programs in Byzantine archaeology. While the UK seems to have many programs devoted to this subject, the US doesn't (that I've been able to find at least). There are programs devoted to Medieval studies (which falls into the right time period, but they seem to focus almost exclusively on the Latin West), and there are Classical archaeology programs (which focuses on the cultures that eventually created the Byzantine empire, but doesn't fall into the right time period). What should I be looking for? If anyone could give me some advice, I'd appreciate it. Thank you. :mrgreen:
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