Chiqui74

Oy!

I am a slow reader, especially when it's not for a class. Not only am I slow at the act of reading (I read every single word at talking speed), but I also have a zillion things going at the same time so I may not pick up a book for days. At that rate, I'd say I ready about a full book a month. In the last couplef of years I discovered Audible and I've fallen in love with it. I can listen to books that would otherwise take me months to finish, like the A Song of Ice and Fire series, and the Outlander series. For school, I learned to read effectively and wtih a purpose. It's just a different type of reading.

I'm reading lots of things at once, something like 5 books, but the most recent one I picked up is Bernard Bailyn's "The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution." I went to see one of my LOR writers a few days ago and he sent me home with some books, claiming I could never be a historian of Early America unless I had read them, especially the Bailyn book. Mind you, I graduated years ago! It was like independent studies all over again!

All my applications are in. Or so I thought. One of my LOR writers suggested I look at this other program and I've been corresponding with a faculty member there. I'm still not sure I'll apply (I've spent SO much money on this already), but maybe. I hate waiting so come February I'll be like a caged monkey.

One of my letter-writers, who waited until the last minute to submit, is having difficulties with three universties that use the same contractor for their applications. I have done everything I can and he still missed a deadline (it was two days ago). I can only do so much, and the other two professors didn't have issues. He won't even email tech support. I'm at my wits end and I don't know what else to do. The thing is that two of these schools are in my very top choices and they don't accept physical letters. I'm just venting, I guess. This whole process is so draining, I don't know how people can do multiple cycles and keep their sanity.

Thanks!

I have applied to MA programs before but this is the first time I apply for PhD programs and I'm not sure what happens after I submit the applications. For example, I see some people go on campus visits, have interviews, etc. Is this the norm? If so, does it happen before or after you get accepted to the universities? Before you make a final decision? Is it funded by the student or the prospective institutions? Now that half of my applications are in, and the other half are started, I wonder where it goes from here.

A lot of the schools on my list use ApplyYourself.

It's a specific program's wording. What they mean is "are you willing to accept accept admissino into the MA program, which does not continue into a PhD at this school, rather than thant he PhD (which gets an MA awarded along the way)?"

I posted this on the History forum but I figure it probably fits better here. Some of the schools to which I am applying ask if the applicant is willing to consider a terminal MA. I am not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand, I'd like to go to a particular school regardless (assuming it's with funding) although I am most intersted in the PhD, so I'm inclined to select yes. On the other hand, I'm concerned that by stating I'm willing to be considered for a terminal MA the committee would default to that or not take my PhD interest seriously. If you have gone through this, or are currently going through it, how have you handled it?

Some of the schools to which I am applying ask if the applicant is willing to consider a terminal MA. I am not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand, I'd like to go to a particular school regardless (assuming it's with funding) although I am most intersted in the PhD, so I'm inclined to select yes. On the other hand, I'm concerned that by stating I'm willing to be considered for a terminal MA the committee would default to that or not take my PhD interest seriously. If you have gone through this, or are currently going through it, how have you handled it?

Check out Florida International University. It's my alma mater but there is a good Eastern religions focused program there, and also Judaism. They are not as big on Christianity. http://religion.fiu.edu

One of the programs to which I inted to apply is in a very small, very lightly studied area with little secondary literature by a university press. It's a newish are of study. Anyhow, as part of the application process, they ask for a book review of an academic work, preferably in the area the canditate wishes to study. The problem is, one of the only pieces of scholarly literature in the field is by my POI. Needless to say, I am beyond hesitant to submit a book report for that book. Not only do I not want to risk pissing her off but I don't want it to come across as sucking up either. What would you do?

Thanks, everyone! I won't lie, the math freaks me out. A lot of the thigns on the practice test were concepts I learned in high school and even in lower division college math course but have since forgotten; it's been many years since I graduated high school and a few since I took my last math course in college. I need to brush up on those concepts. I'm actually suprised I did so poorly on the verbal part, but I'm sure everyone who scores lower than they'd like says that.

Assuming you took a baseline test without preparation and spent a couple of months studying, what would be a reasonable and realistic point increase in each the quant and the verbal? I'm mostly concerned with the verbal as I am in the humanities but my quant is dismal and a few, or several, points would be most helpul. TiA!

Thanks! We have to do this a few times this semester so I'm going to go with bullet points with very short explanations/comments for the first assignemnt and lets see how it goes.

Yes, it is worth points. It's a reading seminar so there are no major papers, we write short reflection papers, some notes, etc. but the bulk of the work is reading.

I love books in general so my acquisition of a history library has been a product of my own design as well as from the books I have had to read for classes, which I always buy. Some times I sell the books from classes I took but have no further interst at all in the subject matter, but I keep them otherwise. How important is it? I don't know, to be honest, but I don't know a single historian who does not have a pretty big book arsenal.

I consider History is a humanites, that said, my school has it under Social Sciences (actually, it's under International and Public Affairs, along with Political Science, International Relations, Religious Studies, Modern Languages, etc.). Philosphy and Psychology are grouped with Math, Chemistry, and Physics. Go figure!

Many programs have a report option as an alternative to a thesis. The report, which is shorter than a thesis and is produced as part of a research seminar, still gives you a hefty writing sample.

My program has some (very few) combined courses. They are usually numbered separately for undergrads and grads and sometimes have an extra meeting meeting pattern for grads and always have more work and/or readings for grads. Again, my program limits the amount of combined courses an grad student can take as they feel those courses are not the ideal learning environment for graduate students. The reason is that, since they are usually lectures, they are not well suited for discussion, plus they are concerned that graduate students may intimidate undergrads with whatever discussion they initiate. It makes sense, I suppose, except my school has some really great undergrad courses I'd love to take but can't.

I hate walking on egg shells and while I don't go around annoucning I'm a grad student (I also have a full time job not related to my studies), I don't donwplay it either. I work too hard at work and I too work hard at school to allow anyone to make me feel bad for wanting to pursue an advanced degree....or two. They can think whatever they want, but I don't let it bother me. The saddest part is when said dismissive attitude comes from close family members.

I have a professor this semester who is requiring the submission of the notes we take on certain readings as part of our writing assignments. She desn't have a guideline as to how the notes must be written, she just wants to see how we take notes while reading (we are in the humanities) and perhaps see how we arrive at some of our conclusions on the readings. Her only stipulation is that she does not want 20 pages of regurgitated stuff. I get it but I've never had to submit notes before and my notes are usually taken on the margins of books and I don't think she'd be able to make sense of them without reading the particular passage side by side. Have you ever had to do something similar? Do you take notes in a way that makes sense to anyone and not just you? I've tried to take notes on the current reading in a way that I can submit to her but it's turning out to be pretty long!

Thanks everyone! I am interested in Early American history and particularly in food history. I have native fluency in Spanish (written, spoken, and read). I would have to pay for my MA, unless I found a full time job at the university, in which case they'd pay tuition. I currently work at the university part time.

I have already been admitted to the MA program at my undergrad institution for this Fall semester, but I deferred until Fall 2013. My plan all along was to get a PhD eventually and now I'm thinking about applying to PhD programs for Fall 2013, but I'm a bit concerned about my academic history. Here's the short version: After I left the military, I went to a two year college because my high school GPA was pretty crappy. At that college, I graduated with a 3.8 and as a member of the Honor Society. I got into both four-year universities for which applied; one was the University of Miami's Neuroscience Program and the other was the Biomedical Engineering program at the school I end up attending. I did horribly in my first semester, turned out that engineering just was not for me. My GPA after this semester was something like 1.2. I switched to history, which was/is my real passion and the rest is, as they say, history. I got all As and two Bs (only one in a history course) in every course I took after that and graduated with an overall GPA of 3.47. My history GPA is 3.88 and my upper division GPA is 3.90. I have strong letters of recommendation and a strong writing sample. I have not taken the GRE, I didn't need it for the MA program to which I applied, but I am terrified of taking it. I am only really worried about the quant portion; I'm worried I'm going to do horribly and that, when combined with my GPA and that horrible semester, it will crush my chances of getting into a good program. So, with what I've told you, should I just do the MA to which I've been accepted before applying to PhD programs or do I have a good chance of going directly into a good PhD program? TiA!