CrazyCatLady80

Playingivory - yes...the money is coming from that endowment. UCLA never offered packages that good until this year.

Don't know much about those programs. I will probably apply for USC, but I doubt I will get in. For some reason, they don't seem to like students from my school, but it is a very good program and they seem to have an excellent placement rate.

I know some people advised against this on these boards, but I have contacted grad students and asked their opinions about their advisor. This was the advise of my current advisor. Some students haven't written me back, but most of them are more than willing to share their opinions, which have been extremely helpful. In fact, I am not applying to one school based on their feedback.

Good question. I would also like to know what makes a professori a "rising star" in the field? I know there isn't an exact formula, but is there anything I should look for in addition to good publications?

Thanks for the suggestions - I think I am going to finish the paper that will be my writing sample before I contact them. I pretty much know what is going to be in SOP, but it will be stronger when I get that draft finished.

Cosmo in Latin.....lol

This brings up another question - when is a good time to contact at POI? I keep hearing mixed things about this topic. One the boards here everyone recommends early October. However, various people I talked to say that I should do it right now. Any thoughts?

Thank you very much. It is most appreciated. Are you going to Buffalo?

No....21st century. I like writing about history before it takes place in order to keep current.....lol. Thanks for the catch. Posted it after writing all morning.

Would you guys be willing to add your screen name in case one of us wants to contact you?

As a 2014 hopeful admit, I LOVE getitlow's recommendation.

Interesting - I have never heard of Assistant Professors working with grad students. Something I will keep in mind. Thanks for the tip.

I have asked this question before, but thought I might ask it again since I am really starting to look at a lot of schools in detail. My field is 20st century urban political history, focusing on suburban political and racial diversity of Los Angeles. I am currently working on (ok...I just started it) a project about suburban liberalism in the San Fernando Valley. It is a newly emerging field and I am super excited about it. Anyway, I researching the following schools: Berkeley, UCLA, Michigan, Brown, OSU, WA, MD, USC, CT, Princeton and Delaware. I am also considering Chicago, UCR, Davis, Boston, and Temple, but don't know much about them. My top three at the moment are Michigan, Berkeley, and WA. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Does that mean cohorts will be bigger next year? I hope so.

I am a former archivist so I know a good amount about this topic. Do you want to be an archivist? If so, you need the MLS. Ten or twenty years ago, you could become an archivist with just an MA, but that has changed. The archives profession is now more along the lines as librarians than historians. In fact, that is the main reason why I stopped being an archivist - the profession had little to do with actual history and more about metadate and technology. Also, do you tend to me an anal retentive organization freak? If so, you will be the perfect archivist. If you aren't (like me), you won't be that good. One more thing you should be aware of when it comes to archives - the job market is almost as bad as it is for professors. A entry level archives position can easily get two hundred applicants. For the first year or so, you probably will have to work part time jobs or do freelance work that doesn't give you any benefits. So it needs to be something you really want to do before you put in the effort.

I don't think Assistant Professors take graduate students. They work on their committees, but not as their main advisors. One thing that I am in in the process of weighing is working with a newly minted Associate Professor. Two of the advisors from my top three schools just recently got tenure. The advantage is that they are looking for students, but the disadvantage is that you have clue what they will be like once you are on the job market. Also, advising is an art form. It takes years to perfect it.

I agree that community service will not get you in alone, but it does show that you are a well rounded candidate and can be beneficial to your research. Before wanting to become an historian, I worked as a community organizer in the Bronx for three years. I also do community outreach as a volunteer here in L.A. Since one of my sub-fileds in ethnic history, I have found this experience to be highly beneficial. Despite being as white as they come, I find that people in minority communities trust me and willing to work with me a lot more than just some random researcher. Like I said, this will not get me into grad school alone, but it does give me a very tiny advantage compared to someone who hasn't had this experience.

Very long story. The exact reasons are still a mystery. At first, he liked it. Then he didn't. Now he likes it again, which he told me after I mentioned the paper is up for possible publication. Other faculty like it and the paper has been received at conferences. It needs a lot of work, but it is a good paper.

Not really and using Paper #1 as backup is a good idea.

Oh and I forgot to add that the paper I already have is the infamous one that my advisor gave me a B on, but everyone else loves it.

Yeah, but I feel the idea for this paper is stronger than the one I already have. I am not completely against using paper #1 as my writing sample either. Just trying to figure out if seven months is a reasonable time to produce a good quality writing sample.

Just wondering if everyone thought seven months would be a reasonable amount of time to come up with a good writing sample? I have a paper already that I presented at several conferences and is in my field, but it doesn't really represent what I want to do in grad school. I am just starting the research for this current paper and plan on getting a draft finished by mid June. That will give me approximately six months to make edits. Does that sound reasonable?

Have you contacted the POIs at the other schools to find out why you didn't get in? Maybe their suggestions might give you a better idea if you should go ahead and go to Temple or apply again.

I have thought about adding a religion element to my work. A lot of research has been done on the role religion played in the rise of the right, but I have often wondered about the other side so to speak. How did religion influence the left? A lot hasn't been done in that area and I am thinking of trying to tie some of that into my research on suburban diversity.

Someone I know in my grad program heard she was accepted last week. Hope this helps.