Accept or apply again?

[Nytusse]

So for me, it's all over in terms of results, except the formality of the UChicago rejection letter.

Barring some miracle, I have two great admits with no money.

My third admit is funded, but I would almost certainly be a TA starting my first semester, something I'm just not sure about given that I'll be moving across the country and I do have some health issues.

My advisor will be gone my entire first year, which is scary because I have never been a history major, but I will have a Master's in a related field, so I feel like I will really need some guidance in terms of coursework.

I share some of that disappointment in terms of not getting accepted into better places, but I will get over that. What really is starting to worry me is my relationship with the potential advisor, especially since the fit is not as obvious.

When I first contacted the PA before applying, the response took two months and two emails, which already made me a bit nervous. Now that I'm accepted, I've really been trying to establish contact, and it is NOT working. Finally, yesterday we agreed to talk by phone at a specific time. I waited by the phone for two hours and no call. I got a voicemail hours later (when I was out) that said perhaps I would receive a call yesterday evening. No call.

Now it is incredibly awkward for me, because, mind you, this person is also not going to be aavailable for visiting weekend. What the heck do I do, write another pestering email today? It's so stressful.

All kinds of alarms are going off in my head about this situation...it seems like a perfect storm of potential failure on my part!

Like many others here, however, I feel like I should take what I can get in this situation. There are good aspects about the program, and the current grad students seem like really good people. I just can't imagine having this kind of situation with my advisor, and it's this bad when people are on their BEST behavior.

[Aspiring Shrink]

So for me, it's all over in terms of results, except the formality of the UChicago rejection letter.

My advisor will be gone my entire first year

Um WHAT!!!

[Nytusse]

Yeah....and considering how competitive admissions has been this year anyways, and how professors have to fight over people, I'm not even sure how someone can admit a student when they won't be here.

[ChibaCityBlues]

Yeah....and considering how competitive admissions has been this year anyways, and how professors have to fight over people, I'm not even sure how someone can admit a student when they won't be here.

I don't think it's a big deal at all. Professors go on leave all the time for multiple reasons and it is not uncommon for people to take up a temporary adviser during those instances. Additionally, your first year is dedicated to course work so actually it's a good thing that the adviser is taking leave now (presumably a sabbatical) so that they'll be around when you actually do need them. And don't stress TAing. It's like shoveling a driveway.

[Victorianna]

TA-ing is a piece of cake, but you may want to consider contacting advisors current students to see what their impressions of the advisor and the department in general have been.

Good luck!

[StrangeLight]

personally, i think your relationship with your advisor is extremely important. if they're completely inattentive, you'll never get any work done, never get enough feedback, and you'll feel like you're doing it all yourself. because you will be. i don't know what to say about what you should do. look into outside sources of funding to pay for one of the other programs?

[ChibaCityBlues]

Well, you mentioned a meet-and-greet weekend, which the adviser wont be attending. A good time to talk to other grad students about your PA to get a better sense of what you're getting into. In my experience, I haven't found grad students to be dishonest with their assessments of their programs.

[chlobot]

I don't think it's a big deal at all. Professors go on leave all the time for multiple reasons and it is not uncommon for people to take up a temporary adviser during those instances. Additionally, your first year is dedicated to course work so actually it's a good thing that the adviser is taking leave now (presumably a sabbatical) so that they'll be around when you actually do need them. And don't stress TAing. It's like shoveling a driveway.

Agreed. Also keep in mind that, once you're in the program, you'll have a chance to get to know other professors better, and if their interests align with yours somewhat, they might be willing to work with you.

[TMP]

Nytusse, I've already PMed you regarding this but I will post for all to see related to what's been suggested regarding meeting other professors.

I came to my MA program expecting to work with Profs A and B. I planned for Prof A to be my (thesis) advisor and it was certainly the expectation of everyone in the department that we'd work together. Prof B was on sabbatical in the first year I was there and I was disappointed as I hoped to take a seminar with him as he worked in my secondary field of interest. I was sort of like, okay... especially as I found out how BUSY Prof A was with her position as the department chair. I maintained my contact with Prof A, just keeping my distance given the demands of her job. I really felt a bit lost.

Then Prof C and D came along. Prof C had been hired and was just starting as I entered in the program. I took her seminar in the second semester and I've been building a relationship with her ever since. She worked in my primary area of interest (as well as Prof A) so it was NICE to be mentored by someone who actually had the time to talk with me. She also had worked in public history, which IS what I really want to do with my PhD, so she gave me some career advice as well. Prof D happened to be an English professor and we connected over the fact that he had spent a year off in the city that I was using as a case study for my MA thesis. (Not to mention that learning this fact plus his perspective in an introduction his hook inspired me to come up with this thesis topic) He took REAL interest in my thesis project and offered to be a second reader when I returned in the fall. He has been my steady support who could provide mentorship and an critical eye in helping me to make my thesis a publishable article. He was seriously the last person I expected to get involved with my historical based MA thesis. An English professor!

Prof A is, I think, damn lucky to have Profs C and D to be her lackeys while she gets to hold the jeweled crown. She knows it but has no idea how much my opinion and respect for her as an advisor, not an academic, has changed in a way I don't even want to go to my university for the PhD and have her be my PhD advisor. So I'm just exploiting her big-name reputation for reference letters for jobs, fellowships, and PhD programs.

Case in point: Even in casual conversations, you just never know who's going to take an interest in your work. It's easy for professors to be excited about a project that they feel personally connected to, even if they're not the experts in the field. Those are the ones who are going to haul your ass to finish. And this English professor is doing just that all because he loved the city and wanted to know more about its history besides just believing that I can succeed as a young scholar.

[Sovetskaya]

I would take the offer. If you find out after the first two years that you cannot work with this adviser or anyone else in the department, take your paid-for MA and reapply elsewhere for a phd.

The funding situation is not going to get better next year, and at least this way you don't go mountains into debt for a history phd.