also need advice deciding

[Guest]

i am having a lot of trouble deciding what to do and i was hoping somebody could help . . i'm going to be pretty vague, but basically i'm trying to do history (not american) and i've heard back from all but one place i applied to, and i was rejected from all but one, and as of now i have no idea if i will be accepted to the last place or not.

the place i got admitted to is a good school, close to the top ten and in my field possibly even higher, and they've been really nice to me, seems like a nice location, etc, but i just don't know how good a fit the actual program is. there are things i might be interested in doing that i don't think they will be able to help me wih, but then again, i don't necessarily consider it a deal-breaker because my interests within the program are pretty wide-ranging. but the schools that rejected me, especially one of them, i really thought would be a good fit. the school i haven't heard from yet may also be a better fit but i don't know if i'll get in, and even if i do, i may not like the actual school itself as much (location, etc). so . . . what do i do? should i go to the school that accepted me and just hope that i'll fit within the program? and what are the chances of actually finding a good teaching job after i get my phD, if i go to a school that is just a little outside the top ten? should i wait a couple years, get more experience with languages and other things, then reapply and hope another school accepts me? but the schools i want to go to are so incredibly competitive there's a good chance i simply won't get in at all. so what do i do? i know this post was incoherent but i am at the end of my rope, so confused about what to do.

[Guest daphna]

1) As I've said before, a school that you thought was a great fit for you may not be anymore. The reason is sometimes things shift in the background, professors decide to leave or retire between the time you apply and the time you get accepted. So could be its just not that great a fit.

2) The way I understand it, the programs are built on a lot of coursework first, where you get exposed to many different issue. You may discover that the exact issues that interest you know will shift somewhat.

3) A smart professor once told me: when you pick a PhD program, you need to surround yourself with good people overall, and to find a supervisor that is open minded and wide-ranging enough to allow you to pursue your field. You do not need to find a department that has people who are experts in the exact issues you want to write about. During your PhD you should become that expert.

4) I think if it is a good school, with a good reputation, and has good people - then if its in say the second tier rather than the top tier of schools in your field, you should still be able to get a job just fine. However, most departments do publish their recent placement information (i.e- where recent graduates found a job). You can check that and see how people have done so far.

5) as for whether to wait or not, that depends on lots of factors: how old you are, how urgent it is for you to study right now, how many resources you have (mental and financial) to go through the application process again etc.

I can share with you that I decided in advance that even if I get accepted only to one of my lesser choices, I will go anyway. That is because it is very important for me to study right now. However, to be fair, I should also say that I only applied to schools that are absolutely in the top tier of departments in my field.

Hope I helped and didn't make more of a mess in your head.

Anyway, I think you should take a piece of paper, and write on it the pros and cons of accepted the offer right now vs. trying again next year or another year. That should sort things out in your head a bit.

Good luck!

[Guest]

Thanks, that advice actually helps me a lot. In regards to your comment about age -- actually I am about as young as you can get -- a 4th year student in college. That's probably my biggest question -- since I'm working on an honors thesis right now, how much help would this thesis be in the future in terms of getting into graduate school? Am I more likely to be accepted by other schools with a major piece of research writing? And I'm also strongly considering the peace corps, for many reasons, but a big reason would be to help my language skills. What sort of contribution would these make? Right now I'm just thinking that since I got into a pretty good program I may as well just go, but part of me is thinking that I'm not ready emotionally or intellectually to take on such a big task. Do you think it's advisable to enter a grad program right out of college, or is it necessary to sort of have other experiences first both to make sure you know what you want to do, and also to help you with your grad career? I know that at the program I am thinking about I could hypothetically take time off to do the peace corps, but that still doesn't answer my problem about whether I want to try at a later date to get into a school?

Also, I liked your advice about the importance of just finding an advisor who will support you in what you do rather than finding an advisor whose interests exactly match up with your own, but what if there is not one person who even remotely matches up with one particular area of study? There's one particular thing I'm interested in, sort of an interdisciplinary type thing, and at the place I got into, they don't even have any faculty who teach this, a department devoted to it, etc. At the place I really really want to go to, they have several faculty who teach it and a pretty good department, etc. In that case would you think it is a problem, or does it still not matter?

[Bianca]

"since I got into a pretty good program I may as well just go, but part of me is thinking that I'm not ready emotionally or intellectually to take on such a big task. Do you think it's advisable to enter a grad program right out of college, or is it necessary to sort of have other experiences first both to make sure you know what you want to do, and also to help you with your grad career? "

By the time I leave for my PhD studies (August 2006) it'll be almost 3 years since I passed all my undergrad exams (I'm international and our educational system is somewhat different, but still comparable). in these 3 yrs I completed a honors thesis, a big and important one, and totally relevant to my grad studies; I wrote a book about the same topic (it'll be published in a cpl of months), and I worked on several other research projects. I also spend one year in Berlin working for some non-governmental organization and basically partying the whole time, and travelled extensively around Europe (there're only a handful of Europena coutnries I have not visited) participating in different trainings and seminars or simply visiting friends.

and I am very very very happy I did those things before applying to grad school. I now feel much more mature, emotionally and academically and I've gathered invaluable life experience (and learned 5-6 foreign languages along the way). Now I know exactly what my research interests are and what I want from my professional carreer, and I feel perfectly ready for grad school. I would've seriously regretted going to grad school straight from undergrad.

that;s my personal experience; of course, since you've already been accepted into a very good school, you should seriously consider accepting their offer.

[Guest]

Well, it's a little hard for me to tell you how it is to go to grad school right after college because I come from Israel and we do things different here:

you finish highschool,and then have to go into military service for 2-3 years (this is mandatory for men and women), and only then can you go to university to study for a B.A. Also, are B.A program is solely major-based (no extra courses) so by the time you finished it you have written (though typically not published) several research paper. You have also had very large exposure to many fields of History.

So I am going to Grad school straight out of "college", but doing it at the age of 24, after 2.5 years of military service (not in a fighting role or anything like that), married, with 3 years of intensive history study behind me. In other words, my experience is probably not quite yours. :-)

I would say that on the one hand, yes, I think that life experience, foreign language experience and certainly research experience would help you get into a better place next time, especially if you already got into a good place without them. They could also help further define your research interests and there's no harm in experiencing a bit of the world before delving ever deeper into academia. :-)

On the other hand, if you are really keen on studying right now, if you feel that you have this sort of "calling" for it (I know I do), and the school you got into is good, then maybe you should go for it.

[Guest daphna]

the above message is from me. forgot to enter my name.

[Guest guest]

Oh, you're from Israel? I have a question for you then (this is me by the way, the person who started the thread)-- do you know which Universities in Israel are known to have good programs for foreign english-speaking students?

[Guest daphna]

Actually, yes, I do.

The Hebrew University in Jerusalem has a good program for foreign students in English as well as an excellent Ulpan program in which you learn Hebrew and can then attend regular classes in whatever field interests you.

Their website is http://www.huji.ac.il.

[Guest guest]

Thanks! Have you heard anything about BGU's program and Tel Aviv University's program? HU is better in all respects? How about for the number of different classes offered?

[Guest daphna]

I haven't heard specifically about TAU or BGU, though i'm sure the programs there are fine. However, I know that HUJI's program is considered quite good.

Also, I'm a bit less objective because I'm originally from Jerusalem and I absolutely LOVE the city (I've been living away from it for the past few years and I would love to go back).

[Bianca]

I;m not from Israel, but I've been there and I have many friends in both cities. I don't know about the schools, but Jerusalem and TEl Aviv are two completely different worlds to live there. Jerusalem is beautiful and full of history, great old architecture and tradition. Tel Aviv is ultra modern, it's the NYC of Middle East. so depending on what you prefer, you might find either of them great. I personally would choose Tel Aviv, although visiting Jerusalem was an unforgettable experience.

[Guest daphna]

Bianca, your perspective is true but only partially so.

Jerusalem has a history, but it is also a living, breathing, modern city. In fact, where Tel Aviv is the center of Israel's "mainstream" modern culture, Jerusalem is a hotbed of "underground" culture activity, especially in terms of the music scene. It also has lots of great resteraunts, coffee shops and activities.

Certainly if you're into the large-metropolis type city then Tel Aviv is the place for you.

I personally like Jerusalem because it combines big-city activities with a very homey, local feel. :-)

Either way, since the distance between the cities is less than an hour by very convinient bus, living in one city certainly doesn't limit your options of visiting the other. :-)

[Bianca]

I completely agree