Fall 2012 Applicant Chit Chat

[StrangeLight]

i think it's possible for people to be true to themselves and to be marketable at the same time. if your heart is in a cutting edge field, then you're set. if your heart is in a 1970s-esque historical project, it's still very marketable if your work aims to reinvent the question rather than take one side in an age-old argument.

but look, if we can't get a book published, we aren't gonna get tenure (even if we miraculously land TT jobs). and we can't get a book published without truly making a new contribution to a field, without being marketable. to anyone that ignores these concerns based on principle, that's fine and good now, but when you're shopping around a book manuscript and all the publishers respond with "that's been done," you may wish you'd considered the market more seriously.

i don't know about y'all, but i'm not writing my dissertation for me. i'm writing it for my field. i'm studying what i'm studying because i believe it's important to real people's lives right now (and is quite literally a matter of life and death for many) and because i believe it's a necessary intervention in a few debates in my field. i'm not reinventing the wheel but i am working on something that i know is important to the people i study and to the other people who study them. i don't have the audacity to write a book that only means something to me. as long as your ideas will matter to other people in your field, your dissertation/book/research WILL be marketable. if truly no one cares about the topic but you, then there are a bunch of reasons to reconsider, not the least of which is our responsibility to make new contributions to our field.

i'm not saying people need to become world historians because it's trendy or to throw in gender just for the sake of it. but damn, being marketable is about a lot more than getting a job. it's about getting published. it's about contributing our knowledge. and (in my opinion), if your research subjects are still alive, it's about giving something back to them, even if it's merely recording their history or raising awareness. we have to love what we do or we're not going to make it through 6+ years of grad school, but it also helps to work on something that someone other than ourselves thinks is important.

[Safferz]

They were talking about planetary history at Harvard

[Sigaba]

In reply to post #4526

TMP--

What factors kept you from being honest with your interests and plans during the previous two cycles?

[alleykat]

Hi guys, I received a funded offer today, which I will definitely accept. I am thinking of wrriting a thank-you email to my POI first (I am currently not in the USA). I also want to get prepared for this long journey ahead but I am not so sure what questions I should ask him right now. Should I ask him something like recommended readings or language training? Any suggestions? Thank you a lot.

[Meg22]

18 people accepted to UMass MA/PhD program. . . About 3 of them have posted their "Accepted" results on this site. . . One of them sounds like they're going from the forums.

To the other 17 people. . . please don't go. UMass is a great place, but I want to go. The coming weeks on the wait list are going to slowly drive me insane.

Hi, could I ask where you got the # of admitted? I'm curious because I spoke to the History office this morning and my application status still hasn't been decided, but the secretary didn't mention that they were finished with the cycle. 18 is probably a full house though, so if that number is spot on they probably should be finished with admissions.

I'm *hoping* that if I got rejected the secretary would tell me over the phone, it truly sounded like a decision hadn't been made yet. Ugh.

[crazedandinfused]

I'm setting up my campus visits and it all just hit me. Not only am I going to meet Professor X and Professor Y, who are like frigging demi-gods vis a vis my interests, but they both want to meet me, and they want me to work with them. Sweet Jesus, this is amazing.

There is some sliver of logic to this process, at least in my case, in the sense that I got rejected from the places where I applied for reasons beyond pure match (prestige, sweet place to live, etc..) and I'm in at the places that are a perfect fit. It's like some weird natural selection.

I'm over the frigging moon.

[oseirus]

I'm setting up my campus visits and it all just hit me. Not only am I going to meet Professor X and Professor Y, who are like frigging demi-gods vis a vis my interests, but they both want to meet me, and they want me to work with them. Sweet Jesus, this is amazing.

pull yourself together man! Even if you are excited you can't act like a groupie ... gotta act all coooool ... calm and collected ... THEN when they're out of sight .... shriek and squeal like a teeny bopper meeting Justin Beaver (sp?) ...on an unrelated note very happy for your success

[Nordicllama]

It just occurred to me, I have not yet given my weekly call of: "Oh UNC oh UNC, whither dost thou be? Will you not reveal yourself? Send thy decision unto me!"

And a Pitt and Georgia can consider themselves beseeched as well.

[Kelkel]

It just occurred to me, I have not yet given my weekly call of: "Oh UNC oh UNC, whither dost thou be? Will you not reveal yourself? Send thy decision unto me!"

And a Pitt and Georgia can consider themselves beseeched as well.

I'm telling you, UGA is the worst about notifying people in a timely fashion. I waited until like April 1st last year.

[Nordicllama]

I'm telling you, UGA is the worst about notifying people in a timely fashion. I waited until like April 1st last year.

Wow. That's unacceptable. I'm just going to load up the car, drive there, and demand a decision right now. If only gasoline didn't make that utterly unaffordable.

[oseirus]

Wow. That's unacceptable. I'm just going to load up the car, drive there, and demand a decision right now. If only gasoline didn't make that utterly unaffordable.

Here's a tip for when you get there

[sandyvanb]

It just occurred to me, I have not yet given my weekly call of: "Oh UNC oh UNC, whither dost thou be? Will you not reveal yourself? Send thy decision unto me!"

And a Pitt and Georgia can consider themselves beseeched as well.

I am there with Pitt and OSU! Just cut me loose already!

And Oseirus you are killing me! I have bronchitis and laughing makes me cough!

Edited March 14, 2012 by sandyvanb

[Toulouse1]

I'm waiting on two more schools, Pitt being one of them. I saw an acceptance not too long ago.....I guess I will be repeating this process next year.

Congrats to all the admits!

Edited March 14, 2012 by Toulouse1

[superrockr1]

It just occurred to me, I have not yet given my weekly call of: "Oh UNC oh UNC, whither dost thou be? Will you not reveal yourself? Send thy decision unto me!"

Same for me with UGA. I was waitlisted at UNC, but knowing that so many others have yet to hear any word from there makes me nervous!

[Nordicllama]

Same for me with UGA. I was waitlisted at UNC, but knowing that so many others have yet to hear any word from there makes me nervous!

I know money is tight and they're trying to not reject or waitlist until they have to, but it might be nice to send out an email or something saying,

"Hey, we did receive your application, you're a strong enough candidate to the point that we don't want to reject you out of hand. To be honest, there are a lot of people ahead of you so we probably won't be accepting you, but we expect to be able to give you more definitive information by X DATE X."

I feel like that would just be the considerate thing to do.

[superrockr1]

I know money is tight and they're trying to not reject or waitlist until they have to, but it might be nice to send out an email or something saying,

"Hey, we did receive your application, you're a strong enough candidate to the point that we don't want to reject you out of hand. To be honest, there are a lot of people ahead of you so we probably won't be accepting you, but we expect to be able to give you more definitive information by X DATE X."

I feel like that would just be the considerate thing to do.

Yes I agree. Have you contacted the DGS or anyone else at UNC about your app? If not, their DGS has been very helpful to me in the past.

[oseirus]

I know money is tight and they're trying to not reject or waitlist until they have to, but it might be nice to send out an email or something saying,

"Hey, we did receive your application, you're a strong enough candidate to the point that we don't want to reject you out of hand. To be honest, there are a lot of people ahead of you so we probably won't be accepting you, but we expect to be able to give you more definitive information by X DATE X."

I feel like that would just be the considerate thing to do.

The concept of manners and Southern time are hard to explain to you yankees, good sir

[Nordicllama]

I may live with the Yankees now, but I was born and raised southern, sir. I understand southern time, but southern manners would dictate they send a thank you note for my application fee, and then keep me apprised of my application status.

[oseirus]

I may live with the Yankees now, but I was born and raised southern, sir. I understand southern time, but southern manners would dictate they send a thank you note for my application fee, and then keep me apprised of my application status.

touche ... well now it would seem we might have to have south off to see why this perplexing state of affairs exists

[Nordicllama]

touche ... well now it would seem we might have to have south off to see why this perplexing state of affairs exists

Sir, I demand satisfaction!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xfnu0nb4PUI

[oseirus]

Sir, I demand satisfaction!

here I have a joke for you ... come closer ... listen up

[Nordicllama]

here I have a joke for you ... come closer ... listen up

CHARLAY MURPHAY!!!

Edited March 14, 2012 by Nordicllama

[oseirus]

CHARLAY MURPHAY!!!

Who said history couldn't be humorous

[Nordicllama]

Who said history couldn't be humorous

Game- blouses.

Say, Oseirus, who might you have Marching madly to the final four? I have Kentucky, FSU, UNC, and Florida.

[oseirus]

Game- blouses.

Say, Oseirus, who might you have Marching madly to the final four? I have Kentucky, FSU, UNC, and Florida.

depends on the bracket ... the "professional scientific investment" bracket has Baylor, Michigan State, Kansas and OSU (I will never add the article) and the funsie just for laughs has FSU (FEAR THE SPEAR!), UNC, Murray State and of course Baylor ... respect Perry Jones III children b/c in the immortal words of former Knicks great, Mark Jackson, "Momma there goes that man!" ... whilst I'm spouting off my picks I wonder when everyone else will chime in?