Auditing Grad-Level Classes During Gap Year

[ToomuchLes]

As the title delineates, I would like to audit a class during my gap year, which will be led by one of my POIs at UCLA in the Fall. I have a few questions that I'd like your opinions on. First, when should I email the professor asking if I can audit the class? Should I mention that I am applying to study under her? Since auditors cannot have their papers graded and therefore cannot demonstrate my writing abilities, should I still audit it? Would this be a good move to make connections with a potential adviser, and thus improve my chances of acceptance?

[Sigaba]

As the title delineates, I would like to audit a class during my gap year, which will be led by one of my POIs at UCLA in the Fall. I have a few questions that I'd like your opinions on. First, when should I email the professor asking if I can audit the class? Should I mention that I am applying to study under her? Since auditors cannot have their papers graded and therefore cannot demonstrate my writing abilities, should I still audit it? Would this be a good move to make connections with a potential adviser, and thus improve my chances of acceptance?

 

If you're going to go this path, I think you might be better served sending her a letter and/or arranging an appointment so you can talk to her face to face.

 

While you should mention that you're applying to UCLA, I don't think you should disclose at this time that you want to study under her. Instead, communicate your research interests in a way that she understands that you're an aspiring historian who is serious about the craft and would benefit from her teaching and mentoring. By keeping your preferences under your hat, you will put both of you in a position to get to know each other better before anyone has to make a decision about anything.

 

(What follows is MOO.) I don't know if auditing graduate level courses is the best option. If she lets you take the class, you're not going to get the same level of support as an enrolled student, you're not going to have the same type of "skin in the game" (i.e. the graded assignments), and you're not necessarily going to have the access to resources you may need to maximize the opportunity to learn. Also, assuming that you do earn admission to UCLA, would you need to take the class anyways? 

 

Instead of auditing her class, is it possible for you to take care of other items on your to do list that will definitely strengthen your application? For example, you could improve your language skills, do archival research, and/or read up on the historiography of your areas of interest.

[ToomuchLes]

Id like to study 19th c. slave family roles, with a special interest in children, and therefore, I don't believe theres any languages that would benefit my research. I do already speak fluently French, and Hungarian, but again, theyre not pertinent to my area. I already have a internship at LA Museum of the Holocaust, doing exactly what you advised. Moreover, I will be working for the Calabasas newspaper, the Acorn (since my internship is unpaid =/). 

 

EDIT: My primary concern is the time I'll spend away from academia, and how that'll reflect my application. 

Edited May 31, 2014 by LeventeL

[Sigaba]

Id like to study 19th c. slave family roles, with a special interest in children, and therefore, I don't believe theres any languages that would benefit my research. I do already speak fluently French, and Hungarian, but again, theyre not pertinent to my area. I already have a internship at LA Museum of the Holocaust, doing exactly what you advised. Moreover, I will be working for the Calabasas newspaper, the Acorn (since my internship is unpaid =/). 

 

EDIT: My primary concern is the time I'll spend away from academia, and how that'll reflect my application. 

 

Will UCLA let you fulfill the language requirement with languages that are not pertinent to your area? Will the language exams test your proficiency in speaking said languages or will they focus upon your ability to read said languages while you're doing archival research abroad?

 

Will your work at the Acorn center around writing? If so, you could focus on refining/improving your writing/editorial skills. The bottom line is that many historians do not write especially well, in particular when they're undergraduates applying to graduate school. 

Edited May 31, 2014 by Sigaba

[ToomuchLes]

Excellent questions about the language requirements. I will do some research on that for UCLA and some of my other interested schools and get back to you =)

 

In regards to the Acorn, I will mostly edit, and proof-read articles before they are published in the newspaper. The assistant director said that after about a month, my responsibilities will expand and by winter, theres the possibility of reporting and writing articles myself, but it all depends on the quality of my work in the first few months. 

[TMP]

Id like to study 19th c. slave family roles, with a special interest in children, and therefore, I don't believe theres any languages that would benefit my research. I do already speak fluently French, and Hungarian, but again, theyre not pertinent to my area. I already have a internship at LA Museum of the Holocaust, doing exactly what you advised. Moreover, I will be working for the Calabasas newspaper, the Acorn (since my internship is unpaid =/). 

 

EDIT: My primary concern is the time I'll spend away from academia, and how that'll reflect my application. 

 

Trust me, professors do appreciate when you do take time away from academia and do other things.  Don't waste your money on a history graduate course as Sigaba suggested.  Enjoy your free time . Seriously.