How to make your final choice?

[ashiepoo72]

Absolutely! I may be a broke grad student, but I refuse to eat ramen every day. I did enough of that in undergrad

[Sigaba]

Please don't neglect the library nor the proximity to archival sources related to your primary field of interest.

Edited March 25, 2015 by Sigaba

[Heimat Historian]

That's an excellent recommendation Sigaba. Having those resources accessible is very important. That's partly weighing my decision (which I still haven't made). 

[Malfunction1986]

I was once told: "if one of your acceptances is from a school in the top 20 then the decision has been made for you; if none of your acceptances are from a school in the top 20 then you should go where you will be happiest for the next 4-7 years."

Edited March 25, 2015 by Malfunction1986

[navyblackmaroon]

I was once told: "if one of your acceptances is from a school in the top 20 then the decision has been made for you; if none of your acceptances are from a school in the top 20 then you should go where you will be happiest for the next 4-7 years."

Considering the current job market, I really can't disagree with that advice. The issue is when all your options are from top 20 schools or from schools outside the top 20, then the decision making becomes more complicated.

[Sigaba]

I was once told: "if one of your acceptances is from a school in the top 20 then the decision has been made for you; if none of your acceptances are from a school in the top 20 then you should go where you will be the least unhappy for the next 4-7 years."

 

I fixed the quotation for you. (But I'm not bitter.)

[ashiepoo72]

So I've been pretty absent lately, but since I'm on a campus visit I just want to say: when you've gotten into programs that you're seriously considering, VISIT. I think visits have in some ways radically altered my decision. Plus it's a ton of fun meeting new people genuinely interested in your work. But yeah, mostly visits will provide much needed clarity.

I know I'm being purposely vague. I think I've decided on a program, but I'm chatting with my MA adviser before I finalize anything. All I'm gonna say for now is that visiting had a huge impact on me.

Also, when you've decided against a program...tell them. Don't be the douche that has the department pay for your visit (which is more than a plane ticket...it's a few days in a hotel, food, transportation and a whole shitload of time spent) when you know for sure you won't be attending. Maybe I'm a naive person, but I was shocked when I heard people actually do this.

[TMP]

So I've been pretty absent lately, but since I'm on a campus visit I just want to say: when you've gotten into programs that you're seriously considering, VISIT. I think visits have in some ways radically altered my decision. Plus it's a ton of fun meeting new people genuinely interested in your work. But yeah, mostly visits will provide much needed clarity.

I know I'm being purposely vague. I think I've decided on a program, but I'm chatting with my MA adviser before I finalize anything. All I'm gonna say for now is that visiting had a huge impact on me.

Also, when you've decided against a program...tell them. Don't be the douche that has the department pay for your visit (which is more than a plane ticket...it's a few days in a hotel, food, transportation and a whole shitload of time spent) when you know for sure you won't be attending. Maybe I'm a naive person, but I was shocked when I heard people actually do this.

I agree.  Campus visits can alter your (imagined) reality.  I did a 180 but got turned back around when I talked with my MA adviser.   Nonetheless, my impression of that campus improved for the better and now can say what a wonderful program it is.

 

And... the people who have taken the time out of their busy days to meet you (with hopes you would join them in the fall).  Including graduate students who are neck-deep preparing for their candidacy exams

[Riotbeard]

Here is my two cents at the end of five years:

 

I went where the funding was best, and I think it was the right decision.  Go where you will be funded to write a dissertation, not somewhere that wants you to teach classes for them (at least during your dissertation years, we teach during years 2 and 3).  This is most important in the ABD phase.  Me and my friend in my program were able to take our stipends after we went ABD and move to where our sources were in both cases for over a year, just doing research. In both cases, we both credit intimate knowledge of sources with the ability to right strong grant proposals that have paid off.  I know a lot of people in programs where you have to TA during your ABD years, and all of your research is what you can fit into a month here or there.  It's really difficult to do high level original reserach under those types of constraints.  Additionally, it's also difficult to find to write, research, and apply for fellowship while TAing and have any semblance of a happy personal life (more important than people credit.  It's very easy to get burnt out, even with good funding).

 

My program which is mid-ranked also focused heavily on how to write grant proposals and other professional skills.  In my year, two of us (out of the 6 who have survived) have gotten major grants (National Science Foundation and Fulbright) in addition to a slew of small grants and major internal fellowships.

 

Advisers are important, but if you are good at networking, you will have a lot of advisers.  The academic I talk to most is my outside reader, who I met a year and half ago on a panel.

 

I am not going to say everything is secondary to funding, but it would have to be better in every column but funding in my opinion to go against a good non-labor oreiented funding package.

[thedig13]

Now that this decision is a year behind me, I can offer you the criteria that, in retrospect, I would have used if forced to make a decision again. They are, in no particular order:

 - Funding relative to cost-of-living: There are programs out there that will throw money and resources at you, and there are programs that barely keep students above the poverty line. You want to be in the former kind; it's a lot easier to read and write when you're not worried about bills and you have the institutional support to do things. My school's library/librarians, in particular, have proven insanely helpful in securing obscure monographs and tough-to-find materials.

 - Program prestige: As much as it totally and completely sucks, the reality is that 50% of all tenure-track positions in History are occupied by graduates of top-10 programs. In an oversaturated job market, you need every edge you can get.

 - Dissertation Committee: Are they big names whose recommendations will go a long way in getting you a job? Do they have a reputation for protecting/helping/standing for their graduate students? Are they people you want to work with? Are they people who are qualified to help with your project?

 - Cohort: This was the criteria that mattered most to me a year ago. Do you "click" with the people you've met, as well as those in upper years? Are their projects interesting and compelling? Do you want to hang out with them more? Don't underestimate this one; you'll be spending the next 6-7 years with these people.

 

Fortunately, the decision I made was ultimately the right one either way, but hopefully this first-year's perspective can help incoming students make more informed decisions.

 

PS: I realize that some of my criteria/explanations make me sound jaded and cynical, but I really feel like I should emphasize that I've already benefited tremendously (and will no doubt continue to benefit) from institutional advantages and resources that most programs simply can't offer. Unless I had some very, very, very good intellectual or ethical reason to do so, I would not trade these away.

Edited April 5, 2015 by thedig13

[kotov]

I simmed a game of NCAA football between the two schools and went with the winner.

 

 

 

No really, I chose based on money.