Plan B?

[Josh J.]

If you don't get into the program you want this year, what is your plan B?

I plan to do an MAT and teach High School history for a while. 

[DGrayson]

I'm thinking about taking the Masters at European and Russian studies at Yale (if I get in that is)! I don't have very much skill in languages at the moment, which is why I didn't get into programs this time around. If the offer is funded, I'll most likely take it (still waiting on Penn though). If not, I'll self study languages and try to land a job at a Community College. 

[stillalivetui]

15 minutes ago, DGrayson said:

I'm thinking about taking the Masters at European and Russian studies at Yale (if I get in that is)! I don't have very much skill in languages at the moment, which is why I didn't get into programs this time around. If the offer is funded, I'll most likely take it (still waiting on Penn though). If not, I'll self study languages and try to land a job at a Community College. 

You should consider applying to Indiana University's MA program in Russian/East European program next cycle should you not gain admittance to Yale. It's a great program (I got my MA there), and offer a plethora of East European languages.

[DGrayson]

7 minutes ago, stillalivetui said:

You should consider applying to Indiana University's MA program in Russian/East European program next cycle should you not gain admittance to Yale. It's a great program (I got my MA there), and offer a plethora of East European languages.

My field as actually Early Modern Europe. I'm going for the French and German, but I'll check it out for sure. It has to be funded though, as I'm already finishing up a Masters in Economics that has cost me a pretty penny. 

Edited February 14, 2016 by DGrayson

[fortsibut]

I'm taking the GRE late summer, and applying for PhD programs this coming fall   While I love history and my dream is to get a PhD and teach, I also have an interest in law so I'll also be taking the LSAT in the fall and seeing how that goes as well.  If I do really well on both tests, I'll probably apply to 6-8 PhD programs if I can find that many that are a good fit for my specialization, as well as a few law schools.  If I get a funded offer for a good PhD program, I'm doing that.  If not and if I get a great offer from a law school (mostly paid), I might go that route, but I'd be more likely to go one more application cycle for a PhD before jumping into law.

If I do horribly on both tests, don't get in anywhere, and don't do any better in the next cycle, I'm going to to go teach high school in Switzerland.

[KLZ]

You can also apply to joint pdh/law programs. 

[fortsibut]

12 minutes ago, KLZ said:

You can also apply to joint pdh/law programs. 

That's true and I'd definitely enjoy that, but wouldn't that possibly put me at risk of looking indecisive to future potential employers?  I'm an Africanist and not a legal historian, might be tough to find a good fit.  I'll look into it though, thanks for the suggestion!

[alain]

4 hours ago, fortsibut said:

That's true and I'd definitely enjoy that, but wouldn't that possibly put me at risk of looking indecisive to future potential employers?  I'm an Africanist and not a legal historian, might be tough to find a good fit.  I'll look into it though, thanks for the suggestion!

If you're in any way interested in African legal history, you should consider it. There's a great Africanist legal historian at Stanford and many with interests in it in related fields (i.e. legal anthropology).

[AfricanusCrowther]

7 hours ago, fortsibut said:

That's true and I'd definitely enjoy that, but wouldn't that possibly put me at risk of looking indecisive to future potential employers?  I'm an Africanist and not a legal historian, might be tough to find a good fit.  I'll look into it though, thanks for the suggestion!

I made the exact same decision this season: I applied to PhD programs for Africa and to law schools, and got int both. I ultimately decided that, given the interests that I pursued in undergrad, I couldn't justify doing African legal history and applying to JD/PhD programs (I'm just a wreck and I don't know what to do with my life). As you probably know, law school admissions is almost entirely numbers driven, so if you're planning on taking the LSAT, I would suggest making a study plan now (it's impossible to do cold and requires a great deal of study). It's a lot more important than the GRE.

[fortsibut]

Good advice, guys, thank you!

AfricanusCrowther:  which programs did you end up applying to, just out of curiosity?  As far as the LSAT goes, I was planning to put in ~10 hours a week or so earlier in the supper for studying, and ramping it up in August and September.  (Test is at the end of September this year, I believe)  Think that'll be enough time?

alain:  thanks for the info, that sounds like a great program, even though Stanford's a tough place to get in!  Do you attend there?

[Watershed]

Become a park ranger and hide

[AfricanusCrowther]

2 hours ago, fortsibut said:

AfricanusCrowther:  which programs did you end up applying to, just out of curiosity?  As far as the LSAT goes, I was planning to put in ~10 hours a week or so earlier in the supper for studying, and ramping it up in August and September.  (Test is at the end of September this year, I believe)  Think that'll be enough time?

That sounds good, but I would spend one or two hours each week in the spring familiarizing yourself with the logic games section. Once you learn how to solve every question type, you can begin drilling in earnest. I worked through the very-thorough PowerScore logic games book, and had great results, but I know people who swear by other study guides.

But that's just my take -- there are many studying strategies for the LSAT (you can find plenty of suggestions on the toplawschools forum). All the credible studying strategies I've heard of, on the other hand, recommend developing a plan for at least a few months of studying. The LSAT is brutal for almost everyone.

 

[Josh J.]

1 hour ago, Watershed said:

Become a park ranger and hide

I was a Ranger for 10+ years.... Six in a Watershed.

[_etruscan]

Thankfully, I don't need to use my Plan B. But if I did, it would be to find a job teaching high school history. In fact, I've been trying to get a high school job for the last two years, but couldn't as I did not have the necessary experience required for the job. Most of my interviews were at lower income schools where the principals wanted someone to "manage" a classroom, and not in how I was going to teach the given class. The intent was to teach for a few years before deciding if I wanted to go for a PhD. Looking back on it now, I'm thankful I didn't get those jobs.

Nonetheless, I managed to get a job as an adjunct instructor at a local community college. Horrible pay, but I went from having no experience to some. And the job gave me the confidence to apply for a PhD program at long last. And it worked! 

Now, given the job market for academics, maybe I'll need to do my plan B after all :x But I'll worry about that in 5 years /o/

[Neist]

33 minutes ago, _etruscan said:

Nonetheless, I managed to get a job as an adjunct instructor at a local community college. Horrible pay, but I went from having no experience to some. And the job gave me the confidence to apply for a PhD program at long last. And it worked! 

Now, given the job market for academics, maybe I'll need to do my plan B after all :x But I'll worry about that in 5 years /o/

My backup plan is attending one of the programs I was admitted into, which sounds odd, but it's very relevant to your issues.

The BGSU program I applied into isn't the most pragmatic of degree, but they have amazing pedagogical training. My interests also fit into the program pretty well, but a significant contributing factor why I applied was their pedagogical training. You only teach discussions the first semester (although they don't call them that), but you teach your own classes for the remainder three semesters. Sounds like an overwhelming, yet amazing, experience.

The more I've considered graduate school options, the more I've realized that getting a PhD probably isn't for me if I can't get into a program with a strong placement history. I'd rather not waste my effort just to be overqualified and unemployed. I do want to teach, but I'm pretty sure that won't be in a tenure track position at a R1 university, and I'm completely happy with that.

Edited February 16, 2016 by Neist

[herstory]

Hide from every single person who knows I applied to graduate school and begrudgingly wait for next application season...