Rusian History PhD - Ohio State vs. Carnegie Mellon

[Septerra]

Hi there. After being set to accept my offer from Ohio State for Russian history, I was informed that I have been accepted to Carnegie Mellon. While Carnegie Mellon offers quite a bit more funding, including no teaching for the first year, and a full year of paid research, I am leaning towards to Ohio State because I think the advisor fit is better, there are more Russian history resources, and I believe the history program's ranking is higher. However, my major concern is securing job placement after I finish my program. I am worried that I will not be able to secure placement coming out of Carnegie Mellon because they are not even in the top 25-30 in terms of history program rankings.

I guess I am asking, does anyone have anything to say about either Ohio State or Carnegie Mellon's history programs? Thanks!

[rising_star]

Have you looked at the specific placements for those in Russian history at each place? I know there aren't many jobs in Russian history these days so seeing where the graduates end up could be enlightening or at least helpful. Have you visited both places?

[Septerra]

4 hours ago, rising_star said:

Have you looked at the specific placements for those in Russian history at each place? I know there aren't many jobs in Russian history these days so seeing where the graduates end up could be enlightening or at least helpful. Have you visited both places?

I know that Ohio State has a history of placing their graduates. The same information is not available, at least from my search, about Carnegie Mellon. However, the size of the programs is very large. Ohio State has about 200 graduate students while Carnegie Mellon has around 30. I am planning to visit Ohio State at the end of the month for their visitation day. However, I do not think Carnegie Mellon has such a day, once again because of the size of their program. I have e-mailed the DGS about the possibility of visiting, but it would be an expensive trip for me if it is not compensated. :/

[rising_star]

You should be able to get this information by asking the DGS or your POIs. Or Google-stalking people based on recently filed dissertations. In your case, the overall program placement does NOT matter. You need the placement in Russian/Eastern European history, not other fields like Atlantic World, American, Latin American, etc.