Sigaba

Please consider the benefits of going here http://library.uvm.edu/collections/theses?search_type=dept&dept=33 and there https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hist_etds/ and finding theses supervised by potential PIs and then finding out where graduate students went next. As an alterative, you could contact each program's DGS and ask questions centered around outcomes.

Hey, @BrotherB. Welcome to the GradCafe. You may find more information in the History forum. There's also a forum for Anthropology. Generally, your age should not be an issue in and of itself. As a holder of an endowed chair said to me, "History is an old [person's] game." By that, he meant that one doesn't enter one's prime as a historian until one's fifties. I would be less worried about your GPA because there's only so much you can do about it. I'd be more concerned about having professors willing to write strong LORs (letters of recommendation) on your behalf, a well crafted SOP (statement of purpose), and a writing sample that reflects your skills as an aspiring academic historian.

Please clarify what you mean by "structured" and "unstructured." And what was the nature of the "onboarding"?

Hey, @kaw You might be better served were you to pose your question in this forum. https://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/48-mathematics-and-statistics/

To @jpbends's point, the "received wisdom" of this forum is that one should not pursue an unfunded terminal master's degree in history unless one has deep pockets. AFIAK, this guidance is more word of mouth/rule of thumb than the outcome of qualitative or quantitative research. The rigors being in a master's program while having to worry about funding and your applications for a doctoral program could limit what you get out of that program in terms of your development as an academic historian? Will professors care enough to bounce you off the walls so that you grow or will they just nod and smile with dollar signs in their eyes when you speak? Also, if you earn a master's at a program and then go on to a doctoral program, you'll most likely end up having to jump through many of the same hoops all over again--up to the point where you could earn a second master's in history. What are the alternatives? Maybe consider enrolling in a program in which you can earn a degree or even a certificate in what will be your outside field as a doctoral student. Maybe this path could center on developing a skill that will help you get part time work during the summers or full time work if you ultimately decide that things are as bad in the House of Klio as many say. Or, if you're not an Americanist, you could enroll in a language program that will allow you to knock out a requirement or two in a doctoral program.

Do what you can to pivot towards the sensibilities of an academic historian as soon as possible. Your UG GPA, your success rate in previous cycles, and the rankings of where you applied are not very useful to you. What kind of history do you want to do? How might your research impact existing historiographical debates of your specific field, your area/time period, and the overall profession? How do you see your career as an academic unfolding over the next thirty years? <==Talking about these kinds of questions is likely going to draw more initial interest than your backstory from academics.

Before you accept or decline, please consider the resources at your disposal for performing a vigorous due diligence for each of your potential options. Please way the benefits and challenges (not pros and cons) of each option. FWIW, The way I see it, you have at least five centered around attending graduate school defer accept with intent to push through to the doctorate with your intended fields accept with the intent to reassess after earning a masters with your intended fields accept with the intent to earn a master's degree while (covertly) developing skills for a job outside of history. You could use the outside field requirement to develop a skill in data science or project management. Just make sure that the skill isn't something with a very limited shelf life. accept with the intent to earn a doctorate with fields that will help you get a job outside of the Ivory Tower. As an example, if your top 10 school's name starts with a Y or a H or a P or a J, and your interests are anywhere adjacent to security studies/grand strategy you could put together a path of study that leads to a job with .GOV or .MIL For options in the private sector, I recommend that viable alternatives should comparable favorably to what you'd be giving up by not going to graduate school. That is, you have an offer of "guaranteed" underemployment with health insurance and great amenities (like the library) during an interval of intensifying great power rivalry, economic uncertainty, a pandemic that doesn't care if people think it should be classified as an endemic, political turbulence. Please also take a look at your theory that you're overthinking things. To what extent is "over thinking" a trait that that has kept you out of bad situations or a potential character flaw that has led you to walking away from opportunities for personal fulfilment and success. The latter can really become a grind if left unchecked. Or so I've heard. Please do consider talking to your professors candidly about your ambivalence. Before initiating such a conversation, make sure that you're going to be able to speak frankly about your hopes, your fears, and your understanding of their expectations. (On this last point, I think that @AP will prove to be right. I think that your professors like you personally.)

I think that you should confer with your professors. If you leave your program now, will their disappointment impact the quality of LORs they will write on your behalf as you look for work? What happens if you end up competing for these kinds of positions against applicants who the same academic degrees and career goals--and doctorates as well?

IME it depends upon the way the funds are disbursed. Sometimes taxes are withheld, sometimes it is assumed that the recipient is putting money aside to cover tax liabilities later.

As long as it was made clear that Han shot first, this sounds like a promising topic.

It's unfortunate that you continue to take things in this direction. It's not so much that I'm concerned about my reputation. It's that I am looking for ways to avoid responding to you in a tone similar to yours. If you want to continue going down this path of personal characterizations, shoot me a private message and we can figure something out. Otherwise, I urge you to consider the benefits of not attempting to denigrate my intellect or my character. IRT the topic of this thread, let me try once again to take things in a different direction. Klio is a hearbreaker. How each person deals with that heartbreak is different and how each person deals with the pain can change over time. For now, I'm dealing with mine by taking responsibility for what I could have controlled. I've shared my thoughts with a couple of professors, including a person in a position to make changes in his department. Beyond that, I'm working on sublimating a shifting constellation of thoughts and feelings about the historical profession and my experiences in graduate school.

I would like to think that we respect each other enough not to resort to making assumptions about views on topics unrelated to our comments on the topic of professional academic history. Your deployment of conjecture under the guise of logical appearances is bad form. I would prefer that you ask clarification if my comments are unclear rather than attempting to put words in my mouth or thoughts in my head.

@KinOfKafka, if you ever circle back to this thread, take a look at the History forum. There you will find conversations about the benefits and challenges of applying to doctoral programs with a B.A. as well as information on how aspiring graduate students can navigate an application season. Two points worth mentioning here. First, if you are offered admission to a graduate program with a B.A. alone, you will almost certainly have to earn a master's degree before reaching candidacy for your doctorate. You may have the opportunity to earn your M.A. by passing your qualifying exams but if you're in it for the Ivory Tower life, you may decide to produce a thesis or report. Second, the study of academic history can be expensive. Even if you earn lucrative funding packages, fellowships, and grants, there are no true "free rides." Even if you're extraordinarily disciplined when it comes to spending money, brew your own coffee, and live at the interlibrary loan counter, there are going to be "life happens" moments and dozens (if not hundreds) of books and articles you have to have in your permanent possession.

I feel attacked. I feel misunderstood. I feel like you didn't read my comments and instead launched into an airing of your grievances with me as your straw man. How about that. Before I put my meticulously written hurt feelings report in the circular file, I'll offer a clarification and ask a couple of questions. Here's the clarification so that there's no confusion about what I'm saying. I'm saying that I'm responsible for the choices that I made as an undergraduate (not working hard enough on the fundamental skills I would need as a grad student) and as a graduate student (not learning how to look before leaping). Yes, I can point to pivotal instances where I wish this professor or that one or that one had been more professional but those let downs were the products of my choices. Here are the questions. If should not be an individual's responsibility to develop resources and skills to find gainful employment upon leaving school, then what should that individual's responsibilities be? (Well, since, you got a little salty in your reply, I'll rephrase. For what outcomes of your chosen path do you, @Calgacus, take responsibility?)

Unless you're using an alt account, it seems that you've been here a short while. I think that if you were to take a deep dive into @AP's post, you'd quickly find that this individual is the exact opposite of the person you're describing. To me, the issue you are having has something to do with you. I think that you're sending a clear message that if you don't get what you want when you want it and how you want it, you're going to go into attack mode. FWIW, here's something I learned. History professors (like @AP) give very subtle guidance. Why? I don't know. Maybe they don't want to blowback that can follow if the recipient doesn't like the message. I do know that sometime students mistake coaching for criticism. I also know that it sometimes takes a while (or in my case, years) to figure out the wisdom, care, and respect that goes into such guidance.