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Jon Hecht has been making these for the last few years, but now that he's in a PhD program we'll have to carry on without him.
So who is applying to grad school this year? MA or PhD? How many schools? Are you worried? How's the application process going?
I'm currently finishing up an MA in philosophy. The other year was a really brutal year for me for grad school applications; I was rejected from almost everywhere I applied. Where I ended up turned out to be a fantastic experience though, so it worked out.
This year I'm much more positive about my applications. I've been really happy with my work, I'll have three strong letters of recommendation, my GRE scores were really strong, and one of my papers was even accepted to the APA (a big deal for philosophers), so my professors are all really confident about my chances to get into some high quality programs.
The application list is currently at like 16 schools though, which is a killer financially. I'm not sure it's worth cutting any though. I can't imagine, years from now, regretting that extra couple hundred I spent on grad school applications. And the long term payoff of getting into one of my reach schools (no matter how slim it is) far outweighs the $70-$100 cost of application.
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My biggest problem is lack of money. I have so far only applied to the ones I absolutely want... worst case scenario, if I have more money next year and haven't gotten in, I'll apply once more.
I'm applying to USC and UCLA. I know, these schools, and the film programs within, aren't the sort that take everyone... in fact, they're very selective. But to be honest, this is as much a litmus test as anything else: Is my writing good enough for them to consider me?
We'll see. I'd like to get in. But I have plans for if I don't... and either way, I'm planning to do a horror series on Youtube. Maybe I'll do a thread about it here once I'm done with auditions and actually get it going!
Posts: 1577 | Registered: Sep 2005
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I'm applying to PhD programs this time around, as I'm (hopefully) on the verge of completing my MA.
I'm applying to ten schools, which is more than I can really afford, but competition is too stiff, and I need to cast a wide net.
I'm also probably a week or two behind in the applications process from where I'd like to be. Some of my apps won't be as polished as I'd like, which is very worrisome, but there's nothing I can do about it now.
I'm actually feeling more optimistic than I was two years ago. I have two years of grad school under my belt, and my CV is filled out nicely with a host of goodies I was missing last time around. I know I came close, in the final rounds, in a few places I applied to last time that I'm applying to again. So I feel like, even though competition has never been stiffer and departments are admitting even fewer students, I have a better chance this time around. I also have better letter writers that actually know people at certain institutions, which I hope will give me a leg up.
Even so, I wouldn't be surprised if I'm rejected at 8 or 9 schools. I feel reasonably sure I can get into the program I'm in now (at the next level), and my safety school back in Michigan, but all my other choices are top tier excellent schools. I might get blown out, but this is my one big try.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I'm not applying this year, but I will be next year and I'm polishing my academics and studying for the LSAT. My facilitators seem confident in my ability to do well, but the school I really want to get into has ridiculously stiff competition. (UChicago)
I'm going to pursue a J.D. in Constitutional Law, but that may change in the next 6-7 months.
My test scores on the LSAT have not been great, top 10% but I need near perfect for the tougher schools. So I'm studying and retaking it in the spring.
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Law school definitely counts T:man. That's exciting. Good luck on bringing those LSAT scores up.
What kind of stuff are you working on these days Megabyte?
Good luck at Central Jon!
Lyrhawn, I empathize about being behind on the application process. The next couple weeks will be brutal. My first application is due December 15th. Between now and then I have three term papers to write. I'll have ~80 student papers to grade come next weekend. I have a couple website jobs I'm behind on (side business). I'm still working on my statement of purpose. And then I have to actually fill out the applications and get my transcripts and GRE scores sent, etc. Thank god my writing sample is set.
Here's to not sleeping till Christmas!
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I have three due in two days, and they simply won't be finished well. I'll still send them in, but I know I'm going to get bounced from all three, and one was my top choice.
Fingers crossed for the others.
This just isn't my year.
I've come within an inch of writing a meltdown rant thread on here a couple times in the last two days. These applications are just the icing on the cake that is the literal end of my sanity.
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Mostly just the assembly. I'm using a writing sample from a couple years ago which I hate but is serviceable, I have my recommenders lined up, I just need to fill out the applications, send my GRE scores, which will be late, send my transcripts, which will be late, and finish editing my personal statements.
It's just not going well, and I've put it off for too long now, and these first three schools are simply shot. It's actually pretty disappointing. But I have no one to blame but myself. And I hate that too.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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How's it going guys? I'm stressed and exhausted and have drank more coffee in the last week or two than I have in the last year.
But I'm on track to have everything done on time, and have managed to pull off some pretty decent end of term papers as well. Can't wait for this to be over!
Posts: 8741 | Registered: Apr 2001
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I just finished taking the GRE. I'll probably be applying to Thunderbird and Brigham Young University. If I get into Thunderbird, I want to take their Master's of Arts in Global Affairs and Management. After completing that program, I would probably take the accelerated MBA program and complete that in two more trimesters.
Brigham Young has furloughed their Public Affairs graduate program, so I may instead do Public Administration.
Thunderbird is by far a more promising program, but BYU has incredibly affordable tuition, and it's right down the road from where I live, so I'd have familial support while studying. I might be able to work, while doing it as well.
Also, Thunderbird is in Arizona. I don't *want* to live in Arizona!
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I'm thinking about going back to school in a few years. Maybe yes, maybe no; I've got a Masters and I'm working in industry, but I might want to go back for a PhD and pursue a life of crime in academia. All this talk of GREs reminded me of a question: do these scores expire at any point? Would I have to take it again? That sound... awful. Besides, I'm plenty pleased with my scores the last time I took it and feel no need to redo it.
I haven't checked any schools for their requirments, but I know the few I applied to did require GREs for any graduate program I looked at, even if you were entering with a Masters.
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The GRE is valid for up to five years I believe. It can be taken again six months after completing it.
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Odds are the gre you took has been modified since you took it. My scores include sections they don't have any more and is missing a new section so I would have to retake.
Posts: 2223 | Registered: Mar 2008
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You don't have to wait six months in between taking GREs (it's once every 30 days), but you're right that it tends to be good for up to 5 years. Hobbes, you should always check the department's website though and see if they have any special requirements for the GRE. It's possible some might request a score less than 5 years out.
While the GRE scoring system was changed last year, the old test scores are still being accepted. If you took it long enough ago that you took with the old logic section instead of the analytical writing section, it was probably long enough ago that it doesn't meet the 5 year requirement anyway.
And no...I'm not paid by ETS. Posts: 8741 | Registered: Apr 2001
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One helpful hint that will make lives of administrators so much better - and improve the chances that your application materials will get to where they are supposed to go. Please, for heavens sake, have the folks sending transcripts and recommendations put the program rather than the School or University in the address. These are often big places and it would save me and and others like me the trouble of calling around to all our many graduate programs to see who you belong to. Or save people who are not as nice as I am from pitching your stuff or having it languish on their desks.
Posts: 11187 | Registered: Sep 2005
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I actually had very little that had to be mailed.
All of my recommendations were handled online. And only 1/3 of my applications required official transcripts to mailed in. The rest required me to upload my transcripts into the system, and only request official ones if I am granted admittance.
Really it was just GRE scores that had to be mailed.
But yes, applicants should do everything within their power to not piss off the staff at the universities they are applying to. Posts: 8741 | Registered: Apr 2001
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Most of the materials here are supposed to be submitted online as well. Not all the people sending transcripts or recommendations get that though. We only have about a dozen graduate programs in the School, so if they make it to the School, we can track them down. I shudder to think of the ones in the mail room simply addressed to Big University, Street Address, City.
Posts: 11187 | Registered: Sep 2005
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I've more or less decided to take a year off from school. I'm going to get a crappy job, live at home, mope around, reconnect with my family and friends, have an existential crisis (a more meaningful one than grad students undergo on a daily basis) and probably do a real round of applications again next fall. I sort of wish I would have at least gotten one application in on time for a school close to home, but I think I always would have regretted not trying my hardest to get into Michigan (aka: The Dream School).
So I'm going to finish up my masters, spend the summer untangling the web of stress that's clouded my head for the last 18 months, revise several articles I've been working on to get a few publications under my belt, and take the best swing possible in Fall 2013. I've gotten a lot of frowns and tut-tus from professors here on this plan of action, and I've actually still got two outstanding applications, one for here and one for Ohio, but they'll likely be rejected because I half-assed them both.
I think I just need to go home. Two years 800 miles away from everyone I know and love, with a very small handful of friends here on the prairie to keep me sane and a boatload of work to do. I'm mentally burnt out. A lot of people told me to take a break after undergrad, but I wanted to barrel ahead. I don't regret it, getting this MA has been a wonderful experience. But the tradeoffs were real.
Being at home for a couple weeks at Christmas, seeing how things were changing while I was gone, how far out of the loop I was, having my family tug and pull at me for every spare second I had, and then badger me for weeks after I was gone about when I'd be home again made me realize that leaving was torture.
I need to be in Michigan. Being away is slowly killing me. Part of me is telling myself I'm rationalizing my lazy behavior of late, but I think the truth of it is that I'm being lazy because I'm depressed, and I'm depressed because I live in Nebraska. Next year will suck because getting a decent job will be next to impossible, but it will set me up for the best chance I'll ever have at PhD apps, and hopefully it'll boost my flagging spirits.
You know that old saying about letting something go and seeing it it comes back? I feel like I'm a walking ad for Chicken Soup for the Soul, but it's how I feel about home, and it's actually affecting how I want to pursue my education in a really positive way. The more I study black history, the more I realize I want to study Michigan and Detroit's role in things. I want to do my PhD work IN Detroit, ON Detroit. I'm even thinking about moving into the city in a year, which I've never seriously contemplated. I need to give back to the area I grew up in, and I want to put the city on the map in historical literature for something better than race riots and decay.
End soul outpouring rant.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Yeah, getting your PhD is a miserable enough experience without adding on being homesick and in a place you don't really want to be. And I think you're right that it is vitally important to reclaim that fire and motivation that drives you. And if you find another avenue to channel it, don't feel like you absolutely have to go back. Since I've been home and away from the university, I've developed a list of about five jobs not in academia that I would take in a heartbeat if offered to me and I know there are more.
One suggestion: Put in applications to adjunct. Like, now, while they are still formulating the schedules for spring and fall. It's a long shot that you'll get something, but it's a shot worth taking. It'll look good and it will also keep at least a toe in the academic world. And, while I don't know exactly what your plans are post-PhD, it will be a taste of what is likely to come at least for a bit once you finish.
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Check out community colleges in your area too Lyrhawn. It might be easier to find open teaching slots there.
Posts: 8741 | Registered: Apr 2001
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Thanks. I've taken a couple looks at schools near me for open adjunct positions and there are a couple possibilities. Most of those that I've seen demand teaching experience, but TAing for two years counts, right? They can't really expect someone with a masters to have much more experience than that without someone willing to give them a class. I know I'd be making less than minimum wage, but as you mentioned, it looks good on a CV and keeps me active in the discipline.
I've also looked into some online teaching/tutoring angles.
I'm a bit lost on where else to look for a job next year outside of going back to the restaurant I used to work at. I'm okay with a pretty low paid job if it's just for a year to get my bearings. But I'm looking around at what's available and my degrees and finding my education is coming across as pretty worthless in today's job market. We never really had internship possibilities in undergrad, not for History. My CV looks pretty thin once you remove the stuff that only academics care about.
Now I know why people hide in school for as long as they can.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: Most of those that I've seen demand teaching experience, but TAing for two years counts, right?
First of all, it definitely counts and should be listed on your resume as such. Secondly, employers frequently hire people who don't meet all the specifications of the ad placed. So even if it didn't, I would still advise applying.
CCs are likely to hire a bit later, IME, so keep checking those for open slots.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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You should also make contact with the history department heads at all the colleges within commuting distance of where you'll be living. Adjunct positions don't always go through regular job posting, especially if they find they have to add sections of particular courses at the last minute.
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Yes, definitely make sure that department chairs (or whoever makes hiring decisions) at all the local schools have your resume on file.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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As part of my application to Thunderbird I need to do a phone interview tomorrow. To say I am nervous would be an understatement. I'll get my haircut, shave, and dress in a suit and tie for the interview.
I wonder if I should just shave my head...
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Good luck BlackBlade! Do your best to calm your nerves. Your expectations and anxiety are probably way worse than the actual interview will be!
Posts: 8741 | Registered: Apr 2001
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Lyrhawn: I'm an adjunct professor (with two part-time adjuncting jobs ) at a community college. dkw and rivka's advice is very good, and you should heed it: I got my job because the department head knew I was ready to take it (a professor had to leave mid-semester, and I stepped in and stayed).
Adjunct pay at community colleges can actually be surprisingly good, but not as an only source of income.
TAing courses absolutely counts as experience, especially if TAing means 'I did everything involved with teaching a course (lecture, write and grade tests, grade essays, etc.),' as it did for me.
If you have any questions, I would be more than happy to assist.
Posts: 20 | Registered: Feb 2012
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I've done every single bit of grading for the last four semesters, and I've written most of the exams as well. I've also graded and written special writing assignments and other homework, kept up an online presence, held office hours, etc. I took a summer certification course in online teaching last summer to learn the ins and outs there. And like all grad students in program I took a special seminar in designing and structuring a college course with plenty of theory involved.
I'm admittedly a little weak on lecturing experience. I haven't lectured regularly, but this semester I've been in front of the class every day assisting with white board work, powerpoint stuff, etc. I've guest lectured maybe a half dozen times, and I'm not 100% smooth at it yet, but I'm pretty good.
I also have a sample syllabus of a course I designed last semester for a second half 1865-present American history survey course.
I like to think I'm pretty well prepared and ready to take on a class.
I might hit you (and others) up for further advice in the coming weeks as I start sending out my CV. And actually, if anyone with expertise in this area would be willing to take a look at my CV and give me a critique, I'd be really grateful. When I contact heads of departments, should I just send an email with a cover letter and my CV? What should the cover letter say?
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Ahh, good. Yes, definitely mention your TAing experience in your resume (a little list of what that involved for you would probably be good, as it means different things at different universities), and I would for certain include a bit about the guest lecturing in there--that's good experience, and I suspect it's as much as most masters graduates have right out of the gate.
Cooperative learning is very big right now (at least here), so if you have any experience with that (trainings or so forth) it would be worth a mention.
I would be happy to look at your CV.
I can't tell you the best thing to do, unfortunately, but I can tell you what I did. I e-mailed department heads and attached a detailed CV; the e-mail was my cover letter. What I said in the e-mail was who I was (field, degrees), how long I had been doing what I do (in my case I'm a musician--so both how long I have been playing, and how long I have been teaching--in your case, perhaps something about why you are passionate about your discipline?), that I would love to teach there if they had any openings, and /why/ I would love to teach there if they had any openings. I have a particular love for community colleges. If you have an appreciation for the niche filled by the college you are contacting, I imagine it would help to say so.
You might consider calling the secretary of the division office and saying what you are interested in, and asking if there is a particular person you should contact. The more people you can meet at the college and make a decent impression on, the better--they'll remember you. (Edited to add: and on the subject of making an impression, going in person is probably more effective than calling. Just make sure you aren't going during one of the rush periods. This is one thing I didn't do, but if I were to job-hunt again, I'd certainly think about it.)
I do believe history is different. In my field, job openings seem to be posted very rarely--especially at the adjunct level. It seems to be primarily a matter of building contacts. On that score, if there is a professor that you are working particularly closely with, it might not hurt to ask for ideas. He or she might know someone and be able to recommend you. This is slightly less likely if you're moving, but still perfectly possible.
Posts: 20 | Registered: Feb 2012
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Alas, I don't think anyone I'm currently working with would have a clue about schools back home, but I did my undergrad in Metro Detroit and I've kept in contact with a lot of professors in the department there, so I think I'm going hit up the local connection and see what can be done. I have a couple friends adjuncting in the area too that I've been meaning to hit for advice.
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Very good. So far as I can tell, that's how finding a job is done these days--it's normal and expected. People seem pretty willing to help each other out that way, as long as it isn't costing them a job to do so. Posts: 20 | Registered: Feb 2012
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Lyrhawn, I don't know how the CCs are where you are, but around here a lot of the adjunct are high school teachers who teach online and night courses as adjuncts. My hubby works for a CC as an instructor and curriculum developer (aka syllabus writer and test creator) and his position is part-time, but it's good money. It certainly wouldn't be something you'd want to try and live off, but I know some people he works with that love their full-time CC teaching jobs and really enjoy teaching there. You never know what might happen. Good luck on finding the right spot!
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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I got into Thunderbird! Now I can throw money at them in exchange for marketable skills, and superior potential income!
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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So, I'm finally checking back in here after a long hiatus. With a week and a half to go in this process, my future is still uncertain. The application process has been really brutal. I mentioned above that my professors were all very optimistic about my prospects this year, but things have not turned out well at all. I was rejected not only from all my reaches, but also all my target schools. All is not lost, as I have been accepted to two places at which I'd be perfectly happy, and I'm on three wait lists at well ranked schools. Unfortunately, it looks like my future will not be decided until the very last days of this process.
JonHecht, since this will be most meaningful for you. The final list (excluding rejections which would be too numerous too list (for my ego)) is:
Accepted University of Kansas University of Cincinnati
Waitlisted UConn (likely acceptance) University of Maryland (unlikely to be accepted) UW-Madison (ambiguous)
Just to give you a sense, my target schools were Wash U. (PNP), UCSD and CUNY. The PNP rejection was a heartbreaker. Cincinnati is a great fit for me though (strong in mind, psychology, and moral psychology) and Kansas has two professors who I worked with at UTEP and whose work I love and who I'm friends with. So though neither of the programs are ranked, both are good choices. I'm very much hoping for UW-Madison. I've had multiple people (outside of my letter writers) who I've met conferencing in the last few months send notes to people they know there on my behalf after seeing my presentations. So, we shall see.
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I'm glad that you have some offers on the table! It's too bad that you don't do language or logic--UConn is turning into one of the absolute best places for them.
Good luck with the waitlists. I hope that you get into Madison. Just try to stay sane, OK?
Posts: 2705 | Registered: Sep 2006
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Yeah, they've been hiring like crazy at UConn. Madison is nice for me because I have some ethics/meta-ethics interests as well (almost all of my interests revolve around agency in one way or another). Also, Madison is just a fantastic program.
UConn is great, but man, that area of CT is the worst. I grew up near there. I'd have to commute a ways to campus. And I'd have to drive pretty far to do anything cool as well. As someone who mostly gets around by bicycle, and likes having a lot of culture surrounding him, that prospect sounds terrible.
Thanks dude, by my sanity went out the window the other month.
KoM, it's certainly a possibility, but too many ambiguities at the moment to predict. I'll check back in, hopefully sooner rather than later, with a final decision.
Posts: 8741 | Registered: Apr 2001
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I'm going down to Glendale to tour the campus, setup financial aid, and look at apartments.
We have to start driving at Midnight which is technically Friday. I then have a meeting at 2:00, and then I'm basically tied up until we leave again Sunday morning.
Not looking forward to the drive. With a toddler...
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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