bedlamsbard: natasha romanoff from the black widow prelude comic (life (teatree_icons))
[personal profile] bedlamsbard
And now New Orleans IS ON FIRE. Or, well, the marsh is, anyway. It's been supremely smoky on and off since -- well, I got in Sunday, and it was fine then, but it was terrible yesterday around two and it's been extremely smoky today.

Meanwhile, I am running around in the classics department talking to people about graduate school applications -- my advisor, Dr. B., yesterday, and today the undergraduate advisor, Dr. K., because he took a degree in England and thus knows the U.K. system (which Dr. B. doesn't even want to touch, because she doesn't know anything about it), and also because I want to ask him to look at an old paper I'll clean up and use as a writing sample. (Because it's my only significant piece of writing that's relevant, at least at this point in time.) I also need to e-mail various people in MEMS about my honors thesis, and probably also grad school apps -- I'm thinking I might hedge my bets slightly and apply mostly for programs in ancient history, but a few in medieval or early modern history as well, since I think I might have a better chance of getting into those universities then.

Man, I got all excited looking at the Cambridge classics page because they had a professor who specifically does Punic stuff (and as you know, I am a big Hannibal (BARCA NOT LECTOR) fangirl), but it turns out that page is slightly outdated and a Google search turns up that he's no longer at Cambridge, but at Sydney. Which is in Australia. I wonder if I should add the University of Sydney to my list of prospective graduate schools? ([personal profile] highlyeccentric, would I like Sydney for an M.A.?) *frowns at Sydney website* Why are all these names really familiar to me? (I mean, I guess that's a good sign, but I can't put my finger on the research they've done that I've read.)

(Also, note to self: Look at UBC and Toronto again.)

I guess what we can get out of this is that I'm not totally keen on staying in the U.S. for the M.A./MPhil, at least. (Plan is to do the PhD in the U.S. or in Canada, unless I decide that I don't care about teaching in the U.S. and am content with the job prospects in the U.K.)

Also, I brought a dysfunctional teapot with me. FAIL. (I mean, it brews, it pours, but it pours badly and it spills. Nearly as much tea went into the saucer (good thing I was using one) as into the teapot.)

ETA: Basically I broke down crying in Dr. K's office, I am unqualified for EVERYTHING, and I am never going to get into graduate school. Ever. In anything. (If I don't have enough classics background -- I have enough to get a DEGREE, but it's NOT ENOUGH? -- then there's no way in hell I have enough English or history background. *cries some more*)

(no subject)

Date: 2011-08-30 08:13 pm (UTC)
lotesse: (academia)
From: [personal profile] lotesse
(pssst - I got into graduate school, and just from reading your talk here I'm pretty sure you know more about your subject than I did when I applied. just sayin.)

(no subject)

Date: 2011-08-30 10:29 pm (UTC)
starlady: A typewriter.  (tool of the trade)
From: [personal profile] starlady
(I am doing a doctorate in history despite having taken precisely one history course for credit in undergrad. The programs are the best judges of whether you have enough background for what they want, not necessarily your undergrad advisors.)

(no subject)

Date: 2011-08-31 04:14 am (UTC)
cofax7: climbing on an abbey wall  (Default)
From: [personal profile] cofax7
Listen to this wise advice!

(no subject)

Date: 2011-09-01 06:02 pm (UTC)
starlady: a circular well of books (well of books)
From: [personal profile] starlady
You're welcome. I felt pretty isolated when I was applying to grad school (two years out of undergrad, only email contact with profs/advisors/friends plus a few phone calls), and it definitely made the whole process worse.

I've had friends do the Bristol MA and love it, fwiw. It may also benefit you to hear what my advisor (a political scientist) told me: you should pick your doctoral field based on what methodology you find most congenial, since there are any number of fields in which you can explore the kind of questions you're interested in.

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