History

Re: US History PhD Dissertation Topics

Andrew Cain — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 03:27:13 GMT

"I got a GRE score of 146 math (36th percentile) and 164 verbal (94th percentile) and 5.5 essay writing (96th percentile)."

Math does not really matter. They may have a required point number but what they are really looking at is verbal and the writing portion. Your ability to compenhend the reading, critically think about it and write.

Re: US History PhD Dissertation Topics

Andrew Cain — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 03:22:37 GMT

"Absolutely. This is the whole point of affirmative action. I find it surprising that someone like you (who is very astute with regards to understanding Marxism) compltely overlooks the cultural aspect. "

No I do not overlook it, I just think that blaming things on affirmative action is not really plausible. Do you really want to be the person who's enterance into PhD candidacy is depedent upon whether there is or is not affirmative action? We are all better then that.

Re: US History PhD Dissertation Topics

Sukrit — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 11:04:12 GMT

I got a GRE score of 146 math (36th percentile) and 164 verbal (94th percentile) and 5.5 essay writing (96th percentile). This is on the new scale of 130-170.

That's a horrible math score - I didn't study for either verbal or math at all - but I'm hoping it won't matter so much for history.

Re: US History PhD Dissertation Topics

Sukrit — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 08:32:45 GMT

I'll put in the application to USC for the PhD in History. However after that, I'm thinking I'll switch focus and go for MA programs.

Anyone know American universities with stand-alone MA programs in History and reasonable funding prospects? Most seem to be tied to the PhD. I know Auburn University has an MA in History. But I'm not sure how good their financial assistance is (I'm also applying for an Institute for Humane Studies fellowship so that might help too, as it's directed specifically towards libertarians).

Edit: Ah just found Loyola University Chicago has an MA in History too. Nevermind.

Edit 2: The only reason I'm not considering Political Science, btw, is because of the insane math requirements.

Re: US History PhD Dissertation Topics

Groucho — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 06:10:10 GMT

FunkedUp:
Josh:
He said he's applying to USC, which I assume is the University of Southern California. California banned affirmative action:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_209_(1996)

USC is a private school, so this doesn't apply

Good point.

Re: US History PhD Dissertation Topics

FunkedUp — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 05:58:53 GMT

Josh:

He said he's applying to USC, which I assume is the University of Southern California. California banned affirmative action:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_209_(1996)

USC is a private school, so this doesn't apply - not that it would matter anyway.

http://policies.usc.edu/policies/equalopp120198.pdf

Re: US History PhD Dissertation Topics

Groucho — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 05:53:16 GMT

He said he's applying to USC, which I assume is the University of Southern California. California banned affirmative action:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_209_(1996)

Re: US History PhD Dissertation Topics

FunkedUp — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 05:34:56 GMT

Andrew Cain:

So you think because you are white, have a male genitalia and are "pro-liberty" you are at a disadvantage? Come on.

Absolutely. This is the whole point of affirmative action. I find it surprising that someone like you (who is very astute with regards to understanding Marxism) compltely overlooks the cultural aspect.

Re: US History PhD Dissertation Topics

Andrew Cain — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 05:15:25 GMT

"I have a family friend who is a professor in the Duke politics department. Also, Mike Munger is a libertarian. However I didn't realize that personal connections mattered so much so didn't bother applying to Duke."

They matter to a degree. Who you know helps you get to where you want to be but it only gets you so far.

Re: US History PhD Dissertation Topics

Andrew Cain — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 05:14:26 GMT

So you think because you are white, have a male genitalia and are "pro-liberty" you are at a disadvantage? Come on.

Re: US History PhD Dissertation Topics

Sukrit — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 03:35:09 GMT

I have a family friend who is a professor in the Duke politics department. Also, Mike Munger is a libertarian. However I didn't realize that personal connections mattered so much so didn't bother applying to Duke.

Re: US History PhD Dissertation Topics

DanielMuff — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 08:43:33 GMT

I should have applied to Harvard.

Re: US History PhD Dissertation Topics

FunkedUp — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 08:16:18 GMT

Andrew Cain:

...What?... Honestly, what school do you go to that allows you to paint this picture?

Harvard.

Re: US History PhD Dissertation Topics

Andrew Cain — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 08:02:52 GMT

"Since you're posting on the Mises.org boards there are several assumptions that I can make. First, you are white (disadvantage #1). Second, you are a male (disadvantage #2). Third, you are going to write a pro-liberty argument (disadvantage #3). Fourth, you only hold a bachelors degree (disadvantage #4). Fifth, you don't have any connections in those departments to overcome the bias against you (disadvantage #5).

You will be held to a higher standard than women and other minorities who have an inside track to gaining acceptance, even if they are less qualified. I'm sure none of this is news to you, but I can guarentee you that you don't understand how bad this problem really is. The admissions officers and the folks that read your application are either Marxists, hard-core Leftists, or affirmative action enthustiasts. They don't care about your qualifications and they don't care about whether you're qualified or not; they see you as a product of white privilege. It's one thing to apply for a bachelors or masters degree, but a PhD is entirely different. The admissions officers and the related departments only care about cultivating more socialist PhD's.

I don't say this to discourage you, but it's important that you know that the odds are stacked against you based on the aforementioned criteria. Most liberty lovers understand that the odds are stacked against them regarding economic matters and dissertation topics, but they are absolutely clueless as to how far cultural marxism has infected the entire admissions process. "

...What?... Honestly, what school do you go to that allows you to paint this picture?

Re: US History PhD Dissertation Topics

Andrew Cain — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 07:59:39 GMT

"No you didn't crush my dreams. The system in Australia is a bit different. I should mention I have an honours degree in political science. That means I did a 12,000 word thesis. An honours degree allows me to jump straight to PhD in my country because its an intensive year of research. I also have a law degree and a few publications.

You're definitely right I'll need to learn a language, but I can do that in spare time before the fall semester starts.

I will probably re-evaluate though, based on what you said. I think it'll be harder for me to get into American uni's without an MA. But here in Australia there are plenty of universities that would take me. Nevertheless I'm still applying to USC because I've already started the application process."

Well moving between countries in terms of education is haphazard at best. They will probably take out chunks of your transcript because it will not apply to the US standards. Good luck though.