Jezzlin

I was wondering if anyone had some insight into where the Oxford DPhil in History ranks in comparison to the US programs. I have already accepted at a US institute, but just out of curiosity, does a DPhil from Oxford have any clout in the American job market?

I am a former MAPSS student and would heartily recommend the program, but completely agree with others on here that you should only go for it if you actually cannot get into a PhD program without an MA. I required an MA since my BA was a three-year degree from the UK, so I directly applied to the program. Fortunately, in addition to half-tuition, I also had external sources of funding that helped me cover my living costs in Hyde Park. Having said that, if you are shooting for a top-10 program and would be happy to sit out an extra year, then MAPSS will enormously improve your chances. They tailor everything about the program to gear you toward a successful application cycle and their placements in history are quite impressive. So, provided that you have the financial leisure to do so, and many don't, but to those that do, you should by all means go for it. In terms of the faculty, the incredible resources and intellectual culture, Chicago is definitely worth it.

Austin has updated MyStatus with rejections. No email prompting you to check either. "Your application has been given careful consideration by the committee on Graduate Studies. On the basis of their recommendation, your application has been denied. We wish you well in your future plans and sincerely appreciate your interest in The University of Texas at Austin. This is your official notification. A letter will not be mailed to you." My POI already informed me beforehand of the decision, but as far as embarrassing notifications go, this takes the cake.

I've been told Austin will notify by the end of the week, though if you were accepted you likely had an informal correspondence with your POI or got a recruitment weekend invite at some point this past month. There was radio silence on part of my POI, who it turns out will be jetting off on leave next year, and upon my prompting, told me they weren't able to make me an offer. Glad that I don't have to repeatedly log into my MyStatus now!

Personally, I received my BA from a UK institute and my MA from a US institute, and found that higher education in the US is by some distance more academically rigorous. This application cycle I applied mostly to US institutes but also went ahead and applied to a couple of UK institutes to keep my geographic options open. With some notable exceptions (Oxford, Cambridge), funding is more competitive and limited for international students whereas a top 30 US institute is likely to admit you with a pretty decent funding package. Also, the fact that international students pay substantially higher fees in the UK is a massive obstacle, and internal funding opportunities almost always only cover the UK/EU tuition rate and expect that you will somehow pay for the difference, which amounts to around 10,000 quid. As for being an international student pursuing a PhD in History, I recall that my MA department was overwhelmingly white and I struggled to find students with similar research interests, but within history departments that actively seek out students within a variety of regional subfields, they will always have a strong cohort of international students.

I just got waitlisted by Michigan. They didn't have the patience to actually write my name so instead I received an email that began with "Dear <Title> <Last Name>".

I was pretty disheartened not to get an email from Michigan considering that my interview with them back in January went fairly well, but I suppose for any number of reasons it didn't work out. Am awaiting rejection letters from Michigan and Cornell, but hold offers from Chicago and Emory, and Austin is yet to notify. As with you guys, I basically want to accept Chicago but have to await Austin's notification before I do so. All in all, it's been a very decent cycle and even in the case of rejections I certainly feel like I've made good contacts at other institutes that will be beneficial in the future. I've mostly lurked around here, but everyone has been exceptionally helpful and supportive. Best wishes to all and here's to a shower of acceptances in this final week of February!

I hope you're right! Though many departments haven't notified in accordance with the results search from previous cycles. I figure if it's not today then surely Monday or Tuesday.

I'm also waiting on Austin and Michigan. I was told that Michigan would notify by the "third week of February" and I spoke to an Austin Professor early last week who told me the decisions process was still ongoing. Here's hoping they notify by Friday, getting a bit restless now.

Off the top of my head, prepare to speak about your research project in more detail, the kinds of sources you anticipate you will be examining (regardless of whether you've had the chance to visit any archives) and your motivations for studying history. They may give you the opportunity to ask your own questions, perhaps ask about departmental averages for time to completion, recent placements for students they’ve worked with and departmental resources available for students with your intellectual interests. Jot down some notes to stay focused and just be composed and confident for the most part.

Thank you guys! Yeah I agree the department probably won't care, but the POI is very closely related to my field, so from that perspective I'd probably want to write them a slightly more personalized email thanking them for the offer and their encouragement.

Hey guys, I've posted a couple of times on the Fall Applicants threat but this is my first post here. I was hoping I could get some advice on declining an offer. I got a funded offer from Chicago early this week and will probably accept it if I don't get into either Austin or Michigan. I had also seriously applied to Emory because I felt my chances of getting in there were higher and there was a decent faculty fit. I genuinely did not expect to get into Chicago so early, I was anticipating being wait-listed, so I understandably expressed quite a bit of enthusiasm when my POI at Emory interviewed me in late January. The department made me an offer yesterday and my POI wrote me a personalized email saying that they hope I will join. So, any advice on how one goes about writing a polite letter/email declining the offer? You obviously want to be very respectful and appreciate the effort your POI made to get you to work with them. I also don't want to take up more time than I need seeing as they could extend a new offer to someone who has been wait-listed. I know there are probably threads from previous years on this but perhaps some insight from those of us who are in the midst of the admissions process may be more helpful. Thanks!

Thought this may interest you. I spoke with a professor in the Austin history department today in an informal capacity. They informed me that decisions have not been finalized as of yet, so we may have to wait till the 3rd week of Feb. I also expect to hear back from Michigan and Emory around then so I suppose some of us will get a ton of decisions in one massive wave.

Hey LeventeL, I've also been following the Austin responses in the results section. Apart from 3-4 recruitment invites, it seems only 2 others reported results and both appeared informal. As of yet, there have not been enough responses to indicate that Austin has officially notified though I'm pretty certain they've more or less made decisions. Perhaps this week? Fingers crossed.

Thanks for all the responses guys. Seems a lot of us are having to confront this issue in some way. And yeah, while I did interact a fair bit with my POI prior to submitting my application, one obviously maintains some distance during the application review process, so perhaps it would be a bit odd to email them now to ask about the decision. I think the best way to go about this is to call up the grad coordinator and ask them when the department will be sending out notifications. I'm going to try the waiting game a wee bit longer though Good luck NigerianScholar and rooney_rocks! My POI also told me they would pull the trigger for admission but that my application would have to speak for itself. So my understanding is that once the faculty member has made the recommendation, they have done so with knowledge that their recommendation will be honored at the decision-making level.