Josh J.

And congrats, Ashiepoo! Look at you!

My advisor asked me the same thing last week... He is the Grad Director... Had no idea what to make of that question...

Are you sure your annoyance is really irrational? My parents have asked me at least fifty times, "When are you going to know???" and "What is your first choice???"

So I got an interview request from Baylor. I am flying out there at the end of February to do a campus visit. But, I did not get an admit to Yale, which was my first choice...

Congrats Ashiepoo! Now there is a second Yale admit.

Paulxobear, Congratulations! I bet you are excited! Did you receive an interview request from them?

I've gotten three conference acceptances in the last 24 hours, including one international conference in Germany, which I am very excited about! But nothing, oh nothing, from schools...

So, to follow up on my original post, I ended up contacting two professors. One, a senior, well known scholar who I thought might no longer be taking students, and one at a University that states in their materials that they expect you to make contact with a professor if you intend to apply. The senior scholar in fact was no longer taking students, but he was extremely gracious and recommended that I look at several other programs. The second professor was actually somewhat rude. It was immediately obvious that we were not a good fit for each other, and I did not apply to work with that person.

I am working on my masters' thesis, which is on federal prosecution of conscientious objectors during World War I. This will be closely related to my dissertation, hopefully...

I've been listening to this beautiful lady: http://natalieclosner.bandcamp.com I could (and do) listen to her all day long.

I've not seen anything from Notre Dame, I don't think they interview. I'm talking about Yale.

Well, I thought I was dealing okay with anxiety, but considering my top choice has posted three interviews in the last week and I've heard nothing from them....I am starting to lose hope......

That is an excellent speed of schools. With your situation above with your acceptance, I'd say you are in a great position.

Honestly, I doubt anyone will care. As long as you have your MA in hand when you matriculate, I don't see any programs having a big fit over this. This is especially true, I think, since it sounds like you have professors fighting over you and your work...which is awesome, congratulations. They are looking at the whole picture, a masters upon entrance, GPA, GRE, letters, SOP, writing sample, proposed project, etc. The fact that you thought you were going to graduate three months early probably wasn't even on their radar, honestly, and I doubt it was a factor in decision making at all.... Where are you applying, generally speaking, if you don't mind me asking?

Vandy is a great program. I am finishing up my MTS there and waiting to hear back from PhD programs. I applied here, Duke, and at some denominational schools and was admitted to all, but I am glad I chose Vandy. Great faculty, great resources, major support for social justice on campus, etc. Also, for MDiv students especially, our field ed program and faculty are awesome.

Looking at the results search, it looks like Harvard, Emory, Penn, UMich, and others also do interviews. I see two interviews posted for Yale so far. I've not heard from there yet. Has anyone here been contacted for an interview?

Thanks for the insight. Are you doing religious history, Aubstopper? If so, what area? I am in the American Religious History masters program at Vanderbilt right now, in the Divinity School. I'd rather have the PhD in history than religion though, so I applied to the history department.

Hello Everyone, Just curious who is applying to Yale, and what you wish to study there? I am interested in Late 19th/Early 20th Century American History, specifically the social and religious history of World War I.

Victoriana, Your undergraduate degree does not need to be particularly focused, so don't worry about that. Also, the double major, especially in English, should be nothing but a help. Also, I see no issues with the secondary-Ed emphasis. Having some student teaching experience might provide you with a slight edge in your TA work, even, however, it won't make an admissions difference either way, You've got an excellent GPA. Take the GRE and focus on the verbal, then writing, and then the quantitative reasoning in that order. Most applicants wont have any publications or conference appearances, so good on you for presenting. Get the best recommenders you can who will write a glowing review of your work. Other than that, work very hard on your SOP, and find the best fit between your interests and good departments in your field. Other than that, aim high as you can... Graduating from a top program will help your job prospects in this age of PhD overproduction.

Does anyone know anything about the Kroc Institutes joint History-Peace Studies program? I searches their website and was unable to find any info on placements.... I've heard it can be much harder to find a T/T position with an interdisciplinary degree... Any thoughts?

Great, thanks for the suggestions everyone.

Hello everyone, I am currently in the second and final year of a masters program, and I spoke with my advisor the other day about PhD applications. My advisor is well known in his specialty, and is the dean of graduate research, so he is the go-to guy at my school for discussing PhD aspirations with. I have a good relationship with him, and he very much likes my work. I mentioned that I was getting ready to prepare applications, and that a friend of his is one of my top picks for a POI at a certain school. I asked him for advice on anything in particular that a contact email to this and other POIs should entail, and he told me that he typically advises against his students contacting POIs out of the blue. He said that he found it annoying when he received emails like that, and that he thought many professors found it patronizing. He suggested that I concentrate on my SOP, securing a couple of other good references, and making the application the best that it can be. His bottom line was that he didn't think email contact would really help at all, but that the application is where it is at. Now that I am actually working on the electronic application for this school that is my first choice, they want to know who in the department I've been talking with about my application on the form itself. So now I am a bit torn...do I listen to my advisor, or do I contact his buddy after he advised me not to email POIs at all? I would love some feedback on this.

Hey everyone, I guess it is time to introduce myself and say hello. I am currently in my last year for my MTS at Vanderbilt, where I am studying American Religious History. I am applying to 10 US schools, plus Oxford, for U.S. History, specializing in American Religion. My specialization at Vandy is the history of religion and warfare, and my research focuses upon government surveillance and coercion of conscientious objectors during World War I. In addition to my coursework, I will be co-teaching interdisciplinary courses in U.S. History/Political Theology as an adjunct at another local university this year. I plan to apply at Yale, Stanford, Notre Dame, UCLA, Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, Princeton, William and Mary, Vanderbilt, Columbia, and Oxford, more or less in that order of interest. I haven't taken the GRE yet, I plan to do that here pretty quick. I wish everyone a productive and successful application year.

No, I'll be finishing a masters this year, so I'm only looking at PhD programs.

In my investigating of grad schools for PhD applications, I've been looking at the New School's program. They don't have a standalone program in history, but they do offer joint degree programs with social science disciplines, such as anthropology, sociology, political science. Does anyone know anything about them? What their strengths are? How they would compare with top programs in U.S. History generally?