NSGoddessQ

Ditto McDitto to every well-elucidated point, missycari. I think everyone could do with a shot of empathy at this point -- it's psychologically stressful to be waiting on a school that you've been wait-listed at; it's also psychologically stressful to perform the actions that entail a conscious letting go of other potential futures. There are, in some ways, multiple decisions involved: not only are you deciding positively to go to School X, you are deciding NOT to go to Schools Y and Z. Also, let's face it: it is very important to choose your words carefully. You want to leave them smiling as you go, as best as you can. It takes time to compose those emails, and the more faculty contacts you have at a school, the more time it takes. My "current level of education" involves finishing up an undergrad honors thesis before -- you guessed it!-- April 15th. The formal rejection emails (about 15 total, to different profs, etc) took the better part of a night to dispatch. It's not a slapdash chore in my experience, even when you're not dealing with angst about the decision.

It *is* important to be considerate of those waiting down the line. I was actually waiting on my boyfriend's last decision letter so that we could talk about it, even though I pretty much knew where I was going. But we set April 2 as the date by which we would need to talk about it, whether it was in the abstract or with offers on the table. I wanted to be done with it, but I also knew that other people needed to know. But as amanda1655 said, it's tough to disappoint people who have been kind to you and with whom you may have begun to form a rapport. It has to be done, but it can rarely be done with impunity, and without a sense of loss and regret in mild-to-severe doses. Then again, this is coming from the girl who lost the cash from a National Merit Scholarship for undergrad because of failure to make the decision on time. So consider the source... :roll: How have you been handling this question, Minnesotan? Do you know yet where you're headed?

One of the profs at Indiana who I'm really looking forward to working with told me that it was absolutely fine to feel nervous about the decision, even after it's really been made, because "All change implies loss." She's definitely right...but the sooner you dispense with the formalities, the sooner those other things will recede in your mind. And besides, you already accepted Michigan, right? At this point, if something implodes, you can sue them for breach of contract and have MORE than enough money to finance a year of independent study and then re-application. :wink:

Pegona, I wrote all of my "thanks but no thanks" letters last night, and I totally didn't expect this part to be so stressful! In addition to the scary sense of making a definite choice about your life for the next few years, there's the element of saying no to specific people. It's a little bit easier with the schools that I wasn't able to visit, but when I'm writing letters to profs who I sat across from and discussed things with, it's way tougher. Especially when it comes down to the ones with whom I've had a lot of email communication before and after the visit. I mean, I know rationally that it's not like *any* of the profs or the programs are going to cry tooo hard over missing out on faaaaaabulous me. And I get to feel good about the fact that hopefully my decision will open up the way for someone else who is a fabulous candidate and better fit than I am. But, from a weird emotional perspective, what it feels like doing is writing breakup letter after breakup letter. "It's not you -- it's me! You have a lot to offer to other girls...I mean, grad students. And I would really, really like to stay friends with you, since we have so many of the same research interests...I mean, friends. Let's just see where the future takes us, OK?" It didn't necessarily help that the first reply I got back started out with "Dear NSGoddessQ: Your message comes as a disappointment..." :cry: What really helped, though, was writing the "yes! I will come to be with you!" letters to specific profs at the program that I will be attending. I chose to do those afterward, and it definitely helped my general emotional state of being.

How odd. I, too, got the official "thanks but no thanks" email directing me to AY. Maybe you should call and ask what the deal is?

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That was a beautifully written and heart-breaking post, man. I really do hope that you "find your bliss," whether it's within academia or outside it. As one of my recommenders said to me in an email, "There are plenty of people out there with 4.0 GPAs and high IQs who feel miserable and mediocre, and there are plenty of people who barely cleared a 2.5 who lead happy and productive lives." About the best thing that I can suggest to you is to try to find a job that, even if it's not everything you've dreamt of, has nice co-workers and a decent salary. Once you're covering the basics...man, use your time outside of work to do the scholarship that you love. Not everyone with a successful piece of scholarship is a tenured professor somewhere. I recently took a grad class on social movements, and the closer we got to the current day, the more of the readings were actually written by journalists or other non-traditional historians. You can definitely still contribute to your field of knowledge, especially if it's as specific a field as it seems. Read, write, submit journal articles, work on a manuscript of some sort, keep up your intellectual acquaintances, memberships and circles of discussion, find a job that will let you sock some money away while the rest of us are scraping by on Ramen Surprise (the surprise is ramen!) -- and try again in a year or two. We will all be leaning on our departments to accept you! Also...don't be afraid to email Chicago and ask what the deal was with your rejection. Specifically the profs who you'd been chatting with. That might shed some light and help you decide what you want to do in the meantime.

This sounds AWESOME. I will definitely have to find this...being not quite "working-class" as it is generally defined, but a far, far cry from a six-figure income family.

Hey now. Not to start a flame war or anything, but I think redwine's got a right to state her thoughts and feelings about the whole "how do you cope with grad school, once you're in?" thing on a public forum devoted to grad school. Especially since the small library of books on the topic suggests that it is a topic of interest to many people. She created a new topic for both this and how to pass nicely on offers, rather than posting it in the general thread where people are (understandably) upset about being rejected. From what I can tell, she also took care to phrase it in a way that emphasized her own personal worries, not as some sort of goad at people who've had less luck. redwine got into a lot of schools that people are very competitive about getting into -- she should be congratulated. Still, she can only pick one, and getting in is just the first hurdle, as people on this thread are pointing out. She would have the same problem even if she'd been accepted to only two schools, and even if her accepted schools had been ranked in the third or fourth-quartile, or not ranked at all -- places that most people on these boards overlooked in their (admirable!) pursuit of "the best." It does suck for the people who weren't admitted anywhere, because this process is an indubitable hassle. You've got some big choices coming up about what to do, and I wish you every bit of luck with them -- and I have faith that you will find some sort of program this year or next year in which you will excel. But just because redwine doesn't have that problem doesn't mean that there aren't other things to deal with and other choices to be made. I don't think that recognizing that and being unsure of the right path counts as whining -- it's just a statement of fact. These boards have been great for building a sense of community when we were all waiting to hear (some of us are still waiting!). Now that we're moving past the initial "who got in" stage, I'd like to see them continue that way.

OK. I think I got accepted to Maryland last night, after a very coy email asking me if they could "call to discuss some good news about my application." Either they want to accept me, or they want to reject me, but assure me that they really like the new office chairs that they bought with my app fee. Also, I got my official rejection letter from Duke today. Thought I would share it with you guys 'cause it's so short: "Your application and supporting documents have been carefully reviewed by the History department and by this office. The number of excellent applicants to the Graduate School and our policy of limited enrollment make it impossible for us to offer admission to more than a small number of the students who apply. I am sorry to report that you are among those whom we are unable to admit. We do hope that you will be able to pursue graduate study at another institution. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to consider your application." With the caveat that Duke is a wonderful school with great faculty, who were very polite when I called and talked to them, and that I sincerely and heartily congratulate those who were accepted... ...I can't resist poking a little bit of fun at this, the shortest rejection letter yet. Don't worry, Duke! I will indeed will be able to pursue graduate study at another institution. A few, actually. Some of which are more highly rated than you are. OK? Thanks. Bye! PS...I am NOT Charlotte Simmons: (http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10464110/sex__scandal_at_duke) And as far as the discussion of the economy, etc impacting grad school application rates: I think this is probably absolutely accurate. I would hope that, for people who got dinged all 'round, that this means that next year, they will be accepted with open arms, full funding, and abject apologies from their school for having passed them over last year. Luck and love to everyone who's still waiting to hear, or who is making other plans. UNC and I are still in a staring contest, which at this point makes me think rejection anyway.

As requested! Sorry for such a long post, but I hope these are of help. Caveat emptor of course, being that they're from 2005 (and it's all so arbitrary!) but: History Specialties: Women's History Ranked in 2005* 1. University of Wisconsin

Oh, man. Drinking with a student of Modern Russia? Does your fellowship depend on how much vodka you can hold? Seriously, that's awesome that people are making those sorts of plans...maybe the Americanists will order in and watch CNN? Alternatively, if it's down to me to organize an American History happy hour, I say that we call it the Whiskey Rebellion. (Cold water and Shirley Temples will be served for all cultural historians and students of temperance reform movements.)

Can I just complain about how much it annoys me that they haven't been ranked since 2005?! I mean, USNews makes this whole big deal about releasing these rankings each year, and half of them are just reprints of old numbers. If I tried to turn in the same work each year, not only would I not sell millions of copies -- I would FAIL. In any case, thanks for the info, dmh. If anyone would like to see them, I actually have some of the sub-field specific breakdowns saved: cultural history, US colonial, US modern and women's history. Of course, they only do about the top 15 or 20, but whatevs. :roll:

Hi nicacar, I think you summed it up pretty well. As a school, they don't appear to be very well-known, but if they have a professor who is well-known in the field who wants to work with you, I would say go for it! If this is a small department, you may get some really good mentoring out of it. The potential downside is, as you say, a lack of "name-recognition" -- but if that specific prof has the name-recognition, I would think that might go a long way towards countering that objection, especially because other people in your field would presumably know the prof and recognize the school. The link here has some info on the program: http://graduate-school.phds.org/university/utah/program/profile/history/23104 Good luck with your decision!

OK. I do American history, so maybe they're just working at a different pace... (This board needs a ::shrugging:: smiley!)