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This is my Screen Name

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Interests
    Thingamajigs and Hoojamaflips
  • Application Season
    2013 Fall

This is my Screen Name's Achievements

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  1. And then you look at U.S. World's methodology, and you wonder how useful these rankings are... There's no doubt that the top 25 seems "right." Ask somebody who is not familiar with the field to guess which schools are in the top 25, and most would include all the Ivy League schools, Stanford, Cal, UCLA, Chicago, Northwestern, Vandy, and Duke. All of those are just known in general as good schools, even though their quality varies from field to field. Once you get below 25, though, I think you really need to do your own research to find out if graduates are getting jobs.
  2. Shouldn't be a problem. Think about the big picture. At some of these schools, you are putting your application up against 300 others. Most applicants are going to have very high GPAs. While a very low GPA will probably kill your chances, its generally not your GPA that's going to make you standout. I'm sure there are many people out there that got a 4.0 in their MA program that got rejected from schools. On the other hand, I'm sure there are some people out there that got accepted to schools with lower than a 3.7 undergrad GPA.
  3. Please don't think like that. You were selected. That school made the right choice. Not being selected at other schools doesn't invalidate your acceptance. Selecting applicants is an inexact science. And the applicant pool is different for each school, even those schools that are similar. Even when the applicant pool is very similar, the school that accepted you might have picked you over Joe, while another school picked Joe over you. You just don't know. And included in what you don't know is who is on the adcoms at each school. Someone reading your writing sample at one school might love it, while someone at another school might think it's just okay. Most professors in my MA program liked my writing. I had several papers handed out to the entire class to read and discuss. I had one professor who thought I sucked and told me so. We've all run across that professor who doesn't think as highly of our work as others do. Maybe a professor like that read your writing sample at a certain school. You just don't know. There are too many variables for us to try to figure this process out.
  4. Add an acceptance for the History of Industrial Scent Production and History of Fish Wildlife, and Grizzly Bears to the list. Although I just started my next pseudo history last week The History of Pants: Why We Wear Them Even Though We Don't Want To, so who am I to say that people aren't exploring these unique fields...
  5. It's most likely not about you. It's a combination of everybody else and the small amount of spots available. There aren't enough chairs for everyone that wants a seat. There are going to be more people standing up than sitting down. Thanks for the information on emailing DGSs ya'll. I kept it polite and did not pester. I ended with "Could you hurry the f**k up already," but the smiley face after clearly indicated I was joking. Oh wait, I forgot the smiley face.
  6. So its okay to email a DGS about your application status? Has anyone done that and been told that they were rejected? I bet that's worse than a form rejection letter.
  7. For most schools you send "unofficial" transcripts first. If you are applying next fall while you are still taking classes, those transcripts would obviously not have your current semester grades. Once accepted to a school, they ask for your official transcripts. That second transcript you send them would then have your fall semester grades. Just to mention also, when you send schools "unofficial" transcripts with your application, most are fine with a scanned version of your transcript. So don't waste money buying a transcript for every school you are applying to. You might get away with only buying two--one to scan and send with all your applications, and then a second to send to the school you choose to go to.
  8. It's not necessarily a rejection. Those are tricky, though, you have to dig around for where the decision letter is.
  9. That was the only serious part! The transition is tough, but doable. Particularly considering you're making the transition to attend a top school.
  10. From my experience moving from a major city to the country, you'll want to do several things. Instead of a white noise machine that plays nature sounds, buy one that plays traffic and train noises, along with random screams and yelling and so on. Otherwise the night is really creepy and you'll have trouble sleeping. You can also drive 10 MPH where ever you go to simulate city driving. That way, too, complaining about traffic will remain part of your life. If you miss being overcrowded, find a small elevator on campus and ride in it for a half hour to an hour everyday during peak usage hours. You'll have to do some research to determine when peak usage hours are, but you'll find out quickly. Also, you won't have time for this, but because I missed unnecessary screaming matches, I coached a Little League team so I had people to yell at. I'm not a night person. I run, write, and watch sports for fun, and you can do that anywhere, so I can't help you with that. The hardest part for me was the food. I think I happily gained 20 lbs. every time I came back home.
  11. I emailed a professor with exactly that prompt, except I used my name instead of X, and she thought I was trying to circumvent the process, which was actually great information. Believe it or not, I did not apply to that school.
  12. I think contacting POIs is more about seeing if the teacher is taking on students and determining fit than trying to gain an advantage in getting accepted. I feel I got the entire range of responses from POIs in regards to their interest in my proposed project, and found out that "fit" is not always straightforward. The other advantage is if a POI says they aren’t interested, it can save you time and money. I crossed three schools off my list this way. One of these POIs who said she wasn’t interested even suggested a couple schools for me, including one I had overlooked. Finally, I was told if you don’t hear back from a POI, that shouldn’t stop you from applying to that school.
  13. Let’s hope that some more schools make decisions tomorrow. Tomorrow seems like a good day for decisions. I've only heard back from one school, and it was the school with the latest deadline. Either they were really efficient, or I was the only person to apply there.
  14. I think all that's been about taking a year off has been solid advice. On the other hand, a year off for me was terrible. Everybody is different. If you don't have a topic ready, though, it's probably best to wait, or do an MA program first. It’s a shorter commitment, and you can discover if you are truly interested in your topic. Don't worry if what you are interested in is “overdone,” especially when you have a broad interest in a period of history that spans 100 years. There are always new ways and angles to approach a topic.
  15. czesc, I feel for you, man. I’m in a comparable situation to you. I put all my eggs in one basket, so to speak. I don’t know why anyone would ever put eggs in a basket, that seems dangerous and/or messy, but that’s another story. Anyway, I’m pretty much PhD or bust, and I would describe this past year as living in limbo. I’m working for a temp agency. I’m living with one of my parents. I’ve been turned down from several jobs because I stupidly mentioned in the interviews that I may be going away to school next year (I promise I won’t do it anymore!). I thought if I explained to them that it was a real long shot that I’d get in they wouldn’t care, but they aren’t familiar with the process so that explanation had, in effect, no effect. Someone much wiser than me told me to approach this as a three year process. It’s not exactly a crapshoot but there are so many qualified applicants that if you’re not the cream of the crop a lot of things have to go your way to get in somewhere. For someone as impatient as me with no other prospects or job skills (unlike you who is a lawyer!) that’s very difficult to accept. But I want a PhD in history, so I have to accept it. And I think you want a PhD in history too. I don’t think you want to move to England to do an MA program. There’s nothing wrong with a backup plan, or getting an MA, but don’t do it on a whim because you are severely limiting your options. Don’t jump off the cliff yet. There's still time (to both jump off the cliff or get into a program)! You’re going to kill yourself trying to analyze every part of this process, listing presumed rejections and such. It's all out of our control now. Just have to let it happen.
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