History Time

Annnnnd just checked the mail. Nothing!!

Wow! Lots of decisions today--and congratulations to those who have been accepted! I'm getting really frustrated on hearing nothing yet from my programs. Then again, none of my programs except for Madison have admission decisions reported. I just want to hear something, maybe the mail man will bring me good news today. I told him yesterday he better bring me an acceptance letter and he got a kick out of it

I'm feeling.....nervous. Especially so because I live within a day or two's post from Madison and have not heard anything from them. I think some of you guys and gals have a better chance since you're nearly done (or are done) with your M.A. and I applied straight out of undergraduate. One of my professors that recommended me told me straight up I would not get in there, but I'd love to be able to prove him wrong

Now I understand why one of my professors laughed at me when I said was trying to quit smoking this month. Nerves nerves nerves.

If you've never been to Madison, have fun! I have been there a few times and know many people who are doing undergraduate work there. It really is a beautiful city.

A hearty congratulations is in order, then! I gave myself less than a 10% chance I would get in there, but I'm still hoping.

Someone got into Madison......

La Crosse has a ridiculous amount of bars on the main drag. You will not be disappointed. I grew up in WI and some of my friends go there and say it's an absolute riot. Plenty of cheese too.

I scoured faculty pages for months on end. I think I read up on at least 250 programs, multiply that by how many professors at are at each. I knew my area of study was not ridiculously common, so I applied to programs whose faculty fit my research interests. I didn't look up alumni extensively. I read CV's when they were accessible. However, I mostly applied for MA schools so I wasn't as picky as I will be when and if I apply for PhD programs exclusively. The graduate coordinator at my university spelled out a lot of this advice for me. He is a graduate of JHU and a very intelligent historian. The poster above sounds like he/she got some of the same advice.

How ironic, Illinois State sent me a letter today saying just that The application isn't due for another 5 days. It is my absolute last choice and I just applied there for backup, but it was kind of cool to get something in the mail.

Congrats!

Seeing your post made me think of a report I heard on NPR a week or so ago. It was really interesting and saddening at the same time: http://www.theworld.org/2013/01/china-leftover-women:/ Good for you for standing up for yourself. At any rate, it bugs me when people say "You'll probably get into all of the schools you applied to, you're the smartest person I know." Well, thanks but I think there are probably a lot of smarter students out there applying for the same spot I am.

Aww, I'd rather have some anxiety-ridden company while I wait! The rest of my roommates are, for the most part, big-time partiers that don't take their education seriously (along with the rest of this godforsaken university!). I don't have anyone to relate to as far as grad school stuff goes, so this site is absolutely awesome. If I'm going to fail at these applications, I at least want some company. Misery loves company, after all!

I didn't even see the typo!

Phew! I saw UC-Riverside in the Results section for History and my heart dropped a bit. I'm applying for mostly MA programs.

Do PhD applicants receive results before MA applicants typically? That's the question I'm wondering about.

I didn't study all that much for it because I felt that putting more time into a seriously strong SOP and WS would set my application apart from others'. I received an average GRE score and I don't think that I missed any cutoffs.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. I applied to Colorado-Boulder and they required four LORs--the only university I found to have such a requirement. I contacted the graduate director and explained I come from a small and underfunded school and that I only have three, but strong, LORs. He informed me that meeting the fourth simply to reach a number would do neither of us any good even though I had a fourth lined up (but did not know my work that well).

One of my professors was a particular thorn in my side when it came to a letter. I have taken three upper-division History courses from him and received perfect scores on most of my papers from him. He knows my work well and likes it too. However, he is such an anti-social person that getting anything more than a gruff response to any sort of email is nothing short of a miracle. He submitted THREE of my eight letters late. I notified the programs ahead of time and they were more than willing to accept late letters when I explained his tardiness. Not only that, but he somehow lost the e-notification for one university and had to send a damn snail mail letter to them. They were okay with that too. Moral of the story: communication is absolutely key. Communicate with your professors and communicate with the programs you are applying for if anything is going to be late or missing. Most universities won't hold your feet to the fire for things you cannot control.

Human flesh

Well, I indicated interested in financial aid on my application (duh). It was basically an instructional email on how to apply for financial aid through their website. It wasn't anything related to fellowships, research grants, etc. but I thought the same thing as you. Why send it to someone who is being rejected?

Hey I'm new around here! I haven't received any official news from any of my programs. However, I received a financial aid email from Madison a couple weeks ago that made my heart drop. Of course the disclaimer "this is not an admissions decision was right at the top" That and I got a letter from Oregon saying they received my online application. SWEET, thanks for letting me know--I haven't been checking email five times a day since mid-December. I wanted to ask a question though, I graduated (B.A.) this December from a relatively average University. However, I completed my undergraduate thesis work last spring in order to have a strong writing sample for prospective grad schools. I spent spring break researching at the Wisconsin Historical Society archives in Madison, so I decided to apply at UW-Madison just for the hell of it. The primary source material on the New Left there is the largest cache in the nation. Anyone know if this sort of thing will really help my application there or other places? I spent three hours late last night reading the forums, this place has already helped the app season anxiety

Hey I'm new to the forums! I haven't heard a peep from any of the schools I applied to (8) except an email from UW-Madison about Financial Aid. I'm guessing it's something they send to all applicants. My first two apps were due December 1st (Madison and UC-Boulder) and nary a word! The fact that it's been -20F in MN for the past week hasn't helped my mood either.