grubyczarnykot

I’m not sure if you’ve ever had to do this, but working “an unglamorous 9-5 where you're not important enough to have to answer emails in off hours”, you’re often underpaid and honestly there are tons of different types of labor that are just as mentally consuming and more physically consuming than academic work. I agree that thinking academic work is flexible is unreasonable and naive, but I also think it’s incorrect to assume that other less “important” jobs don’t also come with a good amount of stress and exhaustion that makes it hard to spend time with hypothetical children.

True! That’s good to emphasize. I think I’m also playing into the competitive anxiety this (and any thread like this) tends to engender.

I mean I don’t think it’s expected to have publications when applying to PhD programs, even if you’re coming in with an MA. I think a lot of post-MA publications comes after its completion, when you’ve had time to fine-tune the work you’ve produced during your program. It obviously doesn’t hurt, and will make your application more competitive, but i wouldn’t put a ton of effort into getting a publication at the risk of neglecting the other important parts of your application. However, yeah, once you’re in a program, you’re definitely expected to start publishing.

I am doing one in HPS in Toronto right now, but I did my first MA in Montreal actually!

Right!! I'm in Canada right now finishing an MA and I'll be going... somewhere... back in the states, and I want to know where! Also, as I mentioned earlier in the thread, I had a *very positive* interview (?) about ten days after my application submission with a POI at one school and not knowing if I actually got in is killing me. I was also waitlisted at Minnesota's Cultural Studies PhD, which I applied to in case I wanted to go back to a cultural studies department (I switched to HPS/STS from English but my work is very interdisciplinary), and although I'm happy, waitlists just mean more waiting! Oh well, good luck to everyone, we will survive maybe???

Good luck! Now that it's the first week in February I'm really going crazy. I only applied to five programs and I know one is an implied rejection (they already sent out interviews), but the rest of the programs typically send out acceptances either... by the end of this week, or next. I wish I could hibernate for two weeks. Sending good thoughts your way for completion funding!

There's also this: http://www.phdstipends.com/results, which isn't as history-centric, but you can search "history" and there are quite a few results. Don't look at the STEM stipends though, it's quite depressing : p

Thank you @glycoprotein1, I agree that starting a new thread is a good idea for people who want strictly results/adcom discussion. I also didn't mean to come off as strongly as I did by saying "policing" -- I think I just used the first word that came into my head without considering the implications. At any rate, I'm thankful for this thread because I don't come from anywhere near academia and sometimes I need a place to vent and/or just read others' experiences!

I don't think you can reasonably separate the two, as the admissions process is actually highly personal? It's a huge event and in some cases decision that affects the next 5-10 years of people's lives (well let's be realistic, the rest of people's lives). You could maybe start a new thread that specifies "no personal life discussion" if you really wanted

Yeah, I'm not sure how helpful or relevant policing the thread is -- especially when the thread actually isn't about admissions, it's about "applicants", and all that entails. In the beginning of the application season, if you look back, I'm sure you'll find a ton of posts in this thread about similar subjects, about application anxieties, decisions about where to apply, etc. If you just want a thread about results maybe keep checking the results board?

What @lordtiandao linked upthread is a pretty good resource. You just have to search for potential POIs (I guess you could also just search every faculty member in whatever department) and then google the names of their students. I've actually had really good luck with this method. Otherwise, no, schools would have to publish the data on their websites if it were available at all.

Hey! It was actually after I applied -- about 10 days after the application was due. I had also spoken to her on the phone prior to applying, but this was something that she initiated via email after I submitted my app. Good luck!

Whoa congratulations!!! That's great news

Good luck!! If we all get rejected we can bask in confusion together.

Thank you! I almost wish it hadn't happened and given me a too much hope, haha. Good luck to you as well! I think your take makes sense.

It was UCSD for History/Science Studies and no it was never called an interview. The POI just thanked me for a strong application and complimented my materials and then said "It would be helpful for me just to check in with you again about your plans and projects and to see if you had any questions for me now that things have reached this stage." It's so ambiguous it's driving me insane haha

Hi! I was wondering what it might mean if your POI contacted you for a skype chat and tried to convince you basically to choose their program over others you had applied to? It wasn't a formal interview from what I gathered -- should I just take this with a grain of salt and not get my hopes up? I was really confident and happy after the "interview" but now I'm just even more anxious because people initially told me that meant I was probably in but I don't want to be crushed if I get rejected...

What field interests you? You say you've already done a master's, so it's good you have experience with the stress of graduate school (and the straight up toxic atmosphere it engenders). I personally struggle with multiple physical and psychological (well, where's the distinction really -- that's actually my field and why I am in this game to begin with ) disabilities and I have completed one MA, am in the middle of another (switching fields into history of science/medicine, for reasons you can maybe imagine), and have received one acceptance and one waitlist from two out of the five PhD programs I applied to this round. My dad voice of encouragement wants to say, "you should TOTALLY do it, because we need more people with mental and physical disabilities in academia with crucial perspectives about the production and dissemination of knowledge!!!" But, knowing the reality of living with severe mental illness, definitely make sure you are prepared to deal with academia's demands before you dive in! Again, I know you already have some idea of this considering you've already done an MA, but I do want to stress that making sure you have secured the necessary resources for yourself should disaster strike be a number one priority. For example, only apply to schools that guarantee good healthcare with metal healthcare included -- make sure to check this! Funnily enough, in many ways, doing a PhD is a -good- option for me because it's A) more forgiving in terms of allowing for crises w/r/t mental illness than MANY other non-academic jobs (of course this varies depending where you are, but my first MA program was extremely accommodating when I had to take a leave of absence), and B ) the health insurance that PhD programs provide is often actually better than if I had to find insurance on the *cough* marketplace (plans that often include zero mental healthcare). Also, depending on where you apply (which is always the case), your experience might work towards your advantage. This is a tricky one, because you REALLY have to suss out the programs and get a sense for if it would be appropriate to "speak from experience". This also depends on what field you're interested in. Mental health is still (as you know) highly stigmatized, especially in the academic world. However, I do believe that even if you don't explicitly state your first-hand experience suffering through a severely mentally ill existence, the strength and uniqueness of speaking through experience might be a plus for your applications. Again, that's only if you're looking to focus on something somewhat related to "health" or "disability". I hope some of that made sense? In any case, take care of yourself, and having mental illness (however severe) should not deter you from pursuing a PhD. In fact, I think we need more "mentally ill" academics out there. Feel free to PM me if you ever want to talk about this, btw. Good luck!

Update: was accepted today off of the funding waitlist for the IHPST at U of Toronto... I almost had a heart attack when I read the email. So excited. I wish everyone luck, and thank you for the encouragement from other past waitlisters!

Ah! Thank you for the encouragement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_East_Slavic

Thank you so much! Yeah, I think all I can do at this point is wait and hope that the other student gets their scholarship so that everybody is happy. I'm still waiting on York's STS MA too so we'll see.

Hi! I am new to this thread so I'm sorry to crash it (I've been over in interdisciplinary studies because I'm STS/History of Science/Medicine), but I was just weirdly waitlisted at University of Toronto's Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine for a fully funded MA. I say weirdly because it's contingent upon someone else's external scholarship (and not whether or not people accept their offers), which would free up the funding to admit me to the program. It's my dream program at this moment in my life as I'm transitioning to this field from English/Cultural Studies (I already have an MA in English from another university), so I am trying to send out good vibes to the universe (or whatever) that this other person gets their funding!!! I'm a nervous wreck though, so I thought I'd come here to commiserate.

Hey! Has anyone heard anything from U of Toronto or York?? I'm going crazy waiting ??

Ooh that sounds like a super interesting project. I'm doing Early Modern philosophy/scientific discourse's influence on the institutions of psychiatry/psychology, specifically 17th c mechanical philosophy's. Good luck with your applications, that sounds like a good list!