[I'm going to meet Dr. Annette Gordon-Reed tonight!]

That must've been really cool. Thanks to one of my mentors I got to meet Gordon Wood last year and Eric Foner earlier this year.

[It Has Begun]

Just got into Stanford! Full funding!

So so very happy! It is my first funded offer and it has been my top choice all along!

For those waiting on Stanford, it seems that decisions have been made yesterday (February, 9th), so news will start rolling soon.

A huge congratulations, Bukharan!!!

[Yale]

I don't think that's the case, just yet. I just today got an email telling me to login to the application to view my decision.

[What to study in grad school?]

Let's not sugarcoat it... The backlog in many fields of desperate, unemployed PhDs means it is becoming increasingly hard to get a job even at a CC with just a Master's degree. You will be competing for those jobs with many PhDs. Graduate school, even at the MA level, requires a deep, intellectual dedication to your field (and sub-field). It's not like getting a BA. If you're not sure what you would want to go to graduate school to study, then you're not ready for graduate school. Of course, that doesn't mean you'll never be ready. You just need to figure out what it is you want to do and then begin putting yourself in the best position possible to do that. I agree with the poster above... You're best bet is to take some time off after your BA to try out different things.

[Boston University]

Same thing here. Wonder how long it will be until we get notified.

[Yale]

Just a heads up, I got the official email today from the DGS with info on the campus visit, so you should all be hearing anytime now.

[What does "fit" mean to you?]

I can give you an example of how I fit with a POI that accepted me:

Time: I focus on colonial and revolutionary America (mid-1600s-1800). He/she has largely focused on the early republic (1790-1840).

Theme: We both do political culture, but his/hers has to do with political leaders and mine has more do with non-elites.

Geography: We both focus on the middle colonies, but his/hers by default because he/she has worked on national politics (NYC, Philadelphia, Washington DC) and me more thematically.

So you can see, we have similar interests that aren't just a mirror image of each other. Instead, I think (or hope) we both see the other's work as being somehow complementary to our own. I don't think any but the most vain professors would want to always work with someone doing EXACTLY what they have already done. Fit, as I perceive it, is a broad concept. I would say time and region are the most fundamental. But theme is important too... if you want to study gender history, you wouldn't necessarily apply to work with someone who focuses mostly on race. Of course, I'm speaking generally.

[It Has Begun]

Congratulations to rbatzell and Rustin on their Harvard acceptances!!!!

[The Tipping Point]

Thanks to all of you for the congratulations. The whole day has gone by in a kind of hazy numbness. The best part was telling my wife, my family, and, of course, my mentors. At the same time, though, it makes me want the best possible results for everyone here. I feel extremely fortunate at this moment and hope the rest of you get to experience the joy and release of stress and tension that comes with getting an acceptance. Thanks again, everyone!!!

[The Tipping Point]

A Yale acceptance today, anyone want to claim it? Major congrats!

It was me. It wasn't an official email but I received the following email from my POI at around noon:

natsteel,

I just received word from the Graduate Office that you're being offered admission to Yale -- and wanted to offer congratulations! I also wanted to offer again -- as I did during our coffee -- to chat with you if you have further questions. If you end up considering several different graduate programs and want to bounce ideas around, I'd be happy to help with that as well. (I promise to be unbiased!) Probably later today, you'll be extended an invitation for Campus Visit Day -- which is normally a really nicely organized (and informal) chance to see campus, meet some faculty, and see some of the other people who will be joining the program. Unfortunately, since I'm on leave, I won't be on campus that day. But we could meet again here in NYC, if that ends up making sense down the road.

Anyway -- I mostly wanted to offer my congratulations!

All best,

POI

I am ecstatic beyond belief at this news. I was checking my email during an 11am class and saw this. I got up, left the room, and ran back forth in the hallway jumping up and down for five minutes and then took another five to throw water on my face in the bathroom to compose myself before I could go back in. Then I called my wife and father on FaceTime and told them the news.

[What is your outlet?]

I'm taking 19 credits this semester including writing another honors research essay and revising a paper that was accepted for publication, so I'm pretty busy now. But over the break, I played a lot of guitar (blues and jazz) and spent way too much time on here and FB. I also watched all 4 seasons of My Name Is Earl for the first time on Netflix and re-watched most of 30 Rock. This had serious effects on my sleeping pattern because I'd lay down to watch an episode or two but they were so good, I'd end up watching 6 or 7 and the next thing I knew it was 2am. I also watched a lot of Thomas the Tank Engine, The Batman, and Toy Story I and II with my 4 and 3 year old boys.

[Northwestern]

I got rejected as well, but I had no real fit. The professor I would have worked with told me he was retiring in 2 years but encouraged me to apply anyway. So I did.

[Which is worse...]

Hm, why?

Uh oh...

[It Has Begun]

Very true, StrangeLight and roarie. I was trying to make Erica feel better by making a general statement, not based on any other inside knowledge. We've been hearing the trouble Wisconsin got in when way more admits accepted than they had anticipated. Either way, McCurry did suggest that they planned on enrolling fewer students this year than in years past.

[Reply from a professor]

If you are going to pose those questions to anyone, it would be the DGS and NOT the POI!! But, I'd advise against even emailing the DGS with questions about when the adcom will meet.

In short, you should not be contacting a POI from here on out until you have been accepted. Some people will email them if they were rejected to find out what they considered the weak spots in their application, but I don't think you would do that immediately upon receiving a rejection notice.

[It Has Begun]

That sound you hear? That's the sound of my hope flying away.

...I'm starting to think this was a bad idea.

I decided to be an early Americanist from the outset. I wasn't pigeonholed into it at all. Once I settled on history as my undergrad major, I knew I would be doing early American history, because that's what has always called to me.

However, realizing that maybe 5% of applicants to UPenn would be accepted, I'm not feeling very optimistic about my choices in life.

Maybe I should have gone for that MLS after all...

Relax, Erica... Perhaps I should not have posted that. But, in reality, it's probably similar numbers to Penn's previous years and similar to many of the other top departments. I, too, am one who chose early America (or rather it chose me in some strange way). Also, keep in mind that they want to enroll 5% not admit 5%. If they are aiming at, say, 15 students, they will likely make 25-30 offers of admission.

[Forum Stats for Jan' 11]

I don't know whether to be proud or ashamed.

[It Has Begun]

FWIW, I met Stephanie McCurry from UPenn at a symposium last night and she said that they had received 380 applications (of which around 250 were Americanists) and that they planned on taking 14 at the most.

[overflowing gratitude]

I am in early American history. I think am going to get a fountain/dip pen, ink, and some parchment and write each of my referees (all in my field) a letter thanking them for all they've done (much more than just writing my LORs). Then I'm going to seal them in a parchment envelope with an old time stamp in wax just like they did in the 18th century.

[Academic Activities]

I am having to take 19 credits to graduate this spring. I am getting 7 credits to write another honors thesis (some very generous finagling by my advisor). That paper is on William Livingston and the Independent Reflector as a tool of cultural transmission in the public sphere of colonial New York. I am also revising my honors paper from last year to be published in the Columbia Undergraduate Journal of History. However, turning a 50-page research essay into a 25-page journal article is the equivalent of having taken another class. I am also fulfilling my two final core requirements: Macroeconomics and U.S. Writers in the 18th Century, as well as an independent study doing research for a mentor's next book. Despite all that, I still find far too much time to obsess over the wait.

[Updating grad programs about change in resume???]

I don't know for sure but I don't think you need to worry about contacting schools.

If they accept you, it is hardly because of the summer volunteer trip, which you were scheduled to do. Acceptance is likely to be based on what you have already accomplished! I hope all goes well!

I would agree with Bukharan. I wouldn't worry about contacting them about it, especially at this stage.

[Opinions about ranking]

I think it's also really important to differentiate between STEM fields and non when you're talking about how important name is. I think they're a lot more important outside the STEM fields than within them.

I would agree. My mentor is in the Humanities...

[Your First Book]

I'd be interested in both StrangeLight and qbtacoma's projects...

@history_PhD Writing on the 2nd amendment can get a bit dicey, if not downright dangerous. Do you remember Michael Bellesiles??

[Opinions about ranking]

Take this for what it's worth... My mentor actually told me to go to the best school possible because the big names "still carry serious weight with search committees." Now, that is from his experience as a professor and sometimes committee-member at a small branch school of a larger public university. I understand his point, but I still wouldn't put only the name over fit.

[Opinions about ranking]

I would really recommend reading this blog post from the blog Savage Minds. "Who needs alumni from 'top schools'?"

Much of it is Anthropology-specific, but one point stands out to me: graduate students in top programs tend to have less teaching experience, and teaching experience is currently what is in demand. I don't know much about the hard sciences, but I know in the humanities and social sciences tenure-track positions at research universities are a scarcity (like, seriously, forget about it), and most PhD's will be competing for positions at smaller, less research-oriented, more teaching-oriented schools. If you think you might be headed in that direction (keeping in mind that only 1/4th of all PhDs will ever obtain a tenure track position), then you may want to weigh the quality of the professional teaching experience each program would offer you, in addition to ranking. (That is, if you consider ranking more important than fit and academic atmosphere, which I personally don't. YMMV.)

Prestige is great, but graduate school is professional training. After people stop their "ooooohs and aaaaaaaahs" they're going to want to know what you're bringing to the table. Having an impressive pedigree and a famous adviser doesn't mean you can teach a 4/4 course load. So my question would be this: What program is going to get you the skills you need to compete?

This, for me, is probably the biggest factor between the prestigious and less prestigious schools. From looking at the websites, it seems that Ivies are beginning to understand this and are just now starting to implement some kind of professional training, though, they're still not requiring the kind of teaching you would do at a state/public school. But that doesn't mean those opportunities aren't there if you really pursued them. The teaching responsibilities are less because they want their students to graduate in 5-6 years rather than 7-8. However, I think it is possible, if one really wanted, to get enough teaching experience at an Ivy to make you competitive for SLAC jobs. But, if you end up contemplating an offer from a very prestigious program, teaching opportunities for graduate students would definitely be something you would want to pay attention to and ask your PA or the DGS about.