maelia8

I look forward to contributing next year as well This has been such a great learning experience for me, and I look forward to sharing it with new applicants!

This is probably a dumb question, but I have to ask … how do you know if your tuition is subtracted from your listed stipend amount on your fellowship offer, or if that number is independent of the tuition costs? My offer worded it like this: $xx,xxx academic year stipend. The department pays for your tuition and fees (including the student services fee, campus fee, class pass/transit fee, and document management fee), estimated at $xx,xxx, and your health insurance, estimated at $xx,xxx. If you are not a X state resident, the department will also pay for your nonresident supplemental tuition (NRST), estimated at $xx.xxx. Does this mean that my tuition is part of the stipend figure listed, or not?

I received my acceptance and wait lists at top schools this year without having contacted a POI, formally or informally (all I did was mention professors I might like to work with in my SOP), and I haven't been offered interviews anywhere (prior to or after being put on the wait list), so I support what czesc says - you can definitely get into a top program without contacting a POI, and some even discourage it (on their website it states that the profs get so many emails that it's an annoyance for them), and interviews are rare and usually not necessary for getting in.

To add: I haven't submitted my FAFSA yet to find out what grants or loans I am eligible for, but I assume that's all I'll be getting in terms of funding from Berkeley itself.

Hi, I'm interested in this topic as I got admitted to Berkeley and was wondering if their funding package is going to be enough for me to live on - the stipend they offered is $22,000 per year (including GSIships/academic fellowships), about $15,000 of which is tuition and student fees. I'm going to the visit day in two weeks and I will talk with current grad students then, but does anybody who has lived in the Bay Area have any insight as to whether I will be able to live on this? Will I need to take out loans and get two side jobs in order to survive? Is it cheaper to sign up for university housing/co-ops, or look for a roommate situation in Berkeley?

Just found out I'm on the Michigan wait list …. I guess I should be honored? Anybody know about their historic ratios of wait list admits?

American History R_Escobar (20th century, American Indian), crazedandinfused (antebellum, intellectual), hopin'-n-prayin' (southern, religious), stevemcn (transnational), Simple Twist of Fate (early American), zb642 (20th century, labor/working-class culture), BCEmory08 (19th-20th century Catholicism, labor), irvinchiva10 (20th century, immigration/immigration reform) natsteel (early American political culture and intellectual history) unforth (19th century US political and military history, US Civil War) hbeels (colonial, early national, 19th century, transappalachain west, historical memory of these eras/areas) thedig13 (20th century U.S.; built environment, modern consumer culture, race, and immigration) Weepsie (North American Mapping, Exploration and Trade, Anti-Communism/Socialism in Interwar period, bit of a mixed bag) lafayette (19th c. [with a dash of 20th], urban, intellectual) vtstevie (Revolutionary/Early Republic New England, infrastructure/economic) macmc (Feminist, gender, and LGBT history) HistThrift (early America, indigenous history) junotwest (19/20th century African-American, Cultural/Intellectual, Gender & Sexuality) calhoun&caffeine (19th cen. Southern [political]) tampopo ramen (19th-20th century capitalism/business) European History Kelkel (Modern Germany, political), goldielocks (Britain), SapperDaddy (Eastern and Central Europe), kotov (Modern Romania, Holocaust, labor), RevolutionBlues (Modern Western Europe/France labor and leftist politics), theregalrenegade (18th/19th cent British Empire/environment), jrah822 (19th century Britain; emphasis on colonial relationship to India), grlu0701 (Intellectual & cultural history,fin de siecle Germany and Italy), naturalog (modern European [mostly German] intellectual and cultural/sexuality and gender/political radicalism), runaway (Eastern/Central, memorialization & visual culture), Sequi001 (Modern France, gender and sexuality, colonialism/imperialism) Abetheh (19th/early 20th century Germany and France, religious politics vs secularization) NeutralKate (Modern Russia, modern European economic history) Crackerjacktiming (Modern Germany, gender and sexuality) GloFish (USSR, Stalinism, Soviet-American Relations) jamc8383 (19th/20th century France, interwar culture, relationship between body, mind & place) Heimat Historian (19th/20th century Germany, migration, settler colonialism) AshleyJuneBug (Early Modern France and Britain, gender and sexuality) maelia8 (19th/early 20th century Germany, imperialism and colonialism, travel, exploration) African History Oseirus (precolonial/early colonial West Africa), Singwaya18 (20th century East Africa), Safferz (20th century Horn/Northeast Africa), The People's Scholar (Spanish colonialim in Africa- i.e. middle/West Africa) Jogatoronto (Psychiatry in early colonial West Africa) ronwill06(Social and political radical movements) Heimat Historian (German settlements in Southern Africa) Latin American History CageFree (20th century, Southern Cone), BH-history, The People's Scholar (18th-19th century Colombia) StrangeLight (20th century Central America) Heimat Historian (German settlements in Southern cone and Mexico) Mujereslibres (German informal colonization of Peru, Brazil, and Chile) East Asian History alleykat (Modern China) getitlow (Modern China: Republican, Women, Gender and Sexuality) kyjin (Pre-Modern Japan) aec09g (Modern Japan) pudewen (Late Imperial China) kdavid (Modern China; focus on the Republican period) Near/Middle Eastern History uhohlemonster, (modern Israel, Iran, Palestine) oswic (modern Egypt, gender) Conmel (modern pan-Islamic thought/networks) Atlantic World sandyvanb crazedandinfused Global/World History cooperstreet (Cold War) melissarose8585 Heimat Historian (German settlements throughout world) Jewish History uhohlemonster, (modern Israel) hopin'-n-'prayin, kotov (Holocaust), naturalog (sometimes modern European/Holocaust), runaway (memorialization & visual culture), ticklemepink (20th c. Germany/U.S) Science/Technology/Environment shaxmaty1848 (Cold War) StrangeLight (environmental history, ecological distribution conflicts) Social annieca (Cold War and Post-Cold War East and Central Europe) Classical and Medieval Hogs of War (Monastic Studies and Conflicts in Authority) telkanuru (high Medieval intellectual and social history, Cistercian studies) AbbeyRoad (Monastic History, Gender, Cistercians) Kirialax ("Dark Age" Byzantium; the Komnenoi) Cultural StrangeLight (gender, race, ethnicity, and religion) hbeels (race/ethnicity, religious, masculinity/feminimity, print/literature) crazedandinfused (race, nationalism, performance, rhetoric) alleykat (religion, race/ethnicity, cultural relativism) Heimat Historian (German culture in transnational context) Canadian History truthfinder (New France, religious)

I've seen three accepts from Michigan and three from Chapel Hill, all posted last Friday. Is it safe to assume that their wave is over and that all those who haven't yet received notification of acceptance or wait listing have been rejected?

I totally know where you're coming from! I have so far been rejected or wait listed at all of the schools I've applied to EXCEPT for the long-shot, highly-selective less than 1% chance that I didn't expect to get into in the first place. Really makes you wonder how much of it is chance and how much is really due to the merits of your application.

@thedig13 I just got my rejection from UCLA at the same time as you. Does anybody ever get into two UCs? I guess that would be pushing the odds ...

Goodness gracious, I can't believe there are people on this thread who are only 22 or 23 and worried about having missed the chance to find the love of their life or thinking it's time to settle down and get married/have kids in the near future. At this point in your life, your education, personal development, and the gathering of life experience should be paramount, not hurrying to commit to anything for the long term. Take the next ten years or so to go on adventures, build your career, and gain wisdom and maturity before you start making lifelong emotional and financial commitments. If you move a lot, don't worry - wherever you go, you will find someone to love, and if it's meant to last for the long term, your partner will respect the fact that you want to put your hopes and dreams first at this time in your life. As someone who has moved a lot because of career/educational pursuits (6 times in the last 10 years, twice overseas), I can confidently say that part of growing up is letting go of the desire to achieve certain things by a certain age, or trying to plan your future based on events you have no control over (like when you might meet a serious partner).

I applied to six schools, and that was stretching my budget … I don't know how anybody manages so many (costwise or timewise).

Just out of curiosity, has anyone tallied up or managed to figure out the following? Do the majority of schools 1) send out acceptances and rejections and wait list notifications mixed together over a period of 3-5 days 2) first send out all of the acceptances and wait lists one day and the rejections on the following day 3) send out acceptances and wait lists first, then wait a week or two before sending out the rejections So far I haven't been able to see any method taking the majority.

Lucky you! I'm still waiting on four schools, but I'm pretty sure one of them is a reject (based on the acceptance timeline of others so far), so only three are really "mysteries."

I think it's quiet this weekend because everyone is quietly waiting I bet a lot of us are going to hear something Monday or Tuesday - that's when I heard from both of the schools I've heard from so far last week. If you've already had an offer from these two schools, won't they cover the costs of your flight there? I live in Germany, but the school I have had an offer from has said they'll cover the cost of my international flight to the visiting day in March.

What about Stanford? I noticed two or three acceptances there on the results from yesterday and today, but no rejections as yet.

As someone on the opposite end of the spectrum who speaks fluent German and intermediate Spanish but is trying to learn French for grad school, does anyone have book recommendations? I use Duolinguo and an A1 high school beginner's textbook right now, but I would love to know if there's something better out there.

That is so great for you! Are you still waiting to hear from any schools that are your top choices, or is it just a matter of choosing between the schools you've already gotten into?

Wait, but why does Princeton even HAVE a wait list then, if it never actually leads to anyone getting in? That seems to defy the definition of a wait list. Sounds more like a "wanted to let you know that you were pretty darn good, but we still don't want you" list.

I am on that official wait list of "less than 10 people," and they told me that they have been able to go to the wait list in 3 of the past 5 years, but it was very late in the Admissions process - shortly before the April 15th deadline for all graduate programs in the U.S. - and it's doubtful that they'd have an answer for me before April 1st. Like I said, I'm not going to hold out on an acceptance there, although based on what's been recently posted it seems more likely than getting into Princeton off of the wait list.

I was told that for Chicago it's about the same as Princeton - there are less than 10 people on the wait list, but they have only dipped into it in three of the last five years, and it's unranked, so your only chance is if somebody in the same specialty area drops out (totally out of your control). I'm not going to hold my breath on that one either ...

To thedig13: Quite. I freely admit that I've gone back to the application status login several times just to check that the acceptance letter is still there, that they didn't accidentally type my name and mean somebody else … whew. I've got a few questions for the admissions office and the department, but I haven't emailed them yet for fear of looking dumb by asking obvious questions about fellowship offers, calendar details, and possible mentors.

Oh man, that would be awful! It's been two days and I still have nightmares that my one admittance is the result of a technical error …

Maybe they are going to intersperse the acceptances with the rejections, as Berkeley did?

I'm glad that ended up paying off for you You are right, it is a minimal time investment, and even if it can't help much, it certainly can't hurt either. However, the point I'm trying to make is that I don't think that it is in any way necessary to ensure admission, contrary to what a lot of people are told by their advisors and mentors. I also think a lot of people regard an "I look forward to reading your application" or "let's talk on the phone sometime" as an sign of likely admission, when it's generally just a polite gesture, and then they end up getting disappointed. Levoyous, you're right, that is a viable way to check if they are retiring or leaving the department (although usually their department website profile will say if they are going on leave, and you could also find that out from the department secretary without even contacting the prof). I guess what I meant by "make them come to you" was more along the lines of "don't seem desperately overeager" than "maintain a cold and haughty façade."