tourist

Judging by the results page, Berkeley notified today like I assumed earlier. Damn. Congrats to those accepted!

Thank the man up there for the blissfully psychotic innocence of Ween and Butthole Surfers, who have helped during these anxious times. Nothing quite like getting lost for a moment. Everyone should find something of the sort.

Maybe Berkeley this week? If it is this week, then it would be a good sign. Later, not so much.

So other than Yale bringing down the hammer, who do you guys think will notify this week?

I've applied to Michigan as well, and I can access this Wolverine Access stuff where you can actually click on a link that says "application status" and has all my application information there. I don't know whether that will notify me of acceptance/rejection, but it's where that email guided me. Try it yourself, I guess. I don't have all the answers.

I can answer that question. One day after I submitted my application I got an email from gradacknowledge@umich.edu notifying me of everything I had to do to sign up for a UM Friend account. The email had all the steps included, as well as the ID number you're asking about. I know it is a little hard to find it in the email, but it should be on the third line down. From then on, just follow what they tell you to do and you should be alright.

Bye bye, Yale. We had good dreams together. Now I must dream of others just as good as you. Congrats to the ones accepted!

Did you receive an email/phone call? Who sent it, etc. etc.? I'd really appreciate the input on this. Thank you.

I'm interested in the UNC acceptance from today. What field are you in, what are your stats? I'd appreciate the input. Thanks!

I haven't heard a thing. I have a theory after looking at all the results from last year (and if somehow this year is similar to last year), then next week should witness an avalanche of acceptances/rejections. It's gonna suck but I'm still holding out some ounce of hope.

Don't expect any sympathy cards from me! I haven't heard a peep from anyone!

Thanks for that. I have a strange feeling these next two months are going to be hard on my psyche. I'm very patient and very, very pessimistic. Bad combination. To top all that, my birthday falls right in the middle of February. It's going to be awesome...

How do you know this tidbit of valuable info?

Congrats to those already accepted at Wisconsin and UNC! All I can do now is wait on UNC and the rest of them (I didn't apply to UW). Learning of this site has helped me a lot but has now thrown me for a loop a bit. Good luck to everyone waiting.

If that is so, rockchalk, that is some disheartening news (the 1 to 2 people accepted), because as I recall from previous posts, we are in the same field. It sounds like fairly good news for you though. Good luck!

Thanks for all the replies. I understand it would be seen as 'tacky' or 'brown-nosing' and everything else, but I was just going for the fact that they'd be able to associate a face to a name. It does seem too late to do anything right now, though. I was intending on visiting anyways, but only after (hopefully) receiving some favorable decisions. Good luck to everyone else!

So I've been suggested that it would be wise to visit some of the schools I've applied to and talk to the professors I've begun some sort of 'dialogue' with. This, however, would have to be in the next few weeks and a little close to decisions time, which I assume will start in mid-February and last until late March. Do any of you think it would make a difference or would it be too late to make a good impression and to see for myself where exactly I've applied and could end up? Such a trip wasn't possible before the holidays because I was out of the country. Pros are talking to professors and seeing the places. Cons are time and money (11 schools spread out all over the country). What do you guys think? Worth it? I'd appreciate all kinds of advice, from those who've done it and from those who plan on doing it. Thanks in advance.

Like Rockchalk, I'll be 24 if I get accepted fall of 2010.

Holy hell. You'll at least have conferences under your belt unlike some of us. You're a junior. Chill out... (I mean all of that with the best intentions)

Haha. I'll take that as a compliment. But to answer your question, it helps being Romanian born and Romanian speaking all at once. After all, it's not such a difficult language, being the one Romance language everyone likes to forget. It's much like Latin and Italian all at once, with Dacian, Slav and even German influences. For a truly "exotic" East European language, see Hungarian. But, like rockchalk, I immigrated when I was still a kid. Now I just need to become fluent in German and start a Slavic language........ Argh.....

Are you applying to Chicago, Stanford, Princeton? Those three schools seem to have some of the best resources for Russian/Soviet or East European History. The Hoover Institution and the library of U of Chicago (and even U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) comes to mind. Also, they have some outstanding faculty in Fitzpatrick at Chicago, Naimark and Weiner at Stanford, and Kotkin at Princeton. I'm sure you've already considered those schools. I'm applying for East European history and the pool of schools seems limited at around 10-15, but with some great programs in there. My focus is Romania, which is usually grouped with Russian/East European history.

Thanks for the responses so far. It's a really vague prompt and makes the review seem slightly pointless. At any rate, here's the prompt word for word from the website "The department requires a short book review (maximum two pages) to accompany the application. It should cover the book that has most shaped the applicant's understanding of the kind of work he or she would like to do as a historian." I just think tacking on 'this book has most shaped my understanding of history and how i'd like to write it' seems tacky and forced. I mean, yeah, the book I reviewed was the best secondary source for my thesis and without it I would've been lost, but I guess I'm just struggling with my own inability to answer an ambiguous question. I just hope they wouldn't use this review as something by which to decide between two similar applicants. Maybe I'm thinking too far into this.

Hi guys. So I have a question about this 2 page book review for Yale. I'm sure there's an older post about it, but I couldn't find it so instead I made a new one. Anyway, I have a review written already but it feels like I summarize too much of the book, and spend only 1 or 2 paragraphs at most answering the 'sweeping' question of how it's made the most impact on my writing. I have some experience writing book reviews (my thesis adviser used to ask me to review books I read) but I feel like this is slightly different. Any thoughts, suggestions, or ideas are welcome for those who have written it or are currently writing it. Thanks.

By the way, I realized that my last post made me look like I'm full of myself. I am not, at all. I just want to cling on to some positives that will make me somewhat hopeful of the upcoming admissions 'ordeal.' We applicants probably all need something positive, right?

Thanks for the responses, guys. I, too, hope that's a decent score. I only wish I would've gotten a higher score on Verbal, as on practice exams I got as high as mid 700s, and I'm an English teacher, for God's sake. Anyway, I'm happy to have scored the highest on Math on the real thing. I'm hoping my other credentials will get me in. I'm trying for an Eastern European history PhD, with a major focus on Romania in the 20th century. I have research experience at the Romanian archives, a High Honors Thesis, stellar recommendations, and a very good GPA (3.86, 3.97 in history, to boot) . I didn't want my GRE score to be an impediment, and it seems (I hope, once again), that it won't be. And yes, like many others, I'm targeting top programs and wishing that at least one will bite. Now, the question is, will they? Maybe my score will show them that I am balanced...