JustChill

Yeah, I'm planning to call first thing on Monday. Most likely will decline the offer if they don't give me tuition remission. Thanks for the feedback, everyone. It helps to hear different views.

I very much agree with that, Nytusse. I really do feel very lucky to have these two PhD offers (especially since I also got rejected from 7 other programs), and feel like it might be too big of a gamble to pass up these offers and then re-apply.

I have not made up my mind, and if I had I wouldn't be asking for advice. In fact, I am leaning more towards accepting the PhD offer, it's just that my parents and even some professors are suggesting the MA program. I am mostly interested to see if other people have personal experience with a similar situation - going for a non-history MA which helped them later on in their history doctoral program. And, StrangeLight, I only applied to one top-10 PhD program because it was the best fit, as opposed to all of them just because they're so famous, like I see so many people on here doing.

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone. Look, I'm not one of those people who claim that if you don't get a degree from HYPS you're shit out of luck. My undergrad was a large state school with decent, but not renowned reputation. There are exceptions to everything -- of course there are people at Yale and Brown with PhD's from non-20 programs, and of course there are mostly top-10 PhD's at the top departments. I should have mentioned that one of my undergrad majors was this exact area studies. The reason I applied for the MA as well as the PhD is that I felt that if I were to go for the MA first, it would only make me a better scholar of this country, as it would allow me to study it beyond the historical lens. I am not thinking about it as much because it's Harvard and it would bolster my CV (but I would be full of crap if I said that I don't think about this at all), but rather because I felt that it could possibly give me some understanding of this country from a different perspective. This program is directly related to my history interests, so it's not a MAPSS-like generic program (I don't mean this in the negative sense). The other thing is that those two PhD offers I have are very good departments with great faculty in my field, but their interests are not really aligned with my own. The professor at the public ivy, for instance, doesn't even work on the same century as I'm interested in, and not a single one of his current students is working on anything even remotely similar to what I want to do. That is why I feel kind of strange that they've been recruiting me so much, because I keep feeling that I would not fit in well with the cohort. I don't want to be the only one doing my century, while the whole department is doing another.

I'm just curious about what kind of funding they're offering.

Hi guys, I'm sorry to post this when I know there are still some people who haven't received positive news, but I could use some advice. I've been very fortunate to be accepted into two fully-funded history PhD programs at a "public ivy" and a well known, Catholic university. Both have good faculty in my area and both are recruiting me actively. However, I have also been accepted into an area studies MA program at Harvard with partial funding. Now, my problem is that a history PhD is my ultimate goal, but neither of my two PhD offers are from top-10 programs. Many people are telling me that if I go to the Harvard program now and reapply to PhD programs in two years, I should be able to get in to at least one or two top-10 programs. Harvard is offering me roughly 1/3 tuition grant, which isn't much compared to my pretty nice stipend offers, but of course it's Harvard. So, what would you guys advise?

So, who are the Harvard REECA admits?

Now you're talking! I like that deal.

I'm not in your field, but my undergrad advisor told me to not even think about grad school without doing a senior thesis first. So, I wrote it and I'm glad I did.

It's very complicated. I love everything about the PhD program - the faculty, the grad students, the location. They are also offering me a fellowship on top of the full tuition, so I feel very lucky to have this offer, but my parents and even a few former professors are pushing me to go to the MA program. Part of the thing is that I am coming from a large public school, and the this PhD program is also at a big public schools, so some people are saying that if I want to teach at a decent place I should go to the elite, private MA school. It's a really tough decision, but I feel very fortunate to be making a decision like this. Still, I am absolutely terrified of making a decision which I will regret later on.

Well, I am coming straight from undergrad and have been accepted into two top-15 PhD programs, but only one is fully funded. The problem for me isn't so much choosing which one to go to, but rather it's choosing whether I should go for an MA at a different university first. Like you, I also think that getting an MA from a well-reputed program might improve my chances for admission into higher ranked programs, but the fact that I have one offer from a top-15 makes this an extremely difficult decision. A PhD is my ultimate choice, but this MA program is at one of the best universities in the world...

This week has been nuts with all of the rejections for me. I can't believe I started out with two acceptances and a fellowship, and now have received 5 rejections in a row. Oh, well. Life goes on.

The only remotely useful aspect of these rankings is that they let you see what people in academia consider to be prestigious and well-respected programs. This, whether you like it or not, has a big impact on your job search.

I'm wondering if anyone has any specific knowledge of whether Wisconsin-Madison and UNC allow deferred enrollment? Haven't been able to find anything on their sites.

No, my POC was Nathans, though I've been in contact with Holquist, too. Seems like a pretty tough year for us in Russian history.

I'm in Russian history. The professor said that they are "most likely" accepting just one, but it's probably someone who has made some sort of a commitment. I had one department tell me that they would not accept me unless I told them that they were in my top 2 choices. So maybe it's the same deal here with Penn.

I emailed my POC at UPenn the other day and got my unofficial rejection -- accepting only 1 applicant in my subfield this year. He didn't mention anything about notifications, so I'm not sure if they've already sent our acceptances or what.

Man, this is a slow week for history. Any rumors out there?

Me neither, I always heard that no one had to teach during their first year in a grad program.

If you're really "half way around the world" that shouldn't be an issue for them and they should understand that you can't simply fly to the US from where ever you are for each visit. I'm currently studying in Europe and I've told all of my schools that invited me to visit that I can't come because I'm so far away. They've all been understanding.

I hope you guys aren't talking about me, because I didn't mean to sound arrogant by any means in that post. I'm just interested in fellow applicants' opinions.

On its own, I suppose. I'm starting to think ahead so that I don't have to rush into a decision on April 14. I've also been admitted into Madison, but would take UNC over Madison because of faculty and funding. The only other schools left on my list that are frequently mentioned ahead of UNC history are Stanford, Michigan, UCLA, and Penn. I doubt that I'll get into Stanford since I got rejected by Princeton yesterday, and I'm not all that interested in UCLA. I've been offered pretty good funding by UNC, and the faculty match is good, but I'm having a hard time determining how strong UNC's overall History reputation is. Like I said, it's still very early to be making any decisions, but I just want to see what other think.

I've heard nothing but negative feedback about that, too. I would definitely advise against that if you plan to seek positions outside of that same university.

I know it's still early in the game, but I'm wondering how you guys would rank UNC's History Department for European history?

True. I'm not that nervous about it because I'd rather attend UNC than Madison, but it seems strange to be officially accepted but not to hear anything from any professor. Some other schools email me way before they start making any decisions just to have some contact and see what I'm all about, but Madison is AWOL.