BCHistory

I managed to submit my applications by the end of October, so the prospect of facing another two months before hearing back from the schools is driving me nuts! So, do any of the history programs actually have anything closely resembling rolling admissions, or are we pretty much all stuck waiting until February/March?

Went straight from undergrad to law school with reservations about my choice of a JD over a Ph.D. It didn't take me long to realize my mistake. I've been working since I left law school after the first semester, first as a temp. worker assisting a consulting group at a chemical plant (actually, a very good job working with very cool people). When the 3-month contract ended, I hit the job market again to start saving money before grad school next fall, and I found a job at a university library, which is where I've been ever since. So I will be 24 when school begins once again for me next fall. And I am so happy that I will have had a year-and-a-half away from school when I start grad courses. Taking this time off has been one of the best decisions I've ever made, as I've finally learned what it's like to have to work a full-time, 40 hour a week job, and I've also had the time to devote months and months to my applications and preparations for grad school, which I would not have had the luxury of having if I had gone for Ph.D right out of undergrad. I know that I wasn't mature enough to tackle Ph.D applications my senior year. Time off can do wonders for your perspective.

Yup, this has been my problem, too. My parents, family, and friends don't understand that an academic has to follow the jobs. The jobs will not follow us. Many people close to me are having a hard time understanding that my first teaching job may be 3000 miles away. Interestingly, the only person who seems to truly and really have understood that among my family and closest friends is my girlfriend. Maybe that's because she's in medical school and is currently facing her board exams in two months. We've been long distance due to jobs and school for over a year-and-a-half now. It's difficult, but if you want it to work, and you both are very understanding of each other's professional and academic situations, then it WILL work out.

BORAT!

I am a library technical assistant at a university special collections library in the Deep South! It's actually a lot of fun. I get to meet researchers, historians, professors, and authors, and I get to handle really old, cool books and manuscripts. It's good preparation for graduate school in my field (history).

I'm glad everything worked out for you! I went through something similar, and after a couple email exchanges, the letters were finally sent. But as one other poster suggested, I actually had to overnight two of my letters to make sure they met December 1st deadlines.

Very good department. The professors were phenomenal and very interested in student' work and progress. Emory is definitely worth a look. Since I looked at so many different schools, I can't recall my exact reasoning for why I didn't apply to Michigan. I'll take another look at the department's website and try to remember why it is that I didn't apply. Thanks for the law school advice!

I know what you mean. I'm constantly checking and re-checking every day, and it's only the beginning of December! I applied to history programs, and it appears that for my field, I probably won't hear back until February at the earliest. But yet I still find myself checking my application status at the schools every morning and evening. Uggghh, why can't it be February?!?!

Thanks for the response. My referees and former professors told me not to really mention it in my statement unless I could make a connection between my law school semester and my future graduate studies. Should I send a follow-up letter to my schools explaining the situation, or should I just let the rest of my record speak for itself? I've already submitted my applications; is it already too late to send in an additional supporting letter such as this? Thanks!

I didn't want to lie or omit anything on my applications. The schools all required me to list all post-high school classes for which I was graded. I felt that it would be best to be forthright with my time in law school, rather than omitting the information and potentially getting in trouble with the schools later on if they found out about the semester.

I apologize for this duplicate post. I also posted the topic below in the "Applications" forum. I wasn't sure where I would receive the best response. If I wasn't supposed to duplicate posts like this, I apologize. __________________________________________________________________ This is my first time posting in this forum. I've been reading the topics for a while, and some of them have gotten me a bit nervous regarding my chances for admission into Ph.D programs in history. Would anybody mind making an honest assessment of how I stack up in the admissions process at the schools to which I've applied? Thanks! GPA: 3.63 overall; 3.67 major (history) GRE: 720 V (98%); 750 Q (83%); 5.0 AW (81%) BA in history and political science from Emory University; Dean's List; Phi Alpha Theta; National Merit Scholar. I worked for four years at Emory's Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, and since I've graduated in 2008, I have worked at the South Caroliniana Library at the University of South Carolina. Reading knowledge of Italian. I want to study American religious history, with a focus on American Catholicism, African-American Catholics, parochial educational practices of the nineteenth century, southern Catholics during the Civil War and Reconstruction, and Catholic minority identity formation and religiously informed nationalism. All of my applications and letters have been submitted. I feel confident that the letters will be good, and I shared my writing sample and statement of purpose with several professors, went through countless edits and revisions, and am very proud of the work I accomplished in this area. However, my major concern: I attended law school for one semester with serious reservations, partly out of a desire to please my parents and partly because of what I apprehended to be a surer monetary return. I struggled with the decision of attending law school or pursuing a Ph.D when I was an undergraduate. I knew very quickly that I made the wrong choice, but stuck it out to the end of my first semester to finish my exams and classes honorably. Unfortunately, I wound up with a disappointing 2.93 in my one semester of law school. I applied to fourteen schools based mostly on what I perceived to be good academic and intellectual "fits," rather than a focus on the rankings of the schools. I applied to the following: Emory UGA South Carolina Vanderbilt Wisconsin Notre Dame Chicago Northwestern WashU Cornell Delaware Boston College Rutgers Penn State I have established correspondence with two or three professors at each program, and I have maintained this correspondence for several months now, even meeting in person with a few. Almost all have overlapping research interests, and I would feel comfortable at every program. Basically, what are my chances at these Ph.D programs? Is that one semester of law school going to sink me? I feel that my GPA is very inadequate, compared to all of the 4.0s that I have seen in this forum. Am I just going through typical pre-decision jitters as I wait for admissions decisions over the next few months? Thanks in advance for all who can give insights and advice. Good luck with all of your applications!

That's what my professors said. I didn't mention it in my SOP or CV. However, I checked with the programs, and they all wanted to see the transcripts, so there was really no way around it.

This is my first time posting in this forum. I've been reading the topics for a while, and some of them have gotten me a bit nervous regarding my chances for admission into Ph.D programs in history. Would anybody mind making an honest assessment of how I stack up in the admissions process at the schools to which I've applied? Thanks! GPA: 3.63 overall; 3.67 major (history) GRE: 720 V (98%); 750 Q (83%); 5.0 AW (81%) BA in history and political science from Emory University; Dean's List; Phi Alpha Theta; National Merit Scholar. I worked for four years at Emory's Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, and since I've graduated in 2008, I have worked at the South Caroliniana Library at the University of South Carolina. Reading knowledge of Italian. I want to study American religious history, with a focus on American Catholicism, African-American Catholics, parochial educational practices of the nineteenth century, southern Catholics during the Civil War and Reconstruction, and Catholic minority identity formation and religiously informed nationalism. All of my applications and letters have been submitted. I feel confident that the letters will be good, and I shared my writing sample and statement of purpose with several professors, went through countless edits and revisions, and am very proud of the work I accomplished in this area. However, my major concern: I attended law school for one semester with serious reservations, partly out of a desire to please my parents and partly because of what I apprehended to be a surer monetary return. I struggled with the decision of attending law school or pursuing a Ph.D when I was an undergraduate. I knew very quickly that I made the wrong choice, but stuck it out to the end of my first semester to finish my exams and classes honorably. Unfortunately, I wound up with a disappointing 2.93 in my one semester of law school. I applied to fourteen schools based mostly on what I perceived to be good academic and intellectual "fits," rather than a focus on the rankings of the schools. I applied to the following: Emory Georgia (UGA) South Carolina Vanderbilt Wisconsin Chicago Northwestern Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) Cornell Delaware Boston College Rutgers Penn State (PSU) I have established correspondence with two or three professors at each program, and I have maintained this correspondence for several months now, even meeting in person with a few. Almost all have overlapping research interests, and I would feel comfortable at every program. Basically, what are my chances at these Ph.D programs? Is that one semester of law school going to sink me? I feel that my GPA is very inadequate, compared to all of the 4.0s that I have seen in this forum. Am I just going through typical pre-decision jitters as I wait for admissions decisions over the next few months? Thanks in advance for all who can give insights and advice. Good luck with all of your applications!