ForlornHope

Well, I'm officially rejected to everything not even given a chance for an MA. I suppose that's it for me, then. I hope others have a much better time of things. I do not think I'll be coming back to the field.

While it can sometimes be a cumbersome tool to use for historians, Google Scholar can help you see if certain topics or keywords already have extant research. This is particularly helpful for checking out articles and papers just in case you don't have access to the proper publications.

Thanks. Shame no admissions committees felt the same way. Though, I will add that some medieval languages just require a good dictionary. In my instance, I was mostly advised that stellar GRE scores could help balance out mediocre GPA. I had a rather unfortunate freshman year and ended up switching majors. I scored well on each section, but forcing myself to write in such a strange way was quite painful. In the end, it didn't really matter, so I can't say too much more on it.

That seems like a dangerous road to go down, Ellebe. Can anyone back me up that a second MA would be a waste of time and money? From the sounds of it, your concrete areas for improvement come mostly from certified, reported things such as language credits and GRE. I had a similar flaw in that my Latin proficiency is not illustrated on my transcript, and my writing sample used mostly Norman French and Middle English. It is unfortunate, but such is the way of things. I imagine that the 4.0 writing score is the big killer. If you do plan to retest, remember to write in algorithms, rather than they way you are accustomed to.

In addition, I would imagine that knowing you will be working with a well-published and renowned professor might weigh your decision. My favorite authors don't necessarily come from Harvard and Cambridge. Though, it seems I have started a thread for 2016 applicants' assistance.

I don't see why you should feel bad about rejecting an offer. How many universities rejected your application? It's no different than choosing between competing job offers. Just a simple "thank you" and such would be appropriate, keeping in mind that these people may be your colleagues in the future.

In the end, money is still incredibly important. If your goal is to write and publish, there are ways to do that without working for a university. If your wish is to be an amazing teacher, universities would love to have you as a lecturer. Quite frankly, my wife is not really interested in me going through this whole process! She is just about to finish a PhD, herself, and the pressure is incredibly overwhelming. In particular (and of course this does not apply to every adviser or program), the feeling of being such a disposable asset to her department has been a terrible experience. This is in engineering, however, and my naive hope for everyone entering humanities is that the professors there have a bit more heart. I imagine it is the case, at least judging by the personality and sentiments that this forum has shown of those wanting to enter the field. To those who made it, best of luck. To those who did not, all the same.

This has been my view of the entire situation. Along with the thoughts of my LOR writers, I was not interested in spending 6-7 years of my life working toward meager prospects of a truly rewarding career. At this point, my thoughts turn to the legal field, since many of the skills would seem to translate fairly well. My own self-examination leaves a torn picture: I still am ardently wishing to enter this field, but practicality is always an issue. I did not intend to apply to any program under the top-30 (with Boston College being an exception due to its MA possibility since I do not have one, yet). My overall hopes were to be involved in a profession where prestige and accomplishments are limited only by one's ambition. I was not interested in spending several years working for less than minimum wage after completed a PhD at a lower-ranked school. As brutal as it sounds, I do not have the patience for such trials and have no interest in being taken advantage of in such a way as academia tends to do in the current job market. Historygradhopeful, my best wishes go out to you in all your endeavors.

I have to say that my universal rejections this year were a bit of a surprise. Planning your entire life around whatever possibilities may occur only to find that none of your supposed scenarios panned out is a bit of a hit. I know that many have tried for several years to get that elusive acceptance, but I have personally reached my limit. I feel that it is time to sail for distant shores and leave academia behind. For any others that are in the same boat: what are your plans now? I, for one, wonder what to do now with my unfortunate unemployability due to many years of "experience" lost in this pursuit. Language and writing skills do not translate well into potential careers as much as I would have hoped (as is evident to me from a few years of trying to find employment).

My own experience has been driving my mind to various paths depending on every outcome. So far I am down two rejections, and still waiting for five of the pending applications. I finished my undergraduate degree in medieval studies in 2010. Unfortunately, I was not well-groomed for graduate work as the program at my university was having an identity crisis. I had very little direct faculty interaction and – though I should have proactively sought it out myself – even less advising. To make matters worse… my language training was in French and Old/Middle English. Four years later after a many personal troubles and life-changes, I finally got back on track and scrambled to improve my standing for the current applications. I took two semesters of graduate courses for good recommendations and writing samples, as well as devoted time to Latin studies at home. I was astounded to hear that so many programs expect training in French, German, Latin, etc. for their competitive applicants. Quite frankly I couldn’t even imagine having done that as an undergrad and also meeting prerequisites, but that is beside point. I applied, though, with high hopes. Now, as the months are dragging on, my confidence is waning, as well. Particularly, given the fact that I feel entirely behind in language credentials and never could have dreamed of affording going abroad at any time in my life. Academic opportunities often can shut out the underfunded. So I am anxiously awaiting further results. In hindsight of this all, I half wonder if this was a good idea in the first place. I am already reaching 27 years, and know that the next 5-6 will put most life goals on hold. I have alternatives, fortunately, and may consider applying to law school should this go sour, but I couldn’t imagine what I would do at this point if I went through the process of complete rejection and did not have my wife to rely on. She is finishing her own doctoral degree at this moment, and the stress of these months have pushed us both to a breaking point. At the very least, I may end up saving myself from even more struggles after I finish my Ph.D work if I do not have to search for those Ivory Tower academic jobs. Who knows what the future holds? I just thought perhaps others might benefit knowing that not everyone has the drive repeat this process. You aren’t alone, and it isn’t the end of the world if you call things off. This is not upright negativity and nay-saying, I hope, but realism and practicality must often govern our lives.

I have applied with the intent of pursuing a PhD in medieval history. I've noticed, for better or for worse, that such applicants rare to many programs. I'm hoping it means less competition for me, and less for the general applicant pool, as well! And yes, the brief interaction with the faculty at Yale that I have had focused on "fit," so I can second the Aubstopper's response.

Maybe I paraphrased a bit too much. I suppose it would have been better to say that I was told (by only a couple professors and a little reading, mind you) that the study of British history in America has generally lessened in the actual history departments, and has become more of an interdisciplinary field.

I will start by saying that your interests line up very well with mine! Here is some of what a professor I am consulting at my local university has advised me regarding Britain: You have your work cut out for you. If you do get into a good program with a distinguished researcher, you should have a pretty good chance. However, Anglo-Saxonists (my tentative pursuit) have mostly migrated to the English PhD route. Latin, French, and perhaps a bit of Old-English are your languages of choice. German of course is useful for northern Europe and is a bit more ubiquitous than the Scandinavian languages. He recommend looking into Dr. Robin Fleming at Boston College. Search around in directories where you think you might like to end up, and see how many might be able to assist you in your desired field. That being said, I am still going to be doing history, though I will migrate my field a bit south into France and make English history a side-interest. Apparently the British history field has been falling out of vogue in the past couple decades, which is a pity. Your best options may honestly be in the UK or nearby countries. And be sure to drill Latin until your eyes bleed. It is your best hope in impressing the admissions folks.

This thread may be a bit older, but I am in an even gloomier position and still think by what encouragement I have received from local faculty I have spoken with that I (and you) will be fine in seeking admissions. I graduated in 2010, and will be applying for 2015. Using this past semester and the 2014 fall semester, I am actually taking a few extra history courses to beef up my transcript (I was unfortunately talked into an interdisciplinary major) and to work on languages. No matter which professor I spoke with, they all echoed the same idea on what makes an applicant stronger: language skills. Their advice to me was to hone in on an interest for choosing my program, desired advisers, and writing my letter of statement, while primarily spending plenty of time working on my foreign language reading abilities. Any program will favor applicants that they feel can jump right into the readings, I have been told. And, since it sounds like you already have pretty good practice with your linguistics, I would just emphasize that you have been actively working with your foreign language skills, if I were you (since that is exactly what I am doing right now). You're probably ahead of me on that score, so just keep it up. As a side note, my professors recommended practice in reading period literature, since the languages differed 1000 years ago for my intended field (medieval northwestern Europe).

All of these comments should be very useful and certainly are a decent boost to morale knowing what I should have already realized: that everyone has had the same experience to some degree. At the very least, I do have about 6 months and should be fine I think since I'm starting now and certainly plan to make this an ongoing effort. I think the toughest part will be learning German basic German while sharpening my French and Latin! Time to get searching, then. My thanks to all.