RockEater

I agree with Caligula. You should definitely look at Chicago (though if you subscribe to Keynesian economics, you may get burned there!) I'd also say that your list of interests is great, but you'll have to boil down to something by the time you write your statement of intent! I mean, I've got a passion for space history, political history, trivial history (the history of the cheeseburger, etc)...you should ask yourself: where are the most unanswered questions that fascinate you, and how much do you think you can fill in? But you don't have to worry about that yet.

Well, since your undergrad work was in a separate field than History, I'd think that most schools will not focus too much on your undergraduate GPA. Further, you've shown marked improvement between your undergraduate and your master's work, and I think admissions committees will take this into account. For now, keep working on maintaining that master's GPA, and make sure you get into the MEHAT conference. Giving a paper there will attract the notice of the adcoms and show that you are considered (at some level) to be a serious scholar of your subject. As for the schools you've listed, I'm partial to the University of Wisconsin myself, but I'm biased. You don't have to apply to the top schools- no one will tell you where to apply or not to apply. Let me recommend the process I used as recommended to me by my thesis advisor: You already know what branch of history you want to work in (Ottoman History). Try to find out what aspect of that history interests you the most. Is it the social history? Political? Religious? Is there a period of Ottoman history that interests you (1299-1566 or 1567-1922)? You might even have an interest in a subset of the subset; this could be the social history of a particular minority within the Empire. If you know these specifics, then look at the literature on the subject- preferably written by those who are still living! Do those authors work for a university, and if so, which one? If they don't, where did the author attend university? You should also look at the professor's websites, usually available through the department website, to see whose interests mesh with yours. In essence, you should prefer a school where the faculty have a strong background in at least the same area as you (social history, early Ottoman, etc.). If there's more than one professor at the school with your interest, great! Consider applying there. If there's only one professor, but he's exceptionally distinguished in the field, apply there too. You may hit the jackpot. In essence, since I tend to ramble, seek the schools where the faculty best meets your interests. It may be an Ivy League institution, it may not be.

Nice; what's your topic of interest? Mine is the intersection of domestic policy and politics. Where are you applying? Also, good news from a couple days ago: Brandeis emailed me, saying that they didn't have one of my LORs. It's unusual, because the professor concerned is usually the first to get the letters in, so I assume the interwebs had a massive fail. Why is this good news? Because if they weren't considering me, they wouldn't bother emailing me. So that got me through the weekend!

I have also applied to Northwestern, and eagerly await their rejection It's a nice town, but if you ever want to actually do anything that remotely resembles fun, gotta take an El ride down to Chicago.

Sovereign (bonus points for those who know what I'm talking about.)

Diamond

Spoke with my thesis advisor today. Yes, UW really did start sending out acceptances. Yes, you really did get in. Now let the rest of us go back to worrying.

I don't think so. I said a decent GPA in my major...3.6ish to be precise. I've seen others with much better GPAs, and that tends to worry me. My GRE scores...while I got a 90th %ile on verbal, my analytical writing was a dismal 4.5, which isn't so hot for a history major. In essence, I'm hoping the adcoms will see my writing sample and assume I didn't have a good test day. I implied that I'm banking on the "peripherals" (SOI, LORs, writing sample) to tip the balance in my favor.

I see my thesis advisor tomorrow. He's on the admissions committee. I'll get some clarifications if I can.

I wouldn't post the name of the school I got into, simply because I don't want to go about worrying any friends applying to the same school. I would, however, note that I did get in to graduate school, probably in the form of "RockEater knows he will be doing something next fall." Then, if people want to know the results, I'd send them a message. Since I have aunts, uncles and cousins that also use Facebook, I find it to be a very convenient way to contact them about my acceptance.

Yeah, congratulations to all of you admitted to UW! I've spent the past four years in the history department (and campus in general). If you've got any questions, let me know and I'll try to answer. Again, congratulations, and On, Wisconsin!

First, my parents. Second, the rest of my family - aunts and uncles and cousins (especially if they live in the area that I might be going to. It's important to have that family connection to mooch off of.) Third, those who wrote my LORs - and they will be receiving tokens of gratitude. Fourth, Facebook. Easy to get the word out. Fifth, here.

Usually means that Yale has gone through their batch of applications and pulled out the really obvious rejections (3.0 GPA and lower, poor GRE scores, bad SOIs, mediocre LOIs, and poor writing samples) and the really obvious accepts (3.8 GPA and higher, great GRE scores, great SOIs, LOIs, writing samples...and sons of power brokers?). It's not a lot, I figure that it may be five students in the history program, across all the fields. They're probably doing secondary reviews now. Also known as, us regular beings. Those are the applicants that they're on the fence about, or may not have the best grades or scores (but still pretty good), but have something that may be appealing about those applicants. This round will probably take substantially more time, since it makes up a vast majority of the applicants. We likely won't hear a damn thing until the start of February. Don't lose sleep.

While I like to keep a realistic view of things...today I feel a little pick-me-up is in order. *Four great letters of recommendation, one from a particularly bright name in my field *A unique statement of intent, that shows not only my academic background, but a well-worded explanation of what I want to study and why it is important. *A very good writing sample that I am submitting for publication in the near future. *Decent GPA in my major. *Not embarrassing GRE scores. However, looking at some of the other responses on this board, I am now convinced that I am doomed. So I'm going to go crawl inside a bottle

Dallas.