tipmar

Thanks, and I agree. I am also visiting the US within the next few weeks, and had hoped to know my status in all schools by now. Personally, I will not consider moving anywhere for 5-7 years before visiting the department and area (I am sure others may feel differently, but it is crucial to me). I wonder what the advantages of maintaining such "secret" wait-lists may be. Why not notify those who are still being considered? I would think that they would prefer to do so in hopes of preventing those still interested from accepting other offers before hearing from them.

Thanks for the info. UIUC is the last school I am still waiting on. I assume rejection, but would love to put this behind me. At this point in the process, I find their response somewhat bizarre. Did you ask/ were told whether or not you are on said list?

It's perfectly legitimate to ask for a meeting, that is part of the purpose of visiting days. The kind of interaction you have with a potential adviser is a major factor in the decision and, personally, I will not consider committing before such a meeting. In fact, I requested a meeting with a potential adviser from a department at which I am currently waitlisted (and received a very positive response). I am in the same boat as far as being accepted and not hearing anything from one of my POIs. I gave it about two weeks, but I think I will be contacting them in the next few days.

In my previous cycle, I got some very specific information about where I was in the ranking by approaching different POIs after everything was over. I didn't ask exactly for my rank, but several people simply volunteered information such as "you were number X because of this and that".

American etiquette is seriously confusing to me. I tend to go with the idea that no one is (hopefully) going to be upset about me being extra polite. The opposite? who knows. I'd mail them.

Guess my sources are off, then. Perhaps their confirmation of my rejection will also prove to be faulty

As far as my inquiries have led me to believe - they are finished and there were only 9 people admitted. A very small cohort this year.

What kind of career are you aiming for? Within academic circles, Northwestern is a well-respected brand. Did you ask professors in your department about Northwestern? I'm also an international student and I find it unlikely that many professional historians around the world are unaware of Northwestern. People read, they go to conferences, they follow the leaders in their fields. Obviously, things may be different outside of academia.

Yep, mine said the same. I was a bit surprised by how close their admitted students day is, I may not be able to go due to work restrictions and previous engagements. Either way, I am waiting to hear about funding before I decide on my next move. My subfield is European history.

Hello to all, and I am glad to have found this thread. I am in a bit of a different situation. I do not have any children at the moment, but will almost certainly want to have them within the next 5-6 years. I am an international student and where I come from it is almost assumed that people will be having children while working on Ph.D (due to a much later average age and some cultural differences). I will be moving to the US for graduate school in the fall, and I am quite concerned about what to expect in terms of support and/or attitude to having children during the program. I know that in the US employers have no legal obligation to allow for maternity leave (which is shocking, in my humble opinion), and that is certainly not reassuring. Some schools do declare that they provide for a short-term maternity leave, but what I am most concerned about is the type of discourse that this situation may reflect. Do programs frown on students having children? Does anyone have any experience with having children during graduate school? Did you find that you were generally supported? For those with experience having children during graduate school, or going into graduate school with young children, what kind of questions do you think I should ask prospective schools? How to best determine where there will be the most support? What were the things that you wish you would have thought about?

Congrats! I was also just admitted to UCSD! Did you hear anything about funding? My letter did not refer to it at all (no mention of funding info to come).

Yep. Not sure what is going on there, they have notified of rejections and acceptances a while back.

Thanks. I guess that means rejection then.

Congrats!!! Did you get any word on when the open day is going to be?

Thank you all! and thank you mvchicago! I am almost scared to believe it.