MrMomo

Anyone here applying to Northwestern? If so I'd be happy to help regarding programme/life/pros and cons. I'm currently a first year. Feel free to PM me!

I'm in Chinese history - to the best of my knowledge admissions are based off sufficiently passing departmental cutoffs regarding your grades (which I think you definitely have done. Your grad GPA makes up for your sub-par undergraduate GPA; GRE's are excellent) and after that it is all about the research proposal. That is kind of hit and miss, since it is purely subjective when placed before the admissions committee. It would depend on how convincing you are, how interesting your project is, and whether or not there are other more interesting projects out there. All you can do is perfect it grammatically, write eloquently, and hope someone is interested in it enough to argue for your case. This is why emailing professors in advance is important, as it is the best you can do to gauge whether someone is interested in your project. Don't be too downhearted if you don't get into the top programmes. I applied for 9 schools and only got into 2. At places like Princeton and Stanford they admit 1 Chinese history student per year (told to me personally after I inquired why I was rejected), and with 300-400 applications for 15-20 spots I would wager there are probably 30-50 people applying for one spot in Chinese history. Broaden your schools (I advise top 20, discipline rankings first and overall rankings secondary, no lower) and go to the one with highest rank/funding. Hope that helps.

Going to Northwestern! Amazing funding and great placement history but my field (East Asian history) is a relatively new program there with only a few placements. Hope I made the right decision...

Thanks! It is an excellent offer and I couldn't turn it down.

Added my Northwestern offer!

Hey all I've just accepted my Northwestern offer to start this Fall. Good to know there's a thread going already. Wow, you got a place already? I just had a look at the site and it does seem quite pricey, but you mentioned getting a roommate and splitting the cost - did you know the roommate beforehand or did you just blindly find him/her?

Thank you! I apologise if I seem ungrateful it's just that I am not from the States and not that many people are aware of NU's prestige and reputation, and since I am open to working anywhere in the world that has played on my mind for a bit.

Thank you all for your comments! I am definitely leaning towards taking it, but have been advised by some people to be careful when selecting schools as the last thing I want is to go somewhere when my heart isn't fully it in. Grass is always greener and all that... I would think that reapplying next year may give me better a better chance at the "top" schools (as I am currently in my Master's and haven't got any grades back yet), but it seems too risky and as someone has already said it's a roll of the dice and I am not sure I can take that. Either way, it's a pretty good dilemma to have and I am aware of the privileged position I am in. Really don't want to work yet.

Seems like complete rejections across the board except for Northwestern (waiting to hear back from UNC and Chicago). Am I too elitist for deliberating whether or not I should take the NW offer? I am an international applicant, and not too many people have heard of Northwestern or are not aware of its reputation. I am realistic about doing a PhD but would still love to have employment after coming out with one...

Would like to second this post! Does anyone have any idea which department does the offers for these, and whether or not they have finished the shortlisting?

Turned down by Michigan and Princeton in the same week. Not too hopeful. Do you know whether this applies to the History and East Asian Languages program too? Thanks!

Just got accepted into Northwestern! Makes up for the Berkeley rejection haha

Just got rejected by Berkeley. Sad start to the cycle

Well, my scores are official, and it's 163V 147Q 5AW. Anyone advise a retake? Still getting mixed responses from PhD candidates/profs alike....

Would like to know if anyone else has anything to suggest. I'm going for history programmes (aiming for top 10) and got 163V and 147Q, and of course with that horrendous Quant score I am worried about admissions committees being iffy about my application, I'm worried because I heard top schools care about both scores, and some people have suggested that a high Q score is a measure of brilliance. Not sure how true that is though...