alain

I would honestly spend the year teaching abroad, getting some language training, working on an independent research project or something along those lines. There's no guarantee you'll get funding later if you come in self-funded. At this point you're looking at slim pickings of MA programs with little to no funding and no guarantee of funding later, so why not take a year off of school and bolster your app while gaining some (outside academia) perspective, which, trust me, programs love to see. That way you can apply straight to a PhD next season and maybe avoid having to pay for an MA. By all means, apply for the MAs with later deadlines if you'd like the option, but there is a lot you can do in a year off that will keep you connected to academia while also giving you space from it AND making your application stronger for PhD programs that don't involve the massive debt an unfunded MA brings (I'm speaking from experience, as I did an unfunded MA).
Good luck!

I think it's just that different disciplines prefer different citation styles. History uses Chicago whereas English/lit/critical theory use MLA, at least in my experience. I don't think any of them are more academic than the other, just different ways of accomplishing the same thing. 

Well, I am in TOTAL shock at this moment...
Tenneesee just emailed me to let me know that they've given me the Klein fellowship AND a chancellors fellowship!!!!!!! Full five year funding, when normally they only provide 3-4.
Last year, I applied to seven programs and got zero admits....
I can't even believe it! I gotta calm down before I walk into a class of middle schoolers in half an hour to teach language arts!

Hi all. I made it into Princeton for the PhD in History. Anyone out there attending the Host Visit in March?

Just got accepted to Washington State! Full funding and stipend! 

So nice not to be batting .000 this year.

Finally received my first admit (UCSD History / Science Studies)! My research fit is pretty phenomenal and I'm super pumped about my potential committee (2 other scholars whose work I love are in different departments). No more Plan B office job for me!

Hide from every single person who knows I applied to graduate school and begrudgingly wait for next application season...

Sometimes I think all the info we get on grad cafe makes the whole process even worse. I wish I hadn't known anything before. 

Sometimes I think all the info we get on grad cafe makes the whole process even worse. I wish I hadn't known anything before. 

It's really okay--hopefully, none of our emotional states are that fragile. I think most of us were lamenting the pros/cons of checking TGC, not trying to begrudge the successes of others. Congrats on your choices and your successful application season!

It's very hard to curb enthusiasm when acceptances start rolling around, and this forum is a place for people to be excited about their choices. I think it's important for people still waiting not to take other people's results to heart, but also for people who've had success thus far to keep in mind there are people still in limbo who are feeling very vulnerable and unsure right now. It's one thing to excitedly report an acceptance, another to discuss the "agonizing" choice between several great programs. It totally is an agonizing choice, and people should be able to discuss it somewhere (There is a "decisions" thread in the general forum somewhere, and you can also create one in this forum, for example) but the fact of the matter is, so many people don't even have an option yet, let alone a choice.

Hm. Turns out I'm high on the wait list for funding at OU history of science. Maybe I'll get lucky.

You are a wise, wise sage.  

Sometimes I think all the info we get on grad cafe makes the whole process even worse. I wish I hadn't known anything before. 

Still waiting for news from Columbia (presumed rejection at this point?) but hey, I just found out I got in to Indiana! Now I'm just waiting for that rejection from Columbia and sweet, sweet peace of mind will be mine! 

A great place to start is The Oxford Handbook of the History of International Law. Other than that, if you have access to it, consider the journal of the history of international law.
 

If you're in any way interested in African legal history, you should consider it. There's a great Africanist legal historian at Stanford and many with interests in it in related fields (i.e. legal anthropology).

First acceptance this year: Chicago!
Congratulations to all the other admits and wishing acceptance for everyone else at good programs!

@alain I was waitlisted at Stanford, a few years ago. No one got off the waitlist that year. But the chair was very nice about my emails asking about when I might hear and if waitlisted candidates do ever get accepted. Hope this helps!  

Franco-American connections in the nineteenth century. 
Another similarity with Chicago and Columbia from years past: they don't send rejections out right away, leaving you to assume that it's coming if you don't get a golden ticket. Can't wait for this to be done. 

Question for the group:
 
is this waiting process more akin to Kremlinology or guessing the results of a papal conclave?

Holy shit. I just got into Michigan!!!!!

Rejected by Princeton, but accepted by my first choice! I do get to go to graduate school!

Any news from Stanford? It seems that there was one acceptance posted at the end of last month and haven't heard any other results yet... I'm killing myself, working on my master's thesis.  

Looks like we'll be getting some news this week after all! Also, don't forget to make time to eat, sleep, take medication, relax, socialize, etc. this week!