kmr

If you would like another opinion, feel free to send me a PM - one of my best friends is in the History grad program at A&M and I've visited BCS many times, along with all the bigger Texas cities, since I grew up and did my undergrad in Texas.

I would say, while I completely agree that you should inquire about rejections, it would be best to wait until April at earliest to ask. If you were to ask now, they still are dealing with waitlistings and acceptances, so you are more likely to get a poorly thought-out, generic response.

Congrats to the Brown and Chicago admissions! I asked a little while ago, but does anyone know if historically Penn accepts applicants they didn't interview? Folks who got interviews, was there any hint that not everyone was being interviewed? I just want to know if I should assume that no interview equals a rejection.

There's the (expected) rejection letter from JHU - that puts me at 0-2 out of 4... and the two I haven't heard from yet were the more competitive programs...

Not going to lie - there is an adjustment period. You can't treat graduate school as an extension of undergrad. The earlier you start referring to yourself as training to be a professional, rather than as a student, the better. I jokingly introduce myself as a "historian-in-training" when I meet people because that's what I am. Everybody has that kind of realization at some point during their grad school life (for me it was midway through my first spring semester) and it really helps smooth the transition. It's especially easy to fall for imposter syndrome when you first start out (even moreso if you are on the younger side, even more so if you are a woman). Professors know that you can't walk in day 1 and have all the skills you need for grad school - that's what you are there to learn. It's not as much about acquiring information anymore (though that's still a huge part of it) as much as it is learning how to analyze and contribute knowledge. I also strongly suggest that you become close with at least one older student (abd, usually) and one professor (not necessarily your advisor) that you "click" with and will be comfortable sharing your transition experience with. I know I've got 4 go-to people in my department when those days inevitably come where I feel like I've bit off more than I can chew. It's a different, but critical, kind of support system. Sorry if that made no sense, today was editing day - I've been staring at my thesis for 13 hours straight.

I agree - rejection notification style depends on the program. For UG to MA, I got the email to check my website status for the rejection I got. Though one of my acceptances was only snail mail, which I have since learned is odd.

So, apparently Johns Hopkins put all of its remaining notifications - accepted, wait listed, and rejected - into the snail mail this morning.

I've applied to Penn (which I'm assuming is a reject since I didn't get an interview), Johns Hopkins, and William and Mary for History. For H/WS, I applied to Michigan's joint program (which I am literally a perfect fit for, even if they only accept 2 students a year). So far, I'm regretting not applying to more places, but I've been more focused on finishing up the MA. I'm more upset that I didn't cast my net wider when I did this the first time out of UG.

So, last semester I had a 4.0/4.0, which raised my (good, but not perfect 4.0) GPA. Unfortunately, all of my programs' deadlines closed before the conclusion of last semester, so they do not know that I had a 4.0 last semester (and am trending upward on my gpa). Should I call the programs and ask them to update my files if decisions have not yet been made or should I leave it be?

Just curious - did anyone else apply to joint programs? I applied to both straight History programs and History and Women's/Gender Studies programs, personally.

Apologies if this is repetitive, but does anybody know if Penn accepts any applicants without an interview?