Danger_Zone

Yeah I was thinking about emailing them soon, but they did update me a few weeks ago after I emailed them and nothing had changed.. And they said they'd let me know as soon as something changed. So would it still be alright to inquire? I guess I could wait until the 15th but it would feel great to make my acceptance.. I almost want a rejection so I don't have to worry about reconsidering my top choice.

I'm in a different field so I don't know how comparable my experience is but even if others have been rejected it's still possible to be much later on. One program I applied to started to reject people in February but I just heard back (and was rejected) less than a week ago. However, the person who I talked to also said there might be some kind of wait list but they weren't really sure where I stood.. So sometimes who you talk to know about as much as you do unfortunately. So I don't think you can know for sure until you get an official notification, but I don't think not being invited to an interview necessarily means you were rejected.

Has anyone been admitted to their top choice but wait listed at what they consider their second? I don't think I'll accept the wait listed offer if I do get admitted but I can't help but be very curious and anxious at taking myself off of the list if I don't even know what - if any - offer they would give me. But I feel bad for taking up a spot if others are waiting as well.. Any advice? I've been on this wait list since early February..

Added my UK and Purdue offers.

Had an awesome visit to Purdue, think I'm going to accept there soon!

Not reading any history books at the moment but.. I'm about finished The Bell Jar now (very, very good albeit depressing) and am probably going to read Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre next. (Brave New World is great, by the way! Read it a couple times back in high school.)

Thank you! That is very helpful. Unfortunately it seems no matter how much I try I will always be a shy person, I just don't want it to interfere with my ability to TA or be a grad student. It sounds like I won't be teaching my own class for a few years, so until then I'll do my best to improve my public speaking skills. I'll definitely check out that book and might look into some sort of public speaking class.

This is pretty much echoing what others have said, but I wouldn't rely on a "safety" school when applying. I was rejected from a program in the 90s which I ignorantly assumed was a safe bet considering its rank. It's much more about you fit within a program and how your experience, grades, etc. along with fit compete with other applicants. You will also need a faculty member who is interested in taking you on as a grad student. So there is really no way to predict how this will go, so it's best to choose multiple programs that are a good fit for you, rather than relying on lower ranked programs to admit you. It may be good to consider applying to some higher and some lower programs that appeal to you for a better variety. While applying I tried to predict which schools would accept/reject me and I ende up very wrong so, you just need to go on and give it your best and see how things work out in the end.

I just received my rejection, sadly.. But I anticipated that, I just really wanted to make it official so I could move on. I'm assuming you will hear back soon. Now to just hear back from Indiana.. Did anyone happen to apply to the HPS program (can't remember if I asked this)?

Awesome! I'd never had him as a professor but I've heard he's great. Guelph is definitely a very friendly place, it's what drew me there when I was visiting schools for undergrad.

Yeah that makes sense, thanks. I just didn't know if it would be viewed badly to sound excited about the opportunity but turn it down fairly soon after. But I guess you can't accept everywhere!

I did my undergrad at Guelph! The history department is wonderful, I hope you are enjoying it! May I ask what your research area is?

Can somebody give me some advice? I recently got accepted to a school and thanked them and let them know I was still considering it.. But once I thought it over I realized I'd most likely reject the offer afterall. I keep receiving really nice emails about how they really hope I accept and that they would love to have me visit, etc. I would visit just to check it out but it is a few hours out of the way and I'm not in the U.S. much longer.. Should I delay replying and let them know I'm rejecting the offer once I've made an official acceptance elsewhere? I really don't want to come off as rude.. But perhaps I came off as more enthusiastic about the offer than I had intended...

Thanks! Congrats to you as well. That's how I feel as well.. A good research fit but I've found a better fit at another school. But if I can I'd like to try to take a trip to Kentucky and check it out.

Thanks for letting us know! Illinois is the only school I need to hear back from (other than one wait list) so I can probably assume rejection at this point. I think it would have been a good fit for me but that sounds like a rough situation and it's unfortunate that they are having such difficulties. Oh well... I got into U of Kentucky today so that was some nice news.

That's a great idea as well, thank you. I haven't looked much into minor fields yet and hadn't actually considered doing one outside of history. But I've always loved learning/reading about education so it might be something to look into.

I've seen people mention that it can be against university policy (I guess if it looks like a professor is taking gifts in exchange for letters? Other than that I'm not sure.. I think it sounds fine to do as well.) I hadn't actually heard of Snapfish before, that sounds like a great idea.. I'll have to look into it, thanks!

Yeah that's a good idea, thanks! I'm also sure I will get more information regarding the TA position once I make an official acceptance. But I'll definitely talk to some other students once I have the chance and get a better idea of what is expected of TAs. If it's anything like my undergrad school, I do expect TAs would be leading smaller discussion groups, but I suppose that leadership role itself - not just the idea of lecturing - might make me a bit nervous.

I think a nice hand written thank you would be much appreciated, as others have said. I plan to do this once I choose a school.. I was planning on getting a small gift at the school as well (just a pen or mug/cup with the name of the school on it) but people keep saying gifts are a bad idea.... should I just forget that?

Thanks for the book recommendations! I'll have to check them out. I know I probably won't have to teach a class for a while, but once I do I'd like to have a good idea of what I'm doing and hopefully make things interesting. I'm probably going to talk to a therapist about this and other things I'm worried about which I'd like to hopefully deal with before going to grad school. I'd like to avoid medication if I can but I have heard people recommend things like beta blockers as well? One thing I have been doing is cutting down on caffeine when I'm going to be in a situation I feel will make me anxious, but that's very hard to do as a student.

I just want to point out that it is very rare for TAs to ever have to lecture, especially for first year TAs. You might have to run discussion groups but this isn't really 'lecturing' it is facilitating/moderating discussions among the students. The only way you will have to lecture as a TA is if your prof needs to miss a class for whatever reason and even then you would still usually have the right to 'volunteer' whether you want to cover that class or not, i.e. it's not expected of you. All this to say is chances are all you will be doing is grading exams/papers and having office hours. Honestly I thought there might be a low chance of lecturing, but at least during my undergrad we did have discussion/seminar groups which branched off from the larger classes and TAs were responsible for those. These classes didn't involve a lot of lecturing, but in any case I'd like to be prepared for whatever I have to do.

That's all really helpful, I will definitely have to remember this during the school year. Thanks a lot! Sometimes I forget that I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Good ideas, thanks!

I have been offered a TAship starting in August. I don't know whether I'd be lecturing at all yet, but the idea of having to talk in front of a bunch of university students is really making me nervous! I've been slowly improving at talking in front of groups when I have a definite plan of what I'm saying (I think presenting at undergrad conferences has helped), but my thoughts and words get really jumbled when I'm put on the spot, especially in front of larger groups of people. I also have a naturally soft voice and have to consciously make an effort to talk at an above normal volume that would be needed when lecturing. Does anyone have any advice? I'm sure I would get used to things eventually and it would become easier, but I don't want this to interfere with my ability to teach or help students. (I should also mention I'm probably going to talk to a professional about this, but I know he/she wouldn't be able to give me TA-specific advice..)

Congrats on making your decision, that is very exciting!