unanachronism

I was on the waitlist at Williams and got in literally on April 15th (I attend there now). The accepted students days happened last week but I've heard that there might be another round of admits? There were like, 13 or 14 people who came, and the cohorts are generally 12ish. I can't say if its good or bad that you haven't heard anything but you might hear something late in the game. It seems like maybe they aren't vocally waitlisting people this year (what happened to me, was in early March I was waitlisted, I went to the accepted students days, and the whole time Marc was in communication with me about my status). I feel your superstition but if you email Marc Gotlieb he might give you some indication of your status.

It's a metaphor both for the "dark ages" themselves, and the experience of studying them....

I asked for more funding and received it from my MA program. In my "appeal" I first offered the fact that I had other fully funded offers, and secondly framed it in terms of my success in the program. If I was going to be financially strained, having to work extra hours, worried about money, it might impede my progress to the degree. Good luck getting more funding!

Happy to answer any Williams-related questions. As for myself, not to encourage any false hopes, but I received my Williams offer long after the initial wave of acceptances went out.

I'm a medievalist and I took a palaeography course over the summer. That gave me a lot of the confidence I needed to keep working with manuscripts/documents and then I've learned more with experience. A lot of it is learning individual letter forms, looking through a page, and finding all of them in all their variations. Also abbreviations are key to learn! Good luck!

I'm in a different field in the humanities (art history), but I thought I might have some thoughts to add to this conversation and I lurk on your guys' forum because you have good conversations and art history isn't as active. I applied 2 years ago straight out of undergrad to a mix of PhDs and MAs (probably 8 schools? don't remember exactly). I received 2 funded PhD offers at top 15-20 schools, and 2 funded terminal MA offers from top 5 programs for my field. While I felt really good about 1 of the PhD options, my heart was telling me that I could do better, and the consensus of my professors and LOR writers that I spoke to was that I could do better with more preparation. They also said that they were accepting more students with MAs to the PhD program at my undergrad than those without. Though I was antsy to start my PhD right away, I took an MA offer at an exceptional program. The past two years have been sort of a "finishing school" (I often say that as a joke, but its also a compliment to my program I think.) I feel so much more professional as an academic/student now. I have been held to a high standard, and exposed much more to the "culture" of academia. I've presented at two conferences, watched dozens more professors give highly polished public lectures, I've had another rigorous methodology course, I've been asked to try to publish a paper. I have had the chance to take language courses which have bolstered my ability to do original research. I've had much more of an insight into the world of my field and also, in my first year, was able to watch the 2nd year students in my program apply to PhD programs (and jobs) and see how they fared in the process. This fall, I was much more strategic than I had been in my first round of applications. I knew more what I wanted, and I only applied to schools I would definitely attend if admitted (no safeties). I did more research into fit, I knew how to play the game better, I showed off my language skills in my writing sample and showed how I had developed my research abilities. My SOP was more conversant with tangible questions within the field. When I look back at my SOPs from my first application round, I cringe at how unprepared they sound. You might be in a better place than I was then, but I didn't spend as much time as I should have on my applications the first time, didn't know how to play the game, etc. Also, it doesn't hurt that my MA GPA is better than my undergrad GPA. I applied to 8 schools this time. I have gotten in to only 2/8 (waiting on 1 more, rejected at 5). I'm not at all beat up about it, firstly, because I only applied to some of the very best schools, and secondly, because I got into two programs that are an excellent fit for me. I realize that the two schools I have gotten into (both top-10 programs, one tippy-top-3) are the ones that my application materials and preparation best spoke to. I have a good connection with my POIs and other faculty, and I think I can see precisely why my writing sample/SOP worked at these two schools and not the others. Just trying to be honest and sorry if it sounds arrogant, I'm mildly surprised I didn't get into at least one more school, but hey, it goes to show you how much of a crapshoot things are, and that even coming from a really good MA, nothing is a guarantee. A friend of mine who also turned down PhD offers to do a funded MA has similarly gotten into only 2 places for the PhD, including one that they had already gotten into the first time. But I don't think they would say the MA was a waste— they have completely changed their research direction, are working in a different region/period now, and have gotten so much more training and clarified their project, so the school (and new POI) is a better option for them that it was two years ago. I would just say that nothing is a given. I could easily have had worse luck this year, perhaps due to circumstances outside my control (internal politics at the departments I applied to, etc), perhaps due to consistent issues with my application, and not gotten in to either of the programs I did. There are people in my MA who have not had success in applying to PhD programs this year. For me, when I made the decision to come here 2 years ago, how I thought about it was this: what would end up being best for me not 5 years down the line, but 10 or 15? Where did I think I needed to go to set myself for the best long-term future? I know much better what I want now, feel more mature as a student, and have gotten to experience and learn so much that I think will enhance my future success, regardless of whether I had gotten into PhDs this year. I am lucky to be at a place that is a terminal MA (no PhD students), where there is good funding and resources, and where they have prioritized preparing us for the next step in our careers, whether they be academic or alt-ac type things or "industry." If you have an opportunity that won't put you into debt, where you can make connections with professors that well be good mentors to you, where you can get field-specific training that will bolster your research (languages, archives, paleography, idk), and where you can be involved in a vibrant intellectual community, I think it could be a good move to do an MA. But do so with the knowledge that things are crazy and it's no guarantee of a 1000% better outcome next time, but rather that you are making an investment in your future potential, and that the time won't have been wasted if the MA is a good program for your growth and interests. Best of luck and sorry for the long ramble, it was just an interesting topic for me to reflect on my trajectory, and of course, I don't know your specific circumstances so always take random internet stranger thoughts with a grain of salt.

I would say just dress slightly nicer than you would for like, the first meeting of a class you care about. I personally wouldn't wear jeans but black pants would be fine I would think. Good blouse or a nice sweater over shirt, modest dress, no crazy short skirts or something. If you were meeting for a more specific interview with a professor, maybe throw on a casual blazer / lightly dressy coat. I'm no expert but when I interviewed/went to a prospective student weekend while I was waitlisted and still trying to impress, I think I wore just-over-the-knee skirts, sleeveless collared button downs, etc. As long as its clean and not overly tight, obviously casual, etc. I think you'll know if you've gone wrong somehow.

I'm a medievalist, currently finishing my MA and in the midst of waiting to hear back from PhDs. The schools rosehip mentioned are at the top of the list certainly, there's also Johns Hopkins (Christopher Lakey, Nino Zchomelidse), Columbia (Stephen Murray, Avinoam Shalem), and Berkeley (Beate Fricke). NYU has Robert Maxwell... Princeton has a younger western medievalist, Beatrice Kitzinger, and Charlie Barber in Byzantine. Those are just the places off the top of my head. What precise kind of approach are you taking to the art? You might find someone who is a good fit "methodologically" if not the precise person for your exact period/place.

Yeah thanks for the info! I'm not super worried, I know its still early days and I already have one acceptance so my soul isn't quite dying of anticipation like it was before. It'll be over sooner than we know it, and nothing's gonna change the outcome now anyway. Also who trolls a website like this?? Pure cruelty... Good luck in your applications! May all of our waits be swift and pleasant

I'm fine with the Harvard implied rejection but holding out hope for Chicago... results are really weird this year tho. Seems like one or two people hearing early and unofficially and then silence for a few days... gah!

I'm also confused about Harvard... I know someone else who got in to the PhD program in Art History, to which I also applied, and she just got a phonecall from her POI. So maybe certain POIs are just lazy and leaving it for the official announcement. Or we are all just rejected! Typical Harvard, thinking they're better than us

So nervous about the start of a new week! More emails, portal checking, keeping my phone ringer on, answering phone calls from telemarketers because maybe it's from a school, wondering when some church lady phone-a-thon from South Carolina calls me to ask if I need prayers if I should say yes... good luck to all and don't drive yourself too crazy.

Thanks a bunch! Yeah at 5:01pm its gonna be lit... but probably because any celebratory drinks are going to hit me extra hard on only a few hours of sleep. Good luck on your end! Yay! A future friend, perhaps. My mom actually lives in Annapolis so it will be a nice trip to relax a bit with her as well. You're studying early modern? The two best periods of history I applied to work with Spiegel, and Spiegel's who I got. I'm very excited since she seems so cool. Was a little worried too since she is quite old.

Hey, semi-lurker here. I'm actually currently in an art history MA and was/am attempting to make the disciplinary leap over to a history department. I was just admitted to Hopkins this morning, studying western medieval. Very excited!!! Was also surprised by the high stipend and very flattered by the warm welcomes from several grad students and my POI. Looking forward to the visiting days in March. It really took a load off stress-wise, but also is a terrible distraction bc my MA thesis is due in 13 hours. Let's just say there are, uh, miles to go before I sleep....

I made a pact the last time I applied (for MA) that whenever my friend who was also applying and I had both gotten into a program, we would buy a bottle of real champagne and drink it. That happened, twas excellent... now here I am, a year and a half later, now hoping to fulfill that promise again shortly with another fellow applicant pal. I recommend!