Assotto

Guys and girls...the rankings thing is straight-forward:
Ideally, you want to go to a CHYMPS. A top 10 is good. A top 20 is fine. Outside top 20? Not advisable. 
That's it. 
Are there caveats? Sure. For example, the big publics in the 7-20 range are pretty hit or miss. The privates in the same range fund and place their students better. Does Emory place their superstars well? Certainly. Are there some very highly ranked programs that don't really punch their weight in terms of placement (*cough* Duke *cough*)? Yes. 
But all of this is to say that these exceptions are relatively minor and inconsequential.
I strongly, strongly advise you to not try to 'buck' the rankings/prestige trend. It's hierarchical for a reason. As you move up the ladder the training is better, the faculties are better, the methods are better, the funding is better, the resources are better, and the networking is better. All of these factors are going to help you, maybe, get a job. And you can sit there and say, 'but what really matters is what you publish'...okay...but that doesn't change the fact that you should try to go to the best institution you possibly can, and if you cannot get into a certain threshold of program, you should seriously consider (and that's really a nice way of saying: don't fucking do it) not attending and trying again. 

And MANY others (lurkers, too):
These professors know you want to get in. They have so many other things that they have to do besides reviewing applications such as teaching, committee work, advising students, reading dissertations and exams, their personal lives, and the list goes on. Oh, and research if they even have 10 minutes. Not everyone's schedule mesh so it takes time for communications to go back and forth.... via e-mail and phone calls, not texts or social media. You have the results board on Grad Cafe to give you an approximate timeframe of various levels of decisions (they are usually consistent from one year to another).
Please refrain from contacting anyone unless you were specifically asked by your POIs to check in. What you do not (or want to) know is that your POI has likely been in touch with other eager applicants like yourself. S/he cannot show "favoritism" because the Admissions Committee is the one making the absolute final decision.  It is exceptionally rare for a POI to identify a "favorite" applicant early and and expect that person to be admitted outright because there are just too many good applicants and the student needs to be able to fit with the imagined cohort being built by the committee with other faculty members' nominations.
This is a good but HARD lesson to learn because you will not be able to do such things for fellowships, grants, and journals (unless there's been a serious delay; journals don't expect you to check in until 6 months after the first contact) and, eventually, academic jobs.  All you will get is a very annoyed admin, no matter how nice the reply (If you've worked as one, you'll know what I mean).
I generally recommend holding off contacting the POI/department until the beginning of the March when the last of most PhD programs have notified for acceptances/rejections.
This is my tough love. /mic drop

Hi!
Currently waiting it out... I applied to 7 PhD programs and 2 MA programs through IRT (Institute for Recruitment of Teachers). I applied to no schools outside their consortium.
Waiting to hear back from: Harvard, Yale [Africana and English joint], Brown, Penn, Northwestern, Cornell, Berkeley (PhD) + Columbia and NYU (MA)
Still tyrna figure out my "elevator pitch" for my research interests, but definitely heavy interdisciplinary work w AAVE, dialect, and literature/expressive art.
Uh.. Asé?

Sleep.

Sleep.

Sleep.

Oh man, just need to vent a little bit since I just got my application in an hour ago.  The way things worked out, I only ended up applying to one school (Cornell) because I didn't have everything together by the time that most of my target schools (Michigan/Michigan State/Northwestern/UW-Madison) had deadlines.  Cornell was my top pick anyway of all of them, so I thought "what the hell, might as well just put it all on the line here."  Worst case, I'll have everything polished and awesome for the next application cycle, but I'm stressing about this and worried about my odds.  But hey, nothing I can do, right?  Cornell is a really good fit for me and I should be competitive but of course I'm worried that I messed up a couple footnotes or typoed in my personal statement or somehow inadvertently insulted some of their faculty with a word choice or whatever, so I'ma be neurotic 'til I hear back!
That's my "treat this thread as your own personal blog post" moment for the week.  =)  Good luck to all of you as we await our fates!

I will add and say that @telkanuru has many insightful posts that have given me insight into the graduate school/application process before I applied, accepted, and began my program. It may be to the benefit of @historynerd97 to browse through some of those for perspective. Even now as a doctoral student I still refer to some of their posts. @Sigaba also has also made helpful contributions to the History thread.
I'm not sure if this is unique to the History thread but it seems many of the new applicants are always hostile toward some of the more experienced posters. Last year's applicant thread was a trainwreck because of this. Somehow, genuine advice is perceived as snark or some sort of 'ivory tower elitism.' The perspective and advice given by folks who are currently in the PhD process is super valuable and, to be frank, they are not obligated to help anyone. Start with the assumption that the more experienced users just really want to help new applicants. 
 

This is what you should focus on. 
To be a strong PhD applicant you will need research experience, not the professional experience you would get interning at a museum. I would suggest looking into doing an independent study with a History professor at PSU with similar interests as yours for a semester or a summer. There are also summer research programs at external schools that provide funding for undergrads looking to have academic careers in the social sciences/humanities. These allow you to get your feet wet so to speak and try out doing historical research to see if its something you actually like. Exposure to the field at large and increased familiarity subfields/geographic locations/time periods will help narrow your interests over time until you are able to at least develop a somewhat realistic project that you will eventually propose in your PhD application. Expect your interests to constantly be changing.
It is nice to know you are thinking about graduate school so early though. I second @TMP's advice and strongly encourage you to browse old threads like this one:
and also as @psstein suggested familiarize yourself with the abysmal stats of the academic job market for History PhDs here:
You have quite a bit of time between now and the end of your undergrad to decide if a PhD/MA in History is what you really want.

I found that once I submitted all of my applications, I felt an initial relief. However, once the end of January rolled around, I became increasingly obsessed with checking my email for any news from programs. One thing I found helpful (though others might find this anxiety-producing) was look on the results board to get a sense of when the programs I applied to sent out acceptance/rejection notifications, so I knew when to anticipate hearing back from each program. I made a list with the dates and tried my hardest not to refresh my email or the results board every hour. I didn't stay away from GradCafe; like @Assotto said, it's a nerve-wracking process no matter what and the rejections certainly sting, but having an online community that innately understands what you're going through was really cathartic for me. 

I will add and say that @telkanuru has many insightful posts that have given me insight into the graduate school/application process before I applied, accepted, and began my program. It may be to the benefit of @historynerd97 to browse through some of those for perspective. Even now as a doctoral student I still refer to some of their posts. @Sigaba also has also made helpful contributions to the History thread.
I'm not sure if this is unique to the History thread but it seems many of the new applicants are always hostile toward some of the more experienced posters. Last year's applicant thread was a trainwreck because of this. Somehow, genuine advice is perceived as snark or some sort of 'ivory tower elitism.' The perspective and advice given by folks who are currently in the PhD process is super valuable and, to be frank, they are not obligated to help anyone. Start with the assumption that the more experienced users just really want to help new applicants. 
 

Between now and April you will either get acceptance offers or interview invites via email/phone, rejections via email, or waitlist offers via email. Expect for these to happen at any time between now and April 15th.
The months between submitting my applications and waiting to hear back seemed like the longest waiting period of my life. I had things like work and vacation to distract me but I did check TheGradCafe and my email several times each day for about three months straight. At some point though I stuck with a regimented schedule to only check the app portals and my email like twice a day.
I actually do not think staying off the TheGradCafe necessarily decreased my anxiety of waiting. You'll be anxious whether you check this site or not. TheGradCafe really for me was a rich source of information during the wait. You can look back to the Results board from previous years to get a sense of when to hear back from programs and average cohort sizes, etc. There are so many lively discussions that take place during the wait period that honestly got me more excited about getting accepted. Quite honestly, aside from peers that were also applying to graduate programs, no one else outside of academia really seemed to understand the agony of waiting and what awaits on the other side after being accepted (funding, insurance, resources, etc.) Despite the collective anxiety, this site was one of the few places where everyone understood the pain of waiting and the high stakes of being accepted.
The most painful part was of course seeing other folks post acceptances via email/phone from programs I had yet to hear back from. The rejection does hurt for a bit but after receiving two rejections in the same day it becomes a tad humorous. Honestly just keep reminding yourself that each day is a new day to possibly get accepted to one of your top choices.  

I will add and say that @telkanuru has many insightful posts that have given me insight into the graduate school/application process before I applied, accepted, and began my program. It may be to the benefit of @historynerd97 to browse through some of those for perspective. Even now as a doctoral student I still refer to some of their posts. @Sigaba also has also made helpful contributions to the History thread.
I'm not sure if this is unique to the History thread but it seems many of the new applicants are always hostile toward some of the more experienced posters. Last year's applicant thread was a trainwreck because of this. Somehow, genuine advice is perceived as snark or some sort of 'ivory tower elitism.' The perspective and advice given by folks who are currently in the PhD process is super valuable and, to be frank, they are not obligated to help anyone. Start with the assumption that the more experienced users just really want to help new applicants. 
 

I will add and say that @telkanuru has many insightful posts that have given me insight into the graduate school/application process before I applied, accepted, and began my program. It may be to the benefit of @historynerd97 to browse through some of those for perspective. Even now as a doctoral student I still refer to some of their posts. @Sigaba also has also made helpful contributions to the History thread.
I'm not sure if this is unique to the History thread but it seems many of the new applicants are always hostile toward some of the more experienced posters. Last year's applicant thread was a trainwreck because of this. Somehow, genuine advice is perceived as snark or some sort of 'ivory tower elitism.' The perspective and advice given by folks who are currently in the PhD process is super valuable and, to be frank, they are not obligated to help anyone. Start with the assumption that the more experienced users just really want to help new applicants. 
 

I will add and say that @telkanuru has many insightful posts that have given me insight into the graduate school/application process before I applied, accepted, and began my program. It may be to the benefit of @historynerd97 to browse through some of those for perspective. Even now as a doctoral student I still refer to some of their posts. @Sigaba also has also made helpful contributions to the History thread.
I'm not sure if this is unique to the History thread but it seems many of the new applicants are always hostile toward some of the more experienced posters. Last year's applicant thread was a trainwreck because of this. Somehow, genuine advice is perceived as snark or some sort of 'ivory tower elitism.' The perspective and advice given by folks who are currently in the PhD process is super valuable and, to be frank, they are not obligated to help anyone. Start with the assumption that the more experienced users just really want to help new applicants. 
 

This is what you should focus on. 
To be a strong PhD applicant you will need research experience, not the professional experience you would get interning at a museum. I would suggest looking into doing an independent study with a History professor at PSU with similar interests as yours for a semester or a summer. There are also summer research programs at external schools that provide funding for undergrads looking to have academic careers in the social sciences/humanities. These allow you to get your feet wet so to speak and try out doing historical research to see if its something you actually like. Exposure to the field at large and increased familiarity subfields/geographic locations/time periods will help narrow your interests over time until you are able to at least develop a somewhat realistic project that you will eventually propose in your PhD application. Expect your interests to constantly be changing.
It is nice to know you are thinking about graduate school so early though. I second @TMP's advice and strongly encourage you to browse old threads like this one:
and also as @psstein suggested familiarize yourself with the abysmal stats of the academic job market for History PhDs here:
You have quite a bit of time between now and the end of your undergrad to decide if a PhD/MA in History is what you really want.

I will add and say that @telkanuru has many insightful posts that have given me insight into the graduate school/application process before I applied, accepted, and began my program. It may be to the benefit of @historynerd97 to browse through some of those for perspective. Even now as a doctoral student I still refer to some of their posts. @Sigaba also has also made helpful contributions to the History thread.
I'm not sure if this is unique to the History thread but it seems many of the new applicants are always hostile toward some of the more experienced posters. Last year's applicant thread was a trainwreck because of this. Somehow, genuine advice is perceived as snark or some sort of 'ivory tower elitism.' The perspective and advice given by folks who are currently in the PhD process is super valuable and, to be frank, they are not obligated to help anyone. Start with the assumption that the more experienced users just really want to help new applicants. 
 

I will add and say that @telkanuru has many insightful posts that have given me insight into the graduate school/application process before I applied, accepted, and began my program. It may be to the benefit of @historynerd97 to browse through some of those for perspective. Even now as a doctoral student I still refer to some of their posts. @Sigaba also has also made helpful contributions to the History thread.
I'm not sure if this is unique to the History thread but it seems many of the new applicants are always hostile toward some of the more experienced posters. Last year's applicant thread was a trainwreck because of this. Somehow, genuine advice is perceived as snark or some sort of 'ivory tower elitism.' The perspective and advice given by folks who are currently in the PhD process is super valuable and, to be frank, they are not obligated to help anyone. Start with the assumption that the more experienced users just really want to help new applicants. 
 

This is what you should focus on. 
To be a strong PhD applicant you will need research experience, not the professional experience you would get interning at a museum. I would suggest looking into doing an independent study with a History professor at PSU with similar interests as yours for a semester or a summer. There are also summer research programs at external schools that provide funding for undergrads looking to have academic careers in the social sciences/humanities. These allow you to get your feet wet so to speak and try out doing historical research to see if its something you actually like. Exposure to the field at large and increased familiarity subfields/geographic locations/time periods will help narrow your interests over time until you are able to at least develop a somewhat realistic project that you will eventually propose in your PhD application. Expect your interests to constantly be changing.
It is nice to know you are thinking about graduate school so early though. I second @TMP's advice and strongly encourage you to browse old threads like this one:
and also as @psstein suggested familiarize yourself with the abysmal stats of the academic job market for History PhDs here:
You have quite a bit of time between now and the end of your undergrad to decide if a PhD/MA in History is what you really want.

One way you can get started is to survey the academic field by studying the faculty of the top-tier universities. Literally read every professor's profile and begin to take note of those whose work strikes you as interesting at all. You will begin to get a sense of how the field works, what are the subfields (political, social, cultural history, etc.), what methods of research are popular, what topics are hot. You should do this because, if you're serious about academia, your goal is to get a position like theirs down the road. 
I think one of the biggest mistakes people tend to make on these forums is to fixate too much on their stats. Stats have almost nothing to do with intellectual work. They may show you are hard working and bright, but without real research interests you will not develop into a scholar. And this is what professors are on the look out for in applications, they want to see whether your sense of what research is and how it is done is coherent and interesting and shows potential for real work in the future. So, as others have stressed above, you need to eventually find a focus in the historical field and start taking steps towards becoming an expert. That usually means, first and foremost, getting familiarity with the primary sources and whatever languages you need to read those sources, as well as studying the historical context of the period. Since you still have so much time, it would be great to acquire a breadth of knowledge about various fields, and wait to choose a particular focus by the end of your BA so that you can develop the relevant skills and write relevant research papers during your MA.
That said, you can find good internships and research positions over the summer by talking to professors. The internet can sometimes be a great place for this sort of thing, but in this case, having a conversation with a few different professors about this would actually be much more helpful because they will know what is a prestigious position and also of opportunities that might not be posted publicly, and they can also give you advice or make you think about things you don't know to think about. That's another way of taking a step towards professionalization. 

Between now and April you will either get acceptance offers or interview invites via email/phone, rejections via email, or waitlist offers via email. Expect for these to happen at any time between now and April 15th.
The months between submitting my applications and waiting to hear back seemed like the longest waiting period of my life. I had things like work and vacation to distract me but I did check TheGradCafe and my email several times each day for about three months straight. At some point though I stuck with a regimented schedule to only check the app portals and my email like twice a day.
I actually do not think staying off the TheGradCafe necessarily decreased my anxiety of waiting. You'll be anxious whether you check this site or not. TheGradCafe really for me was a rich source of information during the wait. You can look back to the Results board from previous years to get a sense of when to hear back from programs and average cohort sizes, etc. There are so many lively discussions that take place during the wait period that honestly got me more excited about getting accepted. Quite honestly, aside from peers that were also applying to graduate programs, no one else outside of academia really seemed to understand the agony of waiting and what awaits on the other side after being accepted (funding, insurance, resources, etc.) Despite the collective anxiety, this site was one of the few places where everyone understood the pain of waiting and the high stakes of being accepted.
The most painful part was of course seeing other folks post acceptances via email/phone from programs I had yet to hear back from. The rejection does hurt for a bit but after receiving two rejections in the same day it becomes a tad humorous. Honestly just keep reminding yourself that each day is a new day to possibly get accepted to one of your top choices.  

Between now and April you will either get acceptance offers or interview invites via email/phone, rejections via email, or waitlist offers via email. Expect for these to happen at any time between now and April 15th.
The months between submitting my applications and waiting to hear back seemed like the longest waiting period of my life. I had things like work and vacation to distract me but I did check TheGradCafe and my email several times each day for about three months straight. At some point though I stuck with a regimented schedule to only check the app portals and my email like twice a day.
I actually do not think staying off the TheGradCafe necessarily decreased my anxiety of waiting. You'll be anxious whether you check this site or not. TheGradCafe really for me was a rich source of information during the wait. You can look back to the Results board from previous years to get a sense of when to hear back from programs and average cohort sizes, etc. There are so many lively discussions that take place during the wait period that honestly got me more excited about getting accepted. Quite honestly, aside from peers that were also applying to graduate programs, no one else outside of academia really seemed to understand the agony of waiting and what awaits on the other side after being accepted (funding, insurance, resources, etc.) Despite the collective anxiety, this site was one of the few places where everyone understood the pain of waiting and the high stakes of being accepted.
The most painful part was of course seeing other folks post acceptances via email/phone from programs I had yet to hear back from. The rejection does hurt for a bit but after receiving two rejections in the same day it becomes a tad humorous. Honestly just keep reminding yourself that each day is a new day to possibly get accepted to one of your top choices.  

Just to drive this home, the top-10 schools for placements granted PhDs to 52% of the assistant professors (i.e. junior faculty) as of 2015. The distribution goes down hill rapidly from there - schools 11-20 account for 21%, 21-30 for 12%, 31-40 for 5%, and the remaining 10% divided up between 46 schools. 60 PhD-granting institutions have no junior faculty placements whatsoever. The institutional hiring curve is quite literally exponential.

It is not a passive rejection. Your application is quite literally just waitlisted. This leaves room for you to be invited for an interview and become accepted should someone else turn down an interview. What the "waitlist" actually looks like is arbitrary (some departments have a ranking system) and you could very well be #1 on that list.
It would certainly not hurt to respond by thanking them and re-expressing your interest. Anything is possible between now and April 15th.

Hi everyone, 
I didn't see an existing thread for this so...
Anyone else applying to Africana studies (or African-American or Diaspora studies) programs for Fall 2018? If so, which schools? What are your research interests? 
I am applying to doctoral programs:
Cornell, UC Berkeley, Northwestern, Brown, and Harvard