EricaMac

I know this feeling, and I'm so sorry you're feeling it. :-( The only thing I can say is that you're not alone in this. I, too, have been waitlisted at one school and rejected from the other two (I just heard from Brandeis not 10 minutes ago that I was rejected). The one thing I learned about this process doing it twice is that there IS no "safe choice," sadly. When you find out it's all over, you make a new plan. That's what we do. You got this, @SarahBethSortino.

I completely understand ALL of this. I applied to 8 programs about 6 years ago when I finished my first master's degree, and I was rejected outright from all 8. I was devastated, had no plan B, and ended up working retail for quite some time before getting my crap together. This time around, I only applied to 3. My application was very strong, and I focused on it more, but I still was rejected outright from Yale. I'm waitlisted at UConn, so we'll see there (last time they just rejected me), and I haven't heard from Brandeis. But since another person on this forum was waitlisted for their program, I'm assuming I was rejected and they're just taking their sweet time telling me. I didn't think I was going to apply again after the first time, and then 6 years later, here I am. But I'm 32 now, and I really don't think I have it in me to do this again. So while I'm not as devastated this time around, I AM disappointed. And I am starting to wonder if this is really what I'm meant to do. Tl;dr: Right there with you, OP.

Probably not. My parents have set up a family vacation to Florida--there are five of us siblings, plus our spouses, plus my sister's kids, my daughter, AND my parents--and we're leaving on the 1st of April. I could theoretically go up on the Friday, and I may do that just to give my daughter and husband an idea of where we might be, but....I'm not sure. :-/

My focus is on Anglo-American relationships—political and economic, and the breakdown thereof—as well as cultural differences, in the years before and during the American Revolution, that led to the split with Great Britain. I was looking at working with Chris Clark and Nina Dayton for that, since my focus does split between early American and some British history. You?

I believe UConn will be sending out their acceptances and rejections soon. I just got the email indicating that I was waitlisted. Which is disappointing, but by the same token, last time I applied to Ph.D. programs, I was just outright rejected from all 8, so being on the waitlist is a welcome improvement. Fingers crossed. :-)

Well that's not a positive sign for me. Lol. I'm hearing nothing but crickets across the board--including at Brandeis. :-/

I, like many others, am not worried about my contingency plan. But this waiting is KILLING me. Just...freaking...TELL ME already! At what point does "no news" cease being "good news" and start being "bad news"? I saw a smattering of acceptances for Yale, but nothing from UConn or Brandeis (though Brandeis's deadline was WICKED late). I've already been waiting for two months, Yale. What the F.

This is remarkably helpful. Thank you!

I don't think I'll be applying again after this, tbh. My husband and I are actually in the process of buying a house anyway, so realistically, 2017 will be a win/win for me either way.

Yale acceptances are starting to come out. Pretty sure I didn't get in. Trying to not be too disappointed. And failing. :-/

I completely understand geographical constraints. My husband has a 12-year-old daughter from his first marriage, and when we started having the conversation about Ph.D. programs, we brought her into it because we didn't want her to be blindsided. By I also made the decision to not apply to any programs outside of CT because it would bring us too far from her, and I was never going to ask him to leave her behind. I only applied to Brandeis because it's right in MA and they waived the application fee (if I'm being totally honest). I do get it, and I'm so sorry this didn't work out for you.

I'm so sorry, Sarah. :-( I had wanted to apply to Brown myself, and even spoke with Seth Rockman and Linford Fisher at OAH in Providence. The answer I got from them when we were talking was that they focus on cultural history, and political history was not being studied as much anymore. With that alone, I knew there was no way I'd be a good fit because that's what I study. I don't know if that helps any or not. I'm not sure what your focus is, but my sincere condolences.

I mean, that's somewhat hopeful though, because at least it means that they might have found a better fit for you! Don't feel disheartened!

Last time I did this, I didn't have a backup plan, and ended up working in retail hell for a bunch of years. It was decidedly not a happy time. This time? If I don't get in, my husband and I will be buying a house and starting infertility treatments to have a baby. 2017 is gonna be a win/win for me either way. I refuse to see it any other way.

Hello all!! I'm 32, finishing my second master's degree in two months (!). This one is in education, but my first one was in early American history in 2011. At the time, I had applied to 8 separate Ph.D. programs and was rejected from all of them (I wasn't a very good candidate). Now, though, I have a 4.0, I've been adjuncting for a year and a half, and I'm more mature. My husband has a daughter from his first marriage, so I'm sort of a mom, but since she's 12, she mostly takes care of herself. She's really excited that I've applied this cycle. I worry that my age makes me less than an ideal candidate, but there are so many of us, so I'm a bit more hopeful now!