Karou
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Posts posted by Karou
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4 hours ago, ipavineri said:
I was just invited for a campus visit, fully-paid, "to explain the program and make sure that it is a good fit for you." There is no mention of an interview so I am a bit confused, should I prepare for a formal interview? Are there important questions I should remember to ask the faculty during my visit?
I'm going to trust those who know best and assume that this is indeed an interview, so, congrats! I was looking for information about what to ask during visits/interviews a few days ago, and found this thread to be helpful, post #7 has a very long list of potential questions you may want answered. Hopefully you'll find it helpful as well!
2 hours ago, villageelliot said:Do we think this might slow down their process? I've seen in previous years they release acceptances the first week of February. I imagine this trouble could push that back a week or more. Anyone agree?
I don't think so, someone posted on the results page that they were admitted to JHU (in another program) and that their GRE status still says awaiting, so it should be fine.
About the interview thing, I can't speak to every school, but I've been looking into how U Penn goes about this because I saw there were a couple of interviews posted on the results page and I know that they notoriously interview everyone they are considering for admission. Looking at old threads, it seems that people have received interview requests quite far apart, so I'm not counting U Penn as an implied rejection for another week or so!
Also @fortsibut, I'm sorry to hear that, but glad to see you're remaining so positive. Fit really seems to be everything. I wish you the best for your other applications!
- fortsibut and fordlandia
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12 hours ago, rx971 said:
Hmm...I'm wondering if it as set out to all minority candidates or all accepted minority candidates? I've seen other threads where people mentioned receiving the e-mail but no two people from the same discipline so far.
Hmm, well I'm not a minority candidate so that definitely explains why I didn't get the email.
That being said, I still think it could be a good sign for those of you that did receive it. I mean it seems strange to take the time to organize a webinar for candidates they have zero interest in, perhaps you're on some sort of shortlist? But who knows how these things work. Wishing you the best either way!
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13 hours ago, Jericho said:
The two places that hadn't marked my scores as "received" yet, I called and made sure they were somewhere in the system but just not matched up yet. That was the case for both of them. I only had one weird thing where my undergrad transcript was sent to the Newark campus even though I applied to Rutgers NB. That got worked out though too. I wouldn't worry about it, especially if they have your self-reported scores to go off of.
Aah that sounds stressful, I'm glad it all worked out in the end! The paperwork/official records end of things is always my least favorite part of any such process. I'm not looking forward to having to deal with my visa application (but hey, it's a good problem to have, so I'm not complaining!).
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2 hours ago, rx971 said:
@Karou Of course! It's happening on Wednesday at 3 so I'll post here then.
Great, thank you so much! Hope it goes well!
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Hi @rx971 and @Englishtea1, I applied to Yale American Studies as well and did not receive an email, so perhaps you should take that as a good sign!
Would either of you be willing to report back on what it was about if you do attend the webinar? Thank you, and best of luck to you!
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Thank you both! It's nice to know that universities seem to be understanding about things that are out of our control.
To be honest, I'm 95% sure that I will be rejected from Johns Hopkins. It was a good fit to begin with, but some relatively last minute adjustments to my project have transformed it into a rather poor fit. I still applied because I had already sent in my test scores, and thought I may as well. Not a particularly sound financial decision on my part, but there you go!
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1 minute ago, e_randolph said:
@Karou I’d say don’t worry about the GRE scores. I shot them an email about it way back and I got a response from the admin there. She basically said not to stress and that the committee will consider your self-reported scores if they’ve still failed to match the scores when they review the applications.
Great, thank you! That's what I figured, but it's nice to have confirmation.
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Hey all,
Sorry for the double post, but I was wondering whether anyone who applied to Johns Hopkins still has their official GRE scores listed as "Awaiting" on their application checklist? I know they sent out an email saying the issue was likely on their side shortly after applications were due, but it has been over a month now, so I'm wondering whether I should contact them to check in? I'm not particularly worried but it does seem a little strange. Perhaps they will start matching official scores with applications once they start the review process in earnest.
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Congratulations @e_randolph and @MARTINt!! I don't know which one of you posted about needing a medic on the results page, but that made me smile so big!
@historygeek, hang in there, decisions will be coming soon!
- historygeek and e_randolph
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12 hours ago, AfricanusCrowther said:
Seconded. I've lived in Durham and it's absolutely fantastic.
Glad to hear it!
Turns out I'll be able to see that for myself pretty soon, I've heeded the advice I've received here, and have decided to go to the prospective students' event!
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Thanks @Ragu! I've already looked into Durham quite a bit. Believe it or not, the most anxiety-inducing part of this whole process for me is the prospect of living in the same place for five to six years, I haven't lived anywhere for more than three years at a time in fifteen years! So looking into the location of the schools I wanted to apply to was a very important part of the selection process for me. I have read good things about the area, and think I would like it, but nothing beats going there to get an accurate idea of how I feel about it.
That being said, thank you for your perspective, it's nice to hear a positive opinion! If I'm being completely honest, I can be a bit of an idealist, and I believe that there's good and bad aspects to most places (within reason, obviously), it's all about finding the right community, there's something for everyone! Perhaps that is a bit naive, but it's worked out for me so far, in fact, I've become kind of an expert at that sort of thing (what with moving all the time and such
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19 minutes ago, Sigaba said:
Also, allergies, which was the first and last question I asked a staff member of the department of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Haha, thankfully I have never really struggled with allergies! (Yet?) Hopefully North Carolina won't prove to be my downfall in that respect.
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Just now, Sigaba said:
IMO, it is especially important that you in particular make the trip. Because if you go to Duke, you're not going to a school in the United States, you're going to a school in North Carolina and all that entails.
Point well taken! I have lived in many different types of places in my life, so I'm pretty good with adaptability, but it's definitely something I have been thinking about and it certainly couldn't hurt to go there and get a feel of the place beyond the walls of the university.
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2 minutes ago, OHSP said:
Glad it was helpful! Duke’s funding is a PhD dream. Also I’m sure others will stress this in the coming weeks but school visits are so important—for eg after I received all of my decisions I was certain I was going to go to one school (the highest ranked and only ivy of my offers), and visits changed that completely.
Agreed, I have a lot on my plate but I think I need to make time for this, it's an important step. Then again, I may not get any other admits and won't have a choice to make! (Which would be more than good enough for me to be honest). The letter I received also mentioned the possibility of familiarizing myself with the program in other ways should I be unable to attend, so I've asked about what that might entail, and I'll see what they say.
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Thank you all for the congrats (I'm all out of reputation to give for the day unfortunately, but thank you!), I still can't quite believe it. And congratulations to those of you who have received admits! Looks like decisions are slowly starting to roll in.
@OHSP that's actually very useful information thank you! I received the follow up email you mentioned a couple of hours ago, and I replied asking whether the offer to pay for travel fees to come to the prospective students' event extended to international students as well. It wasn't specified in the email, and I didn't want to just go ahead and assume that they would just fly me out from Europe, but it's good to know that they actually do! That's pretty incredible. I'm not sure whether I will be able to go, but I really hope I can make it happen.
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Thank you! And indeed, may it be the first of many happy posts!
I have seen the PMs and will get to them right after I post this, but as a general piece of advice (if you could call it that) for Duke applicants, if you haven't set up a OneLink account, do it! You can do so here: https://accounts.oit.duke.edu/onelink/lookup I hadn't set it up as I wasn't even aware of its existence, and it took an agonizing ten minutes to get from the "a decision has been made" email to the actual decision! And that's after I refreshed my application portal three times in utter confusion because there was nothing new there. Blame it on the nerves I guess haha.
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Just got word that I got into Duke! It's my first choice, and I'm so incredibly excited!! So if you see that admit on the results page, it's mine.
I'm a bit shy about sharing my focus/POI on here because anonymity etc, but if you've applied to Duke and you're curious, feel free to PM me!
- kgower, e_randolph, fordlandia and 13 others
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21 hours ago, MrPurple said:
I think early to mid February is a realistic timeline based on the results search for most programs.
Yes, it certainly seems like it! l 'm also accounting for those late rejections that seem to be a thing every year as well, you know, the ones that programs send out weeks after they've sent out their acceptances. Hopefully we won't have to deal with that, because honestly those are just kind of mean.
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I have not been particularly stressed out as to whether I'll be admitted or not (I've decided to be zen about that, because there's nothing I can do about it at this stage anyway, whatever is going to happen will happen regardless of whether I drive myself crazy about it or not), but I'm getting incredibly impatient to know what the future holds for me!
I'm sorry you're both so anxious, and I'll spare you the clichéd advice of trying to think about something else, but I hope you find some way to distract/occupy yourself in the coming weeks and find some peace of mind. Also, I wouldn't get too worried about not having heard anything yet, it is my understanding that most History programs don't send out decisions this early. That still leaves us in limbo, but at least we know it's nothing out of the ordinary. I'm hoping to have heard from most schools by mid-February, but that may be a little optimistic.
- fordlandia and elx
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51 minutes ago, Carltonjacobs said:
I was wondering if a "Request for Additional Information" is a good sign? I received a request from Harvard this morning stating that "the admissions committee has requested additional information from applicants regarding prior language study and language proficiency." I am not sure if everyone gets this, but they didn't ask for language information on the original application (though I volunteered it). Could this just be standard procedure? It is an after-the-fact request. Does anyone know if this is requested from all applicants or perhaps those who have been "filtered?" Any thoughts?
I received it as well. To be honest, I didn't think much of it, I assumed it was standard procedure and that everyone who applied received it. Not to rain on anyone's parade, perhaps it does mean something, who knows!
I have not posted here in ages, but I have been reading the thread, and I hope everyone's feeling relaxed throughout the waiting process! On my end, I have applied to 8 programs, and have been thinking up some pretty solid back-up plans in case I don't get in, so I'm feeling good about whatever comes next either way. Best of luck to you all!
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On 9/8/2017 at 8:26 PM, Sigaba said:
@Karou IMO, using physical copies increases opportunities for serendipity. The front and back matter, the advertisements, the physical dimensions of a journal, paper, and font size can provide opportunities for additional insights that lead to more questions.
For the same reason, at a library or bookstore, I will put my eyes (if not hands) on as many books as possible.
The same goes for going through a digital catalog. Some years ago, a university library had a record for Upton and the Navy. This was a typo: the work in question was Upton and the Army. The mistake prompted questions that remain either under-explored and unasked by American military and naval historians.
Ah serendipity, I like that, and I can definitely see how that's true.I tend to prefer reading from physical objects rather than on the computer anyway. I do apply that rule to books already, be it in a library or, like you said, a bookstore. However -and I feel a little silly admitting it- I never thought of picking up a physical copy of a journal, I guess I just got so used to browsing JStor etc. But I will definitely try this method once I have access to my university library. Thank you for your reply.
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I don't have anything to contribute in terms of replying to the original post, but I would just like to acknowledge the excellent advice given here. As someone who is about to take their first steps as a student of history, I have found this thread very helpful so, thank you.
@Sigaba, if I may ask, why do you recommend using physical copies of academic journals rather than digital versions?
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Oh, you're right, he is at Columbia now! I had no idea, apologies. He was still at USC when I encountered his work, and apparently they're not big on updating faculty profiles over there.
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Off the top of my head: if you haven't already, I think Jack Halberstam at USC might be a good person for you to look at. I've read some of his work and really like his style (I'm using masculine pronouns as he now goes mostly by Jack but he has stated that he accepts both feminine or masculine pronouns). I haven't read any of his work in terms of transgender studies, with the exception of the article in which he discusses his pronoun preferences, but have read some of his work on gender norms and such, and greatly enjoyed it.
https://dornsife.usc.edu/cf/faculty-and-staff/faculty.cfm?pid=1003321
Applications 2019
in History
Posted · Edited by Karou
Let's hope it will be celebratory drinks instead!!
Thank you, I'm very happy, and feel very grateful to be in this position! It has weirdly made me more anxious, but I think it's just because I'm impatient and want to to know for sure where I'll be going next year. Duke is the best option for me on paper, but as others have pointed out, visits and/or interviews can really change your perspective.
To add to the discussion on fit, I think that most of us wouldn't talk about it to professors in the same manner that we've been discussing it amongst ourselves here, where we may be more inclined to share our anxieties with one another about whether a program is a place where we could thrive. But I do think that @Sigaba's point is a very important one to remember, I know I can certainly be guilty of making poor word choices that don't necessarily convey that I understand the concept of "fit" goes both ways (or that whether or not I am a good fit for a program is not for me to determine at this stage of the process -ie, during interviews etc). In fact, my response to Duke's DGS last week could have been better worded, but since the tone of the email was very much them trying to assess how likely I would be to accept their offer, I'm hoping it wasn't as big of a faux pas as it could have been. I'll make sure they know how grateful I am that they think I'm a good fit for their program when I go there, though!