OHSP

...plenty of people successfully admitted to PhD programs in the past few years are not working on the "popular themes" that you've listed. I'd really get yourself away from thinking that people are getting in over you because their work is "trendy". Often it's less a matter of "topic" (I don't know of anyone who talks about the topic they're working on, really), and more a matter of research questions -- how are you presenting the questions that are guiding your research? Do the questions sound urgent, relevant, feasible, worth pursuing etc, and do they show that you're thinking about how to intervene in historiographical debates, methods etc etc. Instead of blaming the "trends" you're identifying, think about how you can re-frame your project (beyond the transnational thing) by explaining where it fits and who you're speaking to.
On the same note, the SoP is very, very important--more important than having publications or a completed thesis or some random fellowship that your POI's never heard of etc. I'd go so far as to say that without a strong SoP you can't guarantee that admissions committees are going to do more than skim the rest of your application (at two schools I was admitted to it was obvious that my POIs had not read my writing sample, beyond maybe the first page--this is just a practical reality. They have very little time, they're not actually reading every 25 page paper closely). So the SoP is where you frame your project and "stand out" from the hundreds of other applicants. I used to think the advice on this forum was harshly phrased--it's kind of necessarily so. Without tough advice you won't make the serious changes required to get into a program, so my advice is to find a professor (assistant profs are often closer to the process/remember their own SoP) who can give you that brutal advice in real life--it was the most helpful thing I did when applying. 

It literally could just be that you haven't been notified. Not trying to false hope anyone but it's really not over until it's officially over. 

...plenty of people successfully admitted to PhD programs in the past few years are not working on the "popular themes" that you've listed. I'd really get yourself away from thinking that people are getting in over you because their work is "trendy". Often it's less a matter of "topic" (I don't know of anyone who talks about the topic they're working on, really), and more a matter of research questions -- how are you presenting the questions that are guiding your research? Do the questions sound urgent, relevant, feasible, worth pursuing etc, and do they show that you're thinking about how to intervene in historiographical debates, methods etc etc. Instead of blaming the "trends" you're identifying, think about how you can re-frame your project (beyond the transnational thing) by explaining where it fits and who you're speaking to.
On the same note, the SoP is very, very important--more important than having publications or a completed thesis or some random fellowship that your POI's never heard of etc. I'd go so far as to say that without a strong SoP you can't guarantee that admissions committees are going to do more than skim the rest of your application (at two schools I was admitted to it was obvious that my POIs had not read my writing sample, beyond maybe the first page--this is just a practical reality. They have very little time, they're not actually reading every 25 page paper closely). So the SoP is where you frame your project and "stand out" from the hundreds of other applicants. I used to think the advice on this forum was harshly phrased--it's kind of necessarily so. Without tough advice you won't make the serious changes required to get into a program, so my advice is to find a professor (assistant profs are often closer to the process/remember their own SoP) who can give you that brutal advice in real life--it was the most helpful thing I did when applying. 

Sorry to deliver what is probably bad news--should definitely be stated that I don't know for certain that all admitted students have been notified, though. When I got in my POI called me many days after a stream of acceptances were posted on here, so I assumed I was out, but the POI was just super busy. 

...plenty of people successfully admitted to PhD programs in the past few years are not working on the "popular themes" that you've listed. I'd really get yourself away from thinking that people are getting in over you because their work is "trendy". Often it's less a matter of "topic" (I don't know of anyone who talks about the topic they're working on, really), and more a matter of research questions -- how are you presenting the questions that are guiding your research? Do the questions sound urgent, relevant, feasible, worth pursuing etc, and do they show that you're thinking about how to intervene in historiographical debates, methods etc etc. Instead of blaming the "trends" you're identifying, think about how you can re-frame your project (beyond the transnational thing) by explaining where it fits and who you're speaking to.
On the same note, the SoP is very, very important--more important than having publications or a completed thesis or some random fellowship that your POI's never heard of etc. I'd go so far as to say that without a strong SoP you can't guarantee that admissions committees are going to do more than skim the rest of your application (at two schools I was admitted to it was obvious that my POIs had not read my writing sample, beyond maybe the first page--this is just a practical reality. They have very little time, they're not actually reading every 25 page paper closely). So the SoP is where you frame your project and "stand out" from the hundreds of other applicants. I used to think the advice on this forum was harshly phrased--it's kind of necessarily so. Without tough advice you won't make the serious changes required to get into a program, so my advice is to find a professor (assistant profs are often closer to the process/remember their own SoP) who can give you that brutal advice in real life--it was the most helpful thing I did when applying. 

...plenty of people successfully admitted to PhD programs in the past few years are not working on the "popular themes" that you've listed. I'd really get yourself away from thinking that people are getting in over you because their work is "trendy". Often it's less a matter of "topic" (I don't know of anyone who talks about the topic they're working on, really), and more a matter of research questions -- how are you presenting the questions that are guiding your research? Do the questions sound urgent, relevant, feasible, worth pursuing etc, and do they show that you're thinking about how to intervene in historiographical debates, methods etc etc. Instead of blaming the "trends" you're identifying, think about how you can re-frame your project (beyond the transnational thing) by explaining where it fits and who you're speaking to.
On the same note, the SoP is very, very important--more important than having publications or a completed thesis or some random fellowship that your POI's never heard of etc. I'd go so far as to say that without a strong SoP you can't guarantee that admissions committees are going to do more than skim the rest of your application (at two schools I was admitted to it was obvious that my POIs had not read my writing sample, beyond maybe the first page--this is just a practical reality. They have very little time, they're not actually reading every 25 page paper closely). So the SoP is where you frame your project and "stand out" from the hundreds of other applicants. I used to think the advice on this forum was harshly phrased--it's kind of necessarily so. Without tough advice you won't make the serious changes required to get into a program, so my advice is to find a professor (assistant profs are often closer to the process/remember their own SoP) who can give you that brutal advice in real life--it was the most helpful thing I did when applying. 

This is a fairly concise one sentence summary of what needs to change before you apply again.

Aw, I was trying to provide some hope, but I never want it to be false hope! 

You'll work this stuff out once you're there.... I'd try to go into a phd without too many expectations (academic or social). Chances are it won't be as you imagined, which is often a good thing. 

Ask the DGS what graduate students do for funding after the fifth year because more likely than not you'll need it. If you don't know already, also ask about funding (within the department and also the graduate school) to do preliminary research after your 1st/2nd yrs. 
Ask your prospective advisor to describe their advising style. Then dig a little deeper and try to get them to describe how that style works in practice. For example, hands off can mean anything from "I don't see myself as having a huge role in guiding my students through the program" to "I don't expect to meet with you every week unless you want or feel you need to." (Speaking to your prospective advisors' current students can also shed light on this.) In order to really evaluate the answers you get to this question, however, you'll also have to give some thought to what you might like in an advisor and more importantly, what you might need— which is itself a whole question of how you work, how you like to receive feedback, etc. 

I've found it discouraging that I've been rejected, and I found it even more discouraging that my thesis advisor told me that I should "expect disappointment" (his words, verbatim). It can be so frustrating to see people get accepted to Ivy Leagues when you get rejected and are projecting rejections from other places. You'll end up where you're supposed to end up, even if it isn't the straight-from-undergrad-to-an-Ivy that you're dreaming of. 

If the Villanova MA is funded and there's room to shift your regional focus, I'd recommend the MA--it'll give you some time to get a grasp on where you want your work to go. I've shifted around a bit in my program, though always with the same advisor (my advisor was always more of a methodological than a regional fit), and no one minds/cares. Pretty sure it's actually a relief to my advisors that I abandoned my shitty SoP idea. Ultimately, given supportive advisors and a supportive program, you'll end up writing the work you need to write--but if you're noticing now that you might want to change fields entirely (it's different if you're interested in something approaching "global" or transnational history), then it might be a blessing in disguise if you don't end up with a PhD offer this round. Don't think of your undergrad thesis as defining your future, it's really more of an exercise in working on a sustained research project. 

Easier probably wasn't the best way to phrase it! I chose an American history thesis because of the availability of related archives, and applied as an Americanist in part because of the accessibility of relevant archives.

Oh my god I got into Yale!!!!!!

I WAS JUST ACCEPTED AT YALE!!!! 
Crying with happiness. 

Telling POIs that I wasn't going to attend, despite loving pretty much all of them, was actually the hardest and worst part of the whole application process for me. It's difficult! 
Re placement I'm going to PM you--placement rates are obviously very important. That said... I'd encourage people to tweak the way they're thinking about placement statistics--as in, instead of just looking at the placement rates for your school or even for your field, think about how well the school is going to be able to set you (in particular) up for placement in the kinds of jobs you think you might want after the PhD. Again for me the ivy school had great placement rates, but the students getting jobs were all doing relatively traditional kinds of history and I couldn't really see evidence that their non-traditional, interdisciplinary students were getting jobs in the kinds of departments I'd ultimately want to apply to--at the school I'm now attending, placement into Am studies and interdisciplinary departments is much better (especially if you work across departments once you get here), and so that made more sense for me. In other words, the details are important. 

Yes, it's rude to say sorry but not interested after they've spent time thinking about you and your work. It's also not a great move to ask for more money (which your POI might look into, spend time on) if you pretty much know that at the end of the day you're going to choose Harvard. Don't be That Harvard Person, people remember it!
Instead think about this as a chance to learn more about another program, where you'll have peers in your field etc, and to network with this faculty member--you never know what your situation will be in a few years, and don't give them a reason to remember you (when you're on the job market, etc) as the grad student who ruled out their offer without even hearing about the program. Be honest, say you have other offers, if they ask you where you can even mention Harvard, but also use the time to genuinely ask about their program because who knows what you'll learn. And then if you really know that you're not going to be accepting their offer, the moment you get your official letter from Harvard let them know and put someone on the waitlist out of their agony.
**edited to add, for the benefit of everyone, that when you're weighing offers it pays to be open-minded. I did not expect to be at the school I'm at, I applied at the last moment and it was my least "prestigious" blah blah blah offer, but I think if I had chosen one of the more prestigious schools (and I would mostly have been picking them for "going to an ivy" type reasons, which are not good reasons) I'd probably be living to regret it, because none of those schools were as interdisciplinary as my work basically needs to be. 

Yes, it's rude to say sorry but not interested after they've spent time thinking about you and your work. It's also not a great move to ask for more money (which your POI might look into, spend time on) if you pretty much know that at the end of the day you're going to choose Harvard. Don't be That Harvard Person, people remember it!
Instead think about this as a chance to learn more about another program, where you'll have peers in your field etc, and to network with this faculty member--you never know what your situation will be in a few years, and don't give them a reason to remember you (when you're on the job market, etc) as the grad student who ruled out their offer without even hearing about the program. Be honest, say you have other offers, if they ask you where you can even mention Harvard, but also use the time to genuinely ask about their program because who knows what you'll learn. And then if you really know that you're not going to be accepting their offer, the moment you get your official letter from Harvard let them know and put someone on the waitlist out of their agony.
**edited to add, for the benefit of everyone, that when you're weighing offers it pays to be open-minded. I did not expect to be at the school I'm at, I applied at the last moment and it was my least "prestigious" blah blah blah offer, but I think if I had chosen one of the more prestigious schools (and I would mostly have been picking them for "going to an ivy" type reasons, which are not good reasons) I'd probably be living to regret it, because none of those schools were as interdisciplinary as my work basically needs to be. 

The main thing I know is that the first "wave" was always going to be very small because they can't risk a situation where they end up with a cohort of more than ~ 12. Also I guess they must've also notified waitlisted candidates last year, my bad.

Everything's different this year. For example, they've never notified waitlisted candidates before. They want a very small incoming cohort so I doubt they've sent many first round offers, and the chances of getting off the waitlist might be relatively good because of that.

Given my decisions, I haven't regretted my decision at all to favor being in a program which I felt I could get more individualized attention to my professional well-being (and personally!). I've been really surprised how well I have ended up doing in my program and sometimes wondered if I would have had this much success had I gone to a program where I wouldn't have gotten as much individualized attention from the faculty (but a really wonderful intellectual atmosphere!). You'll know better after the campus visits.
I've been told over the years that committees do appreciate a personalized letter of support from advisers-- just a much better feel for the person and his/her project than someone who simply reads your proposal every now and then and doesn't know you well otherwise.  With Kevin Boyle's name on your letters, i wouldn't sweat it turning down Harvard.

Telling POIs that I wasn't going to attend, despite loving pretty much all of them, was actually the hardest and worst part of the whole application process for me. It's difficult! 
Re placement I'm going to PM you--placement rates are obviously very important. That said... I'd encourage people to tweak the way they're thinking about placement statistics--as in, instead of just looking at the placement rates for your school or even for your field, think about how well the school is going to be able to set you (in particular) up for placement in the kinds of jobs you think you might want after the PhD. Again for me the ivy school had great placement rates, but the students getting jobs were all doing relatively traditional kinds of history and I couldn't really see evidence that their non-traditional, interdisciplinary students were getting jobs in the kinds of departments I'd ultimately want to apply to--at the school I'm now attending, placement into Am studies and interdisciplinary departments is much better (especially if you work across departments once you get here), and so that made more sense for me. In other words, the details are important. 

Yes, it's rude to say sorry but not interested after they've spent time thinking about you and your work. It's also not a great move to ask for more money (which your POI might look into, spend time on) if you pretty much know that at the end of the day you're going to choose Harvard. Don't be That Harvard Person, people remember it!
Instead think about this as a chance to learn more about another program, where you'll have peers in your field etc, and to network with this faculty member--you never know what your situation will be in a few years, and don't give them a reason to remember you (when you're on the job market, etc) as the grad student who ruled out their offer without even hearing about the program. Be honest, say you have other offers, if they ask you where you can even mention Harvard, but also use the time to genuinely ask about their program because who knows what you'll learn. And then if you really know that you're not going to be accepting their offer, the moment you get your official letter from Harvard let them know and put someone on the waitlist out of their agony.
**edited to add, for the benefit of everyone, that when you're weighing offers it pays to be open-minded. I did not expect to be at the school I'm at, I applied at the last moment and it was my least "prestigious" blah blah blah offer, but I think if I had chosen one of the more prestigious schools (and I would mostly have been picking them for "going to an ivy" type reasons, which are not good reasons) I'd probably be living to regret it, because none of those schools were as interdisciplinary as my work basically needs to be. 

Yes, it's rude to say sorry but not interested after they've spent time thinking about you and your work. It's also not a great move to ask for more money (which your POI might look into, spend time on) if you pretty much know that at the end of the day you're going to choose Harvard. Don't be That Harvard Person, people remember it!
Instead think about this as a chance to learn more about another program, where you'll have peers in your field etc, and to network with this faculty member--you never know what your situation will be in a few years, and don't give them a reason to remember you (when you're on the job market, etc) as the grad student who ruled out their offer without even hearing about the program. Be honest, say you have other offers, if they ask you where you can even mention Harvard, but also use the time to genuinely ask about their program because who knows what you'll learn. And then if you really know that you're not going to be accepting their offer, the moment you get your official letter from Harvard let them know and put someone on the waitlist out of their agony.
**edited to add, for the benefit of everyone, that when you're weighing offers it pays to be open-minded. I did not expect to be at the school I'm at, I applied at the last moment and it was my least "prestigious" blah blah blah offer, but I think if I had chosen one of the more prestigious schools (and I would mostly have been picking them for "going to an ivy" type reasons, which are not good reasons) I'd probably be living to regret it, because none of those schools were as interdisciplinary as my work basically needs to be. 

Telling POIs that I wasn't going to attend, despite loving pretty much all of them, was actually the hardest and worst part of the whole application process for me. It's difficult! 
Re placement I'm going to PM you--placement rates are obviously very important. That said... I'd encourage people to tweak the way they're thinking about placement statistics--as in, instead of just looking at the placement rates for your school or even for your field, think about how well the school is going to be able to set you (in particular) up for placement in the kinds of jobs you think you might want after the PhD. Again for me the ivy school had great placement rates, but the students getting jobs were all doing relatively traditional kinds of history and I couldn't really see evidence that their non-traditional, interdisciplinary students were getting jobs in the kinds of departments I'd ultimately want to apply to--at the school I'm now attending, placement into Am studies and interdisciplinary departments is much better (especially if you work across departments once you get here), and so that made more sense for me. In other words, the details are important.