SarahBethSortino

Anybody on here heard from Boston College or UMass?

OMG PLEASE PM me. I know a lot about the area and regardless of if I wind up going to Clark I could probably help you out a lot. BTW, the condo I'm looking at is a 2 bedroom, 1100sq place going for $134,000. If that give you any indication of the price range.

Yes. My focus is Revolutionary Era civilian life. I grew up in Shrewsbury, which is right next door to Worcester, and whatever happens with grad school I'm buying a condo in Worcester this summer with my boyfriend. I will say Worcester is great...its not glamorous and it has A LOT of problems, but the city is really turning itself around. Lots of great bars and restaurants, and Clark is definitely at the center of their academic culture. Also, its 45 minutes away from Boston. I wouldn't move back there if I didn't think it has a lot to offer (although clark itself is in...how should I say...an "up and coming" neighborhood.

I'm feeling I'm feeling so stressed out today. I got rejected from Harvard yesterday, which is not really a surprise and I really couldn't care less because I wouldn't have even been able to rank it as a "choice." I knew I wasn't getting in. BUt the only place I have heard anything remotely favorable from is a waitlist spot at Brandeis. I'm still waiting on Umass, BC, and Clark...and this far in the season I think that can only mean one thing. I look at the kind of package they are offering people at Brandeis and I find it pretty unlikely that someone would turn it down. So I'm feeling like this might really be it for me. The end of the season with not one department taking me.

Who on here just wants Harvard to go ahead and put us out of our misery? *raises hand*

Yeah I know. I don't know if you had a lot of contact with them before hand but I went and spoke to the Head of the department in October in person. I grew up in the town next door. FYI it is an EXTREMELY small program. 2-3 in "general" history, 1-2 admitted every year for Holocaust studies.

Got news on Valentine's Day that I am waitlisted at Brandeis on a "very short list." I don't think anyone has ever felt so happy to be in the waitlist. Feeling extremely hopeful

I would not use the word "exciting" to describe the last three weeks of my life waiting for this haha

FYI Clark is meeting on February 16th to make their final decisions

Harvard seems to be all crickets right now with the exception of the random informal emails from POIs. I've tried emailing the department to see what their timeline is and have been met with complete silence. Guess they're hanging out in the ivory keeping the torture going a little longer. I have literally a snowballs chance in hell of getting in but I'd love to know. Told my boyfriend I'm going to frame the official rejection letter. Apparently it's very pretty haha

Drinking unhealthy amounts of wine over here!

Thanks. I'm gonna keep on keepin on!

Since I started this thread I though but I would chime in with my story. 11 years ago I finished my Masters and got a full ride offer for a PhD at the University of Edinburgh. I turned it down because my fiancé at the time did not want to stay in Scotland... and I never forgave him, or myself for it. The dream of going back to school was something that haunted me from then until now. It eventually broke up my marriage and now I'm finally trying to, in y mind, right the wrong that I did to myself all those years ago. One rejection down but five more applications put. I'm hoping for my fairy tale ending!

Thats a tough one. If I get admitted to some of my programs I'll probably have to make the same decision. I would say though that I would take the program that speaks more to your interests, not just the program that has the better reputation. My top choice is not the top university I applied to, but if I get accepted I will absolutely go because I'm going to be at this for a looooooong time. I want to be in the program that makes me happy and speaks to my academic interests. You will likely have a better experience.

I gotta say, four days ago the brown letter stung. But I sent a very gracious email to my POI and realized that it may just be about fit, not about competence. I gathered myself together and I'm forging ahead. It sucks...boy does it suck...but if it doesn't fit it doesn't fit. Keep on keepin on! Good luck!

Silence could still be good! Hold out hope. As I've been telling myself, until you're rejected you're in. Chin up!

Congratulations ziggy on your acceptance! Still hoping for something for me!

Can't we just leave politics out of all this. Lets just try to support eachother. Political opinions shouldn't matter here. Lets make this a place of positivity. We're all colleagues here.

Glad to help. I broke down and emailed a bunch of schools today and got this response first. I feel like it is positive for me though...I feel that if I got thrown in the circular file I MIGHT have been told outright. Second choice...already got rejected from my first so I'm hanging my hat on Brandeis!

Hi everyone Emailed the Brandeis program director to ask about timing of decisions and received the following: The short answer is: very soon. We have a deep, diverse, and strong applicant pool; a limited number of fellowships we can offer in the first round (though we almost invariably do admit a few people from our wait list); and a robust committee and faculty review process. So please stay tuned. Not even going to begin to try to quantify what "very soon" means, but if it helps anyone, there it is...

In every job I've ever won in my professional career, I've gotten the position from interviews where I have worn what makes me comfortable. I ditched formal pantsuits a long time ago. I always felt like a kid dressing up (I have your exact opposite problem - I'm short and hippy, pants suits never fit because my hips are larger than my top, so jackets always look like I'm swimming in them unless I get them custom tailored, and ain't nobody got time for that.) I go with separates now. When I had preliminary meetings with profs before I applied, I wore a tweed blazer and a brown pencil skirt. I felt amazing and I think that helped my nervousness. i wore the same outfit to a job interview a week after my grand campus tour this fall and got hired. IF that rambling answer is at all helpful

Colonial history with a focus on cultural history/civilian experience. Unfortunately I only really looked at UNH when it was too late, so that wasn't in the mix. I plan to live in Worcester (family reasons), so commuting was always going to be my plan.

My daughter is 7 and my ex and I are trying to figure out exactly how to deal with it. I currently live in NJ and he was supposed to move back to MA with us (I'm from there), but now it looks like if I do get in anywhere we are going to be doing school year with one parent, summers with another. She knows I am applying to school (which is hilarious because try explaining wanting to do MORE school to a 7 year old), but we haven't brought her into the geographical discussions. Boston to NJ is possible but will be hard, but if geography were completely out of the picture I would have applied to UVA, which would have been a much more logical choice for my specialism. But at this point I feel like my applications are a giant square peg trying to be banged into a round hole. I'm not an obvious fit for anyplace besides Brown.

I am very motivated. I am also just destroyed right now.

Its extremely complicated but for a wide variety of non academic reasons, this is the end of it. I'm 10 years out from my MA and long story short, doing this pretty much broke up my marriage. I have a kid to think about now and I can't keep her life and geography on hold while I keep banging my head against a wall.