SarahBethSortino

I drove four hours up and back in one day to meet with LF. It seemed like a great fit. I'm just in shock, and as I said, I didn't really feel like any of the other schools I applied to were as good a subject fit. So based on that, I think it's probably done for me. I'm going to be surprised if I get an acceptance at this point, especially because all my other schools have already reported acceptances. I have serious geographical constraints so I didn't have the luxury of applying to programs all around the country. I had to work with what I had.

I understand the need for having a thick skin, but I wonder how many people throwing out advice on how people should deal with rejection have any real practical experience in the "real world" vs academia. 13 years experience in cutthroat compare jobs, mostly in NYC where people take pleasure in destroying your career aspirations. I can say the difference between corporate rejection and academic rejection is totally different, especially considering that lots of people who give that Same advkce are bouncing from undergrad to grad school without a clue as to what it feels like to work 10+ years towards fulfilling your goal. Sorry, I'm going to feel shitty about this for a little while and still be worthy of an academic career

All I know is I'm taking the literal definition of a mental health day tomorrow

Got rejected today from my dream school, Brown. Honestly feeling pretty hopeless right now. I have a feeling that the same things that kept me out of this program will keep me out of the rest. And I didn't really care about any of the other programs. But I don't think it's going to happen for me ... and if it doesn't happen this year it's over for good. (Please don't reply with "you can always apply next year," I'm 36. It's done.)

Haha... I had the unfortunate circumstance of being laid off in early November so I spent all my time writing apps haha. Luckily I got another job right after I submitted, but I thank god for those three weeks to write uninterrupted.

I mean that's still a month. Not a lot of tie considering the website says 6-8 weeks. I guess I had forgotten application dates. I had all my apps in by Nov 1.

Hey, so I have a question about this.. applications were only due January 15th. Was this an unofficial, hey just wanted to let you know email or has your acceptance been conferred by the committee? Seems a little hard to believe that they reviewed and made their decisions in a little over two weeks

I understand your point. But I have not yet been accepted to a PhD program. I wish. Unless you are referring to my MA... I got into all the schools I applied to, but they were all in the U.K. I don't know how to play the game in the US. The standards of admission in the U.K. Are heavily focused on SOP, fit within the faculty, and research topic. I have been informed by many programs I applied to here that they won't even bother with your application if you don't have a certain set of numbers. If they didn't look at those numbers, why even require the GRE? Maybe I'm just speaking from a place of extreme, panic attack inducing anxiety. I have all the subjective markers that would give me a good shot, but if my numbers are the thing that keeps me out, I'd honestly rather not ever know that.

But the thing is that Metrics are unfortunately one of the things that puts us into graduate school. If you're on the bubble, they might put you over or under. And if they aren't good, a big school WILL weed you out before the faculty even bothers to read your papers.

Onward and upward! You win a place at university you have just as much right to be here as anyone else!

Yes! As an historian, I think it's vital to have a different perspective. When I was doing my masters it was fascinating to get a non western perspective on my research topics.

A fellow academic is always welcome to me! Good luck to you! Also, don't let some bad things change your perception of us as a whole. You'll find that we are more accepting than we are showing us to be at the moment.

Hey I didn't really know where to post this, but I just wanted to give a shout out to every potential grad student out there who is dealing with waiting for decisions AND having their plans potentially derailed by the immigration order yesterday. I'm NOT trying to make this political - I'm just throwing out some support during what has to be a difficult time for our fellow "waiting gamers."

I think we have so much to offer to our cohort! I would hope that admissions committees would value the life experience we have and our maturity. I am sure that if I get accepted I can bring a different and valuable perspective to the program - one that a student doesn't have when they are 22.

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.

Personally I have never been so grateful to have a job that has nothing to do with my specialism. I'm dealing with this time in my life by throwing myself into that as a wonderfully welcome distraction.

First of all I am so sorry you were turned down. It sucks. I'm sure I will have to deal with several rejections whenever my schools get around to posting their results. Personally, I have traveled a very long and winding road towards graduate school, and there were many times in the process when I felt like I was too old and the whole idea was extremely impractical. But I realized last year that it was something I needed in my life and if I was ever going to move on from wanting to go to school, I had to at least try. For me, even if I get rejected from every school I apply to, I will be able to say that at least I took the chance. In 30 years, if I didn't do this, I would have always wondered what might have been, because THIS has always been the only thing I have been both good at AND enjoyed. I've had a pretty good career that is totally unrelated to History and have been what I call "reluctantly good at it." But I felt like I needed more in my life and that's where I am right now. I think the life experience that comes with being older will only help us in school. We are more focused. we are more concerned with the goal, not just the experience. I think when you're older, you have to be more serious because there is more at stake. So don't be down about this speed bump. It takes a lot at this age to take the enormous leap to even think about doing this. It's not like we're just out of undergrad trying to figure out life. At this age, there are practical concerns and logistics that need to be considered. This is a brave decision and you should be proud of yourself for trying. Believe in yourself - I believe in you!

Yeah the only reason I did not do my GRE earlier was because my Master program at Edinburgh did not need it, nor did they care about it. Relearning the algebra I sucked at when I was 18 does not make me a better History PhD candidate, especially because I have spent over 10 years doing things that render those skills completely irrelevant. I've been very successful in my career thusfar without having to use any of that knowledge. Directing time away from preparing for my actual research to dive into equations felt like a massive waste of time.

Yeah, none of my programs require masters degrees, so when I met with POIs before application I definitely got questioned about my "late in life" career change. Even though its not really a career change. I got sidetracked from pursuing my Phd for several reasons, but it was always my intention to continue with this career path. I did feel kind of insulted when one POI from a very good school asked me flat out if I had children and how I was going to manage that when I was in school. I found it sexist and degrading.

OMG that's so funny what you said about feeling like the "Mom" in the group. I keep thinking that I might end up in that boat with whatever cohort I end up in haha. I have also been stressing about the fact that my age and the obvious eons I have been out of school will reflect badly on me. I don't want the graduate committee to look at my application and think I'm not serious about this because I've spent the last 10 years of my life working in a completely unrelated field.

Hello Thought I would start this thread to see if I could bring together any older applicants. I see a lot of people applying while still in undergrad, or a few years out. I'm 35 with a MSc. in History from University of Edinburgh. Applying exclusively to schools in Massachusetts/Rhode Island. How are the older applicants dealing with the wait? And how are you managing the transition to Grad school in addition to work, families, spouses, etc?

I think it is the classic answer to every question about PhD applications...it depends. I also have a Masters, and I'm 35. I will say I resisted applying to PhD programs for several years because I hated the idea of having to relearn Math. But in the end I studied my butt off over the summer and bit the bullet. That being said, of the 6 schools I spoke to before applying (three are top tier), I was told that in my case the GRE would probably not be a significant factor if I had a strong application in general. But that's me, and I have a LOT of time away from college to have done other things that render the GRE somewhat irrelevant.

It was quite a hassle trying to balance a job and a kid and figure out how to drive all over hell to visit POIs but I made it work and hopefully in the end it will help.

Nice to see my direct competition on here, at least for Brown and Harvard Haha. Good luck!

I at least had some contact with almost every school except HArvard. I drove up to Brown and back in one day for a meeting with my POI from brown (I live in NJ). Another in person meeting with POI from Clark and email contact with everyone else. When I asked to speak with THREE different faculty members at Harvard the response was basically, nah bra, if we care about you once we see your application, we'll contact you. I have literally no chance of getting in there but it won't destroy me. Brown is my top choice and that might just kill me.