psstein

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.

Agreed. One potential question to ask: is this program going to train me to be the historian I want to be? Does it offer the language classes, training, funding, and intellectual environment I think I need? And, on my visiting weekend, did I see evidence of these important aspects of the program? In my own field, HYP&S are generally not the programs that are going to produce strong historians (with important exceptions that admitted students have to keep in mind!).

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. 

Do not, under any circumstances, be rude. Scholars have a very long memory. A professor here wrote an unflattering review of one of Londa Schiebinger's books. 10 years after, my professor organized a lunch with her and Donna Harraway. Schiebinger refused to be at the same table as my professor, who herself is far from obscure.
You have two very good offers already. I would recommend visiting both with the intention of accepting. Meet with the faculty and the graduate students. See how well you get along with them. You may find that you get along far better with a NW advisor and graduate students than Harvard's graduate students. Indeed, some of the least impressive graduate students I've ever met were in an otherwise excellent program. You might find that the Harvard advisor and you don't have the same personality type. 
These are all highly important considerations you need to take into account. You cannot get them from a distance.
If you are legitimately interested in going to NW, you should send an email explaining the situation and ask if they're willing to match Harvard. I wouldn't do this unless you actually are interested, because it's somewhat tacky otherwise.

Do not, under any circumstances, be rude. Scholars have a very long memory. A professor here wrote an unflattering review of one of Londa Schiebinger's books. 10 years after, my professor organized a lunch with her and Donna Harraway. Schiebinger refused to be at the same table as my professor, who herself is far from obscure.
You have two very good offers already. I would recommend visiting both with the intention of accepting. Meet with the faculty and the graduate students. See how well you get along with them. You may find that you get along far better with a NW advisor and graduate students than Harvard's graduate students. Indeed, some of the least impressive graduate students I've ever met were in an otherwise excellent program. You might find that the Harvard advisor and you don't have the same personality type. 
These are all highly important considerations you need to take into account. You cannot get them from a distance.
If you are legitimately interested in going to NW, you should send an email explaining the situation and ask if they're willing to match Harvard. I wouldn't do this unless you actually are interested, because it's somewhat tacky otherwise.

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. 

I have no idea. Normally, they go out about a day or two later. I think I got mine on a Tuesday or something.

I have no idea. Normally, they go out about a day or two later. I think I got mine on a Tuesday or something.

I don't agree, I think. Don't apply to a program that doesn't interest you just because it has good funding, but only apply to schools that can adequately support your research.
Also I confirmed earlier today that all Brown acceptances have indeed gone out. It was very early this year. If you haven't heard, I'm sorry. Consider me severely chastised for trying to think I had a grasp on the situation from France ?

Two years ago, it was around the $30,000 mark. Columbia offers somewhere in the $35,000 range. From memory, Harvard generally doesn't pay its assistant profs the most of any program, but that information may be out of date.
In terms of the information you're currently getting from faculty, trust but verify. Their objective is to get you to enroll, not tell you the unvarnished truth. It may be useful to get in contact with a few current graduate students and ask them. From my own experience, they have much less reason to not give you the whole picture.
You also might want to check the stipend spreadsheet that usually pops up around this time...

With the caveat, of course, that inadequate funding can cause you to select another program over one with funding concerns.

I would share my funding information. It's two years old, but things haven't changed all that much.
You applied for a MA from Villanova. You should know that most MAs in the United States are not fully funded.

The stipend at Columbia for 2019-2020 totals $34,116, plus tuition, insurance (for dependents as well), and all fees.
If your concentration of study is also connected to an institute within Columbia, say Jewish Institute,  Science and Society, or Harriman, and your POI heads it, they will match whatever other programs are offering and sometimes even more to retain you. This was done for a few students recently.
Columbia has pots of funding, unevenly spread, unfortunately. 

Everyone, irrespective of stipends, RESEARCH the actual cost of living in the area.  $27K at Columbia, $33K at Harvard... still a stretch for trying to live in New York and Cambridge/Boston (and even Palo Alto for Stanford!).  Do use the funding spreadsheet as a guideline for what to expect. Also, please remember these stipends are intended for a single person without pets, a car, and dependents. it will be up to you how to make that stipend you've offered stretch.

Two years ago, it was around the $30,000 mark. Columbia offers somewhere in the $35,000 range. From memory, Harvard generally doesn't pay its assistant profs the most of any program, but that information may be out of date.
In terms of the information you're currently getting from faculty, trust but verify. Their objective is to get you to enroll, not tell you the unvarnished truth. It may be useful to get in contact with a few current graduate students and ask them. From my own experience, they have much less reason to not give you the whole picture.
You also might want to check the stipend spreadsheet that usually pops up around this time...

Two years ago, it was around the $30,000 mark. Columbia offers somewhere in the $35,000 range. From memory, Harvard generally doesn't pay its assistant profs the most of any program, but that information may be out of date.
In terms of the information you're currently getting from faculty, trust but verify. Their objective is to get you to enroll, not tell you the unvarnished truth. It may be useful to get in contact with a few current graduate students and ask them. From my own experience, they have much less reason to not give you the whole picture.
You also might want to check the stipend spreadsheet that usually pops up around this time...

Two years ago, it was around the $30,000 mark. Columbia offers somewhere in the $35,000 range. From memory, Harvard generally doesn't pay its assistant profs the most of any program, but that information may be out of date.
In terms of the information you're currently getting from faculty, trust but verify. Their objective is to get you to enroll, not tell you the unvarnished truth. It may be useful to get in contact with a few current graduate students and ask them. From my own experience, they have much less reason to not give you the whole picture.
You also might want to check the stipend spreadsheet that usually pops up around this time...

Not to stress you out further but when I applied I heard from one POI at midnight on Friday, their time, and one POI on Sunday afternoon—for schools that let POIs tell students I wouldn’t personally count on the Monday-Friday 9 to 5 schedule 

Broadly speaking, February.
I wouldn't concern yourself with "being too ambitious." The objective isn't "get into graduate school." The objective is getting a job after graduate school.

Broadly speaking, February.
I wouldn't concern yourself with "being too ambitious." The objective isn't "get into graduate school." The objective is getting a job after graduate school.

I do not think it is safe to assume rejection just yet. Looking at the reports of informal admission e-mails from Harvard, they seem to stagger them over multiple days, or even over a week. For instance, in 2017, one person posted they got theirs on February 1st, but another posted on Feb. 2nd. This could mean that the person waited a day to post it, but then you have other posters who say they woke up to an e-mail on February 3rd, and then another person on February 7th mentioned they just received an e-mail letting them know they have been recommended. For 2018, people list February 4th, 8th, 9th, and 11th for the dates they received their e-mail. There is still much hope for you all!

Well, I haven't gotten a rejection yet by February, so I think I can count that as a win! 

The decisions will probably go out next week. The committee meets on the 4th.

Just received an acceptance from Northwestern! Feeling ecstatic!!!!!