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Oops sorry, I meant for Columbia- Did the professor say anything implying all the history notices were sent out? I'm assuming so from the sheer number of people who've reported acceptance in the past few days, but always nice to have confirmation

Safe to assume that for regular history applicants, not hearing back at this point means a rejection?

For the people under results who got accepted/rejected from Columbia, did the status change from "submitted" in the portal?

I was actually surprised they made some (albeit not much) effort to pretend to go beyond a typical mass rejection statement when it's still going to be obvious to everyone reading it that it wasn't written for them in particular... Can't decide if it's relatively classy or just demeaning to be honest

Yeah sorry I mean everyone who got rejected without waitlist/further consideration, or at least I think so given the email I received appears to just be a mass email to check the portal. If you still haven't seen anything yet that's a great sign!

Same here- I got an email about it as well, so everyone's should be up by now.

The specific dissertation topic I mentioned elsewhere dealt with Chinese history, and that particular topic is the one I'd likely choose if it fit with my advisor, but I've worked with Korean history in the past and certainly have an interest in that as well. So, I don't feel like I'd be deceiving if I stated a different topic I really could see myself doing if I work with him. That said, I'm kind of concerned that if I go with a preliminary idea I'm going to get grilled on it (given its his area of interest) and it's just going to look like I haven't really thought it out. The angle of using his type of approach while still stating the other idea makes a lot of sense though, thanks for suggesting it!

I have a call with a professor coming up, who, while listed as an East Asian specialist as one of his teaching focuses, his actual research deals with Korea. In my application for his school I intentionally simply stated my research interests as East Asia (along with the specific time period and angle of course), but for the schools which wanted a specific dissertation proposal I used a topic focusing on China. Would it fit well enough if I stated the China topic if he asks me if I have more specific plans, or should I make sure to come up with something relating better with his actual research interests to make sure I'm not seen as an imperfect fit? Thanks in advance for any help, I'm already excited/nervous over the fact that I actually got an interview of sorts in the first place!

Yeah I think we're saying the same thing- Maybe your original comment was just a typo? I'm responding to "If you apply to a top program and don't get an interview request, you're probably out of the running for a spot" when I say that I don't think that's the case.

You sure about that in regards to top programs? Can't remember where but I think I've heard anecdotally that interview likelihood varies by program at the top just as it does everywhere else.

Not judging you at all if you have a personal relationship with him/her, but more generally, should we be emailing POIs about decision timing? I've thought about doing it out of a combination of curiosity and displaying further interest in working together, but I feel like with someone I've only emailed briefly once it's more so just annoying/pushy to them.

Bump, good question, interested in this as well!

Does anyone know if they ask for you to show your relevant language skills during interviews? I'm at the intermediate level for one, but I'm very rusty right now (and pronunciation has always been my weak spot anyway) so I'm not sure if I should be working extra hard on it during winter break in preparation just in case.

For the first point, agreed on the rest but I feel 1.5 spacing looks fine when you need to for page limit reasons! At the very least, I'd rather do that to fit everything than remove content when it may be unnecessary.

I could be wrong, but if policy is your underlying goal, even if you do want to attend graduate school you might be better suited in a different program. A lot of history students can (and do) transition to that, but I would think a political science/IR/public policy/ etc. kind of program would be easier from a time/cost/prestige(?) standpoint if you're sure that's what you want to pursue regardless. That said, I'm not an expert by any means so take this with a grain of salt, just offering my personal opinion, if I am wrong feel free to correct me!

Yep- Congrats on getting in! The 10 page requirements really are such a pain...

Even to create more space for content for applications that require a 10 page writing sample? I already did this for one of mine because it listed a 10 page limit, but said that I could include references in the body or at the end. That said, I have more coming up that with the same length requirement that I could edit it back for.

Thanks so much for the advice- Would it be alright if I messaged you this coming week with any more questions after I've had a chance to look into them?

Thank you! My interests are on American foreign relations with East Asia from 1900 onwards- Definitely good to know, I will be applying, but I'd like to stick to a small number since I'm applying to a lot of PhD programs in the U.S. I was thinking Toronto for sure and maybe UBC, unless I see that McGill or a different program is better for my field. But, if the admissions aren't too hard, then I think I'd stick to two programs and just hope that if my U.S. schools don't work out I'd get into at least one of them.

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone had advice on the Canadian terminal MA programs, especially for the American history field. In particular, I am wondering a couple things: 1. If the top schools (Toronto, UBC, McGill) have enough of a reputation that I would be able to then get into to a top school in the U.S. for PhD and 2. What these schools' admissions standards are like at the MA level- With a 3.7 GPA and some research experience in undergrad, would I need to apply to all 3, or would I feel fairly safe applying to only Toronto and UBC along with a much greater number of American schools at the MA/PhD level? Thanks!

Not 100% sure but Chicago's one of the schools I'm applying to, so it was probably that one like the person above said.

Thanks! I just ask because I've seen a few that don't seem to mention a specific limit, and then there was also one that said up to 2,500 words, which made me question whether I should be submitting more than the 1,000 word version I had prepared.

Generally speaking, how long is the statement of purpose supposed to be?

In the statement of purpose, for POIs that I emailed and got a standard response from, should I then namedrop that I already talked to the professor when mentioning them?

Edit: What I mean is I can still drop the courses without it being considered late withdrawal- If I do, it disappears from my transcript as if I was never enrolled in the first place. Hi all, The final date to drop classes is coming up at my school and I'm a bit unsure what to do. Right now I'm taking 6 courses, of which 2 I'm struggling with and 3 I'm doing well (basically expected Bs vs. As) and the last one I have to take regardless. Anyway, I heard this semester is really important grade-wise, so I could be strategic and drop courses to take next semester instead without graduation issues. If I drop one (taking the normal 5 class courseload), I need to take 6 courses next semester. If I drop both, then I'd need likely 7 next semester (off chance I can get into a class that counts for both programs but I doubt it). So, I was wondering first of all, am I correct that graduate schools strongly consider first semester of senior year? I'll be submitting my applications mostly in mid-December before the grades come out (humanities graduate schools), so I'm not completely sure that that's correct. And then, if this is true, any recommendations on whether I should be dropping one or both courses? I'd like to drop one if first semester grades are considered since I'd still be doing a normal courseload anyways and the extra class really adds to my amount of work. That said, I was unsure if it'd look bad if I drop both given I'd only be taking 4 classes, especially as it's something I did last year as well- I entered school with AP credit and took full courseloads my first 2 years. Anyways, any advice would be greatly appreciated!