urbanhistorynerd

Incredibly sorry for the late reply. I was not trying to be disrespectful. I'm been finishing end-of-the-semester papers, and I traveled to Chicago with my girlfriends family last week.
First, I cannot fathom how great the advice all of you have given me. It has made me ask vital questions that otherwise I would not have thought were pertinent to my situation. I'll attempt to reply to all your posts now.
@OHSP MAPSS is the only masters program I am applying to. There a few professors at Uchicago (Jonathan Levy in particular) that I would like to work with. The 1 year journey also fits my need to engage in more historical work with my field. I definitely agree that I need more time soaking in an academic environment. But, regardless of my intellectual insecurities, I am still applying to Ph.D. programs. I'll list the ones I want to apply to below:
University of Chicago University of Illinois-Chicago Northwestern  University of Maryland University of Michigan New York University  University of Wisconsin-Madison University of Pennsylvania  I love Tom Sugrue. Origins is the book that inspires me the most. It is the book that made me think about urban history in a systematic combination of race relations, and political economy. Heather Ann Thompson also is a favorite of mine. Her book Whose Detroit? and Blood in the Water, influenced my perspective on race relations in the city.
@Banzailizard I don't want to audit courses (although, I have thought about it). I want to engage with the school in coursework settings.
@Sigaba What do you mean by "not necessarily well informed,"? My interest of study is the intersection between race, politics, and economics in urban history. I call myself an urban historian. I'm interested in the way deindustrialization shaped urban politics and race relations in the 1960s-80s.
@Tigla Thank you for those questions. Do you have any recommendations on books regarding historiography of deindustrialization?
 

My top advice is to setup a timeline of application process. I started 8 months before they were due. This helped out immensely because I was really able to think about my application, research interests, and potential profs/schools. I literally sketched out a timeline with important deadlines. I found that this was really good practice for when it came to writing my honors thesis.

I saw the DGS yesterday - all the emails are out as well as the waitlist. HMES and HEAL is different story though, I'm not sure what is going on with them, but I bet they follow a similar pattern.
I just want to say congratulations to everyone admitted to Harvard and that i look forward to seeing you all very soon during visiting students day! 

I saw the DGS yesterday - all the emails are out as well as the waitlist. HMES and HEAL is different story though, I'm not sure what is going on with them, but I bet they follow a similar pattern.
I just want to say congratulations to everyone admitted to Harvard and that i look forward to seeing you all very soon during visiting students day! 

We had the faculty meeting on graduate admissions on Monday, so most likely individual POIs are beginning to send out emails/make calls.

We had the faculty meeting on graduate admissions on Monday, so most likely individual POIs are beginning to send out emails/make calls.

We had the faculty meeting on graduate admissions on Monday, so most likely individual POIs are beginning to send out emails/make calls.

We had the faculty meeting on graduate admissions on Monday, so most likely individual POIs are beginning to send out emails/make calls.

We had the faculty meeting on graduate admissions on Monday, so most likely individual POIs are beginning to send out emails/make calls.

If anyone is admitted to Harvard, DM me if you would like some information on the faculty, graduate students, program, school, etc, etc. I am a first year PhD there, a member of the HGSA and helping to coordinate this years admissions visit.
 
Tomorrow is the official faculty meeting on graduate admissions, so everyone who applied should receive something in the next week or two.

If anyone is admitted to Harvard, DM me if you would like some information on the faculty, graduate students, program, school, etc, etc. I am a first year PhD there, a member of the HGSA and helping to coordinate this years admissions visit.
 
Tomorrow is the official faculty meeting on graduate admissions, so everyone who applied should receive something in the next week or two.

If anyone is admitted to Harvard, DM me if you would like some information on the faculty, graduate students, program, school, etc, etc. I am a first year PhD there, a member of the HGSA and helping to coordinate this years admissions visit.
 
Tomorrow is the official faculty meeting on graduate admissions, so everyone who applied should receive something in the next week or two.

If anyone is admitted to Harvard, DM me if you would like some information on the faculty, graduate students, program, school, etc, etc. I am a first year PhD there, a member of the HGSA and helping to coordinate this years admissions visit.
 
Tomorrow is the official faculty meeting on graduate admissions, so everyone who applied should receive something in the next week or two.

If anyone is admitted to Harvard, DM me if you would like some information on the faculty, graduate students, program, school, etc, etc. I am a first year PhD there, a member of the HGSA and helping to coordinate this years admissions visit.
 
Tomorrow is the official faculty meeting on graduate admissions, so everyone who applied should receive something in the next week or two.

If it is lecture based, I typically bring a notebook and pen and put down some scribbles. For discussions and seminar style classes, I bring a notebook but I don't take notes. I just jot down any ideas, books, people, etc, that I find important.
Most likely the theory and methods course, much like my "Writing History" course in the upcoming semester, will be a series of discussions about the reading material assigned that day. In that case, I typically take detailed notes, usually one or two sentences per page, and then a chapter summary. Of course, all of this depends on the amount assigned. I'll write better notes if it is only one book compared to three.

If it is lecture based, I typically bring a notebook and pen and put down some scribbles. For discussions and seminar style classes, I bring a notebook but I don't take notes. I just jot down any ideas, books, people, etc, that I find important.
Most likely the theory and methods course, much like my "Writing History" course in the upcoming semester, will be a series of discussions about the reading material assigned that day. In that case, I typically take detailed notes, usually one or two sentences per page, and then a chapter summary. Of course, all of this depends on the amount assigned. I'll write better notes if it is only one book compared to three.

Who did you write to work with? I'm visiting the department next week - I can feel out some specific people if you'd like me to.

Haha, same! I have an honors thesis to write, archives to go through, and man, it is tough. Although there is a great sense of stability that I feel now.

Does anyone have worsened "senioritis" after being accepted?

Who did you write to work with? I'm visiting the department next week - I can feel out some specific people if you'd like me to.

I wouldn't. That strikes me as bad form. 

It's not an outright awful choice, but part of graduate education is designed to expose you to new ways of thinking and other departments.
 
It very heavily depends. If you get all three of your degrees from a mid-tier program, that's going to be a problem. People with three degrees from HYP or comparable places don't have that problem nearly as much.
You can ask, but they're probably going to deny you the ability to look at it. Part of keeping recommendations confidential is also preserving interpersonal relationships. Letters have a tendency to be quite honest, as you're putting your name behind someone. If that someone isn't capable, you can lose a lot of standing.

Go with the one who funds, that being School B, unless you hear back on funding from School A. I'm sure they would offer funding for the PhD at School A, so it might be the MA you'd have to pay for. In this case, I would recommend School B. One, you'll get funded, and if they fund for an MA, that usually indicates that there is other money there (research assistant, more chances to TA for extra cash, etc) for MA students. Two, it'll probably give you more flexibility if you are still wanting to change fields. From what I know about MA to PhD programs is that you start the beginnings of your diss in your MA or at least work on some foundations for it. Even if School B isn't that hot on medieval/early modern, an MA is mostly just classes & I'm sure you could probably do an independent study or two on a specific history that isn't offered there.

I heard back from Harvard - admitted w/funding. To my knowledge they have sent out all their admits, waitlists, and rejections.

I heard back from Harvard - admitted w/funding. To my knowledge they have sent out all their admits, waitlists, and rejections.