andnothing

I just accepted my offer for a fully funded MA at the University of Oregon. It feels surreal that I was accepted to my top choice AND receive a fully funded package. This forum was incredibly helpful through this whole process. Good luck to everyone who accepted offers!

Congrats to everyone so far! I've been accepted to six MA programs which is exciting. I haven't heard anything from the 7th so I am assuming that it is a rejection. Unfortunately, news about funding hasn't been as exciting. Still waiting to hear back from 3 programs and I'm on the wait list for 2 of the schools. My top school has me on their wait list for funding, but the graduate director said there is still an "excellent chance" to receive a GE position. I know to not put too much into that but it gives me some hope. The pessimistic side of me is thinking that I won't receive funding anywhere and, honestly, I don't think I could accept an offer where I would have to take loans out to pay for tuition. It definitely puts a damper on my excitement. I know there is still a month and half to go but this waiting has been excruciating.

I applied to masters program there and I haven't heard anything back from them. My POI was Philip M Soergel. I am assuming that it is a rejection for me.

This is great advice! I plan on trying to make the most of visit when I go there and I thought about trying get into contact with my advisor's grad students. Did you e-mail them outright or did you meet up with them during your visit? Congratulations to you as well! I was accepted into the MA program and I know the scheduled campus visit is for Ph.D students. After asking about a campus visit, they offered if I would like to join, but I won't be able to on those dates. I hope to schedule something a little earlier in March. My experience with the department has been the same. They have been extremely helpful so far.

I got accepted to Binghamton's MA program this morning. So far, I've been accepted to four programs which is exciting, but I am on the wait list for funding for two of them and no word on the other two. It is stressful to think that I probably won't know if I will receive any funding until April and maybe not even until the very last day, April 15th. I don't know how I'm suppose to make a decision by then when funding is such an important part of it. I am trying to set up a campus visit at University of Oregon, my top choice. Unfortunately, my faculty advisor will be out of the country when I am able to visit. This might be a dumb question, but will I still be able to get a good idea about the program if I am not able to meet my advisor? Should I reach out to my advisor through e-mail? Also, should you let the programs know if they are your top choice or is that frowned upon? I know I'll be holding off on accepting anything in hopes that I hear something from UO about funding. Good luck everyone!

I got an e-mail from University of Oregon notifying me that I was admitted to the MA program and on the wait list for funding. So far 3/3 out of the programs I applied to. I must say it's a nice boost of confidence. Now to wait for funding information.

I can feel the anxiety that has been creeping up through all of January reach it's peak today. I know I probably won't receive any results until next week at the earliest but I already have knots in my stomach. This whole process is exciting and terrifying at the same time. I already received one acceptance (no word on funding yet) which is already better than last year. It has helped to stay more optimistic while waiting for the other results. Good luck everyone!!

I got my first acceptance this afternoon from University of Alabama by a phone call. It feels good to get one after not being accepted anywhere last year. Now to wait and see if I receive any funding. I hope this a sign of things to come with the other places I applied to!

I want to thank everyone for their suggestions on my dilemma. The professor who I had in 2013 said she would provide a letter of recommendation for me. We talked on the phone and went over what I have been up to these past few years. She ended the conversation by saying that she felt she could write a strong letter based on the information I gave her. I am sure this letter will be stronger than the letter my other professor would submit. It has worked out a lot better than I expected. I was also given positive feedback on my statement of purpose from a former professor who has advised me through this process. He said it was a massive improvement from last years statement of purpose and that he would be really surprised if I am not accepted to the graduate programs. It was definitely a nice boost of confidence!

That's a good idea. I'll e-mail them and see what they say. I'm reaching out to a teacher I had in 2013 to see if they are willing to provide one. It's a stretch but it's worth a try.

Out of the six programs I am applying to, four require 3 letters of recommendation. The two other LORs I have are from former professors. The instructions vary for each school. University of Oregon states that they ideally should be from professors you worked with as an undergraduate. Georgia State University allows letters from anyone who can assess your capabilities and skills. The other two programs do not specify who the letters should come from. The former professor provided a LOR last application cycle. When I asked her earlier this year if she would provide one again this year, she mentioned that her letter might not be very persuasive and I might look for someone who is more familiar with my recent work. I explained my situation to her and she replied saying that she would provide one again. Today, I e-mailed her the list of programs and she responds by saying that she is not able to write these letters for me since it has been a while since she taught me. After reminding her about our earlier conversation, she still indicated that she was reluctant on providing a LOR. I sent her e-mail explaining my situation again but I have not heard back from her. The whole situation is sort of confusing. I don't want to rely on her providing a letter so I'm trying to figure out other options. I guess I should've had a back up after our first conversation.

So, I'm in a bit of dilemma. A former professor I had in 2014 has decided not to write a letter of recommendation for me. Even though she agreed to provide one earlier this year. With a month to go for some applications, I am now out of a letter of recommendation. I've exhausted all my options for professors since I graduated in 2014. Since graduating, the teachers I have had for online classes have been almost non existent so I haven't been able to build any sort of relationship with them. I work full time in a small family business that is completely unrelated to history. I guess an option is to get one from someone I work with. Does a non academic LOR carry any sort of weight or would that hurt me more than help me in this situation? Any suggestions on what I should do is definitely appreciated. I'm applying to MA programs, by the way.

Thank you for the recommendation! I'll give SLU a look.

University of Cincinnati and NIU both indicate that the majority of incoming masters students receive funding. The other programs award and offer funding through graduate assistantships. If I were to be accepted to any of the programs, I would be hesitant on accepting the offer if I don't receive some form of financial support. I feel I have a good writing sample, but I know it can use some improvement. I have improved as a writer since I wrote the paper so I am revising it in hopes to reflect that. I'm hoping my SOP and writing sample can make up for the analytical score.

This year will be be my second round at applications. I feel like the programs I am applying to this year are a better fit than where I applied to last year. Plus, considering my academic background (3.3 gpa and 3.7 major GPA), I think I have a better chance in getting into these programs. I'm applying to these MA programs: University of Oregon (David Luebke) Georgia State University (Jared Poley) University of Maryland (Philip Soergel) Binghamton University (Sean Dunwoody) University of Cincinnati (Sigrun Haude) Northern Illinois University (Vera Lind) I'm also reworking my statement of purpose and revising my writing sample as much as possible. The two things I'm worried about now are my letters of recommendation and my analytical GRE score. I graduated in 2014 so my LOR are from professors who I had 4-5 years ago. I'm not sure how much this time difference will matter. Also, last year when I took the GRE I got 157/153/4. I took it again a week ago and just got my scores back, 160/152/3.5. I raised my verbal score which was my goal in retaking the GRE. However, I ended up with a 3.5 on the analytical part. Although I know the GRE isn't the most important part of my application, I can't help but worry that the 3.5 is going to really hurt my application. I feel like I need all the help I can get to be competitive and any little extra weakness in my application will ruin any shot I have at getting accepted. Well, I wanted to get that off my chest. I thought I'd join everyone else and share my anxiety and worries! It's going to a long couple months for me. Best of luck to everyone!