LeraK

Like many of you, I have been super stressed lately about getting decisions. I haven't gotten any word back, but lately I have been thinking a lot about whether this is something that I really actually want to do. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I was only anxious because I was curious about whether or not I would get accepted. I don't get that same excitement that I used to when I think about completing a PhD in Russian history. I have invested a lot of time and energy into learning Russian and Ukrainian, but at this point I really don't know if this is the path that  I want to take. I don't like the idea of not having control over where I will end up living my life, and I honestly don't know if I have enough motivation to write as much as will be required of me in the future if I go down this path. I have been considering law school, but I also don't know if that is the right choice for me. I like the idea of having a job with the hours of a professor because I love the idea of having a job with flexible enough scheduling so that I can spend time with my future kids and I know being a lawyer won't afford me those same options. I have also thought about waiting until next cycle to apply for a joint law/phd not at a top tier school (this round I applied to Harvard and Chicago). My thought was that I should be able to find a job in government or something with a law degree and proficiency in Russian, Ukrainian and a PhD in Russian history. If anyone has any suggestion into career paths I might want to look into, I would be really grateful!! Also, thanks for reading this long post

I don't mean to alarm you but not all applicants visit this website.  The GC is a small enclave in a bigger academic planet.  Hang tight and think good thoughts until you actually hear something.  

You seem to forget that I was replying to a comment by psstein which in fact identified those that were, in his opinion, the best programs in the history of science (medieval subfield): Wisconsin and "probably" Harvard. It is of course true that, to a certain extent, there is no top program that can be decided in abstraction from someone's individual interests. But, if we are forced to do so, it is simply misleading to identify Wisconsin as the best one. 

I applied to Harvard's PhD program for history, and now I am getting emails from the Extension school. Can someone calm my nerves and tell me that it doesn't mean that I am getting rejected from the PhD program?