jbc568

it's not too late to save yourselves

You seem to be in a good place. Contrary to what the person below you has said, conferences, archival research, summer institutes etc. don't really matter at this point. The best thing you can do is have a strong and focused statement of purpose that displays knowledge of what's happening in your subfield and a solid writing sample. Use the year to attend talks in your field, read recent scholarship, and tighten your thesis into a writing sample. 

You seem to be in a good place. Contrary to what the person below you has said, conferences, archival research, summer institutes etc. don't really matter at this point. The best thing you can do is have a strong and focused statement of purpose that displays knowledge of what's happening in your subfield and a solid writing sample. Use the year to attend talks in your field, read recent scholarship, and tighten your thesis into a writing sample. 

Hope Columbia admits are paying attention to the strike rn!

Hope Columbia admits are paying attention to the strike rn!

Hope Columbia admits are paying attention to the strike rn!

It's easy to look in from the outside and fantasize about living the PhD life, but you'd be wise to not dismiss what current students are saying as "gatekeeping." I'm about halfway through a PhD at a, maybe the, top program and every day think about the years of proper income and career growth opportunities I'm missing out on. I was very educated going into the process, and there are things you simply can't know unless you're in a program. Friends at other of the top 5 programs corroborate this. Apply if you have an outside stream of income, but it should be a red flag that well-funded programs are choosing to suspend admissions right now.

If you can't name a single journal it's unlikely anything you write would be accepted to "the best."

If you can't name a single journal it's unlikely anything you write would be accepted to "the best."

If you can't name a single journal it's unlikely anything you write would be accepted to "the best."

If you can't name a single journal it's unlikely anything you write would be accepted to "the best."

If you can't name a single journal it's unlikely anything you write would be accepted to "the best."

Seconded. Just because that population doesn't overlap with the one @kat101 mentioned (SMU, CUNY, etc) doesn't mean it does not exist.

I’d recommend looking up students at other programs besides Yale. There are nearly 10 students from Williams at Harvard and Princeton in the last 3 years. How many are at JHU/SMU/Pitt? (Also do you know there are a few people from JHU at Williams—including the director of the program?)

Michigan is a great program, although not mine. 
People in top programs are usually very collegial. To the original poster: feel free to reach out to students in the programs you're looking at who share your interests. Many will be happy to talk to you and won't bog you down with condescending "advice". 

A word of caution: I have observed a few application rounds on these forums. Often it's the people spewing information with the most authoritative tone who get rejected from every program they apply to. It seems that admission to humanities programs often depends on the unquantifiable aspects of an application, and stats mean next to nothing. Also, remember that your fellow applicants are not experts. Why not direct your questions about admission to the faculty members who will be writing your letters of recommendation?