historygeek

Same?

"Use" in my post wasn't intended to mean to use your advisors just as a tool, but to get their guidance and their wisdom, if that makes sense! I meant "use" in the sense that you mean: to accept support and make use of their expertise, as well as asking them for guidance on SOPs, etc. Yes, in retrospect I completely understand. At the time, it was disheartening, but ultimately necessary.

Yeah, I think I'm going to turn off email notifications!

I wouldn't write off anyone until several acceptances were listed! Yeah, I agree that the silence is WAY worse.

Let me just say that I really hope I get any rejections on/by Thursday. Friday is my birthday.

I'm ready. ? I just hope they send my rejections on Thursday.... My birthday is Friday, and I would hate to get a rejection on my birthday.

I do love the history of early modern Venice! I had an internship doing archival work at Rome's Pontifical Institute for Christian Archeology (Pontifico Istituto di Archelogia Cristiana, in Italian) and the archives were... fun. Any old bibliographies or reading lists would be awesome!

Yes, Villanova only offers Masters degrees! I wrote about this on another thread, but I actually decided to switch from 20th century American to European history (possibly medieval/early modern), so I'm hoping to be able to get a funded masters to get my footing there. The pictures of campus are absolutely stunning-- it looks like something out of a movie! I've never been to Philadelphia, but it seems like one can get a decent apartment there for relatively inexpensive, which is a plus for me. I'm glad to hear that the metro area is so awesome!

FWIW, I had a friend who was waitlisted at Harvard for philosophy who is in her second semester there now. Definitely keep your options open!

Out of reactions for the day it seems, but I totally agree. It's been nice to have people that understand exactly what you're going through!

This is such a fantastic forum. I love seeing everyone have so much genuine support for one another! I've gotten radio silence from almost all of the places I applied to, which I'm finally feeling okay about. I'm actually probably going to go to Villanova, depending on how funding goes! I applied for not only departmental funding, but an assistantship in the Graduate Office as well. Fingers crossed!

Thank you! From some statistics searching, it definitely seems like competition for Americanists is... stiff.

Congrats!!

Congratulations!

It looks like some are still coming in.

Are you presuming rejection from SLU? I don't think their decisions go out until later, but I could be wrong. I got one official rejection from Columbia, but with the fact that Michigan and Harvard sent out offers already (with radio silence to me), I'm just going to assume it's a no.

Big. fat. mood.

Fantastic! Congratulations! Did they let you know via email?

I've found it discouraging that I've been rejected, and I found it even more discouraging that my thesis advisor told me that I should "expect disappointment" (his words, verbatim). It can be so frustrating to see people get accepted to Ivy Leagues when you get rejected and are projecting rejections from other places. You'll end up where you're supposed to end up, even if it isn't the straight-from-undergrad-to-an-Ivy that you're dreaming of.

It seems like Harvard usually does a Valentine's Day massacre. ? I'm prepared!

Good luck, everyone!

Hey, everyone! I want to thank you all again for the advice given on this thread, because it's been really helpful! I took into consideration the points made here (especially the point that I could very well be burnt out on American history) and spoke with my faculty mentor (an early modernist). He did mention the job market for 20th century Americanists being not great and did give me some reading suggestions since I'm considering early modern (including a series on early modern women's history). I was also able to speak with the director of the masters program at Villanova, who mentioned that the program is very flexible and most students don't stay with the concentration they applied with. Right now, I'm leaning heavily towards doing a Masters to fine tune my interests, get language training, and get more acquainted with methodology and historiography. Depending on funding, I will probably accept Villanova.

I've only seen one acceptance so far, and I find it unlikely that no one in this forum got accepted, but I'm not sure. ?

I think I'm bringing this topic back from the dead, but I'm likely going to go to Villanova in the fall. They don't have graduate housing, so I'm wondering if it would be better to find housing in Philadelphia and take public transport, or to try to find housing closer to campus?

Does anyone have any experience with Philadelphia's public transport?