historygeek

I meant to post this earlier, but I got the notification while on my way to see Hamilton.... I got my second acceptance! I was accepted into the MA to PhD program in American history at SLU. I emailed the program director to see if a switch into the early modern history program was possible and will probably ask my current faculty mentor (who does some very interesting work) about possibly working with me for a masters. 
I honestly didn't expect to have to weigh two options, but I'm so glad I have to! 

Excitement: I got my second acceptance today!  I was accepted to the MA to PhD program at SLU! 
Worries: Now I'll have to choose between two programs, and I'm not sure if I can transfer into early modern history at SLU versus American.

Oh my goodness, those sound like the best tickets. I absolutely loved it; the national tour cast was incredible. Thank you! I'm very excited.

I meant to post this earlier, but I got the notification while on my way to see Hamilton.... I got my second acceptance! I was accepted into the MA to PhD program in American history at SLU. I emailed the program director to see if a switch into the early modern history program was possible and will probably ask my current faculty mentor (who does some very interesting work) about possibly working with me for a masters. 
I honestly didn't expect to have to weigh two options, but I'm so glad I have to! 

I meant to post this earlier, but I got the notification while on my way to see Hamilton.... I got my second acceptance! I was accepted into the MA to PhD program in American history at SLU. I emailed the program director to see if a switch into the early modern history program was possible and will probably ask my current faculty mentor (who does some very interesting work) about possibly working with me for a masters. 
I honestly didn't expect to have to weigh two options, but I'm so glad I have to! 

I meant to post this earlier, but I got the notification while on my way to see Hamilton.... I got my second acceptance! I was accepted into the MA to PhD program in American history at SLU. I emailed the program director to see if a switch into the early modern history program was possible and will probably ask my current faculty mentor (who does some very interesting work) about possibly working with me for a masters. 
I honestly didn't expect to have to weigh two options, but I'm so glad I have to! 

I meant to post this earlier, but I got the notification while on my way to see Hamilton.... I got my second acceptance! I was accepted into the MA to PhD program in American history at SLU. I emailed the program director to see if a switch into the early modern history program was possible and will probably ask my current faculty mentor (who does some very interesting work) about possibly working with me for a masters. 
I honestly didn't expect to have to weigh two options, but I'm so glad I have to! 

I meant to post this earlier, but I got the notification while on my way to see Hamilton.... I got my second acceptance! I was accepted into the MA to PhD program in American history at SLU. I emailed the program director to see if a switch into the early modern history program was possible and will probably ask my current faculty mentor (who does some very interesting work) about possibly working with me for a masters. 
I honestly didn't expect to have to weigh two options, but I'm so glad I have to! 

I meant to post this earlier, but I got the notification while on my way to see Hamilton.... I got my second acceptance! I was accepted into the MA to PhD program in American history at SLU. I emailed the program director to see if a switch into the early modern history program was possible and will probably ask my current faculty mentor (who does some very interesting work) about possibly working with me for a masters. 
I honestly didn't expect to have to weigh two options, but I'm so glad I have to! 

I accepted my Michigan offer today and withdrew my application from NYU. Michigan's offer is too good to turn down in my opinion. With my name off the wait list, hopefully, someone from here will get that acceptance.

This is useful feedback. It's crucial feedback. Your SOP needs to demonstrate that you understand the kinds of questions your field is asking, and that you are prepared to join that conversation. Similarly, you need to understand the direction of the discipline as a whole. You joke about "popular themes" and trying to make your project transnational. But do you understand why so many historians are taking comparative and transnational approaches? Are you prepared to engage with those approaches in conferences, journal themes, the eventual job market, etc.? Even if you decide that approach is not what you want to do with your own work, you still need to show that you're aware of it, you've considered it, and you've decided to take XYZ approach because of ABC reasons. 
The information you've given us about your proposal (nationalist history, your prior research language reflects an "outdated" approach) makes me wonder: were you proposing to study an anti-colonial nationalist movement with only the language of the colonizers? Proposing to study Algeria while only speaking French, for example? 

@gsc should be good resource here.... since there aren't overwhelming numbers of British historians in the US, you may be best served to seek a British historian and an Europeanist doing cultural history (perhaps French or German). 

...plenty of people successfully admitted to PhD programs in the past few years are not working on the "popular themes" that you've listed. I'd really get yourself away from thinking that people are getting in over you because their work is "trendy". Often it's less a matter of "topic" (I don't know of anyone who talks about the topic they're working on, really), and more a matter of research questions -- how are you presenting the questions that are guiding your research? Do the questions sound urgent, relevant, feasible, worth pursuing etc, and do they show that you're thinking about how to intervene in historiographical debates, methods etc etc. Instead of blaming the "trends" you're identifying, think about how you can re-frame your project (beyond the transnational thing) by explaining where it fits and who you're speaking to.
On the same note, the SoP is very, very important--more important than having publications or a completed thesis or some random fellowship that your POI's never heard of etc. I'd go so far as to say that without a strong SoP you can't guarantee that admissions committees are going to do more than skim the rest of your application (at two schools I was admitted to it was obvious that my POIs had not read my writing sample, beyond maybe the first page--this is just a practical reality. They have very little time, they're not actually reading every 25 page paper closely). So the SoP is where you frame your project and "stand out" from the hundreds of other applicants. I used to think the advice on this forum was harshly phrased--it's kind of necessarily so. Without tough advice you won't make the serious changes required to get into a program, so my advice is to find a professor (assistant profs are often closer to the process/remember their own SoP) who can give you that brutal advice in real life--it was the most helpful thing I did when applying. 

COLD. BLOODED.

There is a very, very fine line between maintaining decorum and rocking the boat.  I have seen working-class and/or very liberal students attempt to rock the boat.  What will make a difference in the eyes of your colleagues and professors is whether you will be willing to engage in a civil discourse, understand the limits of historical research, and protect your time and energy as a graduate student.
First, learn your department and institutional cultures including how drug use is discussed. This acclimation will take about a year. Then you can act accordingly to your beliefs (thought my recommendation is pass the exams first and then you will have a bit more leeway). If you are, however, the type not to be willing to trust the BTDTs on the basic level and follow their sensible advice on a variety of matters (including professionalization), then you will be very unhappy.  I have seen one case which a graduate student who deeply believed in anarchy and that rules did not exist (in their world) end very, very, very badly.
 

This one is v inspiring. 
McGill University Linguistics, PhD (S19) Other via Other on 16 Feb 2019 O 16 Feb 2019 report spam @ McGill discussion. Another voice here; not an applicant to McGill. I sympathise with the frustration that a long and arduous application process brings, and with the psychological unrest that such a rejection can engender. However, this is a results page. It should not, I believe, constitute a forum for you to engage in the spirited venting of these feelings. This type of negativity reflects very poorly on all of us – please remember that these comments will remain in the results for years to come, for future generations of anxious, hopeful students to peruse. Remember, too, that this path – not unlike anything in life – is full of disappointment and rejection. If you can't stomach it in a civil manner and have the maturity to create a decent example for others, then perhaps you should indeed reconsider your devotion to a professional career in academia. Best wishes.

Their usage of the English language is so beautifully eloquent and sophisticated, I'm honestly incapable of truly grasping its intricacies with my limited understanding of linguistics.  McGill truly missed out on some seriously superlative linguists.  Their grammar alone is supreme. 

How exciting! Congrats! What a way to start your Saturday.

(a) Then.... why did you apply to Harvard?
(b) If it makes you feel better, it's really much better not to do BA and PhD in the same institution unless the degrees are from two entirely different departments. Many well-meaning professors know and understand the perils of being in one place for a long time: one doesn't get such a wide variety of perspectives to improve and bolster one's scholarship. While I'm sure it'll be nice to go back to the familiar, it's better that you go to Yale.

I've been admitted to Harvard's History and East Asian Languages! On a Saturday!

A somewhat pleasing end to the saga.

"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.

How exciting! Congrats! What a way to start your Saturday.

Congratulations on being admitted to Yale.
I recommend that you dial down your apparent contempt for Harvard unless you're absolutely sure you're not going to be interacting with academics who went there or were taught or mentored or supported by those who did. The Ivory Tower is a much smaller place with much thinner walls than one would think.

COLD. BLOODED.