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Decided on Penn! I spoke to my prospective supervisor at length and figured Penn would be best as a lot of the faculty in my field is there plus the coursework and language requirements would greatly help in writing the dissertation. Thanks to everyone who helped!

Thank you everyone! That was very helpful!

P.S reposting this here from a history thread Hey everyone I wanted to start a thread about choosing between UK and US PhD programs. As many of us might be stuck between these very fortunate but equally distressing choices, I felt some advice from folks here might prove helpful. Some of such questions that have crossed my mind so far: What are some of the major differences that one should consider while making a decision? Does a three year PhD from UK disadvantage you in the US? I have been told that US programs typically prepare you more for teaching while in the UK one has to actively seek these opportunities? Are certain fields more popular in one place over the other? Does one make you better prepared for the job market than the other? Thanks!

Hey everyone I wanted to start a thread about choosing between UK and US PhD programs. As many of us might be stuck between these very fortunate but equally distressing choices, I felt some advice from folks here might prove helpful. Some of such questions that have crossed my mind so far: What are some of the major differences that one should consider while making a decision? Does a three year PhD from UK disadvantage you in the US? Does one make you better prepared for the job market than the other? How much weightage should one give to accessibility of archives? I have been told that US programs typically prepare you more for teaching while in the UK one has to actively seek these opportunities? Are certain fields more popular in one place over the other? (For example science and war seems to be huge in the US while themes about empire and science seem to be more widely discussed in the UK) Thanks! P.S I am a history of sci&tech applicant currently deciding between UPenn/Princeton and Cambridge (HPS) / Oxford (History of Science).

Thanks, I will PM you soon!

Since there's some talk of the taxes. Can someone tell me a bit more about taxes on international stipends? I have been told that you can most of it back via tax returns depending on the country of origin? I am considering an offer from UPenn. My other top choice is Cambridge. And while many other things will go into making the decision I am really wondering how precarious it is for international students in the US atm.

Nice! The medicine side of the department has been considerably strengthened in recent years. About the interview, don't be too stressed. It's generally a very informal chat about your research interests. Good luck!

Admitted to Penn HSS! Super excited to attend but also waiting on news from another university to make the final decision.

Congratulations on the interview invite! HPS is a great department to be at. Who's your POI?

This hits so close. I have been told by three out of five schools I applied to that I was on their "shortlist". Waitlisted for my top choice. No clue about how long the list is, where I stand, how many people they accepted etc etc.

Those are all great schools, congratulations! I agree with @pssteinit really depends on the training and theory you want to be reading. I made the switch from History to History of Science for my field after I took several seminars in the HoS department in my field and found it more suitable for my needs. My supervisor on the other hand trained in HoS field but ended up wanting to teach in the history department in general cause he felt his work fit well within those approaches. Plus there were also several people in my cohort who were doing history of science research within the history department and were comfortable with that. I am not sure how the choice of department might affect job market prospects. Although i would say it's also important that you find out what kind of relationship the HoS has with the history faculty more broadly. I am not sure about Harvard so much but Uchicago's history of science program for example works very closely with the general history department. It's also important that you go through the kind of course work requirements that will be needed of you. I know someone who now regrets choosing the HoS program instead of the general history one as they wanted to train in a specific geographic area but the initial years needed them to take courses only within the HoS and now they feel quite stuck. Hope this helps!

Waitlisted for Harvard HoS. Starting to feel like I am missing the shot everywhere by a very slim margin.

Any clue about Harvard HoS decisions?

I can relate to the checking time difference bit so much! It almost feels like living in two worlds. Nights are especially horrid because I know the decisions are rolling out while I snooze.

Congrats on the Mphil offer! And not at all. They understand that interests change and evolve with time. Just make sure when you get there you tell your supervisor(s) that you're going to rework your topic. Would help if you can get a fresh proposal drafted by october. Many people in my cohort changed their dissertation topics, including myself, so I don't think it should be an issue.